gumshoe958

I was on Symphony last month and got in at 6pm twice, as soon as they opened. As usual with Royal, it’s probably inconsistent and depends on the individual ship or maitre d’.

It’ll be day 2, Naples. The majority of passengers will disembark in Barcelona on day 4 so day 3 (sea day) may feel a bit like the last day, even though for you it’s not. There should be another ‘formal’ night on day 5.

The official policy is MTD starts around 6:45, once the first early traditional diners have finished and left. Unofficially, if there are spare tables due to early traditional diners no-showing, they’ll fill them from the MTD line so you can get in earlier. No guarantees though.

There was one on the Jewel TA in September.

Tends to be 80s on the bigger, newer ships and 50s/60s on the smaller, older ones to reflect the average age of those on board.

If they want a tip, they know what to do.

Agreed. I don’t carry cash. No receipt, no tip.

Relatively low on board spend though. High proportion of top tier cruisers so poor bar revenues.

Exactly. They are the real cash cows. Long cruises to ‘interesting’ ports are not.

Whichever makes them the most money.

Points normally post six days after you disembark.

Check in opens 45 days before departure.

£76 is definitely not a bargain. You’d need to buy 7 cocktails a day to come out on top. Any fewer than that and you’d be better off paying as you go.

The brand varies from ship to ship depending on the local supplier.

I’d say that’s pretty much a certainty.

Not everyone wants to go to the Canaries. There is serious money in short breaks. Bar revenues will be huge.

What’s not appealing about 7 nights to Spain & Portugal during May half term, or 9 nights ‘Spanish flair’ during the summer holidays?

Not at all. Cunard and P&O have been doing them for years and they’re immensely popular. Virgin are also back in Portsmouth next year. And away from cruising Easyjet, Ryanair and Centerparcs have essentially built their entire businesses on short breaks. True, the more ‘traditional’, older cruisers tend to prefer longer itineraries. But shorter cruises are very popular with working families, groups of friends and younger couples who are more pressed for time and might just want a long weekend. And that’s a huge market, much of which is new to cruising.

The short break market is large and lucrative. Bar sales alone are massive, and people are more willing to pay premium fares if the overall cost is lower. See also Utopia. For people who want 10+ nights there’s plenty of choice with NCL, P&O, Cunard and Princess.

Yes, the focus on short breaks puts Royal at polar opposites to NCL who have nothing under 10 days from Southampton in 2025. It’s a big market for MSC and P&O though. I guess they’re hoping the UK market will be more willing to pay higher fares and spend $$$ on drinks packages if it’s just a short break.

Just because a berth is available doesn’t mean any ship can use it.

As above, very few places in the UK don’t accept Visa & MasterCard and you can easily survive without ever using cash. But you may want to take a small amount for tips. Note that Normandy is in France, not the UK, and as such their currency is the Euro.

Yes, online from roughly around November 1st.

And I see Royal are still advertising Le Havre (Paris), which are considerably further apart than Ravenna & Venice.

Symphony last week had scheduled: Hairspray & Flight (Royal Theatre) 1977 & iSkate 2.0 (Studio B) Hiro & Aqua Nation (Aquatheatre) iSkate and Aqua Nation (which was cancelled due to weather) weren’t full production shows but shorter showcases. In the theatre there was also one headliner (a magician) and a family comedy show.