mk-ultra

If you don't mind me asking, did you get crazy-good pricing on the Ultimate Panoramic Suite? I booked the exact same suite for an Oasis April 2022 cruise the same day they released it for booking. The price on this Star Class cabin was ~$100 more than an L1 Sky Class loft, which was insanely good. Now the price seems comparable to any other Star Class cabin.

Just popping in to add one additional tip. If you have both a personal AMEX Platinum and an AMEX corporate card for work, call AMEX and tell them you'd like to join their "Corporate Advantage" program. You'll still pay the $550 annual fee on your personal card, but within 60 days they'll credit $150 back to you, knocking it down to $400 a year.

We call those "sublebrities." ?

Floridian here (now transplanted to CA). As you mention, in FL it's always been "key" (with the usual habit of English just borrowing a word and then smooshing it into a spelling match). What has surprised me has been finding that locations around the world, with English English being spoken (example: Singapore) also pronounce "cay" or "quay" as "key." Clarke Quay in Singapore is spoken as "Clarke Key."

Ouch. I'm not sure what I'd do... but a lot of it would be based on non-cruise related expenses like cancellation or change fees for hotels and airfare if you've got those. I feel for ya. I'd be very tempted to just pull the eject handle.

Am I reading this right? I don't know what the original itinerary was, but it looks like they offset the departure date by +3 days? I know there's always a weather risk (this year's Caribbean schedule during hurricane season had me sweating a September cruise -- nasty year). I've got a Med cruise next year, and with all the flights, hotels and other stuff (different departure and arrival ports) this would be a huge PITA to fix if everything shifted 3 days this close in.

I get upset when baked beans aren't available for breakfast. It's nearly impossible to assemble a "full English" without them. They've always got the sad grilled tomatoes and some random mushrooms... but where are my beans? Sigh.

Tons of seating. It's segregated a bit (corrals for Star, Suites, yadda) like most other ports, but no real amenities like snacks and coffee you'll find in Miami or Canaveral. Bare bones but very efficient on both departures and arrivals. If you take a taxi out of port at the end of your cruise, make sure they use the meter. Cabs suck here.

Enjoy your time at Guest Services arguing about you un-returned towel charges. No, you do not get to wander off for lunch and expect to keep your chair when tons of people would like one. What part of that confuses you?

The Bermuda Triangle is indeed a terrifying stretch of ocean. Every time I've crossed it, buffet lines were long... the casino went all take-my-money... I was up-sold on everything imaginable... Crazy dangerous.

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I'm merciless with chogs. On my last cruise, there were 4 sorta suite "cabanas" in the suites-only area that folks staked out at 8AM, clipping towels to chairs. They'd literally be empty 90% of the time I walked by... hour-after-hour. After seeing one empty for over an hour I just un-clipped their crap, folded it up on a table and made myself at home. After reading a book for ~2 hours, I had an indignant couple ask me to leave "their" cabana. Nope. Take your stuff and find an empty one (if you can dislodge one of the other chogs). If you really want to, complain to a crew member that I "took" the cabana and see how far that gets you.

1. Book as far out as you reasonably can be assured you can do the trip. I usually book 12-18 months out when there is a BOGO50 or 30% off sale running. This not only gives you the opportunity to book at an advantageous rate when it becomes available, it also gives you a lot more time to take advantage of an additional price drop if one happens. If you're booking something like a suite, you need to be a little more conservative about this so you don't get hit with a non-refundable deposit, but still... the further out you can plan, the better. 2. Periodically make a repeat "mock booking" of the same category of cabin. If you see a significant price drop, call-in and ask if it makes sense to re-price your cruise. There are a lot of factors that go into both your original price and your re-booked price (various discounts, OBC, etc). You may lose some discounts, but gain enough on the lower fare to make it worth it. The nice thing is that the person on the phone can make an A/B comparison quickly and tell you what your final gain/loss would be for doing so... and it's a pretty easy decision at that point. 3. Don't drive yourself nuts looking to shave something like $50 off of a week-long cruise, unless cruise OCD is a hobby. I've had a couple of big drops in the last decade ($1200), but those were pretty rare, and becoming even less so as ships routinely fill to capacity and have staggered upgrade programs like RoyalUP that generate more profit than just discounting a cabin.

With all of the paperwork and other legal and logistical hoops required to go through to ship a body internationally, you're usually looking at $5K on the low end and almost triple that on the high end. Too many variables to give a hard number.

And absolutely check back in on the Royal Caribbean web site once your points post if you go solo. Royal has a 100% record for not automatically awarding my solo points. If I sail (7 nights, solo, in a suite) I always just get 14 points instead of 21. It's super-easy to fix though. Call the Crown & Anchor Loyalty number (800-526-9723) instead of the general one. They answer quickly and sort it out in a couple of minutes.

I usually just unzip a suitcase and leave it out starting around a week before my cruise. I immediately plop into it the things I want to have on the cruise but don't need in the week leading up to it. Stuff like sun hat, extra pair of glasses, USB power hub, day pack, extra copy of cruise / insurance docs, etc. As the week progresses, I'm lining up stuff right next to the suitcase; mostly clothing as it comes out of my weekly wash. By the end of the week, I've got a good inventory and mercilessly stuff it into the suitcase the night before departing along with my toiletry kit.

The differences between Diamond and D+ are pretty minimal. It took me 6 cruises to hit Diamond (lots of solo in suites even when traveling together with friends). What I'm really looking forward to between D+ and Pinnacle (at 340 points) is seeing the single-supplement drop from 200% to 150%. That's a genuine, tangible benefit I'll get a lot of value out of.

Singapore is so awesome! I too go there for work. I'm always very happy when I learn I need to work on a project there. So much excellent food! ? Have you been to the Botanic Garden? Now I want a big plate of chili crab or Hainese chicken rice. ?

T-9 ? Have fun!

I'm thrilled to report the hotel did indeed hang onto my hat for the week and we were reunited on Sunday! Hugged the hat. ?

See that little band of grey extending just below the horizon hiding the two ships? That's a curtain of approaching rain. Winds have really kicked up. Folks still on the beach and at the pool. This should be fun to watch. And voilà, suddenly no problem getting a chair. Fluffy clouds on the horizon are starting to do their towering-q strut.

Random thoughts and loose-ends as I wrap this trip up: - In Phillipsburg, bring cash if you are visiting the Amsterdam Cheese Shop on your own or as part of a tour. I saw quite a few people disappointed that they couldn’t make a CC purchase and didn’t have cash to cover it. - Go to Maho beach if you hate beaches and love crowds. - In Coastal Kitchen, you absolutely want to try the cured salmon appetizer, and the seared branzino and braised lamb shank entrees. The cured salmon was 3/4” cubes (belly meat instead of filet?) with the usual cast of creme fraiche, dill, chives and a splash of lemon, served on squares of dense and nutty pumpernickel bread. It was amazing. The branzino was the the #1 stand-out dish for the entire cruise. Perfectly cooked, skin on, seared until skin was crispy — served over a bed of sautéed large-dice squash and zucchini, also perfectly cooked and seasoned. Good enough, in fact, that I asked if I could thank the person working the fish station. That’s tough to get perfect in a regular kitchen, much less on a ship. The lamb shank was done just right as well. Braised within an inch of its life, perfectly tender, and served over garlic-y orzo and spinach dotted with pearl onions. Drool. - If you need to resolve something at Guest Services and are an early-bird, go down there at 6AM on day two. Two people working the counter, zero people in line. - If you want to see San Juan, absolutely skip any of the cruise itineraries that give you a short (1PM out) day. Last time I, caught a cruise originating from there and arrived 2 days early to explore. Personally, I won’t be doing a cruise with a short San Juan visit again. This is a place you definitely want to linger a bit... go out to Arecibo, see more than just the capitol. Totally worth planning more time in PR. - After a bit of Googling, it looks like the unmetered taxi ride from Port Everglades is a common scam. Make them start the meter. And taxi drivers are wondering why Uber and Lyft are eating their lunch? Taxis in my home city were a similar shit-show until competition finally forced them to clean up their act.

Getting off the ship and through customs was a breeze this morning. I always do the self-hauling departure. At 7:30AM, I and my luggages lugged ourselves down to deck 5. It took about 20 minutes to complete the 3/4 lap of the jogging track to card-out and head down the gangway to CBP. Port Everglades has the fancy biometric face scanners. I was through Customs in all of 15 seconds. Grabbed a cab to the W. About halfway through the ride, I noticed the driver hadn’t started the meter. Hrm. I don’t think they flat-rate anything here, do they? Trip from W to the ship was $13. Unmetered trip from the ship back to the W was $20. Whatever. Weather here is great. I know, I need to invest in more adjectives. 82F with little broken clouds aspiring to turn into cumulous. Out by the pool, they give a nice shady break about every 5 minutes. Maybe some rain starting at 5PM. Scored an excellent room upgrade. Ocean facing 12th floor corner room with a wrap-around balcony. Very much liking it. Checked rates — the room I got is priced 2x higher than the room I booked. W00t! After baking at the pool for 4 hours, I’m watching other people bake while I enjoy the shade and the breeze up here. \ ?

No significant weather anywhere on the way back or at Fort Lauderdale... nothing really going on in the Atlantic at all. We lazily passed the full length of Cuba at 5 knots this afternoon. We’re back up to 18 knots now at ~10PM about halfway past the Bahamas after our northern turn.

Day 7: Sea day # 3. Great weather again. We’ve got some altostratus providing high cloud cover and keeping the temp at a very reasonable 80F with a constant light breeze. Today’s plan: pool deck, suites sun deck, boardwalk stroll to watch divers practicing, finish the book I wish wouldn’t end. Early dinner at 150 CP and more blackjack. We pull into Port Everglades tomorrow at 2AM.