TessFromFlorida

I had a price drop 3 weeks ago, but agree, other than that drop the price has stayed the same or has gone up. We sailed out of Civitavecchia this summer and our flight schedule was nutty to keep cost "low". TPA>LHR on Delta/Virgin, then through Chase Rewards, LHR>ZRH>FCO Swiss, and on the way back SAS FCO>CPH>LHR, with the return on Delta to TPA. We are carry-on only. Chase Rewards does a great job of building flight schedules, for those who have access.

I set Google Flight alerts and "reprice" my Delta flights when it drops (sometimes by several hundred dollars) by switching back and forth between flight times or comfort + and main cabin. The savings goes towards ecredits. I am out of Tampa and fly into Heathrow, so I am fortunate to have enough flights running daily between Delta and Virgin to be able to do this. Unlike cruises, the best price on flights isn't when it first comes out so you need to keep an eye on it. This plus Skymiles takes a tiny bit of the sting off at these prices. I also fly in and out Tuesday or Wednesday when the prices are typically lower.

You can enter a new credit card when bidding.

I feel for you and this situation. We were impacted by the SAS strike last summer and I was forced to book new flights a few days before my son was due at a very expensive camp in the UK. It was the height of summer with revenge travel in full force. I paid 2x what I paid for the original airfare. I certainly wouldn't wait until a day or two before your trip to see what happens, that is whacky advice. If things are not looking good a week out, perhaps consider booking tickets from an airline that will allow you to reschedule if need be. The flight can be pushed out to cover a future trip. I have done this myself with Delta. It was not ideal, but in the long run it worked out.

There are beautiful totem poles in Victoria too. We loved Skagway. We booked the train direct, got off and hiked for a bit then took the train back down. We still had enough time to do a Viator tour in the afternoon. I forgot the name of the trail so went back in my email history. Pasted below.

I would choose Anthem. I sailed Ovation (sister ship) with my two teenagers out of Seattle and it was perfect for us. The ship had plenty to do, a large Seaplex for the kids, shows, a great solarium, and an indoor pool/hot tub space. There were tons of other teens onboard so finding friends was no issue at all. You can't go wrong with either of your two choices

Thought I would share some of the deals I snagged early this morning for our next trip on Allure in March. Note my poor man's drink package of 2 bottles of wine and the Truly beach bag

Not that this really answers your question, but I used prepaid Visa cards I received through work to purchase a Royal Caribbean gift certificate at 10% off (AARP- you can join at any age; card cash offers 8% off). I then sent the gift certificate to Royal to apply to my next cruise. It took 9 working days to apply to my account. This may be a work around if you need to unload prepaid cards.

Thanks!

The price went up by $20 a day from yesterday- typo, I'm sure.

Should I grab this steal?

Same here- we are visiting Aquaventure as well and just renting jet skis at CocoCay. I did snag a decent deal on a beach bed before prices shot up to $300.

Yes- this would 100% sell me on the Thrill Park Cabana over Beach- excellent point. The waterpark is $187 a head during our Allure trip in March (spring break). I am not shelling out that amount of money- not when Volcano Bay is a short drive away. I am holding out some hope for Black Friday, but keeping expectations in check .

I actually did this- brought disposable gloves- when we went on our first post-COVID cruise and things went back to serve yourself I thought my kids would die of embarassment. Now I use the papertowel "trick"- I grab some from the washy washy station after I scrub up. Who wants to shell out thousands of dollars for a trip just to get sick from a salad tong?

It took us from 8/26 to Halloween week to receive ours. We handled everything through our local post office- pictures and new applications.

This is extra...

I will offer an alternative viewpoint- 14 is plenty old enough to do their own thing in the waterpark. I would personally book a beach cabana. If you are going to spend over 1k, I would go with the majority vote

Hire a cab and book independently.

The national pasta day sale this week was a good deal. 35% off Giovanni's- yes, thank you! Gives me hope Black Friday may actually offer us a good deal or two

I put a deposit down on a cruise this weekend and noticed a 'pay with gift certificate' option at checkout. Maybe it has always been there... but, I don't remember seeing it before this week.

This live blog is the gift that keeps on giving ️

As mented by others, Anthem has trips to Norway and a few trips to France, Spain, and Portugal, all out of Southampton. I have Norway booked next summer. My kids are 15 and 17 and very excited for the trip! I would suggest starting there if you prefer to sail out of the UK. We sailed Odyssey out of Rome late June/ early July, and just missed the terrible heatwave. I would maybe keep the temp front of mind if you end up booking in July.

Chase Ultimate Rewards and Delta Sky Miles cards have saved me the most and both had generous sign on bonuses. I also had excellent sign on bonuses for the AmEx Hilton and Chase and AmEx Bonvoy cards. Check TPG for current offers. The Royal card isn't a very good one, you are better off with 10% off AARP gift certificates (you can join at any age) and MyVegas Slots 10% wild card discounts, IMHO. As some say here, once you blow through sign on bonuses, stick with 2 cards. Some have 2x, 3x points for groceries and gas, others for travel purchases. I have stickers on my cards to remind me which to use * ask your friends and family if they have any of the cards you end up deciding to sign up for. They may get a bonus on top of your sign on bonus just for sending you a link.

Thank you for sharing. We cruise out of Southampton for the first time next summer. I found this very helpful!

I stayed in a 4 person balcony room on Odyssey- no pullman- it was a double sofabed. A very hard, uncomfortable sofabed