So wish they would build a new SMALL ship. We would love a better option out of Baltimore.

I think 5 night cruises are the way to take your first cruise. It gives you enough time to really explore the ship and try different things.

Add to that list probably more price increases. It is getting harder and harder for us retiree's to enjoy cruises.

Our first ever cruise is out of Cape Liberty on Symphony OTS and while I didn’t even know that was a new thing for Symphony in 2024, I definitely appreciate being able to drive to the port, saving us money and the hassles of a flight.

I’m super excited. Love Royal, nothing is perfect.

131 days til I’m on Oasis from Barcelona! First RC cruise, cannot wait!

We were on the Allure of the Seas this last October and purchased the 3 specialty restaurant package. About 2 months before our sailing, I went on the app and booked our reservations to each of them. We were also able to book all of the shows that we wanted, and our mdr reservations at that time. It was nice to have everything set up months in advance instead of waiting until we got on the ship.

I’m lost for words! I’m that excited!🎉

Our first cruise is in May on Wonder of the Seas and we are extremely excited!

So excited for our trip in 2024

Love the icon, hating they are charging to go to adult area in VoVo Cay. Also, will someone let Royal Caribbean know to add a lazy river to one of their ships or to Perfect Day inclusive areas. It is actually already advertised that Royal Caribbean has a lazy river on one of their ships but of course this is not true but it would be great if it was!!

We prefer the smaller ships..

Finally within 90 days of my cruise that booked last March!! So excited🎉

I have a dining package for my July sailing on Navigator of the Seas. I hope the reservation option will be available before then.

We are heading this coming Saturday for an 11-day Caribbean cruise. They are already allowing for dining package reservations and Chops and Izumi.

Hey Matt, any update on the new 2024 mdr (main dining room) menu.

We are going on our first RC cruise later this month on Allure but we also found a good deal for Utopia in November so looking forward to that. We looked at Icon but $$ was higher so we went with Utopia. Guess booking it thanksgiving 2023 helped with year in advance. Hoping to try other cruise lines also.

Another amazing video

My family is doing Symphony out of NY this year and we’re super excited! We haven’t done a cruise in 20 years (I barely remember being a kid on Adventure) so I’ve been religiously watching your videos and compiling notes to share with everyone so that we’re all prepared well in advance! Your channel serves not only to inform but also build the hype for sure 🤩 I was feeling a little iffy about the idea of a cruise at first but after seeing what RCL has to offer, I’m totally bought in

Definitely happy with the decision to allow specialty restaurant bookings before the cruise. We had a 3 dinner package purchased but cancelled it before the cruise because I didn't want to have to worry about rushing to book them once I got onboard only to find out the dates we wanted weren't available. I've heard that's not usually an issue but this will be more enticing for people to keep the dining package.

I’m going on the utopia of the sea in August!!! First time cruise and I’m excited!!!!

Love it all!!! Cant wait for May 31st, on the Symphony!

Finally the Dining package will be more useful

Its just too large for me. I like being on a cruise ship where i can see the ocean at all times. Thats the point. This new ship has so many inside spaces u can hardly tell ur on the ocean. Just the same as a land vacation. I will stick with the smaller ships

Oh man, being able to book your dining before boarding will be awesome. It’s so annoying doing it when you get on board.

Norwegian has been allowing dining reservations through their app for at least a few years now, and thank heaven for that, because dining packages came as part of their ""Free at Sea" program. If everyone had to wait to get on the ship to take advantage of that and get reservations, it would have been a madhouse. I'm surprised it's taken RCL this long to finally set that up.

Great informative video. Just booked the icon for next year, but we were considering the wonder this year. Now have to check out the 2 coming out after lol

I am most excited about being able to pre-book dining with the package! Way long overdue! Also thinking about hideaway Bay for our Icon cruise in April. We usually go to the beach club but it's just too much for this sailing for me.

10,000 people!!! That's more than the population of the town I grew up in. And we thought Oasis of the Sea was too crowded, I can't imagine how crowed Icon will be.

🎉🎉yay It’s leaving from Bayonne we will be sailing symphony of the seas July 5th so excited first time cruising, and I wanted it to be Royal.

We cruised Grandeur OTS January 23 in an aft junior suite, the balcony door handle would not lock and the furnishings were very tired. RCI needs to focus on the smaller ships!

I have been on Wonder, have Utopia and Icon booked, haven’t considered the Star yet. The neighborhoods are wonderful already, looking forward to new dining experiences and changes to poolside and ship watering holes.

Just got back from an 8 night New Year cruise on Symphony, this was our first cruise since covid. It was a great experience, with the only down side being the food. The food in main dining was lack luster, and Windjammer’s offerings were bland. We also felt rushed while eating in the main dining room. This is a big difference from our pre covid Royal Caribbean sailing. We dined all 8 nights at main dining but we did notice many people only ate there two or three times, and never saw them again. Perhaps they want people to eat at their over priced restaurants.

I'm on the Jan 29 2024 Allure of the Seas cruise that stops at Perfect Day and Hideaway Beach/Bay is NOT listed in the pre-cruise planner.

Love the video . Will be in Miami on the 27th. What time will icon leave ports on the inaugural cruise ?

I'm "eh" about Icon of the Seas. I love the idea, hate the price, and am concerned about the size. After doing Wonder of the Seas, it just felt like RC was just putting more people on a boat with out REALLY expanding the options onboard. I'm NOT impressed with a boat holding 7k+ people, it just means it will be crowded, and if my upcoming RC cruise is a template, then it means things like reservations will be harder and harder to come by.

Thanks for the video Matt! There isn't an official date for hideaway beach right? I'm cruising on the Odyssey on January 28 and wanted to visit that new area!

I have never cruised before but I am planning one for this year. What do you all recommend?

Are they gonna keep re-selling already booked cabins if they get a higher price with almost no notice?

My first cruise was 3 night, I wasn't for sure if I would get sea sick so we started small and since then we do 6 to 8 night cruises since I don't get seas sick.

We will be on the celebrity reflection in june i cant wait to try out coco cay

I wish you would do more explaining when you use the word Amplified. What changed? And does this change per class of ship?

Matt, me issue with 3 and 4 night cruises is the "party/booze cruise" stigma. I don't think this is a great first cruise experience. I've always recommended 5 night sailings.

Hard to get excited about paying to get into an adult only pool at Perfect Day. Why isn’t it included?????

Looking forward to our first ever RCL cruise in March 2025! (Book early was the advice!) Ovation from Sydney to NZ and back. Be good to book speciality dining before boarding.

I will be sailing twice in 2024 on RCL. FIrst on Navigator out of San Pedro, May 20th, just after she returns from dry dock. I'm excited to see how much she's changed since I last sailed on her 15 years ago. My 2nd is Sept. 8th on Rhapsody, on a 7 night southern caribbean, out of San Juan. Going to check off my final 5 islands to visit, St.Croix, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. This will also mark sailing on my 5th different class of Royal Caribbean ships. Only two classes left.

They need a brand new short cruise from LA

Never been but I want to go on a cruise

Makes perfect sense. You can now charge more for a short cruise on a bigger ship and still charge more on an older ship for a longer cruise. Win-win for royal

Hey Matt, love your Blogs and advise. We just got back from being on the Odyssey of the Seas Christmas cruise and I have to say it was great except for the food. The food on the main dining room and windjammer were awful. The 2 nights we ate at the speciality restaurants, Chops Grille and Wonderland were very good. I was very disappointed in the lack of flavor, quality and lack of menu items at the main dining room. The changed menu really disappointed. It was not just me as I had 15 other people with me and they all said the same thing. The windjammer food was very similar to the Main dining room but had several more options but just not any good. Meet was dry, appetizers had no flavor, carbs dishes lacked flavor and quality as well. Really bad. Even simple breakfast stuff was not cooked correctly or lacked any flavor. Even my fresh omelet was dry and overcooked. I'm not sure what's going on but many others agreed with me. I felt bad for some of the servers in the dining room as they had no words for me. I asked one night for fresh black pepper and I was told they don't provide that anymore. I asked for parmesan cheese for another night and they gave what looked like bread crumbs and not cheese. I'm planning a cruise to Europe this coming 2024 and I think I won't be going with RCCL again. Very disappointed in the food. Over all everything else was great!

It’s a perfect dey at cocoa key.

Looking forward to CocoCay. Been so long that I haven’t been there since they added all the water parks. Was simple beach day back then.

Royal Caribbean Please Do Not Forget About The Smaller Ships That Many People Prefer Over These Giant Ones. I Love The Brilliance Of The Seas Size Ships! These Smaller Ships Got You To Where You Are Today So Come On Spend Some Money Upgrading and Maintaining These Ships Too!

It's exciting that they are adding a 2nd ship, on the west coast, adding Quantum OTS, alongside Navigator.

Matt, I just cruised aboard the Anthem of the Seas to the Bahamas and CocoCay. Although I and my family got sick from the cruise due to the wintry season of the sailing, I imagined that this luxurious and amazing ship allowed me to live like a millionaire for 7 days. I had an absolutely amazing and mindblowingly memorable experience aboard the Anthem of the Seas over the Christmas Holidays. The ship was absolutely beautiful. And honestly, I only found out about your videos and your blog after my cruise ship, since I procrastinated on initial preparation for the cruise. But I am glad that I delayed the research, since coming on the ship without knowing what to expect just made the experience on the cruise even more wonderful. Thanks for putting in the hard work to create these blogs and videos because they help me to relive the wonderful memories of the best vacation of my life.

I usually tell people who have never cruised to take a 3-4-night cruise and see if they even like it. If they do, then they should book a longer cruise. Nothing like deciding you don't like cruising after a day or two and your stuck on the ship for a week! Just speaking for myself I find a 5-day cruise is ideal budget-wise. My cruise in 30 days on Allure of the Seas is a weekend cruise to Coco Cay. I want to see Hideaway Bay at Coco Cay before RCCL jacks up the price like they did everything else on the island!

En este año nuevo excelencia en mi merecidas vacaciones Royal Carribean crucero 🚢 logros obtenido a disfrutar

Wait - the bars at the new beach club are included in the admission price? I think that's what you said.

Wait! I booked Oasis OTC for a Caribbean cruise in Jan ‘25……. Are they going to change my ship? I hope not. I picked that ship specifically

Didn’t hear anything in this presentation that even makes me want to board these ships. I appreciate RC doing so much to help me save a whole lot of money! My opinion, your wave height may vary.

You'd think that with all these upgrades, they could finally get heated pools! Every cruise I've been on, all the pools are cold.

I would love to try the Icon OTS, but that might be a few years from now, however, I have been given a great discount on Utopia OTS for a couple months after it debuts, so I will take it. My FIRST oasis class ship & my FIRST new ship. I appreciate that RCI gave many of us the lower rates especially since I like to travel solo & I love my balconies. I'm excited to try her out in September. The other fun fact is that I booked Oasis OTS a good 5 months before Utopia & my FIRST trans-Atlantic cruise from Barcelona back to Florida & this 14 night cruise was a deal I could not overlook, so I'm traveling solo in my own balcony cabin on this ship too. I'm sure there will be differences, but I am excited to be on 2 oasis class ships in 2024 & collecting more points toward my first Diamond block.

I just sailed in December on the mariner and I have another one in February on the allure so I am excited! I loved Royal Caribbean and I am excited to go again

im booked for Icon or the seas in February but do to cost this is my last new big ship to cruise on. My next cruise ill look for a small ship and when kids are in school and see how that goes.

You missed a big change Matt! Your first time on the flowrider, while on Icon of the seas. New Year, New Experiences !

I went on my first cruise aullar of the seas and we did not get to got to coco cay because the weather😢.

The most important thing is dinning package I can book pre cruise. Better happen before My cruise in October 2024. Unacceptable that I can’t pre book with a package. So I hope this comes into play before 2H 2024.

Not excited that Royal is making Hideaway Beach a paid entry location. Hopefully most ppl pass on it so Royal drops the entry fee like they did with charging extra for the texting feature in the app. Cococay already has beach club and water park that cost extra, we don't need another one.

Had to get excited for any of this because of there price increases! I can fly my family to the Dominica and stay at 5 star resort for led than what they want for an interior room on these ships. My last cruise will be in March until the nickel and dime price increases change. But by their booking I don’t think that will happen anytime soon

Very expensive for a solo cruiser at the moment, but definitely on the list.

*** I cant see the itinerary for the OASIS CLASS SHIPS IN MEDITEREAN. In 2024 or 2025? I prefer American ships over the European MSC/Costa as there service is not good. Does anyone have the links to the Mediterean itinarary? I cant find anything!

I have cruises Royal many times. Unfortunately, the killer for the cruise is the less than average food it offers. I have checked prices, and they are starting the nickel and diming. You buy this and then there is upcharges for that. The food is the killer though.

@Matt you will want to update your video as you use 2023 several times. :)

Once in awhile there are glitches but I cruise either a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity once a month as a lifestyle and I love this cruise company over NCL, Princess or Carnival (Holland is nice though). Royal Caribbean is the best for adults and or families but the Celebrity is best for the mature cruiser who wants luxuries and more adult relaxation on the seas.

Matt you didn't mention which ship will be positioned in Australia? Will it be Jewel?

I'm not too fussed by either Icon or Utopia per se. I'm more interested in finding out more details about the new Discovery class of ships.

Hi Matt you said hideaway beach was opening in 2023 ...I believe it's 2024...check it out at 6:45 minutes...

Just got off the Mariner and it was a great cruise with good staff, aside from the lazy guys in the gym. I was worried about the new menu in the main dining room but food was best we have had in there.

I have only been on one cruise before, and in march I’m going on anthem, hopefully the elevators don’t break down, cause I’ve heard complaints about that.

Hey Matt, love your videos but like a lot of the other comments, when will RC stop adding things that cost extra. You're already paying a lot of money to get on the cruise and then you have to pay additional money for other activities when it was included in the price of the cruise. I'm going on Symphony in December out of Miami and wanted to know what the dining and beverage packages will cost?

Thanks for sharing but I wish RCL puts more studios for solo travellers like NCL . Gets so expensive when you have to pay double occupancy for one person.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm a little bit suspicious about those shorter cruises. I'm guessing that they will charge a premium for those, even more so than normal.

Matt it finally happened to us! We were on an 8 night adventure of the seas cruise and when we got to our room for the first time there was paperwork on our bed telling us as diamond members that we couldn’t use the crown lounge any day of the cruise after 4pm! It’s not that I wanted to go but it still rubs me the wrong way!

My family's first cruise was 7 nights on Allure of the Seas. We loved it. Many friends thought I was crazy. I don't get why folks discourage you from something great. We were told our 1st cruise should only be 3 nights and we would regret doing a 7 nighter.

i home, i can join with your conpany some day

Leaving on Harmony in 11-days! 3rd cruise in the last 11-months. Thanks for the video!

Best change I see is the pre-booking for specialty dining. Agreed that it's a pain point, especially for one who hates not having everything (like this) pre-planned and paid for before sailing. Wife and I are taking 2024 off, as we've done three sailings in 2023, but we will return in 2025. ...hopefully by then, they'll have updated their karaoke song lists, which have been atrociously lacking on every ship (except perhaps the Oasis) that we've sailed on.

Just passed Oasis in Miami, she looked very rusty on the outside, like she was old and tired.

@ 6:50 New opening in 2023?

Since im 27 and work a full time job with limited vacation time, the best I cqn do is a weekend getaway cruise currently until I build up more vacation and money. I suspect that why they are increasing the 3 to 4 day cruises is because more young people are cruising instead of just old people.

Empress started on short cruises!

Allure of the Seas in May '24! Woohoo

Matt, any idea what’s going to happen to the smaller ships ? Rhapsody (for one) is a lovely ship but it badly needs upgraded, in particular the staterooms. We love the smaller ships but they seem to be getting overlooked. Would appear RCI is leaning towards the mega ships.

UP NEXT WOO HOO

Huh. Not too impressed by Icon, especially after studying the deck plans, and the changes for Utopia don't look enticing to us. I was able to schedule Giovanni's when I purchased the meal on Vision for next September. We don't sun worship so the whole Coco Cay thing is a stop we tend to stay onboard and besides, the new beach is yet another added cost. We'd love to see some additions to the fleet of small to mid size ships, although I think we'll try to book Symphony out of Bayonne at some point.

In 2025 OTS is coming to NJ. However we are losing ATS my all time favorite ship 😢

Group of us sailing on Odyssey of the seas March 2nd..Anyone cruised that ship, good bad etc..

Edit needed: At 6:45 you stated '2023' when you meant '2024'.

I’m looking forward to Odyssey out of Bayonne

Our first cruise is a 12 day cruise. We are actually a little worried