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Now that is a completely different question. For most of those years the share holders benefit was not combineable, so in actuality, for years most of the time zero. However since Covid and the ability to combine discounts it has actually become significant. Let’s do a quick example 7 nights in a balcony for $2500 cruise fare. For 6-13 nights it would be $100, which of course, is not discounted from the fare, but given to us to use as on board credit. Which I will use to pay for over priced drinks, photos, shore excursions or shops, etc. But in my example it is a 4% discount. I get a 3% credit from the credit card I use, I don’t report either one to the IRS. 😂 I get OBC from my very good travel agent too. So, while I like the shareholder benefit, I am not sure we are getting rich off of it either. jc

Personally, I was terrified last time I was on Labadee. Honest! I took the long zip line where you fly like you are Superman, and I felt like I was going to slip out of the top of the contraption they strapped me into. I hadn’t really considered or considered the implications of that. I literally was pushing my arms and legs out to create friction to keep me in the contraption. I am 99.99% sure I was never in danger but I was only about 50% at the time!🤪 jc

Nobody. Just an angry mis-directed rant🤪 hey my wife is a shareholder! They don't often pay dividends. So, none of it is rolling to the shareholders. It is rolling to senior management and the ship building and provisioning companies. I just looked back at the dividend history or Royal Caribbean on their financial page, easy to find out. She bought the stock sometime prior to their listed dividend history which goes back 9/16/2003. She bought 100 shares, I think it was slightly more, but for simplicity sake we will keep it 100 (since my obviously limited math skills are already in question!😂) I think the purchase price was around $55 a share and I think she bought it around 2000. So, 24 years ago she invested $5500. I bought Carnival at the same time for the same reason to get shareholder benefits (that was a bad investment plus I found I don’t fit on their ships). So, I added up all of the dividends she received on that 100 shares. It came to $1703 on a $5500 dollar investment after 24 years. If she had bought a CD paying 1% a year she would have earned about $1500. So, clearly we are not getting rich on those dividends being paid to shareholders. They haven’t issued a single dividend since Covid. They have paid for a bunch of new ships. I think tipping in general has become a cash cow for companies (not necessarily for the workers), I had breakfast at First Watch this morning for two, it came to $36, when you pay with credit card, it offers you three easy options 20, 22 and 25%. I am from the USA, and I grew up thinking that 15% was a standard tip, and 20% was exceptional. Almost all companies are using these terminals now and we are all tipping for things we never tipped for before. I think Royal has figured out that tips are a cash cow for them as they try to climb out from under a lot of debt, back to that not paying dividends thing again. O, I chose 20 because I am too lazy to do the custom tip, but we all should take the time because eventually they will replace 20 with 25 or 30%. JC

$29, is a great deal.

I meant to say the cheapest….. I am a maroon.😂

Times two for most cabins, times more with multiple people in the cabin. I think the stewards (god bless them) do 10 to 15 cabins daily (probably more). So 20 times 6750 is a pretty good salary by any standard. I can’t believe how few people understand math!🤣 Sorry, since you are my TA! And you are awesome. Have a great cruise.

In the countries where they live that would probably put them in the top 25% of citizens. Comparing here to there, without understanding how much better here is is a sign of complete cluelessness.

Uber is the easy and likely the easiest

Money determines elections, ie not the most people benefit, but those with money. I am pretty sure the multi million dollar homes people who spend 3 weeks a year in Bar Harbor, won the election. they are the lords of Bar Harbor not the citizens. They hate not being able to get an ice cream instantly when they are in the harbor. Pretty sure the poorest residents of Bar Harbor are for more tourists. Why wouldn’t they be? Please tell me why this is not correct. I bet you can’t. The people who own property are happy with their house being easy to get to, to go to the store, etc. Not sure that helps the poorer people, but who cares about them. 😂

On our Ovation transpacific sailing, I booked deck 12 aft in order to be near the concierge lounge, only to be informed prior to sailing that it was not going to be accessible by D+. I checked my key on the door a couple of times in the morning, since we were almost next door and the door never opened. So, my guess is the keys are programmed by level to open the doors. Think they do it for the DL or now crown lounge. JC

Kind of seems like a personal attack on the person who laughed… since we can all click and see who did that. Just saying. To the OP, sorry about your experience. Getting sick or injured in Mexico is a bad thing!

That is what I was referring to. Seems a bit sketchy to do this vaccine with a population that is almost exclusively in this age group. Especially on a cruise ship with limited facilities. Even if the chances of a negative reaction are only 1-2 percent, that would mean 3 or more sick people statistically. Of course, I have zero clue what the actual statistics are. Wish our good doctor would chime in with his thoughts. That is why, I will likely never get to go to the parts of Africa or the Amazon that require this vaccination. Although, I personally, would risk it to do this. Not sure my RN wife would agree. jc

That is irritating as heck! I remember when I was new to cruising when Renaissance (I think that was the name) went bankrupt, and the uproar here. I remember thinking to myself, I will never book any line that requires full payment more than 120 days in advance. That is why when I did a couple of River cruises, I refused to consider Viking. Even though I think Viking is probably the most financially sound river cruise lines. I am happy for my choice, because we went Avalon and when we were doing the Rhine Gorge, many larger Viking Longboats were doing bus tours because the water was too low. I have always been super skeptical in general of the US River choices because I have been to most of the cities they go past, and I would not want to just walk of the boat to visit. Kind of like many of the places on the African coast are going to visit on the WC. Then there is the pricing which is just stupid. Sorry this happened to you. jc

I was looking at a January 2021 cruise way back in 2019, and actually put a deposit on it or got close to doing so. It was on a smaller ship (not RC), it included 2 weeks mostly around South Africa, and a week visiting the falls, etc. I think I remember needing to get YF shots. I think they are recommended only for people less than 60. We didn’t get them. Covid happened and the rest is history. Probably never get there now.

Barely touches Africa

That was my only thought of your spiritual skills😂

I like Singapore for all the reasons you dislike it. 🤣 The MBS is amazing. Love your reviews. jc

Well, I hope it works out for you. I gave up on having the same cabin, as soon as I realized, I could save hundreds by moving each cruise. It is inconvenient, but I like certain types of cabins, and that usually involves the balcony and being able to dry my FlowRider gear. So, the kind rather than the specific is my goal. That said, I hope to meet you on a ship some day. jc

Ok, let’s make sure we at least meet! I am a FlowRider nut, so please come look for me at least once on the TA. We can have some drinks or colas. 😃

Driving on the wrong side of the road isn’t that hard. I mastered the roads about day 3… the shifting with the left hand and not the right is still a work in progress. 😂 heck. They may actually have automatic transmissions for the same price as manual these days. So, if you survive the first couple of days you are good to go, and don’t have to deal with mass transit. 🤣

@joandian I will let you buy me a drink on the Quantum!🤣 I will be at the FlowRider, you can find me easy peasy!!!😂

So, what cruises do we have in common, other than the upcoming Voyager ones? Check my signature. Twangster, are we finally going to meet!😉 jc

They will offer Quantum. They have to me. We are on the Solstice too. We are going to book the 2 two night cruises on the Quantum ending up in Sydney now, too. We will lose a night in Hawaii and a night at sea. I am ok with the new plan. Very confused why it took so long for them to do what they were obviously going to do for months. jc

LB, I may need you to remind me of your winery tour, when I get closer to booking excursions in 2025

Any new insights out there?