NateUpNorth

Viewed as a single transaction........ yeah, who cares, could be a million reasons why he wants to sell.
However............ he's a smart guy..... maybe he sees trouble OVERALL on the horizon.... even if RCL is a strong company

Rising tide raises all boats..... and when it goes out.......

 

24 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

A great option, but I'm not sure about the 100% when pricing is factored in. We've done a LOT of researching for the various alternatives to our usual line, Princess, given all the recent price hikes. We've sailed NCL and X a few times as well though prefer Princess. Apples to apples, HAL and X are very expensive these days and we also find that RCCL can also be too pricey. They tend to offer low initial pricing, but by the time you add a drink package  and all the "extra" charges, their prices are up into X territory. RCCL seem to have very high drink package prices, and charge huge amounts for the right to select your cabin ahead of time, which is a killer for us, as we don't ever do guarantees, we need to select our exact cabin ahead of time. If we have to compare RCCL and NCL, Norwegian comes out ahead every time on price. While we prefer the calm and quiet of a Princess or Celebrity ship, we've sailed NCL enough times and had no issues with them. For a group with young people, I would consider them a great option and in our experience quite a bit cheaper, especially for Canadians with our weaker dollar.  With young folks, definitely not Princess, HAL or Celebrity

Whilst I don't disagree with anything you've said.......... the OP was worried about the teenagers. 
I'd put the RCL Flowriders, Abyss, Slides, Teen Club, Zip Lines, Sports Court, Mini Golf (granted it's a limited course) etc etc  up against what other lines offer in this regard. (provided a ship with these options was available)

I would, however concede the NCL go karts seem like they could flag some teen interest!!!

Young teenagers? RCL 100%. 
If there's an Oasis class for those itineraries at that point don't even think twice.
If I had to pick a cruise line that attempted to be all things to both younger families,  and *ahem* those in a different age category...... it'd be RCL.
 

Some of the people around here...... sheesh
Two scenario's

A) kid checked a bag, panicked, got vague and less than helpful answers from Air Canada staff, tried for answers a couple times and then Air Canada pulled the pin on the nuclear option and kicked her off the flight

B) airport staff thoroughly provided clear and concise information over the Pearson loudspeakers that could be understood, then provided full and detailed information a second time when checking the bag, then when the kid panicked on the plane the flight staff also provided full and patient explanations before they resorted to removing her from the flight

I know which one I'm going with.


*never flown Air Canada, nor had any interaction with them lest anyone think it's sour grapes on my part :OL

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/air-canada-flight-vomit 
 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cta-fine-air-canada-1.7067154

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240222-air-canada-chatbot-misinformation-what-travellers-should-know
 

I can't remember 100% if we pre-purchased on Harmony, however Seapass card was definitely what was swiped to pay.

I do however remember that a decent amount of games were out of order and some charged the card and the games didn't actually let you play, so perhaps wait and check the arcade out when you board................

Guest services also said they would reverse charges for non-played games.... and to be fair they did for a couple charges. (not all the ones we indicated mind you)

On 3/20/2024 at 8:10 AM, Jezo said:

Not much of a snorkeling island then, eh?

 

I know it is, someone must have gone on a tour someplace..

Just responded to you over in the Bonaire forum.... LOL
We did Playa Piscado with Curacao Dreams.
Granted it's not a "boat tour". It's a van, drive to the "fishing pier", you swim in and get surrounded by turtles.
After this you go to a small beach for a few hours then back to port.
Great excursion, and the drive to Playa Piscado is a guided tour of the Island and its history.

Adding to the "Playa Piscado" vote.
Turtles everywhere.
We've also done Bonaire..... favorite snorkel spot ever.... however did not see a single turtle. 

On 2/16/2024 at 12:54 PM, Jezo said:

Anyone have any small boat tour operators that would take us snorkeling for half a day?  I am not looking for those big catamaran party boats on some islands with 100 people on it, I am looking for something with a lot less people that would take us to multiple snorkeling spots and maybe at most have some drinks on board in a cooler.   We want to see the fish, not see people drink until they need to be carried back to their rooms.

Woodwind
Catamaran and exactly what you've just described.
Short walk from the pier.

I like that it`s an employee, on the rare occasion the machines are open and working.

2 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

  I purchased three fast track for our outbound flight in September from FCO to the US (direct). 

We also travel in September, perhaps we'll be with you in line? 😆

On 10/25/2023 at 3:21 PM, phabric said:

I will be using FCO Fast Track on Nov 25.  Hope it goes as smooth as yours.

 

Out of curiosity as I have never been offered to be compensated to take a later flight, what was offered to you, is there a time period that it has to be used?

Was the Fast Track simple and easy to use? Is the premise that you check bags and get tix at the airline counter then through the Fast Track line with the pre-purchased QR code to get to security checks quicker?
Will be flying out of FCO later this year and any slight advantage helps....... 🙂
 

39 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I seriously don't understand HOW OP thought that a $3K price for 4 passengers during a spring break in an OV cabin was real. Two months in advance????   OP, have you seen the prices for RCI cruises lately? We have stopped cruising with them because an inside room for 3 on Oasis class was in excess of $4K for a 7n cruise during school breaks.

 

And the gratuities of $252 for 4 people for 7 days? That was a dead giveaway that something was glitching big time.

 

 well, you should have suspected it.

And yet every single seasoned cruiser (seemed like every single one anyone) jumped ALL OVER booking the $15(?) drinks package a while back....... should they also have not booked that?... cause they ended up getting it.......  🤔

46 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

RCI is expanding its customer base, not trying to focus on one demographic, cruise length, or country, over another.

 

Posters always ignore the fact that RCI is moving to new world embark ports, and most kids are in school 8 months of the year. 

Biggest gripes consistently in the RCL threads:
1) pricing
2) kids
3) food

I'm not sure the school year is a giant factor for many families booking vacations.
(yes, there are exceptions where families get "punished" for taking kids out, or simply cannot, but it seems more than offset by those that can)

A) people are paying it
B) they need to pay for the ship somehow
C) also, you are correct

Many people seem unwilling to accept that all 3 can be true at the same time.

On 2/11/2024 at 2:34 PM, lovelife said:

Chef's Choice just now received on Vision.

 

Surely you jest? 

Reading the letter I thought "how bad could it really be?"
Seeing those photos - sheesh - nobody would pay what they ask for those accommodations/amenities if they saw those in advance

9 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

We had these concoctions on Princess in May.  Seriously fabulous!  

I'm glad to hear that.
As with all things food and beverage I'm sure there's a healthy dose of variety in people's experiences with these.

On 1/9/2024 at 8:37 PM, qkd0314 said:

I TOTALLY agree! I just got off yesterday (1/8/24) and not only was the MDR disappointing, but the servers asking several times about completing the survey and rating them a 10 was extremely annoying and disruptive.  Not only did the head waiter ask, but also the person walking around in a suit as the supervisor (I assume).  Reminding about the survey on the last night would have been fine, but I didn't want to hear it every evening and several times.  I don't remember this being a thing pre COVID

I wonder if perhaps some of the lower grades for the MDR on surveys are resulting in corporate head office exhibiting some willful blindness and insisting it must be staffing, not food quality. (even IIRC that the two are separate questions on the survey) Obviously then they lean on staff to make up that discrepancy, which results in staff thinking they MUST have 10's to keep their jobs..........

People management by excel spreadsheet....... what could possibly go wrong?

12 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

There is a shop near me called Surreal Creamery.  They make these kinds of shakes, and the pricing is similar.

I suspect, and know I will be told I'm incorrect fairly quickly by some, that the shakes at Surreal Creamery and similar businesses will bear no resemblance to the ones offered by RCL on a cruise ship.
I would bet one is made with "real" ice cream and high quality ingredients, the other is likely made with "frozen dessert."
Not that I'd pay $18 for either, just an hypothesis.

On 1/7/2024 at 4:45 PM, codeyell0 said:

then they should have looked at a better option.  MSC has bunk beds that fold down into a couch 
here you can see the chair is now locked in.  and no room to walk by
you kind of have to leave the bed down or maybe ours was broken since it did not go down easily

We had the same configuration on Harmony.
Pullman beds 100% better on all levels for a 4 person room IMO.

55 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

I would love a single size snack section open on Windjammer.  

Whole piece fruit, cookies, pretzels and potato chips, baby carrot or celery sticks, single package cheese, biscuits or bread or even crackers, single serve peanut butter and jelly packets, applesauce packs, jello cups, etc.  Things that wouldn't go bad all night, but would be nice late for kids or adults. All of this could sit out hours with almost no issue (one employee would just need to be around to keep it up)...

100% this.
Keep a soda freestyle machine and even a soft serve "fozen dessert" machine available in there too.
Now I think about it some of the MDR dessert options could be single serve available too if they had 1 employee there to facilitate pulling a slice of cheesecake or apple pie outta the cooler.

Small warming station to do some decent sadwiches.

It could be done easily, as mentioned other lines have figured it out, but you'll never get the idea past the cost cutters.

Buffalo airport now closed to international flights. I wouldn't doubt domestic flights are being considered too.
If anyone was headed to cruise ports through Buffalo in the next couple days you may want to examine your options...........

I think Ambassador bridge in Detroit might be the next closest crossing?

2023-11-22
Heads up.......... all 4 Southern Ontario land borders / bridges closed.
Explosion investigation.

I expect this won't be over quickly and traffic on the QEW will be an absolute mess.
HWY 405 closed, QEW closing at some point before the Peace Bridge

Certainty, planning and purchasing before sailing are all great ways to attempt to drive more dining package sales pre-sailing.

Also as @firefly333 mentioned, possibly also a way of reducing financial exposure to the BOGO D+ crowd.

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

Cruise lines were the hardest hit travel industry during covid. They didn't get bailouts or PPP loans. They were left to rot. Yet they survived.

"Too big to fail!"

ummm....... err........ nevermind 😬