the penguins

you would be surprised at how hard it is to do research even when you have done a few cruises and know what to look for let alone when you are new and don't even know what to ask. We did our first Princess cruise last year and it never occurred to us that the widths of the entrance door to a standard balcony cabin would be so much less than on S Class that we would need to fold my wife's Rollator to enter and exit. Nor that the corridors are so narrow that the Rollator had to be folded every time we had to pass a Cabin Steward's trolley. Nor why Independence of the Seas has a number of "stand alone" disabled toilets whereas Silhouette has none. By "stand alone" I mean with direct access from outside without first having to go through/into the conventional single sex part. Sorry about your Michelin star restaurant. 🤣

you would. Frankly a lot of people just read the adverts and book. When in the UK you see offers for 3, 4 , 5 different ships /cruise lines/itineraries often in one full page advert and each has a price for inside, ocean view balconies and suites it's not so surprising that people think that the accommodation will be very similar. Experience tells you otherwise and indeed it's often only after passengers have done a "Cabin Crawl" or two that they begin to realise just how many options are available.

Not in our experience. We get it from X for booking onboard - and then we transfer the booking to our Agent. Refundable OBC from our Agent on every cruise. Shareholders OBC on every cruise. If things go wrong on the ship GR's solution is usually a bottle of wine (which we turn down as we don't drink) or some OBC which we readily accept.

I was referring to the class of ship rather than the cabin split. However when you look how the ship is marketed in the UK you would be forgiven for thinking that the "balconies" were exactly the same as on all the other classes of ship a decision that may come back to haunt them.

I tend to ignore the Royal ship as the decision was made at the same time and by the same senior team. However it's the scale that sets X apart - take for example the Edge which on Deck 9, excluding suites, has 12 cabins with true balconies against 162 IV's and the other decks with cabins are the same.

Sorry I didn't miss it but perhaps misinterpreted it - I read it as though you thought it was a great idea - clearly not what you meant.

Your logic is flawed. X is experiencing record bookings across the fleet I.e in all cabin classes and ships. In some markets passengers have no choice as there are only E class ships e.g. sailing from the UK. We will only know how successful the IV balconies are when X introduces it's next class of ship. To date no other line has followed X down the IV route including Viking which has many of this cabin type in it's river boat fleet but chooses not to have any in it's ocean fleet.

the daily onboard planner has so many errors it would spoil the fun if it was suddenly to become accurate.

if your don't prepay the tips they are added to your account every day. Any OBC will be set against all the charges on your account starting with non refundable OBC and moving onto refundable - all done on a daily basis.

Not the same as MDR where with Select/Anytime Dining you simply say sharing pleaze as you check in and X does it for you.

Footstools- no and yes. No - not as standard Yes - we offer the Room Steward $20 cash for 2 Footstools and that has only failed once.

I have been following this saga with it's wide range of interesting views/comments/suggestions and offer the following summary: You cancelled a cruise due to a medical issue and accepted that the cancellation charge would be 100% You will receive a full refund via a combination of a refund from X (taxes|) and your insurance. Your travel agent fulfilled their obligation by making the booking and presumably handling the cancellation and are therefore entitled to their commission. OBC as it's name suggests is for Onboard therefore as the booking was cancelled there is no OBC. However if there was any possibility of the value being returned in cash then clearly this would be paid to the Insurance Company and not yourself as they are the ones who have now paid. CC points are awarded at the end of each cruise but as you didn't sail no points are due. We to have experienced a similar issue as I collapsed at home on the morning of departure and it was a "toss up" between which would arrive at the house first: our taxi or the ambulance. The ambulance won by about 20 minutes. We called the cruise line (Royal) and advised that I had just been taken to hospital and they refused to discuss any form of refund until the cruise had finished on the basis that I might join the ship later - not likely as it was a Transatlantic. Once the cruise had ended Royal sent me an email confirming the full cost, the sum being refunded as fees and my insurance refunded the balance withing 7 days of me submitting the documents. We also "lost" our Crown and Anchor points for the cruise which would have moved us to Diamond+

For us that is one of the major draw backs with Aqua - sharing tables at dinner is one of the things we look forward to.

I wasn't I was simply illustrating how X adapts to different markets. In the UK and Europe anything that has to be paid i.e. port fees, taxes etc must be included in the basic price. In the US/Canada it shows these costs as an extra. In Australia and New Zealand it chooses to add the tips as well. All X's major competitors adopts the almost identical charging patterns.

they may have another issue, or at least they would have in the UK, as they have in effect two insurance policies for the same event. Here if you make a claim one of the questions the insurance company would ask is if you have any other policies. The company you claimed against could well then claim half the costs from your other insurance company which in turn could see your future premiums rise from both companies.

different rules in the UK to the US. Our (the UK) system is much simpler as our Travel Insurance covers: the travel/cancellation, baggage, injury, and medical in one policy. Plus we can get an Annual Policy that covers an unlimited number of trips (usually up to 31 days per trip) worldwide with the option to increase cover and to travel for longer than 31 days.

Many will agree with you but from X's view point 80% of it's passengers are still from the US/Canada and in the US adding tips/sales tax is an accepted way of life. Book on the UK/Europe sites and X includes port fees and taxes in the base price as it's illegal not to. In Australia/NZ Celebrity includes tips but you pay a price for this as all onboard costs rounded up.

All X's major competitors use an almost identical system and have tips at roughly the same rates. The way tips are split varies for example Princess pools tips across the whole fleet whereas with X each ship and indeed each cruise is a cost centre in it's own right. X is open about how the tips are split and you can get a copy at Guest Relations and I also attached a copy to my Post 22.

100% agree and no one expects you to pay more. X's tips on drinks is 20%.

Glad the Royal system works for you. However X's system is much better for us - at Elite + we get unlimited speciality coffees/teas/chocolate (hot and iced). Lots of free water and sodas in unopened bottles and cans from 5 to 7 to last 24 hours. If we drank alcohol free drinks 5 to 7 plus champagne, mimosas and bloody Mary's at the Elite Breakfast. Smoothies at the Elite breakfast.

Just the items shown on the menu plus sodas and water - you can several of these in cans/bottles.

best bet is to go to the Roll Call connected to your specific cruise where you will see if any of your fellow passengers are organising private tours which usually offer much better value. Much is made of X's guarantee that you won't be left behind but in reality the offer is that if you do miss the ship X will get you to the next port and most other reputable operators offer the same. Another alternative which is our preferred choice, is to book a private guide yourself and then get another couple to share the costs. Lots of companies offer this service and we tend to use Toursbylocals as you can tailor the tour to meet your exact requirements (we take out lunch and most shopping and add coffee/cake breaks. We look for a guide with a vehicle that holds 6 to 8 and then share with one other couple as we like the space.

We always choose Seiect/Any Time dining and regularly have solo passengers join us. When you check in each night just say "sharing please" and the staff will be happy to accommodate you.

they do but according to the OP table selection is no longer an option - I was giving a suggestion of how it might be possible to get a particular size.

Table size is never an option on either fixed or any time dining. Pop down to the restaurant as soon as the desk opens (usually as soon as Muster Station/drill closes) and express your preference - we like a 6 and always book any time for 6.30.