Traveling Mike

You are talking about going on the Serenade of the Seas. It is an older smaller ship for RCL. It holds 2400 cruisers and that the size of lots of other cruise lines. I like to cruise on smaller ships lots of the time because it is more personal. I also like the large ships that hold 6,000 because they are a small city and have everything. I would not wait; take her and her daughter and and have fun on the ship. Then you can make plans to go on the big ship and see what you like better. I have lots of cruises behind me and I like to mix my cruises up between small, medium and large ships. Extra things on Serenade Rock Climbing Wall Miniature Golf Kids Pool with Slide Regular Pool with 2 hot tubs

I almost always book on bord unless I see great prices. What i get is a deposit of $100 a person and on board credit. The $100 deposit is low enough where I can cancel a cruise and not worry about losing lots of money. The OBC is a few hundred dollars that pay for my next deposit and an excursion or two.

I checked my 5 booked cruises and 2 of them had lower internet price. They went from $18.99 to $17.99 USD for a single device. They range from $16.99 a day to $19.99 a day.

Now that is going to look strange when I get 2 sodas and a sports drink at 11 pm and they open them all and I do not except the ticket. I always finish off my Diamond drinks with things to take back to the room for the middle of the night and when I get up in the morning.

Just so you understand how it worked. I selected the $2000 amount and added it to my cart. Then clicked checkout and it showed that I was getting a $2000 gift card for $1600. I entered my CC information and made the purchase. They sent me an email to link to my gift card. I then was able to call my TA and was able to pay off two of my RCL cruises and put the remaining amount on my Celebrity cruise. It was actually a good process.

I know times have changed but years ago I was booked on a cruise that was chartered. They moved me from Ocean View to a Suit. You might ask for a free upgrade or drink package. All they can say is no.

It was fun while it lasted. @nate91 thank you for sharing. Anyone sees it restarted post and let us know. I like the additional 20% discount.

They are hoping you will give them to new cruisers that will get hooked on cruising. Or you will book cruise because you get the 20% off. They are not thinking about people like us that have 4 or 5 cruises booked all the time.

I am digging in the cobwebs so do not trust me 100%. If I remember the ports correctly New York changed us tax for the drinks we had before leaving port. In Texas they limited the types of drinks we could have before we got out of Texas waters. Some ports have their own rules.

I do not need a travel agent to help me decide when or where to cruise. I have been on enough cruises that I am very secure with the process. Now with that said I always use a travel agent. I use Costco Travel because I get a percent back on a Costco Card after the cruise and they are there to take care of my issues. I have had them spend days taking care of some of my issues. Now there are some drawbacks like they do not do Royal Up and they will not watch my cruise to see if there are better rates. But if I see a lower rate I can call them and they will get me the new rate. They are also paid by the hour so they do not care how much time they spend with me or for me. With prices going up I am going to start shopping around to see if different travel agents can get me some better group rates. What one person once told me is when a person calls RCL with one booking are they going to listen the same as someone that has 20 or 30 bookings on the ship?

It is not a RCL ship but the Queen Mary 2 (Cunard) cruises New York to England and England to New York all year long. I know nothing about the company or ship. You just asked how to find a West Bound Transatlantic and that is the one I know about that is year round.

I agree RCL is so terrible. I called the main office and told them that they should give me a free cruise because I am a nice guy. they refused and sold me one for $100. But then they told me I would not give me more than my 6 free drinks a day. So I ran around the ship in my Birthday Suit and they did not like it for some reason. .... I give up It is hard to tell a outlandish story

Just remember what you can legally smoke in places like California you cannot have on a cruise ship. I have herd of people not thinking about what they have or had in their vape.

both me and my son has ADHD. It helps me to not pack until the night before I leave. This way all of my thoughts are on the packing task and I lay everything out on the bed and go over the entire list of everything I need and have. Then I take my backpack to the safe and get my money and passports out of the safe and put them in the backpack where they stay until the ship. Now I will double check my backpack for my wallet and passport 100 times between the house and the ship.

My luggage getting lost. I am a Big Guy that cannot purchase cloths at a normal store most of the time. If my luggage gets lost in flight I will have to do the cruise in the cloths in my backpack. Missing the ship.

I cruise solo and they let me purchase the dinner on the first or second night then take my free one later in the cruise. I have never asked about lunch because it is about 1/2 the price as dinner.

I know you will be refunded her port fees and taxes. I would not take the chance on the booked items. You have until a few days before the cruise to cancel her drink package, internet and excursions. As soon as you know there is not someone else going with you I could cancel the purchased items.

I do not like the Mexican ports that much. I have done a lot of them just because that is what leaves out of California. For the most expensive, I will do more Eastern Caribbean and Alaska.

No, I did have to exit and come back one time. The item was still in the cart then it let me check out. You can also call Royal on the phone.

I just got off the phone with Air2Sea and they gave me prices for transfers to and from the airport. If you also look on your web booking page for excursions the last day they often have the shuttles there with information and pricing. Note: depending on how much time you have, I have used this company in the past to have an excursion before going to London or the airport: Tours from Southampton Cruise Terminal to London - Tourist England

Walk her to all the activities she wants to do then you go hang out in a bar, pool deck, your balcony or go back to your cabin and watch tv or read a book. I cruised with my son for 20 years and we did our own things. There is so much to do on a ship that your wife can do what she thinks is fun and she will meets lots of new friends. You can do anything that looks interesting and then you meet together on dinners, shows and things both of you feel interest the both of you. The biggest thing is both of you to understand just because you are on a cruise ship does not mean you need to change the way you have done things for the last 50 years.

In the past when I had the UDP I would figure out the schedule I wanted ahead of time. Then as soon as I could get connected to the ship Wi-Fi I would book those dining times. It looks like you are paying but if you have the UDP you are not paying. The other thing is often you can get on the ship Wi-Fi while waiting at the port. I know I have done that in both Miami and Seattle.

I have a $450 OBC one one of my cruises and do not know why I am getting it. I called for a price drop and when my TA was done I got the price drop and the OBC. I did not ask why, just kept on

I do not blame cruise lines for not going to Key West after they voted in November 2020 to ban almost all cruise ships and limit the number of passengers that can get off the ships. The Governor overruled it but why go where you are not wanted.

I have seen a special Deluxe Beverage Package price for Diamond + and above. Currently my April cruise is $43.99 a day or $62 with Internet.