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brdjnr

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  1. I have never seen a $5 craps table on RC. Then again I usually dont pay much attn to it since the odds limits are crazy low, maybe 2x?
  2. @Cactus527 yes, during the parties it is pretty loud. We are seldom in the cabin during those so no worries for us. If you go to bed before 10 I would say it isnt for you.
  3. Our second cruise on Mariner (this one Costa Maya/Cozumel) since late August, and it was another fantastic trip. Some random observations: Had the 10:30am checkin, we were on board not long after 11. Our August cruise was in a Jr Suite so it seemed like we saw a lot of our stateroom attendant. We hardly ever saw this one but it worked out fine with the once a day cleaning. Voyager class promenade view interiors continue to be our favorite 'budget' cabin. I know there are strong feelings to the contrary, but we like them. And for whatever reason this one (7591) may have been the quietest cabin we have ever had on a cruise. My wife said 'never again' to an interior (tho she will be in one June next year lol), but she doesnt mind the promenade view interior at all. Motion was fairly significant first day then calm until the last night. Captain warned us once the ship got close to turning north back to Canaveral it would get rough and he wasn't lying. They distributed bags in all the public areas which we have never seen before (this was our 8th or 9th RC cruise). It kept the wife up but not me, which she of course commented on) Maya Chan was incredible, getting there not so much. As many commented, that port has pretty pushy vendors. It was our first time there, we found our way out eventually. The ride there took longer than it should have, our driver acted like it was his POV, slowing down much more than necessary (IMO). The guy on the ride back did not, at all. We did Fury catamaran in Cozumel and really enjoyed it. Bought a shirt and a magnet when getting back and got on the ship. MDR was ok, service was quick. Im not a 'big portion' guy, but the portions were really small this time. Curiously small. The food was pretty good tho and the servers were great. We ate there 3 nights. We ate breakfast in the MDR and that continues to be among my favorite meals. We ate in WJ twice because we (basically) didnt have a choice. I am not a buffet guy but the food was ok. The knifefight/thunderdome aspect of it is what I dont enjoy at all. Izumi was not as enjoyable as past visits but good nonetheless. Chops was very good. Bar service was occasionally busy but the drinks seemed better this trip. The Gold Rush at the Tiki Bar (I know thats not its official name) was the best drink on board so long as they had Buffalo Trace, not quite as good with Wild Turkey but still a good bourbon drink. The Viking/Crown Lounge is still our favorite place on board a Voyager class ship. We spent quite a bit of time there and really enjoyed it. They made a passable Old Fashioned so long as they didnt muddle the fruit as requested. I will miss Mariner after her repositioning. As I have said many times, she is the goldilocks ship to me.
  4. @OasisQueen I got the unsuccessful email today around 5pm. Oh well, good luck on yours!
  5. @OasisQueen our bid still shows 'submitted'. Boarding tomorrow fwiw.
  6. @OasisQueen no change at all. Still showing submitted with the option to cancel or change
  7. We are saving Alaska for that 35th anniversary. We went there on our 25th on Celebrity and it was the best trip we've ever done.
  8. we have a bid for a cruise leaving 2 weeks from tomorrow and it shows 'submitted'. Looks like we still have the option to cancel fwiw. This is our first time bidding through royal up (or whatever its called now).
  9. I just checked pricing on an 8 day Southern Caribbean on Adventure in a JS that I booked February of this year. The price has doubled. I know it being a JS changes things a bit, but goodness. This is the free market. When the market will bear it, it will be done. I booked 5 cruises in pretty rapid succession over a few months end of 2022 and first of 2023. The second of them is Mariner in a couple of weeks. The August Mariner cruise was amazing, I saw none of the issues many have reported. The pricing on all of them is/was great to ok. We started cruising RC later. I had a plan mapped out to reach Diamond (some will think that absurd, I'm a mark for status programs) in 2027 before our 35th anniversary trip. I think RC is getting ready to kneecap that so its no longer a deal. They are pricing me out though. I have enough airline miles socked away that the wife and I can fly pretty much anywhere. I have hotel points for rooms. We love cruising but at some point will sit it out a while and see what happens with pricing.
  10. we were on Mariner last month and the performance was frankly stunning (in a relative sense). I was able to connect to my work VPN, log into my desktop (notoriously sensitive to latency) and do some work that popped up. I was very impressed. we will be on her again later this month, during which time I hope I dont need it but may.
  11. I love Mariner. Going on her again next month. My wife mentioned the mattress as a negative in the JS we had but I didnt notice it.
  12. We arent what I would call 'frequent' cruisers (2 last year, this year, 3 next year). The things you mention are certainly applicable. - I watch my amex for offers. The last few years I have gotten $500 back on $1500 spend with RC and 25k Membership rewards points on $1000 spend. This is fairly esoteric and maybe not an answer to your question but it mitigates the expense for us - Live 'near' cruise port. Canaveral is a 5.5 hour drive for us. We stay near MCO night before cruise. It seems each drive gets longer fwiw (which probably has more to do with age than anything) - Focus on older ships for our itinerary. We have Allure and Utopia booked, but mostly we go on Voyager and Freedom class ships - Think through on board spending. We have always gotten DBP and UDP, but starting next year we will start analyzing that closer. They are pricing us out of some things. - We 'replaced' land based vacations. I used to take 3+ trips to vegas yearly along with multiple Biloxi trips and another land based trip a year. Ironically enough, I got priced out of that and with what I am seeing from RC there is a decent chance I get priced out of this after next year. - I have tons of PTO that I will never use, and I can work remotely so long as I have decent internet. Starlink really helped with this. It's a very valid question. Seeing others who do double digit cruises a year and I wonder how they manage. These are some of the things we have done to support our comparatively light cruise schedule.
  13. I hope this water is more sanitary than that water must've been. But it probably isnt.
  14. Pardon my ignorance but why did I think this was going to be "included"? And yes I know that is absurd for anyone paying attention.
  15. @Tcarr Really sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I hope treatments will be met with success. Prayers to you and your family and hope you have all the care and support you need. The extra stress of getting the cruise seen about is something you don't need, @Matt advice sounds solid and he would now. Best wishes and positive thoughts are in your direction.
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