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WAAAYTOOO

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Posts posted by WAAAYTOOO

  1. I've cruised during most all of the US holidays at one time or another.  We almost always cruise for Christmas and NY....at least up until this year when they no longer have ANY cruises that cover both holidays ! <mad face>

    To be honest, there really isn't a lot of difference between holidays and non-holiday cruising.  Obviously, during Christmas/NY there will be decorations on the ship and they will do a few things like singing Christmas Carols and Santa will be there but it's really still just a cruise.  Where you will really notice the difference is in your wallet !  The most expensive week to cruise is over NY.  The second most expensive week is Christmas and the LEAST expensive week to cruise are the first 2 weeks of December.

    I, like Matt, was on a cruise this past Thanksgiving (NAV) and I will say that the Thanksgiving meal that they served in the MDR was the single worst meal I have EVER experienced on a cruise ship. The food was just awful.  Enough said.  I will never ever have a Thanksgiving meal in the MDR again.

    We also sailed during the 4th of July  last year (Grandeur) and it was so cool to be coming back on July 4th, cruising through the Chesapeake Bay and seeing all the fireworks along the shore, from the Bay.  Of course, that was a function of timing, since we were coming back on the actual 4th of July.  Had we been at sea that day we wouldn't have seen ANY fireworks.

    If it's a major US holiday, expect there to be MANY children aboard.  That has never bothered us really, as we spend most of our time in the casino anyway and [lately, anyway] almost always have the Ultimate Dining Package and therefore eat most of our meals in a specialty restaurant.  But if lots and lots of kids bother you, I recommend avoiding major US holidays.

  2. Why B2B Star Class cruises ?

    Why not ?

    Ok...try again.  HOW B2B Star Class cruises ?

    As Prime Club Royale members, Dan and I each get a "free" annual cruise.  Since we had never done a B2B before, I decided (Dan never decides ANYthing having to do with cruising...he is a tagalong) that this is the time/way to do it.  So I booked 2 consecutive inside rooms on Anthem for 15-23 Feb and 23 Feb - 3 Mar.  Wait a minute !  I'm a suite snob !  How can I be expected to cruise in an inside room ?  So I upgraded these cruises to Ocean view balcony rooms (careful to make sure that I found a stateroom that was available for both cruises....so we wouldn't have to change rooms, right ? Ha !  Pure folly !)...then to Junior Suites...then to J1 JS with large balcony.  By now, we have moved WELL past the option of remaining in the same room on both cruises.  All of these upgrades occurred over a period of about 6 months AND I often upgraded one and then a few days later, upgraded another and on and on and on....  If any of you EVER had a question about whether or not Michelle Cunningham is a Saint...wonder no longer.  With EACH and EVERY upgrade, she calmly and patiently complied with my schizophrenic requests and each time she was always entirely successful in getting me EXACTLY what I asked for.

    Side note1:  When you book a "free" casino cruise (whether it is one of your annual cruises or some other type of free casino offer) you must pay the entire balance at the time that you book the cruise.

    Now it begins to occur to me....why not upgrade ALL the way ?  Do I dare ?  ....then, somewhere in my very noisy mind I hear, "YOLO BOOK IT".  Of COURSE, there is not a SC room that is available on both cruises, so I went in, knowing that we would have to switch suites.  Small price to pay.  F* it.  Done.  15-23 Feb Grand Loft Suite 8724.  On 23 Feb - 3 Mar GLS 10720.

    Side note2:  This was quite a learning experience for both me and Michelle.  Neither of us really realized how relatively affordable it is to upgrade a "free" casino comp cruise.  I think this is why I was so emboldened to keep upgrading.  In the end, after all of the changes and upgrades, I was able to go from 2 inside cabins to 2 SC suites for around $7500.   Now, that's still a lot of money...not sayin' it ain't....but for 2, SC 8 day cruises, that is a STEAL.  So for those of you who are [at least] Prime Club Royale members, this is the way to do it, if you have ever considered booking Star Class.  The upgrades - even when you start from an inside room - are as cheap as you're ever going to get them.

  3. Well, it's been almost a week now that we've been back from our B2B Star Class cruises on Anthem so if I'm going to do this blog I'd better do it while I can still remember stuff (#oldbrain)....

    Some of you may have noticed that I tend to be a bit "wordy" <cough, cough> so I'm going to try and keep my posts short(er).  Unfortunately, I am the anti-Twangster so I have NO photos at all.  That's just the way I roll....so not only will this blog be on the wordy side, but it will be bereft of photos - hince, the shorter, more readable options, hopefully.

  4. 41 minutes ago, Mathew Jones said:

    So I got the Royal Up email today also for my sailing aboard Liberty in May.  I am currently in a Spacious Oceanview Balcony on deck 10.  Since we are new cruisers and were only in a balcony room we also opted in for The Key.  Now, I am seriously considering to bid in for a Grand Suite and/or a Junior Suite.  If we get the bid for the Junior Suite then we would keep The Key since that category of cabins do not offer the VIP Light package that The Key offers.  If we, by some miracle, get accepted for the Grand Suite, The Key is not really worth it anymore.  And as of today there was cabins available in both the junior and grand suite category.  I know that I can cancel any time up to 2 days before sailing, but I cannot cancel The Key within 6 days of the sailing.  I wonder if RCCL would let me cancel The Key if I Royal Up to a Grand Suite?  

    And speaking of Grand Suites, is there a Voom package included with a GS cabin?

    Let me answer the easy one first.  On Liberty, no Voom package included as a suite perk.  Only on ships that have the Royal Suites Program (Quantum and Oasis class ships) is Voom included (Sky and/or Star Class).

    As for the question about cancelling The Key...actually, yours is the first post I have read indicating that you cannot cancel The Key within 6 days of sailing. That's very interesting.  Had not read that before.  I really would have no idea whether they would let you cancel last minute but since you say that it cannot be cancelled within 6 days of the cruise, my guess is that they would stick to this limitation. While I know that it's POSSIBLE that you would not know about any RoyalUp bid acceptance until the last few days prior to the cruise, I think that the majority of people are being notified before that.  I know that the rejection emails on RoyalUp bids do not come until the very last minute but I think acceptances are usually well in advance of the cruise except in some very rare circumstances.  Not sure what to advise you to do here....

  5. 12 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

    I asked her the other day, what if we didn't like Anthem what would we do about the 14 day cruise?

    Interesting.  I had the same concern.  I wasn't even sure I would like the Q class but we both really did.  I completely concur with comments that I have read in the past about the Esplanade/Via areas being bottlenecks to big crowds but that wasn't such a big deal.  The Anthem is SO different from any other ship we have been on that we really, really enjoyed it.  Dan particularly loved 270 and the Music Hall.  We did not even miss the Aqua Theater but we did sort of miss Central Park.  Not all that fond of the Coastal Kitchen setup on Anthem (missed the beautiful views of the CK on the O class) but we aren't huge CK fans to begin with.  We ate breakfast there a few times and a couple of dinners.  1 lunch.

  6. Just now, tiny260 said:

    They did that on your Star Class cruises? BTW, how was 2 weeks with a Genie?

    Yes....I had made a special request of our Genie to keep our bags with us (based on some bad embarkation day experiences in SC previously) so she had them scan the bags right along with our carry-ons !  I had no idea they could even do that !  She had a porter bring everything with us as we went through security and check-in (actually, there WAS NO check-in...she already had our Sea Pass cards for us) all the way through to the bedroom upstairs.  It was the most wonderful check-in ever !

    The B2B SC was unbelievable.  I am still planning on writing a short summary but haven't gotten around to it since I've been so busy since getting back.  When you take 16 days off while still working there is payback.  Boy, is there....

    We loved it so much that we are doing the same exact itineraries next February.  Dan LOVED Anthem.  I still prefer the O class but he really enjoyed Anthem. It may have had something to do with the fact that he was on B2B Star Class cruises...not really sure.  LOL

  7. 17 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

     anything that cannot go through a standard sized x-ray machine will not be allowed.

    To my great surprise, on our recent Anthem cruises, they ran ALL of our bags through the regular scanner.  I was SHOCKED when I saw those big bags go through.  I had no idea they would fit....but they did...just barely !   ....but generally, no...they will not allow you to bring your big bags onto the ship yourself.

  8. 4 hours ago, Matt said:

    They will pick the room for you. Granted, if there was another Junior Suite available in the same category code as yours, you could switch to it, but odds are that will not happen. Heck, odds there are actually rooms to upgrade to with RoyalUp are also quite low.

    That's good to know, Matt.  It was my understanding that once they had assigned you a room they would NOT make any changes for you.  Good to know that they can....

  9. 1 hour ago, amskane said:

    I have a voucher from my last cruise for $500 off a booking. I have a booked cruise for 4/11. Anyone know if i can apply my $500 voucher towards  room upgrade or onboard credit? 

    Assuming your 4/11 cruise is for THIS year ?  If so, it is already past final payment date and you would not be able to use your casino certificate for that cruise.  Technically, you can only use the certificate on a new booking BUT I have had mixed results applying a casino certificate to an already-booked cruise.  The only thing that is absolutely forbidden is to apply a casino certificate to a booking that already has a casino discount applied (double dipping).  If you had a cruise booked for which the final payment date had not yet passed, AND you did not already have a casino discount on that one, you MIGHT stand a chance of using the certificate on that cruise but after final payment date.  Nope.  

    The certificates are designed to encourage new bookings so it makes sense that they would require you to book a new cruise to use it....and it is always a "gamble" (see what I did there ???) to try and use it on an already-booked cruise...but I HAVE done it before.

  10. 9 minutes ago, Linda216 said:

    So they still honor a repricing if I see my cruise go down in price? Even if u don’t do the refundable deposit option?

    Yes, even with a NRD they will reprice a cruise to a lower fare.  The only time they will not is if it is past final payment date.

  11. 5 hours ago, Traveler said:

    show you already booked enough for 80 points and ask them to owner it once you will be at 80 .

    I did this waaay back, years ago when they re-structured the C&A program to count nights vs cruises.  I had already booked all of the cruises necessary to take me to Diamond and I called them....sure enough, they honored my request EVEN when I had to cancel one of the cruises and push the date back a bit.  

  12. 37 minutes ago, scottish67 said:

    do we get to pick which junior suite we want? 

    No, they will assign you a new cabin and you cannot change it once the upgrade is completed.  That is one of the trade-offs for a lower upgrade.  They get to put you in a cabin that has not sold yet.

  13. 35 minutes ago, yzfmik said:

    Just got off Oasis on Sunday and after speaking to some employees around the ship here's what they said:

    -Champagne Bar will be replaced with the Bionic Bar

    -Playmakers will replace Sabor

    -Ultimate Abyss will be added (Sabor Bar obviously will be removed)

    -No Wonderland (employee said it was originally supposed to be added, but now cancelled) 

    Thanks for the information !

    IMO, the bionic bar is a huge waste of valuable real estate.  Terrible drinks and once you've gotten 1 drink from there, the novelty is over.  I loved the Champagne bar.  Bad tradeoff.

    Glad to hear that they are not putting Wonderland on Oasis !  Another huge waste of valuable real estate.

    I hope they are going to be adding Hooked !

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