DDaley

47 minutes ago, PRMLVM said:

I was just wondering why we saw $67 just 38 minutes after you saw $63.   I swear, I will never figure out how to price this stuff.

I am guessing your sailing must be selling the drink package a little better which is why my sale price is lower than yours! Do you happen to know how it was priced prior to this new sale? 

26 minutes ago, PRMLVM said:

Two of us in our group just checked (Quantum in Sept) and both of us were shown $66.99 as the price...?

That is the usual non-sale price for our sailing (Sept 11). I have been keeping track since we booked last June when it started out at $71.99.

Wow Quantum in September has the DBP down to $62.99pp/pd! That’s the cheapest I’ve seen it since 2020. Guessing it’s because people don’t drink as heavily in Alaska? 

1 hour ago, Shaun530 said:

Where can we find the option to download a PDF of our cruise compass for our sailing? 

You can also navigate to it each day by visiting this link: https://minio.rccl.com/compass/cruisecompass.pdf

Only works once you’re on board! 

37 minutes ago, Pooch said:

I have never stayed at a hotel that refused to hold my bags for me.

I have never even entered a hotel where they refused to hold my bags for me! I have left my bags for a few hours at plenty of hotels we had no intention of staying at! 

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Are your wives names alphabetically before yours?

THANK YOU for this comment!!! So thissss is why my husband gets all the physical Holland America brochures addressed to him! I kept thinking it was weird since I am a higher level in their loyalty program. 

12 hours ago, twangster said:

For many years San Juan departures were cheap and that is usually a sign that demand is low.  With flight costs soaring in modern times the SJU market as a home port may not be appealing to cruise lines as it eliminates many fly in guests due to the airline industry making it very costly to fly.  

Somehow, from San Diego, flying to SJU is always cheaper than getting to Miami which makes no sense because almost all flights there have a stop in Florida! I love the San Juan itineraries so much I am jumping ship to try Norwegian in 2025, specifically for the 6-port, 7-night itinerary and newer ship. 

Funny, when I originally read the email, I saw Matt and assumed it was FROM the blog (I get those emails too) and for a split second I was like “he’s featuring himself?!” before I realized it was Royal featuring him! 

While I agree that 10:30 seems risky for all the reasons mentioned above, in my personal experience we were off the ship and in a taxi by 7:20 and at the airport by 7:40. 

2 hours ago, Neesa said:

Dragging my feet on the red nails but I'm doing it for the greater good  Probably later today.

Love a theme but I am staunchly anti-red-nails too! Not fully sure why but I am thinking it stems from this evil woman in Dennis the Menace (1993) who turned me against them forever! hahaha 

57 minutes ago, Dutch Frost said:

I got a free massage. I was polite the whole time talking with the person, there was no nagging or begging or let me speak to the manager. I was just talking to them about my trip and how excited we are. He clearly saw all the purchases Ive already made and they said, how about we assure you and alleviate your wallet a bit. Done!

So you literally called to have a nice chat with the RCCL customer service operator about your future vacation? So strange. But, glad you did get the free massage after all! 

44 minutes ago, Carlos A. said:

I'm not sure the "credit" will cover the full price of the massage (plus tips).

Yeah when I read that I assumed it meant you'll get a certain $$ off a normally priced massage, not technically a freebie at all. 

10 hours ago, DebiD said:

I'm wondering if my portable battery operated blender will be allowed on ship.  I have a Blendjet2.  How do I find out for certain.  Don't want it tossed out!

While I don’t know the answer, you don’t have to worry about it being tossed out. Everything not allowed on board is stored and you can pick it up at the “naughty table” at disembarkation. Usually this table is filled with steamers, irons, and extension cords.  I bet your tiny blender will be fine! 

15 minutes ago, Dumpling214 said:

The room I’m interested in is listed as 2188 pp for 7 nights, slightly over your recommended range but still somewhat acceptable 

Definitely not bad! Especially for an Oasis class ship. 

On 6/4/2023 at 4:29 PM, Rfk said:

Is there a baseline difference for jr suite vs balcony, pp pn, to help judge whether good/bad deal to go for jr suite instead of balcony?  Is there a common range to keep in mind?  e.g. $100 pp pn = good deal, $1,000 pp pn = bad deal?  Really just about living space. 

I have a spreadsheet I have been pricing cruises in since 2020 and you can see the massive upswing in price per night since then! I used to only book a JS if the ppn (total for 2, not per person) was around $400. Pricing for 2024 and 2025 has been so much higher, every ocean view balcony I have priced has been $340 or more per night and the JS are up around $540 per night for ships as small as Rhapsody. Ovation in Alaska has a JS ppn of $1022! That seems crazy. I’d say a JS in the $500-$600 per night range would be considered a good deal with today’s pricing, especially if you get CK access!

Chania is so pretty! Completely agreed on Santorini, it was our least favorite Greek port out of the 9 we visited. 

19 minutes ago, twangster said:

They don't use codes any more.  The person who has a package creates a username and PIN.  That is used on all devices, up to the number of devices purchased.

Funny I just cruised and completely forgot that’s how we did it. We just shared our chosen PIN like we used to with the code. Now that it’s $20/device/day I am on team share 1 device login! 

You’ll receive a code in your stateroom when you embark and the code can be used by any number of devices! Even if you bought a Voom package for 1 device, you could trade off using it. 

They’ve loaded exactly two excursions for ISP as of today! Maybe more are on their way? 

I spent some time in Crete last summer and wrote about three excursions I took from Chania in this excursions review! 

We also rented a car every easily in Chania from cretebee.com and they will deliver and drop it off for you wherever you want. We drove from Chania to Elafonissi, the pink sand beach. It was amazing and only took about 1.5 hours. 

I’m on this sailing too. Sad to see we lost Skagway today! 

22 minutes ago, deButler said:

Looks like it’s official. Just got this email for our Sept 11 Quantum sailing. 

We're on that sailing too! I am so sad to miss the White Pass train. Ughhhhhhh this does not make me happy. And why would this have effected our arrival into Sitka as well??? I am contemplating postponing a year. 

We did this with insulated tumblers full of cocktails too! Went up to the pool bar in the morning before leaving the ship for the day, ordered a cocktail, poured it in, got another, repeat until tumbler is filled to your satisfaction! Last order was just a shot of Grey Goose on ice once I had enough juice. 

We enjoyed our cocktails while biking and then only had to buy 1-2 fancy cocktails at a beach club. Thank you DBP! 

I can eat a lot of sushi! Now that the prix fixe price only includes rolls with 4 pieces each, I am left hungry after my $28.99 Izumi meal. 

My question is, if I continue to buy/book Izumi this way, can I tack on an extra full-size roll a la carte while dining there via my reservation? Or is it smarter to just pay as I go without booking the discounted price through the CP? Is there even a way to do that? If I book on board is it still just the prix fixe and they charge immediately on making the reservation? If so, how do I go about getting as much as I want at Izumi? 

#1 visits two towns on the island, Fira which is just above the old dock where the cable car is and Oia, of the famed blue domed churches and views looking back at the island and caldera. 

#2 I’m not sure about because you didn’t include any details, does the description list where it will stop? 

Have to assume most visitors to the island would like to see Oia where all the most recognizable photos are usually taken. If both visit Oia I would go by lower price and duration for your kids.