WAAAYTOOO

Trust me, I completely understand. The thing that "threw" me wasn't the 20% (which I found to be more than fair for what WE went through) but the basis for the FCC itself. How can an FCC for 20% of my cruise fare ($6255.70) come out to $464 ($232 each) ? In my case, I'm sure it is due to the otherworldly casino comp calculations. I hope you fared better than we did.

Sounds like a good day to just stay on the ship !

Is yours a full ship's charter ? Of course, I do not know the answer here, but my GUESS is that such things would be coordinated with the ship's Group coordinator vs the Cruise Director. I'm no help here as I would have no idea how to contact either the GC or the CD. Good luck !

Interesting information. Thanks. Convenient, eh ? ...that they give you the letter at the very last possible moment and then you can't dispute it after you get off. Besides....how would you even know the amount of the FCC ? The only thing we got was a letter indicating that we would be receiving an FCC in a few weeks. By then it's too late !!

MANY years ago we did cave tubing in Belize and I don't remember that much about it. I do recall that we had to carry our own tubes fairly long distance which seemed to be a bit of a hassle and I remember that my daughter was a beautiful shade of purple by the time we were done...the water was freezing ! Costa Maya is a great "just hang out" port. The port area itself is about as nice a one as you're going to find anywhere...but for very little money you can catch a shuttle over to Mahahual and hang out on the beach anywhere. The shuttle over is actually free but it will cost you a few bucks to come back as the shuttle only runs one way. I guess the only caution about the beach at Costa Maya is to let you know that sometimes they can have a terrible issue with seaweed. I guess we've been lucky and never had a seaweed issue at CM but many others have. Aside from that, CM is one of my favorite ports.

Unless it's Empress, smoking is allowed in the casino (and therefore, the casino bar) but they do not permit cigar smoking anywhere inside on any ship UNLESS you can find one of the ships that still has a Connoisseur Club. I think there is a ship or 2 that still has them. I believe you can still smoke a cigar in the Connoisseur Club but most of them have been removed.

I do understand your concern. It is always a challenge to decide what needs to be packed and sent outside and what needs to stay inside over night so that you can get properly dressed the next morning. ...and yes, we always have to do a little repacking once we get to the airport b/c my toiletry bag, which stays with me over night, must be put inside the checked luggage. So there is a bit of reshuffling to do the next day. They will deliver an entire package to you on the last day (or sometimes, the night before the last day) which will provide all of the details about packing, putting your luggage out, providing you with luggage tags, etc. If you still have questions, you can ask your room attendant or go to Guest Services. It is a fairly straightforward process.

Me too

No, it is not mandatory. You can do what they call, "Self Assist" which means that you can carry all of your own bags off the ship, if you so desire. They do this first thing...so before they start calling any luggage numbers (those people who have left their bags outside the cabin the night before), they allow those doing self assist to leave. The upside is that you keep all of your bags with you, but downside is that you must get your bags off the ship yourself. The elevators on disembarkation day are "difficult" at best and that is made even worse when you are trying to get yourself and all of your bags onto an elevator to get off the ship. ...but if you want to keep your bags, you are certainly able to do that.

Yes, there is. I always cut them off at the knees before I ever get any service by letting them know that I will not be purchasing any goods or services. It has worked 100% of the time. They always make you fill out <unnecessary, IMO> paperwork prior to any service. At the bottom of the page, I write in BIG LETTERS, "NO SALES" !!!!

I think you have a good plan working. I wouldn't completely abandon the idea, however, of having your friends dine with you in the CK one night. As Matt always says, be ok with "no" for an answer, but I would certainly at least ASK the Suites Concierge if you could bring your friends in for 1 dinner. Maybe ask for a late dining time as opposed to the very popular 6-7:30 timeframe and one of the non-event evenings...I would certainly not try it on filet night or a formal night, but one of the other "routine" nights might work.

It's a shame you will miss Bahrain. There are lots of interesting things to do there. Last time I was there I went and visited the Crown Prince's camel farm !! Very interesting.

You have to pay for food at Cap'n Jacks, right ?

Rejection mails usually arrive the night before sailing.

Yes, it is a complimentary restaurant

I guess you have to define “win”. The most either of us has ever gotten is a free Casino Royale shirt. I’ve never seen anyone win money.

Not that I know of. The % off the price of the package begins with D+.

Here's a truly bizarre FCC rule that few know about. You can actually apply an FCC to a paid-in-full cruise. I thought maybe I was misunderstanding when my Michelle first told me this but she actually applied our (much maligned) Oasis FCC to a future cruise that had already been paid in full. The full value of the FCC ended up being a credit on our credit card. I was very surprised that they actually allowed this, but they did. So while they say that the FCC has no cash value, it actually CAN be, in a way...it can go to your CC as a credit. ALMOST the same as getting cash back.

This is just a one-time offer....not for every drink.

Anytime.

Bummer !! We are on that one.

Yes. Not necessarily employees. Often full ship charters are organizations or events like charity fund raisers or music concerts, etc.

Congratulations !

The truth is, if you going to try and become a Prime Tier level in 1 cruise, unless you have many thousands of dollars to play at the table games by making VERY large wagers over a VERY long time, the only reliable way to do it is to run your money through the slot machines. I hate slot machines and I never play them but if I were trying to make Prime in 1 cruise, this is how I would do it. The tracking of slot play is reliable and verifiable. You can track your own progress and vary your wagers in order to achieve the points you need. Table play is neither quantitative nor reliable. Table tracking is qualitative and almost entirely dependent upon the whims of the pit bosses to accurately record you wager value. Yes, they track your time at the table but even that isn’t reliable. Can it be done at the tables ? Yes, but not making average or even above average wagers. Once you make Prime and if you take multiple cruises per year, it is much easier to maintain Prime. The first time is the hardest.

It has been my experience that all of the vendors, stores and markets accept USD. If you are purchasing something with a credit card, they will charge you in pesos and convert to USD. There is no need to purchase pesos.