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Kim&N8

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  1. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to twangster in No Pre-Order of Drink Package   
    With 300+ days you are likely better to wait for a sale,  US Thanksgiving comes to mind. 
  2. Haha
    Kim&N8 reacted to Al Horner in No Pre-Order of Drink Package   
    I'm going to be on the Symphony in May 2019. They are advertising 10% off the refreshment package so I thought I would order it. I've tried three different times. I go through their whole painful process and when I hit enter, the purchase stops and it gives me some crap about my credit card (which works fine, just ask my wife). Makes me kind of wonder what's going on? I haven't called because we're still over 300 days from the cruise and I can get the package on the ship if I have to.
  3. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to twangster in Royal vs NCL -- I'm feeling tempted   
    It never hurts to consider other options. 
    My only NCL experience is so long ago it's not relevant any longer.  When I've looked at NCL in the past, before becoming Loyal2Royal, my research led me to a couple of conclusions. 
    By and large the experience is more similar than not.  The devil is in the details.
    Free at sea isn't really free, it's bundled into the cost.  Any time I narrowed it down to a specific ship and sailing then compared costs the age old proven rule came to light - nothing in life is free.  That's for me and my purchasing habits.  I'm sure for some people the bundles work out for them.  Once in a while you can find a deal that is an outlier.  It seems people point to these like they are rule but any time I priced out an exact sail date it was never one of those outliers. 
    Mini-suites in my research led me to conclude it's just a slightly bigger balcony cabin.  Not really a suite and shouldn't be compared to a JS on Royal. 
    When looking at NCL there are great variations from ship to ship.  You really need to focus on one ship and reviews for that ship.  While Royal's fleet has evolved and you can clearly see that evolution from class to class, NCL ships are more random.  In some cases they acquired a ship when another company went broke mid-construction so they started with someone else's design and adapted it to NCL on the fly.  They've also experimented more in design so it isn't an evolution so much as "... and now for something completely different" .   There is nothing wrong with that, but those experiments haven't always worked out so well.  Turns out there is a reason no other cruise line tried some of them.
    NCL internet packages don't work for me.  There are many people who love to completely disconnect when cruising.  For those people the internet plans on any line are irrelevant.  I could never work from an NCL ship like I can on Royal.  Like the ship design, internet across the NCL fleet is wildly different from one ship to the next.  The newer ships have decent internet but the older ships have really bad internet.  250 free minutes of really bad internet is just really bad.  They've simply made no attempt to modernize internet across the fleet like Royal did in 2013. 
    As far as loyalty programs, for my needs Royal is still tops but that is what I look for in a loyalty program.  I've sailed five lines.  I suppose had I never tried any other line I'd be further ahead compared to where I am now but I am where I am.  In the end it hasn't stunted my advancement in C&A that much.  Competition is a good thing.  It keep Royal in check.  Please sail other lines.  Every time someone doesn't book Royal it lowers demand and causes Royal to lower prices (or keep them from increasing).  That's a good thing and I thank you for taking one for the team.
    A cruise is what you make it.  If someone gave me a free cruise on NCL's worst ship I'd still have a great time and not because it was free, rather because I don't do bad cruises.   
  4. Haha
    Kim&N8 got a reaction from Matt in LIVEish, 7 Days on Oasis -Halloween- (10/29/2017 or 29/10/2017 better yet October 29, 2017)   
    If someone can convince @Matt GC 2020 Halloween I'd consider letting my kids skip school too ?
  5. Haha
    Kim&N8 reacted to rjac in Halloween cruise   
    You know you WILL have to post some Halloween photos of you and your wife.....or else Matt will banish you from this forum to the CC forum! 
  6. Haha
    Kim&N8 reacted to karl_nj in Should I avoid connecting rooms   
    I hope they ended up with very loud neighbors...
     
  7. Haha
    Kim&N8 reacted to twangster in Should I avoid connecting rooms   
    They likely didn't know it was for the infamous Matt Hochberg.
  8. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to twangster in VPN   
    OpenVPN is not tolerant of high latency.  At least not some version.  OpenVPN on BSD using UDP for example doesn't work well over satellite.
    SSL VPN and IPSEC VPN work fine on Voom, even the geosync satellites with 600+ms latency.  
    I routinely use Cisco AnyConnect (SSL or IPSEC) and Tunnelblick on OSX on Voom using TCP and have no issues.  Both to corporate and to my home ASA firewall.  
    I've also used Juniper's VPN client without issue.  
    I too have set up many VPN servers and/or firewalls in my lifetime and the only ones that don't work well on Voom are OpenVPN based and/or UDP based.
    I also make numerous wifi calls over Voom.  Sometimes multiple hours long sitting on boring conference calls.  So I'm not sure who that facebook page belongs to but they have a very different experience from mine.  Even the MagicJack app worked on Oasis.  
    I will say though that the only Carnival ship of 10 I've sailed where I could get even SSL VPN to work was the Breeze.  The rest?  No way.  
  9. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to clmsnskr in VPN   
    I was able to VPN to my corporate network from onboard with no issues at all when I was on Oasis back in March 2017.  We use Cisco IPSec VPN
  10. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to Matt in VPN   
    I was able to use my company's VPN while on Harmony in July, which was not a major VPN provider.
    While I was on Independence last week, I could not connect to Windscribe VPN on multiple occasions.  It would time out, which seems to indicate it was blocked.
  11. Haha
    Kim&N8 reacted to twangster in Galveston Nearing Deal On Oasis Class Ship, New Terminal!   
    I'd love to see options in Colorado but sadly will have to wait for a major rise of ocean levels before a cruise ship will be home porting anywhere near me.  
  12. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to JLMoran in Leaving the kids!   
    My wife and I will be taking our first cruise without the kids in October, and first vacation of any sort without them in about 15 years. And since they'll be 18 and almost 15, we're leaving them in charge of the house while we're gone! ?
    They're both very responsible and we know they won't burn the house down or throw any wild parties. And the grandparents are only 15 minutes away, so if something truly bad happens they'll be able to help out. But it'll still be a little nerve-wracking when the ship is sailing away; I'll be rapidly downing a couple of margaritas that day, for sure!
  13. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to twangster in New Cruise Port Taino Bay Being Built in the Caribbean   
    Toss up - Amber Cove by Carnival in the DR or NCL's Harvest Caye in Belize.  
    In the case of Amber Cove in 2015 it's a new country that wasn't accessible by modern medium sized ships (Carnival doesn't have larger or mega ships).  However it's a private port, for Carnival Corp. branded ships.
    In the case of Harvest Caye in 2017 it's almost a private destination like Cococay or Labadee but close enough to Belize to run excursion from.  A lot of unhappy cruises step off at Harvest Caye thinking they have access to Belize only to learn very little is included such as food, beverage or activities and you can't get there from here.  II's not promoted as a private destination like NCL's Great Stirrup Cay (right beside CocoCay), instead it's labeled as Belize on itineraries.  It almost serves as a pier to operate excursion to Belize but you can't access Belize without an excursion so it leaves a lot of unhappy cruisers feeling like they been dumped on an isolated money trap island.  Go back on the ship or spend money.  No self-exploring Belize.  
    Both are notably different than what is proposed here.  In this case a 3rd party is building the port so many different cruise lines can use it, like most islands.  For both Amber Cove and Harvest Caye you will likely only see the Carnival Corp. or NCL holdings branded ships using those private ports.
  14. Like
    Kim&N8 got a reaction from Skid in Leaving the kids!   
    Haha yes I think so! Drink package has been confirmed for us ? also asked hubby to promise me one early am sunrise on the balcony (he liked to sleep in so this is a big agreement for him LOL). 
  15. Like
    Kim&N8 got a reaction from coneyraven in Galveston Nearing Deal On Oasis Class Ship, New Terminal!   
    I would love to see options in Maryland! Were in western NY that would be a easy day drive for us to and a lot less expensive then flying to Florida! I won't complain about more options ? NJ and Maryland are the drivable ports form here. ?
  16. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to twangster in Photos from the "new" Mariner   
    Adventure had been planned for a while, starting in 2016 I think.  Those materials were bought, paid for and in a warehouse waiting to be installed.  For other ships I suspect they had to limit themselves.  Add skypads and slides to more ships or include cabin renovations but on fewer ships.  This stuff all costs money and money only goes so far.
    Since I don't spend a lot of time in my cabin, I'm okay with it.  Sure I'd love new decor but then they would have to raise fares to do cabins and the new features.
  17. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to Rose City Cruiser in Photos from the "new" Mariner   
    You barely lose your shoe if you get sued up here in Canada.  I always chuckle whenever I see school closures on TV after 1" of snow in Detroit.  
    The best part about no A/C in the classrooms were the freezies they handed out.  
  18. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to Skid in Photos from the "new" Mariner   
    @jurrjurrI guess I will answer for @Lovetocruise2002 because she is from Canada?. It varies by area and grade levels. General rule would be first week in September.
  19. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to Lovetocruise2002 in Photos from the "new" Mariner   
    In other Mariner news..was looking a cruise compass from this Monday's sailing and on Day 2, formal night has been replaced by "Wear your Best" night. 
    "Say goodbye to Formal night and hello to Wear Your Best.  Get glamorous, be chic.  It's time to shine - Your way." 
    Looks like the are dropping formal night on these short cruises.
    And....great news....2 days in a row now, the cruise compasses show Late Night Snacks in the WJ!!  10:30pm-12:30am!!
  20. Love
    Kim&N8 reacted to Lovetocruise2002 in Photos from the "new" Mariner   
    Found this just now...she looks great!
    @KLAconQueso and @AGSLC5...if you read through, OP said that cabins were not refreshed.....
  21. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to Matt in New Cruise Port Taino Bay Being Built in the Caribbean   
    I try not to have overbearing rules about who you can and cannot link to. If the info is relevant, link to it!
  22. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to Matt in July 25 WOW sale   
    No worries, I purposefully leave that out from the blog posts because I think it's somewhat misleading in the sense that not everyone will want to take advantage of that.
  23. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to spiralqueen in Ship comparison page?   
    So in my poking around trying to get to know the RCI fleet, it seems like information about the ships is rather scattered and a bit difficult to digest. Is there any sort of resource you guys know of that is a bit of a stats comparison of the different ships all on one page? Like a spreadsheet or just general chart that shows things like which ships have broadway shows, slides, XYZ specialty restaurant, panoramic view stateroom, when their last refurb was, etc? (Not asking for answers to those particular examples right now) I think something like that would be supremely helpful for figuring out which ship to go on next . 
     
    If something like that doesn't exist I will probably look into starting to put it together even if I will be the only one who cares about it, but I figured I would ask here so that I don't spend unnecessary time on it if a resource like that is already out there. 
  24. Haha
    Kim&N8 reacted to Rose City Cruiser in Leaving the kids!   
    That guilt will disappear after that first drink on board!
  25. Like
    Kim&N8 reacted to ang73 in Leaving the kids!   
    I actually found that a cruise is my very best way to vacation without kids.  I've always been the kind of parent who even when we did leave the kids for a getaway always felt the need to check in and make sure everythings ok.  So I thought that not having as much connection with them over a cruise it would be really hard.
    Total opposite happened!!  As soon as we were out of cell range I was like...Well, now the grandparents are in control.  Anything that happens they'll have to deal with.  They did just fine and it was the most relaxed I've ever been without kids!!  Enjoy!!
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