Deployment 2025-26 booking season begins

[Barley928]

On 12/25/2023 at 6:37 PM, GimmeOcean said:

We are considering the Brilliance 8/2025 Iceland & Greenland cruise. Worth going through a TA for it? Any group rates?

Yes there are group rates and obc.

[cruisin from florida]

2 hours ago, Barley928 said:

Yes there are group rates and obc.

We put a hold on a suite guarantee the day it came out. By the time my TA looked (just a few minutes later, there were no guarantees left, and the group space JS were a lot more than we paid (7075 for two, including gratuities). So I just finalized the guarantee, and now looking forward to another great trip to new places! 

Hope the group space rates are good. See you in 2025! (I've started the meet n mingle for this sailing).

[cruisin from florida]

18 hours ago, springaussie said:

The Coming Soon

Normally defers  to the rest of the Deployment like Australia, Singapore, China and anything else.

We probably will not see this group until around Easter or even later. 

 

I just look every day at this point. They are dribbling out the cool itineraries, and the JS/suite guarantees go fast. 

[CFLRetired]

48 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

I just look every day at this point. They are dribbling out the cool itineraries, and the JS/suite guarantees go fast. 

This is what I'm doing.  Thank you

[GimmeOcean]

2 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

We put a hold on a suite guarantee the day it came out. By the time my TA looked (just a few minutes later, there were no guarantees left, and the group space JS were a lot more than we paid (7075 for two, including gratuities). So I just finalized the guarantee, and now looking forward to another great trip to new places! 

Hope the group space rates are good. See you in 2025! (I've started the meet n mingle for this sailing).

Suite GTYs seem to be available again but are a bit amount more than that (7831.42 before gratuities.). Looks like you got a good deal.

Edited December 31, 2023 by GimmeOcean

[Barley928]

4 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

We put a hold on a suite guarantee the day it came out. By the time my TA looked (just a few minutes later, there were no guarantees left, and the group space JS were a lot more than we paid (7075 for two, including gratuities). So I just finalized the guarantee, and now looking forward to another great trip to new places! 

Hope the group space rates are good. See you in 2025! (I've started the meet n mingle for this sailing).

Open the groups immediately we ly to lock the lowest price in.  Then my neighbors and friends pick what they want while price is guaranteed. Non group prices change as people are booking.  Just like airlines.  Demand up,  prices go up. 

[Scarlette]

On 12/31/2023 at 6:17 AM, Barley928 said:

Yes there are group rates and obc.

 

 

I am trying to find group rates for the sailing for junior suite guarantee and all the sites I am looking at are offering the same price I can find on Royal.  Do I need to call to get group pricing or will the price show on their website?  

I have tried about 5 TAs and cannot find a reduced price for this Brilliance sailing.

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, Scarlette said:

 

 

I am trying to find group rates for the sailing for junior suite guarantee and all the sites I am looking at are offering the same price I can find on Royal.  Do I need to call to get group pricing or will the price show on their website?  

I have tried about 5 TAs and cannot find a reduced price for this Brilliance sailing.

Group rates do not exist for Junior suites and above. 

 

You called some pretty uninformed TA's if they did tell you that Royal does not offer group rates on Suites. 

 

Group rates are only offered on select categories from inside to balcony and will never include the supercategory gty such as ZI, XN,XB

Edited January 1 by Ourusualbeach

[cruiseboy89130]

23 minutes ago, tottenhamfc said:

Wrong. It specifically said 48 hrs. You still readind the National Enquirer? 
 

Read Reuters. Pretty dependable. 
 

https://www.reuters.com/

Just look at the actual diversions..... nothing resumes after 48 hours - they are diverting everything they possibly can!

Waiting for the UWC to announce their diversion....

Edited January 1 by cruiseboy89130

[tottenhamfc]

1 minute ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Just look at the actual diversions..... nothing resumes after 48 hours - they are diverting everything they possibly can!

Waiting for the UWC to announce their diversion....

I dont doubt that but some of the reporting is lazy. There is no reason to give a timeline is there wasn't one. Barrons said the same also. Regardless it is a moving target as they will wipe these idiots out in short order. 

[cruiseboy89130]

2 minutes ago, tottenhamfc said:

I dont doubt that but some of the reporting is lazy. There is no reason to give a timeline is there wasn't one. Barrons said the same also. Regardless it is a moving target as they will wipe these idiots out in short order. 

Hapag Lloyd, MSC and Maersk are diverting 100% of any ships that have not entered the Red Sea yet.....well into February!

[yyzcruising]

On 12/27/2023 at 3:14 PM, Fraulein1965 said:

Yes.  Booked on Ovation TP April 2025 from Sydney to Honolulu.  Do not see this 1st leg from Sydney to Honolulu open on the website anymore, but see the second leg from Hawaii to Vancouver April 2025 still open.

 

 

On 12/27/2023 at 8:04 PM, Chiliburn said:

I was looking at that but it’s seems it’s off the market . I wonder what’s going on?

It looks like the cruise before the transpacific has been pulled also.

Ovation isn’t due for a dry dock March 2026 I believe.

 

This looks a job for @springaussie

 

Ya, were on the Hawaii to Vancouver.. but we're going to Aulani beforehand and the uncertainty makes the whole thing annoying.

[SherriZ366]

Is it the best guess that Wonder moving to either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami for short cruises and Utopia will stay in Port Canaveral for 3 and 4 night cruises?

Edited January 1 by SherriZ366

[Barley928]

6 hours ago, Scarlette said:

 

 

I am trying to find group rates for the sailing for junior suite guarantee and all the sites I am looking at are offering the same price I can find on Royal.  Do I need to call to get group pricing or will the price show on their website?  

I have tried about 5 TAs and cannot find a reduced price for this Brilliance sailing.

The group outright is closed and even if you calked grip is you are not an agent wirh the number they ask you fir they would not vice you group rates  I just liked and group pricing is listed as closed for that sailing on all categories. They had them earlier. 

[OCSC Mike]

50 minutes ago, SherriZ366 said:

Is it the best guess that Wonder moving to either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami for short cruises and Utopia will stay in Port Canaveral for 3 and 4 night cruises?

 

That's my guess b/c it seems more logical to me to just leave Utopia alone to do what she will have already been doing from the same port but it could go either way.

[SherriZ366]

Just now, OCSC Mike said:

 

That's my guess b/c it seems more logical to me to just leave Utopia alone to do what she will have already been doing from the same port but it could go either way.

That makes sense.  We have two back to back cruises booked on Utopia in 2024

[OCSC Mike]

3 minutes ago, SherriZ366 said:

We have two back to back cruises booked on Utopia in 2024

 

Every time I priced a B2B my TA had a lower price for Wonder during the same dates and I couldn't justify paying extra since they're so similar and you of course lose a little bit of your morning to turnaround day.

 

We did do a 3/4 B2B once though and had a great time just enjoying the ship and CocoCay x2. Enjoy!

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, SherriZ366 said:

Is it the best guess that Wonder moving to either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami for short cruises and Utopia will stay in Port Canaveral for 3 and 4 night cruises?

Yes 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, Barley928 said:

The group outright is closed and even if you calked grip is you are not an agent wirh the number they ask you fir they would not vice you group rates  I just liked and group pricing is listed as closed for that sailing on all categories. They had them earlier. 

Whether it's closed or not does not change the fact that Royal does not offer Junior suites at group rates. 

[SherriZ366]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Every time I priced a B2B my TA had a lower price for Wonder during the same dates and I couldn't justify paying extra since they're so similar and you of course lose a little bit of your morning to turnaround day.

 

We did do a 3/4 B2B once though and had a great time just enjoying the ship and CocoCay x2. Enjoy!

I priced Wonder against B2B Utopia cruises in August and December and in both cases Utopia was $2,000 less for a Grand Suite.  This was also close to Utopia cruises being released for sail.  I worked with the Next Cruise Desk for the August cruise.  

 

We did the Allure B2B in November and it was great -- we really got a good price for those 2 cruises as the sailings had just been released. 

Edited January 2 by SherriZ366

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, SherriZ366 said:

I priced Wonder against B2B Utopia cruises in August and December and in both cases Utopia was $2,000 less for a Grand Suite.  This was also close to Utopia cruises being released for sail.  I worked with the Next Cruise Desk for the August cruise.  

 

I've had this conversation before. Too many variables like sail date, cabin type (I was comparing group rates for interiors, there are no group rates for suites), etc. Some will have found Utopia cheaper, some Wonder. Glad you got what you wanted.

 

We were mostly looking at trying Utopia just for the heck of it. It really is almost identical to Wonder and as much as we enjoy CocoCay, we have at least one actual excursion planned for each of our upcoming Wonders so I think it worked out for the best.

 

I'll price them both again for June/July 2025 once released and play the comparison game again. Maybe that's when we'll wind up on Utopia.

 

14 minutes ago, SherriZ366 said:

We did the Allure B2B in November and it was great -- we really got a good price for those 2 cruises as the sailings had just been released.

 

We were on Allure's first cruise from PC in October thanks to a fairly last minute deal that popped up and coincided with my wife being able to squeeze it into her teacher schedule. It was a one-off 5N that wound up going to Cozumel instead of Labadee along with CocoCay due to weather issues and we had a great time as well. I was happy to get to sail her again before the two main ships at PC become nothing but new and newer, lol.

[SherriZ366]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I've had this conversation before. Too many variables like sail date, cabin type (I was comparing group rates for interiors, there are no group rates for suites), etc. Some will have found Utopia cheaper, some Wonder. Glad you got what you wanted.

 

We were mostly looking at trying Utopia just for the heck of it. It really is almost identical to Wonder and as much as we enjoy CocoCay, we have at least one actual excursion planned for each of our upcoming Wonders so I think it worked out for the best.

 

I'll price them both again for June/July 2025 once released and play the comparison game again. Maybe that's when we'll wind up on Utopia.

 

 

We were on Allure's first cruise from PC in October thanks to a fairly last minute deal that popped up and coincided with my wife being able to squeeze it into her teacher schedule. It was a one-off 5N that wound up going to Cozumel instead of Labadee along with CocoCay due to weather issues and we had a great time as well. I was happy to get to sail her again before the two main ships at PC become nothing but new and newer, lol.

I think your best bet is to keep an eye on release of new cruises for 2025.  You may get a good price for Utopia in June but check out late August when schools are back.  The 4 night cruise is the better of the two.  We did this itinerary last May/June on Indy and enjoyed it.  

 

I saw that itinerary for AL and thought it was intriguing (could not go then) and I would have liked Cozumel.  

[Barley928]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Whether it's closed or not does not change the fact that Royal does not offer Junior suites at group rates. 

That is correct.  Balconies and below only.  

Joyce

[OCSC Mike]

12 hours ago, SherriZ366 said:

I think your best bet is to keep an eye on release of new cruises for 2025.  You may get a good price for Utopia in June but check out late August when schools are back.  The 4 night cruise is the better of the two.  We did this itinerary last May/June on Indy and enjoyed it.

 

My wife is a teacher so no August for us (schools go back very early here). My TA already knows to put cabins on hold for the weeks we want once released next month (both Utopia and Wonder b/c I am assuming Wonder will still be doing 7N's until Star launches in August; something has to). We will likely book whichever is cheaper again as long as we don't consider them completely ridiculous.

 

12 hours ago, SherriZ366 said:

I saw that itinerary for AL and thought it was intriguing (could not go then) and I would have liked Cozumel.

 

We were happy Labadee was switched to Cozumel. We're not really beach people but we like CocoCay b/c of the included food and being able to use vouchers. The food at Labadee is not appealing and we're not interested in stuff like the coaster or zip line. The schedule changes also made sure we could dock at CocoCay... several ships missed it earlier that week due to high winds and rough seas while it wound up being moved to the end of our cruise.

Edited January 2 by OCSC Mike

[Barley928]

On 1/1/2024 at 10:27 AM, cruiseboy89130 said:

Just look at the actual diversions..... nothing resumes after 48 hours - they are diverting everything they possibly can!

Waiting for the UWC to announce their diversion....

Me too for May 27 Bulgaria and Russia on the Black Sea. This past summer they closed to cruise ships because of Russia.  I booked that 11 night portion WITH MY GROUP and we all have tickets home from Istanbul. Hope they still go there. Tickets are NOn refundable.  This is the end of our 47 day Cruising.  Whatever happens I have no control of and we wilk have to roll with it and file a claim with our insurance if they don't go and we lose our tickets..

Joyce