PRebecca

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Do any of you use a vacation planning tool that you can recommend?  

I have a very basic excel document I use to plan cruises but am looking for something more comprehensive that helps keep track of your research start to finish with the first question like what dates or what destination?

If there are any young-ish folks here looking for a party- Irish Kevin's is pretty rambunctious fun if that's your thing. It was very busy with young partiers every time we went in or by but if that's what you're looking for you can find it at Kevin's. 

On 6/12/2020 at 2:09 PM, USFFrank said:

 If you do want a great tour of Nassau may I suggest Marvelous tours. They offer several different types of tours via air conditioned van and/or boat.

 

Super appreciate this, best find of the day for me! 

Not to be a 'one up-er' but DH still drives to the department stores to make a payment. It nearly kills me each time, he's far too young to be averse to online payments. I want to ask if he needs to bust out the Rand McNally for directions on how to get there.

what a story!

I love this, thanks for sharing!

I had the same choice in front of me, went back and forth (and back again) and at this time have the CLS on Allure this year and the OS on Harmony next year. Great info here- didn't realize deck 14 may be a negative, I gather because it's below the kids area? 

And people really ring the door bell when walking by? Wowser!

We landed on the CLS for this year after switching a couple times for various boring reasons not listed above but this is great info to consider for next year's OS booking. 

I love these boards and this community of unending knowledge!

as long as you use a different guest for each cabana reservation there should be no issue, from what I understand. 

I considered trying to get a Barefoot Beach cabana after we upgraded to a suite (also in November) but decided to stick with what we got since we got it for $404; figured we'd never find another OTW at that price so we're sticking and missing out on Barefoot. If Barefoot cabanas are priced anywhere near that and we end up with an opportunity to switch we may.

Happy sailing!!

2 hours ago, Andrew72681 said:

Keep an eye on pricing. It went up late last week but before that for a few weeks the cabanas were very reasonably priced. We were able to get an over the water for only 453. 

I scored an OTW on Labadee for a similar price and felt like I won the lottery 

Mine is the mushroom soup from Chops (maybe they serve it in MD also, dunno!) and as I've said before I am not even a fan of mushrooms but that soup is Ah-MAzing!

1 minute ago, Dad2Cue said:

 

I don't think so but I haven't tried this.  I did use a FCC that was applied to an existing reservation which resulted in a significant refund after everything was repriced.  You can only apply the FCC to the cruise fare --- NOT the taxes, fees, and gratuities, etc.  In my case, the FCC was slightly less that the cruise fare so it looks like the cruise fare is reduced to almost zero.  Therefore, I could apply the entire FCC.  As long as the cruise fare isn't reduced to zero then there is room to reprice.   

When the FCC is more than the cruise fare ...  basically you NO CAN DO because it really gets complicated.  In that case, I would recommend an upgrade so the fare increases

So we applied the FCC to an existing reservation that we had upgraded to a suite knowing we had a decent FCC on the way. So what we had paid already on the cruise ended up showing at the cruise amount and we will get the leftover FCC after we sail to use on the next trip.

So to use simple figures for example purposes, the trip was $6K  and we had paid $3K and then applied the $4K FCC to it which leaves us with $1K FCC to apply to next years trip. The new price (still using simple figures for example purpose) is $4K for the room after the FCC our fare only shows we paid $3K so although the cabin is $2K cheaper it doesn't appear as such since we used the FCC. Essentially I am trying to get the $2K price drop taken off but at this point it's gotten too complicated, as you've mentioned.

Oh well, again it's a lesson learned for next time! I wouldn't have known to do any of this before joining this board so I am still coming out ahead and wiser for next time

 it's the 'old' booking with my original pre-MEI agent that will not reprice a sold out cabin. I insisted it could be done; so he gave me his TA info so I could call and do it myself but it sounds like I shot myself in the foot by applying the FCC first. Welp, I learned something for next time! 

23 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Generally, as a rule of thumb, I never apply an FCC until final payment.  Reason is that it affects re-pricing big time.  In the past, when I apply an FCC, it changes the actual cruise fare paid, so when the price drops, it messes up the price drop because it will show that you paid less than the price drop itself.  I'm not explaining it well at all but, yes, it is a big deal.

Grrr, ok that was the info I was after, thanks. Now to decide if it's worth it to even try! It's a decent price drop that we'd save so it feels worth it, but on top of that the suite is also sold out so although they told us the new price I think sometimes not all customer service reps know that it is possible to re-price a sold out room. 

Well, I am on my second attempt and holding for 1:43 this time so I will give it a shot. Thanks for your feedback!

All the threads on repricing and on FCC I didn't think I should start a new one.

Anyone have experience repricing your cabin after a FCC is applied? Our cabin went down about another $1K a week or two after we repriced and added FCC to the booking. I got RC on the phone to ask about repricing and she had to check with the resolutions department since there's a FCC and got disconnected. I had been on hold 3 hours and didn't want to do that again so gave it a couple days and am on hold to try again today but wondered: is it a big deal to reprice after a FCC has been applied?

Side note: this is the cruise we had booked before we started using MEI, which is why I am doing it myself.

My cousin and I went in January and ended up at "Frozen Paradise" according to his facebook check in. We went looking for conch fritters specifically, didn't think to look in advance since we didn't have internet on our phones once we left the ship and just kinda ran into that little hole in the wall and they were amazing. The people in front of us walked in, were rude when they saw the decor and lack of party and walked out so we felt bad and a little obligated to stay and I am SO glad we did. The conch fritters were excellent.

I should've figured that out, thanks ladies!

you can bring it with you, and dump your drink from the provided cup into that cup; but I don't believe they will make a drink in your own cup.

I can't get August 2022 to show up on the website, will check again later!

@WAAAYTOOO nice savings!! Our first big savings on a suite a week or two ago was very exciting! You all have taught me well here

Just now, RCIfan1912 said:

 

Well how do you do that? I did the link a cruise thing? They ask your name, date of birth and reservation number. Is there something else you can do? What is manually adding a cruise? Thanks for the help!

Yes that's all it was, sorry it sounds like you already tried that and it didn't work   Seeing those upcoming cruises can brighten almost any mood I'm in, sorry you can't get it to show up!

I've also had to manually add my last couple, I'd try that if you  haven't

Not much point to this post other than positive cruise vibes and sharing excitement! 

I'm now looking to book a Southern Caribbean out of Florida for 2021 or 2022! I got some marketing email that did it's job and drew my interest in. We have a 7 day Oasis class November 2020 and 2021 booked and then the quick weekend trips when we are able,  so now I'm looking at booking a 9 night or 11 night Southern Caribbean which is a  new and totally exciting thought for me. I will be scouring the boards for info and tips on these!

I think I got lucky having an MEI TA, she was able to get the FCC certificate number and amounts even though the official FCC email hadn't come yet (thank you Stephanie!)

**edit for clarification- sorry it is my FCC I got, not the Cruise planner credit. Apologies if I misspoke

114 since I got off Mariner

121 till I'm back on her again!

Boy do I wish the trip in 12 days didn't show up on the planner!

Looking SO forward to getting back to it!!