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Temeculaguy

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Posts posted by Temeculaguy

  1. Casinos track the spending habits of gamblers to the point that it is it's own science. That science still shows smokers are more valuable than non smokers, when that changes, so will their rules. I think flavorless, low vapor ecigs could solve the problem with the limited distance between smoking and non smoking sections, since it eliminates the smell, the drift and the second hand issues 50 feet away. But the smokers aren't there yet, especially the high rollers from foreign countries that have higher smoking rates and often much higher bets. I'll bet Royal already has the casino revenue per person from the cruises before the smoking ban and during and those numbers are the reason smoking is back regardless of some people's personal experiences or anecdotal observations. I don't like the musicals and shows, I would prefer they did something else with all that space, time and money but it turns out I'm not in the majority so part of my fare goes to something I don't enjoy. But I'm not mad about it, I understand that a private business caters to their guests, they pivot when it makes them more money or gets them more guests, not less money and guests and they certainly don't make all their decisions based on exactly what I want, they do what works for them.

  2. Carnival is now accepting proof of positive and recovery within 90 days in lieu of pre-cruise testing. In a way both things are happening, I expect royal to announce something soon. I did notice on their healthy sail section it looks like Feb 15th will be the end of the masks everywhere and back to vaccinated areas only for no masks.

    Under "do I need to wear a mask" in the faq, it's much more bold on ther website where it says departing through February 14th masks in vaccinated areas. Not sure of they just left that there when they extended it but in their extension they didn't mention it. That is 6 days away so I guess we will see soon.

    Masks are NOT required to be worn:

    • In open-air areas of the ship, unless you are in a crowded setting
    • In the pool or any activity where they may become wet
    • At venues designated for vaccinated guests only, such as select bars, lounges, restaurants, shows and Casino Royale. NOTE: For cruises departing through February 14, 2022, masks must be worn in vaccinated-only venues.
    • In your stateroom when you are with your traveling party
    • While visiting our private destinations, unless you are in a crowded setting
    • By any guest under the age of 2
  3. I think it may be happening sooner than later. many of the last remaining states with mandates, I believe 9 in all announced today plans to roll them back. Here in California, with some of the strictest rules throughout the pandemic we are throwing in the towel February 15th, no more masks in all but hospitals and mass transit, no testing needed to visit in hospitals or nursing homes or mega events and more rollbacks to come including schools but no date announced today on that.  While it isn't the center of the universe, it is about 1/8 of the US population. With New Jersey rolling back soon it almost covers all the states with cruise ports since Texas and Florida are mandate free. I think Royal will trail behind but stay near what is happening on land. I have a mid March cruise and hoping to at least go back to pre-omicron protocols of vaccinated areas and pretty much just wearing them in hallways and elevators and most people barely following those rules. But I've had 3 shots and got covid three weeks ago so I will be particularly crabby about wearing a mask since I am statistically the lowest possible candidate to spread or catch it no matter what study you look at. I think the odds  of me catching or spreading it are near the same as winning the powerball since I have three modernas and an omicron circulating in me. I caught it a week after getting off a cruise, tested negative every day for a week after and none of the other couples we traveled with caught it and we were maskless together at meals, outside and on excursions and in cabs. I got it wearing a mask back home, probably at a store or at work, following all of the rules which to me seem silly since it didn't protect me but no matter, it was just like a cold.

  4. 42 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

    They already charge plenty.

    I agree, I guess my point is on oasis and quantum class ships they throw in free voom with suites above a junior suite and the beverage package and specialty dining with the highest classes of suites on those same ships but it's not "free" it is priced in. We had a grand suite and an owners suite on non quantum/oasis ships and have the same rooms on a quantum in the future. I remember the salesman onboard telling me we will get "free" internet and coastal kitchen access that didn't have before. But it's not really free because the same room costs much more on those ships, granted they are newer ships and have more things but it's not "free" it is "included." Build a "free" coco cay beach club for suites and they will more than likely raise the price of the suite accordingly. The current set up gives you the option.

  5. If they provide it for suite guests they would increase the price of the suites accordingly. Some classes of ships throw in additional things for suite guests but the suites cost more vs the class that doesn't throw those things in.

    I've written before that I think they should quadruple the number of cabana's and cut the price in half, they would net nearly twice the $$. We went here during the restart and had two days on coco cay. We bought a land based beach club cabana one day and an over water cabana the other day. They were selling them at half price due to the low volume and I believed it was a value if you had 6-8 people. We had already planned on buying our way into the beach club for about 100 a day each. We had only 6 people so the difference was like $125 per couple to get the land based and $200 per couple for the floating. While there weren't 8 loungers (I think there was 4) there was also a sectional couch, a table with 4 chairs and a hammock think over the water, plus people went it pools, the ocean, there was never a problem because nobody sat in a lounger all day but that was our group, yours might be different. At full price I doubt we'd do the cabana but we would go back to the beach club, but we will miss those cabanas at that price they were very enjoyable.

  6. $80 a day seems high, all three of our 7 day cruises were in the low 50's and a 3 day was low 60's. On 4 different ships from 4 different ports all in 2021 and 2022. We drink mostly red wine and the last two cruises our fav was about $12 or $13. We tried some more expensive one and just paid the difference between the $13 allowance and the cost but we preferred the included one. 4 glasses is $52 and we never had only 4 in 24 hours so it worked for us, sometimes it worked out very well on sea days. If we were beer drinkers I would probably just pay a la carte, but then again the last two cruises we were on the Starbucks was included (adventure and liberty), plus we had sodas, juice, etc. So it was really just the $30 more than the non alcoholic beverage package, covered that with 3 glasses at dinner.

    The main reason we choose the package is because I'd rather not worry about it and I like paying for it well ahead of time. I've cruised without it and my bill was much, much higher but everyone is different.

    We have an 11 day transatlantic in 2023 and will be diamond for the first time. I'm prime so I get free drinks in the casino. I may choose to not buy it if they still give you 4 drinks a day for diamond because the break even changes to 8-9 a day not including the casino, that probably won't pencil out but I'll wait and see the daily price and there a lot of sea days and an indoor pool on anthem that beckons for us to have a few a day just in the pool no matter the weather.

  7. Going on Liberty Sunday, leaving for the airport in the morning, this is going to be a nail biter! Worst case scenario they cancel after we land, we rent a car and spend some time in Texas until we either get an earlier flight back or our scheduled one happens. I like Texas. Might need to buy some warmer clothes as we are mostly packed for the Caribbean. Oh well, the wife likes shopping for clothes, I like BBQ, worse things happen to people every day.

  8. how did you end up in quarantine? were you sick and took a test on the ship or were tested as part of contract tracing. I have a few thousand employees and the unvaccinated are tested weekly. They regularly test positive on the antigen test especially when they have a cold and this last week half those who test positive with rapid tests then test negative with pcr tests. I really don't want to get sent to a quarantine deck for an asymptomatic false positive. I don't anticipate a test at all onboard. Or are you a staff member? I also am curious how your wife tested out of quarantine so quickly, all reports so far is a positive in the same cabin sends the whole room home at the next port. Plus those with covid tend to test positive on both tests beyond recovery of symptoms, hence the new guidance that after 5 days from onset your are likely not contagious. It's all so preplexing.

  9. Lattitud 33 in El Valle de Guagalupe at El Cielo winery (20 miles outside of of Ensenada). While the port has some of Anthony Bourdain's favorites, local So cal folks who regularly take the short cruises to Ensenada realize quickly the port has limited offerings. 20 miles North East is the wine region of El Valle De Guadalupe and it's foodie scene, worth the excursion or chartering a driver. Lattitud 33 is ranked 5th on tripadvisor, so that means I have 4 more to try. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g150770-d5598013-Reviews-Latitud_32-Ensenada_Ensenada_Municipality_Baja_California.html

    Always a wait but the peacocks that wander the property and the fresh bread bakery will distract you during your wait.

     

    0FA252B7-ED80-4960-8F1C-B2DAF96E0C43.heic

  10. 9 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

    Ugh, the thought of being moved out of my Owner's Suite due to a positive result on board just sickens me.  I have some thinking to do....

    I'll never be able to get a deal like this ever again.  

    Amen sister! We have an owners suite starting Sunday but not bringing any kids so I am just hoping we don't get tested as part of contract tracing and be asymptomatically moved. If god forbid one of us felt a cold coming on I'd rather just stay in my room and order MDR room service. We've already lifted and shifted once, I want that room and got a steal on it while the world was panicking.

  11. We have liberty in Jan 22 and radiance in alaska in Ausust at 53, but a 3 day on navigator out of LA in march for 63. Shorter cruises seem to have higher numbers. we usually get the internet and DBX because that combo sometimes saves a few bucks a day. All of it worth it in my opinion, we are picky red wine drinkers and for the three day cruise we have adult children and their spouses on my tab so it prevents surprises. It also prevents my wife from adopting random bachelorette parties and me finding 1500 bar tabs the next day and having to have those difficult conversations about philanthropy and tax deductions for donations that she never seems to fully grasp. She's a wonderful woman, I'd hate to have to repeat that experience, unfortunately the IRS doesn't recognize broke bachelorettes as an actual charity.

  12. I hope it is not true, I assume they will move the live music outdoors. If the casino is all masked then it almost makes no difference to me. I won't spend much time there but that will save me 2k, I'll just sit outside with my brothers and smoke cigars and drink instead. I want to go to shows but truth be told we make it to one show every 5 cruises. As long as my test comes back negative I'm going, cancelling now means the terrorists win.

  13. I ordered the $150 (177 with tax and shipping) six pack from e-med on 12/20 for a Jan 8th cruise and it hasn't shipped yet. Walgreens has no rapid test appointments in my state (the most populous one in the country) closest one to San Diego on their website is Vancouver, Washington. I did find CVS had appointments near our home but they are booked up about 10 days out, our hmo only does pcr with 24-72 hr results, which doesn't work since our cruise leaves on a Sunday but I'd like results before flying in the day before on Saturday, I need results in about 20 hours from test to flight. So I get the concern, I'm going to book a rapid test at cvs, hope the emed tests come but anyone looking into it a week out may not be able to get a test and results in the required 2 day window unless they plan well ahead depending on where they live. Maybe this subsides, but if it doesn't it will make for a mess for most cruisers who aren't as OCD as I am with regards to planning.

  14. #11, this is your place and these are your people. Since you can drive to the port (btw parking at the terminal is $20 a day, you have no real alternatives) I assume you live in Southern California. This is not a palm springs resort pool with aspiring actors and actresses, this one has a buffet. 5 months pregnant 46 YO male makes you pretty normal and you will fit right in. Cruise pools are the most accepting places on the planet, I guarantee you will not be body shamed or even feel out of place. My wife was mid 40's on our first cruise and fretted because we live in San Diego and bikini events are horrific for real women with curves. 7 cruises later she realizes she is usually in the top ten hottest women at the cruise pool and still is in her mid 50's (my wife is smoking hot and still turns heads, but living amongst movie stars and models gives a distorted view of ones self). No better confidence booster than a cruise pool vs a southern california pool for feeling accepted. For those from other areas, so cal has probably the highest percentage of eating disorders and plastic surgery on the planet, thankfully cruises are just regular people with regular bodies and regular attitudes. Wear the t shirt if you want to avoid sun damage but not to hide yourself, those people don't go on mass market cruises. We can afford to go where they go because we have been lucky but we prefer the company of real people because still feel and look like regular people, I think you will feel that same acceptance.

  15. I think deep1's analysis is correct. We went on one of the summer sailings out of Nassau on Adventure and I noticed they jacked up the prices or eliminated types of inside rooms about a few weeks out and about a week out it wasn't bookable at all ( I was checking occasionally to get intel for my royal up offer). Turns out the ship was pretty empty once we got on, I think whole sections were vacant on lower floors probably because their computer just dropped cheaper room categories then the whole cruise as it approached capacity (rumored to be 25% in those early days). Our next cruise just dropped off entirely, Liberty on January 9th, less than 20 days away and looking at room availability yesterday it was between 50% and 75% full (hard to tell, could be lower if they held back rooms in addition to what was available). I was trying to see if there were lots of cancellations due to the casino smoking and masking everywhere policy changes even though it is just outside the Jan 5th re-evaluation date that will probably be extended. Whatever capacity number they set today, it was at that number so it stopped taking new bookings. The following week is still available and will likely drop off as it  hits the newer lower capacity.

  16. There is no logic to it, My brother and I were both in JS on Adventure this last summer and both booked in JS initially, we paid the same and booked at the same time on a three way call with Royal. We both got offers and bid the exact same amounts for GS and OS. He got his GS two days before me and could print luggage tags immediately. I got my acceptance about a day before the flight and never was able to print tags, still showed the old room right until I got on the flight, then tried in the business center at the hotel in Nassau an hour before our check in, still listed old tags. But like Speednoodles said, it was no issue, the porters made my tags at check in, luggage got to my room at the same time as his so it wasn't an issue at all and i didn't need to pack a stapler. I worried for no reason, pre printed ags are a convenience for them, not you, they will take care of you no matter what.

  17. I think they are geniuses with their royalup. Recently we got our royal up right before we sailed. The wife and I got a GS instead of a JS and since then we've booked more cruises but I don't want to deal with all the suspense so now our minimum class has been pushed up. If I was in charge I's create a formula that gave preference to pushing people beyond their normal comfort zone because it's hard to regress, perhaps they already have. All I know is I fell for it, just paid retail for an OS in March because we have an OS in January and I know very well that we won't want to revert back to a GS. A few years ago we were content with a window now look at the monsters they've created.

  18. On 10/13/2021 at 7:29 AM, Jax said:

    I purchased the floating cabana about a month ago in the hopes of a price drop. Maybe a Black Friday sale??  🤞If not then I will definitely keep checking a few days before the cruise.  

     

    On 10/13/2021 at 7:24 AM, Jill said:

    I’ve heard that a few days before sailing, the cabanas can be found for 1/2 price. We sail a week from Saturday so I’m checking a few times a day right now and probably every 15 minutes next week lol 

    We were on AOS out of the Bahamas when only 1 ship was allowed at coco cay and capacity was at 25-30% on the boat, got a floating cabana for $999 and a land based beach club cabana for 599 or 699, whatever half off was. We canceled our admission at 130 or so per person for just admission to the club.  Land cabana actually penciled out as a refund and the floating wasn't much of an increase, sale was close in to sailing, if we had 8 people both would have been a savings. It was totally worth it, loved them both, I wish you luck but as capacity increases per ship and multiple ships are there I don't know if it will be as common. I think it's like royalup, supply and demand, we got our royal up on that ship from JS to GS and we likely overbid given the few people on board, but I felt it was worth it. I wish you luck, hell I wish me luck, I have 3 more cruises on the next 8 months, but I'm not as optimistic given capacities are likely to rise. But like others have said, it's still a cruise and it's better than going to work.

  19. I didn't get what I expected, three e-mails later and no response, i guess I will have to call. We went on AOS August 7th, booked a JS, did Royalup to a GS and got only 14 points. I was expecting 4x points since we did a suite, I believe JS qualified so the RU to GS shouldn't have mattered. I was expecting 28 points, since suites get double and it's double that through 2022. We have suites in January and July so I was expecting to make diamond after three suites during the promotion. What did I miss?

  20. 4 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

    Thank you.  I believe our RCL testing onboard will meet that requirement 

    Not exactly, but it may not matter. On Friday the bahamas will require you have a negative test (either type) taken within 5 days prior to you arrival in the bahamas. But since Royal requires it already within 3 days, that will suffice. Plus those who already have travel planned soon and already have a bahamas health visa don't need one, but then again you need one for royal. It's misleading because that email can be construed as needing one after arrival but its more clear here

    https://www.bahamas.com/travelupdates

    We are getting our test Wednesday, flying in friday, boarding Saturday.

     

    On the royal up, we had a JS booked for this Saturday on AOS, bid on GS and OS, OS went expired, GS still pending, so that's likely one more JS up for grabs based on what other's have said. Should know in the morning. When clicking on original invite e-mail its says bids are closed as of yesterday, however it's still within the 54 hours so don't wait till the last minute in the future, it stopped bids and modifications 6 days prior.

  21. One other trick but if you rarely travel it might not make sense for you. I have a few of the airline credit cards which gives each person in your group a free checked bag, so for a week or more if we have three checked bags I only pay for one but for less than a week were usually fine with one checked each. This only works of you fly more than once a year on a particular airline since there is often a $50 or $100 annual fee for the card. Just figure out who goes where you go often enough.

  22. So you know your wife likes to see you in a suit, absolutely you should wear one. Get a rolling garment bag, get a bigger suitcase, pay the fee and take an extra bag, ask for an iron or use the pressing or dry cleaning service on board. Having your wife think you are handsome is priceless, having her attracted to someone else may cost you a fortune. If I'm traveling with other couples I'll coordinate with the men to see of they are going with tuxes or suits. I let my wife pick out which suits ( I only only own one tux so that one is easy). There is no reason to not look your absolute best for her, if she hates suits then you don't need to worry. Personally my wife, who is in her fifties, looks great in dresses and heels and can still tun heads so I'm all about letting her be happy with herself and with me. I've got a large suitcase with a removable hanging garment bag that upon arrival quickly hangs up and stays wrinkle free or has minimal wrinkles. I dry clean everything anyways so I keep it in the bags and it folds just the once. That bag holds enough for the formal nights and dinners so I can wear slacks and a dress shirt to every dinner and it holds all her dresses. I economize by only going with one pair of black dress shoes and one black belt, so I keep to dark colored slacks. Once you add brown tones you double your accessories and shoes, grey still works with with black shoes and belt. . When going with a tux I wear the same black dress shoes not high gloss tux shoes and no tux shirt, a white dress shirt with a bow tie still gives you that 007 look, just avoid the buttoned down collar. We have luggage where the carry on has a sideways strap so it slides onto the checked larger bag so you push a single unit and I drag the garment included bag so for 5 pieces of luggage its three things, two for me, one for her.

    Maybe your experience is different but many women, my wife included, spend lots of time and energy on hair, make-up, accessories, shoes, etc., you can dress up as a sign of appreciation. But then again my grandsons age 6 to 15 all wore a bow ties to formal night when we took them on a cruise, so I realize were outliers to some.

     

  23. Before the sale we didn't consider it, I believe it was 1999 floating and 1499 land cabana both in the beach club. Our group of six adults cancelled our 6 admissions at 106 a person (which was a sale price down from 142) and got back 636 then paid 699 for the land cabana which included admission. So it was a $10.50 a person increase to get a land beach club cabana. If you had 8 people already paying for admission they would pay you to get a cabana. Of course their marketing worked, we got a floating cabana for the other day but it didn't break the bank. YOLO

    They should build another few hundred cabanas and charge these lower prices once things are at full capacity, at 700 a day it should pay for construction costs in pretty short order. I get that there is limited optimal ocean space suitable for floating cabanas but the land based ones should pay for themselves in weeks or months. In fact they can allow investors to build them, at 20k a month rent based on 699 a day, even if food and staffing costs take 50%, the ROI is incredible. Better than any rental property I've seen, I'll pay for it to be built and they can take 50% with no investment. I'll take the weather risk, at these rates it can be rebuilt every year. With only a few dozen cabanas, the law of diminishing returns is not remotely applicable.

     

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