Pcardad

We need some old school cruising...

It gets worse - it is also the name of the first ship. I heard the 2nd ship is going to be the SS Moneybags.

From early April...

Perhaps, but none of those things are being discussed in this thread.

You can still do this. To me, it seems they are simply offering additional options and many people prefer choices. Their primary duty is to their stockholders so they must feel this path will maximize return even if some guests do not like it.

With respect, this is not a change. You could always buy the cruise without the air. Until we see pricing and can make informed comparisons, all we know is that this is a marketing change. You never know - we might all love it!

$350 compared to tens of thousands of dollars for a cruise that is far more enjoyable with perfect airfare....and that's only if they are below Platinum. Sounds like a bargain to me.

Book, settle your air via deviation and you still have plenty of time to cancel before the penalty deadline.

Correct.

They will know the big picture but from a guest's perspective all that mattes is what it costs them, yes? That change, if any, we will easily identifiable. If it were me, I would call up on the last day in June and hold a booking for 5 days. Call back on July 1 and ask for a price on the same cruise.

Call and get a price for a cruise today. Call again after July 1. Compare.

From a stockholder perspective, that's a good thing!

We may not get these answers until after July 1....

I suspect the people on the ship simply didn't know or understand the answer...there is not a lot of out-of-the-box thinking at that level.

That's a licensing issue or a local country law, not a hardware issue. Perhaps Regent or Starlink is willing to share the reason - they certainly both know what it is.