drjohn4

Royal realizes that it is much less expensive to provide free care to virtually all onboard injuries to reduce their risk of being sued. There is no shortage of law firms ready to sue them at no cost to the injured party. The cost of providing free care for injuries that the cruise line is not at fault for is nothing compared to paying lawyers on shore to defend against or settle lawsuits. 

4 hours ago, PWP-001 said:

Royal's ONLY focus seems to be on increasing profitability --mainly I believe-- because they aren't turning a sufficient operating profit to service their debt.  Add to this--according to what I've read in their most recently published quarterly financials-- they have NOT secured 100% of the funded needed to take delivery of Icon of the Seas.   

This is false.  According to the press release with the first quarter earnings  -

Capital Expenditures and Capacity Guidance

Capital expenditures for full year 2023 are expected to be $4.2 billion. The company expects to take delivery of three new ships in 2023 including Icon of the Seas, Celebrity Ascent and Silver Nova. All ship orders have committed financing in place.

I was on Allure a few weeks ago.  First time on an Oasis class ship, so I can't compare it to the ones with the amplification, but the ship was great.  I didn't notice anything that seemed dated or in need of refurbishment.  Some were saying that it is getting some extra TLC since the President's cruise is on Allure at the end of July.  You will have a great time!

I was on Allure 2 weeks ago and had cream with my free coffee in both windjammer and MDR all week without needing to ask. 

Plenty of cream for my coffee In windjammer and main dining room for my coffee 2 weeks ago. 

We book 2 cabins with our kids and like to just get extra key cards. That way adults can easily get into both rooms. 

There are a lot of areas all along the sides of deck 15 that are shaded by deck 16 above with floor to ceiling windows that will allow you to see the ocean.  If you are looking for somewhere quieter, there is also the jogging track on deck 5 that is shaded most of the day.  There are chairs at the stern end of the jogging track.  If you want someplace completely indoors to watch the ocean, that is a bit more limited on Alllure.  There are not many public rooms with ocean views except the windjammer. 

I’m on a full sailing on Allure this week and there were plenty of loungers and chairs available right next to the pool at 11:30 AM on the second sea day. It looks like there are plenty of chairs when they are only taken by the people actually using them!

You might want to check your travel insurance policy, some have cancel for work reason provisions even if there is no cancel for any reason.

This is a new program they are just starting for the 18-25 y/o age group.  I would expect things to evolve in the program as it gets going and they get feedback.  There is a Royal Caribbean blog that recently had an article on the program from someone who went to it.  Sometimes they had a host at events sometimes not.  Several events seemed to be geared more towards the 21-25 group that were able to drink alcohol.

I have used Travel Insured International for several trips over the years.  Several years pre-covid I had a small claim for an urgent care visit that was paid quickly and easily.  In 2020 I had a 5 figure trip cancellation claim that took several months to be paid, but all their staff was working from home due to lock downs, and I'm sure they had a huge number of claims from the early COVID chaos.  I still use them without hesitation.

As people age, they are more susceptible to side effects of medications.  I would advise trying non-medication ways of dealing with motion sickness and speeding up adaptation to the motion before using medications - 

• going out on deck or looking out a window where you can see the horizon (aids your body in recognizing that the signals from the eyes and balance system agree)
• Because alcohol leads to a disturbed visual suppression of vestibularly evoked eye movements, it is helpful not to drink alcohol to avoid motion sickness symptoms. (skip the unlimited drink package)
• eating frequent snacks is often helpful (easy to do on a cruise)
• acupressure (SeaBands) have mixed results in large studies, but many people find them helpful and there are minimal side effects

Distraction with music or conversation helps. (also easy to find on the ship) 

Those robes are great for "White Night" in the Main Dining Room. 😁

Our family has kids 12-19 y/o. Looking at cruise lines bike and kayak tour.  Anyone have any experience with it?

This weeks sailing had one game on in the AquaTheater (Dolphins Bills)  and the others (Giants/Vikings)(Ravens/Bengals) in Boot & Bonnet.  I would expect similar arrangements next week.

I have been able to have Air2Sea select seats for me at the time of booking, but it is possible that this may vary depending on airline.  Often you cannot make any changes on the airline's web site until the flights are actually ticked sometime after final payment.

I for one am always glad to find an oasis where I can live in peace without all the constant government surveillance!  Birds aren't real!  https://birdsarentreal.com/

Went on my first cruise since 2006 this summer on Odyssey and it was fantastic!  There is a lot more to do on ships now then there was then.  MDR food was great.  Buffet was sometimes crowded, but that is no different than before.  Service was great.  You will have a good time. Shows are way better than they were before, though showrooms did seem more crowded than I remember, and reservations are required for some shows.

When we were on for a Mediterranean sailing there were Key times for iFly in the morning on a sea day and North Star in the afternoon on a different sea day. Reservations were made at the embarkation lunch. Also Key times for flowrider and bumper cars. Don’t know if Caribbean is different.

Odyssey had a special Key only time for bumper cars on our June Mediterranean cruise.  No reservations needed for the normal times and you could ride as many times as you wanted to wait in line. (lines weren't bad)

35 minutes ago, fishiecrackers said:

I am looking at possibly switching to that same cruise for next summer as well, and was bummed at such a late arrival into Santorini. The itinerary we are on now is on a much older ship but arrives in Santorini at 7am, and I had hoped to get off early and into Oia before it got insanely hot and crowded. Did you find the late arrival to be an issue? Did you go into Oia, or stay closer to port?

I think the late arrival is much better, because then you get to experience sunset in Santorini.  Fantastic views.  Felt sorry for those on ships that arrived earlier and sailed away before sunset.

Royal has said that since the restart onboard spending has been much higher than pre-COVID. I think part of this is that many passengers are using FCC’s so have paid much of their cruise fare a long time ago. So it may not feel like as much of a splurge to buy a dining package. 
  Royal wants to satisfy customers, so as counterintuitive as it may seem, raising prices helps. Demand for specialty dining has increased and they can’t increase supply. So to make sure people who want specialty dining can get in, they have to reduce demand. The only tools they have for that are to raise prices or make it a terrible experience. Raising prices is the option that actually can increase satisfaction and has the side effect of also increasing revenue. 

If you call Air2Sea they may be able to select seats for you even when you can’t through the airline website. This was the case for our trip. 

Looking at the cruise planner, since there are so many port days and the second sea day is the last night, it only lists Day 3 as Dress to Impress.

On Odyssey gluten free pizza is available at Sorrento's and gluten free options were also available in cafe 270 as well.