3. 2. 1……Does a Mariner Wonder the Allure of Cruising 1/15/24-2/2/24

[Ampurp85]

I have titled this as my 3. 2. 1 cruise for a lot of reasons. The top being that the first of the three cruises have 3 people, the second has 2 people and the last cruise is just one. So it is a countdown. The numbers themselves are also significant for other reasons. This is my third annual S2S+, the third time it takes place in Jan, and will be my third time on both Mariner and Allure. This is also only the third time I have sailed from PC. This is the second time my brother and I are sailing together, and I will get my second crystal block. This is the first time my brother, mother and I have cruised together, it’s actually our first ever vacation when it was just the three of us. This is my brother’s first S2S, his first Voyager class ship and both our first time on Wonder. This is also my first time doing two oasis classes in such a short period, also my first Oasis shortie.

There were only a few shenanigans when it came to planning these cruises. I have always taken vacation in Jan. My mother has been begging to go but she always uses up her vacation or runs out of money because Christmas is only a few weeks before I generally leave. I decided to gift her a cruise for her birthday/Christmas this year. Truth be told I pay for all her vacations and still get her birthday/Christmas gifts . Anyhow, I am a planner and she wanted to do Mariner, as she and her no longer living friend went on her in 2019 and lived their best lives. As it stood, I was planning to do Wonder and they happened to be sailing from the same port. Actually, I had planned to do Icon, booked the inaugural and was excited to meet all the blog folks. But my brother didn’t want to do Icon and thankfully so, I had booked refundable. Icon was $5k for a gty interior. I thought I was going to have to fly from MCO to Miami to make the sailings work. But Wonder it was, and everything worked out.

As I stated my mother can’t really afford to cruise, her fiancé said he was going to pay for her to go on Wonder. While on my Grandeur cruise Jan of 2023, I booked her a room on Wonder as well. Before booking, I explained to her Wonder was expensive and if she needed help paying, she needed to let me know ahead of time. She said she wouldn’t because her fiancé would pay. He has no track record of paying whatsoever. But if she believes…….  There was a $200 payment made in April. I started to assume he was going to pay. Final payment for all three cruises was do in Oct. By May the cost of the rooms had risen about 40% I asked her in July if he was going to make FP, otherwise we needed to figure something out before the cost increased more, which it did. She finally told me later in July she couldn’t afford to go and had to cancel. I could have made so many plans if she had told me sooner.

I had paid the deposit, she then asked me for $200, which she used to fake his payment. Even though I booked this through NC, because she made that extra “fake” payment I lost out on $250 . They charged the full deposit amount because $300 had been paid. He was supposed to pay me in full, hence me fronting and losing the deposit. I was going to pay for her to attend the Wonder cruise, but my brother stopped me. My brother always says I am too nice, she needed to learn a lesson. Eating the $250 is a lot less than the $2k it would have cost to bring her along. But I know if she wants to go somewhere, I need to plan to afford it otherwise, she won’t.

I have had flights change 8 times. I like to book my flights and hotels as soon as possible, maybe a week after I officially make travel plans. Considering I booked the cruise in/before Jan, I had flights booked by February. AA is good for aways changing flight schedules and eliminating flights. We were scheduled to fly out on Jan 14 until October of this year. Then my mother’s church decided to have a special banquet that day at 6:30pm, that she must attend. The last AA flight was originally scheduled at 6:53pm. We couldn’t make that, so now we are on the first flight out the day off. I want to add that no flight I book has gone down. In fact, the SWA flights have doubled. Thankfully I had free cancellations on the hotel rooms.

[asquared17]

i did not know you were flying and sailing the same day  

but you can do it!!!

I AM HERE FOR THIS JOURNEY!!!!

[Ampurp85]

The Itinerary:

Sailing from Port Canaveral

Jan15th-20^th: Mariner…...Ports: Cozumel and PDCC

Jan 21^st to 28^th: Wonder…. Ports: ST. Maarten, San Juan, and PDCC

Jan 29^th to Feb 2^nd: Allure……Ports: Nassau and PDCC

Post/Pre-cruise Hotel: Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Port Canaveral, FL Jan 20^th and the 28^th.

Flights: AA and SWA. I am only flying AA but my mother and brother had SWA vouchers to use. So they both will be flying SWA home. I booked them GoPort transfers on disembarkation day as rideshare is often $75+ from PC to MCO.

I did well from a financial point on these cruises. I do and don’t count my casino losses. Since I am going to gamble, as opposed to going on excursions, it is often factored in the cost of entertainment for me.

All of these cruises are casino in nature. I also did the math and what I paid for all three cruises combined, is less than the current cost of a balcony for 3 on Mariner for the dates I am sailing. Another reference: the cost of a 7N interior for two for September of 2024 on Icon is more than what I paid for all these cruises, the add-ons……and flights. My grand total for all three cruises was $2528 before flights and add-ons……and that is 16 days of cruising.

The Mariner cruise was booked with a $300 off certificate I earned on my Odyssey 2022 sailing. I booked a gty balcony that was about $1800 with taxes fees and gratuity. The “you pick” was almost $400 more, if the price was within $100, I would have preferred to pick my own. But I paid $1576 for three people, making it only $106/n pp. I checked in and did the barcode trick, my eMuster is B11 and it tentatively states I have been assigned room 6250. That is forward/border of middle. I prefer aft cabins but I will pretty much stay anywhere as long as I cruise.

The Wonder cruise is my annual free cruise for being prime and all I paid were taxes, fees, and gratuity. I love the VB interiors, so I think I paid like $32 to upgrade to one of those rooms. My total was only $561 for two people, making it only $40/n pp. I chose my room, and it is 10454, which is also forward. I have never been on this ship, but it seems like all the VB interiors are forward because I kept checking, hoping for an aft cabin to open and it never did. To be honest, if was my choice, I would only ever stay in VB interiors. They are my favorite room type: the decent price of an interior with that light feeling of a balcony, without losing out on precious AC.

The Allure cruise was an add-on that was won on my Freedom cruise in April to make prime for 2023/2024. I am in an OV balcony 14274, which is aft. My total for this one was $167, making it $42n/pp. The Allure cruise has $250 freeplay and $50 OBC for booking with Next Cruise. Both. the Mariner and Wonder cruise were part of the Premier pass fiasco, so I got $100 extra OBC for both.

[Ampurp85]

The RUBs came for Wonder at exactly 60 days and on Mariner at 44 days. I had no intentions of bidding on Wonder but the minimum for an OV balcony is $395pp. That’s a minimum of $800 to upgrade, when it was less than that to get a balcony from the beginning. I planned on bidding for Mariner. Since we are in a balcony it is $105 to go to a JS, $120 to go to a GS and $210 to go to a 2BR GS; I bid on the GS and 2BR. The extra $200 for the JS is a waste since they are glorified balconies on the small classes with no real perks.  The plan was for a GS or CLS on Allure. But they have been sold out since Oct and the option to RUB hasn't become available.

Mariner’s check-in opened on the 1^st of dec, coincidentally enough the entertainment for my Allure sailing opened the same day. I chose a 12pm check-in because we get in around 10am and PC is at least an hour away from MCO. 10:30 was the earliest time listed for PC. I have nothing to schedule or plan for on Mariner. So I don’t care about being first on. I need to book dining on Wonder, so 10:30 was needed. The same with Allure. I was able to secure a 10:30am for both.

The black Friday “sale” and Premier Pass Fiasco meant I got a lot of bangs for my OBC and real bucks.

On Mariner I booked the escape room (day 4), my brother has snorkeling at PDCC (day 5) and Snuba at Cozumel (day 3). We got a 3-device package, a 12pk of Evian, and lunch at Jamie’s. Fun fact nothing has populated for embarkation day as far as specialty restaurants lunch go. It has only allowed me to book day 2 or 4 which are sea days. Since Mariner only has Izumi, Chops and Jaime, we plan to partake of JR and Playmakers instead of any other specialty dining. My mother plans to hit all the shows, not that there are as many as an Oasis class, but I will be gambling.

On Wonder I was able to book all the shows plus the puzzle society as soon as I checked in. The start times are from 6:45 to 7:15, as we normally do dinner after 8pm. For this cruise my brother and I have the UDP. There are just enough restaurants to eat at a different one each night without repeating and that is the plan. They stated that pre-booking with the UDP would happen in 2024, starting with Wonder, but it has not appeared for my sailing. Mason jar will be our embarkation brunch. I rarely schedule any shows for day one because I am usually tired from the travel, and it is better to plan for naps. My brother has snorkeling at PDCC. The only port I will be getting off at is San Juan. My bff family is from PR and he gave us great suggestions that don’t require a tour. We got the 12pk of Evian for this cruise as well, but the funny thing is the 2-device Voom cost the same whether if we brought it now or during BF!!!!!

On Allure I booked Giovanni’s for lunch and figured I would use my BOGO D+ offer if I wanted more specialty dining.  I am really hoping to RUB to a suite. I didn’t purchase internet because I planned to use my free 2-days and then my Prime discount on the remaining two. Since this is a short Oasis class, I booked shows for the 1^st night. I figured I would get plenty of rest staying in the hotel the night before. So I can be up late enough to enjoy all the shows. My flight home has changed 5 times and it finally settled on a 5:54pm. So, I booked the Disney Springs Express airport transfer, to kill some time. It was on sale for BF, making it only about $20 more than GoPort.

[WAAAYTOOO]

15 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

nothing has populated for embarkation day as far as specialty restaurants lunch go. It has only allowed me to book day 2 or 4 which are sea days.

This is the case for my upcoming 4-5-24 EX sailing, too.  It's showing no specialties open on embarkation day.  Not sure what's up.  I am patiently checking each day but if it doesn't show something soon, I am going to start making calls.  This is a joke, of course...as well all know that the CS people only see the same thing we see, and there is absolutely NO reason to try CS for a question like this.  UGH.

[OCSC Mike]

I love everything about the cruise portion of this trip... my home port, good deals, and 3 ships I love (you guys know about me & Wonder, was recently on Allure, and Mariner is sentimental from almost 20 years ago but since it now has Playmakers, it would be my current 1st choice Voyager-class ship as well).

I could comment on so much but I'll just say I'm jealous for now and chime in later.

[Sweety]

Have an awesome fantastic on the three cruises.

[Ampurp85]

Day 30

My luggage tags and cruise documents came through around 5am this morning. This was for the 1st sailing. There is no stateroom still. But I normally print everything about a week beforehand.

The RUBs came in for my Allure sailing.  I cried. . The minimum bid for a CLS for this 4n sailing was $1150pp......that's $2300 as a minimum. My rule is I don't pay more than $500/n for suites or hotels. Any higher and I can't find value. At the time of booking it was a little over $1400 to upgrade. I wrongly assumed that was too much and RUB would be lower.

So from now on I will just book the room I want at the offset.

[Lovetocruise2002]

4 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

So from now on I will just book the room I want at the offset.

That's always our strategy. I consider RU to be icing on the cake.

[SweetPea]

On, i don't know how i missed this, but I'm here for the shenanigans, even though there doesn't seem as much as last time!  

So many bloggers here cruise way too much! I feel like the lot of you cruise 3x the amount we cruise one!

Though Mariner gives me PTSD. HATE, hate, hate that ship, though I'm still looking looking forward to your take! xx

[JohnK6404]

WOW! You may need a vacation after your vacation! 

Have an amazing time!!!

[Ampurp85]

13 hours ago, SweetPea said:

On, i don't know how i missed this, but I'm here for the shenanigans, even though there doesn't seem as much as last time!  

So many bloggers here cruise way too much! I feel like the lot of you cruise 3x the amount we cruise one!

Though Mariner gives me PTSD. HATE, hate, hate that ship, though I'm still looking looking forward to your take! xx

I have a problematic relationship to Mariner; it was the ship I was served raw chicken on. I also found the food to be really bad at all the venues and the specialty restaurants as well. But my mother wanted this ship, so........

[OCSC Mike]

I'll defend Mariner! 2nd ship/cruise I was ever on for my 5th anniversary. OK, it's just a sentimental attachment and I haven't been on her in over 17 years... I guess that's not much of a defense.

[Ampurp85]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I'll defend Mariner! 2nd ship/cruise I was ever on for my 5th anniversary. OK, it's just a sentimental attachment and I haven't been on her in over 17 years... I guess that's not much of a defense.

I liked her a lot in 2019. Then I went on her during the restart and it was abysmal. I am planning to go in with open eyes and hope for the best. 

[Sweety]

On 12/15/2023 at 2:17 PM, Sweety said:

Have an awesome fantastic on the three cruises.

My new Shero.

[Sweety]

Booked on Vision today two future cruises. Thinking about adding a third.

[Ampurp85]

I personally think 2-3 cruises are the way to go. If I can get two 7n then I am a happy camper. Plus, as people who have to fly, there are savings involved 

[Ampurp85]

21 days to go.

I meant to update a little while ago, but I caught the flu. I have never had the flu in my life......it is horrible, I would not recommend, zero stars.

I can say that I feel like these next three weeks can't go by fast enough. 

The RUBs of my Allure sailing went down by about $200 but these prices are still insane for a 4N sailing.

 

All the sailings had offers but I only put in bids for the Mariner sailing because they were acceptable. Though I doubt I will win because the sailing is almost sold out on the website.

Speaking of the Mariner sailing, my GTY has not be assigned officially. My setsail has the deck and muster station on it but no official room. The thing I dislike is having to use those basic luggage tags.

I am a light packer, nobody else is . But my brother and I will be sharing a 29in checked bag. Then we each will have a carry-on and personal item. My mother just said she will have three bags .

I didn't realize that the Mariner sailing starts on MLK day, so the potential for a larger number of tiny humans is there. But after cheating death, this won't cramp anything .

Amazon.com: UPPACK Travel Backpack For Women Men Travel Bag Watreproof Hiking Backpack College Laptop Backpack for Traveling on Airplane Travel Essentials Carry on Backpack Flight Approved Light Purple Large : Electronics

I finally broke down and brough one of those travel backpacks, because they seem to be a little more efficient than my other bags I have been traveling with. I also want to shout out @asquared17 for recs on other travel accoutrements. Especially the squeeze pouches, they are 100% better than silicon containers. 

I keep hoping that the ability to book my UDP dinner would pop up before I leave but sadly, it hasn't. However weirdly enough Giovanni's has sold out for lunch on Wonder. But most of the shows are still available to book.  

[Neesa]

The flu is the worst! Speedy recovery to you. At least you have it now & can put it behind you instead of closer to your trip. May I ask what were the minimum bids on the Allure cabins you showed? 

If you are celebrating today, Have a Very Merry Christmas with those you love! Thanks for the update, it was wonderful to read this morning. "Tiny humans" that gave me a chuckle 

[WAAAYTOOO]

When I was maybe 17 years old - way back in the last millennium - I got the Hong Kong Flu and to this day that is the sickest I have ever been !  It was awful.  All I could do was lie in the bed.  I couldn't move. Just remember - that which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger !  I absolutely, totally and completely believe that this is true !

[asquared17]

2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

When I was maybe 17 years old - way back in the last millennium - I got the Hong Kong Flu

omg i have HAD the hong kong flu, too!! i thought i was the only one i knew!! ugh it was bad. 

4 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I also want to shout out @asquared17 for recs on other travel accoutrements. Especially the squeeze pouches, they are 100% better than silicon containers. 

‘s why you have me

4 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I am a light packer, nobody else is 

amen

 

three more weeks to go!!!

[Ampurp85]

@Neesa

The CLS is now $1070pp.

The OS is $780pp, that one was originally $4400, so a nice price drop.

The GS is $600pp.

[Ampurp85]

Also Merry Christmas to you and your families, be safe and spread all the joy. 

p.s.....the Hong Kong flu sounds horrible. 

[Ampurp85]

14 days to go.....

Happy new year everyone 

The GTY for my Mariner sailing was officially assigned on the 30th of December, so about 16 days before sailing. The official room is #6250

Which is right by the stairs and an elevator closer to forward. If this had been a larger class ship, I would have possibly tried to change because the walk to the casino would be rough. But Voyager class is very walkable.

I can now print all the documents for all cruises. I like to make paper copies just in case, something goes wrong with the phone. 

I booked the GoPort transportation for my brother and mother today. 

I made my packing list and I plan to tackle that today, since it is a chill day with nothing going on. I am vacillating about whether I need three bags. I am going to see if I can do 16 cruise days and 2 hotel days with half a 29in luggage and the travel backpack. 

[asquared17]

i urge you to take three bags.  

…for my sanity, if nothing else

[Ampurp85]

7 days to go.

The two bags did not work out . I was so close too; it is this darn Chicago weather. I realized that I would have a coat, boots, and other cold weather accoutrements. And these items need to be packed and stored, so three bags it is. I also forgot with two hotel stays; I need my "I can only get in Chicago" snacks as well .

I have given up on the RUB for Mariner as the suites have been sold out for a while. 

Surprisingly none of the shows on Wonder appear to be sold out. Which could mean that most of the pax are new and don't know to pre-book. The same for Allure, other than the Comedy show, everything is still available to book. 

There is supposed to be a winter storm this week and when we leave it will be single digits, So I am excited for almost 3 whole weeks of warm weather. We hit PDCC on all three sailings, but that is a good casino day, so I probably won't venture off. 

I have a ton of errands to complete this week and I am trying a new salon for my pedicure, so wish me luck. My fur baby knows something is up and has been sleeping around me every chance she gets; she is going to my grandmothers in a couple of days. 

 

[OCSC Mike]

16 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Surprisingly none of the shows on Wonder appear to be sold out. Which could mean that most of the pax are new and don't know to pre-book. The same for Allure, other than the Comedy show, everything is still available to book. 

That's crazy. There were tons of newbies on Wonder in June (like half the ship) and not many D and above but stuff still sold out well before the cruise IIRC.

[asquared17]

three bags.

i am at peace. 

[SweetPea]

Aw, our four-legged peeps always know what's up. That or they just love suitcases. Either way!

[She Sails Away]

On 12/15/2023 at 12:51 PM, Ampurp85 said:

The RUBs came for Wonder at exactly 60 days and on Mariner at 44 days. I had no intentions of bidding on Wonder but the minimum for an OV balcony is $395pp. That’s a minimum of $800 to upgrade, when it was less than that to get a balcony from the beginning. I planned on bidding for Mariner. Since we are in a balcony it is $105 to go to a JS, $120 to go to a GS and $210 to go to a 2BR GS; I bid on the GS and 2BR. The extra $200 for the JS is a waste since they are glorified balconies on the small classes with no real perks.  The plan was for a GS or CLS on Allure. But they have been sold out since Oct and the option to RUB hasn't become available.

Mariner’s check-in opened on the 1^st of dec, coincidentally enough the entertainment for my Allure sailing opened the same day. I chose a 12pm check-in because we get in around 10am and PC is at least an hour away from MCO. 10:30 was the earliest time listed for PC. I have nothing to schedule or plan for on Mariner. So I don’t care about being first on. I need to book dining on Wonder, so 10:30 was needed. The same with Allure. I was able to secure a 10:30am for both.

The black Friday “sale” and Premier Pass Fiasco meant I got a lot of bangs for my OBC and real bucks.

On Mariner I booked the escape room (day 4), my brother has snorkeling at PDCC (day 5) and Snuba at Cozumel (day 3). We got a 3-device package, a 12pk of Evian, and lunch at Jamie’s. Fun fact nothing has populated for embarkation day as far as specialty restaurants lunch go. It has only allowed me to book day 2 or 4 which are sea days. Since Mariner only has Izumi, Chops and Jaime, we plan to partake of JR and Playmakers instead of any other specialty dining. My mother plans to hit all the shows, not that there are as many as an Oasis class, but I will be gambling.

On Wonder I was able to book all the shows plus the puzzle society as soon as I checked in. The start times are from 6:45 to 7:15, as we normally do dinner after 8pm. For this cruise my brother and I have the UDP. There are just enough restaurants to eat at a different one each night without repeating and that is the plan. They stated that pre-booking with the UDP would happen in 2024, starting with Wonder, but it has not appeared for my sailing. Mason jar will be our embarkation brunch. I rarely schedule any shows for day one because I am usually tired from the travel, and it is better to plan for naps. My brother has snorkeling at PDCC. The only port I will be getting off at is San Juan. My bff family is from PR and he gave us great suggestions that don’t require a tour. We got the 12pk of Evian for this cruise as well, but the funny thing is the 2-device Voom cost the same whether if we brought it now or during BF!!!!!

On Allure I booked Giovanni’s for lunch and figured I would use my BOGO D+ offer if I wanted more specialty dining.  I am really hoping to RUB to a suite. I didn’t purchase internet because I planned to use my free 2-days and then my Prime discount on the remaining two. Since this is a short Oasis class, I booked shows for the 1^st night. I figured I would get plenty of rest staying in the hotel the night before. So I can be up late enough to enjoy all the shows. My flight home has changed 5 times and it finally settled on a 5:54pm. So, I booked the Disney Springs Express airport transfer, to kill some time. It was on sale for BF, making it only about $20 more than GoPort.

So much planning and work for you! Wow. Sounds epic and I will be following along for sure!

 

What is The Puzzle Society?

[Ampurp85]

9 minutes ago, She Sails Away said:

So much planning and work for you! Wow. Sounds epic and I will be following along for sure!

 

What is The Puzzle Society?

I believe it is the escape room on Wonder, well their version of it. 

[OCSC Mike]

9 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I believe it is the escape room on Wonder, well their version of it. 

"Version" is the operative word given that it's a blank room with bare walls and puzzles on tables (some still geared towards the Asian market). That said, it was very difficult, we enjoyed it, and the price is right! We finished with one second left and the crew member running it said a very low % of groups actually "escape."

[jbrinkm]

Following!! Eagerly anticipating ALL of the shenanigans by your fellow cruisers...

On 12/19/2023 at 12:26 PM, Ampurp85 said:

I have a problematic relationship to Mariner; it was the ship I was served raw chicken on. I also found the food to be really bad at all the venues and the specialty restaurants as well. But my mother wanted this ship, so........

At least it is the first one! If you have a bad experience this time, you'll have two more immediately to cleanse the palate.

On 12/25/2023 at 9:02 AM, Ampurp85 said:

I meant to update a little while ago, but I caught the flu. I have never had the flu in my life......it is horrible, I would not recommend, zero stars.

 

I finally broke down and brough one of those travel backpacks, because they seem to be a little more efficient than my other bags I have been traveling with. I also want to shout out @asquared17 for recs on other travel accoutrements. Especially the squeeze pouches, they are 100% better than silicon containers. 

I had the flu for the first time probably around 7 years ago - high, high fever, and coughed so hard that I lost my voice and damaged my vocal cords. After doing a bunch of stuff to help, including speech therapy, I had to have surgery to repair them this past summer. It is NO JOKE!!

I'm seriously contemplating buying some of these squeeze pouches myself for my travel bag. Would you be willing to share how you liked them once you start using them?

17 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I believe it is the escape room on Wonder, well their version of it. 

It is strange that Wonder doesn't have a permanent escape room considering how popular they seem to be on other ships. I'm also surprised that it required a reservation ahead of time, but it seems maybe a little different than the puzzle break we did on Allure which took place in Blaze. 

[asquared17]

46 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

I'm seriously contemplating buying some of these squeeze pouches myself for my travel bag. Would you be willing to share how you liked them once you start using them?

hijacking this comment but the squeeze pouches were a GAME CHANGER for me. 

y’all know how much i pack, toiletry wise. this was a great addition to the bag. saved space + weight!! most annoying part is loading them up pre-trip, but the trick is to expand the section at the bottom so it stands up like a triangle instead of a flat pouch. (this will make sense when you get them)

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, jbrinkm said:

It is strange that Wonder doesn't have a permanent escape room considering how popular they seem to be on other ships. I'm also surprised that it required a reservation ahead of time, but it seems maybe a little different than the puzzle break we did on Allure which took place in Blaze.

Wonder was built to be deployed in China. The escape room was designed for that market. When the pandemic hit and Wonder came to the US, they had to dismantle the escape room (along with changing other things around the ship). The crew member that ran it told us that corporate kept promising they would eventually make it a proper escape room but they never did.

We did the puzzle break on Allure in October... and after a little while my wife and I realized we had already done it on another ship many years ago, lol. We didn't remember the final solution until we started solving it though. Wonder's escape room is more like an escape room, not like the puzzle break, it's just held in an empty room at the front of Adventure Ocean.

[Ampurp85]

3 days to go.

Chicago weather is horrible. Almost 2K flights have been cancelled. I am so thankful that I wasn't traveling before Saturday. It might still be a mess to fly out in below zero weather but at least I know I can fly out. 

It snowed quite a bit and there is still one more winter advisory in effect for more bad weather. It will be negative digits on Sun and Mon to top off all this wintry mix of snow/rain. I hope those who cruise on Sat/Sun make it to their destinations safely and on-time.

CP closes today and I have received several emails telling me to book my dining, excursions and drink packages. Also, CP said there was a sale on Hideaway passes but they were "sold" out on all my sailings........I personally don't ever think they were available. Shows are still available to be booked for Wonder and Allure, I changed two of my shows and all the times were available.

Another confusing thing is the Solurium Bistro became available to book on Wonder yesterday. Well, it popped up in CP but it says, 'We're stuffed! reservations are not currently available." I assumed since we are sailing around certain Jewish holidays it would be reserved for kosher dinning . 

I received the "arrive at your........" email which has the link for stateroom preferences. I asked for the beds to be split but I don't think they actually read those documents . Mariner will be in terminal 5 and both Allure and Wonder will be terminal 1.  

Luggage was packed and sat in the living room to be out of the way. Then the winter storm happened and so luggage is now open in the middle of the floor for reconfiguration. When you live in Chicago you own multiple boots and coats to contend with the weather and sacrifices need to be made.

As it stands there are 8 bags between the 3 of us , thankfully only one of them is big. 

I know it's only been three months since my last cruise, but I am excited to not have to cook, clean, or wear a lot of clothes. 

 

[Sweety]

I am at school looking at the window. Hubby is picking me up. I don't like driving in the snow. Have a peaceful flight and cruise. 

[OCSC Mike]

On 12/15/2023 at 12:46 PM, Ampurp85 said:

he Wonder cruise is my annual free cruise for being prime and all I paid were taxes, fees, and gratuity. I love the VB interiors, so I think I paid like $32 to upgrade to one of those rooms. My total was only $561 for two people, making it only $40/n pp. I chose my room, and it is 10454, which is also forward. I have never been on this ship, but it seems like all the VB interiors are forward because I kept checking, hoping for an aft cabin to open and it never did.

I know it's random but I just noticed this. All 4 of my future Wonders are deck 10 forward interiors (standard, not VB). We probably would have preferred aft but after looking at several cabin videos, I kept seeing an awful layout in aft interiors where you didn't even get a love seat, just a small chair. Obviously I don't care much about my cabin but I like my small couch so I used the info at hand and went with forward. As long as we're somewhere between the upper and lower decks so I can avoid elevators without having to walk 10 flights, I'm content.

[Vacation Crazy]

15 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Another confusing thing is the Solurium Bistro became available to book on Wonder yesterday. Well, it popped up in CP but it says, 'We're stuffed! reservations are not currently available." I assumed since we are sailing around certain Jewish holidays it would be reserved for kosher dinning . 

We are on your Wonder sailing.  The Facebook group said it is Yeshiva week.  The Solarium Bistro is serving Kosher meals all week. It is only available to those who booked a  package.  

We fly out next Saturday.  It is a mess in Michigan this morning.  Safe travels to you!

[Ampurp85]

20 minutes ago, Vacation Crazy said:

We are on your Wonder sailing.  The Facebook group said it is Yeshiva week.  The Solarium Bistro is serving Kosher meals all week. It is only available to those who booked a  package.  

We fly out next Saturday.  It is a mess in Michigan this morning.  Safe travels to you!

This was how it was on Oasis last year when I sailed around this time. That was why I was confused it seem available to book, when it actually isn't.