Deployment 2025-26 booking season begins

[cruiseboy89130]

23 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

for example I disagree with you that being inside a ship is all about drinking

I never ever said that!

All I said is:

a cruise where I'm trapped inside and with people barfing left and right (because they get seasick because of the to be expected high waves) is not my idea of an enjoyable time!

BTW trivia would not something I would enjoy either....

Edited June 9 by cruiseboy89130

[vjmatty]

59 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

I never ever said that!

All I said is:

a cruise where I'm trapped inside and with people barfing left and right (because they get seasick because of the to be expected high waves) is not my idea of an enjoyable time!

BTW trivia would not something I would enjoy either....

I must have misinterpreted the term “barboat.”  The Pacific Princess crossing did have some huge waves during the last couple days. Racks of dishes were falling and crashing, bottles had to be Saran wrapped to the bar shelf. No one got sick that I could see, although there were sick bags taped all over the ship in case anyone needed one. That ship tended to have very experienced cruisers. Hubby had quite the audience while trying to carry my sidecar, which comes in a martini glass, across the room to me from the bar. Managed not to spill a drop lol, but he’s retired Navy so it’s almost like cheating. He actually likes rough seas, but even for him it got a bit old by the second day, having no elevators and grabbing furniture to keep your balance.  Our ship didn’t get to Ft Lauderdale until after 8pm. Whether an Oasis class ship would move this much I don’t know. 

[cruiseboy89130]

28 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

Whether an Oasis class ship would move this much I don’t know. 

They move a lot because they are so high and not much decks under the waterline

[Blue Eyed Belfast Belle]

I am booked on the Feb Allure TA. I was on the Enchantment TA last May and it was rough...lying in bed the pictures were coming away from the wall! At least if we are staying inside for a few days on Allure at least there will be more to do

[vjmatty]

2 hours ago, Blue Eyed Belfast Belle said:

I am booked on the Feb Allure TA. I was on the Enchantment TA last May and it was rough...lying in bed the pictures were coming away from the wall! At least if we are staying inside for a few days on Allure at least there will be more to do

I was on that Enchantment TA as well and yes those first couple of days were rocky!

[georgemoe]

Considering our first TA for 2026. How would you rank the months best to worst? Does it matter East or West bound? TY!

[vjmatty]

1 hour ago, georgemoe said:

Considering our first TA for 2026. How would you rank the months best to worst? Does it matter East or West bound? TY!

May and October will always be warmer than March and December. Some people prefer westbound because half the nights will have an extra hour. 

[RobInMN]

2 hours ago, georgemoe said:

Considering our first TA for 2026. How would you rank the months best to worst? Does it matter East or West bound? TY!

 

31 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

May and October will always be warmer than March and December. Some people prefer westbound because half the nights will have an extra hour. 

Our thoughts on TA's is that we would rather have the long crappy flight at the front-end of our vacation and have the shorter not so bad flight at the end of our cruise. So for us, we booked the West bound TA on Allure for fall of 2025, and someday (post retirement), We'll be looking for an East bound TA (with a number of B2Bs in Australian & New Zealand preceding it).

[ONECRUISER]

10 hours ago, Blue Eyed Belfast Belle said:

I am booked on the Feb Allure TA. I was on the Enchantment TA last May and it was rough...lying in bed the pictures were coming away from the wall! At least if we are staying inside for a few days on Allure at least there will be more to do

Yeah Enchantment and Grandeur can have rough rides did 8 Cruises on them 1997-2002. These were Caribbean chasing named storm/Hurricanes. Would be walking along and felt like floor dropped 10ft. Only one Royal Ship I was on was worse in storms/waves, Sovereign. On one Cruise there was 4 named Storms/Hurricanes that week, we steered about them but Caribbean was all choppy with 15+ ft waves. After couple days there were Dozens were in Casts and splints on Legs or Arms getting around in Royal Wheelchairs and Crutches. Was first time I saw someone airlifted in a lay down Basket, this off the Pool Deck. Raining, windy and he started spinning around as they lifted him. Was Enchantment in 1997, he had a compound Fracture, Ship was 100miles west of GITO Cuba so not sure if US Coast Guard Helo was from that US Base or further away... Most likely Allure will be smoother then your last one in similar tall Waves

[vjmatty]

7 hours ago, RobInMN said:

 

Our thoughts on TA's is that we would rather have the long crappy flight at the front-end of our vacation and have the shorter not so bad flight at the end of our cruise. So for us, we booked the West bound TA on Allure for fall of 2025, and someday (post retirement), We'll be looking for an East bound TA (with a number of B2Bs in Australian & New Zealand preceding it).

I’m kind of the opposite because the long flight is a lot less crappy on the way back, since it’s a daytime flight rather than an overnight one. For some reason they’re also cheaper and I don’t have to spend miles for business class since I can find business seats under $1k. Also there is no short flight, since we usually either sail out of NY or Bayonne, or take the train and stay with the kids and grandkids for a few days.

 

Once I’m retired in a few years and don’t have to fit vacations into a 2-3 week box, the ideal thing is for there to be no flying. With Cunard crossings you can match up reverse directions so there is no flight necessary as long as you don’t mind staying in Europe for a week. 

[gumshoe958]

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

I’m kind of the opposite because the long flight is a lot less crappy on the way back, since it’s a daytime flight rather than an overnight one. For some reason they’re also cheaper and I don’t have to spend miles for business class since I can find business seats under $1k. Also there is no short flight, since we usually either sail out of NY or Bayonne, or take the train and stay with the kids and grandkids for a few days.

There’s less demand for lie-flat seats on day flights, largely because many corporate travel policies only allow employees to fly business class if it’s a red-eye.

[vjmatty]

2 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

There’s less demand for lie-flat seats on day flights, largely because many corporate travel policies only allow employees to fly business class if it’s a red-eye.

Interesting…. I don’t even need lie flat on daytime flights, just prefer business for the space and perks. 

[springaussie]

The port bookings in Grand Cayman October 2025 and the Saint Maarten November 2025 to October 2026 for Serenade are still on the websites. 

[Chiliburn]

2 hours ago, springaussie said:

The port bookings in Grand Cayman October 2025 and the Saint Maarten November 2025 to October 2026 for Serenade are still on the websites. 

The deployment has to be announced soon.

Edited June 10 by Chiliburn

[Robland]

20 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

The deployment has to be announced soon.

what website?

[FionaMG]

5 minutes ago, Robland said:

what website?

https://loyaltoyoualways.com/

 

And you can always just keep checking the main Royal website.

Edited June 11 by FionaMG

[gallagher123123]

On 6/6/2024 at 10:18 PM, Southern Dan said:

I want them to go in the opposite direction and do a 10-12 night on an Oasis class ship.  Sadly I do not think that will be happening unless you can do a Transatlantic which I can’t for many years…

Yes!!! I got off Symphony last Friday, which was my first Oasis class cruise. I absolutely loved it, but sadly didn't get to check out everything I wanted to. A 12 night sailing on an Oasis class ship would be perfect. I also wish they would consider making repositioning cruises from Florida to Cape Liberty and back. They could probably come up with some amazing itineraries if they really put their mind to it. I loved what was offered on the Tampa to Boston repositioning on serenade last year as an example. 12 Nights with stops at Grand Cayman, the ABC islands and Coco Cay before arriving in Boston. Would book something like this on an Oasis Class ship in a heartbeat.

[Blue Eyed Belfast Belle]

1 hour ago, gallagher123123 said:

I loved what was offered on the Tampa to Boston repositioning on serenade last year as an example. 12 Nights with stops at Grand Cayman, the ABC islands and Coco Cay before arriving in Boston. Would book something like this on an Oasis Class ship in a heartbeat.

I was on that Serenade Repo last Sept and it was amazing. I was booked on the same route for this Aug on Grandeur but it was cancelled when Jewel was redeployed to Boston.

[ONECRUISER]

10 hours ago, Blue Eyed Belfast Belle said:

I was on that Serenade Repo last Sept and it was amazing. I was booked on the same route for this Aug on Grandeur but it was cancelled when Jewel was redeployed to Boston.

Use to be a 13-14 nite Repo, one yr was 15 but that one was also Canceled

[springaussie]

Serenade is booked into Los Angeles 21 September 2025 according to Ports America. 

[FionaMG]

6 hours ago, springaussie said:

Serenade is booked into Los Angeles 21 September 2025 according to Ports America. 

That would be consistent with a southbound Pacific Coastal repo following her final Alaska cruise of the season, which ends in Vancouver on the 14th.

Let's see which way she goes from there... drum roll... 😂

[springaussie]

4 hours ago, FionaMG said:

That would be consistent with a southbound Pacific Coastal repo following her final Alaska cruise of the season, which ends in Vancouver on the 14th.

Let's see which way she goes from there... drum roll... 😂

Serenade also has a booking in Astoria 16 September 2025. 

[ONECRUISER]

4 hours ago, springaussie said:

Serenade also has a booking in Astoria 16 September 2025. 

Similar to Radiance's 8 day Coastal Cruise this and next yr

[Another_Critic]

18 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Similar to Radiance's 8 day Coastal Cruise this and next yr

Brilliance repo is 6 days this year.  I wonder if Serenade will be the same in 2025?

[Cruiser24]

On 6/6/2024 at 11:44 AM, ONECRUISER said:

Booked the PC Cruise yesterday, wasnt sure how long it'd been out

On Tuesday I finally got around to booking the PC cruise only to find that all balconies and suites were sold out.  I got up last night in the middle of the night and decided to see if there was availability.  Sure enough there was one balcony open.  I booked it immediately.  Today I checked again for friends and now they’re offering a guarantee balcony for $5000 for 2.  I paid $3400.  Crazy.