karl_nj

I've never been able to justify buying the drink packages, at any price. My bar bill has never been anywhere near what the drink package would cost. If I do ever buy the drink package, I'm sure I would be able to get my money's worth. I would have fancy coffee every morning, I would focus on trying the $12 or $13 dollar cocktails, I would get lots of bottled water. I would consume enough so that if I was paying list price for every drink, I would come out ahead. But this is not my normal behavior on a cruise. My wife and I will get a fancy coffee once or twice on a cruise. And we will use our C&A BOGO coupon for coffee, so we only need to pay for one. The rest of the time we just drink the regular, included, coffee. We will also use our BOGO wine/soda/beer coupons. Generally we will just use those on beers, on sea days. With the coupon each beer will cost me $3.50. We generally book balcony cabins, and bring 2-4 bottles of wine onboard. So our pre-dinner drink will be a glass of our BOYB wine on the balcony. At dinner we will usually share a bottle of wine, especially if we are traveling with other people. A wine that is $12 a glass is only $46 a bottle. 5 glasses of wine in a bottle, so $9.20/glass. After dinner we will sometimes get a cocktail. At Boleros I enjoy the Caribbean Painkiller. $9.50. If I'm on the drink plan, will I feel compelled to switch to a $12 in order to "get my money's worth?" I've never bought a bottle of water on a cruise ship. The tap water is fine with me. I've read tips that say if you are on the drink package to get a bottle of water with every drink, so you can stay hydrated. Bartenders will also give you a glass of ice water with every drink, and that is free. I'd rather just pay per drink. If my consumption habits were naturally closer to the $12/drink level, and I drank cappuccinos every morning, I might feel differently.

Ah, that's very nice. I assumed you were trying to do some sort of triple points C&A thing involving booking a junior suite. So in that case, I don't think there would be a difference in the amount of money that Royal would make. But I think you might be right about the cabin steward and his gratuities, since officially it will still just be you in the room. The industry moving to the auto-gratuity has really made tipping more opaque.

Yeah, that might be pushing it. Is this hypothetical or a real scenario? Depending on when you book the room, you might not even be able to book a room for 4 or 5 by yourself (or with 2 people). Everyone’s key card will also open their original room. There can be extra key cards made, that just open doors. They really exist so parents can access their minor children’s rooms. RCL would likely lose money in this scenario, compared to what they would charge if people booked into the rooms they plan to stay in.

I think they are only banned on DCL.

I think the key bit is that Cancel for Any Reason is different then Interruption for Any Reason, and you found a rare policy that covers both. I didn't even know that existed. Looks like Travel Insured may also have this special coverage. So if your dog isn't getting along with the other dogs in the Kennel, you can come home early. But you need to give Fido 2 days to try to adjust before you give up on the trip. And the other key bit we have learned is that every policy is slightly different, and it pays to read the fine print. The aggravating part is that twangster also seems like a person who reads the fine print, and is very careful with details, but he is still having issues with his claim.

If it's gone, you aren't missing much. Tried Rita's out on Serenade in 2015. Not impressed.

Maybe it depends on the state? When I looked up the policy for Travel LX in NJ, there seems to be a "donut hole" where Cancel For Any Reason requires 2 days before the departure date, and Interruption For Any Reason doesn't kick in until 2 days after the departure date. Not sure what coverage there is in the middle. I could just be reading it wrong. https://www.itravelinsured.com/forms/iTIPolicyWording_T210-IP-LX-0417.pdf Cancel for Any Reason Benefit If You cancel Your Trip for any reason not otherwise covered by this Policy, benefits will be paid for seventy-fivepercent (75%) of the Prepaid, forfeited, non-refundable Payments or Deposits You paid for Your Trip provided:(a) Your Payment or Deposit for this Policy and enrollment form are received twenty (20) days of the date Your initial Payment or Deposit for Your Trip is received; and;(b) You insure one hundred percent (100%) of the Prepaid Trip costs that are subject to cancellation penalties or restrictions and also insure within twenty (20) days of the Payment or Deposit for those Travel Arrangements the cost of any subsequent Travel Arrangements (or any other Travel Arrangements not made through Your travel agent) added to Your Trip; and(c) You cancel Your Trip two (2) days or more before Your Scheduled Departure Date.These benefits will not duplicate any other benefits payable under the Policy or any coverage(s) attached to the Policy. Interruption for Any Reason Benefit If You interrupt Your Trip, forty-eight (48) hours or more after Your actual Departure Date, for any reason not otherwise covered by this Policy, benefits will be paid, up to: seventy-five percent (75%) of the total amount of coverage You purchased, to reimburse You for the Prepaid Payments or Deposits for unused non-refundable land or water Travel Arrangements.These benefits will not duplicate any other benefits payable under the Policy or any coverage(s) attached to the Policy. The more I read the fine print on all of this insurance, the less I want to purchase it in the future ?

In addition, most cancel for any reason plans only cover 50% to 75% of the cost. And you generally have to cancel a couple of days in advance -- so even if this twangster scenareo happened ot someone who had this coverage, they would have been denied for CFAR anyway.

I don't usually want many printed photos, I much prefer the digital copies. We post some to Facebook for friends and family, and then use some in the end of year photo book we create. I'll print out a few to display and give to our parents. Back before they had digital photos, my only choice was to buy the printed copies and then scan them in. It was a huge pain, and the quality wasn't as good.

Yeah, costco doesn't seem to care either. But I usually bring a copy of a release anyway.

There is a select all button at the top. Then you hit download. Then you download one big zip file of all your photos: This is way easier then the old method, where you had to go fight the crowds after 9pm on the night before your cruise, and hope they actually put the photos on the USB drive.

Looking back in the CC group for my cruise (last week) Bermuda was shorted and Boston was added back in March 2018. So your cruise probably changed around the same time, a while after you booked. Royal really should have notified you (or your travel agent, if you used one). If this happened to me, I'd be upset too. I really enjoyed my day in Boston, hopefully you can make the best of it. But I booked after the change, so I knew this was the itinerary when I booked.

These itineraries were changed a while ago. It was changed at least before thanksgiving. When did you book, and did you use a travel agent or book directly?

Thanks for all the great ideas. This gives me some good places to start my research.

Anyone have any Miami Hotel recommendations? Flying into Miami the day before our August cruise on Symphony. Don't plan to rent a car. There will be 5 of us, my wife and I, and my 2 kids and my mother.

Yes, but the airline won't compensate me for the cruise if the airline is unable to get me to the cruise on time. Just the flight. $250/per person for the flight doesn't really help if i'm out an additional $1500/person for the cruise. What is not covered by Trip Interruption insurance? ... Additionally, this insurance does not apply to any Accident, Accidental Bodily Injury or loss caused by or resulting from, directly or indirectly: 1) Common Carrier caused delays, unless they are as a result of an organized strike that affects public transportation; 2) travel arrangements canceled or changed by a Common Carrier, Tour Operator, or any travel agent unless the cancellation is the result of severe weather or an organized strike affecting public transportation;

I'm thinking about buying a new watch, so I happen to be familiar with current pricing for a few watch brands. Wasn't planning on buying anything on-board, but was curious about their pricing, so I went in and made a few inquiries at the watch store on-board Anthem. They appear to be an authorized Omega dealer. They were selling the Speedmaster Professional "moonwatch" for $5250. Current retail price is $5350, but I believe the price just went up in January. This watch has two models, one with a sapphire crystal, and one with a hesalite "crystal" (a/k/a plastic). You can tell the difference between the two because the hesalite has a steel caseback, vs the display caseback for the sapphire crystal model. The salesman claimed this watch had a sapphire crystal, but I politely corrected him and explained the difference. He then told me that they were willing to negotiate the price. I didn't bother because I know I can get a slightly used one for around $3750, or a new one for about $1000 off the list price. They are not an authorized Rolex dealer, but they do have a few used datejusts for sale. I was appalled that they were asking over $10k for a used 36mm two-tone Datejust from the 90's. You can get a brand new one for $11,200. Tourneau will sell you a used one for around $5500. If you shop around you can probably get one for even less. They only had datejusts, none of the "professional" models, like a Submariner. I did end up buying a Bulova watch for my wife from the "sidewalk sale" and I was happy with the price I paid. It was a little more ($19) then I would have paid if I had ordered from Amazon, but the saleswoman was very helpful with finding watches according to my wife's specifications, and they were able to remove a few links from the bracelet so it fit correctly. The last time I bought my wife a watch online, we always intended to go someplace to get the links removed, but we never got around to it. The jewelry store would probably have charged us $15-$20 for that service anyway. Plus now whenever she looks at the watch, she has the memory of buying it on the cruise. I always assumed the watches on the "sidewalk sale" where the ripoffs, and that perhaps could could get a better deal on a more expensive watch in the "stores". Turns out it's the opposite!

I forget if I saw it in April of 2018, but it was certainly there this time around. It's in the area that does the salads at lunch time. At breakfast it's a bagel station. I generally ignore bagels on cruise ships since I live in the NY Metro Area and can get much better bagels on land. But a toasted bagel-shaped roll certainly works as a lox delivery mechanism.

My "favorite" part is the BMX bike tricks in the middle of the show. I can't figure out which came first -- did the have an actor that could do BMX bike tricks and then wrote it into the show? Or did they write it into the show, and then had to find someone that could fit the role?

Yes, that would be fine. They will dressed better then some adults that are completely ignoring the dress code. For formal night we usually ask my 13 year old to wear a navy blazer along with the khaki pants and button down collared shirt. Sometimes I'll ask him to also put on a tie, and we usually have a pair of somewhat casual black loafers that fit him. But that is mostly since I try to take advantage of the cruise to get a family photo done on formal night. If we are running late or have gotten a good photo the first formal night, he often skips the tie. And if it turns out he grew out of his blazer, we just skip that for this cruise. Same thing with the shoes -- he also generally wears all-black sneakers, so that works fine too. I wouldn't stress about it too much. There will be some kid in the room wearing flip flops, a t-shirt, and basketball shorts on formal night.

Late has been typical for entertainment for Anthem sailings recently - Released March 19th for my April 13th cruise (just arrived back today). This wasn't the case for my April cruise last year. However, iFly and North Star reservations were released much earlier, like in past years.

My concern with the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel insurance is that it doesn't seem to cover any airline delays other then weather (and strike). It doesn't appear to cover any other reason why you wouldn't be able to fly... involuntary bumping, mechanical issue, 737-MAX grounding, etc: https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/sapphirereserve/travel What’s Not Covered This is not an exhaustive list. Examples include: Travel arrangements canceled or changed by a common carrier, tour operator, or any travel agency unless the cancellation is the result of severe weather or an organized strike affecting public transportation I feel it's enough coverage when am I driving to the port, but it seems lacking for flying.

Disembarkation this AM was amazing. I was home by 8:30AM, and I even had breakfast in the MDR this AM and used the traditional process where I had to pick up my luggage in the terminal. I didn't run into any issues with getting off the ship in ports, but I think I just randomly lucked out in finding the right way out. 50-50 chance. I did hear people getting yelled at by security down the hall, so it seemed like it was happening to many people. When we tried to do North Star, there was someone there to tell us that it was closed, but I did see them abandon their post later. You would think they would put up a sign or something. We were not able to rebook North Star, there were no slots left. We were told to try standby. Standby was a mess, since everyone else was trying to use standby too. I did go down to complain in Guest Services. I ended up talking to someone on the phone, and he claimed that they take 2 standby people on each trip up. But that is certainly not how the people operating the attraction were handing things when we tried standby. Standby was not moving at all. I agree, that old app is worse then useless. I'm hoping the newer one is better. I guess I will see this summer when we sail on Symphony.

Well, for their credit I thought they did a good job with Immigration in Boston. It was way more organized then my experience on Adventure last August in Bar Harbor. That was a disaster. Some of your points re: disorganization are valid: I had MTD but had the same table every night. Often I had to show the crew member bringing us to the table where it actually was. Announcing that formal night changed at 5:22pm was certainly interesting. I assume the kitchen knew this ahead of time, since they had to start thawing the lobsters earlier that day, would have been nice to tell the passengers. They should really have a backup plan for when they have to cancel your North Star reservation. That whole standby line thing is a huge mess. Many of the changes were due to weather issues, so I think we should give them a little slack on some of the last minute changes. Overall I really enjoyed the cruise.

At the port in Bayonne they always ask me for proof that I have two cabins, once they notice I have 4 bottles of wine in my wheeled carry-on.