USCG Teacher

Generally speaking, Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service is frequent and reliable.  That said, when things go sideways, they can go sideways QUICKLY and often take a while to get back on schedule.  Personally, I'd plan to be down the night before.  Worst comes to worst, you can always rent a car and make the drive down pretty easily if Amtrak has a meltdown.

1 hour ago, Viking fan said:

Wondering if the all access tour is available aboard the Mariner of the Seas at a discounted rate during the sailing or would I save by signing up ahead. 

As with most things available on the Cruise Planner, it almost always cheaper to book before you're on board.  Keep an eye out for price drops, you can always cancel and rebook if there's a sale after you purchase. 

13 hours ago, happy cruisers 2 said:

So I should let the suite concierge arrange our boarding day lunch in Coastal Kitchen?

You can absolutely do this.  If you'd like, you can also respond to the e-mail your concierge will send you about a week before you depart with your reservation preferences, and they'll be able to set things up and confirm with you before you ever step on board.  Free up more of that 1st day for fun things!

1 hour ago, foxrunner said:

My son makes this every post Thanksgiving breakfast.

Leftover turkey,stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, are combined into a patty.

Deep fry the patty serve with warm gravy and topped with a fried egg!

YUMMY!

Something similar, but hear me out: put the mix in a Belgian waffle maker. (I've never tried it with peas, but they're welcome to the party!)

Just now, asquared17 said:

can confirm that the bags and j and i are all on the plane. we’ve pushed away from the gate. 

things are looking promising

Fingers crossed for a better return flight. Godspeed.  Hope you have your jacket handy in your carry-on, it's cold up here today!

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

I'm going to guess something happened as a one off (maybe a crew member was drunk and got in trouble and blamed it on a guest) that caused this to become an issue and they are now overreacting and eventually it'll pass.

TIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!

6 hours ago, asquared17 said:

wait what’s a berliner?????

Why, John F. Kennedy, of course. (I can't believe I came out of stalker mode on this blog to make this comment.  I'm as disappointed as the rest of you.)  Carry on @asquared17, enjoying your and @WAAAYTOOO's journey greatly!

7 hours ago, Curt From Canada said:

Is that for New Year's Eve or something? Pricing in pesos?

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

Not really but I do miss the chilled fruit soups from back in the day.

YESSSSSSS! I tell people about the chilled banana soup (with some sort of cinnamon crouton!) that I had many years ago at lunch in the MDR on Empress of the Seas, and they often look at me like I'm making it up!  It was so good, I've never had anything quite like it before or since.

16 minutes ago, TXcruzer said:

Get passport cards at the midpoint of your passport book expiration. You can’t fly but at least you can still cruise if you have a book renewal “issue”

I'm a little disappointed in myself that I haven't thought of this.  I may have to steal your idea. 

1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Personally, anything over 3 hours at a beach and I'd lose my bloody mind.  Now, 5 hours in a lazy river.....

This is 100% me in a nutshell.  Thank you for the insight!

With apologies to @Jade & @asquared17, I'd like to attempt a short thread hijack for a brief moment! @SpeedNoodles mentioned getting a day pass for the British Colonial, which is what I was leaning to doing this summer.  The only reason I'm slightly on the fence is that we have one of those itineraries that gets us into Nassau at 12:30 PM, and I've read that the day pass is only good until 5:00.  While I know this is purely subjective, do you feel that it is worth it with the late arrival?

4 hours ago, SeaSunnedTraveler said:

I wish RCCL had this restaurant on more of their ships.  I think it is only on 2 ships, Allure and Radiance. 

It was really yummy, the grilled lamb was amazing. It turned Mr. SeaSunned into a lamb eater. 

 

While I have seen some very mixed reviews on Samba, I have to agree.  We enjoyed our meal here very much, even our decidedly picky-eating son who generally doesn't love proteins.

On 11/13/2024 at 4:43 PM, SeaSunnedTraveler said:

I am on a quest to find the best burger on Mariner of the Seas.

Playmakers on boarding day, either classic or truffle. Day 2: Chops for Lunch!! Day 4 Playmakers redux. Day 5 Jamie's 

4 burgers in 5 days.  I do this for all of y'all!  If it is delivered hot, the room service Wagyu burger is pretty darn good. 

 

 

 

 

Ah, you mean the Lipi-tour?  Actually sounds delicious, enjoy!

2 hours ago, J3N said:

I just booked UDP for Wonder Sailing and paid.  CP said thank you for your order we will email you confirmation .....
Haven't received email confirmation yet nor does it show up on my card.  Should I wait or rebook?  Called and there is a 3 hour wait. 

Thanks for any help.

Is it showing up in your Order History tab?  If so, you're probably fine (although I'd still screenshot it!).  I got confirmation emails for all my cancellations, but only half of my new purchases, but they're all in my order history along with corresponding order numbers, so I'm not concerned.  They're also all showing in my calendar and as "Reserved" when I look at the same item in CP, so these are all making me feel like the emails may just be a bit slow/overwhelmed right now.

46 minutes ago, barjpoe said:

I'm having a problem: when I hit the check out tab nothing happens. Any clue as what the problem might be?  thanks

44 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I was able to hook up 2/3 Jan sailings before I hit a snag. I am running into issues with my Indy booking. 

Every time I entered the payment screen, my saved credit card information would not be there and it wouldn't let me complete the transaction even after manually re-entering my payment info.  Found out if I just refreshed the payment screen, it would take me back in and my CC info would be back.  After that, it was all good.

Holy cow, $57.99 for the Deluxe Beverage Package (Diamond & Above Special) on a July cruise on Symphony?!?  Literally everything I had already purchased is cheaper right now.  Just cancelled and re-booked everything, saved about $650!!  Thank you all so much! 

Was lucky enough to do this on Oasis a few years ago.  As a nearly life-long NJ resident, I've seen the Statue of Liberty dozens of times from up close, but being basically face-level with her was was absolutely wild.

3 hours ago, togo said:

Is there a place to find more information on the land tours pre or post cruise?   I haven't been able to get much detail other than saying which city it would be in,

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/alaska-cruisetour-brochure.pdf

6 hours ago, NRD said:

Royal mega ship is not for everyone.

Very true!

6 hours ago, NRD said:

A lot of people are leaving Royal for other cruise lines.

Some people?  Maybe.  A lot?  I don't know...

6 hours ago, NRD said:

Some have started to say Carnival has better rules for children so everyone can enjoy their cruise

Nope, there's the bridge too far.

15 hours ago, Pooch said:

They are, however, expressing interest in cruising.

Well done, Grandma. Well done.

23 hours ago, fireclan said:

We did RC's 1B pre-cruise tour this past June. It was a 3 night tour (which included Denali) by bus and train transportation.  The bus was a coach bus (the same bus, driver and guide the entire tour) and comfortable. Traveling inside Denali was by a school bus that the inside was upgraded somewhat with coach type seats. None of the places we stopped on the tour required actual hiking. There was some easy walking on paths but that was the extent of it. I agree with @OCSC Mike that Denali should definitely be on the to-do list.

 

Out of curiosity, what did you think of 1B?  Was it enough or did you feel like it just left you wanting more land-side tour?  I'm planning to go in a few years and I keep looking at 1B, but them I'm afraid I'll regret not doing one with an extra day or two...

1 minute ago, Gilley said:

Did I hear correct strike over until January 2025.

You did indeed.

https://6abc.com/post/port-strike-update-dockworkers-join-other-unions-trying-fend-off-automation-minimize-impact/15388724/

I use...an envelope next to my nightstand.  About 6-8 months before I sail, every Friday whatever cash I have leftover in my wallet I put in the envelope.  The interest rate is terrible, but the hours are terrific.

$56?!?