GBeason884

While I think we are far from being back to normal pricing, there is some softening going on. Interesting article on Colorado bookings for the upcoming ski season. https://www.vaildaily.com/news/vail-lodging-business-starting-to-normalize-after-a-couple-of-remarkable-years/

honestly it hadn’t even hit me that Dec 16 was right around the corner, so maybe give a day or two… I think I ran my JS on a Galveston cruise up a lot with my indecision searching in September. I was going between the cruise and Turks. I stopped searching and price came back down. Locked it in 2 weeks before. Same thing happened with a Celebrity Mexican Riviera cruise last year. The Royal Suite ended up being less than Sky Suites. If the cruise did go up, I bet it’s their surge/demand pricing kicking in. Let it settle out, but know, it is a gamble. Just my one off experiences. And my half full travel attitude.

Give it a week or two. Lay off even searching. Maybe the sailing will cool. Dynamic pricing can make some really good deals or make our cards melt.

@gambler we had a very similar experience, but it was just us two is Costa Maya. Treat the location like any foreign tourist trap. They will charge “foreign rates” if you don’t call them out on it. Sometimes not worth fighting. I will say, I enjoyed where we ate. Margaritas were 14 and goblet size. Two were enough (not Superior Grill strong…). Ceviche was 30. But it was very good for my pallet. I don’t remember the name, but it was father south from the lobster restaurant. When I got back to the ship, I saw a bunch of reviews as a tourist trap. Our bill was right, but they may have already given us the tourist menu. I was fine at 140 lighter with tip. Compared to sitting at the “port” options, boss lady and I were very happy with our Costa Maya experience. Sucks we all have tourist written on our forehead, but make most of it. Go get the $20 Rolex or the $50 LV Mickey Mouse backpack. Enjoy the vacation!

@luckybecky my wife and I found the Viking crown was nice and calm. They had a bartender and waiter working most nights. I would go up and have a drink while she got ready before the show. The second night, the waiter knew to bring my “extra diet” coke. They were good, but set expectations for basic mixed drink at craft cocktail speeds. The view was honestly better than anywhere else. @ckmommy judging from some of your photos, we must have crossed paths at some points. Glad you wrote the analysis. Your rhetoric was far better than mine.

My wife and I were on the same cruise. Good analysis. We both commented on how slow bar service was on the ship. I attribute it to drink packages. The old days, they would have killed their revenue, but now they are cutting costs. At least she was glad they had Caymus in the specialty restaurants and I was content with Buffalo Trace. Compass - you had to tell the attendant to print you one. We didn’t, but there was a note. Our main complaint was food temp. By second seating, everything came out luke warm. Interesting enough, it was a full ship, but I think had just about 900 C&A passengers. 3/4 new to RCCL, that is concerning. But neither my wife or I found anything different from longer RCCL cruises.

We all know Celebrity has always been making changes. Some good (SS invited to Luminea and then to Michael’s) and other with less backlash (afternoon tea only in Michael’s rather than a cart). Cookies and vaping got quickly reversed. Do we think they will see a reduction in Retreat bookings? How can they gracefully jibe and not tach? For me, I don’t care on OBC, Wi-Fi, grats. I’ll add that as fare. I book SS for Luminea and Butlers (really only for breakfast setup and return to room fruit). I booked my October anniversary trip on RCCL as a junior suite was 300/night (500 with unlimited specialty restaurant) for same as 1000/night SS. My over under is that they will come up with a package for Butler service and market as the best thing since Retreat. They will then just include it as part of a standard 1-2-3-4 promotion.

Sorry, but I must be dense. Isn’t this the definition of smart casual. Plus, I would always wear long pants or a very nice pair of jeans anywhere on the ship in the evening. On warmer cruises, I’m always cold at night anyways. I don’t get the issue.

Sounds like the upgrade fairy is still around and was good to you. If it’s a slow cruise, it’s a smart move for them. Our first Celebrity cruise was in a Sky (veranda guarantee) and wife doesn’t want to ever change.

The Oct 8-15 cruise had 1400. Retreat was booked. When we left, the retreat host said they were down the 1100 with suites for the next two cruises not full.

If you think masks will help or protect you, wear them at the beginning. Masks are not for me, but I (let’s all) respect and applaud those choosing to wear a mask. We are on the Solstice at half capacity. Even with many free elevators and lots of space, I still see some passengers wearing regular and n(k)95 masks. Some crew still wear them. Before booking, check for a cruise with excess capacity. There are still many sailings with reduced bookings. (Solstice in Alaska was full, Solstice in Mexico is half).