twangster

Welcome to the message boards! I can't think of any port where a cruise line offers a transfer service that will pick you up at your hotel and transport you to the port. That isn't a transfer service that is ever offered by the cruise line. The only exception are land tour packages where the hotel and cruise are bundled together by the cruise line. Why don't you go back to the airport on the day of the cruise and use their transfer? If they need a flight number just find one on any airline that arrives within the window and give it to them.

In my case weather had to be a factor for my insurance to kick in. I took the time to document the cancellations and notes because it can be hard to go back several days later and capture all that. Here is the FAA stating "No routes available" so no airline was flying.

There is a revenue management system that adjusts prices based on a series of predetermined factors. How far away is the sail date, what percentage of cabins in a certain class are available, how many bookings for that class were made in in the last 24 hours, etc. This can cause a GTY to be more than or pretty close to the direct assignment. Sometimes a balcony is cheaper than ocean view. Sometimes ocean view is cheaper than interior. Same effect. If there are only one or two interior cabins left the system determines those to be in demand and therefore a "desirable factor" makes them more than an ocean view.

Navigator Ben & Jerry's menu:

Guess I've got a couple years to go before I'll receive the CAS email.

Han Solo has a nice ring to it. Seems oddly familiar though.

Was it the weather system moving through that caused the cancellations?

Yeah, carefully planning those. ?

In the US, FCC is valid for one year. It’s nice you have two years.

People use their phones as their camera and bring more cameras like Go Pros for underwater or other active excursions or a DSLR or mirrorless camera for better photography. Any one with medical equipment lose an outlet to it. If both adults had CPAP machines there are no outlets left. A toothbrush charger consumes an outlet. There are lots of ways to consume your available outlets.

Should be unless you run into a waiter who doesn’t want to or has been told not to do so. There is no official policy so like so many things on Royal it can be different on each ship or with a different manager. It never hurts to ask before formal night so you can adjust plans.

Good for you, great news. Keep detailed notes when you use the FCC. If you ever make future changes it’s easy to lose the accountability of the FCC. If they cancel a future cruise booking it’s easy to lose track of the FCC in the refund process or re-issue of the FCC. Do the terms and conditions state Royal only by brand?

My concern would be fitting it into the outlets. On many ships the outlets are located just above the desk surface like this on Explorer: That unit might not work because the prongs are located high on the back of it so with the deck surface so close it might not actually plug into the outlet. If it did it might cover or hit the switch next to it. On ships like Anthem this is less of a concern because the outlets are higher off the desk but there are also USB outlets on Anthem so you wouldn't even need it on a newer ship.

Must be difficult to stay in show shape despite how good the Miami facilities are. Nothing like being in the actual aqua pool.

My named companion on SWA works in an industry where time off doesn't coincide with my cruise schedule so sadly I hardly use the companion pass to cruise and go solo a lot.

For savings of $300 per person I'll deal with $45 Uber ride. That was comparing Delta fares between FLL and MIA. Southwest might be even greater savings (compared to Delta into FLL). For a family of four that ventures into "OMG" territory. Pro: Beautiful sail away Con: Miami traffic can be bad at times

It's always been curious to me how many different perspectives there. While you have the chamber of commerce citing wonderful impact you have other groups that cite the cruise industry has zero impact. Time and again city after city cites the benefits. Who is right? Who is getting all this supposed money if the local business isn't?

It is a sign of the times. As ships get refreshed they lose the Concierge Lounge and gain a Suite Lounge. Liberty, Indy, Adventure, Mariner, Navigator and so on. It will be interesting to see how Radiance makes out in her refresh before heading to Brisbane. Other Radiance class have retained the Concierge Lounge so far. On Vision class they adjust based on numbers on a cruise by cruise basis. Pretty soon they'll just place masking tape over the Concierge Lounge name and write "Suite Lounge" in magic marker. Too many Diamond Plus.

Or just don't buy it and hopefully they'll read on an internet forum why no one is buying it ?

Yes. I have a cruise in 29 days and the are still emailing me trying to get me to bid. A few posts up in this thread @CruiseLife72 posted a link you can try. Read about the program before bidding, make sure you understand the nuances. It works for some but not everyone and there is no guarantee that such an upgrade is even available.

They have four more Edge series ships coming, you'll get a chance... ?

Best is in the eye of the beholder. Find out if your credit card offers any travel coverage. Consider what is important to you. Is emergency medical transportation a concern? If you don't fly to port then lost luggage coverage might be less important. I cruise often so for me an annual insurance plan is attractive but the coverage limits are lower compared to other types of travel insurance. Someone who books suites might look ay my policy and say "heck no, I need more coverage". One policy might not cover 100% of every possible expense but it can take the sting out of the situation and lower your losses to an acceptable amount you can live with. More insurance that has higher coverage limits costs more. Only you can decide what is appropriate for your needs.

Is it necessary for a young person to have health insurance? My 20 something son hasn't needed a doctor visit in years. You can buy house insurance that covers the dwelling only, no content coverage. Do you need to protect the stuff in your house? You can buy the minimum auto insurance coverage required by your state. However if your car is stolen you are on your own. For anyone who has had something occur that they didn't expect the resounding answer is... YES! You need insurance. A cruise vacation can be a sizable amount of money. If you have lots of money and can afford to walk away from the potential loss then you don't have to have insurance. Insurance is for the unexpected. No one expects to miss a cruise when weather or an airline cancels your flights. No one expects to have a car accident on the way to the port. No one expects to be rescued off a ship with a $40,000 helicopter medical evacuation and placed into a foreign country in a foreign hospital that doesn't take your health insurance from home. If you decide to travel without insurance you assume any loss when the unexpected occurs. You can scream at an airport gate agent. You can shout at the cruise line on the phone. You can write a negative on the internet but at the end of the day it's not their fault and you have lost the money.

And this is what drives me crazy. Why can't they place into the terms and conditions what you get? I'm not buying a UDP again until I know what I'll get.

I've taken teens on helicopter rides before in different tourist destinations. Mine loved it. What I like about the helicopter visit and walk on the glacier is the totally different perspective you get. When you look at a glacier from a distance you see the black streaks that run down them. When you walk on a glacier up close you see the boulders and large pieces of rock that are those black streaks. You can imagine the massive forces at work as a glacier slides down a valley breaking those large chunks of rock off. You see the surface and streams of water flowing across the surface. We even got to sample the glacier water runoff. Years later I still remember that today when I see a glacier from a distance. With each glacier we sailed past or saw way off in the distance it meant more to me having walked on a glacier and seeing it up close. Mendenhall Glacier when viewed from the visitors center is impressive but walking on it is something else all together. I paid $350 per person in 2017. Last year the best price I saw was $339. My turn at this excursion was documented in this live blog post: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5211-alaska-recap-celebrity-millennium-june-2017/&do=findComment&comment=51839