Engineroom Snipe

RCI has contracted with the Bahamas for a $600,000,000 improvement in their dry dock for enhancements capable of handling the mega-ships.

This contract does not address the current situation but will allow flexibility in the future.

RCI is starting to address the reality of having a local garage when unexpected emergency situations occur.

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

Up $5.50 so far—any reason?

General emotional positivity resulting from interest cut with no significant negative economic headwinds.

Everyone is still holding their breath waiting for negatives to appear.

The recession has been forecast for many years but the markets still have some legs yet.

My guesses as my crystal ball has many cracks in it!

😉

9 minutes ago, F27TW said:

 

We did notice this last year on Mariner.  The NY Strip on night #1 was pretty decent.  Night 2, it was smaller .. Night 3 even smaller .. Night 4 .. tiny and tough and gristly.   It was the same for several of us at the table (group of 12) who ordered them each night.  

 

Our servers were great about replacing them, but seriously .. does RC (and the "executive chef") think pax aren't gonna notice ?

 

Im guessing this is their way of pushing u to order the extra fee Chops steaks. 

 

 

My September 2023 voyage on Oasis:

MDR: NY Strip was really good one night and so-so to bad (gristle) two days later.

The Bistro during brunch on the buffet had NY Strip later in the week that was very good for lunch.

Food is subjective and the same dish can vary from day to day on the same cruise let alone on a different ship.

This is why I hesitate to ever say "I will never eat this again" or recommend a specific dish because it may be a completely different experience for the next table let alone a different cruise.

I have never had a complete cruise cancellation but it would be a big disappointment since my wife only gets so many vacation days a year and must plan them well in advance.

With such short notice, we would be scrambling to get something which would probably be at a much higher cost due to last minute flights and hotels just for starters.

Even with a reasonable compensation policy, money cannot buy the lost time.

😢

1 minute ago, RedSails1968 said:

Our waiter on Jewel told me that the lamb would “fall off the bone.” There was no falling off the bone and it clung so tightly that I would have had to pick it up and gnaw at it like Fred Flintstone. 

You could always get a "doggie bag" for Dino!

🤣

8 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

In the past we would sometimes say, “what’s good tonight on the menu” and then had the servers suggest what TO GET for dinner. They would say what they thought was good that night.  I can’t remember them telling us what not to eat.

 

I don’t even ask anymore what’s good that night if we even do decide to go to the MDR, because it’s the same menu over and over and over…..on every ship. 

And the difficulty on recommendations is that the New York Strip on one night can have a completely different texture two nights later as it might be part of a different shipment of meats.

I have one 12 pack ordered for a cruise in November and one 12 pack ordered for a cruise in April 2025 at reduced prices.

There are been no issues yet.

I ordered one 12 pack for our April cruise of this year and had no issues.

I have never been pushed about needing to order one 12 pack per person in the cabin.

I sometimes ask our waiter in a diplomatic way if there are specific items that evening which seem to only have a few bites missing as the plates are removed. Since I am second seating, first seating can be the guinea pigs.

He was also diplomatic to say which orders always appeared to get the clean plate dish awards.

He conveyed things in a positive way and I was not disappointed in his recommendations.

😋

7 hours ago, KSprite01 said:

2/3 of success rate

 

"Two out of three ain't bad.." (Meatloaf, 1977).

I am only repeating what  I have read for many years.

1. The Royal Up program provides data to RCI about how much more cruisers are willing to pay for an upgrade beyond their original cabin purchase. This type of voluntary information is invaluable for future pricing and we give it away for free (courtesy of many @Biker19's  postings).

2. Their are no assurances that any rooms are actually available for upgrade when offered. This is just a general canvass like a trawler spreading a bottom net not intending to catch any specific fish but to "see what is available" should they choose to keep what they find.

3. The final decision to keep the catch is RCI's alone. Once they make the choice of your upgrade, there is no buyer's remorse but to say that the buyer has remorse. Your room is what it is and RCI's upgrade is non-reversible. 

4. The invitation is not specifically tailored to any Crown and Anchor Society status.

5. The latest availability of cabins listed on RCI's website has nothing to do with the odds of you obtaining an upgrade.

I, like so many other experienced cruiser, would advise you to reserve the cabin of your choice that would satisfy your needs without a hopeful wish of getting an upgrade beyond your originally  selected cabin.

Do not gamble your hard earned vacation days and money "hoping" to get the cabin of your desire.

Just book it and enjoy.

21 minutes ago, twangster said:

let me know which year and I’ll join you. 
 

doh! That defeats the purpose.  You first! 

Oh no sir, you first!

Oh no, no, no, sir, you first!

Unbelievable how polite we can be to save a buck!

🤣

36 minutes ago, twangster said:

Hideaway and many other optional purchases will always have demand pricing.  

Demand pricing and dynamic pricing are synonyms which are always compared to "supply and demand" pricing.

Everyone, everywhere, stop cruising for one year, I want a highly discounted cruise!

😉

5 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Assuming your information is accurate, and I have no reason to believe it isn’t, one can conclude that people cruising out of Texas are willing to pay higher prices than people cruising out of Florida when it comes to Hideaway Beach (at least in the past). 

I think both Florida and Texas have great beaches available in season.

It is not like they have ski resorts and ice fishing as a specialty destination.

I have great beaches available to me throughout the year.

I enjoy Coco Cay and I am very happy to enjoy the included amenities and food.

I think the basic food included with Coco Cay has been superior to most of the Windjammer lunches I have enjoyed. Not that the Windjammer is in anyone extremely deficient, more that I do not need to pay any premium price on Coco Cay because that price does not significantly affect the food quality for one day on vacation.

I understand the cruise company is making more money from these add-ons. If people are willing to pay for it, it subsidizes my cruise and those who do not buy extras.

If it helps keep the ship economically afloat, have at it.

Thank you.

7 hours ago, nbajam said:

I think I win.  My Feb 15 Icon sailing has Hideaway priced at $99 with 0 discount offered.  That’s an easy pass.

Dynamic pricing yet again as they bounce the prices now and then like a fisherman's bait hook.

The highest price I have seen listed is $69. Your price is a significant difference even from my high prices.

12 hours ago, DutchCruiseFan said:

Wasn't Oasis 7 widely believed to be the last Oasis class?

No, you have to remember that everyone thought that CREED (2015), the seventh movie of the ICONIC Rocky series, was the last movie only to have CREED II (2018) in less than three years.

🤣

7 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

A gratuitous tip on the topic.

Excellent response!

Maybe you found my remark "superfluous".

😁

1 hour ago, Tlbecker1 said:

We enjoyed Hideaway, but we only paid $20/pp.  it isn’t worth more than that for us.

Add some insult to injury:

Our ship is the second ship to arrive at 9am with a larger ship arriving at 7am. The gangplank goes down at 9:30am. By the time we would get to any destination is roughly 10am. They announce at 4pm to start clearing out and get back to the ship.

So you want two cruisers to pay $108? As you stated, we paid $20.00/pp for a heated pool on our last cruise. That was a great deal. The food choices were not as good as the main island free offerings. The shrimp and fries were excellent but every other food offering was less than included offerings available elsewhere on the island.

The only advantage this part of the island has is the heated pool.

I leave that advantage as the ONLY reason to pay the price of admission.

NOT paying it on my next cruise in November.

Vision of the Seas in April out of Norfolk this year. Alcohol was served in various drink offerings. A bit early for me (cannot handle it like I used to). 

The band was great and I saw many people enjoying their libations.

If I was younger, this would have not affected my enjoyment of event no matter what time they had it.

🤣😃🤕🤢🤮

Always amazing how just mentioning the word "tip" or "gratuity" generates responses.

281 posts in six days.

If you search for the key words of "tips" or "gratuities" on Cruise Critic, it would take more than one year of reading to even go through half of them.

I just added one more post to read.

🤣

23 minutes ago, Heatherco said:

Thanks everyone!  We decided to risk it and go with an inside guarantee this time.  It is a last minute “extra” vacation so we really just want to get away and relax.  Figured we would save some money and roll the dice.  As long as it’s a bed we will be happy!

 

 

My wife and I did something similar on the Oasis out of Bayonne in Sept of 2022 and Sept 2023 for 7 day cruises. About 4 months before the cruise there were one week severe price drops and we booked. Both of the bookings were inside GTY cabins.

The ship was full and we had a great time. All cabins, as already mentioned, come with at least two singles that can be combined into a queen size configuration. Both rooms had a sofa that could fit two very comfortably with a chiller. Storage room was more than adequate for two people for seven days.

I hope you have a great time. There are an unlimited amount of spaces to relax and enjoy yourself outside of your cabin. We did not spend much time in the cabin except for sleeping. I tend to like smaller ships but if you go with the right mindset, there are some nice options available on the larger ships for activities.

19 hours ago, Laszlo said:

I can't imagine Septa or anyone else doing special busses for a cruise. Your talking about something happening once a week. My guess is maybe 10% of the cruises would use public transportation. Sure I can get to work via Septa but it would take a bus, to a train, to another bus and yet another bus

Maybe just wishful thinking on my part.

Quick follow up to most of the comments and yes, Septa does have many issues.

In 2026, summer, parking is going to be at a premium everywhere in Philly. The 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and FIFA will occur. Lots of associated events around these events.

A tourists bump is going to be filling up hotels and parking.

Make your reservations early.

Somehow, between now and the cruises in two years, I think Philadelphia Septa will create a special to get potential cruisers to this port via a public transportation option.

I have written Septa about providing special buses from the Airport and the Stadium to the port terminal.

If Philadelphia wants these cruise passengers to continue in the future on a regular basis, they have got to get the connections right and provide secure parking, possibly near the stadiums for such cruises.

I for one would like to see this new port destination work properly.

15 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

 I am way too cautious to play.  😉

Yes, I feel your caution. I have worked too many hours to just gamble on the stock market lottery.

I have only invested in super low cost S&P averaging investments for the past 45 years. A good reasonable return with very little drama or thought. Over that time, I have obtained an average 8.5% gain per year. Following the laws of 72, my nest egg and yearly investments have doubled every 9 years. My investments were small but time is a wonderful multiplier.

I follow all of the financial advisors and just find it ludicrous that my "hand-free" results have beaten almost 80% of them. I just do not feel the need to stress about that last 20% possibility.

The autopilot has navigated my investments well.

Everyone has their comfort level and expertise.

I would be the last person to profess I have expertise in the matter of investment. I just got lucky.

16 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I think he didnt dismiss them at all. His point was fear of a recession is overblown. He doesnt think the average cruiser is hurting that much and they can afford this experience. I didnt take it the way you are at all. 

 

I am rereading what you said. Cramer is a CNBC employee. Who are you speaking of that is arrogant. Cramer? Hes the one I mentioned seeing. He can be arrogant but not sure how much he cruises.

 

I'm not even sure why this is such good news. Issuing more stock? Where is the stock coming from being exchanged.  Rereading the news. Burst thru 153. Someone is sure buying. Hard to predict here for me. Take profits and run and rebuy lower or wait. August is a funny month. 

Understood. I guess I am not a Cramer fan.

You raise a good point about possible stock dilution if more stock "appears' without an explanation concerning its source.