BArtisan

Has anyone done the math lately? I keep bouncing around trying to get the best ship for solo at the best price. What do you think? This would be for the latter part of 2017 or even early 2018. thank you!

Your least expensive sailings are going to be right after Thanksgiving and the first two weeks of Dec., then 1st two weeks in Jan after New Years Eve. Check out the Freedom of the Seas 12/9/17 ~ 8 night cruise sailing out of FLL

Oh sorry--I think I left this out of the original post, but I do two kinds of cruises ... smaller cheaper ones solo (mostly NCL studios so far), and then suite/concierge ones with the significant other (those are the once/year splurges). We did Princess for that this year, and we loved the Royal. But on those we spend a lot of time in the room chilling out, whereas when I'm solo I like to walk the ship a lot and check out what's going on, see shows, etc. Princess was a little sedate for that (although far more lively than X). Still, I wouldn't rule them out for a cheap inside solo trip, and we will almost certainly sail them again in a suite.

 

And I suppose RCI is drawing me merely because I haven't tried them yet.

 

I appreciate the ongoing responses, sorry I haven't had more time to respond.

I have sailed Anthem 6 times to date, 4 times solo and I'm booked solo for 1/14/17 as well. Also booked on the Harmony for 2/25 & 3/4 solo, 1st time for the Harmony, but have sailed the Oasis & Allure previously ~ you cannot go wrong w/ either. I make friends with Cruise Critic members prior to sailing and we do things throughout the cruise as well as in port together and have a ball - sometimes we make Main Dinning reservations together or many times do the specialty restaurants. You can make anything happen that you want to. i.e. sail away parties leaving each port. I just sailed the Freedom in Dec. had 32 people on my balcony (The Presidential Suite) and every night 10 -12 people hanging out. Plus the people that you meet onboard love to do many things throughout the sailing. I need a vacation from my vacation at the end of every cruise. :)

I know a number of you probably will hate this. But, there's no need to have others negatively impact your cruise. You choose to be seated with others at dinner. It's a crap shot. Most of the time, it will be good conversation, and learning experience, or just fun. Other times, the horror stories will occur. It's your choice. You can not be seated with others at dinner. Most cruise lines have that option now. It's not like it used to be. So you really can't complain about a selection You made.

One bad experience out of 40: Actually, I dined at a table, that the family was (shall we say horrible/atrocious) that my wait staff kept asking me if I wanted to move to a different table very single night of the cruise.

Looking for people that are sailing on the Anthem 1/14/17 that are interested in Scuba Diving in Barbados and possibly St. Kitts. Dana :)

Thanks everyone! I 'll look into both of those! Fantasea sounds awesome!

I just dove w/ Fantasea Oct. 18th, the week following the Hurricane. Nice dive boat, located on the same pier where ships tie up. Seamless operation. We did two dives 35' & 30' both wrecks about five miles off shore. Visibility was fair for hurricane season. Did it Bucket list item ~ but, it's not the Caribbean.

Enchantment is that way. There is one PC that travels her a lot. Tall, thin guy. Solo. Kinda full of himself, though

That might be Colin. British gent, longer white hair in a pony tail, very reserve and resides in FL now.

On the other hand, one concierge on a recent cruise told us that on some of the sailings on the smaller ships, the top cruiser had between 250-300 points.

I believe that is because someone who has done that much sailing to achieve upper D+ and pinnacle, has already done the small things and now they desire the latest and greatest. Look at the bookings for the Harmony for the next year and the ship has not even hit the water yet.

But they sure sped it up by giving bonus point for solo and including JS in the suite bonus

Even RCCL recognized that it would be only fair to award points to someone who pays twice as much as someone else in the same cabin. Then look at the price difference between a J/S and a balcony, again the points were paid for, nothing is free on RCCL.

Budgeting $3,300 for JS in October and November. 6 total, 2 will be solos for Laura. BTW, we are still working, Laura gets 6 weeks vacation

I knew that I should have been a nurse! :)

Probably between 100 and 105. Won't know until fall 2017 is booked.

My mental note basis for pricing out a 7 day cruise out of FLL in a G/S on a class of ship below Oasis is 5k per cruise, not including air of any other additional expenses. Then working outside of those perimeters the price only increases. In essence, 20 cruises equates to a minimum of 100k for every 280points for me. I do find solace in fact that the casino did contribute to paying for a few of those sailings along the way. :cool:

I agree with your pinnacle club estimate but imagine there are quite a few inactive ones. I also agree that there are not a lot of 1400+ cruisers. Perhaps it is an anomaly but I have encountered a double pinnacle on several of my last sailings and I find that surprising. Most C & A members consider it a Herculean task just to reach 700 points.

Unless one lives very near a port terminal, In reality it is extremely difficult to attain 700 cruise points. For ten years now I have sailed in G/S or above and thrown in a 4 solo cruises only to amass 349 points. People do other things for vacations aside from cruising. The normal person with present vacation plans from work, can attain about 28 days a year give or take a few days. What I have noted, is that people upon retirement will do 9 -12 week consecutive cruises to play catch up.

I have turned down comp'd cruises offered by Club Royal frequently, because on normal offerings of 3-4 day cruises it does not warrant the cost of the airfare and other than a 5 day cruise to Bermuda, I will do no cruise less than 7 days - blink and it's over.

Dana, you keep using "days" when you should really be saying "points". In reality, if a PC Member had 1400 cruise days, they could really have more cruise points due to the cabin type they had booked in.:D

My mouth was running faster than my brain. It's all part of my dyslexia. But, you are correct, none the less. I stand corrected and will elect to make the conscience decision to utilize the word points in lieu of days in my verbiage from this point forward in all of my communications.

On another note, why would you not want to dine at the Chef's Table? I am on the same cruise in March as you and I will go in your stead if you so desire. ;) Dana

That sounds like an urban myth to me. Emerald is reached after 55 points, not 35. So if someone wrote down 350 and left off the zero it would be 35, not 55.

Really?

I think I started the conversation "As I was told"

My point being, the Emerald was placed at the wrong point in the tier system for whatever reason.

It was cruise credits back then. 1 credit for completing a sailing and then.....

 

1/1/2003 ~~ C&A extra credit for 12+ night cruise.

 

1/1/2004 ~~ C&A extra credit for booking a JS cabin or above.

 

so the maximum number of credits one could earn per cruise was 3.

 

January 21, 2011 they changed it to 1 cruise point per night and 1 extra point when booked in a JS or above.

 

When the conversion was made, many lost points and then many gained points.

 

At that time there were 164 C&A Members that had 100+ cruise credits which, when converted amounted to 700+ points.

Yes, you are correct. I was not looking to be so technical. But, the people who made out huge were the people that had numerous 3-4 day sailings and received the full credit for a seven day cruise during said conversion.

Personally, I did not find that fair to everyone else, but then there are some Pinnacles out there that physically reside on the ships as well. i.e. Super Mario with over 5000 cruise days. When I just sailed on the Anthem 11/30 the top Pinnacle was at slightly over 1,400 cruise days with # 2 coming in at around 1200+. Either way you look at though, that is still quite a bit of sailing and nothing that I would ever see in my life...unless I moved to FL. The Air Fare bites in at times and then also, being coupled with work constraints are major contributors that affect most peoples ability to sail away at leisure.

I sure thought the same thing but am beginning to have doubts. I bet if RCCL had it to do over again they probably would put D at 175, D+ at 350, P at 1000 and another P level. Another P level might sound crazy but there is a surprising number of double and triple pinnacles (1400 & 2100 points).

Actually, as the story goes, the Emerald level was to have gone to the 340/350 level and someone taking the notes left off the zero and it was not noticed until after all the printing was done.

You have to remember prior to the days to using a day for a day which is actually Holland America's plan v/s when it was One point for each cruise taken plus 1 point for a G/S or above. The entire plan was not thought out very thoroughly, it was extremely myopic and just hastily thrown together with some clueless big shot signing off on all and now we are faced with corrections made every few years to keep things in check. Just watch, in another ten years it will be Pinnacle +.

And how do you know that?

 

I love CK. Right now I only find suites to be worth it on Oasis and Quantum classes. If they were to add CK to other classes, I would definitely consider booking suites on the smaller ships

What I was referring to was the two new ships being built now in the Oasis and Quantum class.

If it goes well and is found to be a major enticement to draw suite guest, It could certainly go onto the Freedom class. But the consideration would be that the highest and lowest cost cabins normally sell out first. It more than likely will be gauged upon how successful the new suite program fares and possibly in the direct competition with the new Norwegian sailing enticements -the impetus for a majority of all improvements relates directly to the almighty dollar and RCL likes those. ;)

On our last Oasis cruise we had many Pinnacles and most were not old at all. IMHO the best perk Pinnacles are getting right now is not the Suite Lounge, is having access to Coastal Kitchen. I just hope RCCL adds Coastal to other ship classes, that will keep me booking suites. :D

You are most correct there. The Coastal Kitchen is the best dining on the ships. I just through in a 12 day on the Anthem in March and booked a G/S over a J/S for that very reason. But, I can certainly and honestly state that I paid dearly for it.

Actually the Coastal Kitchen is in the works for other ships as we speak.

What if that person in the inside cabins gets a free or low cost upgrade to a GS - are they supposed to be in the SL?:p

 

Biker, who spent about $12K to attain Diamond status.

Uhm, I think that you answered your own question there. If one is sailing in a Grand Suite they are afforded said privileges regardless of the road traveled.

Let me see if I understand your statements: You talk about "entitled C & A members" but what your saying is those "only" paying for an inside cabin should not be in a suite lounge--however, does that also hold true for suite guests who pay less than your 12-25K? Does the category of the cabin or the C&A level really mean all that much to you or is it that those who pay the most for whatever category are really the "entitled to the CL" ones? :confused: Should a specific seat be assigned to the guests according to how much they paid for their cabin--sort of like seating at a concert venue? hmmm Interesting concept!

Not at all. Believe it or not, the Concierge lounge was designed for suite guest, Diamond plus and Pinnacle at this point in time are afforded the privilege of using the C/L.

When quoting the figures of 12 - 25k, we were actually in a discussion about the quantum class ships, which actually would include the Oasis class ships which now is moot point, because on those classes of ship, there is no longer a concierge lounge for the Crown & Anchor society come May. Now in place of the C/L is a suite lounge that is strictly for Suite guest and Pinnacle members that have attained Gold status and privileges.

Ironically, in Jan. I sailed in a Royal Suite, brought some MDR dinning mates up to tour and they stated, that we should be entitled to chairs out on the pool deck with our names on them. Be careful what you say on these sights RCL is listening and now that just may possible happen. :eek:

So what is going to happen to the D+ that are between 175 and 350 who have access to the DL now. To solve the problem Royal need to close the loophole that allows people to inherit family and friends status do the nights at sea get the access to the lounges.

More than likely the same thing that happened to me when I was a Diamond, when Diamonds at one time had access to the C/L - the privilege was terminated; hence the diamond lounge.

Here's the thing though with Pinnacles. It is obvious, in general, that they are the oldest cruisers. As such, they have the greatest attrition (nice way of putting it, eh?) rate.

 

Seriously, many Pinnacles are leaving the ranks of frequent cruisers simply because of age or infirmity.

 

The biggest growth is with Diamonds. That's the real problem. It's actually pretty easy to reach Diamond. That is what is causing overcrowding in the lounges.

I feel that there will be another level put in place around the 340/350 level, the platform has already been established, it just has not been named. Once that is accomplished, I think that there will be major changes to the Diamond level in the future to ease the over crowding issue(s). Just my thoughts.

If I were not a PC Member, I would not have it included in my signature. Have had it there since September 9, 2012.

 

700 cruise points is what is need to reach Pinnacle Club. :D But what does that have to do with the discussion at hand????

"You think that there are only 700 PC Members!!?? " In referencing 700, I was referring to the number of cruise days that it took to achieve Pinnacle and by doing the math, with people normally getting two weeks vacation a year would be a max of 28 or so days per year by sailing in a J/S at the least.

But, congratulations on obtaining and achieving the Pinnacle Level. :)

That's why I am throwing in another 12 day on the Anthem to attain another 36 cruise days, in order to achieve pinnacle within the next ten years. Right now I am sitting at 349, doing the Allure in Feb for another 14 and then the Anthem again in Mar. for 36 - puts me at 399. Then it's back to work for 9 months and then the next cruise on the Harmony for two weeks in 2017. My goal is to survive the next ten years so that I can see that happen. :rolleyes:

I disagree with these statements. I was on the 11/30 Anthem trip and D+ members were certainly allowed in the CL. I was in the CL the first evening listening to Juan Diego's "list of rules". He never said, in my recollection, that the CL was not for D+. I had several interactions with him regarding reservations for dinner. He was well aware of my D+ status and never said anything about me needing to go to the other lounge. I also spoke to many D+ folks in the CL throughout the course of the trip.

 

The few times I went to the DL in the evening it was very, very crowded. I don't see how all D's and D+'s could fit in that specific lounge. More likely, the DL will become a D+ lounge, in my opinion. Katherine

 

PS - Dana -- how are you?? Ready for the snow?

I am well, thank you for asking; and you? Certainly ready for a little bit of snow Lady Katherine (Hudson). I must concede misspeaking then. Completely forgot that is where we booked Jamie's together the first night. I actually spent very little time in the Lounge that cruise. With so few people when I went in, I made the assumption that they were either suite of Pinnacles; never even heard J.D.'s speech.

I went to the Diamond Lounge once, it was busy but, still ample room.

Regards, Dana

With the fleet growing and the number of Suite Guests normally outnumbering PC Members on any one cruise, I highly doubt that will happen.

 

You think that there are only 700 PC Members!!??:eek:

If you are a Pinnacle, one would think that you would truly know the # 700 represented?

But, actually the most Pinnacles that I have to my knowledge, ever sailed with was eight. and that was on the 11/30/15 Anthem sailing.

But all of us Pinnacles will be there taking up your Suite Lounge chairs so that you will still not have a place to sit and enjoy the venue. Will will continue to grow our population at an astronomical pace and keep Suite pax from enjoying their special lounge. Resistance is futile.

Ah, Seven Hundred does not appear to be a very large number, that is until you do the math. Attrition will keep the balance in check :eek: