twangster

They still can be when there are 40 or more on Voyager class. I think the magic number is 40 on VY. Each class has its own threshold before they open a dedicated PL.

Mention this on your post-cruise surveys.

If you booked your September cruise through a travel agency by default that travel agency will be assigned any NextCruise booking you make on board. If you don't want that same travel agency to get the new booking make sure to tell them that at NextCruise. Depending on your 2023 sail date when booking in September there may or not be same cabin availability on both cruises of the B2B. Doing some research on your own will help narrow down category and cabin selection during the NextCruise booking process. royalcaribbean.com is a free website you can visit when on the ship wifi without a paid Voom plan. You can use that to search for fares and cabins if you so desire and you would like to stay in the same cabin on both cruises. Keep an eye on cruise fares starting now. By waiting until September to book your B2B it's entirely possible cruise fares will increase by a $100 or more in the interim AND cabin selections will reduce as other people book cruises on your dates. If the cruise fares go up $200 for each cruise between now and September and you get $100 OBC you've lost $200 plus you may find there are no common cabins available for both legs of the B2b so you might need to move cabins. In that scenario it makes little sense to wait until September to book your B2B.

Symphony's Central Park also looked "young" when it first launched. It takes time and lots of TLC for a Central Park on a ship to grow into the lush setting that the established Central Park's appear to be. On the Wonder inaugural I ran into Laszlo the man who oversees all Central Park installations across the fleet. He's well known and Royal gives him a lot of leeway to manage the plant life we all love in all the Central Parks across the fleet. Wonder's Central Park was installed based on the ship going straight to China. Once it was determined they would redeploy the ship first to the US then to the Med Laszlo knew not all of the plants chosen for China would thrive or survive in the US and the Med. Some will and the Central Park on Wonder has some species you won't find on any other ship. He told me he wasn't going to rip out live plants and install new ones just for the sake of making Central Park suitable for the US. He would cycle in new plants known to handle the US climate better as some of the plants chosen for China faded. He showed me areas in March where the process was already taking place. Some species just couldn't handle the weather and were starting to die off. It's a process that will take time but it will also cost money which isn't exactly in abundance right now. In a few years Wonder's Central Park will flourish and be just as lush as others in the fleet.

When you book one of these it will appear as a future cruise in the app and when logged in on the website under your future cruises. They assign a fake ship and a sail date well into the future as place holders. The ship will be "NextCruise" and the date will be something like in the year 2049. These are just placeholders until you pick the real ship and sail date. The booking number listed will be real and that is the booking number you'll need to pick the real ship and sail date.

The "Book Later" future cruise option is not a credit but an open booking waiting for a specific ship and sail date to be chosen. When you purchase one of these either at NextCruise or right in the app when on board you will be assigned a booking number just like the confirmation number you would normally get with any normal booking. That booking number will later become the actual booking number for your cruise once a ship and sail date has been chosen. The booking can be transferred to a travel partner before picking a ship and sail date. Once the open booking has been transferred your preferred travel partner can move it to the ship and sail date you tell them to. Once they do that it's just like a booking for a specific ship and sail date made at NextCruise. It can take a few days for the NextCruise OBC to appear on the booking once a specific ship and sail date has been chosen. The amount of the OBC will vary based on cruise length, cabin type and if you are solo or double occupancy. Single cruisers receive a portion of the potential OBC. Long cruises in suites have the highest potential OBC. Short cruises in interior or oceanview have the lowest potential OBC. If you fail to pick a ship and sail date within 12 months the entire deposit is lost. You have two months to pick a ship and sail date to get the OBC. For example if you wait 3 months after buying a "Book Later" to pick the ship and sail date there will be no OBC. It is not a Future Cruise Credit or a NextCruise "credit". It's not a credit at all. It's a real booking but one that lacks a specific ship and sail date. It's an open booking waiting for the ship and sail date to be chosen. You are putting down a deposit towards a cruise on a ship and sail date you can pick later.

In the US the Royal Caribbean cruise invoice lists the travel partner for that booking. The invoice looks different when a travel partner is involved. Using gray blocks to hide names and data... A cruise invoice booked direct: When booked through a travel agency:

Exactly! The extra point doubles your points earning! (in some cases). 😄

October is still within hurricane season. It isn't peak hurricane season and historic trends will reveal where most October storms go and how intense they are. Despite historic trends there is always the chance that an October storm doesn't follow the normal October patterns. With falling ocean temperatures October doesn't tend to be a month with the most impact from tropical systems but anything is always possible. July and August are also well within hurricane season yet they represent the peak of cruise vacation months. Most cruises in hurricane season operating on schedule. December through March isn't part of hurricane season at all yet it's very common for more waves and swell from winter storms making the water rougher at times. If your goal is sail with the least possible chance of some motion in the ocean then October isn't a bad month to cruise. Avoid winter cruising for this goal. If your goal is to make every port of call with no possibility of an itinerary change then cruising might not be the best way to accomplish that goal.

I've never taken the tender/ferry to Columbus Cove but I have seen it in use many times. I've always made my way back walking so it's not something I paid attention to. I'll pay closer attention later this month when I'm there, unless I get too Labradoozied by that point.

No more security building at Labadee... it's gone. All security done on the ships now like most other port of call.

It's the Royal section of CC so it stands to reason it should be inconsistent. PS - My live Alaska thread must have seemed dead as it wasn't live enough either, as with other cruises I've done live, some of which made it to the live area yet I still only have one live badge. However I am reminded that each live badge is worth the same as the first and means about the same. Zero.

Trying to consolidate them into this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2615839-crown-and-anchor-onboard-offers-all-levels-including-youth-allure/?do=findComment&comment=62483391

Pictures speak a thousand words...

Google "Carnival Project Pinnacle". During the same time that Oasis class was in the early design phases Carnival was working on a similar mega ship design but they ended up cancelling their project. Who copied who? We will probably never know or perhaps the aft air gap space between port and starboard is the natural conclusion when going wider. Considering that Oasis design started around 5 years before it launched into service the dry slides came well over a decade later. Carnival Pinnacle Project included water slides on the aft dropping the equivalent of what became The Abyss on Royal. Water is heavy and moving all that water that height for water slides would have an engineering challenge so a dry slide may be an inevitable conclusion. That is likely where Carnival would have ended up if their project proceeded beyond the initial proposal phase. As mentioned up thread at least the MSC dry slide isn't fully aft destroying the view for those inward facing balcony cabins. The good news is the competition will force Royal to innovate even more looking at Icon class and beyond because right now they may be starting to gather concepts and ideas for the next class beyond Icon.

A pretty big benefit of wifi calling through your cell provider is keeping your existing phone number in service and available. Since OP has a work component in their requirement it usually is not practical to inform the whole company and all your customers or suppliers they will need to sign up for and install 3rd party application to reach you. If I told my elderly parents they had to start using Whatapp to reach me on vacation that would have been a nightmare. For the same reason obtaining a destination based SIM card that has a different phone number is problematic. Everyone has my phone number. Everyone knows how to call it. People will see it's me calling them from my regular phone number when I place a call. Keeping your normal phone number is a huge benefit of wifi calling through your existing cellular provider.

It may be just a little premature to make such a bold statement. Or have the full details of the ship been released? I haven't paid a lot of attention to Europa. For years many Royal ships didn't have water slides. Then they retrofitted them onto many different ships. That wasn't innovative but understanding the market and adding features that guests were asking for. It was also copying other cruise lines that did usually put water slides on their ships. Some of what we are seeing may simply be the natural direction a ship designer is led when tasked with creating a larger platform. Ships can't go taller without become less stable. Length also has limitations based on the ports that are visited. Going bigger naturally takes a designer in the direction of going wider. Once you go wider there are still design constraints to keep weight distributed to end up with a stable platform. What do you do with the extra space on a wider ship? The air space in between may be a forced limitation of going wider. Absolutely there is a lot of copying in ship design. They all copy each other. That doesn't mean they haven't innovated in other areas.

I've worked on many, many cruises. If I have an important meeting that I can control in any way I schedule it for a port day when I'll have cellular options as backup. All satellite services are subject to rain fade. During heavy rain the internet will slow or stop altogether. I've never used Starlink so I'm not clear how it behaves with heavy rain. Murphy's law is very real when working on a ship. The internet will go out at the worst possible time when you need it the most. If that would be devastating to your bottom line then working from a cruise ship may not be best for you. Many people who understand that rain can impact the internet on the ship fail to account for the other way that rain can impact the internet when it's sunny where the ship is. Your internet data has to come back down to earth somewhere and if there is heavy rain or a bad storm at that place on earth the internet on a ship can suck despite your ship being under open blue skies with no clouds in sight. It makes no sense standing on a ship when it happens. "Why does the internet suck right now?". Until you realize the signals have to come back down to earth somewhere and maybe that somewhere is having a bad day. Then there is bad wifi. On a recent cruise the wifi signal in my cabin was bad. If I opened my cabin door I could use the internet. That meant hours in my cabin with an empty water bottle holding my cabin door cracked open an inch or two. You'll find there are very few public venues that are quiet. Many have background music which can be bad if you spend a lot of time on the phone or conference calls. On port days there can be emergency drills with lots of PA announcements. "This is a drill for the crew. BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!" over and over. If you are on a conference call, WebEx or Zoom call all that background PA stuff seems to never end. Libraries are sometimes quiet but then you may not be alone as other guests may be reading or playing games. Participating on a conference call where you have to speak doesn't work well in a library. It really comes down how badly you must be connected during work hours. Ship internet is far from perfect and it will fail you when you need it most. When that occurs (and it will) will your company survive without you or will you be fired? Time zones can wreak havoc on business hours. Hawaii, Transpacific and Transatlantic cruises have lots of sea days so great opportunities to work while on a cruise but the clock keeps on changing. Now you might be getting up at 2am to work but the good news you have daylight hours free to explore. Eastbound transatlantic were the most challenging. Happy hour events starting at 5pm on day one aren't so bad but several days later they are starting in the middle of an eastern time zone work day. Some itineraries work better for a work week while cruising than others. Some ships have better internet. Choose a cruise wisely for maximum business success. If your work loads can be done any time with minimal voice communication or interaction then working while on a ship can work if you are disciplined. Will family and friends understand that you have to work when they want to play? Cruising solo has its advantages when working while cruising.

Historically these types of events are not open to the public so no ticket sales. It's primarily a media event so media will be invited. Some social media gurus might get invited. Certain travel partners might be invited.

Both countries can be pretty unforgiving for what many consider to be minor infractions. Lots of unfortunate stories trying to get into the US from Canadians too, even for a short vacation.

I did do Quantum this year. During the month of August at some ports you can possibly see the salmon spawning in rivers and streams. Every trip to Alaska is an experience. Every trip is unique. Every month brings something different.

The Key also has dedicated times at specific activities like the zip line, flow rider or rock climbing. GS doesn't get this. On Oasis and Quantum class a GS comes with a Voom plan so that isn't a benefit you don't already get. Other ship classes don't get bundled Voom with a GS.

I'm going to keep an eye on the August pricing. If enough people cancel I may be able to jump onboard at a great price 🙂.

If it safe to assume that having redundant electrical distribution does not mean there will never be the possibility of a brief blackout? If a primary system experiences an issue to the point it is knocked offline the redundant system may be available but it may take a short period of time to bring that system online. Correct statement?

I think Nick Weir has developed hearing loss. When he goes on board and must tell the stage crew "Louder!". I've seen it mentioned in Captain's Corners and during Entertainment related events so you are not alone. Many people have noticed that Royal is cranking up the volume.