There are “classes” in all sorts of areas in our world. Some are social status, some are economic status, and some are ships.
Ships?!
Yep. Ships.
For a while now, I have been sailing on Royal Caribbean ships. I have been on several cruise ships in the past — Cunard, Disney, Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean — and have more or less become “loyal to Royal” because of my cruise experiences with them and also because of their price structure and loyalty program for customers. My dream would be to sail Disney exclusively but, at nearly twice the cost of a Royal Caribbean cruise, I cannot afford to do so.
Therefore, I have a new ambition: to sail all the “classes” of Royal Caribbean ships. You might like to know that they have several:
Sovereign Class
Vision Class
Radiance Class
Voyager Class
Freedom Class
Quantum Class
Oasis Class
Of their classes, I have sailed two ships on the Sovereign Class (their smallest ships): the Monarch of the Seas and the Majesty of the Seas. I have sailed two of their ships in the Vision Class: the Legend of the Seas (a transatlantic cruise) and the Enchantment of the Seas (my annual Bahamas cruise). I have sailed one of their Oasis class (the largest cruise ships in the world to date): the Harmony of the Seas. That was a transatlantic cruise that I took in 2016. I will be sailing on their new Oasis class ship, the Symphony of the Seas, in October of this year.
I have not sailed Radiance, Voyager, Freedom, or Quantum classes . . . yet. I plan to remedy that. Next year, I will be taking two cruises on two different classes. I will take a four day Bahamas cruise in May 2019 on the Voyager Class, Mariner of the Seas, and end of September/beginning of October 2019 will take a ten day Canada/New England cruise on the Quantum class’ Anthem of the Seas. The Mariner of the Seas, by the way, has just come out of dry dock and has all sorts of new features. Check it out.
That will just leave a representation of a Freedom class and a Radiance class ship and I will have sailed on all their classes of ships. By the time I have a chance to do that, though, there is most likely going to be a new class of ship. They are talking about one being in the works that will be the most environmentally friendly class of cruise ship yet.
I’ll wait and see and then sail on one because, for bang for the buck, I find the cruises more than worth it. Take, for example, the one that I just booked for May 2019. It is a five day/four night cruise. It cost me a little over $900. Now, for that price, I have a balcony room to myself. If you factor in that the cost includes the room, meals, and on-board entertainment (shows, ice shows, comedy clubs, et cetera), I am paying a little over $200/day for all of that. I do not know where I could vacation that cheaply. On top of it, I get to go to Nassau, Bahamas as well as to their private Bahamian island: Coco Cay. And I get to spend lots of time hanging out on my balcony watching the blue ocean waters go by.
Good Lord, we’re getting ready for another winter storm. I think I need a cruise! 🙂
