seasidemama

We'll be sailing 4th of July week. Wondering if there are usually any planned celebrations on board. We'll be in Coco Cay on the 4th. I saw that once in 2021 there were fireworks - but I don't think there was anything since. What has been your experience? Thanks!

This!

Personally I'm not picky. I'm happy with milk in my coffee and don't expect top quality free coffee from RCL since I never had it. BUT - there are people with dietary restrictions - as strange as it may seem - people on keto or atkins for example only use cream and not milk because milk has a high sugar content which is not allowed on those diets. Having to go through the special needs dept for half and half or cream seems ridiculous .. but if that's the plan RCL should make an announcement. BTW - the reason I never expect high quality free coffee is because I never had any since beginning to cruise RCL in 2019. Maybe this was different in earlier years. My point - people who are loyal and have been cruising with RCL for years are feeling the differences and complaining. People who are new and are just now starting to cruise with RCL think this is normal and have nothing to compare. This is RCL target.

I like the idea of a coffee voucher to be able to use anywhere on the ship - in addition to the drink vouchers in lieu of the coffee machine access..

I've never seen specialty lunch available on boarding day. Have Oasis and Anthem booked currently (as far out as January) and lunch options only start on day 2. Is there a trick to this? Thanks!

Looking to book Izumi dinner first time (oasis) and figure out scheduling. How long is the pre-fix dinner experience +/- usually? Thanks!

Hi all! My current sailing has the large balcony at $120 more than standard balcony. There are a few cabins available ending in 62 & 70 on decks 7-12 and then 644 on deck 13. I know it's not a large amount but wondering if it's worth it at all and if there are any pros/cons to deck. I also see that the cabin size shows a bit smaller than the standard balcony, but I didn't see any difference in photos/videos. We'll be three in a room. Thoughts?

They already do. This is how they are inflating the perception of demand. Listen to their investor calls..

Increasing the deposit + making it nonrefundable is a problem when booking in advance and plans change. Higher price for refundable was a decent compromise for people who need flexibility.

I agree, if JS are to be treated like the other suites, benefits should be increased.

Going on oasis this summer and not looking forward to experiencing the comments I'm reading here... Hopefully this is the exception and not the rule.

Dining quality has been substantially downgraded across the entire RCCL fleet. Aside from my personal experiences on three separate ships over the last 10 months or so, it's been widely reported in every single group and review... I am sure It's just part of their strategy in cutting costs and securing greater on board spend (specialty dining bookings) along with raising cruise prices to make shareholders happy. They are riding the wave of post covid lockdown bookings. The fact they are artificially creating hype by holding back inventory - making people book very well in advance thinking rooms will sell out - and then release more rooms slowly, each at higher price points is also a part of this strategy. I really wonder how long they can ride this "wave" before inflation/recession hits their customers' discretionary spend and people realize that the current pricing is about 3X higher with today's dollar value than it was 2019. Don't get me wrong, I like the company and product but I don't see the value in it I used to and plan accordingly. Regarding your plans and dining - I wouldn't decide on a ship thinking dining would be better on one ship rather than another. You can plan on itinerary and ship but not on dining unless you do the specialty (and even that has gone down in quality from what I read).

I agree about the carbon copy bit. It would be nice for an Allure amp to include different features than her sisters.

10727 just became available - is this better than 9325?

Depends how flexible you are on ships and dates. Explorer has some pretty good prices out of Florida.

what is the F&F flier?

Thanks so much! This is exactly what I was looking for. I’ve been on the Oasis before so I’ve seen the show the way it was meant to be seen. I plan on watching once from the theater this time around as well. I just wanted to know if the view otherwise would be nice enough and it is. I’m not usually in the room before 11pm anyway so not worried about the late shows.

Hi, first time booking a boardwalk balcony because of pricing. Always sail in Ocean View Balconies. I tried researching the different options and the closest to aft for my sailing is cabin 9325. The only other deck with cabins in the last four aft section is deck 14 and from reading posts I believe this will be obstructed by the bridge. Anyone have any photos or experience from 9325 or similar post abyss? The only video I could find was before this was installed. I'm wondering how un/obstructed the view would be of the Aquatheater. Thanks!

Agree 100%

I think it depends on the ship. I'm not loving the new menu but most nights there were good enough options. I was surprised to learn my children and I liked Indian food or at least RCCL's version of it. Disappointed that most nights that's all we had. Even on nights where we liked things on the menu that weren't Indian dishes - there were much too many instances of us sending the food back (lack of quality mostly - rubbery or tough meat, extremely salty dishes etc) and just reverting to that night's Indian option. The goat cheese tart had a microscopic piece of goat cheese on top of a very bland vegetable tart. The chicken dish with the puff pastry on top (not sure the name) was actually some broth topped with puff pastry and a piece or two of rubbery meat which was probably? chicken.. WJ has been sad to look at on Freedom and Harmony. Pizza is consistently a good option when you're hungry, but I'm not a pizza lover and that is my last resort usually. I used to really look forward to the dining part of the cruises. Now It's just mostly eating meh to not terrible food so that we're not hungry. Tenderloin and lobster were the exceptions.

Yes - I've had a lot of assistance with this when there were no appointments available (either regular or emergency). Google you local congressperson and contact their office. do this tomorrow. Good luck!

I don't think anything will ever be added back... It never has been. People get used to the new normal and move on. I do think RCCL are riding the wave of everyone can sail now and willing to pay for it after years of lockdown - same people not yet realizing their money is worth less than half of what it did just two years ago. Salaries certainly have not doubled, but the price of everything has. At least where I'm at. I think RCCL will ride that for a bit until cruisers realize how unaffordable (any) vacations are with the current state of the economy (for upper middle class and lower earners) and then prices would have to come down because RCCL will have a hard time filling ships again. RCCL is trying to recoup as much as they can until that needle moves the other direction. It's coming soon enough. Anyway, I digress. I have always seen cut backs but not once did I see add backs..

Got it. Thanks for the info @cruisegus and @klfrodo. This is what I was looking for. I didn't know the medivacs from the ship were free. I keep seeing on the boards mentions of these and was sure these were not free.

Not sure what you mean by self insure. We usually just cruise Caribbean itineraries. As far as risk tolerance, I just want to have something that would cover anything that may come up when on a ship or abroad, including medivacs which I heard can be very expensive - I just have no idea what that means. Is it $50K, $100K $200K etc.... We only have regular medical insurance and no coverages through credit cards.

Pricing different insurance coverages for upcoming trips. Anyone know what the recommended amounts are for cruises that would reasonably cover emergency medical and emergency evacuations? I'm thinking this would be the biggest cost if ever needed.