xtremegk

I think you're confusing WHO is maximizing revenue. PlusGrade doesn't care about Royal reselling a Royal Up'd cabin to a new booking. As it's a commission-based business, they care about maximizing revenue for themselves. All that matters to them is what upgrade strings can they put together with the cabin allotment given to them by Royal to earn the most revenue off Royal Up strings. A & B being identical cabins, theoretically a higher bid will win IF it comes down to those two to move...but there are a long line of factors that they develop to determine the maximum commission they can earn.

Nevermind. Just saw your explanation.

Hold up...does that actually say a $250.00 bet on a $0.01 slot?!?

Compare the price on connecting cabins -- the extra bathroom is worth it. If you want to go family OV, your best value is likely to be on Liberty out of Cape Liberty in the summer. Symphony's prices for the ultraspacious OV (aka family OV) are sky high. Best combo of rooms on Liberty would be 8200 & 8500, with the couple getting a balcony as far forward as you can on the port side of deck 8 (8200 & 8500 are both accessed through the port side hallway only). They're the biggest of the family OVs -- the bunk beds are each in their own little room, the main bed gets its own little room, and then you have a little "living room" space. Biggest downside is the 1 bathroom. Vision has some out of Baltimore...but is it the ideal ship for kids? Eh.

There is not always going to be someone to blame. I do think you hit the nail on the head though when it comes to bridge design. Bridge technology has come a long way in protecting piers -- building them in shallower water by having larger spans, introducing much larger dolphins, etc. The FSK Bridge did not renovate to match the current standards by building out larger dolphins. THAT is the takeaway to help try to prevent a tragedy like this in the future, IF in fact what happened on the ship was something unpredictable and unavoidable.

Late August? We're on Icon, scheduled to be at CocoCay on Friday the 30th. We were supposed to be there solo, now guessing Indy will be joining us, similar to plans for July & Sept.

Which cruise in August?

Stayed there one time. Highly disappointed.

Very late to the party... Where do you stay in Cleveland? I fly in/out of there for work fairly often and struggle to find a decent hotel close to the airport.

If you find the RoyalUp process stressful and you're content with the cabin you have, don't bid. Save yourself the stress. Me, I'll continue to bid almost every time, despite being 0-for-275902592752109u359207 with RU.

Maybe I'm the ignorant American here...but why would EU rules apply to UK residents on a cruise booked in the UK and departing the UK? I thought Brexit was about leaving the EU...

I sailed on Grandeur from there to Bermuda in 2008.

Unfortunately all too familiar with this as I work in an industry that follows federal ICS structure during major events. We have to bring in contractors every time due to the sheer volume of work needing to be done in a shortened period of time.

Lack of incident command? It's been more than 24 hours since the ACOE announced they were in the incident command role.

Army Corps of Engineers is already on-site and tasked with clearing the main shipping channel (Federal channel). Army Corps of Engineers is supporting recovery operations following Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse > Baltimore District > News Releases

Not a space shuttle, but not just any ordinary spacecraft -- Friendship 7, the Mercury capsule the flew John Glenn on the first manned orbit of the Earth, splashed down just off Grand Turk. There's a replica of the capsule at the airport.

We were on the 9-nighter with you this past August. Snagged one of the deck 7 ultraspacious balcony cabins at the very aft for $3800 for 3 people. Booked that the day it opened, so a tremendous deal considering what things were selling for last year. We booked our 2025 cruise as soon as they opened last month...ultraspacious balcony on the 9-nighter for 3: over $12,000. In fact, our $3800 from last summer couldn't get us on the ship, period. Right now, looking at $5600 for a cabin that sleeps 3. We settled on a 7-nighter on Symphony and went all the way down to a Central Park "interior" as we found we spend so much time out of the cabin doing things that we'd rather save on the room. Cost us about $3200 for that room.

Apologies for resurrecting the veer off topic...but we sailed Oasis this past summer and left the port area in Nassau. On Oasis's 9-nighter, it was Emancipation Day when we arrived in Nassau, so it derailed some of our plans (the pirate museum, for instance, was closed). We walked over to the Queens' Staircase, then down to the Bahamas Rum Cake Factory. Never felt unsafe. The infrastructure is in rough shape (sidewalks were more like stepping stones in many places), but that's not surprising. We do live along the Jersey Shore, about an hour from NYC. I worked in Manhattan for 10 years and we still go up to the city a few times a year. Hard to compare the two, but I feel like general safety awareness is the same for either.

Anyone have any idea when December 2025 cruises will open? I see up through October for most ships. Most other lines are already available to book holiday cruises.

Generally, they just sail very slowly, occasionally in circles between the ports.

Seeking opinions from people who have stayed at one or the other (or both). DW, myself and DS (will be 6) flying down for one night pre-cruise. Will be there early enough to have the afternoon to go get wine (they do sell it at Whole Foods and/or Publix, correct?), muffins for the next morning's breakfast and then have a little fun for the little guy. Interested in hearing about the area, easy activities and dinner options nearby (we're easy to please, so something as simple as pizza for dinner works for us). Can get the Hilton Miami Downtown for minimal points + $180 cash + $25 taxes (bay-view room). City-view room at the Intercontinental would run me $188 + $40 taxes (and looks like there's a roughly $40 resort fee). Trying to weigh whether the Intercontinental is worth the extra $$.

With self-assist or an early tag time, you should make it comfortably. EWR is an easy ride from the cruise pier.

100% they shouldn't, and I don't think they will. But there are unfortunately a lot of companies that settle just about everything that comes their way (without admitting fault) to just make stuff go away. It contributes significantly to the litigious society we live in because there are companies that will settle lawsuits they should fight. I worked for physicians previously...the number who were advised by their malpractice insurance companies to allow negotiated settlements that don't admit fault for every suit against them was insane to me.

I guess Royal shouldn't dock at CocoCay since getting to a hospital from there requires a wait for a medivac. I feel bad for this family, I genuinely do. But they are only going to be hurting more when this lawsuit (at least against Royal) is dismissed. Probably hoping Royal settles to make it go away, but I can't imagine a company as large as Royal just settling every lawsuit.

Appreciate that update...but it in no way answers the question I posed. This redeployment goes through March 2025 and does not include 2025 holiday cruises. As for the short jumps, much of that is down to port opening/closing times (the authorities have to staff when the ship is there). Not too different with some islands in the Caribbean (St. Thomas and Puerto Rico are very close to one another, for instance).