Orange Crush

8 hours ago, twangster said:

A frequent Carnival experience that used to drive me crazy (before I switched away from the dark side) was in the omelet line.  They have two lines right beside each other.  You might see 3 people in one and 5 people in the other.  Go in the line with 3 people right?  Then the person in front orders 14 omelets for his family and 10 strangers he just met.  This happened time and again.  

25 mins later when it was my turn I ordered 20 omelets... just because.  OK I didn't do that but it played out pretty nicely in my head...

Oh jeez, this is me every time when picking a checkout line at the grocery store.  It doesn't matter which line I pick, it will always be the wrong one.  I have an amazing knack for getting in line behind a difficult person who decides to split their order into multiple transactions, or pay with a check, or doesn't know how to work the card machine, or needs to run back and grab something they forgot . . .

I just resign myself to my fate.

6 hours ago, Traveler said:

5.       Avoid touching your face with your hands.

Fun fact: you can easily infect yourself with all sorts of nasty things just by rubbing your eyes.

Also fun fact: Most of us touch our faces and eyes far more often than we realize, but if you consciously make an effort not to, you'll greatly reduce your odds of cold, flu, norovirus and many other infections.

28 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

We fly direct too especially when travelling with our kids.  @JLMoran

I got stuck in the Nashville airport once when a power outage delayed my outbound flight well past any possibility of connecting to the last leg home out of Atlanta.  Fortunately, I had friends in that city and could stay with them and work out a return flight home the next morning, but the fact that 30 minutes and a twist of fate would've had me stranded overnight in the Atlanta airport was not lost on me.

I make every effort to fly direct from now on.

1 hour ago, ZinzMat said:

he said it's better during school break times when it's families, that the "older generation" is very pushy and entitled, but we witnessed it with EVERYONE.

And I'd bet money that the rudest of these people regularly complain about how rude and entitled millenials/younger folks are.  And rude millenials invariably complain about rude older people.  People seldom recognize their own bad behavior, it's always those other people causing the problems.

I live in the theme park capital of the world, so I see it all the time.  People just develop this sense of "I paid good money/took time off work/etc. to get here and this is my special trip, etc." with no regard for the fact that most of the other people around them paid good money and took time off work just the same and everybody's going to have a nicer time if we're all just polite to one another.

I've actually had excellent results using Google's built-in flight search.  Just search "[City Name/Airport Code] to [City Name/Airport Code]" (i.e. "BOS to FLL") and it comes back with a box where you can select your dates and look through available flights across several airlines.  It doesn't include Southwest, but I'll usually do a search directly on their site as well.

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Has anyone seen the combo deluxe beverage + ultimate dining package anywhere ?  It seems to have disappeared completely.  Are they no longer offering this combination package ?

Haven't seen it in a couple months.  I booked it for my March 2018 Allure cruise when it first showed up, but I changed my mind and cancelled it and haven't seen it offered again since.

There's no casino at Hard Rock Universal, Renting a car and driving to Tampa's pretty much your only option.  Now, if you happen to be at Port Canaveral on a Sunday and the ship arrives a little before noon, you might *just* be able to catch the Victory Casino Cruise, but the timing is going to be pretty tight.  They leave at noon and want you aboard 30 minutes prior to sailing, so the stars would have to align to make that feasible.

On 12/3/2017 at 1:12 PM, twangster said:

I'd argue Sky Suites are more Grand Suite like.  Full day access to suite restaurant and Michaels Club suite lounge with free drinks at night.  Also consider only Oasis and Quantum class have Coastal Kitchen so when on older RCI ships there isn't a suite restaurant for any suite level while more of the X fleet have a suite restaurant.

Probably.  I was mostly guessing when trying to line up the room categories between Royal & X.  Royal's Junior Suites are kinda odd ducks in that regard.  They're not *really* suites, but you get double points and a couple perks.  They might be a better match to Concierge and Aqua class.

For a minute, I thought you were talking about doing a powerpoint presentation in a conference room onboard.  Which reminds me, I've really gotta figure out how to get my company to pay for a cruise one of these days . . .

But as far as power outlets go, if you have multiple devices with USB charging cables, these things are a godsend:

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Charger-PowerPort-Multi-Port-Samsung/dp/B00VH8ZW02/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1512136986&sr=8-3&keywords=anker+5+port+usb+charger

Saves you from having to bring half a dozen little plug bricks.  I leave one in my gadget bag whenever I travel anywhere so I don't have to worry about packing plugs.

There's no rational reason why they would block workplace VPNs.  This is almost certainly targeted at public VPNs to prevent passengers from using them to get around the naughty filters and management & monitoring systems.

I'm going to test out my workplace VPN and a couple of the public VPNs when I'm on the Majesty in a few weeks & report back to confirm.

Watch for combos.  I found an Ultimate Dining + Deluxe Drinks package deal on my March 2018 Allure sailing for $65/night.

On 11/22/2017 at 1:57 PM, monctonguy said:

So moral of the story is...if I enjoy X...just do a few more cruises with Royal first to get to at least Diamond so I don't have to start all over with X

Doing some math . . .

X gives different points by room class, anywhere from 2 to 18 points per night.  Royal gives 2 points for suites and 1 point for everything else.  So to get Diamond/Elite, you need to sail:

• 80 nights on Royal in Interior, Ocean View or Balcony staterooms
• 40 nights on Royal in Junior Suites & up
• (or some combination)

or

• 150 nights on X in Interior or Ocean view
• 100 nights on X in Veranda/Infinite Veranda (normal Balconies)
• 60 nights on X in Concierge/Aqua class (superior Balconies)
• 38 nights on X in Sky Suites (Junior Suite-ish)
• 25 nights on X in Celeb/Signature/Royal/Edge suites (Midrange Suites)
• 17 nights on X in Penthouse/Reflection/Iconic suites (Max Suites)

Looks like in most cases, you'll level-up faster through Royal unless you mostly book superior balconies and suites, and that's before considering any points you already have on Royal.

From Celebrity:

Credits are not combinable across brands*; however as members move up in tier, the membership level will be automatically upgraded across all enrolled programs. If you are currently a member of both Captain's Club and Crown & Anchor programs, you will automatically receive benefits based on your highest membership level between the two. The benefits of the two programs will stay independent, and the number of sailings a member accrues on each brand will not be combined. You will earn the tier credit for the brand you are sailing as long as you are a member of that brand's loyalty program.

Your point balances remain separate between Royal and Celebrity.  If you're Emerald or Platinum on Royal you get the Captain's Club Select benefits (Elite if you're Diamond or higher) from the start on Celebrity, but you're still starting with zero points.  If you never sail Royal again, you'll need 300 points on Celebrity to get to Elite status.

The Florida Mall is kinda dumpy anyway.  You're not missing anything, and certainly not for $54.

I live in the Orlando area but the problem is the Port is about an hour away from most things you'd want to do.  It's time and cost prohibitive to get anywhere good unless you know somebody in town who can come and get you.

Sounds like Enchantment in Canaveral is just temporary until Mariner is ready.

21 hours ago, KLAconQueso said:

Another speculation I have is that I've heard it mentioned quite a few times that they're bringing in Mariner to attract Millennial cruisers. As someone who falls in to that group (I'm 27 and my husband is 28), I love the idea of being able to take a quick, affordable cruise with minimal vacation time off - and also why I enjoy the 3/4 day sailings.

I think you're exactly right.  Royal knows their demographics stats, and I bet they're tracking millenials who opt for the Majesty over the Oasis.  Much easier to get the time off work for 3/4 days over a weekend than the whole week (or week and a couple days if flying) a 7-day cruise costs. 

They also know they have to up their game against Carnival, Norwegian and Disney.  All three are sailing much bigger and much newer ships on the 3/4 day loop out of Canaveral.  One of these things is not like the other:

Carnival Liberty - Launched 2005 - 2,974 Passengers - 110k Tons - 503 Balconies

Disney Dream - Launched 2010 - 2,500 Passengers - 130k Tons - 887 Balconies

Norwegian Epic - Launched 2009 - 4,100 Passengers - 155k Tons - 1951 Balconies

Majesty of the Seas - Launched 1992 - 2,744 Passengers - 74k Tons - 0 Balconies (Balconies only available on Junior Suites & up)

Majesty may have the "biggest heart in the fleet," but her cabins are tiny, only offers a handful of balconies in JS & up, and she's much much older than her peers at Canaveral.  It's not a fair fight.  I've had several travel agents tell me that as lukewarm as they are about Carnival, the Majesty just doesn't stack up against the Liberty.  Mariner will change that.

27 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

Any idea what/where is happening to Majesty in all of this? What about Empress?

Last I heard, Majesty was going in to dry dock in February 2018 but nothing after that*.  Maybe she's going to take Empress's place on the Cuba runs?

From what I can find, looks like Majesty resumes her Nassau itinerary in March & April, but nothing's coming up after that.

9 minutes ago, Boston Babe said:

OMG, we are ALL waiting! How funny is this!  They are supposed to announce something about their IT department today but I don't think that's it, regarding new improved use on the ship. 

Oh really?  Do we have any other hints to go on?

The one tech feature I really wish they'd add is a free onboard messaging app for passengers on the same ship.  Knowing Royal, maybe not 'free,' but something much cheaper than a full on wifi plan.

11 hours ago, Floski said:

Still can't find it.  Maybe my Oasis trip doesn't have it?

They make it so freaking hard sometimes.

Try calling, either directly or via your travel agent.  It's possible they aren't doing it that sailing or it sold out, but I'm willing to bet it's just hiding in the system.  I think Royal Caribbean bought their IT systems from the Willy Wonka factory.  I've called and asked about excursions and activities before and they've magically appeared in the cruise planner moments later.  I suspect an Oompa Loompa fell asleep and my call woke them up.

19 hours ago, monctonguy said:

The one thing I haven't been able to figure out yet what I should do is the drink package..as they have 3 levels....I am think the middle one which is what I used to do with Royal when they had the option..but looks like it only covers up to $9 drinks which makes me think it may be quite limited??!

"Rats, I really wish I went with the more limiting drink package" said no one ever.  Go large!

In seriousness, from what I've been reading elsewhere online, it sounds like the deciding factor should be how big you are on wine, martinis and top-shelf liquor.  If you're not a wine drinker or not likely to venture beyond the house wine, prefer simple well to call cocktails and aren't going for the craft martini bar, you can save a few dollars and stick with the Classic package.  You can still order a couple of drinks that cost more than $9.  It looks like they just charge you the difference and not the full price. (so a $13 cocktail would cost you $4). 

21 hours ago, monctonguy said:

I thought about booking a Celebrity cruise..and I finally did last nite! I couldn't say no to the resident rate it was offering me...so its a quick 3 day Bahamas cruise on the Equinox, but I figured that's a good way for a quick comparison and see if I would like to cruise more on Celebrity or stick with Royal!

If you change it to a 4-night you can take advantage of their pick 2 promotion: https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-deals/special-offer

You can choose from a drink package, wifi, prepaid tips and $150 OBC.

I just checked my booking on the Allure for next March.  The fine print on the Ultimate Dining package now says it's a $35 credit. 

Just booked a Celebrity trip on the Infinity for my birthday . . . in Feb 2019.  Went with a Concierge Class balcony, Aqua was ~$200 more and while Blu sounds appealing, I don't think we'd use much of the spa amenities.  This will be my first trip on Celebrity, so I'm excited!

Also, there's a promotion going on where you can pick 2 perks for the first two people in a cabin.  Choices were gratuity included, wifi, drink package and some others.  Went w/ drink package & wifi.

I believe it shows up under "Entertainment & Activities," it's not lumped in with the shore excursions.  I thought it was really interesting and worthwhile, but I too am a nerd.  It was really neat to see how much effort it really takes to run a cruise ship and get a peak at the crew areas.  I wouldn't do it on every ship, but it's totally worth it to go at least once.

It's probably still worth checking periodically.  I don't remember the exact date the non-refundable deposit program was rolled out, but if somebody booked before the implementation date and the final payment date hasn't happened yet, they can still cancel their reservation without any consequences.

Try one of the online travel sites to check availability yourself so you don't have to keep calling.  If you luck out and see one open up, jump on it immediately!

Although, if you're past the final payment date, it's probably a done deal.  Nobody's cancelling outside of emergencies.

*It's also worth noting that the Majesty is a smaller ship and there are no regular balcony staterooms.  It's ocean view or junior suite with nothing in between.  Good chances that all the people in the suites actually want them . . .