Traveling Mike

in April on the Ovation of the seas I had a mattress topper on my bed.  It covered my entire bed (studio cabin).  It was like a very thick quilt.  Not great but better than nothing.

5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

It does, but you do risk the tour selling out in that brief amount of time between canceling and rebooking.

I can confirm that @smokeybandit is correct.  I lost an excursion by canceling to rebook at the lower price and someone grabbed it from me.

I am like the others.  When I was part way into my first cruise I talked to the loyalty ambassador and made sure they understood I was on a B2B and was moving up a level.  When I got my card for the second cruise I was at the next level (D+).

I book one way rentals all the time to get to the airport.  I book them ahead of time on Costco Travel and get a good deal.  I can cancel anytime and if the price goes down I cancel and rebook.  When it is time for the car I just go up to the counter and I am out very quickly.  I have it reserved and I get that class or better.  Some of the time they upgrade me because they need that car in Fresno or they have to many in Fresno and want them in Los Angeles.

Rules... I am not an expert but my understanding is no one in the Diamond Lounge except for Diamond Members.

Reality... I have never had someone ask to see my card.  If you have a card to get in that is all they see.

Rules... those are your vouchers and I would guess they are like a drink package; you should not share.

Reality... almost no one cares.  I go get a drink and no one is watching who drinks it.  At the end of the night I get 2 or 3 sodas and red bulls to finish my vouchers.  Who drinks those?  Most of the time they go to the cabin steward.

I am the opposite as most people.  Do not go small and short the first time with a big group.  You are coming from England go on an Oasis class ship and go 7 days or longer.  Also hotels in Miami can be expensive so keep that in mind and maybe look for an Airbnb.

the other thought is go out of Orlando.  You can do 5 days at Disney World then go to the port and do a 7 or 8 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Adventure of the Seas for a good price.

I would like a smaller ship that still has the boardwalk; maybe on the top deck.  We do not need the aqua theater but the rest of boardwalk would be nice.  A mixture of Central Park and Royal Promenade to finish off the ship. 

And yes I know these are going to be 3,000 passengers and not 7,000

@Matt @SpeedNoodles  I know you have the cruise compass for RCL ships do you have anything for Celebrity Ships?  https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

On 6/2/2024 at 2:05 PM, MindiLou said:

4 girlfriends will be going on a cruise

You also want to make sure each of them download the app and create an account for themselves.  When they do that they can finish the setup after you get the boarding times for everyone.  Then on the ship they will have the app to text each other and each of them will have the daily activities and ship information from the app.

On 7/29/2024 at 8:00 AM, MindiLou said:

I would like to start my day with coffee.  

If you know what time you are going to wake up you just order your coffee the night before.  There are tags in your cabin to fill out the continental breakfast for the next morning for free.  I never do it because I have no idea what time I will wake up.  

When I cruised out of Fort Lauderdale I stayed at a Airbnb.  This person and her husband are retired and have a very nice house where they rent out rooms.  They work part time at the cruise port.  For a small fee she picked me up at the airport and brought me to her house.  Then in the morning they took me to the cruise ship.  Here is a link to her rooms if this is something you might be interested it.  Host profile - Airbnb

Other than that I flew in late at night and got on the ship the next morning.  I stayed at a Hilton brand that was nothing great but the price was right.  They had some kind of breakfast but I do not eat right before I get on the ship that has much better food.  They had a airport shuttle and the next day I did an Uber to the cruise ship.  Tru by Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Airport

I had to move a cruise I had because my son got covid after final payment and they charged me $200 and the price difference in the cruise.  I just did a quick search and cannot find anything on the RCL site but I found this on a 2019 flyer.

In an effort to deter continual or late ship/sail date adjustments, a change fee of $100 per guest will be imposed to all reservations booked under a nonrefundable deposit fare that opts to change either the ship and/or sail date originally selected. Such fees will be incurred, without exception, at time of change, thus, emphasizing the importance of ensuring that your clients are aware of the detailed terms of this program at time of booking.

I have been on a few cruises and never noticed a ship doing this.  I found it very interesting and will have to look for it in the future.

Note:  it is a Facebook post by Captain Kate of the Celebrity Beyond

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1153425305757236

I do not know if this is the case but when it is full it will stop showing up.  They my have a large group on the ship that booked a block of them.

I just got back from Las Vegas and used the MGM Loyalty match.  Just the free parking for Gold members saved me over $20 a day.  With the MGM Gold you can park for fee at any of the MGM properties and it seemed that 1/3 of the casino's were MGM.

I purchase a case of water to supplement my D+ drinks.  That gives me water in the evening when I get back to my room and also gives me one I can take on excursions  Some of the time I do not use my 5 drinks so I stop at the bar on my way back to the cabin and get the remaining drinks in Red bull or Sodas to put in my refrigerator in the cabin.  My last 17 day cruise I ended up giving drinks to the cabin steward because my frig was full.

I was on the Ovation in April and they canceled one of our ports.  They refunded the port fees and excursion price back on my credit card within 2 days.

9 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I have come into this post a few times. I am still trying to figure out what that is a picture of. I haven't sailed on Anthem so maybe the furniture is different but it looks doll hair from an old cabbage patch kid.

I am with you,  I don't know what is in the picture but it does not look like bugs.

I am not saying i know but  I would try checking in at 7:00 or 8:00 pm EST.  The Jewel is currently in England.

Take anything and everything.  My son is 28 so I have not had to deal with this for a few year.  I did cruise with my son from age 8 to adult.  I am a single father with full legal and physical custody (mom not involved) and they always would give me hassle for not having the consent from the absent parent.  I would have the divorce papers and often still had to ask for management at the ship check in.  They would tell me things like you are the father so there has to be a mom involved.  

So with that said, if possible take signed consent forms, copy of birth certificates and divorce papers if not still married.

I have just asked the first day and have not had trouble.  But if you "Need" and not just "Want" I would send a request to special needs.

I just went though this with my cruise out of Australia.  It ended up being 45 days before the cruise and the time where the ship is located.  The actual time changed on us because the ship was in New Zealand and not Australia.   Most people think it is East Coast Time because almost all of their cruises are out of Florida.  One of these days the group that programs the app will talk to the group that programs the website and they will get them to match.  They also need to use one standard time and not the ship time.  Maybe when I retire next year I can go to Florida and fix their software bugs.

I am researching now for my TP cruise April 2025.  This site is great Vietnam Visa Guide 2024: Must read for your Vietnam trip - AN Tours Vietnam

fly to the least expensive airport, Bush or Hobby.  We flew into Bush, got a hotel near the airport and got a lift the next morning to take us to the ship.  the lift was about $100 from the airport hotel to the ship.  At that time only Lift could deliver inside the port, Uber was trying to finish a contract.