Engineroom Snipe

That is what I got out of it. I cannot book prices which are exclusive to a country that I do not reside in. I do not think this latest communication is regarding refund policies around covid which already were published.

Totally agree. The Key was recently available for $16.99/day/pp (40% off) on my cruise. When you deduct the lunch in MDR (which is supposed to be equivalent to a CHOPS lunch), it is cheaper than the standard internet. Everything else is a bonus if you use it. The smaller ships do not have many items you can use the Key to reserve or get priority in line. The Key becomes more useful on the larger ships but then they charge more 🙄.

Nice concise review. Thank you for your time.

There is a total reduced price compared to having all adults. The caveat is that you still are charged gratuities, taxes, port charges and a more expensive category of cabin must be purchased. When I have priced them on many cruises for other people in mock bookings. The extra cost is about 1/2 fare of an adult at the end per child. One cabin of two adults and two qualifying children is about equal to one cabin of three adults. There are savings but RCI really stretches the "Kids Sail Free" quote with many caveats. As others have stated, the final numbers are not as impressive as it seems on first glance.

Most people would not think about children and soda package availability. A very good question and some great answers. Even with the drink dispensers, lines can form. I like the dispensers because I can get ice for free that has gone through an additional water filter without having to find my cabin steward. I do not get beverage packages. Each cabin can bring up to 12 500ml bottles of sodas or non-alcoholic beverages. My wife and I treat ourselves on sea days. Again, your question will help me think about the soda packages if I ever bring the grandchild onboard someday.

I feel there is a delay factor also. A perfect example is RCI offering a bottle of champagne for completing your Next Cruise contract on the first day of the cruise. I normally research my cruises and often book on the first day and I have never seen any "special" consideration beyond what I would have received on any other cruise day. This would tell me that there is some slowing on Next Cruise bookings. If bookings are so solid, why spend more money on incentives? The time reservations books for Next Cruise can be filled with thousands of reservations but that does not always mean they convert into a future cruise. I think Next Cruise Bookings are the canaries in the coal mine as they are giving immediate real-time feedback about how people feel about their current cruises and their values for the money. Something to ponder.

Well done running review. Short and sweet verbal tidbits with great pictures. Thank you for your time.

As the waiter asked his supervisor, "How can I get a -2 rating on a +1 to 10 scale?" Supervisor's response, "That is what we are going to find out. Please take a seat and answer some questions for us." 😬

No, PLEASE, NO cross-pollination of hot button topics on one thread. We could cause a meltdown of emotions, desires, like-to-haves, or never will have agains. On second thought, that might have already happened. Carry-on! 🤣

Yes, certain spices can, when they first hit your tongue, taste somewhat mild and then continue to get more heat as they envelope your whole mouth as you swallow. There are many "Fri Diablo" seafood dishes that are cumulative. I like hot spicey dishes but sometimes I have to have a piece of garlic toast on the side to clear the tastebuds and throat from the heat. 🤯

From what I have read, as the Unlimited Dining Packages (UDP) become more popular, the less reservations are available. For instance, The Enchantment of the Seas only has Chops Grille as a specialty restaurant. There are only so many lunches and dinner seats available. If they oversell the UDP, RCI is not responsible as they do not have any type of guarantee in the purchase that it will be available. One must make a reservation and reservation capacity is limited to the seats available. Imagine paying for a UDP to only find out as your board later on Sunday afternoon of your cruise that the times available for ANY reservations are too early or later than what you would like. On an 8 night cruise on Enchantment, a price of $250 per person plus gratuities is considered a "good deal". Only if you can get a reservation each day for lunch and dinner. It will be the same menu for eight days. The UDP just does not make sense to me in this situation.

I appreciate your opinions. You are balanced and many of your observations agree with what I have observed. You present your opinion without drama. Please keep posting.

Your observations are valuable to me because you do not use hyperbole and try to maintain a balance of what we would like ideally and what is practical. I sail in eleven days and I will try and report what I experience without drama or prejudice (very hard to do but I will try my best). Hopefully, no 🤥.

Do we have an Axiom Ship moment on WALL-E? (Disney Pixar WALL-E)

So much for my Zen moment, let the judgements commence..... 🥺. Good night.

Deep breathe people, take a Zen moment. No solution at this point and we are at an impasse. As Paul McCartney's mother once said to him as he was anxious, worried, and trying to create the next song of a lifetime, "Let it be." She was "Mother Mary comes to me". The rest is history. 😉 We "All Can Come Together." (Beatles).

This discussion makes me feel better about the future. So many problems in the world but we can argue about "Chair Hogs". The universe is once again in alignment. 🤣 Life is good. 😁

Be thankful that it even works at all. 😁 User friendly, intuitive, and time saving interactions with RCI technology are few and far in between "kinda-works" to "how does it work?"

I booked a GTY inside in September of 2022 for an April 20th Cruise. I have an Android phone. I installed a bar scanner app. I waited until my Set Sail pass showed a deck and muster station assignment. About thirty days out, the deck and muster station were displayed. I read the bar code. It gave me a room number after the "-". My room number just appeared today on my Set Sail pass, twelve days before my cruise date. The scanned room number is my assigned room number.

This was a tongue-in-cheek euphemistic sarcasm line created in response to another poster. He stated how CEOs try and paint a rosy picture on bad news instead of just describing the situation for what it is. I tried to work in some of the poster's suggestions creating some humor.

Green Peace would be protesting RCI for poisoning marine life with tar, nicotine, and other combustion by-products. 😁

😮

I understand your thought that a "locked" space would only create a new type of "Hog". I do agree that a one hour "maximum" time limit gives a bit of wiggle room for the 30 minute rule. Always comes down to the fact that it will take employee time to make this effective which seems to be an issue with the cruise lines trying to reduce staffing (or working with the amount of staff they can find). Any employee assigned to this task will always be afraid of their "name tag" being associated with negative customer reviews even though they were only "following policy."

Interesting. From what you describe, would you predict that a "Locker Hog" would come back at that once a day time and renew their code? My thoughts for instance, the code is reset at 6am. I clear my items from the locker before going to my cabin at night, wake up early enough to get the locker at 6am after reset, put my items back in for the day, and do it for the cruise. The only thing necessary is to know the time of reset. With that type of logic, one locker per cabin would be necessary on the Lido deck. About 3,000 lockers need to be created on just one Oasis class ship! Where will we find space for them? 😁 I am always amazed how much time and effort people exert to circumvent policy and rules.

Your assertion could be a fair conclusion if the locker spaces are limited. We have gym lockers at work which are suppose to be for the duration of the workout of that day and then cleared for use by other people. At least once per month, a veiled threat has to be sent that all lockers will be opened and emptied at 11:59pm unless the person is actively at the gym at the time. No one is suppose to have them for more than 3 hours (a very generous time to work out since the normal duration should not be more than 90 minutes to include a shower). Yes, I can foresee someone keeping the key for the entire cruise upon my 35 years of experience with this type of situation. Chair Hogs can definitely migrate into Locker Hogs. It is a sad mentality of me first, got it before you did, I am more important than you, if you really wanted it, you should have been here before me. Sad statement of our existence. 😔