TeeRick

We recently did the UDP on Indy. For our 12 night cruise it was 50% off ($325 pp including gratuity). So $27 pp per day. Best deal we could find online.

there is also johnny Rockets included with UDP. and you can do Chef's Table for 50% off.

We recently sailed Independence of the Seas for two weeks in May. Very nice cruise. Nothing bad happened. Don't worry and enjoy your cruise!

At least Millie and Summit were both renovated (I think 2019). Not so for Infinity or Connie. I'm sure even the renovated ones could still use investment and upgrades as you point out.

Maybe I have had a different experience than some here. But I have sailed the Retreat and have had B, L, and D in Luminae many times on different ships. The menu at times might be a bit limited, but the food and service have always been excellent. I like E- class Luminae a bit less as it is larger, louder and more crowded. But still very good. IMO Blu is not as good (but still good).

The CL Suites are a good value when choosing a suite. I like RS too but the price is generally high for me.

I think it will be maintained as normal going forward. It will still be an older ship that could use some major upgrades like sisters Millennium and Summit.

I have reviewed on CC our recent 12 night sailing out of the UK in May. It has info on all of our excursions both ship and private ones. You can find it here. Also other reviews there might be helpful too. https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/royal-caribbean/independence-of-the-seas/reviews/728770

Are you asking about ship excursions or private excursions or both?

I have also been cruising for a long time. There are so many more ships now and some are aging. I am familiar with things like plumbing problems in cabins as I have personally experienced them on very many cruises. Older and newer ships. They usually get resolved quickly and I am not surprised when this happens. So IMO a major problem is something like a propulsion issue or fire that might affect the itinerary or cancel a cruise. Given the number of ships and itineraries out there this actually happens very rarely (and it gets reported here).

Take a look at the new thread about the Celebrity Infinity fire in Turkey this week. A lot of people are concerned with spending a huge amount of money on an older ship. Infinity (unlike her sister M-Class ships Millennium and Summit) has not been updated. But some prefer the older "more comfortable" furniture.

I know it is now 2025 but it is worth realizing that the cruise lines are still recovering financially from being in shut down for 18 months during the still-recent pandemic. They took $billions in loans to survive. The amount they keep investing in new ship builds is huge- also $billions. So no surprise that older ships are less of a priority for investments. But I truly believe that Celebrity needs to keep at least a couple of M-Class ships for unique itineraries/smaller ports. Although it has been rumored here that Royal is about to build some smaller hi-tech ships. Maybe so will Celebrity.

Of course it is about the money and cruise ships have regular maintenance schedules (while sailing) and every so often a dry dock. This seems to work well for the industry. Do they require hotels to shut down for a week if your room toilet gets clogged? The only shut down of the industry was for the pandemic of course. A different reason. The entire industry almost went bankrupt and took out $Billions in loans. Still paying that off. Yes about the money.

The answer depends on what you'd like to explore, and how much you can afford really. Nice ships go everywhere. My 3 best destination cruises - all on Celebrity. 1) Perth Australia southern route around NZ and back to Sydney. Solstice 16 nights. 2) Santiago Chili around the Horn (S.America) to Buenos Aires. Eclipse 12 nights. 3) Venice through the Adriatic Sea region including Croatia. Constellation 10 nights. Honorable mention. Alaska on Millennium and Panama Canal full transit on Infinity. Enjoy planning!

IMO this is the best suggestion here. Most 19 yr olds live on social media and are perfectly capable of doing their own research based on what they enjoy. Why would all of us older people have relevant opinions on this?

OP probably just wanted to blow off a little steam so to speak. Hopefully enjoying the cruise now.

But they did find a spare cabin for the OP.

We recently did Chef's Table on Indy. We had the UDP so it was 1/2 price. It was $50 pp. There is a limited selection of specialty restaurants on Indy so we decided to try it. We were very happy with the decision. Very much enjoyed it and thought it was worth it. It was held in the MDR but on the second level in the back- "sort of" a private dining area.

You might have been on the same cruise as us (Canaries?). I did not say that allowing P's in the SL was a problem at all. But at peak time (5-6 pm) it did sometimes get crowded. Only two servers so sometimes drinks were slow. But the servers were excellent. The SL concierge was very good also. By 7 PM when you were there I'm sure it was half-empty.

Hi @Bader sorry to hear of your problems. Indy out of the UK is always at capacity so hard to find rooms I think. We sailed Indy from Southampton in May. The staff were very nice but the ship is obviously older with a few issues. Our toilet was also blocked and overflowed. The maintenance staff fixed it within a few hours. It was down the line- had to be cleaned out. This is actually quite common. Hopefully you can get your original room back and avoid the noise. We found Guest Services to be friendly and accommodating on board.

We have not been on Icon and don't really plan to try Icon-Class. Too huge and too many kids for us. Back in the day when our kids were small and still cruising with us we would have certainly tried it. These days we sail suites and if on Royal, Oasis-Class ships are a sweet spot for us!

I don't think much will change with Royal's Loyalty Program particularly after Carnival seems to have fumbled the ball so to speak. But these programs are always changing. Never static. Their bread and butter is still the working man or woman and families. Just look at Royal's ship builds since Voyager Class forward. So no need to worry IMO. I don't agree however that in the past cruising was for the rich and retired. But how many years back are you talking here? Many cruise lines like Royal have been building ships for and catering to families. I don't see many rich retirees on water slides. Well maybe if you go back 50 years to the 70's and Song of Norway days you would find a richer, retired crowd. Or maybe on a line like Cunard.

Hope you enjoyed your cruise!

I didn't say everybody. Honestly glad that you and your friends and family enjoy Nassau. My very subjective comment was based on many posts I read here on CC from members who avoid Nassau or are negative about their ship stopping there. Both on this board and the Celebrity board. As I said, very subjective. I am happy to avoid walking around Nassau and instead going to a beach club.

They will continue to charge these high amounts (subjective) for the Nassau Royal Beach Club as long as people keep booking it. And booking its extra amenities like cabanas. Market driven. It definitely helps that a lot of experienced cruisers tended to avoid getting off entirely in Nassau. So the Beach Club is a nice option for this port now - if you want to pay for it.