USCG Teacher

2 hours ago, teddy said:

We took a taxi from our hotel on the island to the port on embarkation day on August 28th of this year.  
 

Four adults plus luggage in a mini van cab. 
 

It was $16 before tip if I’m remembering correctly. 

Out of curiosity, do you remember what company you used?

3 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

I have gone so far as to keep a spreadsheet of what I purchase and check them every so often to get the best price.

1 hour ago, ElmoHongZito said:

I have a sailing coming up. Every so often the royal caribbean app on the iphone gives a notification saying “Flash Sale Ends Today” and I think its referring to excursions and/or other add-ons you can purchase. 
 

The problem is that when you click on the notification it simply takes you to the home page of the app. It doesn’t take you anywhere to show you any deals or anything. Is this a glitch or is this RCI’s way to try to get you to buy more stuff even though there really is no “flash sale”?

Thoughts? 

Don't worry, if you can't access the sale today, the exact same one will be wrapped up in new packaging and available next week!

2 hours ago, barjpoe said:

The other problem that might come up is that in the till there really isn't a slot designated for $2.  

The normal till from right to left is $1, $5, $10, $20 , then the other slot may holed the rolled coinage.

The bigger bills usually go under , so would you also put the $2 there if you got them?

Yep, that's exactly what we'd do, underneath with the $50s, $100s and the check we'd get like three times a year!

4 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

I also know that even some USA stores won't even take $2 bills because they can't give them back to customers OR for some reason, their bank doesn't like to take them.

I know when I worked retail, we were supposed to ask if they had anything else, but not outright refuse them.  For us it wasn't because our bank wouldn't take them; rather it was because our automated deposit system in our POS (either translation of the acronym applies here) couldn't reconcile them.  The banks slowed down the deposit if the counts didn't match exactly, even if the totals lined up (like entering a $2 as 2 $1s or counting it as a nickel roll to make it stand out).  As long as we got it early enough in the day, I was usually able to return it as change because I asked everybody from that point on if they wanted a $2 back.  99.99% of the time I found a taker.  All of this being said, I wouldn't consider giving them to foreign-based crew, they were a big enough of a pain for me in a NJ mall!

34 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Air2Sea has its own record locator that looks just like an airline confirmation number. Both should be listed in your confirmation email.

 

 

 

 

They were both the same.

Hey crew, really specific question here.  Last week, my TA booked my flights for my cruise next summer using Air2Sea.  I received my record locator and a copy of the itinerary from Air2Sea, along with the directions to call the airline directly to request seating assignments.  When I did so today, the agent couldn't find anything under the record locator provided by Air2Sea, but could find my reservation searching my name and flight info, and there was a different record locator associated with it.  He also said that the reservation was ticketed yet, and that my AAdvantage number was not connected to the reservation.  So I guess the question(s) are:

-Is having a different record locator until the reservation is ticketed a usual occurrence?  If so, how long does it usually take for the reservation to get ticketed?

-If the flight needs to be paid for before it can be ticketed, is it possible to play for the flight through Air2Sea without paying off the entire cruise (final payment isn't due until May)?

-Has anyone had luck paying AA directly to upgrade their economy tickets booked through Air2Sea to economy plus?

I know how extremely specific this question is, so I'm not counting on a ton of feedback here, but I appreciate any experience you all have!  I know I could have my TA track down some of the locator info, but if this is a common occurrence, I don't want to harass her; she does so much already! Thanks as always!

1 hour ago, Neesa said:

 

 

I L-O-V-E-D the peppermint shampoo, and thought the body wash was just fine.  I hate cilantro and my hair is done with a #2 clipper on top and fades to shorter than that, so I have no feedback on the conditioner. 

1 hour ago, Galveston Steve said:

I recently tried Blacklane.com to book a black SUV to/from Hobby and the Port of Galveston.  I reserved a couple weeks ahead and the pricing was fixed, it was a professional driver in a black SUV, they had a Galveston Wharves Parking Permit on the windshield, and they arrived right on time. Price including tip was $175 each way, which was about the same as Uber or Lyft for the same type of vehicle.  Blacklane is worldwide and I've used them in other cities with similar great service. They also have a sedan option for a little less cost.

I would urge caution with booking Blacklane, especially where finding last minute replacements would be pricey.  I've booked three rides with Blacklane. One of them was an amazingly wonderful experience in Chicago with one of the most professional drivers I have ever met.  Once they cancelled my ride about 12 hours before pickup, and once they cancelled about 60 minutes out while I was in the air. 

15 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

RCL does have a ship tour that goes to the kitchen, but the last price I saw was about $190 per person. $190 per person is better spent on 4 specialty restaurant dinners than one tour, in my opinion

We booked ours at $90 pp. last Black Friday and would not hesitate to do it again at that price point.  $190?  That's a bit steep...

There is the "All Access Tour," which has recently returned after a COVID inspired hiatus.  It takes you into the kitchen and provisions areas, the engineering control room, the bridge and the laundry area.  It was very interesting and informative, I enjoyed it a great deal!

2 hours ago, dmattinson said:

I look at it like:

1 - you can wear them but if you are a braggard, then you get looked down on

2 - if you look down on someone wearing them, it better be because they were braggards and not just wearing them

15 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I have never flown before and honestly can't see myself every flying. It's a super duper phobia with me. We sail from NJ because we live here which is great, we have great ships and cool itineraries but of course limited. 

I really want to take an Alaskan cruise but that would be quite the flight to Seattle. I read Xanax is prescribed to nervous flyers but I think I might just be the worst nervous flyer. Will Xanax knock me the heck out completely like I had no clue what is going on and thus don't care? This would be a long flights so it would have to last 6 hours or so. 

Any advice? What do you do from experience?

Being in NJ, I might suggest taking a long weekend trip somewhere you can take a short flight then easily take the train back home (Boston, DC, Pittsburgh, Niagra Falls).  At least you're not committed to six hours out AND six hours back home that way. If it turns out flying is tolerable to you, go ahead and take the plunge.  If not, at least you were only on a plane for an hour or 2 vs. 12.  As a bonus for you, despite being so close, EWR, JFK and PHL offer some of those flights on some larger narrow-bodies vs. regional jets as some novice flyers don't love being on small planes.  No matter what you decide, good luck!

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

I don't believe it costs any money to get the enhanced license.

I'm not sure if it's the same in all states, but here in NJ my REAL ID cost the same amount as a standard license.  Was definitely a bit of a pain to go and get, but no more expensive.

12 hours ago, forests_lover said:

what's the point of dining at the MDR while I have UDP to dine at specialty restaurants which I guess is way better than the MDR.

There really isn't one unless you're completely enamored by a dish that is specific to the MDR. 

12 hours ago, forests_lover said:

The question is: how does someone know that an item like "Maine Lobster" (if it's on the menu at a specialty restaurant) is covered or not by the UDP ?

If there's an upcharge, it will be specifically called out on the menu.  This is a sample of a page of the Chops Grille.  Note how the Broiled 1 1/2 lb. Maine Lobster is the only dish with a price included. 

5 hours ago, Fredsbabe87 said:

Replying to Matt's comment about OBC... unfortunately that won't do us any good because most specialty lunch times are booked BEFORE the cruise, especially on a shorter cruise. They are almost all booked now for my Dec. cruise. So if I want a specialty lunch reservation, I have to book now, using my own charge and the OBC cannot be applied later. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thx!

This is a potato, po-tah-to situation really.  Do you really care if that $50 is specifically earmarked for that lunch, or a few drinks throughout the cruise, or a couple of t-shirts, etc., etc.?  $50 is $50 in my opinion.  And if you manage to somehow go the entire cruise without spending that $50 on SOMETHING, it'll go back to your credit card.

3 hours ago, Toby said:

We would need ~36 (7) night cruises in a suite.    

But seriously, I'm in the same boat as you.  Unless it turns out I'm some billionaire's secret heir, Diamond Plus is the best I'll ever hope to realistically achieve. 

2 hours ago, Tracey922 said:

Is going for breakfast worth the trek from the Aqua Theater Suites?

Once you've made it to the aft elevator lobby/stairwell, it's a short ride up to Deck 17.  It's not the closest, but it might actually require less physical walking than almost any other venue.

Quoting myself from my post-Oasis review here:

Every night for dessert, my youngest wanted chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  I don’t know what it was about those cookies (I mean, they WERE tasty!), but he was OBSESSED with them.  So dinner comes and goes, and right near the end of our entree, a table of 12 comes in without reservations.  It was fairly slow, so of course they were seated, but our server Amilia and another server (Alma, who we also had several times throughout the week) were assigned to cover the unexpected large party.  Amilia came over to take our dessert order, and of course my youngest orders cookies.  A few minutes later, she comes back to tell us that they’re out of cookies in CK, but not to worry, she called down the MDR galley and they’re going to send up some fresh ones. About ten minutes pass, and no desserts, and Amilia and Alma are really hustling to cover the large party plus their other tables.  Fifteen minutes now, and Amilia comes flying out of the back, all of our desserts in hand.  She then proceeds to APOLOGIZE to us for the wait, no one from the MDR ever showed up, so she had Alma cover the large party on her own for a few minutes and ran down there herself to get ONE ORDER OF COOKIES FOR A SEVEN YEAR OLD.  We apologized to her and told her she didn’t have to do that, we could have just run to the Windjammer or the MDR or even ordered them to the cabin from room service!  Without batting an eye, she just matter of factly stated, “There’s no way I was going to let him leave on his last night without his cookies.”  And THAT ladies in gentlemen is why two chocolate chip cookies perfectly encapsulate why this cruise impressed me so much.  Disappointing him even in a minor way simply was not an option for them.

33 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

Your experience is based on taking a boat to Blue Lagoon.

Absolutely correct.  The OP specifically mentioned those excursions, but did not limit the choices there, so your experience/information is also relevant.

15 hours ago, Tia said:

Oh wow! Ok, so you don't have to walk out to the entry of the dock, the tender picks you up right there! Amazing! I thought we would have to walk all the way to the entry which looks unbearably far! We will be on Anthem! I was afraid that even if we book excursions we would have to walk the whole way. Thank you so much!!!

No worries!  I should add, this was booked through Royal and they checked for our tickets before letting us join the line.  If you book independently as @HeWhoWaits mentioned, I highly doubt they'd let you board there.  As an aside, our return tender dropped us off at exactly the same spot.

4 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

Ok, so current offer says lunch reg $29.99 on sale 15% off $24.99. The math would actually put it at $25.49 (but let's not even go there). I thought I saw it the other day for $22.99. What's best price people see lately? Would black friday be even better?

I know this isn't the most helpful answer, but I think it's the most honest: a good price is what you're willing to pay for the experience, and that number will vary from person to person based on a ton of variables.  If the price is one you're willing to pay, it's a good price, go ahead and book it.  If it goes on sale after that, cancel and rebook, then you've gotten a great price!

I'm not sure which ship you're on and where it will dock, but I was there in August on Oasis.  This shot shows an Oasis-class ship in port, and it's exactly where we tied up.  The red star shows where the tenders to take us to Blue Lagoon were.  It was less than the length of the (admittedly massive) ship.

5 hours ago, WoodsTravels said:

Are they a really good agency?

Yes!

5 hours ago, WoodsTravels said:

Should DH and I use a TA for our future cruise?

Good God yes! 

1 hour ago, Zacharius said:

(b) it's a good way to try new drinks...if you don't like what you got, cast it aside and get another. It's a low-risk way to expand your cocktail horizons.

This is exactly my viewpoint. I've found more favorite drinks at all-inclusives and with the beverage package because of the no-risk proposition there.