Engineroom Snipe

Your comment helps to explain how ships are selling out but only during the last 90 days this summer. Passengers are waiting to see if they can squeeze in that shorter vacation and maybe looking at the prices with a more critical eye. This fall is going to be interesting as I have noticed a more typical "shoulder" season which has not occurred for two years.

Great example, Vision of the Seas out of Baltimore is no longer including Coco Cay in its itineraries starting September of 2025. This was a huge selling factor for that ship. RCI sacrificed it for larger ships using the island. I am not sure if that was a good decision. Time will tell. The prices are stagnant. I do some mock bookings and there seems to be nearly 85% empty interior cabins available for double occupancy. I know this is fifteen months out but compared to the post covid boom, I am hearing crickets when I compared the demand factor of the past year.

I have not been keeping close tabs on the Alaska market but there have been negative articles about port changes which have an effect on "once in a lifetime" specific itineraries. Experienced cruisers know that every cruise line has the right to change the itineraries but it hurts public relations when someone only books a cruise to get to a specific destination and is denied. The other option is to avoid the cruise and just go directly to the desired location and check it off the box. I can attest that the market for the third and fourth quarter 2024 Caribbean sailings is showing weakness. For example, November 17th out of Bayonne for the Odyssey of the Seas was as high as $4,100 for a balcony double occupancy including taxes six months ago. It is being discounted to $2,210 as of today. If you go to a TA with group rates, it is down to about $1,950 and you get to pick your room. Softness around the edges are showing their ugly head if you are in the business.

The latest trend is that discretionary spending is down on personal goods as retailers are fighting consumer inflation fatigue. As of now, airlines have had record passengers this Memorial Day weekend. NCL is stating that they had excellent booking numbers. Some of the investors are moving money into stocks involved with travel from consumer retail stocks. I think the great predictor will be when airline passenger miles start to drop significantly.

I have a throwaway house number (Voice Over Internet, very cheap) that I give to parties that demand a number but I do not want them to call me. THAT would be the phone I use for this type of call so calling it back or adding it to a database would be useless. If they do not leave a voicemail, I ignore them. Anyone or thing of importance in my life has my cell phone number and private internet address (one of three so I can separate them also). If they need them. If I do not know the number calling, I wait for voicemail. I block the hangups and add legitimate calls as necessary. I get at most, one scam call a day. MUCH better than multiple calls in the past.

Have a great night and thank you for the update. Cruisers have $$$$$$. When caught in a lie, many scammers start throwing out legitimate numbers in order to bolster their credentials and deflect further investigation should the target get suspicious. A fraudulent person in another country just needs one transaction of about $100 USD to pay their monthly living expenses including the overhead owed to the call center sponsors.

You win the prize, the person answering me said, "866-762-7625" and then quickly corrected themselves to "866-562-7625." A liar has a hard time keeping their lies truthful.

So, it looks like the called number is referring callers to an actual RCI number. They made an honest mistake or someone got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and does not want any problems. The original searched number does not show up in any white pages or known caller directories. If this was a professional business number or a legitimate business, they would have normally answered, "Hello, this is xyz hotel chain, first name of the person answering the call, how can I assist you?" No one identified the business or their name when answering the call but they did eventually refere me to the 'proper' number. Something does not add up.......

I am still chuckling, I have not heard elevator music like "Muzak" in years. Just think of the movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005), during the final scene going down in the elevator.

Just playing the game. I called the number and was referred to another number, 866-762-7625. I was put on hold to 'Muzak' for all of you 1960s and 1970s aficionados. What a hoot, it was crystal clear Muzak. 🤣

It appears that the jig is up. CC members might have just accomplished a "denial of service" on a scam line. All it takes is one person to say, "Something does not seem right.........." Thank you OP for sharing, you just made it a bit harder for the scammers, who will not give up, just move on to a new number. The predators are many but the prey are alert and wary.

So you must never be disappointed as you step on the scale the following week. "Look at that number, I must have went to a health club." I envy you. I still long for better than adequate food on my cruises. I now prepare myself for the worst. If I gain weight, it was a great cruise because the food was good. If I lose weight, my doctor will be happy, I might live longer, but my gastrointestinal system is pissed-off about my frugality of calories. 🤣

Vision out of Baltimore after August, 2025 has no Coco Cay port stops. I have already noticed severe "softness" in bookings and prices. Charleston in the middle of February is not my idea of a vacation. One slow cold day at sea, arrive on a second cold day at sea in Charleston, and maybe get to a warm day by day three. Something to notice......"

I watch specific cruises out of specific ports on a regular basis to get a "feel" about demand and occupancy. Fluctuations all over the place with cabins appearing and disappearing within the same week. My best advice is to look at travel sites that do group rates and look at their price fluctuations. The prices fluctuate less and are more stable in general. In most cases, the group rates allow you to reserve a refundable room for the price of a Royal website GTY which is a HUGE advantage. I am not sure about when GTY cabins get assigned. I have benefited from interior GTY upgrades but they were rare. Any more, I have specific room desires which I prefer to not leave for chance. Everyone has their own style.

There are many experienced cruises who use 'boarding' time and 'check-in' time improperly in posts, including myself. I know your intent even if you used the wrong terminology. I have been guilty of criticizing grammar in the past. No reason to continue it in the present or future. If I do not make mistakes in my posts, I might be AI generated. Even worse, I might be AI programmed to make mistakes in my post to seem more human. What a tangled web we weave. 😬

This has been a problem for my cruises for the past two years. I obtain the earliest check-in time available and it is confirmed for both my wife and I. For MONTHS in between the first reservation and boarding on ship, it appears, disappears, appears, disappears, disappears in my wife's check-in app but appears on mine, then mysteriously appears on mine but not hers,.........exhausting to say the least. Welcome to the land of Royal IT. The adventure of a Royal Caribbean Cruise starts WAY before embarkation! Welcome to the Club Royal! 😁

Royal is "flying high" as far as current demand and pricing. I agree that many companies put blinders on and ignore any "naysayers" as they surround themselves with yes people. Anyone who might have opposing opinions within the company is silenced. Boeing's problems derived from corporate taking their past culture of safety for granted. They pushed production over quality. Years ago, in 2019, Boeing left tools and trash in planes delivered to the military. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-tanker-jets-grounded-due-to-tools-and-debris-left-during-manufacturing/ It was just a matter of time until they had major problems. A craftsman taking pride in his work would never leave tools and trash unless he had helpers specifically designated for the tasks of removing them. There was no pride and this was the foreshadowing of current issues. There are multiple CC threads about cut-backs in service and food ingredients. These changes, combined with overall price increases, have decreased the advantage that cruising has over other vacation experiences. I went from four cruises a year to two as I still get competitive prices through my TA. There is no way I would ever pay the the 'retail' prices, even with 20% off. Anything less than 50% off is a non-starter with me for the current level of experience. At 65% to 80% off, I can look past any current deficiency up to a point. My expectations are tempered because I am not paying premium prices. I guess I am still stuck in the past, too nostalgic, but my wallet is speaking as I cut back on Royal Cruising. I always enjoy my cruises, just not as much as I used to. Experimenting with other adventures with those two freed-up weeks. Royal is not the only cruise line with this problem but it is the one I have frequented over the years. My frequency is dropping.

@KuffMUp My wife and I have aligned our expectations on Royal cruise food to be similar to your opinion. We still cruise like you mentioned but we are cruising maybe two times a year instead of three or four. Cruises are still a good deal but far from the great deal they were years ago. Your comments reflect our observations.

Been forever since I have seen an ice sculpture. Almost like a time machine picture of two decades ago.............

This could apply to cyber security for water systems and electrical grids as well as the coastal routes for ships. I could find fault with just about every single system that has been hacked over the last twenty years in need of infrastructure improvement (servers with updated operating systems and firewalls). There is no funding available for prevention but almost unlimited funding trying to restore services after a severe incident. So many identified weaknesses in need of funding. The question ends up as what are the highest priorities? The latest to fail gets headlines and publicity but it does not change the final equation. What are we willing to remedy with taxpayers dollars? "Am I willing to be taxed or charged a fee for the necessary improvements?" Everyone agrees that improvements need to be made and everyone agrees that someone else needs to pay for it. NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) evolves into LMWA (Leave My Wallet Alone). I cannot count the amount of people who begged me at any cost to restore a system after they have been hacked. I offered to design an encrypted back-up system previous to the incident to be told that monies were not available. Similar to this situation, spending millions would be saving billions. Your comments strike home.

Dog gone it! I paid all of those shady lawyers all of that money as a precaution! Call my accountant and argue for $0.20 on the dollar! Glad to see that the Vision of the Seas can make her sailings and things are getting better. Even with all of their projections, the ultimate measure is when insurance companies can be "assured" there are no adverse risks and vessel traffic proceeds without special conditions. That is when things go back to "normal". Very happy to see so much progress in so little time. 😁

@Another_Critic. You need to read all of the posts on this thread, especially post #749, as I have hired some of the best shady lawyers available for just such an occasion...... 🤣

Absolutely delighted to say I was wrong and will happily eat my words with humility. How would you like me to do so?.

I have talked to new cruisers on every ship I was on. Many do ask for insight as they enjoy the present cruise and plan another. They have been in their late twenties and thirties which is about the target audience of current cruise advertising. Rarely do I find someone who read what the travel insurance covers when they stated they purchased travel insurance. Just about half do not purchase it because they believe they are healthy and young. I jokingly say I am older and aware of how small things like slip and falls can happen on any vacation let alone a cruise vacation. Depending on the damage, I will might need treatment on the ship or left at a hospital on shore as the ship leaves. If there are complications, I would certainly want medical transport to a hospital in my local area at home. I check for what the medical transport covers and what restrictions they place on the transport in every policy I buy (I do not do enough international travel yet to justify a yearly policy yet). I never hit the new cruisers with the "you are stupid for not getting travel insurance" but they start to think about how anyone can have a slip and fall regardless of age on a ship or vacation. Travel insurance is not at the top of any new cruiser's list unless they watch cruise videos or read blogs about what happens when things go wrong without it.

I have not done specialty dining and maybe it is a bit of stubbornness that I do not want to encourage Royal to charge more for a good meal (I know, another hot topic which has been extensively discussed in many threads so no reason to add more here). I agree with your post. My Time dining is hard to get earlier than 6:45pm. We have chosen late MDR on the past two cruises which fits our schedule and saves time not being in any lines. The Windjammer has acceptable and adequate food for dinner. I tend to like the MDR just because when I was young MANY decades ago, my parents taking the family out to a "formal" dinner was special. I think I still secretly long for those memories.