Goodtime Cruizin

I was watching the BOGO sale for Adventure of the Sea, promenade cabin, for July and decided not to book.

 

Then they extended the sale so I looked at it again. I had recorded the price from January and the price now for the same cabin, same time, same ship is $911 lower than it was in January so I booked.

 

I'm Canadian and since our dollar even went down a few cents over that period I was very surprised that the price went down.

 

Could someone clue me in though on what the RC rules are if the price goes lower yet? Does it have to be before final payment? I've done this on Carnival.....one cruise went down 5 times before final payment and I got the lower price every time.

Yes you can seek and receive the price drops until final payments. They, RCL won't call you. You'll have to call them. If using a TA, the good ones should call/email you and extend the price reductions. If they don't, you need to find another TA.

The Cruising Industry as a whole is experiencing a remendous amount of growth with more & more customers than ever before. RCL appears to be taking the role of pricing standards for the other Cruise lines. Time will tell if this strategy will work. In the first 10 days of May 2014, the BOGHO was severely discounted and many seasoned cruisers booked multiple cruises. We did. Eventually, these cruise dates will come & go and when they do, RCL will most likely offer some other form of sale or discounting to rapidly fill a large portion of their cabins. The balance of unfilled cabins will be then priced much much higher to balance the gross income dollars per sail.

If RCL fails to do this, many will begin shopping/pricing other Cruiselines and lose some market share. I suspect they have a cost avg and gross dollar avg per sailing that they target & strive for.

Would you happen to have a link to that site? I'd like to bookmark that.

I love to CRUISE and see the FISH in the sea and sometimes use a NET to catch them!

:D

I noticed on our last cruise, the Liberty in Sept, there always a wait server walking around with a tray full of the 'drinks of the day'. That tray was constantly being offered all day, every day.

It's very effective. I've had a few family members and friends book w/ RCL and mention to me (in a positive fashion) of BOGHO pricing. I send them the link to a site that monitors the pricing and shows the trend line of pricing so they can get an idea of what to look for and how they might qualify for a better rate in their future.

Really looking for the Alaskan dates & ships. I imagine they will be the same itineraries. Any expected released dates, or guess as when they might release?

Here is what I do. First, get on the roll call.

 

I suggest that anyone that would like to meet me, I choose a pool bar, and tell them I will be there two hours before sail away.

 

I tell them what I will be wearing, so they can easily see who I am.

 

I get to the bar a half hour early, and introduce myself to the bartender, who will become my best and dearest friend throughout the cruise. I tell him that about 10 to 30 people will be joining me soon, and I give him a nice tip.

 

When folks start arriving, we meet, introduce ourselves, and I introduce them to my new dearest friend by name.

 

You cannot believe the "special service" I get throughout the remainder of the cruise.

Like!

Thanks for all the great info on the drink packages. If I am reading these right, the only difference in the premium and Ultimate is specialty coffees and fresh juice? Is that correct?

Also I did look through the link of drinks/alcohol listed for the ship. I did not see Jack Daniels American Honey. Does anyone know if they have this anywhere on the ship??????

I do not believe so. They will have JD, but the Honey line is doubtful. Last March out of Galveston on the Navigator, they had one bottle on the entire ship of Crown. It was at the Sky Bar. Few peeps will drink Crown while sunning by the pool and it's probably why they had it! Needless to say, the bartender at the Schooner bar retrieved it for me and actually stashed it away after she confirmed with the bar manager that there was no more Crown on board. She eanred a few extra bucks for that one!

You're pretty much correct on the specialty coffees and juices. On another note, the Premium Pkg covers all drinks up to $10. Some of RCL's specialty drinks are priced at $12. If you order one of these make sure that you are only charged the difference.

Liberty of the Seas should be based in Galveston from May, 2016. She is scheduled in Grand Cayman well into 2018.

 

The port schedule in Grand Cayman appears to indicate the Liberty will be re-positioned from Cape Liberty in May of 2016 and take Navigator's place.

 

This is only based on this port schedule, but tends to indicate that Liberty makes this move.

I'm not exactly sure when Liberty begins to sail out of Galveston. But we're booked on a cruise in Feb 2016 to the Western Carribean.

As was said, if you decide the Navigator, fly into Hobby, via Southwest. Also, the Navigator has Sabore, a great Mexican food specialty dining. (and the best Margaritas on the ship) :D

I was told its 15 mins...but I have not found that anywhere in the fine print. But it has happend to me personally. Seems like it depends on the bartender serving you to be honest.....

 

I think others have posted here about the 15 min wait as well, but not sure.

I've purchased the package for three different cruises and have never had any issue with the alleged 15 min wait rule. Personally, I don't think there is one. Or I should say, there is not one in place for their software when the bartender enters the order.

To sum it up, NO, I do not think there is an issue or a 15 min ruling.

We're researching and considering an Alaskan Cruise on the Millienium in August 2016. Vancouver to Seward. A few questions..

1. Am I right to understand that the Afts are A1 priced and include upgrades like the Blu Dining room?

2. The Sweet 16 cabins are priced as C2 but does not include upgrades such as Blu?

3. Are Aft balconies as large as the Sweet 16 balconies?

4. The difference in cost between an Aft (A1) & a Sweet 16 (C2) is $700 for both of us. Is the food & service that much better in Blu than the MDR?

Thanks!

We've sailed on the Millie and her sisters. Did the Summit in Alaska and without a doubt the best view is from an aft cabin. The deck 11 afts are great but for Alaska you'd want deck 6,7, or 8.

The deck 11 afts are above the bar and the view is somewhat obscured. The lower decks are above the wake and offer a cleaner view.

If you can grab an aft don't hesitate. There aren't many of them and they go fast.

You'll love Alaska!

OK. This sounds good, but a few more questions as I'm planning a Millie/alaskan cruise as well. As I understand, the Aqua Class allows for the Blu dining room. Are there any Aqua class afts on the decks you mentioned?

Love & Marriage

 

Note: If you have never seen Love & Marriage before, this post contains SPOILERS (you don't want to spoil your first time because that's probably the funniest it will ever be).

 

I was excited for the Love & Marriage Game Show. It was the first show that actually interested me. Getting pretty sick of the "Ooohy, oohy, let's get groovy baby!" and "Tarzan, Tarzan, where is my Tarzan?" audition lines. I've been watching this show for maybe ten years (yeah, as a kid I found that they play it on the stateroom televisions... beware, parents of corruptible children), and they always use the same audition pieces! Can they not get anymore creative?

 

The audience members have certainly gotten raunchier, though. I noticed that though we were voting by applause, two times when it was close, the Activities Director, Alison, chose to go ahead and eliminate the overly intoxicated and affectionate couples. So if you want to play the game, I would suggest keeping it PG-13 in the auditions because they tend to not want unpredictable, R-rated people on the stage.

 

The cruise director, Jamie Fentiman, is a bit long-winded for my taste. Everything he did, he would drag out to last forever. From the morning show, to Love & Marriage and Quest, Jamie really liked to hear himself talk. Sure, he had some funny lines, but sometimes less is more. Stop when you're ahead.

 

Love & Marriage by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The show lasted nearly two hours! Ridiculous! We were so exhausted afterwards that we went straight to bed.

 

Towel Animal by vshingl, on Flickr

Our very first cruise w/ Royal, we tried out for the L&M show. We never heard of it before but thought it would be fun & we wanted to embarrass our adult kids Son & his wife, and the daughter) that were with us. It didn't disappoint & neither did we. We were selected via the Tarzan audition as you mentioned. They gave us the CD and neither of us wish to re-live it again. Sometimes what goes on the ship, stays on the ship. But it was indeed a fun time. :D Our table mates and our kids all sat together and they able to snap some great shots of the kid's faces at our answers. Good times I tell you, good times! BTW, we placed 2nd. Missed first by I think 10 pts.

We're sailing on the Indy in Oct, so we're following along!

Thank you for your response. We will be traveling in July, so there's a chance, but not as great as currently.

 

And may I add that I feel as if it's a bit of a celebrity-cruise-critic sighting to have THE Galveston Cruiser answer my question? :D

Living in Houston, I only wished we could get a bit on fog in the month of May. :D

That would mean we would get some cool air! If you self embark & have a car waiting to drive to Hobby, you should be fine. I will add this, if you plan to buy liquor and are asked if you have any, you will be directed to a secondary line of customs. The state of Texas now charges taxes to Texas residents for the purchase of liquor. Even if you are not a resident of Texas, and tell them you have liquor, you will be directed to this 2nd line. They'll ask you to show ID, and most likely wave you through if you're not from Texas. But the line may or may not back up a bit. But even with this occurence, you should still make it to Hobby by 10am.

Following!

We're cruising on the Indy in Oct so I'm looking forward to your review. :D

We haven't booked anything since the first week of May 2014 when we booked two cruises. One in 2015 & one in 2016. We will not book another cruise until the price drops back down. If it doesn't, it doesn't. We are looking to book an Alaskan Cruise for 2017, so we have time. If we can't find a decent price, then we'll move on to another cruise line.

BTW, we live in Houston, and Carnival is running major radio spots for cruises out of Galveston promoting 30% off. Princess typically rolls out their ads around March. I do think that eventually, RC will come back down to earth.

Ok, I'll be the bad guy. Why would RCCL owe you money back because the rates dropped after you booked? This happens all the time with every business. If I go to a store and buy a shirt for $50 and then a month later the shirt is on sale for $30 should the store refund me $20? Of course not. When I buy a car early in the model year for $30,000 then at the start of the new model year they discount the unsold "older year cars" by $5,000 should I get a refund of $5000? Of course not.

When you book a cruise, you do it knowing full well the price could go down or up. I will admit I don't get why refunds are any different in the UK than the US, but it is what it is. If the cost had gone up would you be expected to pay more? No, you'd be excited you got the best deal.

Sorry, not meaning to sound "flaming," but I am a bit surprised that anyone expects a refund that they aren't entitled to as a "gesture of goodwill." It's just the chance we take when we book a cruise, buy a car, buy a plane ticket, etc.

Why? Because the product has not been purchased! Using your analogy of a store bought purchase, in this case, the purchase would be considered a "Lay-a-way".

My thoughts anyway. But having said this, there are rules in play and the OP has a choice to make.

Our two booked cruises remained the same. I'm thinking w/ the improved economy in the US, we might not see price drops as we have the past 5-7 yrs. But who knows? But I have a monitor set up on both cruises. We're now looking at an Alaskan cruise so we're constantly checking rates.

Typically speaking, Spring Breaks, Holidays, and summer months the rates are generally higher. Although this does not always hold true. If you book now and the rate drops before the final payment date you can opt for the lower price.

Enjoy your cruise.

Well, I leave Monday on the 17th on the Liberty and just can't for the life of me get my my time dining reservations done.

 

Oh well.

 

Hopefully we will be able to get a table!

We were on the Liberty in Sept and here's what we did. We went straight to Guest Services to determine the times of any and all night time shows & entertainment. After making our selections of what to see and at what time, we then slected what nights for specialty dining. Once this was done, we went straight to the MDR assigned to us. A representitive was there taking reservations. We set our times per night, large table and small table based on our schedule. It worked great for us. My suggestion is that you do the same as there were alot of people standing for tables after 8pm. It appeared to us that 'prime time was between 6- 7:30pm.

BTW, if you plan to have dinner at any specialty restaurant, don't forget to book your reservations when you board as well.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

I could have done that but didn't. Just not very impressed by how RCCL handled the situation onboard.

I of course was not around at the time, but why did you not insist on a different time going forward? It's very easy & feasible. At least it is with my experience of MTD. We actually ate 4 different times at 3 diffrent tables with MTD. We just asked and they accommodated.

try sea scanner dot com

I booked a couple of cruises right before the BOGOHO sale went into effect, and my price point was MUCH lower than the BOGOHO cost. (as in $1,000 less for the cheapest balcony on Navigator). For me the BOGO was no sale at all.

 

But personally, I think the BOGO probably worked extremely well for RCI and resulted in greater numbers of bookings and less availability on many cruises, so they can charge through the roof for limited inventory left on some sailings.

 

As a cruiser, I'm not personally a fan of their "sales" but I think from an investor's standpoint, they may be genius.

Did you book before May 1st ?