firegal2539

I horde boxes of cereal from the second day breakfast. I bring two boxes to the cabin and a glass of milk and do that every day of the cruise. I have asked the buffet people for a piece of Saran Wrap and I cover the milk so it doesn't go bad. I will eat it at night as my late night snack. On the last night of the cruise I always ask for a covered glass of milk from the MDR and eat cereal in my room in the morning.

 

I understand people eating at the airport, but when a bottle of Pepsi is $3.25 and a breakfast meal at one of the restaurants runs about $13 or more, I just can't see spending that much. I usually bring Kind Bars in my carryon bag to eat on the plane and on my return flight wait at the airport.

 

Guess I am cheap.

My dream dining would be day 1, Chops, day 2, Chops, day 3, Chops, day 4, Chops, day 5, Chops, day 6, Chops, day 7, Chops. Do you see a theme here? I can eat a steak every night at Chops?

May and September are considered the two off months to sail to Alaska. It is much colder, raining in most ports, just a little bit uncomfortable. The premium months are June, July and August and you always pay more for whatever category you are choosing. I have sailed to Alaska five times, twice in May, once in September, once in June and August. You can still get a good price savings by sailing the first week of September and the last week of May. Still will encounter cold and wet but not as much. May and September sailings also have the problem of not being able to completely sail into whatever Straits you are cruising, two of my cruises we turned around because the ship couldn't get in because of bad weather. My cruise in June, I got to see the glaciers calving, which was amazing.

 

A friend just returned from a middle of June Alaska cruise and said that they wore jackets or raincoats the whole cruise. It was cold and wet. Still had an amazing time but it is Alaska.

Packercruising,

 

Do you have to go in June? You can't celebrate in a different month? TA's are really a bargain and on some you get to see so many ports. Most are in March and April or August, October and November. Cunard does TAs all year long but they are more expensive.

 

I want to fly to a European port and come back to the USA. It seems to be a little cheaper doing it that way, plus I want to spend a day or two in the city we sail from especially if it is Copenhagen or Amsterdam.

 

Candie

Hi Michael,

 

Irving Texas here. RCCL hasn't refunded full price for a flight because they cancelled your cruise. They will refund up to $200 for cancellation, which is exactly what the cancellation fee is on American. I had a cruise cancelled, rebooked and cancelled again, and another cruise line did refund all of my flight expense since it was the second time.

 

Candie

Cunard is allowing you to take your pets onboard but they are crated some where in the belly of the ship. What good is it if you can't see them and have them with you? Can you imagine the Cruise Critic boards if pets were allowed on ships.

I like the Viking Crown Lounge and the Library. I always stop every day in the Library because they offer a daily crossword puzzle, Suduko and Trivia puzzle. Plus I will usually borrow a book too!

My choices would be a Transatlantic that starts in Copenhagen, goes to the three major ports in Iceland and several other ports before ending in Boston. Next would be Galapagos, Hawaii and Canada/New England. Have done Canada cruise and loved it, 14 days of amazing ports.

 

I have never done the Baltics but it is on my bucket list, as well as a TA going to Iceland. I am doing a cruise that is really unusual. It will start in Fort Lauderdale, spend three days in New Orleans, during Mardi Gras and then cruise the Western Caribbean. It is a once a year cruise and I am booked on the February 2018 cruise.

DocLC,

 

As I said I play just for fun and entertainment so I don't figure out which machine is ready to hit, etc. I had only played the machine for about 10 minutes. In one day I won $5,000, best day I have ever had. Went back about a month later and gave them about $700 of my winnings back. I am one of those players that hits the spin button, sits there after it spins and looks at the screen to see why I won 10 cents or $10, or why I didn't win, what didn't line up correctly. So I probably only spin about 3 to 4 times a minute or less. When I win any money I let it just add to my balance, in other words, I don't hit the buttons so it adds immediately. To me there is gratification in listening to the machine add $100 to my account. On YouTube I have watched several videos where people actually keep tabs on several machines to see if the Progressive has been won, when they think it will be won, and when to play it so they might win it. Several YouTubers keep journals as to when the machine hit, what amount it hit at, so they can calculate when they think it will hit again. That is way to much work, I want to have fun, not make a business out of gambling.

WHStoneman,

 

I think I know what a phone book is, people in tiny little cars throw them on my driveway two or three times a year. I have to go out and pick them up and throw them away. What a pain!

I loved Victoria. On the Main Street, several years ago, was a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Store. The team that ran it will talk your ear off about the RCMP and it's history.

 

Remember to look up in the very tall pine trees, I saw many bald eagles when I was there.

Tonyb64, 

 

Love your post. My dog Tank is a 10 pound mini dachsund, but I could change his name to Cujo for my cruises. Unfortunately he lives better than I do when I cruise. He goes to a doggie daycare camp and is spoiled rotten, never crated and pretty much carried around, so he doesn't think he has legs.

 

Stoneman, what is this thing you call a HOME PHONE?

 

Candie

I am not sure this is true but I have been told by the Casino Hosts, Managers, etc. that if you play a progressive slot machine you must play the maximum bet. If the machine has 50 cents, $1, $2.50, and $5.00 you have to bet the $5.00 to win the progressive jackpot. I was stupid enough in Las Vegas, a couple of months ago, to play a Quick Hit Progressive Slot Machine, my favorite, and the maximum bet was $3.00 and I was betting $1.50. I wasn't paying attention because I know to bet the maximum, I hit 9 Quick Hits, lit up my machine, bells and whistles, etc. I won $2,514, if I had bet maximum I would have won over $6,000. I was happy with the win but angry with myself for not betting the maximum. You need to watch and make sure what machines you are playing. There are several that are not Progressive, Jumpin' Jalapenos, many others.

 

I am like WAAAY TOOO, I gamble because it is fun and I enjoy sitting at a machine, not to win, but for entertainment. I love talking to the people who sit at the machine next to me, some don't talk back.  Unfortunately, my entertainment can be very, very expensive.

 

Candie

I never post on Facebook until I get back from cruising and Las Vegas. I don't want anyone to know that I am gone. In fact, many times I don't post pictures to Facebook because you are still letting people know you travel.

I agree with you Wilson, I have a four day on Enchantment in February that has gone up $300, a 7 day Alaskan on Explorer in May that has gone over $1000 and a 8 day Freedom that I only booked 4 weeks ago that has gone up over $100. I am waiting for the WOW sale to see if I can do better on the May and December cruises.

Raye,

 

Glad you are doing good. Is FCC free cruise credit? I would love to get that some time. I am still receiving discounted casino cruises from RCCL but nothing else.

 

I can't wait to get on the Freedom.

 

I am booked solid too. I have a cruise every month, with the exception of December 2016, all the way through May of 2017. That is 10 months and 9 cruises. 

Thanks for all of your posts. I don't know whether I will use Uber. I have talked to several friends and they have had problems with them because of wanting to be picked up at 4 or 430 a.m. It seems Uber doesn't have a lot of drivers at that time. I looked on Uber's site and it does say that there can be a problem with early a.m. pick up. I only live about 5 miles from DFW so I am not rural. I just don't want to end up having to call a cab or rush around trying to get my car parked at the airport, if I am running late because Uber can't show up. 

 

I will probably park at the airport this time. Several friends are willing to take me but they all work and getting them up at 3:30 in the morning on a weekday just doesn't sit well with me.

 

I think I will try Uber when I have to be at the airport at a later time, like 7 a.m.

 

Thanks again, Candie

My refund came in four payments, beverage package, shore excursions, taxes/fees and cruise fare and I was told it would take 10 to 15 business days. I think with all of the problems on cruise cancellations they are probably running behind.

I was on a cancelled May Empress cruise. The cruise was cancelled about two weeks before I was to sail.  I had my TA working on all of the refunds. I was offered another Empress cruise, NO WAY, or book another at today's prices, NO WAY, so my TA asked if they would put all the money I paid on another booked RCCL cruise I had to Alaska. They were more than happy to do that and now my Alaskan cruise is paid for. I had a hard time getting my $200 airline change fee. I waited 8 weeks and had my TA call them. RCCL immediately refunded it back to my credit card I had used to book the cruise. I didn't like that but it was either wait another couple of weeks for a check or refund immediately to my card, so I took the card refund.

 

This is the third time I have had a cruise cancelled, two NCL and one RCCL, I hope it never happens again.

I have sailed Alaska several times and it really depends on the excursion. I did a helicopter ride to a glacier, there was the pilot and two guides giving presentations. The guides were National Park Service Employees. To me $10 each is a lot of money, $30 for all three, so I just gave $20 to the two guides. I felt like the pilot got paid quite a bit to fly people out to the glacier. BTW, I would never do it again, I just knew my life was ending when I stepped on the helicopter.

 

I did a trolley tour in Skagway and I tipped $5 for a one hour transit of the little town. The trolley was full and I figured that if all 50 people gave $5 each, this couple got to split $250, not bad for 1 hour of work. Do three or four tours a day, you are making great tip money.

 

I think tipping is subjective. I did a Hop On Hop Off Trolley tour of San Francisco and the guide wasn't suppose to stop at all of the stops, but he did and he talked about each area, what had happened there, if we should get off or not. It was probably the most informative tour I have ever taken and I tipped him $20 just for the experience.

 

In Nassau, I took the shuttle from the pier to Atlantis and the two shuttle people actually announced they expected a tip since the ride was only $4. In other words give them the $5 bill so they had a dollar to split. What I learned is these shuttle people do approximately 50 to 100 shuttle rides a day, can you imagine how much tip money they make. They aren't loading luggage, helping you board the shuttle, they do nothing but drive you. But I also understand they don't get paid anything for their work, so a dollar wasn't going to kill me. I just don't like being told I have to tip them.

 

Candie

I am sorry this is not an RCCL question but I want to know about Uber. I am a single woman in her 60s who usually takes her vehicle to DFW International Airport, puts it in covered parking, it is new and don't want any hail damage on it. On the average, for a seven day cruise it costs me about $80-$100. Once in a while DFW will run a special for $55 for seven days, which I got for my August cruise.

 

I have friends that use Uber all the time and love it. I got a coupon for my first ride to DFW free. I would pay $20 to get home. What I am worried about is I have to leave at 4:30 a.m. to get to the airport and the whole idea of having these people drive to my house to pick me up in the dark bothers me. Obviously they would know I am leaving on a trip, won't know for how long, but I feel that I am opening myself up to having my house broken in to. I always ask for extra police patrols on my street while I am gone. Friends have suggested letting them pick me up somewhere else but that defeats the whole purpose of using Uber.

 

I am not asking if your house has been broken in to but do you feel this could be risk?

 

I guess I just want people who use Uber to voice an opinion.

 

Thanks, Candie

Hi WAAYTOOO,

 

You told me you were busy for the next couple of months but I have missed your postings that you do every day. What did you think of the Freedom, itself. I am on the same exact cruise next year. Everyone here talked about how wonderful this ship is so I finally booked a cruise on her. Since I am a solo cruiser, I can't afford a suite, way out of my price range, so usually an OceanView or Balcony. I think I got a Balcony on this one. Anyways, like you, clear me a path to the casino because it is calling to me.

 

Let me know your thoughts on this ship.

 

Sorry you didn't win. I went back to Vegas, gave them a nice chunk of my $5000 mega slot win back.

 

Candie

I brought plastic hangers one time and never again. I just ask the room steward for 6 more and they will supply them. I hang a pair of pants/jeans and then a blouse/shirt over them so you don't use as many and you don't take up as much room.

 

Matt has done a lot of articles on cruise hacks. You just do a search for them. Cruise Critic also has lots of articles on packing and what to bring hacks.

I would take a ship transfer from the port to the airport. They make sure you get off of the ship on time and to the airport by a chartered bus. They only thing I don't like is you have to wait until they fill the bus up. The other thing is you could do early disembarkation where you take your luggage off the ship yourself so you don't have  to look for it at the port. You are the first passengers off of the ship if you do that. It is usually around 7 to 7:30 a.m. disembarkation.

 

I have been to Seattle three times and wasn't impressed with the Space Needle or the area it is in. I really don't know what to tell you because I thought it was a big waste of time.

I could be wrong but it is my understanding that you get the CC when you get onboard, they are not available before your sail date.