KmomChicago

People have been saying the Royal drinks packages are very high now as well.

I have not sailed Norwegian, but I have sailed twice on spring break, on two very different ships, Carnival Triumph from New Orleans and Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. If anything, it's a good time to go if you have kids so your teen can find a tribe. I did not see anyone misbehaving and very few college age kids at all. It's more high school and younger. If I were in your shoes, I would go back and rebook that good deal you found on the Encore, but obviously it's your vacation and your preference.

It must be fun to be in the business world and know in advance that every, well, advance will be met with torches and pitchforks. I assume they all have a pool on how soon before social media is in a tizzy.

Love the brightness of these interiors.

We like the promenade as well, the bigger the better. It was too small on Adventure of the Seas but just right on Oasis. I’d maybe like a room with that promenade view someday.

Beautiful. Who needs the buffet with options like this?

I dunno, Walter. This is some very, very logical debate here. Calling the ship a joke at the beginning is not aimed at getting that kinda conversation going! Please help support the general uproar, mmm-kay?

Yeah that’s why they call it dry ice!

Earlier size expectations were all over the place - at one point Icon class was supposedly going to be "only" 200k, i.e. going back a little smaller than Oasis class. I think the confirmation of the larger size just came out a few days ago. Wonder of the Seas is 236, as Oasis has been growing a bit, so yes, it apparently turns out Icon is going to be bigger. As for NCL and Prima, yes it does look like they are getting away from new Breakaway ships and going slightly smaller rather than larger. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Yes, the difficulty in getting to port has, after doing 4 cruises in a ten-month period, grown to be the primary obstacle for us. We have nothing booked at the moment but assuming the times comes again it will probably be on a showstopper vessel to make it worth the logistical challenge. We can't get around, and are tired of tolerating, the added expense - 1-2k to fly, several hundred to drive - and stressful travel time before and after the actual voyage. It takes me a day just to get over it and relax on board and ends the vacation on a rotten note in order to get back home.

Aww, it’s beautiful.

Would that be the newer Princess ships? Sky, Enchanted and Discovery Princess?

Good point, we can't even agree on facts. ' Commenter 1: I once stood in a long line on a cruise ship. Commenter 2: I HAVE BEEN ON 32 CRUISES, ALL AT MAX CAPACITY, AND NEVER SAW A LINE FOR ANYTHING! Commenter 3: Both of you are sailing on the worst cruise ship/line, why would any fool do that? Sometimes I lose track of what we are even arguing about.

THIS. They always have a Plan B. OP doesn't like it.

WHAT? Some people actually like this current trend and want MORE, not LESS?

I hope next time the OP travels during a hurricane they have a better experience reaching and enjoying their originally planned destination. Evacuation orders, changes of plans, safety concerns, and contracts are for sissies.

Well this makes the most obvious sense to me. In the Chicago area, we are not in convenient drive distance to any port - I have tried two of the closest, Baltimore and New Orleans; both are one very long exhausting drive day or 1.5 less exhausting days, but then with the added expense of paying for a hotel, adding settle-down-and-get-to-sleep time to the duration of the travel, etc. If we were within a 4 hour drive of ANY port that would be our chosen port and would guide the rest of the decision process.

Agreed. There are significantly cheaper cruises available than these newest largest ships (let's just say it: Carnival's older ships), as well as non-cruise vacation options. With a population of 329 million people in the US, not to mention international travelers, there are plenty of customers across a broad range of tastes and budgets, and products to suit them all. Icon of the Seas does not have to be the "right" vacation choice for every vacationer. Just the right choice for 7000 of them at any given time. 7000 who happen to like a lot of the stuff on this ship. This is the percentage of Americans (assuming only Americans cruised on this ship which is, of course, not accurate, though they are going to be the majority) that need to be on each sailing. This is 2/100,000ths of a percent, if my math is right, which is a figure that is hard to even make sense of. My point is, there are lots of people traveling and RCI, even with their current fleet, has determined there is room for them to get more of them than they are now, as well as to retain and encourage repeat and more frequent returns. In addition, Icon may / will / probably could slightly depress the prices for Oasis and Quantum class ships (and on down the line), making them more accessible. They still have a fleet of ships to fill, all essentially catering to the same demographic, and they have a lot of room to provide good value outside of their current flagship.

I worked for Disney for 5 years and was able to take two short 3 night cruises on Carnival Magic for very low cost and I do agree it is very, very nice. I do still check it out from time to time but as you note the $$ has just not worked out for us.

Fun history, literally. I am jealous you sailed 6 of the Fantasy class ships, and all when they were relatively new. Is RCI your overall favorite now? It will be interesting to see how the Costa by Carnival concept works out.

I did a post on that stairway for my Sensation review. I wanted to get the scoop on the glass dome that covered it.

It is so crazy what old news is still viewable out on the internet archives, when so many links and content are dead.

I'm not what you would call optimistic, but I don't see operations ending by 2024. . . I think there will continue to be fancy dancing financially, but I think they will hold it together through restructuring if (when????) necessary.

This is an interesting question. . . yes, certainly those who can afford it can upgrade to "better" cruise lines. However, I think there are a couple of other factors to consider with both the Havana areas and the suites and a reason why I think they were / are both the right ways to go. First, there are people who like Carnival because they just LIKE IT. They are long time cruisers, loyal to the brand, high up in the tiers, and as their tastes and income increase with the rewards of a long life and career, they want the option to upgrade. It may be a relatively small % of passengers but it's an effort to hold on to those who would feel forced out (and up) otherwise, which we all know is happening - we see so many reviewers who are "done with Carnival" whether due to cutbacks, real and perceived, or just outgrowing the brand and getting tired of it, really. Still plenty of rooms in the more affordable range for those who prefer them. Second, there are the family and friends factors. Carnival sails still, from the most ports, making it convenient to drive for millions of passengers, and still offers, usually, the lowest entry level fares, and the casual and child- as well as all-ages-friendly options and amenities. It's perfect for many groups and to be able to give the choice to go basic or fancy as they prefer. On my MG sailing, we were in interior rooms to save $$ and yet we had access to just about everything on the ship, certainly everything we wanted, my dad and stepmom stayed in an accessible balcony, and my aunt and uncle stayed in an aft corner suite, because that's the kind of thing they like and they would not have gone at all if they had to crunch into a little standard room. We were all happy to have gotten what we wanted.