leaveitallbehind

See my responses in RED above.

Can't determine your preferences - only you can do that. But I will say that IMO I would not do any cruise under 7 nights. From your list, that would eliminate all but NCL and the 7-night Disney. But neither of those cruise lines would be my first choice - in particular since you have no kids and many kids will be on either one. Maybe consider Celebrity - adult demographics with few children.

You always pay "full price" as the price charged by any TA is that which is published by the all of the mass market cruise lines. Their fares are not negotiated. As pointed out, typically any reduction to this would be through group rate pricing or give backs from the TA's commission.

Got it! Thanks for clarifying - I didn't think you meant it the way I was questioning but wanted to be sure. (As I think you've seen before I can occasionally misinterpret things - LOL!)

Just for my own clarification, are you suggesting that once a stateroom is selected that the cruise line might change it to open it up for a GTY? If so, that would sound unusual as once you select a stateroom that should be locked on your behalf. I know, as example, with RCCL / Celebrity that GTY staterooms are typically blocked in advance with that offer (sometimes as the less desirable locations), or assigned to unreserved staterooms when issued. Just curious.

Understood. I was, as you suggest, referring to taking the full / unopened bottle to the venues. That being said, although we are not big wine drinkers, in the past when we have taken a bottle with us they have not enforced the corkage fee policy. But this has not been recently.

You can take them anywhere on board to drink, but their policy is to charge a $25 corkage fee if consumed in a bar or dining venue. I am not sure how strictly enforced this policy is, however.

This is historically very accurate, and applies as well to RCCL / Celebrity, and others. This constant flux is in large part responsible for (using RCCL as example) the lower and more attractive non-refundable deposit (NRD) fares now having a 100% change and cancelation penalty and suite bookings requiring a NRD to reserve as a method to try to stabilize this. Refundable fares are typically at a significant premium over NRD as well to encourage more NRD fare bookings in this effort. In other words, the mass market cruise lines don't like this constant stateroom dance and look to find ways to stabilize it.

What I am saying is the only way the information could be made available to a third party site would either be by that site accessing the information directly - or - the cruise lines providing it. The cruise lines clearly would not allow this information to be accessed, nor would they likely commit the manpower to update it daily and provide it to the third party. But the real issue here is that I originally interpreted the OP's question to be looking for stateroom information across multiple cruise lines via a third party website (like a lot of hotels do), which is what my discussion evolved to. In looking back now I likely misunderstood that! LOL. So even if it is information within a single cruise line, I am not aware of that being available. Sorry if I led you down a rabbit hole with this! Have a good weekend!

You are likely correct, But I also know that they would not allow a third party direct access to their internal stateroom data, which means the only way that data could be made public to such a site would be for the cruise lines to release it to them. As there is so much data that literally changes on a daily basis - private or not - I doubt they would commit the manpower to manage it for an external site. But, to your point regarding the OP's question, it would not be a bad thing to have.

Maybe not stated well - but individual stateroom sales information per itinerary and available remaining capacity is not information that is generally released. It is internal information to the cruise lines. A given stateroom category availability is only something that would be seen when searching that specific stateroom category on a given itinerary - and even then the total available staterooms is not necessarily provided.

Many of the RCCL older ships have balconies similar to that. I'm sure other lines would as well.

The short answer is no. Within each cruise line's web site, you need to determine a preferred cruise region and date first, and then scan the specific itineraries and ships that sail that region and date, then select your preferred choices and look at availability for your desired stateroom category by each ship and itinerary. There are so many ships, itineraries, and dates, in any given region with so many staterooms available for each sailing that change daily that it would likely be impossible to have any one third party site or search engine be able to track availability by given stateroom category. Besides, I'm not aware of any cruise lines that release that information in the manner you seek to any third party site. If for no reason other than they are too busy managing their own internal data to desire to take on that task as well. They also tend to guard that information as private and as most ships within the mass market cruise lines tend to sail fully booked, it just isn't necessary to list stateroom availability externally. Your other option would be to contact a travel agent and have them assist in your search.

The mail portion of the process would likely only be a matter of several days from point A to point B. The bigger issue is that although they start closing the books on a given cruise immediately in the week following the cruise, that process can take a few weeks to get through the various levels of accounting and approvals and check cutting cycles, etc. This process is typical of any major corporation and is where the time takes for you to actually receive the check.

Agree. And in my view, Celebrity is a move up from RCCL, and most certainly from Carnival LOL! We, too, are considering some of the more premium lines as you reference.

I think that is a very good comparison, although I think the Celebrity experience is still a step above RCCL, even using those ships as a benchmark. The Solstice and Edge class ships are similar in size to each other, and are a little bigger than Radiance class, which holds about 2,500 passengers. By comparison Solstice class holds about 2,850 passengers and Edge class a little more at 2,900 - fortunately not nearly to the extent of being mega ships. A very manageable size IMO.

I don't disagree with anything you said, nor am I challenging you with regards to that. I only want to point out that your assumption regarding the OP is incorrect. They are not, as you suggest, "Celebrity regulars" looking to try something better. Per their post, they have only been on 6 cruises - 3 with RCCL and 3 with Carnival, and have never cruised with Celebrity They are now considering trying Celebrity for the first time in March and are looking for opinions regarding that cruise line. And, FWIW, IMO, Celebrity is a step up from both of their previous experiences.

In the early 90's we were on a cruise on a sea day and while everyone was at the pool and other venues, my wife and I stopped at the casino to play some blackjack. We were at a table by ourselves when a man approached and asked if he could join us. After talking a bit we realized he was Norm Crosby, who was performing a comedy act that night in the theater. Pretty sure we lost at the table but had a very enjoyable time with him that afternoon. As you suggest, times - and on board entertainers - have certainly changed.

Celebrity is typically our cruise line of choice - primarily for its differences from RCCL. (Which would also be a significant difference from Carnival - 180 degrees IMO!). Whereas RCCL's demographics are families, Celebrity's primary demographics are adults without children, although as with any cruise line children will accompany adults on board and there are activities oriented for them. But the biggest differences from RCCL are that on Celebrity, none of the whistles and bells exist: no rock climbing walls, ice rinks, aqua theaters, zip lines, water slides, bumper cars, etc., etc. What you will find is IMO a more upscale cruise atmosphere, better MDR / buffet offerings, equal or better specialty restaurants, good theater and entertainment, far less children, and a much more adult attitude on board. In our earlier days of cruising, RCCL was our primary choice as it was oriented towards families and we were cruising at that time with our children. As we all grew older, Celebrity best fit that bill for the opposite reasons as mentioned. I also feel as though Celebrity provides a more individual customer focus as well. Celebrity, along with the normal pricing, also offers Always pricing, which is inclusive of their standard beverage package and WIFI. (It used to include gratuities as well, but that has recently changed). You can compare both on any given itinerary to see what the difference is as to the value of Always. RCCL and Celebrity also have reciprocal loyalty programs whereby the points accumulated remain with the cruise line sailed on, but tier levels are shared by each when sailing on either. Don't know what your cruising preferences are but Celebrity would be pretty much opposite of what you have experienced with RCCL, and in particular, Carnival.

RCCL Oasis class ships offer a broad range of Broadway shows that are different on each ship. Oasis class ships also have the Aqua theater, which is an outdoor water show with well choreographed water and diving performances Quantum class ships offer a very unique and innovative type of show in their 270 lounge. Other class ships offer Cirque du Solet style performances as well. Attached is a CC link identifying the different shows and entertainment on the different RCCL ships. https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/which-shows-are-on-which-royal-caribbean-cruise-ships

Sounds like a good plan. Hope it all comes together and you enjoy a great cruise!

I think RCCL will be more similar to NCL in terms of total pricing and cruising style, but I would look at ships and itinerary first v deposit match, as the final measure should be total price IMO. Also IMO NCL pricing is more convoluted with more add-on's than others to reach the bottom line. And just be sure when booking that you are looking at refundable v non-refundable deposits and corresponding fares. The NRD terms have become more stringent in terms of loss of $ if you change or cancel a booking made that way. Many cruise lines now have a 100% deposit penalty with changes or cancelations. Also RCCL for one (which means probably NCL as well) are changing their final payment days on longer itineraries (more than 7 nights) to 120 days prior to sailing. Just keep that in mind. MSC is an Italian line with very much an Italian flare on board v the others which are more international in crew and American focused in style. Again, just to be aware.

As I understand it, they reconcile unpaid casino winnings when they close the books on each cruise, which commences the week following each cruise. As @Elaine5715indicates, it may take some time for the check to be issued and reach you, but the process begins immediately following your cruise. BTW, congrats on your winnings - one of the few cruisers who can make that claim LOL.

The side of the ship you are doesn't matter as different ports have different pier positions and it is also the Captain's discretion as to which side of the ship he docks to the pier. We have been to Bermuda a number of times and have docked on both the starboard and port side of the ship. And at St. Kitts, for example, the pier runs out perpendicular to the port so you typically dock bow in, although I have seen ships docked there stern in. Many ports are like that. In other words there is no way to predict which side of the ship will be to the pier, so which side of the ship you are on matters little.

The details of those itineraries may change from year to year but the type is typically offered every year. Often the frequency is two or three longer itineraries back to back from the same starting and ending port of call, but the ports and schedules will change with each itinerary. Something similar will likely be offered in your timeframe - you will just have to keep watching for it. I have seen many of those offered each year over the years.