ILCTCRUISER

Two Hershey bars and a Coke is just a saying. You know, we’ve never purchased a drink package (but we did buy the wine packages when they were offered). Once we became D we had no need to do so. Going from D to D+ brings one more drink (DW may have 3 drinks a day; I tend to have 4, occasionally 5) and extra day of Wi-Fi and BOGO at specialty restaurant, etc. They’re all nice to have but it’s not like you’ve just hit the mother lode! Princess Plus and NCL’s AI are really good deals. Check out what you get with Princess Plus for $120 a day for two people.

Two scenarios. A lounge with 60 cruisers having a few drinks and paying for them. Or. A lounge with 60 cruisers having a few drinks but half of them are members of a loyalty program and are not being charged for the drinks. If you “owned” the cruise line which would you rather have? I think that’s why RCL really pushes the 3-4 day cruises. And then there’s Coco Cay! Talk about a cash cow in the making! No wonder RCG also has X stopping there.

We’ll enjoy them as we always have. Enjoying them is one thing. Their value is another. They’re not free. @orville99 suggests it was roughly $200K in cruises to reach P. OK. I never kept track of our total $$$ spent with RCL. But we will also pay for them when we make final payment on our upcoming cruises. The folks at RCL Sales and Marketing look at all costs when putting together their pricing models. Even the pennies on the dollar that make up the cost of a free drink. One penny of each dollar is 1 percent of margin, and those people know their jobs (and bonuses) depend upon meeting budgets and margins.

Very true. We did enjoy them. And, then, we could have cruised another line and enjoyed those cruises. Becoming D+ just happened. Yes, we knew that we’d become D+ following a certain cruise but we weren’t taking the cruise to move up a level. We’re also elite on Princess.

We only “pursued” one loyalty level - Diamond. What was there to pursue given you only need 80 points for Diamond! Getting to D+ was nice but what did we really get for it? Two Hershey bars and a Coke?

D, D+, and P perks. Does anyone really believe that these perks are “free?” They’re marketed as complimentary, but in the end everyone is paying for them including those who don’t receive them. I’m not suggesting that those “free” perks account for all of the recently observed price hikes. There is debt that needs to be serviced. Inflation’s impact on food costs. And so on. A lot of things have led to higher fares, more expensive drink packages, bump up for specialty dining, etc. Can there be any doubt that the number crunchers know to the dollar the cost (not price) of all of the D and above drinks served on every ship, every cruise, every day? Add in the increased number of upper tier cruisers and it does add up. It all comes down to Revenue - Expenses = Profit/Loss and the goal of RCL and any business is to maximize Profit. So someone is paying the piper since I’m quite sure there’s no such thing as a free lunch. We currently have three RCLs booked and these bookings were made quite time ago. 25Oct24 12N TA on Adventure that was booked Jan2023. Balcony: $1517.00 incl tax/fees. It was slightly more but cruise went from 13N to 12N and RCL prorated. This not a GTY. Then Jan2025 B2B on Brilliance out of MSY. JS on both. $2500 avg incl taxes and fees. I balked a bit at $2500 and even then thought pricing had gone up. For years I always considered approx $200-225 a night a good fare for a balcony and approx $350 a night a good fare for a JS. Surprisingly, for 2023, we did not cruise RCL. Well, DW did a 7N on Symphony with her sister. We did a Panama Canal in Feb2023 and then B2B Alaska in Sep2023 cruises on NCL. In June2023, we took a Canada/Bermuda cruise on Regent and then a SA Lima to Buenos Aries this past Dec, also on Regent. Being D+ with perks didn’t even enter the discussion. Friends have cruised Atlas and enjoyed it. Currently looking at a May Atlas Caribbean with mostly new ports to visit. Waiting on feedback for Explora (MSC’s upscale).

I’ll go one better by capitalizing DOES NOT and maybe add a few !!! And, then, also include any ship that’s been AMPED! Amped? Why would anyone want to be on something that’s been AMPED. The word itself is frightening. Unfortunately, cruising RCL from now on will never be what it once was. We have 3 more cruises booked on RCL. Have started booking other lines, mostly upscale.

We tried it one time when they rolled it out. Small charge for tacos, quesadillas and the like. Not that great. And the area was a walkthrough from indoor WJ seating and outdoor..

That’s what I would think! But then there’s RCL and its IT and, at times, how it does business its way. Has anyone gone online, booked it and put down a deposit? IOW, nothing is real unless you get a confirmation for the booking. But, then again, RCL could take the deposit and send a confirmation, knowing that in the end they can cancel the cruise if it needs to do so.

Could it be that it’s available online (in this case it may be Cruising Power) but you might not be able to book it if you call it in? Or if you are able to book online, it bounces back as not confirmed.

Exactly. Lots of factors to consider. On an Alaskan cruise, you’re stopping at US ports for the most part. Even when at sea, ship is never really that far from land. Coast Guard evac. Your work or personal medical insurance is in force as well as Medicare (except for Canadian port call, but even then plan G offers coverage). Financial risk profile for an Alaskan cruise is much different than that for a cruise taking you to third worked countries. For Alaska cruises we usually use TravelGuard Pack-N-Go. It does have the medivac coverage but we want that since we usually go off on hikes.

@LEMJMcC, Forgot to add: we’ve used Allianz and TravelGuard (An AIG company). Over the years we’ve had annual and individual trip plans. Travel Guard has a very basic Pack-N-Go product which we’ve used when we feel we have limited financial risk due to cancellation or interruption; Pack-N-Go does include medivac and medical coverage. Have never used Insuremytrip but it may be a good option. It is a broker and, as a broker, one hopes the agents there work to find you the best policy for your needs at the best price.

There was a time when we traveled (and quite a bit, I might add) without travel insurance. Frankly, we were fortunate; we never encountered a situation for which we regretted not having insurance. We now consider travel insurance a must-have. We were reminded of its importance in Fall, 2022 while on a TA from Rome. We left Madeira and sailed all night. The following morning we were awakened by the roar of a helicopter trying to evacuate a passenger. Not only was there a helicopter but a support aircraft accompanied it for what must have been a rather long flight from its base to the Odyssey. Passenger was evacuated. I believe we heard he did have insurance. Can you imagine the cost he would have incurred if he hadn’t been insured? With travel insurance, one size doesn’t necessarily fit all. It really comes down to how much risk you want to assume and you will find policies that offer various levels of coverage, etc. Here’s a link to a CC document that discusses travel insurance in case you already haven’t done so: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/travel-insurance-primer-for-cruise-travelers#what-does-travel-insurance-on-your-cruise-cover? If you booked through a travel agent, your agent should have reviewed travel insurance with you. Ultimately, it’s yourdecision. That being said, a good travel agent knows the importance of starting a conversation about insurance.

I know. Whatever. Just doesn’t get it.

Well…I guess most, if not all, of us who’ve had the privilege of viewing your posts over the years, probably could have anticipated a response like this. You know, there’s more to life than Deflect, Deflect, Deflect.

@Jimbo, see @island ladyreply. Love Barcelona! More time there pre or post cruise, the better!

Barcelona. For @island lady, this would be ideal. More time in Barcelona.

Oooh….BARCELONA! Fingers crossed for LATE!

Not on cruise so my opinion is just that. I know which I’d take but I’d like to ask: A vote? Has any provision been made for those who vote but the option they chose is voted down? Can they bail w/ a refund or are they locked in?

We were on the Liberty “test” cruise out of Galveston. While on the shuttle from IAH to Galveston, we found out that many of our fellow cruisers with us were RCL employees. Maybe 400 or so on cruise. Recall having a limit on the number who could be in the pool at the same time. Lounges were closed. They had a happy hour “event” in the VCL but they scheduled half of D and up one day and the other half the next day. Also, no complimentary drinks. They gave a reason but can’t recall what it was at this time. Also did the restart Ovation cruise to Alaska. Maybe 800 onboard.

Correction: Mary Lou Ridinger is an archeologist.

We were in Antigua last March. 2nd time in Antigua. Did anyone sit in for the presentation. We were lucky enough to have the owner give the talk and she was very, very interesting. She and her husband (who’s deceased), both geologists I believe, went to Guatemala to search for jade. Jay and Mary Lou Ridinger. And did they hit the payload! She was delightful. And YES, I knew!

Saw @pstone1post and responded. Then saw your post.

Jade Museum is owned/operated by same owners of museum in Antigua.

Deck 13. No longer called Diamond Lounge; it’s now Crown Lounge.