alfaeric

It's always interesting to see how people extrapolate a handful of people to an entire population. Especially when the population they extrapolate to isn't even part of the handful of people. But people also like to quickly condemn.

You are correct that you *can* do that. And I would recommend that you do that. What I'm pointing out is that the shows (other than comedy) are not actually sold out, as there are seats held for people to do reservations when they get on board. So if you are late to the pre-booking, you can book almost all of the shows when you board. But do it ASAP as other people are also making reservations as they board.

It's also more quiet most of the time (and depending on where you are in the MDR).

Tips are taxed, sure. If there are records and it's expected as part of the industry. But this isn't the restaurant industry where there's any record that they would get any tips. And it's also not an industry where tips are nominally considered part of their income. So if they report it, it's all on them. And given the cash and the lack of records, I doubt most do report it.

They are not in an industry where it's a normal part of their wages, like food workers. So IF they report it, it's all on them (and I would applaud that). But given the shakedown at the port, I doubt most do- it's cash and there's no receipt to back up that they should get a tip.

There are plenty of posts who complain about people dragging their luggage all over the ship when boarding. Or slowing down the lines because of their luggage (and it's not them- there are people who have real issues that slow the security line down- who I very much give a break to). They also complain about the people getting off the ship that their carried luggage takes up so much space (which it doesn't). The issue isn't about being cheap, it's about keeping track of all of my luggage. After we lost two items for 2 weeks from a snowstorm, we just bring carry on's for flying. And when our luggage arrived in our cabin really late, we decided the same thing for cruises. That was about 25 years ago for flights, over 40 cruises ago.

What a scam. These guys make good wages, and when you consider the number of cabins that they get $2-5 a cruise, all of this NOT part of their wages- since they would not really be part of the group that has to include tips as wages- the extra thousand or so a week they get is not taxed at all. I'll be carrying on my luggage until I'm not physically able to.

As soon as you board, reserve using the app. You can only do it when you are connected to the ships wifi, but the shows will be open on boarding day. Except for the comedy show.

And people get upset of people carrying on their own luggage....

Plenty of time to spite RCI and cancel the entire cruise 🙂

It's pretty amusing to consistently see that "honest" almost always means negative. Which means that the handful of people who think the food hasn't changed, and it's ok are lying. You wonder why people don't post reviews very often. If you are looking for a crappy time, you will certainly find it. Good luck with that. Or better yet, if you are far enough out, please just cancel your cruise. Prices are high enough for those of who are not "honest" already.

Having started our vacations doing big land vacations, if anyone expects anything close to a land trip on a cruise, you need to shift what you think is going to happen. Heck, in most places, just visiting ONE city for a week isn't anywhere near seeing the country, let alone a cruise. But sometimes an 8 hour exposure to a place is enough. And also, sometimes, a cruise ship as a resort is also enough- regardless of the ports. For the haters, please don't take that as a suggestion to cruise- you need to stay away from cruising. And we really, really need to stop people from booking a 4 night balcony for $1200/pp - as that just hits the rest of us really hard.

For full suites, yes, lunch with alcohol is included. While I don't have first hand experience with lunch, I would expect if you want a mimosa, you could get one. We needed reservations for JS/Pin, and I would expect you would too. BUT- they would not turn you away without them as opposed to JS and Pins. If you make reservations, you can do it for the whole week (unlike JS/Pin who have to do it every single day in person). And while I've seen the sign for the drinks in the lounge, I've also never, ever, ever seen anyone blink an eye if you take something with you. They will certainly take care of you. Enjoy your cruise!

"Factually" that could be a single thread of the confetti and a slightly worn edge of a sheet, too. Not that either are a good thing, but they are not filthy deal breakers either. Unless there are pictures to demonstrate the actual filthiness, I would take it all as hyperbole. We've been on 9x more cruises than the OP, and have not experienced any thing like that. I've been on cruises just after people have called a ship a disaster, and had real problems seeing the things they claimed made the ship a problem. Some of the worst I've seen was the rust that you and I saw on underside of deck 11 on the Radiance a couple of weeks ago (you were just down the hall from us on Deck 10). And while bad, I also know it was a real pain to paint- the ship needing to go to dry dock. It's fine that it was the straw for the OP, again, I'm totally for people finding the tiniest things to stop cruising- need to do whatever we can to get the prices low. The OP getting a balcony at 3x what I would consider a nominal rate for one is a real problem for those of us who are obsessed with cruising. People need to have better limits than just going at all costs.

We recently finished a side by side pair of cruises on the Allure and Radiance. And transportation was.... interesting and frustrating... Two months ago, we booked all of our trips but one with Blacklane- IAH to Galveston, Galveston to JSC, and JSC to IAH. And assumed getting a taxi to our one night hotel would be easy. Getting to Galveston was a breeze- they were right there, and the long ride to our hotel was easy. Problem #1, taxi from the Allure to anywhere. When we got off the Allure, there were no taxis anywhere to be seen. We had just got in the taxi area as a bunch apparently left- as there was one couple that was waiting. After about 20 min, one showed up for them, and by then there was a pretty decent long line waiting for a taxi. It was just over a mile to our hotel, so we walked after calling a taxi company and them telling us that 1) they had nobody available, and 2) they could not enter the port. What???? Getting the taxi from our hotel to the Radiance was reasonably easy, but there was a decent wait. Problem #2- the day before the Radiance arrived back in Galveston, Blacklane canceled our trip. Claiming that they had nobody who could come out. Seriously? We made this reservation well in advance, so it should have been easy for them to make arrangements for ONE driver. We didn't find out until the morning of arrival, as communications on a cruise isn't that great. They KNEW we were on a cruise, and this sudden cancelation left us in a terrible position. So based on that, I'd totally avoid Blacklane for any transportation- as they can not fulfil a reservation made well in advance. Terrible. Problem #3- getting a Lyft. We tried to call a taxi, but they could not commit to a specific time. We went out, and the handful that were there were demanding the same price as a limo transfer. And we had heard that Uber does not have the permission to get to the port. So I tried to book with Lyft. They showed a handful of cars around the port until I actually asked to reserve it, and then it went into a loop. At one time, we kind of got a person, and then they canceled and it went back into a loop. Forgive me lyft, but you should be able to tip off your drivers that a ship is coming in and that you are the ONLY ride share that is allowed to pick someone up. But that's not the actual problem. We were literally standing next to a driver who was a Lyft driver. Right there at the port. He was logged in and was available, we were logged in and were asking for a car. And in spite of all of that, he was NOT given any of the rides that people were trying to get. In the end, we made private arrangements for that driver to take us to our JSC hotel. Come on Lyft- you can do a lot better than that. The next day, Blacklane did pick us up at the JSC hotel, and we got back for our flight home. But with all of that struggle, I really don't want to sail out of Galveston again. And for sure we will never use Blacklane again- as reservations mean nothing, apparently. Royal needs to do a LOT better with ground transportation for their guests if they want us to fly in and cruise there.

Sucks that you had a bad cruise. And in the over 50 cruises we've been on, nothing like that has ever happened (knock on wood). But if that's the straw that breaks the camel's back, so be it. Funny about the price, though- that's an insane price to pay for 4 nights. $300/nt pp in a balcony is way higher than the price we would pay for a JS, and is bordering on an GS limit (depending on the cruise). We just did 10 night in a GS that was less expensive per night than 4 nights in a tiny balcony. Let alone $100/nt pp for drinks. I can't even get through our free 6 a night, so 7 is impossible a day to us. Still, the faster people decide that they don't want to cruise anymore, the quicker prices will get back to normal, and you can get a last min cruise for a decent deal.

In an age where fuel prices are a massive unknown, yes, I see massive ships as the only ones Royal will build. Big ships are way more efficient per passenger than smaller ones- a decade ago, we talked to the chief engineer of the Allure, and he pointed out that it used just barely less fuel than the Freedom on the exact same itinerary. With 50% more passengers. And I'd expect that the engines and fluid dynamics on the Icon is even better than that. That being said, considering the popularity of the itinerary (they sell out really quickly) there will always be a ship that can transit the Panama Canal. Just as a guess, it's considerably less expensive to transit the older locks than the new ones, so all of the previous Panamax ships will continue to sail. Aka Radiance ships.

We enjoyed the new menu, mostly. On a 10 night cruise, we saw 9 of the menus- the English inspired one was repeated. There was a new Asian inspired one- and it being brand new, they seemed to still be working out the bugs. Favorite was the Mexican inspired one- the two soups were great. But I do also recognize that it can be inconsistent- just like the old menus.

Just off the Radiance- sometimes service was good, but others not so much. Like in our cabin- there were places where we just could not get good wifi. And when nobody is around, it's pretty darned good out in the centrum or theater- but add people, and it basically stops working. I don't think the wifi was set up to be used with massive amounts of people that have an app.

As soon as you board, hook up to the App, and you can make reservations. Just did that on the Allure having all of the pre-boarding shows "sold out" and every show was open OTHER than the comedy show.

The way we read it, some of them are happy to rebook everyone at the end of the day, and others need to have you check in as you leave, or contact them if you miss the dinner before. It's kind of annoying, and I really wish they let you reserve via the app- it's not as if they can't filter out who have access or not. It would be a whole lot easier if you miss one night for any reason. We had a recent cruise on the Allure where we missed one night, and then the next night wanted to experiment with the new menu. The next day, we forgot to walk up there (as we didn't have a number, and the reservations number does not do CK), so could not get in that night.

Not sure this helps, but our recent cruise the Radiance suggests that the core problem isn't starlink as much as it's the wifi routers on the ship. Once we got connection, the speed was decent, but getting that in our cabin was really tough. The other indicator was that wifi access when it got crowded in spaces was really, really poor. So everyone using the app at the same time (or at least being connected all of the time) really, really hurts performance. Basically, this means you have a double problem...

Even before covid, my spouse and I would not want to sit with some random person in a love seat.

Unless you force or demand to be a random 3rd in a love seat, I don’t think you are.

I wish I had gas, lol.