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For the most part, I'd say the restart went well... up to a point. Customer loyalty is a fragile thing though. Give your loyal customer base a reason to look elsewhere and they will. X has certainly done so in the past month. If RCL reports a booking decline that is contrary to whatever the broader economy is doing, that's not a good sign.

What about those who give "10! 10! 10!" as suggested by the cruise waitstaff? 😅

WAY back in 2019, picking non-refundable didn't change the price, but gave us "all 4" perks instead of 3 (or was it 2?), including the premium beverage pkg and ~$300 OBC. Not a bad deal.

Seems as though the $100 non-refundable wouldn't be a liability.

Does refundable vs non-refundable enter into the corporate financials? X is asking for higher non-refundable deposits, while P is far lower and refundable. Seems like some sort of guaranteed vs at-risk $ sitting in their bank.

Thanks! We sailed on Princess last month for the first time and concluded that while it was different than what we've become accustomed to on X, there wasn't enough different to justify a significant premium for the X we used to know. We're now shopping for price on those 3 lines (still scared of MSC).

Thanks for the detailed review and insight. Much appreciated. From a shareholder perspective, I look at the data and comments and think "things look rather dire...maybe", but then look at my RCL stock and see that it's up 100% since I bought it last summer. To the extent that our collective opinions regarding the financial health of the company mean squat for the stock price, I suppose I'm happy with where things are right now. As a customer, I honestly don't care about any of that. Whether they're running up their credit card debt, or if they're rolling in cash, it matters not to me. I'm not sympathetic to whatever their plight may be (as so many seem to be). This is a company that is providing a service, and that service is appealing for the price, I'll buy from them. If not, I'll spend my money elsewhere. When and how that shows up in the stock price? Who knows. But I do need to consider when the best time to sell might be, despite the above.

Likewise, us non-suite customers will look at other lines. I priced a few different 7n Caribbean sailings on X vs Princess vs Holland. Same weeks, similar ports. We can book either of the other two WITH drinks, grats, and wifi for very close to the same price as X gets WITHOUT any perks. Add in $550+ pp for AI, and it's a huge difference for what's becoming an inferior product. We've been loyal because they've been price competitive and have delivered a quality product that we felt was appropriate for the fare. Right now, we can't justify the X premium on either an objective or subjective basis.

Stock prices are irrational and don't necessarily (if ever) assess what is happening on the guest experience side of things.

I've never been questioned either, but generally everything is in pill form, save for the cough meds sometimes. The meds live in my backpack that travels on me. Through security multiple times and never a second look.

That's good news. I wonder what the shelf life is for it.

They have sewing kits at guest services. 🙂

So you're postulating that buffet food simply gets thrown out and not offered to the crew. On what are you basing this?

Again, you're basing this on what? I see crew from a variety of heritages in OVC each evening, eating the buffet food. I've talked to crew members who have commented on eating the buffet leftovers.

You're basing this on what exactly?

Would be nice, but it's failed every time it's been tried in the US. Cliffs Notes: American's are bad at math

Bigger profits shouldn't be too far off. According to today's announcements, bookings (at the RCL parent level) are at all time highs. It looks like prices are at all time highs as well. For the dates I've been checking recently, I can book with perks on Princess, Holland, or MSC for the same or less than X's price without perks.

Boggles my mind why they have grats/svc fees as a separate line item. Roll it into the cruise price and be done with the nonsense.

any idea why?

Exactly. The "reduce waste" talking point is total BS. As if all of the unserved food is thrown out, instead of going to the crew. And if, as everyone seems to say, "hardly anyone eats at the buffet at dinner", then waste of served food should be minimal. Waste in the MDR has to be many times greater. "Oh look, everyone at the table has a side of asparagus that they won't eat". Another case in point, back in November, I wanted a surf & turf on lobster night. Just toss a lobster tail on there with the steak. Nope. They insisted that they had to bring 2 full meals. I've heard others mention the same experience.

Simple. Without the beverage package you were either going to: 1) Order no drinks and thus pay no gratuity because nobody is serving you drinks. 2) Pay an added gratuity with each and every drink you order at the time of purchsase because you're being served drinks. The package is "all of your drinks" for one price, so you pay the added gratuity on "all of your drinks" at the time of purchase of the package.

Simple answer: Celebrity's IT really is that bad. Check back when you board and it should be more accurate. Anything before then is suspect.

Imagine the opposite. Being from the US in the UK when your credit card doesn't even have a chip on it! Standing in Waterloo station in London, wanting to buy a train ticket from a machine that can't read a magnetic stripe was good fun. 😲 Thankfully my brother happened to have a chip card with him (this was 2014). It was amusing though, showing the young restaurant servers where the magnetic swipe slot was on their handheld. Most had never even realised it was there. 😅

2. Regular rooms have a "Shampoo & Conditioner" mix as a wall-mounted bottle in the shower. Body wash in a bottle next to it.

Likewise, we don't sail suites, so we're shopping itinerary and price these days (and factoring in the X changes). Celebrity is invariably more expensive than other lines for the dates we've been checking. When you factor in more expensive beverage packages, more expensive specialty dining, and such, the all-in price creeps up on X.