JKHawaii

When our Lahaina stop was cancelled in 2019 (Royal Caribbean), we spent an extra day in Honolulu.

Refueling Stop?

Cruise lines still losing money, trying to reign in costs.

Fuel is very likely cheaper in Astoria than in Vancouver or Hawaii.

On 4/15/2023 at 7:07 PM, bentl1 said:

We realized about two weeks ago ... I know Princess will refund the diff ... we've sailed with them for years and it's happened before. 

Recent posts on the Cruise Critic Princess board state Princess will NOT refund the "diff".

How about a swap of the Anthem & Ovation (Sydney/Alaska)?

Same class ship, so similar passenger capacity, but different shows (as I recall).

Unlike the Odyssey (or Oasis, for that matter), both ships have indoor family pools for the cooler weather.

And the swap would allow for 2 Panama Canal cruises, which Royal Caribbean seldom schedules.

On 1/24/2023 at 1:14 PM, Ret MP said:

A few weeks ago, I started a thread asking about the temperature in the Wonder's Solarium because I've read that it is completely enclose with glass, plastic, or whatever.  The popular answer was that it was too hot and too humid, even with a few windows opened.  I'm looking forward to going on the Wonder one day and I'll see for myself.  But, that is what my little unofficial survey produced.  

 

Good review though.  I liked it.  

I was on the Wonder for a Mediterranean cruise and the solarium was perfect morning, afternoon, eve .... for me.  But I can see how it could get uncomfortable in there on a warm and sunny Caribbean day.  For me, when it's warm and sunny, I like to be outside in the fresh air ................ if I get too warm, I'll jump in the pool or shower.  But everyone has different tolerances:  I often find the promenade or theater too cool for my liking, but it doesn't seem to bother other cruisers.  Personally, I like the enclosed solariums because I can hang out there on inclement weather days.

Another aspect of the Wonder solarium I thought were positive were that the solarium covering extended to the front of the area, so we never had to get up at 0-dark-thirty to find a chair that wasn't covered with a towel or wait until the forward section opened like on the Oasis.

Finally, the Wonder Solarium Cafe is larger with more inside tables.  On the Oasis, we usually had to sit outside, which was fine on nice days.  But then if you wanted to get a coffee refill or a danish, you were supposed to walk around to the port side entrance and then walk back out the center or starboard side exits, making for a big loop.  The Wonder had a table set up outside the cafe with drinks & baked goods.  And then when it rained on the Oasis, the outside tables weren't covered, so they were all wet.  I thought perhaps the staff would come around and wipe off the tables/chairs after the rain stopped, but nooooooooooooooo. 

I was on this 10-day cruise Jan 5-15.

The windjammers I've experienced on the Oasis, Allure, and Harmony were poorly designed for the number of passengers.  There are a limited number of tables on either side of the food islands, so most people have to look for seats towards the back of the windjammer.  There is no exit from the rear of the windjammer other than slogging back past through the food area to the front exit.  So you have to navigate already crowded areas around the food islands with plates of food as well as dodge people entering and exiting the windjammer.  There's not even room for a bar in the Oasis windjammer.  The windjammer food on the Oasis was OK to me, but the hectic experience detracted from the experience.

On the other hand, on the Wonder, the windjammer was moved down one floor to deck 15 and the kitchen facilities were moved from the center of the windjammer to another floor.  Thus, there is a nice entryway, spacious food islands, and walkways to navigate the windjammer without trudging through the food areas.

All of the chaise lounges in the Oasis solarium were covered by towels (not necessarily people) by 7:30 AM.  The outdoor area forward of the solarium was not opened until after 9 AM, so a lot of people had to wait for that to grab a chair.  Additionally, the solarium area is not fully enclosed, so you have to deal with wind & rain on poor weather days (yes, even Caribbean cruises have nasty weather).

Again, the Wonder has a fully enclosed, temperature-controlled solarium.  Add to the fact that the Wonder is nearly brand new and has other improvements, I prefer that ship.  I took the Oasis cruise because it was the only 10-day cruise on an Oasis-class ship this year, last year, or next year.  For the usual 7-day Caribbean cruise, I'll book another ship.

22 hours ago, njkruzer said:

They should as Wonder is a newer version of Quantum class. 

Having just sailed on the Wonder & the Odyssey (Quantum class), balcony rooms were similar with different color schemes.  The Odyssey has over-bed storage and the Wonder has more USB ports. The reading lights on the Wonder are about useless.

My vote is for Wonder of the Seas.  It seemed like they went the extra mile to enhance almost every area.  Highlights for me were the enclosed (climate controlled) solarium, blue-themed carpeting, split closets in staterooms, & relocated Windjammer.  Plus, with a new ship, everything is pristine.

I recently "spent" most of my C&A "coupons" on the Newcastle Brown Ale on tap at the Ale & Anchor on the Independence of the Seas ................... also on tap @ O'Sheehan's on NCL.

Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean's choice of brews is most likely dictated by the masses.  I frequent BJ's Bar & Grill, which has a zillion beers on tap, and more often than not, people within earshot order Bud Light or some other light beer.

Food For Thought:  I have an upcoming cruise not on an Oasis-class ship on which Royal Caribbean removed a port stop, citing "port congestion".  I calculated eliminating that stop will shorten the cruise distance by over 600 NM, saving a ton (pun intended) of fuel.

If cruise ships can cruise at a slower speed, they can shut off one or two engines.  In 2008, Celebrity changed itineraries due to fuel price increases, saying fuel consumption on the new Solstice (at that time) would be halved by reducing speed from 23 knots to 15 knots.

Whatever the reason, I would expect many more itinerary changes as cruise lines deal with massive fuel costs and debt.

Wow!  I'm just amazed by this blog.  A year ago, we couldn't cruise at all on Royal Caribbean.  Now, despite huge losses by the cruise lines during COVID shutdown, coupled with much higher fuel, food, etc, costs, staffing problems, and the need to cancel St Petersburg stops due to a WAR, we have people whining because the ship can't drop you off at the front door due to the constraints of the cruise terminal ...................... even though the city apparently offers a free shuttle.

After spending thousands on my cruise in August, I'll just have to spend another 20 bucks or so to secure reliable transportation back to the ship if I have to.

First world problems, just have to shake my head.

All Riga Voyager of the Seas stops this year are at the SIA KRS dock.  Voyager, being one of the, if not the largest cruise ship to visit Riga, is a tad too big to dock at the berth near the old town.  The planned Riga RoPax cruise terminal near town will not be ready until 2025. 

Voyager is in Riga today, June 23, & June 30, so perhaps someone on these cruises will be able to post  the transportation options.

20 hours ago, bigeck said:

We left at 5pm. I got the bus in and walked back. I was back for the back of 2. Strange street you walk up. It has a canal running down the middle of it

That "canal" is the Aarus River.  It used to be paved over, called the Aboulevarden.  In 1989, it was decided to uncover the river to promote recreation and enhance the environment.  Project was completed in 2015.  Hope to visit in August.

Apparently, the Voyager was pulled from the 2023 Baltic cruises in favor of the Serenade.  It's been hard to fill the 7-night Voyager cruises this summer, due mostly to the removal of St Petersburg from itineraries.

Sounds like essentially, the OP wanted to do a "lift & shift", the program that died 1 Feb 2021.

Doing a quick check, there are online options for the 7 May 2023 Serenade TA for a suite guarantee with free gratuities for about $4500.  There are oodles of Jr Suites available, as pointed out previously, and you may even get a lucky upgrade.  So if it were moi, I would collect the refund from RCCL and re-book online.

Of course, I guess it's a moot point, due to the OP's sad farewell to RCCL.

As for me, I always think twice before booking ......................... and then I book anyway ................. shame on me!

On 3/30/2022 at 10:28 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

Another con is you're limited to the legacy airlines, no Southwest, Jetblue (they partnered with AA so this could change), Breeze, (if you can tolerate the following) Spirit, Frontier, Sun Country or Allegiant along with no basic economy.

I would beg to differ:  not flying Spirit is a PRO for me.

Was also on this cruise .................. weather was spectacular except for temporary clouds on the sea day.

In Nassau, although wearing masks outdoors is required per ship announcement, nobody cared if you wore one outside the port (police car even passed us while walking maskless on a quiet road without stopping).

There was a checkpoint to access the Atlantis complex ............ they just wanted to see our proof of negative covid test which we took before the cruise.  And masks were required inside Atlantis.

I did find it odd after so many cruises that we never saw or heard from the captain.  I understand the need to isolate from the general population, but not even an announcement "from the bridge"?  We didn't even know his name, as he (or she?) was only referred to as "the captain".  At the top tier event, the hotel director gave his little spiel, saying the captain was busy with some issue. 

With the stealth captain and proximity to Cape Canaveral, I'm wondering if Elon Musk has been working on self-driving cruise ships!

Celebrity App should tell you when check-in will be open ............. was around 30 days prior for my January Apex cruise.

I read that deck 6 was being used for initial quarantine of new crew, so I don't know if there were any positive COVID cases on deck 6 on my cruise.

At any rate, on the Celebrity Apex, we were moved from an IV 6127 on deck 6 up 1 floor to 7120 deck 7 IV.  I received no notice from Celebrity before the cruise, but figured it out when the new cabin assignment was on the Xpress passes I printed a few days before the cruise.  The baggage tags still displayed the deck 6 cabin.  Thanks to Cruise Critic, I had been alerted to be on the lookout for deck 6 cabin switcheroos!

Further, 3 days before the cruise, Celebrity cancelled the excursion I had booked with OBC and didn't reimburse my OBC.  I didn't realize this until embarkation when there were no excursion tickets in the cabin.  

So I had to go to Shore Excursions and find out what happened and ended up rebooking the excursion.  The next day when the original excursion cost had still not been refunded, I had to trudge down to Guest Relations and plead my case.  Fortunately, I had saved prior emails showing the excursion booking and onboard credit balance (although printed copies would have been better due to the slow internet while trying to access my emails).

After contacting Miami, they did some "midnight" accounting and restored the cancelled excursion OBC.  However, I was never credited with my travel agent's $50 GAP OBC that was on a little card in my stateroom upon embarkation.  I figure I'm supposed to be on vacation and I had spent enough time resolving the excursion situation without additional hassle.  C'est la vie!

On 1/18/2022 at 2:02 PM, nelblu said:

See list

SUPER, THANX!

From my sailing last week, I believe the criteria is 1% of passengers & crew COVID postitive.

I don't see the D+ specialty restaurant BOGO or free bag of wash 'n fold on the Royal Caribbean website.

Just returned from Jan 8-15 Apex Western Caribbean.

Cruise was fantastic!

I know British Air, American, Delta let you select seats before final payment ....................... any other airlines that allow pre-final payment seat selection?

To the chagrin of a some folks, the reason this topic keeps being posted is that many, many Celebrity cruisers are unhappy being forced to pay for drink and WIFI packages they don't want.  Captain's Club benefits or not, seasoned cruisers can see through the "Always Included" marketing scheme as a money grab from people who are forced to pay for these add-ons.

It's not about abnormal circumstances due to the COVID either.  I just booked a balcony cabin for 2 people on an 11-night Baltic cruise on Royal Caribbean for August 2022, gratuities included, but no drink or WIFI package.  The comparable 12-night Celebrity cruise would be $3000 more.

The price for my January 2022 Apex Caribbean cruise is now double the price I booked for a year ago sans "Always Included".

I've enjoyed my cruises on Celebrity, but I'm not paying thousands more for pretty much the same cabins, staff, and food as in the past just so Celebrity can gouge me for drink & WIFI packages I don't want.

We'll see what happens ........................ if Celebrity ship bookings are sufficient, then they can continue the marketing plan.  If not, then they'll be forced to revise the policy.  In the meantime, there are other options for my precious vacation dollars.

23 hours ago, jagoffee said:

With everything going one how can you possible know that any price increase in due to the Always Included change?  The shutdown of cruises for such a long time, the generous L&S program, and the bonus FCC have created a massive demand.  Perhaps the price increases are related to those events.

All I know is the cost of the January 2022 Apex cruise I booked at the beginning of the year is now double what I paid.  While some of the price appreciation may be due to the factors cited, does anyone think Celebrity, in a cash crunch,  would just throw in free amenities during a period of "massive demand"?

So whatever percentage these "always included" amenities cost the cruiser, I personally would be paying for unlimited drinks & internet I don't want or need.  Everyone has to look at their needs and decide for themselves.

For myself, I'm just not paying $2200 per person for a 7-night Caribbean cruise balcony when I can book a ship like Royal Caribbean's new Odyssey of the Seas in the same month (January 2022) for less than $1200 per person with gratuities included.