Tom-n-Cheryl

T-4 days (Seashore) and so far nothing, nada. Not even the email you guys have been talking about. I must say, I don't care for "the MSC way". Tom

So, other than having a cabana (as I understand it) for our Seashore sailing in an RS next weekend (4-nt), is there anything else I should expect to receive with the cabin -- in addition to the apparently diminishing list of perks for other YC cabins? Tom

I sat down at a table once and played a couple of shoes without a BJ. As soon as I was finally dealt one, then paid me 6:5. I collected my chips and left !!! Tom

Thanks for the info. I was trying to book their steakhouse for 15 people (taking my office staff). Apparently that's impossible ahead of time. Hopefully after boarding, they can make some arrangements for us. I guess that's "the MSC way". 🙄 Tom

We'll be in a RS on the Seashore later this month - should I expect anyone to reach out to us prior to the cruise? THANKS, Tom

This is what I'm seeing as of today: Pretty slim pickings, given that it's not uncommon to come off the ship +/- $10k (black chip BJ player). The free insides are only for a few 3/4 night Reflection sailings. Tom

I got a little break on this (Allure) sailing - getting an Aqua Theater suite for about $2k. What I like about Royal, anyone at Club Royale Prime level gets free drinks when playing and can also purchase chips at the table with no surcharge. Having said that, I've enjoyed a few great casino bookings on Carnival, getting up to $2,000 OBC, and CHEERS (Drinks on Us Everywhere). There's some real value there. So - pros and cons, as is always the case! Tom

We have quite a few Carnival sailings under our belts, with a fair # of Royal cruises (on the Allure at the moment - 3 night!). One place where Royal shines (on Oasis and new class ships) is the suite lounge and Coastal Kitchen. Even though we have in the past, I don't see us sailing on any prior class of ship with Royal. Kind of the same way I feel about Excel class on Carnival. We presently have the Utopia booked for later this year (again, a 3/4 night Oasis class ship!) and then the Star for '26. The Star is nearly $2k/per person for a 7-nt inside (not what we booked), so it's a significant premium. A comment was made about the passengers -- when we left Pt. Canaveral yesterday, the (Carnival) Liberty left on their 3-nt as well. We've sailed on that very itinerary several times, and hands down you can tell a difference. Everything else being equal - and in general - on Carnival you're going to see a difference in how people perceive "Cruise Casual" attire. You're also going to see more undesirable behavior (language and such). Again, each sailing (on any ship) will have variances and unique characteristics, but there are baseline differences nonetheless. Tom

Things they never even contemplate when building in Italy or France I suspect ! WOW Tom

I found a rough guesstimate HERE. I suspect that something like the Star would probably exceed their upper range (of 2.5 million man hours). Tom

Perhaps they could run live online auctions... and all of the potential cruisers can BID against each other for the best offers... LOL Tom

Anyone know roughly how many "man hours" of labor are involved in bringing one of these behemoths to reality ? Tom

Really - that's interesting (and surprising) ! Tom

It's an Italian line - of course they're not going to be very concerned with cigarette smoke... 😉 Tom

Entertainment just went live today for us 🙂 Tom

I've been checking for our 3/1/24 Allure cruise (24 days out), and it's still not showing any entertainment available -- saying to check back "closer to your sail date". Is this normal? Tom

I have not priced NCL in quite some time. This morning I was looking at the Aqua for early '25 and noticed that the pricing was for the stateroom and not per person. I was looking at the Haven. I should have jumped on it, as 30 minutes later, it reverted to per person, and the prices were about the same. Also, the booking page looked different. Perhaps they're in the middle of changing the layout. I just wonder if I had snagged it, would they have honored it? Tom

I was watching a video that indicated their top cabin (75-100k?) was pretty much sold throughout the end of this year. The same video was describing a few of the extra charge items, which were blowing me away. That people would pay $600/day for basically two (not private) loungers with a frame around them is crazy. Having said that, I get it. If they can charge that and people are willing to pay it, more power to them. But, I wonder why I bought so many shares of Carnival years ago when Royal seems to have done much better! I know why, it's because I was cruising Carnival a lot more then. With something like 80 Carnival cruises under my belt, and 10 on Royal, I certainly see the draw for guests to sail on Royal. You'll see far fewer bubba's and people wearing wife beaters on Royal, compared to carnival. We sailed on the Allure a couple of weeks ago, and went ahead and booked another one for the first of March. GS for the first, the next one is an aqua theater suite, which Cheryl has been wanting to try. It was just a couple thousand, with a casino discount. Not too bad in my opinion. I went ahead and booked a sailing on the Star of the Seas for early 2026. I found a week where the GS was "only" about 13,000 for two. For roughly the same week in 2025 I have a Presidential suite booked on the Mardi Gras. It's a little under 10,000, but comes with a beverage package and $2,000 on board credit, thanks to the casino. The deposits for both are non-refundable, but I was able to reserve the Mardi Gras for $200 versus $1,300 for the Star. Royal definitely wants to make sure you have more skin in the game, and thus less volatility for them

So - I've used the AARP cards for a few sailings on Carnival -- purchasing about 40 of the $500 cards for $450. That was some nice savings 🙂 With Carnival, you can use the cards to pay down your balance online, pay for gifts/dining pre-cruise, even load them up on your ship card during the cruise to pay for onboard expenses (including casino chip purchases!). Last night (on the Royal site) I put a reservation on hold (Star) for '26. I then checked the AARP site and saw the same deal ($500 cards for $450). First off -- are there actually issues applying these to a booking? And.. is that the only way you can use them? Tom

Just found this thread (after having an Allure cruise last weekend). We were offered twice daily cabin service - but only requested PM. Is that because we were in a GS cabin, or some other reason? Tom

Your follow up is a WINNER ! 😄 Tom

I was poking about the Royal website (Casino Royale) and saw this... can anyone identify what in this image isn't "right" ? Tom

Yep - I check there from time to time. Offers come/go, perhaps there's a new one or two since the prior week, I'm not sure. Either way, there's always been some balcony offers offered there (and in the mailings I get every couple of weeks or so). My offers which have really gone downhill are those from Celebrity. Perhaps they're now able to skim from a higher level in the cup. I used to get 60% off suites, now I get crumbs... The one which throws juicy offers my way continues to be Carnival... full drink package, free (entry level) suites - though "suites" with them is just a word, up to $2,000 OBC or free play. I'd much rather sail on Celebrity or Royal than Carnival, for multiple reasons. Come to think of it, NCL has dropped off the radar too (offers wise - nothing since Covid I'd say). Tom

I had the perks on that sailing (left over from prior earning I guess, even though they zeroed out my points). So, I suspect I'd have them through 3/31 either way? Club Royale ins/outs are rather new territory to me. Tom