Every week, we host our YouTube Live event called Sail Talk Saturday where we discuss upcoming travel plans, cruise news from the previous week, updates and surprises from Mark and Rocky, and fun chats and interactions with our viewers! This week’s edition features Cruise News for the last week of October, 2023 and includes stories from Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Virgin Voyages, and details on more Cruise Ship Port Bans.
Below is just one of the featured stories. You can watch the entire Live broadcast on YouTube.
Royal Caribbean Dining Booking Update
This one was a surprise to me, which is why I wanted to include it in this past week’s Sail Talk Saturday. Did you know that if you purchase a dining package on Royal Caribbean that you can’t actually schedule your restaurant reservations until you get on board?
We experienced the stress of Royal Caribbean’s embarkation day scheduling chaos on board Harmony of the Seas when we tried to schedule all of our dining, showtimes, and activities across the week in the Windjammer Buffet the moment we got on board. To sum up the feeling: I hated it!
Well, the line is testing change on board Wonder of the Seas that will allow cruisers to at least book dining reservations in advance – with a plan to roll it out fleetwide. According to Cruise Critic, the change is set to take place shortly after the launch of Icon of the Seas (slated for end of January 2024).
Several members of the Cruise Critic community mention that this change will likely make them more likely to purchase a dining package knowing that they’ll be able to secure reservations versus hoping that a spot would still be available once they got on board!
Considering that we’ve scheduled dining in advance on Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, and Virgin Voyages, it’s hard to believe that Royal Caribbean didn’t already have this offering. There’s no doubt, this will be a very welcome change for Royal Caribbean guests.
Other Cruise News from the Week
Check out the entire Sail Talk Saturday from November 4, 2023 below:
Featured stories:
- Carnival Cruise Line’s Soot Gate in Grand Turk
- Carnival Jubilee’s Final Stages
- Icon of the Seas Final Sea Trials
- Super Mario Lives on Cruise Ships for 20 Years
- Royal Caribbean Man Overboard Positive Outcome
- Celebrity Cruises Leadership Boards a Ship and Makes Restaurant Changes
- Royal Caribbean Raises Gratuities… Again!
- Another Attempt to Limit Cruise Ships in Sitka, Alaska
- Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Cuts Full Year Forecast
- Disney’s Jungle Cruise Gets Stuck!
- Virgin Voyages Completes Hybrid Fuel Test
- Scotland Plans More Taxes on Cruise Ships
- Stuck with a $20,000 Cruise Bill?