twangster

FYI - the May 15 sail away is delayed until 6pm due to timing getting through the lock on the way to the sea. Apparently it’s backed up so that’s the time the lock masters have given us. No impact to itinerary.

In some places, yes! No concerns so far.

If I'm not mistaken it was supposed to converted away from a Villa on Liberty and made into two smaller suites or something like that. Maybe they are preparing for that.

Not trying to start anything but genuinely curious how often you use those protections? Not having them in the US hasn't left me feeling like I got screwed, even during the pandemic. Dozens of cancellations from various reasons like cranes falling on ships, sudden change in deployments, pandemic and others. Through them all I eventually am whole with Royal, no additional consumer protection laws required. Saved a few hundred this morning on a reprice for December 2024. I saved thousands on each of my Jewel Amsterdam B2B cruises leaving today. Between the two it's over $3,500 in price drops. If a US lawmaker asked me if I wanted more consumer protection laws but I would have to give up price drops I'd tell him "no thanks!", leave consumers alone.

Mine came back about 20 minutes ago. Boarding in Amsterdam this morning and lost everything in the app and the website for a few hours. All is back now. But this is why I print everything 🙂

Amtrak is not very reliable. Expect delays and possible cancellations. In the U.S. the freight companies own the tracks but have to provide access to Amtrak. However they don't have to give priority to Amtrak and they don't. Passenger rail services in the U.S. are nothing like Europe/UK.

I suppose this means Project Discovery won't have a lot of high tech on it. A theater most likely. Cover bands in some venues. Sophisticated or advanced venues? Unlikely.

Be careful when assuming rumors are true. In this day and age ten years at one company is a very long time. Nick's departure could be for any number of reasons. This includes that there needed to be some adjustments in his areas and he didn't like that. However without knowing details, which likely will never know, we can't draw conclusions.

I hit the automated system on the CAS 800 number so I hung up and dialed the not toll free number. It doesn't use the automated system (yet). I get unlimited long distance calling on my cell plan so it doesn't matter to me if it's not toll free.

I was batting .500 on Allure in the SL for drinks (small sample size). I went in assuming vouchers would be used and didn't try to manipulate the situation. The closest bars to me were the pool bars and I didn't want wine in a pool bar plastic glass so I went to the SL so I could get wine in a glass to enjoy on my balcony. I presented my gold card. He asked my cabin #, checked a list and said I wasn't on the list for complimentary drinks. I replied no problem, use a voucher. First time he did use a voucher. Next two glasses he didn't. Another day he did. For the four drinks I obtained in the SL over the 3 days only two were vouchered. I didn't use all six of my pinnacle drinks so it's somewhat a moot point. I'm also Prime in casino but never had to use that to go over my six. I think it's more work for the SL bartenders so sometimes they let it slide. YMMV. The SL was nearly empty during my visits. If I recall there were 26 pins on board. I ate in CK on day one only. It was the most tasteless filet I've ever experienced in CK. Oh well, can't be great everytime time.

Allure last weekend no email and no letter in cabin, but had access to SL and CK. Jewel next week and received "Access Granted" email 7 days before the cruise.

I'm not from Texas but the state flag on the ship never bothered me. Sure it's a Texas thing. Good for them. State pride. Nice folks on board too. Love cruising from Galveston. Good people. Voyager 2008:

The default is NRD unless you make a point of adding the refundable fee. Started long before the pandemic but junior suites becoming NRD only was a more recent change, like 2022 IIRC. Echo what others said, using a TA allows access to group rates when they are available, or refundable rates for non-suites. In the case of non-groups the upcharge for refundable may not be appealing.

Ships that stay close to the USA mainland use a Starlink gateway city in the US. From a Florida port this is typically Atlanta for example. Once ships sail further away the Starlink gateway city changes to another country, At that point ESPN+ doesn't see you in the US any longer and they cut you off. Just use a VPN.

If the glass blocks are important to you and you know you are a crossing a 140 (+70) threshold you should stop by the LA desk and inquire about the block while on the ship.

If you are trying to avoid the potential for a tropical storm you'll need to avoid May through October. Also, are you booked with a refundable deposit? If not then the cost to change dates should be included in your decision making process. Lastly consider that not all shows may be up and running in July. They may not be in September either but there is a better chance they may be. July is peak season and its the inaugural month for Utopia so fares may be much higher. Add the change fees and it may not be worth it.

Royal is so inconsistent with the suite product across the fleet. Only newer ships include Voom with full suites. Makes no sense.

If they are on ESPN or an ESPN channel in the mainland US then they might be on the ship. Currently the playoffs are running on multiple channels on the US mainland like ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, TBS, TruTV and TNT. On the ships without Playmakers they have two channels of ESPN Caribbean. This is not a mirror of ESPN or ESPN2 on the US mainland. Content on ESPN Caribbean often includes games not available on ESPN on the US mainland for a variety of sports. When the non-ESPN channels have the TV rights to the games it's a crapshoot if ESPN Caribbean used on the ships will carry the games. The May 8 Oilers/Canucks game is on ESPN but that doesn't mean the whole series is on ESPN. NHL TV coverage is very unpredictable in the US. Game 7 of Boston/Toronto required an ESPN+ subscription, the rest of the series did not. Trying to watch NHL in the US can be frustrating at times. The playoffs are slightly better in that the bizarre TV blackouts tend not be used. There are times I'm convinced the league is trying to discourage fan participation in the US. Sometimes TV rights end up with a provider who doesn't play well with others.

This brochure is now a little dated in that it does not include Icon or Utopia, but it does summarize the entertainment available on rest of the fleet fairly well: Royal Caribbean Entertainment Guide There are ships that have a Broadway show and an alternate Royal Caribbean produced show but there are no ships that have multiple Broadway shows. Royal has been shifting away from Broadway shows due in part to licensing costs but also other factors. Instead they have recently begun putting that money into homegrown production shows.

Until more is known it's way too early to ring the death bell on the ship. If a propellor hit something submerged that's like saying my car got a flat tire two years in a row, must be time to sell it. Plus if the issue last year was one azipod that has no bearing on the other azipod. Even if it is the same issue with the other azipod, with both fixed that would make her good to go for a number of years. So many variables need to be narrowed down before drawing conclusions.

I'm just going to say I'm highly offended (not really) that as a Pinnacle I only get 6 drinks per day versus D+ that get 5 drinks per day. D+ is 175 pts and P is 700 pts. So basically D+ is 0.25P or P is 4D+. If it takes 4 times the points to go from 175 for D+, to 700 for P, then clearly P should get 4 times the D+ drinks. Instead of the 20 drinks that P have earned, we get one lousy stinkin' drink compared to D+. Way to recognize those "most loyal top cruisers" as they like to say at top tier. D are getting the most bang for the point registering 0.05 drinks per point, while D+ are nearly half that at 0.0285 drinks per point. Meanwhile P are getting screwed at 0.00857 drinks per point! Based on the D 0.05 drinks per point, D+ should get 8 drinks per day and P should get 35 drinks per day! Oh the injustice! On a serious note, I'm afraid to tell my doctor I consume 6 drinks per day or 42 drinks per week on a 7 night cruise. My doctor would go overboard if only he knew. So I'm not overly concerned about this tragedy of inequity within the CAS. As an old guy my consumption has gone down and it's not uncommon to get drink fatigue in mere days now so this "rip off" isn't nearly as dramatic as my words make it out to sound. But come on man! Throw the more loyal cruisers a specialty coffee or an extra drink or two so I can get some extra bottles of waters to make up for the fewer bottles of water that get delivered to my cabin upon boarding now. 🙃 Or maybe take some of those 29 drinks they are "stealing" from Pinnacle combined with the 3 drinks they are "stealing" from D+ and give Emerald one drink per day. That'll give them a taste of the D life. Seems like that would be a pretty big carrot to dangle in front of the donkey to keep them motivated and a reason to climb the ladder faster and it would give Plats something to drive for that is attainable for less frequent cruisers. Plus it would make the tween Emerald tier something other than just awkward.

It's not uncommon for a common carrier, i.e. an airline or cruise line, to set policy that exceeds government immigration regulations or laws. It's challenging for an airline for example, to train tens of thousands low paid front line counter employees on all the nuances of passport and/or visa requirements for all of the possible scenarios. The person checking you in is not an immigration expert. It's a lot easier to create policy that covers the airline for nearly all scenarios even if that policy goes further than required by law or government regulations for a particular travelers actual requirements. Knowing the law and exactly what applies to your individual actual requirements may not be enough if you happen upon a check in person who is new or recently got their tail kicked when they allowed someone to sail who should not have. Some of the terminal workers, who are all contractors employed by a 3rd party, not RCI, will be sticklers for policy and some may let some stuff slide. It all depends. If policy is a 6 month rule, then the terminal contractor is justified to apply that rule even if it exceeds US immigration regulations for your circumstances. A previous cruiser may have slid through and been fine. That doesn't mean the next one will. At the end of the day we are all responsible to have proper documentation to board the ship. I hope you sail without issue, just be prepared for encountering a check in person who tries to enforce policy.

On Wonder it is climate controlled with A/C. However when in port there is often a desire to limit the amount of energy being consumed on the ship and the large solarium space is an obvious target to limit A/C. While some folks may stay on the ship, most cruisers leave the ship while in port so by reducing the A/C in the solarium they can reduce electrical demand and therefore they can operate in port with lower engine emissions knowing that most cruisers won't be using the solarium. In general terms while at sea they can also save money by turning up the solarium thermostat so the broader implication may be to operate the solarium at warmer temps to save fuel and money. They may not be completely turning off the HVAC entirely, it may still be operating just at a higher set point. So opening windows isn't necessarily a viable alternative. All part of the cutbacks I imagine, to lower operating costs.

Tampa Bay can be deceiving because it looks like a large bay that one might think ships could sail anywhere when in reality there are very narrow channels through the bay. In many places the channel is wide enough for one ship going in one direction with only a couple of spots where ships can pass if going the opposite direction. From C-MAP: Cruise ships start near the upper right heading to the bridge near the lower left. Once you zoom in you can see the narrow channels through the bay. There are cargo, tanker and container ships that use several smaller terminals. This can impact a cruise ship departure if an incoming ship has already begun it's transit, depending on the area it is heading to. It's not a straight shot either. There are a number of course adjustments during the transit. As a result ships move at slow speeds. Enough to be maneuverable but not so fast as to run the risk of leaving the channel when adjusting heading. In the winter months it's common to leave in bright sunshine and reach the bridge in darkness which has its own appeal due to the bridge lighting system. It can be cool at times of the year, as in chilly. Often a Captain will estimate the bridge time during their pre-departure announcement. Either a very early time or a later dining time are safe bets but there is no guarantee either will end before the bridge is reached.

Plenty of shootings in US home ports. Disappointing to see some of the mainland violence occur on Cozumel without a doubt, but they appear to be targeted.