Chadster

Ugh...sorry for the double post!

19 hours ago, Jill said:

Thanks for checking…..again! 

Right? Sharla and the rest of MEI are awesome about that. For my upcoming cruises, I've basically memorized the prices from frequently checking -- but I always wanna defer to the professional judgment!!!

2 hours ago, ehanpaul8 said:

Can you eat whenever you want, as much as you want, as often as you want? Like could I grab a hot dog from the boardwalk hotdog place every hour if I felt so inclined?

I have to admit that one of the many reasons I'm excited about sailing on Oasis in September is because I'm looking forward to doing exactly this.

I really wish that they'd cover sailings that set sail through Sept. 30 to have some consistency. I canceled an itinerary that sails on May 8 (after the April 30, 2022 deadline), and as I understand, my FCC will be the deposit minus $100, to reflect a $100 change fee. And if I have to cancel or change the cruise I moved to, I'll have to pay another $100 change fee because it sails on May 1, 2022, one day after the deadline.

Especially since they're letting people use CWC FCCs on cruises that sail on or before Sept. 30, 2022.

1 hour ago, teddy said:

Our back to back is in November, so we’re kind of expecting things to change by then….whether for the better or worse will remain to be seen 

Will be eagerly watching the B2B experience of you and the others sailing before December; I've got a B2B on Anthem, and I made sure to get the same cabin...which for cruises over a holiday was no easy feat. Hopefully they'll walk this back in some form in the future with the new email that's apparently coming soon.™

Please don't eat all the French onion soup...I was beyond excited to see it on the menu every night! 

Even though Oasis has a wide variety of specialty restaurants, I'm definitely impressed with the MDR menu. I'm still up in the air over whether I even want a 3-night package or not.

22 hours ago, wozswoman said:

The packages came back but after looking at the MDR menu I was content with what was on it.  I'm good eating escargot every day along with French Onion soup and steak. LOL

@Matt, did CVS charge you an up-front fee for the test? They were advertising that it was covered by most insurance, but of course, there's the obligatory asterisk!

There's one just across the road from me, so for my upcoming Oasis cruise next month, I'm planning to get the rapid test on a Thursday for a Sunday departure.

Here's a list of various port webcams, including the New York Harbor webcam these shots were taken from:

https://www.ptztv.com/portfolio/seaports/

A direct link to the NY Harbor cam: https://www.nyharborwebcam.com/

On 8/19/2021 at 4:06 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I am not responsible if @Chadsterbooks another cruise!

Okay, so you're not responsible...you were actually helpful -- as was everybody in this thread. The 7-night multi-glacier trip aboard Serenade in May 2022 checks even more boxes than my previously planned 8-day trip...so I'm even more excited now.

So, small YOLO update: 

Instead of cruising to Alaska aboard Ovation for 8 nights on 5/5/22, I'll be cruising to Alaska on Serenade for 7 nights on 5/1/22...in a corner aft balcony. I had this spot on a COVID-cancelled cruise, and I was so very sad I missed out on it...so to get to do it this time in a place where aft balconies are even more delightful than normal...I'm thrilled. Plus, the logistics of flying into and flying out of Vancouver instead of having to deal with 2 ports relieves a bit of stress from my life. Extra day in Vancouver post-cruise to get to experience the city, too! Extra YOLO -- I've always wanted to visit Vancouver!

This may be the greatest thread of tips I have gleaned from this forum.

I shall be over here eagerly awaiting the nights I can consume Key Lime pie to my heart's content. Yes, I will always have room for that particular dessert.  I suppose I shall endeavor to figure out the trivial things like appetizers and the "main course" as well. 

As of the moment I post this, it's showing in my Cruise Planner for $196 on the Sept. 26 Oasis cruise.

Since it's gonna be my first time on Royal Caribbean, if I go for a package, it'll be a 3-night, so I can give the complementary venues a fair shake, too. So you can have the UDP I'm not gonna take if you hurry! 

I experienced this a few years ago on the one cruise I've taken thus far in my life: aboard Carnival. Ah, well...it just gave me an excuse to get even more corned-beef hash...we all gotta make sacrifices. 

11 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Do you mean Alltrips Premier from Allianz?  I'm looking now and I don't see Prime.

Here's the link to the Prime plan on the Allianz site.

On 8/18/2021 at 8:33 AM, twangster said:

If you are booking a cruise on short notice and you plan to cruise it would make little sense booking with a refundable deposit.  If you are booking two years out when lots of things could change then refundable deposits can be appealing.

What @twangster says is very true, and I honestly wish I'd booked my Alaska cruise with a refundable deposit since it's my only 2022 cruise so far, and it dawned on me after the fact that the sail date falls on the other side of the line noted in the "Cruise With Confidence" policy, so in order to make a change going forward, I'd have to weigh whether losing $100 of my deposit to a penalty is worth it. In my case, I'd probably deem it worth it since it's just me traveling and I wouldn't impact anyone else's reservations, but of course, everyone's situation is different.

Man, this thread has given me a lot to think about, so thanks for creating it, and of course, thanks for the folks in the know for weighing in! I'm now rethinking my Alaska plans and possibly going for a shorter cruise on a Radiance-class than the longer cruise on the Quantum-class.

30 minutes ago, BrianB said:

If you are a frequent traveler you should consider an annual plan.

Amid my YOLO booking spree, and after considering that I also had a couple of other out-of-town trips planned in the next year, I did this exact thing this weekend. I added up the per-trip protection costs offered by the airlines and/or cruise lines involved, and it ended up being cheaper buying the annual plan. And now, on top of that, I have higher benefit limits.

By the by...does anybody have any experience with getting MyVegas points refunds after a cancellation? I know that customer service was doing them for the cruises RCCL cancelled in the Dark Times, but just curious if plans were to change and I had to cancel, are they as receptive to the refund requests?

4 hours ago, crabkitty said:

Outside of that, we're looking at using it for drinks on board.

You might take a look at the current Cruise Planner sale. The price on the deluxe beverage package per person for that sailing isn't awful! Outside of that, you might find some more things to splurge on at reduced prices.

48 minutes ago, Donna G said:

Fantastic!  I wish my husband could take the time off to cruise that much.  Counting the days to retirement so we can YOLO book back to back cruises too.  

51 minutes ago, LovetoCruise87 said:

I guarantee that when we retire the first thing to do is a back to back!

I hope you get to! We all need cruises in our lives again -- and let's face it...2 cruises are even better than one! 

I haven't gotten to travel in nearly 3 years, so when I saw I could line all of these up with my schedule, I jumped at it! I'm lucky to have the time off I get and I know it won't always be like this for me, so I'm trying to take advantage of it while I can!

2 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

May 5th sailing starts in Vancouver and ends in Seattle correct?

Yep, that's correct.

5 hours ago, PurdueFlyer said:

interesting, solo cruiser (sometimes) here as well.  Which ship is this for?

I found this to be the case on all the cruises I've booked for 2021 at least: Oasis and Anthem (2x). In each case, I've received half of the OBC for the WOW sale, and as an example, the fare on my September sailing of Oasis is exactly half what 2 cruisers pay for the same class of cabin in the same location on the ship. For my May cruise on Ovation next year, prices seem more in line with the "singles penalty", so I don't know if they've done something this year to incentivize a return to cruising or what. I just know I'm getting great deals. 

On top of it all, I got the same cabin on the B2B cruises! That was tricky -- when I was looking yesterday, cabin inventory suddenly started plummeting, so it took me a bit to get just what I wanted.

Due to the time of year, I decided against a balcony and instead got one of the fore-facing cabins. It should be an interesting experience!

I sorta went on a bit of a spree with some money I've had socked away, and now I can attest to the fact that YOLO booking is indeed a thing. 

September 26, 2021: Oasis out of Cape Liberty (7 days)

December 24, 2021: Anthem out of Cape Liberty (Christmas at sea!) (7 days)

December 31, 2021: Anthem out of Cape Liberty again! (Why not be at sea to welcome in 2022?) (9 days)

UPDATED AFTER SAGE FORUM ADVICE: May 1, 2022: Serenade out of Vancouver (North to Alaska...and back...) (7 days)

All of these happen during breaks for me with school and will celebrate milestones in said schooling since I'm getting toward the final phase.

If they all go off without a hitch, I'll be Diamond for the second leg of the holiday B2B and Diamond Plus at the end of the Alaska cruise; the one on Oasis will be my first Royal cruise (not for a lack of trying over the last 18 months!). These points will apparently really stack up with the bonus and because I'm cruising solo.

You people are a bad influence! 

Since this is basically a @Sharlaand MEI appreciation thread (and a "Why you should consider MEI for your cruise planning" thread), let me chime in with some praise. Way back sometime last year, Sharla went on vacation, and before she left, she told me who would be filling in for her. Of course, during that time, I found a cruise...and her coworker was right on it, and Sharla dove right in after she got back from vacation.

I tend to be very anxious/focused on getting things squared away (this week was an example due to a situation that changed very quickly), and occasionally I stumble over details or things get lost in a brain fog, and the MEI team has always been so very patient and helpful. I had a different travel agency in the before times (both before the pandemic and before I found MEI), and they frustrated me to no end.

The Blog definitely has cultivated the right partnership with the right agency! Enjoy your vacation, Sharla!