happy cruisers 2

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.

Our next cruise will be as Diamond members and we're looking forward to the 4 complimentary drink vouchers daily. Could you more experienced members tell me if I'm thinking about this correctly? Could I choose to use 3 vouchers one day and 5 the following day? (Or even 2 one day and 6 the following day?)

Ah, yes. Snow and all those trees make it feel more like Christmas. Beautiful scene!

We were able to score some nice price drops on DBPs for all of our 2024 cruises. Had been debating whether or not to cancel some of them, but now we'll probably keep them. One came down to $51.99, and that's for our longest cruise!

A very nice photo! Hope you're all having a wonderful day of celebration together.

Greetings, Plasticbrain, and all the best to you and your family in the next few days! That's so exciting for you to look forward to two cruises! We have found that the ship experience is always wonderful no matter what excursions or "extras" one might choose to add on. Enjoy looking forward to those cruises! Happy Holidays to you.

We're considering doing our second Alaska cruise. The first one was years ago and we liked it very much. This time we want to add a land tour, as we didn't do that the first time, however my search of reviews for places RC would have us stay (especially in Seward and Talkeetna) are very disappointing. Perhaps they're the nicest available? Granted, the idea of the land portion is to experience the scenery, etc. but I feel that some of the accommodations and meals would be quite a huge let-down after the cruise experience. Any thoughts or advice from those of you who have done one of the RC cruise/landtour packages will be appreciated. Thanks.

Just as people are all so different, I think expectations must be all over the place too. For a ship to feed thousands of people, I personally feel it's unrealistic to expect 5 star food quality in every meal. Local restaurants certainly vary too. If the great majority of MDR meals onboard are better than we typically eat at home, or even in a local restaurant, we're quite pleased. If we paid extra for a specialty dining experience, I would then have a higher expectation. Overall, we have been happy with MDR meals -- even when we occasionally get something that isn't quite what we expected. Our attitude is that we are fortunate to be able to cruise and have a decent variety of choices in different foods that we maybe don't normally have at home. If we don't like something, we might eat more of what we do like. We never go hungry. Maybe we're too easy to please.

Thanks, Leroyr55 !! This is like a holiday gift from you! I had just rebooked drink packages for multiple cruises yesterday for a nice savings. Now I just did it again! I hope I can keep track of the credit card accounting. CRAZY, but I'm liking it. THANK YOU !!

We tried the Rising Tide bar a couple of times, just for the novelty of it. For us, Boleros was a go-to place each evening for excellent latin dance music and drinks, at least during the cruise we were on. If the weather is nice, sitting outside anywhere in Central Park and enjoying a drink is great. You'll love Allure! Lots to experience!

WAAAYTOOO, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you! You always have such helpful advice!! We have the cruise that involved a switch from Grandeur to Jewel (dates and itinerary remaining the same) and ALL of our purchases were cancelled by RC when the new cabin on Jewel was assigned. I had the thinking that RC would automatically transfer our dining times, drink package, internet, excursions, etc. to the new ship/cruise, but you advised that we rebook at the prevailing rates. We did so, as much as possible. Some excursions remained the same (but at a lower cost) while others, so far, do not appear in the cruise planner at this time. Had we not rebooked the purchases during the recent sale, I know that we would have paid more and been very unhappy about that. So thanks again for your helpful advice. It was greatly appreciated! (Also, the credits finally showed up on our credit card statement. I mistakenly thought that would happen much sooner, but read that it is something the bank controls.)

Thanks, WAAAYTOOO, for your advice. You are always so helpful. Yes, I figured we could talk with the maitre 'd and possibly get an earlier time or else arrive early and see what happens.

That's what I figured. I wonder what the chances are of changing the MTD time (same time, every night of the cruise) the day we board. Has anyone had experience with doing that?

But do you know how to change it? Once we have a reserved time, I don't find any way to go back and see if anything earlier has opened up.

Does anyone know if a MTD time selection can be changed on the web site after the initial reservation is made? The earliest time available for a future cruise was 7:30, so we begrudgingly reserved that for each night of the cruise. Ideally, we would rather have something like 6:45pm. When going back into the MTD booking area, I don't find a way to see if an earlier option ever opens up. Maybe I need to cancel and then start over?

Thanks, Riley, for your excellent report. Not a lot of touristy "Stuff" sounds great! For us, this cruise will be about the culture and scenery. It would even add to the trip if RC had a naturalist on board to give some educational talks. We'll do some reading and research before we go also. Walking will be nice, and a coffee shop or grocery store would be interesting to experience. We've been debating about the small boat tours and will consider that. Thanks, also, for the info on money and credit cards. You've given some very helpful information! Any others who have been to these ports, please feel free to share your input. Thanks!