Tatka

Almost all boys and girls in US are playing soccer as their first sport from 5-6 yo. Well.. it was a case since mid 90-s when we moved to US. My son could not make high school team by 2000-x and he was playing recreational soccer (football) Soccer is probably #5 sports overall (tough competition I'd say), but kids and now adults know now. Mind you... this ship ICON is sailing in US probably due to high US demand and willingness to pay... 😉

If you buy it then it is worth it for you. Check what is included and decide.

We just walk with our luggage. Always. It makes this process so much easier.

We do this cruise every September now. People will probably miss Acadia now, but Boston, Halifax, St John and Portland are great stops! Weather can affect experience and our last one (Sept 7th) featured tons of wet weather, we missed St John due to hurricane Lee too, but weather affected many cruises this year. We LOVED it and are booked for next year again, Liberty also features nice entertainment. This is my movie It does not include great stop in St John that we missed. This is from a year before on Advanture and in Portland you can also do more than we did this time around

Exactly Diamond, Diamond+, Pinnacles receive Elite perks - they do not receive Elite+ or Zenith perks Elite, Elite Plus, Zeniths receive Diamond perks - They do not receive Diamond+ or Pinnacle So there is no point to compare 2 days of free internet which only applies to D+ .... And yes we like that there is reciprocity. Carnival umbrella does not have it. It does not matter how much you sailed on Princess or Holland, or Carnival, Costa, Seabourn you are at entry level on others!

We just finished our #60 cruise. 31 out of which was with other 7 lines. We cruised with 8 up to 2021 when we switched completely to Royal. We know that there are at least 3-4 lines out of our list which offer better food. Princess was our #1 together with Celebrity at some point. They had huge seafood buffets … and overall food was much better. RCI just works better for us now. Especially as we now cruise 3 times a year during colder season out of Northeast.

Princess is more “foodie” line, although our last cruise (New Year 2020 on Crown) was a bit disappointing in food department. My husband likes to order a steak. Even simple steak was not on daily menu. And other selections were nowhere near of what they offered in the past. RCI invests more in amusement.

You are comparing D+ to Elite. Celebrity has Elite+, but match only goes up to Elite. Celebrity offers Elite breakfast daily for several hours with Bellinis, Bloody Mary, Mimosas etc. As for drinks … yes menu is different, but it’s more extensive than what Royal used to have on limited menu, and you can get it in almost any bar.

Vegan dishes are already vegetarian, no?

I think #6188 did have deeper balcony … even though it was obstructed, which didn’t bother me one bit. Deck six didn’t have inside cabins, maybe that’s why overall rooms + balconies are larger?

Love sufganiyot even though I generally do not eat doughnuts. I wish we were on lady A for Hanukkah! Chag Sameach!

We were in cabins 12222, 10182, 6188 and soon 13190. All very spacious. It was 2 of us, but they really do have lots of space. 1,2,4 have beds by balconies and #3 the other way. #3 and #4 with obstructed view, but the last is due to overhung. We don’t have sues with either, but to avoid any issue, pick floors 10-12.

I cruise since 2003 and many things depend on cruise line. I do not see a huge difference on RCI.

About 9:45-10AM

I’d say cruising became possible to less sophisticated crowd. Although 7 years ago it was already not good old cruising. 🙂

Well, they are business which during pandemic (up to the end of 2022) kept loosing and lost about 22 billion dollars. They MUST be after immediate money to stay profitable. There are other ships of RCI which are not as expensive. I am not loyal to Royal (check my signature). We sailed with 8 lines for 17 years. We did get to D and then D+ in a process and we cruise more now. And we do it with Royal not even for perks, but for variety and proximity. If this was not a case we would sail with any other company. Royal was not even our line of choice previously. We only had 5 cruises with them up until 2016.

Exactly. There is no point to compare it to Celebrity. Celebrity is a great line, but it offers different experience which may cost less due to less demands from smaller target group. We sail without kids so we are happy to be on any RCI ships, but Icon class is not a priority at all for us. Priority is 5 full length 7 (sometimes 6, last year 5) - 12 (rarely 14 days) cruises spread out through a year. If Icon class comes to home port near us and won't cost arm and leg we will sail. Otherwise we are happy with other choices.

We became somewhat of loyalists 29 out of 60 cruises are with Royal. Lately all our cruises. And we are sailing on all classes which homeport in NJ (all classes), Baltimore (only Vision class) and Boston. We would sail with X again if they offer something better from following ports and price is competitive. I suppose RCI counts on people willing to spent $$$ on shorter vacations, on 1 vacation a year. I will wait. 🙂

It is a different product with different features. It is like comparing Disney to X.

On Quantum class it is only shows in Two70. Also on Anthem for example Spectra's Cabaret is running for 8 years so reservations are not necessary. You will find a seat. Maybe not on first show during your cruise (you probably still can, but maybe on balcony), but on consecutive. You can book them on ships WiFi.

We won't. It is like a year of cruising. 🙂 We'll wait till people satisfy their urge and excitement and then we will try it if it comes to our neck of the woods.

I am not sure and I do not want to guess. In any case.

I can provide examples of situations when passports where asked. When we attended casino in Germany We watched American couple asked for a passport in vaporetto in Venice (water taxi) by police In both cases DL did not work. I am not sure if it was right or wrong to demand passport ... but do we want to gamble (no pun intended) ? It easier to have passport and peace of mind. We are usually in good condition, we do not overindulge on drinks and we can watch our stuff.

We always take passports with us except for private islands of RCI or other lines. We are taking them not because we are afraid we won't be able to fly back. For this there is a procedure. But passport is our main document abroad. While we know that chances of using them are slim we had to use them in some situations during our travels, we also watched people asked for passports.

We had friendly staff even in January, but they were less organized.