topnole

Wrong. Barcelona is notorious for pickpockets. Rome is too for that matter. Regardless, it is not like just any big city in the US. I’ve been to pretty much every big city in the US as well as Barcelona several times. It is not the same in any way. There are risk’s everywhere, but pickpockets in Barcelona are pervasive and the risk is quite high.

Of course if you bought it then you are making out great. However, at the time it was unknown if Royal would even survive or if cruising would fundamentally change forever and/or cease to exist for the mass market. Luckily things got back to mostly normal. But there was certainly a lot of risk involved, and that is why you now enjoy the reward (as it should be).

Did you find out how much the drink package is? Curious how the cruise plus that cost compares to the all inclusive cost?

Would you let your kids? I sure wouldn’t. I’m just saying it is very different than going to a beach city or on a cruise. There are obvious places in the US that one should flat out stay away from. But these are also pretty obvious and are usually very different than beach towns where folks vacation. I’ve been to Cabo. I know what it is like and for Mexico it is obviously relatively affluent given it is such a hub for all of the west coast US tourism. It’s been a few years now and dangers in Mexico have obviously increased a lot in the more recent past. I’m glad to hear Cabo feels safe to you. It’s very sad what the drug industry does to so many places.

There are a lot of places in Mexico that are very unsafe. Comparing it to the risk in the US is nonsense. If you got caught up in the middle of a drug cartel war, good luck. If you accidentally wondered into their territory and they don’t believe you are accidentally there, you are mince meat in the most literal sense. Sure, there are problems in the US, but they are vastly different and no where near the risk at a beach hotel. I would not let my kids out of sight at an AI in Mexico. I would be fine doing so on a ship or a land based resort in the US.

This was your reply to her comment about a lack of entertainment at AI resorts. It’s her opinion on entertainment value. But for some reason you told her that her opinion was off topic because she feels bored at AI due to lack of entertainment. But that’s her opinion on the value it provides with regards to energy. This guess you just didn’t understand her point.

Better than at some of the resorts where it wasn’t the actual liquor and it killed people and got many others very ill. That was in the Dominican Republic as I recall. Reminds me now that my neighbors did one a couple years back and said never again. They all got very ill during their stay. And they are world travelers including visiting what many would consider more dangerous places to visit.

One takes on some significant risks exploring in Mexico nowadays.

That’s the whole point. Everyone is giving their opinion. But for some reason you were objecting to someone else’s opinion and saying they were off topic as if their point wasn’t valid. But entertainment is clearly part of the value, albeit obviously subjective, so the comment clearly was relevant.

Everyone’s opinion is subjective so that makes zero sense. Entertainment is part of the value and that is what you said was being discussed. But guess what, value is subjective too? Her comment was completely relevant to the conversation because ships provide a ton of entertaining that AIs don’t. You’re not going to see an ice skating show, or and aqua show, or Grease at an AI. The AI is stayed at also didn’t have a casino or a flowrider. Those things are part of the value in cruising that would be compared to an AI.

Half of using Royal math would pretty much be full price anyhow.

Entertainment is part of the value for the money and all inclusive resorts absolutely lack what Royal ships provide in this aspect. Your replies to her are really confusing.

Agree. Entertainment at night is superior on ships. I went with a big group when I did an all inclusive. But I could see how folks could be bored at night without a group to hang out with.

FT definitely uses a lot of click bait type headlines and language in their “reporting”.

Figure $300 to 400 (max) for a drink package for 4 nighter and then compare total price to a resort. Most everything else is included onboard unless you want specialty restaurants. I’ve done an all inclusive and much prefer cruising. Others feel differently. I personally wouldn’t leave my teens on their own nowadays in most of the counties these all inclusive resorts exist.

If it was the suite lounge, they shouldn’t count against your Diamond drinks.

I don’t think it is age in general. Many in the older demographics love oasis class. Probably just how the OP is in general or how he is aging specifically. It’s not like roller coasters or physical sports where it tends to be a younger persons thing. But you make a good point about week to week. And he would need to compare it to summer on a “smaller” ship. Those could feel crowded too. Honestly, I rarely find crowds to be a bigger problem on oasis class than other size ships. Usually the opposite. So my experiences are clearly different than others.

Yes. You just can’t get the add ons like protein powder.

Yes, I’m well aware. That is why I said at most it will have one.

Interesting perspective. We feel different and loved Oasis class before kids and still do now with 3 kids. It is by far our favorite. One thing is that we don’t cruise in peak summer. Next time, if you try again, you may consider an off peak time. Of course your feelings and preferences are yours, so I’m surely not suggesting they are wrong. Just mentioning off peak might feel slightly different. Glad your son liked the flowrider. Warning, it’s addictive. I’d be there all day myself if I didn’t have kids now. That is the beauty of the flowrider. Every cruise I met people from teenager to 70 just enjoying the sun and flowrider most of the day. After a few cruises, I rarely went on a cruise where I didn’t know someone in line from a prior cruise. Another point on the flowrider for your son’s sake. If you do a smaller ship, it will at most have one flowrider, and you get way less time to ride on those ships as they split boogie board and stand up time. We like freedom class, but the flowrider situation on those ships was always a huge negative for me.

Not a fan of the port of Miami, but the suites check in process is nice.

Even at 10,000, the obc could be worth it to frequent cruisers (8-10 a year). That would be like a tax feee 8-10% dividend yield. Glad you are doing well with it. Just not my style to short term trade for numerous different reasons. But hats off to anyone who does well doing so. It takes a lot of risk tolerance to dive in and out like that and you have clearly reaped the rewards. But for every you, there is someone else who timed it poorly. Many traders get in and out assuming a lot of energy, research, risk, and stress, when they would’ve done better just buying and holding for a while. Different strokes for different folks. As far as Royal, I wouldn’t touch it as a long term investment. I can see why folks trade it, because traders need volatility, but some are definitely getting burned.

I had several that did the same. I have many stocks where I’m up 500% to well over 1000%. I’m a long term investor though, not a short trader. That is great you doubled your money, but you really missed out by selling it at 52. You could’ve quadrupled your money. That is the problem with trading versus long term investing. You have to time things and get lucky and when you sell you can miss a lot of the gain. I try to buy good stocks in favorable industries (growth). My annual returns have been great long run. And I don’t have to watch things day by day or worry about guessing to time something.

Yeah. Trading is certainly different than investing. But if you get 800 in OBC, you’re certainly getting a good return no matter as long as they keep the OBC deal. But people buying over 10k in stock to get $100 once or twice a year, well they shouldn’t be buying for that reason alone.

If you cruise enough it can make it worth it. But owning 5 figures in stock to get $100 obc here and there isn’t a great strategy. Basically the obc is like a tax free dividend. You have to determine how much downside risk to assume to want that dividend. I’d rather be in a growth stock and not in a company that is losing money and loaded to their ears in debt. But we all have our own preference and financial strategies. To me royal is not a good long term buy relative to other companies and if you buy it for obc, you need to be a long term buyer.