twangster

In the US insurance is regulated by each state so what's available for you for your purpose may not be the same as someone in another state. In some states acquiring insurance on short notice for a cruise that is close may have a lot of restrictions.

I'm also expecting minimal work in guest areas. Replace some broken windows and floor tiles maybe, but no meaningful updates. At this point on this class Royal appears to be doing the required maritime maintenance so they can maintain their certificate to sail and be legal to carry passengers but not much beyond that.

Yesterday the lot at T18 was full by 11am. They had us use a surface lot nearby for overflow which was a 5 minute walk.

I see a T-shirt opportunity. “I survived Labadee 2024”. …If we make it back to FL in one piece.

USCG had a presence at Guantanamo Bay until June 2023. It was common to see their helos swing by Labadee for a look. Unsure if they still have any sort of presence now that their mission there has completed.

Meanwhile... Liberty continues enroute for an arrival at Labadee tomorrow. I fear a sunburn if I don't take the appropriate precautions.

Yes it is quite common. The use of GTY offers can occur at any time for any siling or not all for any sailing. It's a tool they use strategically to fill ships based on historical booking trends. Be aware that if you do see a solo GTY offered it is often a sign that the ship has "studio" solo cabins which will result in single CAS points should you be assigned one. Sometimes you can call and request a solo booked into a GTY meant for two but recently I've been turned down more often for this request. Booking with a fake second guest works but will usually result in single CAS points when the fake is a no-show.

This is Wonder and a little blurry but you see that her air draft is offered to be 72m to the top of the stacks, 65m with stacks retracted which is as close as anyone can state to be an accurate guess for this class.

236m above the water line? Oasis is 72m above the water line when the stacks are extended with a stated draft of 9m but draft is an elusive number as it varies with a number of factor. The seafloor depth below the Great Belt bridge is ~10m so 9m of draft sounds about right. That puts the total height at ~81m or ~265 feet. Her air draft estimate was taken from this video:

Used to be called "The Two70 Experience". Maybe they aren't doing it anymore, seems like there is now often a Two70 production show on night one.

On the first night (typically) is a demonstration of the Two70° venue usually in the evening. It's held only once per cruise and it showcases everything the venue can do. Pretty cool tech.

Other than the real estate woes the overall economy isn't terrible. Japan went through something similar. The US has and will go through it again. My investment firm has a more positive stance on China compared to some opinions expressed on these boards.

Yes but a lot has happened since 2019. The booking trends and economy of China are wildly different post-pandemic compared to five years ago. Cruising came back very quickly in the US and Europe markets, less so in APAC markets.

I see the double Q class in China as a test to judge the ability to support a larger ship there.

It always appeared to me that the system was coded for the original DP340 dates that were July and August plus Holidays. Any cruise that had the word "Holiday" in the title was often automatically declined for DP340 except new releases where they had added the restriction yet. When they more recently announced the change to June 15 to August 15 my gut tells me that IT was unable to reprogram the reservation system, probably due to using antiqued platforms and databases, so it was still trying to use July and August. Since they couldn't reprogram the system for whatever reason they have just taken the DP340 out for many cruises and now it requires manual application by resolutions. This is the problem when a company doesn't invest in modern IT.

Celebrity has some last minute deals out of South America right now too. Solo included, but not AI for solo, X doesn't want solo drinking apparently.

April 16 Ovation has a repo to Hong Kong, does one cruise from there then has a repo to Beijing where she homeports starting May 2025. Yep, confused her with another ship.

I thought Ovation might start something new in Tokyo but it appears she is heading to China in 2025 after her dry dock in Singapore.

It seems like now on X when you see a reduced solo rate it means they are desperate to fill the ship. That and it's unbundled fares only, no AI fares for solo at reduced rates.

Iconic smells to enhance your vacation experience cost more compared to the year two+ smells from other ships. All part of the new ship premium.

Typically at the Starbucks on board is where I've always seen them. The "Been There" product line has been a Starbucks thing for a while now. I have a few from land destinations I've travelled to.

Navigator is part of the series and I recall seeing them when I sailed her in June 2023.

Deadhead repo with no guests. Rather than trying to repo to Vancouver first so they can carry passengers to San Pedro it appears they will sail empty from Seattle to San Pedro so they are legal with the PVSA.

They want to make sure you are not double dipping, submitting the claim to your primary health care insurance and subsequently filing a claim for the same expenses against your travel policy. Some health care plans do provide coverage outside of the US, it depends.

Some ships in this class have been using the Crown Lounge (former Diamond Lounge) for D+ and P when there are high numbers on board, banning D from the lounge during happy hour. When there are not high numbers of D+ and P the suite lounge is available to P. Both lounges have coffee machines that do more than basic coffee. The only problem I've had when trying to use the lounge coffee machine early morning is when it hasn't been made ready by the crew yet when I get up very early. I'm drinking a lot less alcohol these days so I sometimes use a CAS drink voucher for a barista made coffee at Cafe Promenade.