the more ports the better

The new JW Marriott is across the street and a few blocks from the port. It’s flat and even new pavers so an easy walk with luggage. The Four Seasons in Sultanahmet is really nice and in the middle of all the ancient sights. It was once a prison. with the taxi, negotiate price up front, be firm, and pay in exact change, we had friends receive counterfeit euros as change once.

We sailed on Marina in FP a few years ago and stayed at the airport hotel, barely passable, would never stay there again. We just sailed on Paul Gauguin a few weeks ago in Sept. We stayed at the new hilton 2 days pre cruise. It is a perfect precruise choice. Close and easy, both for the airport and the cruise port. It was completely gutted and redone, they did a great job. Many of the passengers on our sailing were there too. A lot of fun! Flying in the day of the cruise is risky, if any flight is delayed or cancelled, it’s not like there are a lot of alternatives to get you there, you have to wait until the next day at which point you miss the ship. Air Tahiti is very prompt though for inter island flights in case you miss the sailing. We stayed a week post cruise at the SR Bora Bora, heaven!

We were next to the cooking classes on out last cruise in May on Riveria. I think 12014. No noise at all and being so close to the elevator was incredibly convenient.

I get 8 miles per dollar spent on cruises. And yea, Pinot, I agree, it’s pretty unusual that I don’t have 1 mil FF miles I’m my acct. I just spent 500k on biz class to Singapore for my spring trip on Nautica Singapore to Dubai so I’m lite now but it will be back up there soon. It is frustrating that the mileage requirements are so high but it’s all a game, they make them easy to earn to rope you in but difficult to spend. Realistically though, we are getting free biz class flights, just not as frequently as we wish.

You could identify as a two gay men and book with Atlantis

Speaking of activities, I have done a cooking class exactly once in many cruises as I can never secure a reservation. I only was able to reserve the one because we missed a port due to weather so they added a class and I happened to be in the concierge lounge when they were adding it so I was able to reserve it. What is the secret to secure a cooking class reservations????

I can’t say I’m willing to give up my United card just yet as I use it to book cruises and a typical sailing nets around 150,000 miles. Two sailings and we have two RT biz tickets as long as I’m flexible with days and itineraries. So we typically get a freebie biz class ticket every other sailing. Plus I have a couple of adult kids with disabilities that cannot travel on their own. I sail with them two or three times per year, sometimes we fly to Europe but most of the time we are on a Giant Royal Caribbean Symphony Class ship sailing from FL. so I apply the 80,000 miles earned from the kids sailing to my account and purchase biz tics for Me and hubby for our interesting travels.

I agree, the dynamic pricing is ridiculous. I find that I purchase tickets for business travel and save miles for personal travel. I used to try to book my business transcontinental flights with miles but it’s really difficult when you are locked into dates. I just booked Singapore for a May sailing for 275,000 miles pp. it used to be that saver fares were 90,000. I saw a non stop Chicago to Rome for 350,000. It is getting impossible. Maybe I should try AA. It’s easy enough to rack up a bunch of miles between travel, cruising and credit cards.

If you use a TA, plans can be made by sending an email. No waiting on the phone. Plus most TA’s have perks such as onboard credit, spa credit, drink packages, prepaid gratuities, etc. UA and AA have cruise divisions and if you book with their TA’s you get a bunch of FF miles instead of OBC. Helpful for biz tickets. Basically, there is no down side to using one and the benefits can be great.

I am a plus 1 for the fact that UA answers the phone and has great customer service, plus they work with you on routings. Also, if you are stuck in the airport with a late or cancelled flight, you can always pop into a UA club and rebook. They will confirm you on the next available flight and put you standby for several earlier flights just in case there are no shows. Sometimes you get lucky. Flatbush, I do have lifetime gold on UA, closing in on lifetime platinum. I could kick myself as I have just short of 1 mil on American too. If I would have stuck to UA, I would be closing in on lifetime 1k. Now that would be nice for retirement next year but I just wasn’t that smart in the early days.

The Crown Plaza at placa de espanya is reasonable, nice and right next to the main metro and train stations. Easy train trip Monserrat, at the base of the castle, near the fountains, and easy metro to Las Ramblas and anywhere else. Plus it is on the port side of the city, 5 min cab at best. We have also stayed at the Hotel Colon on cathedral square, nice but in the middle everything, and where the pick pockets hang out. I was pickpocketed there and lost a little Prada wallet on a chain so not good memories.

My other issue is that if I earn the PQP for this flight, it will put me over the 1k point for next year. This makes travel a bit nicer throughout the year as I have a UA branded club card so I’m always at the top of the upgrade list when I hit 1k. It is fairly unusual to not get upgraded for domestic flights in that situation. Not sure if it counts towards PQP if I ticket the flight on LH. I’ve had a bunch of spine surgery and my cord is damaged. Flying coach is challenging.

I do understand that I cannot purchase the tickets on their site, they just give you the prices and flight codes. LTH, yes, the flights are on UA metal to and from Frankfort and on LH metal to Rome and from Naples. I prefer UA 787’s so I try to book on UA operated flights. These are 787-10’s both overseas portions so nice spacious biz class. My only guess is that LH is pricing the flights much more reasonable than UA and that is where the third party sites are pulling their pricing from. Nothing else makes sense. For $4600 I’ll buy directly from LH as their customer service is comparable to UA.

Thanks LTH. They are the same fare class. United has two levels of biz class, I’m looking at the non refundable on all the sites. It’s crazy. I can understand if they are selling bulk fares to a travel agent, however, I can purchase the same lower fare on the same flights directly from Lufthansa as both flights are United to and from Frankfort, and the short hops to Rome and from Naples are on Lufthansa. It’s crazy. I guess I’ll book on Lufthansa as any issues will probably be in Frankfort so if I need customer service, I can talk to someone in the senators lounge. I cannot for the life of me figure out why they would rather not have me purchase the fare directly from them.

Hi Flatbush, I used the ITA matrix website, excellent, thx. I am purchasing biz air and the matrix says $4300. The UA website says $6600. I can purchase on Expedia, Lufthansa, Kayak, Orbitz etc for $4300. I called United and they will NOT match the price. Really irritates me. I made her check with a supervisor, same result! How do you get them to match it? Obviously, I’m not paying an extra $4600 for the privilege of booking on United. Any pointers would be great. Thx!!

Honestly, it is a mystery! I cannot think of a single reason why NCL does not have the same program and purchasing power as RCCL. I can see that CCL would have more buying power as they have so many lines and ships but RCCL is not a huge company compared to NCL. I believe that a very large percentage of their clientele would purchase business air through O if they had decent rates. Certainly if I were flying to somewhere like Singapore or Australia and I could purchase discounted business air, it would factor into the sailing I choose, ie O or Regent vs Seabourn or Silver Seas. I understand that some would choose O regardless but business air is certainly a factor for many with all other things being equal.

My TA always puts it in my booking. I’m not sure how it’s done but it is always there. This is how it shows up on my bookings. First it says you may qualify, then they verify your status and it shows up as credit. Your bonus offers included with your reservation are always better when you book with us. MAY QUALIFY FOR UA MP OCE PREMIER OFFER UPON STATUS VALIDATION Number of Offers: 1 From: OCEANIA CRUISES Date: March 31, 2021 PREMIER STATUS OFFER: $200 ONBOARD CREDIT Number of Offers: 1 From: OCEANIA CRUISES Date: March 31, 2021

United Airlines Premire members get $200 OBC. That plus shareholder credit and O club membership adds up, especially once you reach the level where gratuities are included. We always have plenty for drinks and spa treatments even before O Choice.

BA transfer is another but, I’m with you, trains are the way to go when possible.

Fly from a hub if possible, between hubs is even better. The regional airports are having the most issues with cancellations and changes and the drive time to a hub if possible may be worth it. We were flying Indianapolis-San Francisco-Papeete next month. My IND to SFO segments were changed so many times that I called United this morning and changed the IND flights to Chicago. It’s an hour longer drive to O’hare but I’m flying hub to hub ORD to SFO making my chances of catching my PPT flight much greater. Even so, we still booked 2 nights in PPT before the sailing just in case! Err on the side of caution nowadays.

Thanks for the info, I’ll be sure to book 14 days in advance. Kind of disappointing that they don’t let you pay the difference bit I can’t complain for the price. It’s a 7 day sailing within 90 days of sailing so I’m sure they are just trying to fill it hence the ultimate offer. I have a conference in Rome a few days after the sailing ends in Barcelona so I figured, why not, I can hop a cheap flight to Rome at the end of the sailing but I’ve never had the ultimate package, I always just take the shipboard credit or cruise only and book tours on my own. Thanks again to both of you!

I just booked a last minute sailing and my TA offered the elusive OLife ultimate package offer. I have never done an O excursion. I have always arranged my own shore excursions and tend to be obsessive about it but we get two free excursions each so I might as well use them! I understand no OS or OE but can you pay the difference. Also, is there a limit on the cost of the excursion? There is one in Palma for $279. Can I pay the difference from whatever the included excursion price limit is and $279.00? There is also one to Eze which is great as Eze is a PITA to get there and back at convenient times. Taxis don’t like it and Uber won’t go there. That is $160 so I assume it will be ok. Can someone explain the details, limitations etc, of the rules much appreciated!

We use the gym a lot. Yoga classes are good. The ellipticals are pretty good too and have fantastic views. There are a few spin bikes and weights, machine and free. It’s well used but never too crowded. We are usually beat and dazed after a day walking around in port but even a half hour on the elliptical really invigorates. Getting on it is the hard part.

Flatbush, do you book your sailings through United?

I disagree strongly that FF miles and Marriott points are not worth it!!! FF miles are tricky but extraordinarily valuable. In the past year, I acquired 16 one way business class tickets to Europe, all at the 60-75 mile range per ticket. That is easily a savings of 30k. Just remember that you can change flights with no charge. Grab whatever flight you can get as soon as you think you may go somewhere at a “saver” rate, maybe not so saver anymore, but they are out there. Check daily, with a vpn if possible but not necessary as FF miles pretty much are available or not unlike pricing. You can change you flight as better flights open, sometimes they are only available for a day or so. Also, keep open the option of flying to a European, Asian … hub then flying coach on a revenue ticket for the connection. 9 hours on business to Frankfort followed by 1 hour in coach on Lufthansa is no big deal. Flexibility and being adventurous is key. Sometimes we book our precruise stay depending on where there are ff saver biz fares. For example, if you sail from Venice but there a saver fares to Milan, we will fly in there, see the last supper, Zermatt, maybe a few days in Bellagio then take a very comfy frecca train right in to the center of Venice. I looked for FF tickets to Papeete end of next month and ended up just buying them as that is one of the routes where business rarely opens up for saver FF miles so there are times it won’t work but typically, something works out. Also, I am staying at the St Regis Bora Bora with Marriott points saving $8000, no issue booking. I paid an upgrade charge for a premier OWB but could have stayed in a regular room on points alone. Also in May, I stayed at the Danieli in Venice in a fantastic lagoon view room for 5 nights for less than $3000 using points for a base room then upgrading with cash saving over $5000. These programs do save a lot of money, at least they do for us!!!