Traveling Mike

You can get the cruise line shuttles that would be a bus.  I have never used them out of Miami, but I took one from the Port of Miami to the port in Fort Lauderdale and they were fine.  Regular big bus that was contracted.  I did a quick search and here is a shuttle service in Miami that does both shared and private Suttles and provides care seats and buster seas.  You can see them at FAQs | your Shuttle most common question answered. (expressshuttlemiami.com).  I do not know anything about this company other than what I see in the FAQs.

Note:  doing a quick search many people mentioned most airlines let you check car seats for free.

1. I used International Friends for my transfer.  I got a tour of Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge and Windsor Castle and they dropped me off at my hotel.  I also did another tour with them while I was in London to the Harry Potter Studios and Cambridge.  That was a great tour.  You can see their information at Shore Excursions and Cruise Transfers | International Friends

It seems that all the cruise lines I deal with have gone out of the hotel and shuttle business.  I am like you where it was convenient to fly in a day early stay at the hotel and get taken to the ship.  Now I find a cheap hotel or Airbnb and Uber or hotel shuttle to the ship.

I know I am going to make some people mad, but I cruised out of Seattle this summer and after talking to locals did not tour the city.  The crime and drug use has made the city not a good place to be a tourist.  I did not see that personally, but I talked to a few people from their including the night desk person at the hotel I was staying at and all told me the same thing.  Now with that said... if you are just flying in and getting on the ship Seattle was great.  The airport is a long way from the port, but they had great transportation options.  After the cruise they have the option to take your bags from the ship the night before getting off and you do not have to see them again until you are at your home airport.  Now with that said... my next Alaska cruise will be out of Vancouver.

I pay my cruises up to 2 years in advance.  I do it not because the money is burning a hole in my pocket but because it makes me feel better.  I have 6 cruises booked right now and am looking at booking two more.  I have done price drops with fully paid cruises and have not had any issues.  I am not rich, and it makes me feel better about booking my cruises when I know they are paid for.  There are lots of reasons people do things and different lifestyles.  You just need to decide if it makes since to you to pay it off double check with your travel agent to make sure there is not an issue that could come up.

I have used AIG for almost all my cruises over the years.  I have filed multiple claims over the years.  This last year when I was researching Annual Travel Insurance it was very confusing and it seems everyone cover something different.  I ended up going with AIG Travel Guard because their policy looked just like all the others, I have purchased over the years except it is Annual.

when you are working with RCL if they will not cancel see if they are willing to move the cruise to give you time to deal with the issue.

You have to book your flight with the second or last cruise.  I had trouble with my B2B because I was trying to book it with the first cruise.

I also did a S2S in February and RCL did all the work for me.  I called RCL and made sure my reservation was marked as a S2S cruise.  Then when I got on the ship, I checked with Customer Service and the confirmed that everything was setup and let me know what the procedure was.  I was concerned because my second ship was not a Royal Caribbean ship but a Celebrity Ship.  It did not matter as long as it was a RCL ship.  They setup my Covid test the day before departure and gave me a time to get off the ship and over to the bus.  Right outside the terminal was multiple shuttles and busses to take cruisers to their next ship.  My bus left Miami and took a group to the Fort Lauderdale airport then took the rest of us to the port at Fort Lauderdale.  There was no cost to me, and it was very convenient.  When I got to the Celebrity Ship they put me in an short line to get on the ship because I was a S2S cruiser.  

1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said:

For those not in the know, is this good or bad?

That is twice what I was getting on the Navigator last month and I was able to stream without any issues.  With that speed you can do almost anything you want.

Any descent 3rd party company will know what time your ship comes in.  It is their business to keep track of it.  Your biggest concern is to make sure you return on ship time before the ship leaves.  No matter what time it is locally you need to make sure you are on ship time.  The Ship App will show you the ship time while on the ship.

On the old ships I could hear them dragging chairs around cleaning up.  In the last 10 years I have not heard that kind of thing.  I think they have improved the sound proofing.

On 12/1/2022 at 9:39 PM, mistertomatohead said:

When I tried on the app for my Navigator sailing a few weeks ago it went to payment so I had to do it in person. Maybe this depends on the ship?

You cannot book ahead of time on the app.  You have to wait until you are on the ship or in line to get on the ship but connected to the ship wifi.

I have done UDP on 6 cruises this year and this is how they have worked.  It might change.

• You can eat at any of the Specialty Restaurants for lunch and dinner when they are open.
• You can eat at Johnny Rockets one time a day.
• You can eat at Playmakers with the $20 limit a time.
• At Izumi's you get one small dish and 2 large dishes and desert.  This is more than one person would want to eat.
• There is not a limit on eating.  On Thanksgiving I had lunch at Jonny Rockets, afternoon wings at Playmakers, Dinner at Chops, Turkey and Ham at Windjammer and desert at Jamies.

Notes:

• figure out where you want to eat dinner each night. 
• As soon as you get on the ship book your reservations.
• You can book on the ship app or go to one of the open restaurants to book it for you.
• After the first day most of the reservations are full except for 8:00 and 8:30 reservations

On 11/27/2022 at 3:29 AM, twangster said:

How they handle divorces and kids turning 18 isn't documented.  

As such it varies on an individual basis.  Some get to retain status while there are reports of others losing their status.  

Absent of written policy its totally YMMV.

It is in the written policy

A Crown & Anchor Society member can be added into a relationship with other family members in the same household and receive equivalent tier status; however Cruise Points will remain according to actual cruises taken and calculated using the Program level accrual system described above. Pinnacle Club member tier status will not be awarded to dependents if earned by their parent and/or guardian. Pinnacle Club member tier status can only be earned by an individual, spouse or significant other by one of them accumulating 700 Cruise Points or more in the CAS program. For all tiers except Pinnacle Club, a relationship is defined as a spouse or significant other and children less than 18 years old. For Pinnacle Club a relationship is considered a spouse and/or significant other.

13 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

No, this is not accurate at all. The points are correct but “his” status now Diamond. If the child is under 18, they are Diamond as well. 

You need to read what I wrote.  They will cruise at Diamond level, but their true status is not Diamond level.  If they divorce, he will go back to gold level.  He only has her level as long as they are married.  The child will hold the Diamond Level when they turn 18 but they will not move to Diamond + until they have enough cruise days on their own to reach that level.

When I was on the Ovation in July there was a person in the CS Line punching holes for people.

Maybe this visual will help this confusing subject.  Each person will earn their own status as a C&A member.  In the example below you have earned Diamond Status, Your husband is only Gold Status, and your child is Emerald based on the 7 cruises.

Now with that said:

1. When you cruise as a family your husband and child will cruise as a Diamond member because you are Diamond, and your child is under 18 years old.
2. When your child reaches 18, they will hold the status that you have BUT they will not go any higher until they have earned it from their cruising.

I am home and I was very happy with the Starlink on the Navigator of the Seas doing an Ensenada Cruise.  When doing a speed test, it did not look great BUT I was able to do all my work and stream movies at night.  On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was able to do Microsoft Team meetings with the camera of myself running.  During one of the meetings, I was able to do the Teams Meeting and Remote into our servers at work to check data for the meeting.  At night there was not much on TV, so I loaded Netflix on my laptop and watched movies without any delay.  If I get this type of service on my other cruises, I will be happy and will be able to work on vacation.

Note:  I work on Vacation to be able to take more vacations. 

Something I just learned while I was on the Navigator of the Seas.  I have the Unlimited Dining Plan and as soon as I got on the ship, I got a burger.  Later on, that day I went back to try their chicken and was told that I only get one meal a day on the UDP.  All the other places I can have as much as I want but not at Johnny Rockets.

PS:  I just went to Playmakers and got some good chicken wings.

here is something for you network people.  Yesterday I signed into my Microsoft account, and it would not let me until I verified it was me.  The problem is I was signing in from Canada.  Yes, I was between LA and Ensenada and my IP said I was in Canada.  Today I am in Ensenada, and I am showing I am in LA.

These are the kind of issues where I call RCL and ask for a supervisor.  Do not tell the person anything or they will try to fix it and waste your time.  Just insist on a supervisor.  Then explain to the supervisor you did not approve the travel agent and you expect RCL to remove them. (period).  it is their mess up without your permission.

12 hours ago, mistertomatohead said:

I'm not sure if this was answered before. Are the free sites like RoyalCaribbean.com listed from login.com a good indication of the experience you would get if you paid for Internet? I was on Navigator of the Seas from 11/11-11/18 apparently before they switched to Starlink and loading Royalcaribbean.com was terrible.  Are they doing something different with the free access versus paid Internet?

There are three different levels, and they are all different.  The more you pay the less restrictions are placed on your data.

15 hours ago, twangster said:

Curious what public IP addresses they are using and if it stays consistent over the cruise.  What do you get if you browse to ipchicken.com ?

I am a computer programmer, and the network stuff is beyond me.  When I run the speed test the IP address changes every time.  The first 4 stay the same and the last 5 change.

This is on the Navigator of the Seas from my Cabin.  I am able to play Matt's latest YouTube video without a delay while I am remoted into my server at work.