happy cruisers 2

I suggest calling RC and asking.

So here's my most recent annoyance. Wife is not feeling totally well, so we decide to order room service that evening. While watching TV, we decide we'd like drinks. I go to the Trellis Bar and use the stairs to carry two of them back to the cabin. Teens (pre-teens?) are playing "who can get there first?", the ones on the elevator or the ones running full-speed-ahead down the stairs. I came close to tossing a drink on anyone who caused me to lose those things before I got to the room. It very nearly happened. There is a reason we avoid the kid zone on a ship and I really don't care to see the out-of-control ones in the evening either.

I did log on to delta.com (and selected our seats) instead of clicking on any links in the email. Today, I called Delta and talked with a very helpful customer service agent. She agreed that the g.delta.com address is not what they use. I asked her to give me our flight numbers, departure times and arrival times. The email showed prior (old) return flight info; not what the Delta web site and app (and Air2Sea) currently show. The agent felt that the email was possibly not legitimate. I don't know what clicking on the "choose seats" links would have requested from me, but the email already had our email address, names, confirmation number, travel dates, etc. All of the fine print on this email sure appeared to be from Delta. I don't know. Too many ways to be taken advantage of through scammers!

It's been many years ago, but I really enjoyed using the London Underground (The Tube). Some of it is above ground actually. I found it so exciting to ride up an escalator, to street level, and see a famous site right there in front of me. It was such an easy way to quickly get around the city and see several places in a short amount of time. Great for people watching and just observing everyday commuting too. I hope you have a fabulous time, Mike n KY!

You guys are helping me understand who does what in the planning. I know I could be asking the TA all of this, but it feels better getting input from experienced cruisers instead of tying up the TAs time with these details and so many questions. Thanks!

smokeybandit, I'm confused by what you said. If the cruise planner is "tied" to me, what can I do within the planner that I don't need to involve the TA with?

Yes, I'll need to clarify with an agent what they must do and what I can do.

This confirms what I was thinking. It seems that I'd have a better chance at the best pricing if I did NOTHING other than know in my mind what we want, and contact the agent from the get-go.

For those of you who work with a travel agent: Once I've decided that I want a travel agent involved in planning a future cruise, can I use the RC cruise planner to select cruise, date, cabin choice, dining times, etc. and then transfer the planning to the agent? (I know there's a time-frame where this would need to happen.) Or do I need to contact the agent before doing anything on my own? Another question: Once an agent is involved, am I still able to select or cancel excursions and make periodic payments on the cruise planner or does all of that need to be done through the agent?

ChessE4, your change notice sounds identical to ours. We have red boxes that highlight changes. Having used Air2Sea for these flight arrangements, I find it odd that they (Air2Sea) were not the ones sending us a change notification. That is the way things have always been in the past when we make flight arrangements through them. It's interesting that the flights and times on the Delta app match what Air2Sea last sent us, and not what this email shows. As Dan Curtis said, I should probably call Delta. No matter what I do, Delta will certainly find ways to make more changes before this cruise that is still 8 months away.

I'm curious if anyone else is receiving email from Delta that seems a bit odd or questionable? Mine was sent from [email protected] (that's the exact address). That immediately caught my eye, as it just doesn't look right. The email otherwise looks mostly legit. It has our flight confirmation number, which it calls a Trip Confirmation number. It states that our flights (still months away) have been "impacted by schedule adjustments." (That part doesn't seem odd, as we all know the airlines like to change it up to suit them and not us.) There is a link to delta.com but I didn't click on it. The really odd thing is that our return flight shows outdated info, as it doesn't refer to the latest flight number and times we've received from Air2Sea a couple weeks ago. Also, I'm questioning why we are getting this notice from Delta and nothing from Air2Sea (which is normally what happens). So.... in one area of the email there is the option to select seats, which we haven't done yet and I chose not to click on this link in the email. After thinking about how to handle this, I chose to log onto the Delta web site (not through the email message). It still shows the flights that we last knew we have, along with the times I last saw (but again, our return flight doesn't match what this email shows). I did go ahead and make seat selections on the Delta site. I'll wait a few days and see if Air2Sea notifies us of any changes, but something tells me this email might not be legitimate, even though it has our confirmation number and some flight info (albeit not the most recent info we had been given). Has anyone else had this kind of situation? I know that a TA could sort it out, but we chose to use Air2Sea for these flights and I just didn't feel like dealing with the phone call this morning and whomever I might get on the other end.

Yep, this seems the way to do it. I can hear my wife already, though, that our clothes would be SO wrinkled by the time we get on the ship!! I think we could deal with it.

I agree that Alaska and excursions would be the main attraction. As for the ship, we do want to enjoy it too but I can honestly say we have never been on one we didn't enjoy. Except for Holland America, Celebrity and Azamara (one of each) all have been with RC. I'm sure the hotels RC uses can't be too bad or they would certainly get complaints. OCSC Mike, your pre-cruise tour sounds wonderful. Thanks for your valuable input.

OnCloud9x, your cruise sounds so exciting for you and the family! Hoping you'll post some info about it when you're back and have the time. Welcome to the boards. There really is a lot of great advice and help available here from those with all the experiences they've had.

I once, years ago, thought I would never like a cruise. It was probably back in the day when everything was more formal -- I can't even remember why I thought that way. Anyway, after trying it, I came to the conclusion that it's a great way to see multiple places (albeit quite briefly) without the concerns of getting from place to place, packing and unpacking, where to spend the night, where to eat and so on. There's a place and time for that kind of travel too, but cruising seems much more relaxed and enjoyable. Enjoy your future cruises!

So after more research, I think that if we do a cruise and land package in Alaska we probably would want to do the land portion before the cruise. Not only is the land portion perhaps more tiring, but I'm thinking we would have the "less desirable" accommodations at the beginning of the trip and the cruise to look forward to at the end. I know that parts of Alaska are very remote, and perhaps we expected too much of land accommodations, but the reviews for some of the places we would stay are not too positive. Again, if any of you have recently done the RC land tours (Seward, Anchorage, Denali, Talkeetna, Fairbanks) we would be interested in what you thought of it.

We were just recently at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk at 123 Losoya St. for 3 nights. Great location for stepping out of the hotel and walking the river walk. We liked the hotel very much. (Never used the car once after parking it across the street in a covered lot.) Really enjoyed each meal we had at Mad Dogs British Pub too, which is connected to the hotel. Great outdoor patio where you can sit and people watch along the river walk. Very nice heated(?) roof-top pool too (although we only had a look at it on our last day there). The Alamo is a very short walk from the hotel, as is the previously mentioned Menger Hotel. We ate at several restaurants along the water, but none stick in my mind as much as Mad Dogs.

Debstr66, we have not gone yet. Unfortunately, the B2B we're doing is not until May 2024. Too far off, in my opinion!! So far, with the recent sale prices for the DBP, we benefitted and have not cancelled. You have a cruise coming up very soon! And another one before we go on ours. Have a wonderful time on both!

It's a very fair question. For us, we chose to not have children and we both worked from a young age until mid 50s for one and early 60s for the other. We have splurged on some nice travel (non-cruise) over the years, but chose to spend a little less in other areas (dining out, clothing, cars, etc.). Basically, tried to live below what we could maybe afford. Now, as we see our travel years slowing down at some point (hopefully not for 10-15 years) we are spending some money that we've been able to accumulate over time. We're hooked on suites following the COVID shutdown, but some day we will probably go back to balconies in order to do more or longer cruises than we currently do. As teddy said, everyone spends their money the way they see fit.

They'll show in the app too. We'll will make a mental note to keep good track of vouchers used. Wife is better at that stuff than I am!

This sounds like a good plan. We're pretty much rule followers (most of the time!) and would hate to get someone fired.

I just happened upon your post today. I'm sure you'll find this site extremely helpful, as I have. There are lots of really nice people here who are happy to answer questions and give insight. Having once lived in the central part of the country, I can relate to the added cost and challenge of getting to a port. Granted, it's still a necessity now and then unless we want to leave out the of same port every time we cruise. I envy those in Florida who have so many choices. Have a wonderful time on your cruise in March. I'm sure you'll be very happy to escape the Missouri winter for a while!

Good point. Thanks, Jolly Ogre.

Does anyone know if giving an unopened Truly or beer to your room steward is allowed or are there rules against stewards accepting this?

Ah. Use them or lose them. Thanks, Neesa, for setting me straight on that.