seasidemama

It might take a minute to catch up to RCI (like a year or two) but I don't think the the the new cruisers who are willing to pay the prices will replace the old loyal to royal crowd headed to bluer waters.. and the loyal to royal may not come back in significant numbers if happy with the products elsewhere. The new cruisers are more often than not shelling out the high cruise fares fooled by RCI's marketing for an "all inclusive vacation" experience bait and switch. Unlike those who are not new to cruising and RCI in particular, I doubt a good portion of the new ones realize when putting down deposits that they need to add thousands more for drinks/wifi/gratuities/decent food. I see lots of unhappy/confused new to cruising passengers on the various forums/groups talking about the unexpected added expenses.

If you're second ship to port, doesn't matter how early you get up..

Yes $0.75 😆

Just a theory - but is Jason Liberty being paid by a competitor? Looking on a macro level on all the changes since he took over it seems like a plan to sink both X and RC slowly but surely. Once the early bookings from last year and this year dry up, I wonder what 2025 1/2 and 2026 will look like. Once you lose long time customers to other lines and fail to provide value to new ones, very hard uphill battle to gain the same consistent booking numbers back.

I would tip him a bit extra to take a break... 😆

I've actually read really good reviews online. Haven't been impressed with Royal's food since last summer. I can deal with it and if I wanted to pay double, I would just book MSC yacht club for what RCI is charging for regular balconies with zero perks. Service on Royal's ship is amazing though. Won't fault the crew for corporate greed.

and they send the one without an indoor pool to do NE winter sailings.. Very smart decision indeed.

Boggles the mind, truly. 7 day round trip same old same old PC, Nassau, CC with 4 days of no outdoor time unless you are wearing a coat, hat and gloves. At the minimum they should convert one of the pools to an outdoor skating rink to pretend as if they are serving the market 😁. I can anticipate the surveys, all complaining about the solarium being overrun with kids... Lose for families and lose for couples/solos/adult groups. Isn't there another QC that has an indoor family pool other than Anthem?

Ice cream is only $1.50 extra at the windjammer.. 😁

FWIW I just got off Oasis. Solo. Second ship to port. I was off right when gangway opened. Headed to south beach. Took nearly 30 minutes looking up and down all rows of “free” lounges before finally finding a SINGLE free lounger last row right by the beach bed area farthest row from ocean. As more people came trickling in most families with young kids in tow- there was much loudly communicated frustration at the ZERO availability of “free” lounge chairs. Two separate families were loudly begging the bed “concierge” to pay for a bed… they were all taken. Having to shlep my kids from one “free” coco cay beach area to another in the heat on an “all inclusive” vacation scouring for a place to lay down for free would utterly ruin my “perfect day”.

5 night Liberty 6/29/24 three in OV balcony is just over $5K at the moment no drinks/wifi nada. Who is paying these prices?

aren’t you able to venture outside of the YC area?

These used to go for $199 (breezy bay and south beach)-$299 (chill island). They've been all $399 for the last week or so. I thought maybe they upped the price to offer a "sale" during labor day or otherwise. Nope, Labor day sale just launched and beach beds are still $399. I know that there are free options on coco cay and paying is optional, but when you're the second ship to port pickings are slim and finding lounge chairs to accommodate a family is frustrating - this from personal experience. I was always able to justify the convenience at $199 but $399 - nope.

Made me look 🙂 the Arvia looks AMAZING! but nothing out of US (let alone northeast) unfortunately.

MSC/NCL both very promising. If price is the only concern then Carnival is a very good option too. All three pricing at much less than Royal even when you factor in their packages that include drinks/wifi etc. Personally didn't care for carnival's atmosphere/clientele too much from my past experience and I've gotten much too much of that with Royal this past summer so looking to venture out. An international crowd might just do the trick.

Diamond $200 can't help with the current prices. You would need a Diamond $2,000 discount and even then you would still be paying through the nose... 😁

that's an understatement

It's not just spring. It's across the board. I booked a January anthem sailing about six months ago. Prices are now almost double what I paid and that's with the KSF promotion. Pricing Odyssey for 2025 and those are even higher yet. I certainly won't be booking any more at these prices and am shopping other lines who offer much more for far less.

Rooms are not sold out. This is just Royal's new marketing strategy. They are holding back rooms to give the appearance of sold out ships a year out. Makes people book what they think are the last available. Then more get release at higher and higher prices. I've been watching a few cruises for next year on Symphony, for months all they had were guarantee balconies. Now some of the sailings are releasing actual cabin numbers at about 50% more - and the guarantee were already almost twice what I paid for the Oasis last year for this year's summer sailings when choosing my own cabins. Up to the consumer to vote with their wallet. Lets see what 2024/2025 brings.

$42 on my booking. Not sure who is buying it at this price. If they included free room service including room service from MDR when MDR is open, plus a three night specialty dinner package it may have some value.

I can only comment on recent Oasis sailings. Several from this summer. Is this your experience on recent sailings?

Summer 2022 I booked a last week of June sailing out of Bayonne on Oasis for 2023. 2 connecting cabins. 2 ppl in each cabin. Total cost was $4,335 for both the cabins including port/taxes. Summer 2023 looking to book the same cruise out of NJ for 2024, same week: $$8,970 Thinking maybe we can squeeze all 4 in a room. Pricing my options: $7,034 By the way - all beach beds are now double in price in coco cay. went from $200 to $400. Chops +1 went from $89 to $99. that $118 inc gratuities for two specialty dinners that are just not that special.. Yes, the specialty dining venues are mostly empty. Some say it's because they are hiring less staff. When I was at 150 park a few weeks back, there were three waiters and four tables occupied.. I think they could have managed a few more customers if people were willing to pay. I used OBC I had and I'm glad I didn't "pay" for it outright. Was a nice enough dinner but certainly not worth the additional charge.

For half the price I will be trying it next summer. Last three on Oasis passengers were very very carnival like...

Last three on Oasis, it was shoulder to shoulder in the pools and hot tubs unless it was a port day, and even then the pools and tubs were mostly full (except when the pools were closed due to poop/vomit, which happened consistently once or twice each day). We did not use the pools. Walking through the promenade at any time but early morning, you needed to pack A LOT of patience, especially in the evenings... Coco cay - we were the second ship to arrive and had to scour a couple of beaches to find three lounge chairs together. Only places that were pretty much empty on the ship itself were the specialty dining restaurants. Handful of tables occupied at any one time. Walked into vintages one evening. I was the only one there other than the bartender...

On my last two cruises this summer I had a couple of specialty dinners on each sailing (150/chops/giovanni/izumi) - all of the places only had a handful of tables occupied when I was dining.