mac_tlc

We have a house in Orlando near the airport so I looked at it, but with the prices, we will just rent a car one-way to Port Everglades and then one-way back to Orlando. mac_tlc

My thought exactly. Just what I was hoping for -- another blaring DJ making it impossible to talk to the person next to you. If I want that, I'll get it for free at Oasis Lagoon. Lately, Royal continues to confirm to me why I have no future Royal cruises booked. mac_tlc

Not me.

$130K of that $140k was for the first two people. Persons 3-8 were only about $1400 each.

No way I would book at those prices -- for a ship with 7,000 passengers. For fun, I did price out the Ultimate Family Townhouse for our group of 8; August 9, 2025 = $116,000 December 27, 2025 = $140,000 mac_tlc

From Royal's web site, under "Past cruises" Folio available by request at royalguestrelations@rccl.com or call 800-256-6649. I had to e-mail for mine from Oasis in August. No paper copy in stateroom, no e-mail. Took about two days . mac_tlc

We have a winner for the “understatement of the year”. 😂😂😂😂 mac_tlc

Have a great trip !!! mac_tlc

You are correct! mac_tlc

Right, on the balcony not in the cabin. mac_tlc

Have a great time, looking forward to your comments. mac_tlc

Yup. If you look at the deck plans, the SS are grouped in fours. For every group of four, the outside two do not have the pole, the inside two do have the pole. As an example, take cabins 10123, 10121, 10119, 10117. With pole: 10121, 10119 No pole: 10123, 10117 mac_tlc

Especially their suites and especially the new ships. Here are a couple of sample prices I was following. For two people. Beyond, 6N, 5/26/24, Sky Suite, $629 pppd MSC Seashore, 7N, 5/26/2024, YC Grand Deluxe, $452 pppd Symphony of the Seas, 7N, 5/24/2024, Grand Suite, $533 pppd Wonder of the Seas, 7N, 5/26/2024, Grand Suite, $1,006 pppd. Icon is even higher. mac_tlc

Diamond + on Royal, Elite + on Celebrity. No future Royal cruises booked, 3 future X booked (when pricing was sane). Booked Oceania Vista for November 2024 last week, booked HAL Koningsdam for January 2025 today. mac_tlc

Not too overly dramatic. As I recall, the charging for room service, cuts in Oceanview Cafe for dinner, reduced options and quality in the main dining room, increased prices in specialty restaurants, and overall increased pricing are not suite issues at all. But, keep pushing your narrative........ mac_tlc

I think all cruise lines count on that. When we try Oceania, we will have no basis of “then” vs “now”. It will be about what we experience. Probably inevitable comparisons to whoever we cruised with in the past, but no Oceania change or cut will be evident. mac_tlc

I believe that is the old policy. Bookings made as of 9/1/23 are subject to the new policy. I “borrowed” this table from a post on the O board: USD & CAD DEPOSIT & PAYMENT PROGRAM NEWBOOKINGS –SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 Final Payment Due 150 Days prior to Voyage For all cruises (all lengths) excluding Around the World Cruises CANCELLATION PENALTIES PH and below OS, VS, OC 181+ $150pp Admin Fee $150pp Admin Fee 180 -151 $500pp Admin Fee 10% of fare 150-121 25% Cruise Fare 25% of fare 120-91 50% Cruise Fare 50% of fare 90-61 75% Cruise Fare 75% of fare 60-0 100% Cruise Fare 100% oof fare Basically, as soon as you make the deposit, $150 of it is non refundable. For our Vista cruise, the deposit is $500pp. mac_tlc

I certainly have, for Oceania, Viking, MSC. There are some similar issues. Long time Oceania cruisers don’t like “Simply More”, change in cancellation/refund policy, seemingly frequent port cancellations. MSC folks don’t like that prices seem to be creeping up. But, in my review, there is nothing compared to the volume, speed and scope of Celebrity’s changes. And frankly, none of them seem to be affecting already booked customers. The butler change, with its accompanying lack of any communication, affects folks who booked over a year ago, including me. Yah, I’ve looked, and I’m trying a different cruise line. mac_tlc

The engineer in me has taken over on this. I have four random sailings that I am tracking through September and into October. We should be able to see something ——- or not. I’ll post the results. Can you tell I’m retired with no September or October cruise ???? mac_tlc

Thank you for your post. It is fair and non sensational and no CAPITAL letters 😂😂. We share some of your cruising methods, but Celebrity’s disregard for us on two recently cancelled TA’s coupled with the much much higher suite prices coupled with service cuts that are framed as offering the consumer “choice” has made us willing to look elsewhere. We will try a voyage on Oceania and see if we like that experience. We have not written off X, but if we can get a similar experience for less $$ or a possibly better experience for the same $$$, it makes sense to take a look. We love the Retreat on E-class and could have been happy with that experience for years to come but Celebrity’s decisions have made that very unlikely. BTW, we also have been Disney-philes with over 100 visits and remember the 8-ticket ride book that used to cost around $8! mac_tlc

We thought the production shows on Beyond were fantastic. Part of that is due to the stage and incredible display screens, plus the layout of the theatre. I believe that the days of contracting for top line Broadway shows on RCI are numbered. Wonder doesn’t have one and Icon has announced the Wizard of Oz, which is not quite the same as MamaMia or Grease. I doubt that Utopia will have one. It will be interesting to see what happens as the Oasis/Allure/Harmony/Symphony etc reach the end of their show contracts. Last month on Oasis of the Seas, there was only one production show (Cats) in nine days, with headline acts filling the gaps. For the first time in 50 cruises, we did not set foot in the Theatre. The Aqua show and ice show are unique and usually very good —— and you get to share them with 6500 - 7000 of your closest friends. mac_tlc

After the twice cancelled Fall 2024 TAs and were were given no options, we booked the Oceania Vista for its Fall 2024 TA. We will take our three booked Celebrity cruises, mainly because they were booked under a different pricing regime. Our experience will dictate if we book X again or try another line. mac_tlc

An alternative to Celebrity is anything that a person would consider instead of Celebrity, here size doesn’t matter. If it weren’t for Celebrity’s drastic price increase and flurry of changes/cutbacks, we probably would be booking a few more Retreat cruises. We love E-class Retreat. But, we are looking at other options . Personally, I don’t think Celebrity cares if I stray, or if I ever come back. I think they should, but they probably don’t. Sending them a thread such as this would not be a surprise to them. The only thing that will get them, or any company, to consider reversing some of their decisions is less bookings. Given that the next 6-12 months are mainly bookings made before the changes were made, it will take a year to know if our decisions to look elsewhere has any impact. mac_tlc

After getting cast aside when the Beyond 11/1/24 TA was cancelled— and being encouraged to book a replacement such as the 11/9/24 Apex TA — which we did and which was subsequently cancelled about a month later— and getting little in return , we have booked the 11/20/24 Oceania Vista 15 day TA from Rome to Miami. We were going to go with a Concierge Veranda, but a Penthouse Suite opened up and we grabbed it (plus it was close to the elevators which is very helpful). Even after adjusting for gratuities & beverages, it’s cheaper on a per person per day basis than a Sky suite on the Apex Now-October TA. Space wise, the Penthouse suite is closer to a CS. That dollar comparison is not even close. It’s not all about the dollars— but given X’s 2023 actions, it’s time to try something different . We haven’t burned the X bridge yet, but their prices and decisions need to change for us to run back. mac_tlc

Interested in your comparison of the two. mac_tlc