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GrandPa

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Everything posted by GrandPa

  1. I finally figured out how to add nights to the cart before checking out one at a time. After adding night 1 to the cart, instead of clicking check out, I clicked continue shopping. That took me out to the page that has all the different banners, ie spa voom shore excursions dining, etc. I clicked dining like I was starting all over. The banners for specialty restaurants, chefs table and my time dining appeared again. I clicked MTD and it took me through the routine again. After I added all days, I clicked Check out. It's a little tedious but at least I don't have to completely check out one night at a time.
  2. Will try this on my next visit. Had good reviews. https://www.plazaresortbonaire.com/en/visitors/day-pass
  3. We booked a B2B on her as soon as we saw the change. First two cruises, 7 nt. Fl/ Bahamas follow by 7 nt. Can/NE. Great balcony rates. Got deck 9 aft balcony, for $1852 & $1717 tax incl. for 2 (with d+ disc). Got the same cabin for both cruises. Wish she was there year round. Want nothing to do with the new floating malls. GP
  4. Prices went down today. New sale 30% off.
  5. 15 or 20 minutes talking with a couple of people in the pool. Had she said "oh, sorry" or something I wouldn't had hard feelings. It was the way she threw the towel down. Ha ha though, after she left, I got out and gave my chair to someone else looking for one.
  6. I rarely sit on a lounger near the pool but last year I did and while I was in the pool, someone came over to my chair and removed my towel. I said "hey, that's my towel". She threw it down and walked away pissed. I have a sore spot for people who say they will remove towels from loungers now.
  7. Friend of ours passed out in the theater generating an Alpha call. Never got the whole story as to why he passes out but they kept him overnight for observation. His bill was over 3K with the Alpha call itemized at $600. He didn't have trip insurance but did get some of it back through his VA insurance. One thing we do now is buy travel guard insurance right after booking. It's a little more than the cruise line's but covers pre-existing conditions and has way more medical and evac coverage.
  8. Depending on when you booked your cruise, your penalty was one of the following: I forget the date but it was quite recent that they moved final payment to the 90 day mark on all sailings rather than 90 days on just longer sailings. 74 to 57 Days Prior to Sailing Deposit Amount Per Guest 56 to 29 Days Prior to Sailing 50% of Total Price 28 to 15 Days Prior to Sailing 75% of Total Price 14 to 0 Days Prior to Sailing 100% of Total Price 89 to 57 Days Prior to Sailing Deposit Amount Per Guest 56 to 29 Days Prior to Sailing 50% of Total Price 28 to 15 Days Prior to Sailing 75% of Total Price 14 to 0 Days Prior to Sailing 100% of Total Price You can figure your penalty out but keep in mind that your TA's commission is protected after the final payment date. They do get the commission and unless they decide to give it back to you, it adds on to the penalty. Now as far as half the quoted amount is concerned, perhaps RCCL credited all they were responsible for and the other half has to be rebated from the TA's commission? Then you have to deal with the TA.
  9. Grandeur June 9, 2016 October 22, 2016 December 10, 2016 February 13, 2017 March 27, 2017 Rhapsody May 12, 2017 May 19, 2017
  10. Our own pillows to sleep on, clorox wipes to wipe everything down when we enter cabin, handy wipes to use before we actually eat, not only in the buffet but in the MDR also (think those menus are clean?).
  11. I watch the rates. Tomorrow supposedly starts a sale which includes OBC along with the 60% off second. I saw rates jump today on all the cruises I'm watching which usually happens before a sale.
  12. What I like about booking onboard is that I can reprice the cruise if a better rate comes out, and keep the next cruise OBC bonus. The last cruise I booked onboard, Royal had a 100 OBC so I got 250 (150 bonus). Then a 200 OBC came out along with a military rate. I repriced for less than my original rate and got the 200 OBC for a total of 350 OBC. It doesn't always work out though cause I'm watching a cruise right now and it's up 140 for two. If it stays the same price, I only get an equivalent of 10 bucks (150 bonus). Sailing my next cruise on June 9th so hope price retreats by then. If not, will wait for the next cruise unless a steal rate comes out. Takes a lot of work staying on top of this stuff. Have 7 booked right now.
  13. The only way to get money back is to cancel your res. That said, if you cancel after final payment, you would receive the refund minus the penalty. That's that. Repricing, on the other hand, can be done before or after final payment with out cancellation as long as you're not looking for money back (which would require cancellation). That's why if your inside cabin price is now higher than an outside, they will give you the upgrade (with no residual refund, which again, would require cancellation). You can also pay for an upgrade after final payment with no cancellation via repricing. As WAAATOOO said above, any perks that were given that aren't in the current pricing will be forfeited. The only exception is Next Cruise OBC which stays with the res no matter what. With all that said, we did get money back one time after final payment. It was when we turned Diamond on a cruise which was after final payment on the next one booked. Our balcony discount went up $100 because of that and C&A issued a $100 credit to my CC. I subscribe to a cruise price monitoring site. I keep a list showing all my booked rates (currently 6) and the net amount which includes OBC. If the price drops below (significantly) the net amount, I'll call and reprice before FP. I've also called and repriced paying a little more and getting significantly more OBC. After FP, I have to take into account any loss of OBC as to if it's worth the upgrade if a higher cat price drops.
  14. If we were taking our children and grandchildren on a cruise with us paying for the cruise, I would just let our children set up their own on board accounts for them and their children. The cabin gets the on board credit so they will pay anything over that. Placing a limit on their spending could lessen their enjoyment.
  15. We'd love to visit Cuba, mostly because we were never allowed to, but I think if we could we'd opt for a land stay there. I remember last July when Carnival got a go ahead from the state department, waiting for a go ahead from Cuba (which never came), they were going to charge from $3k pp plus port and taxes. A little steep for just a port call.
  16. We mostly book insides but do book OVs & balc. on occasion. PRs are out of the question for us. The drapes have to be closed too much of the time because the cabin directly across can see directly in. There are too many functions happening sometimes quite late, especially on days where the weather isn't good and we've heard that the music can be heard loud and clear. We turn in around 10 the latest and many nights there can be a band playing past then on the promenade. I don't see where the promenade can add much light to the room. To each there own though. Some like the action to watch from the window.
  17. We did it once, it was ok, a little cheesy. Think it was something like $55pp.
  18. There is a specialty coffee machine in the DL that you can access 24 hours a day (providing it doesn't run out of milk or coffee beans during off hours). It has 6 selections. I use it when I get up in the morning and throughout the day. Great perk.
  19. Orient Beach is our favorite in SXM. When we get off the ship we go to the taxi stands all marked with various destinations (walk around to the right just before the welcome center and bare left behind it). There are vans there waiting. The fare is by the number going and they always fill up so it's $7 a person ($8 or $9 with tip). We go to Pedros beach bar where we get two loungers and an umbrella for $15. They also give you a coupon for a free rum punch each. All afternoon, there are vans hanging out waiting to take people back to the ship. It might be a buck or two more if they don't fill the van for the return trip but a beach day at Orient for 2 shouldn't be over $55. Well worth it.
  20. Big or small, for us, it has to have a traditional promenade deck and windows on public decks. We're sticking to the older ships.
  21. As Diamond, we both get one 24 hour period of free WIFI. It's actually a $40 coupon that can be used alone or with a package. One thing we do is save one till the next to last day of the cruise because their package is $20 a day for one device for rest of cruise no matter what day you start. That way we get the last two days free. Not sure what the D+ WIFI benefit is but I think it's a little better.
  22. We become D+ after our next cruise in two weeks. Don't drink, don't bother any more with the free photos, not showing up early and wait just to be first onboard anymore, book insides so don't use balcony discounts, don't buy RCCL logo gifts (discount). Woo Hoo! Kidding aside, we do enjoy meeting people and socializing at the DL (love the coffee machine), and getting some free wifi. We will do the BOGO specialty restaurant though when we're D+. RCCL's problem is kind of like Soc Sec, too many collecting and they can't afford it anymore. I think there will be a lot of angry customers if they change the # of points to get to the next tiers. Think they're going to downgrade the benefits a little instead. We'll see.....
  23. We always book MTD when it first opens up. Start looking for it to open right after FP. Some ships block out 6:30 - 7:45, hoping the good soldiers will book up what's listed as available. Some ships like the Grandeur leave all times available and we book 7:30 for the whole cruise. I've heard some complain that when they tried to make Res onboard, they tell you only very early or very late is available. What they are really doing is leaving the prime times open for walk ins. So, when we see they are blocking out times to begin with, we become walk ins, rather than making Res. Works out OK.
  24. Agree with Matt. We're from NY and your time of arrival won't allow for doing much, if anything. Will be quite expensive to taxi to port also.
  25. This past June we opted to take the bus back from St G to KW changing in Ham. Took a while but we really enjoyed it. Like being on a tour without guide, nice scenery.
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