jayally1968

I got a postcard today for the 2024 Cruise and travel showcase and they are using my previous name so it's from a mailing list. I live close to Long Beach, CA and a free cruise sounds fun and I am so frugal and such a bargain hunter I would never agree to sign up for a timeshare and have no need for a personal travel agency because I like to do my own travel bookings and pay with credit card miles.   How did it work out for those that attended the 2023 "showcase" and did anyone actually go on a trip?

I'm fine with wasting 90 mins but not if they make you jump through too many hoops.  If I am one of the first 50 callers I will also receive $100 dining savings card...I've had something like this before and you have to spend a certain amount at the resturaunt in order to get a discount so that is definately not worth it. 

I am renting a car for our July 16th port day in Haines. I was hoping we would be able to go to Skagway and do the white mountain train for my Dad but that will quickly be out of our budget with the Ferry crossing cost + the train and I worry about the time it would take. We will be on the Cunard QE and in port from 7am - 9pm and I will have a rental car from around 9am - 6pm. Any suggestions on what to do?

I was thinking about driving the Haines highway and stopping at the Bald Eagle preserve and then going up to Haines junction but I don't want to worry about not getting back to drop off the car in time. It will be my husband and I in our 50's and my parents in their 80's. I looked at tours but they would all end up costing more than a car rental and none of them seemed that interesting or would require moderate activity. 

On 7/29/2023 at 3:53 PM, BLH613 said:

@NewCruiser-2023Thanks so much for the update! We're cruising in mid-August so probably just after you? Coincidentally our pre-cruise hotel (the Auberge) also replied to an email and confirmed we could store luggage storage for a few hours (a week after our check-out!) and we'll try to take advantage of that but I'm glad to have a backup plan just in case! Our flight doesn't depart until after 5 pm and we can't even check bags at the airport until two hours prior. Glad to have someplace to drop luggage and get in a little more exploring. 

@blh613 - We are staying at the Aubrege pre-cruise and have a 4:30pm return flight after our 11 night cruise and need luggage storage so we can explore the city a bit before taking the skytrain to the airport. Did you end up using the Auberge after your cruise to hold your bags? If not, what did you do? How long a walk was it to and from Canada Place? I will be traveling with my 82 and 78 yr old parents. Thank you for any answers!! 

I booked the Norweigen Bliss for a June 2024 Alaska cruise. I was initially impressed with the Free at Sea promotion and booked a Deck 15 Suite Balcony room through Costco. After booking I got a detailed statement which shows how much we paid just for the Alcohol package gratuties. My husband and I are not alcohol drinkers so I called Costco to ask if we could remove the alcohol package and substitute the soda package. He removed the package and told me there were no substutions.  I have since read somewhere they make exceptions for non-drinkers or those under 21 and include the soda package instead. I called costco back and the agent said she spoke to Norweigen and they do not do this and I must have my information wrong. I am about to cancel this trip since it is so expensive and I booked it on a whim and while I was so excited about the trip, it is now giving me a bad taste. The zip line excursions on Icy Straight (only able to book via the cruise) is more expensive than other lines and the $50 doesn't do much to compensate for the higher prices. 

Did I read it wrong and has anyone had success in getting the Free at Sea alcohol package changed to a soda package?  

Thank you!

My last QM2 cruise was in 2018 and I thoroughly enjoyed the daily watercolor art class. I know a lot of things have changed since then but can anyone let me know if they're still doing them? I will be cruising July 14th 2023.

We have 2 full days in Southampton and are going to Portsmouth to see https://www.hms-victory.com/ and then depending on weather go Corfu to visit https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/corfe-castle where my Mother used to go to as a child. We are on the May 17th sailing and she did book and choose deck 13 while on her last voyage in 2017 because she wants to see the new staterooms. She doesn't believe in spending extra money for a balcony or window because she doesn't spend much time in her cabin except to sleep.  When adding me to her booking she asked about upgrades but was told the ship is fully booked but maybe something will change when we check in. :-) 

3 hours ago, myjillian said:

Have a wonderful voyage with your mother.  I made many with mine and do miss her since she has been gone.  Enjoy your time with her and congrats on your daughters graduation.  Vermont is a beautiful state and I'm sure she enjoyed going to college there.😃

Thank you,  I was thinking that too since she has been getting sick more often and will be 74 this month and there may not be many more trips. This was a very last minute trip  to coordindate with my work and the added stress of canceling and rebooking so many things I already had in place from months ago.  My daughter is so done with Vermont winters and glad to be heading home to Southern California with a  dual degree in Art and Phsycology from Middlebury College! 

My Mom added me to the booking today for $470, she thought she had paid for a double but it was a single supplement and its an inside on deck 13, #13019. I hope there isn't any vibration I read about and I need to ask if she booked this room on purpose since it is so high up and far from everything. Her last trip she and my brother were upgraded at port to a balcony cabin...I can only wish!   Our last trip was for 3 weeks in October 2016 to Ireland, England then the QM2 and by the time we boarded we were ready for some alone time on the ship and pretty much just saw each other for dinner.  I will arrive 3 days prior to sailing so we can explore southampton. 

I am accompanying my Mother on the QM2 to NYC May 17th. She is a platimum member and this will be my 2nd cruise. Since I am her daughter and we are on the same booking am I allowed to attend the parties and use the priorty lounge? It would be weird to leave her at the door, she is getting older and has been chronically ill and needs a companion when she travels. Her friend canceled and she lured me onboard with all of her internet minutes so I could keep in touch with work and all I had to do was buy a one way ticket from Los Angeles.  I already had a trip planned May 19th to NYC and had to change flights and all kinds of things just to go with her so it wasn't a decision easily made. My daughter is graduating from college May 26 so it is working out (thankfully!) that I will be arriving in NYC on the 24th and then driving straight to Vermont. 

Thanks for all the advice! I ended up booking the Triumph in a 6C Oceanview room 2280. I got $50 OBC from Carnival and $50 from AARP (I joined to get discount gift cards but they don't have any right now). Total price for 2 people was $771 with $98 deposit. I am glad someone mentioned hotels so I booked a reservation at the Homewood Suites French Quarter that is listed as #1 out of 167 hotels in New Orleans for $161/night with AAA for a total of $562.42 for 3 nights. They have free breakfast, snacks and wifi and on the trolley line and walking distance to most things. My fiance is a jambalaya and jazz fan so I opted for more time in New Orleans plus he is a history buff and we will for sure check out the WWII musuem. Already this is starting to cost more than I expected but isn't that always the case??

Hi,

I am already missing our October Hawaii Cruise so another bucket list is New Orleans. I would travel around mid to late November 2018. There are 7 days cruises on the Dream from New Orleans > Montego Bay > Grand Cayman > Cozumel > New Orleans for $1233 Oceanview and 5 day cruise on the Triumph > New Orleans > Cozumel > Progreso > New Orleans for $791 Oceanview. I would like to explore New Orleans either before or after the cruise so the shorter one might give us more time. We are in CA so airfare has to be factored in.

Which would you choose? I have never been on either ship or either location and my Mexican experience has only been Ensenada and we don't even bother to get off the ship! I've only been on the Miracle, Imagination and Inspiration with Carnival but we just turned gold so thinking its a good idea to stick with one cruise line.

I'm on the Hawaii October MIRACLE and I'm going to be 49 and my fiance is 47. There is a large, fun and very active facebook group and there are old (60) and young (30 with kids) people on this trip. We have lots of fun things planned so I dont think it will be boring at all!

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Forgive us, but we aren't quite sure where "up there" is that you want to head to at 9 p.m.

Sorry, I meant back to the ship.

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I am renting a car from Dollar Rent-A-Car and on the Carnival miracle docking in Kahului at 10am. I have reservations for the old Lahaina luau and I was thinking we could go up to the crater during the day and then over to the luau. I know it's about an hour drive from the port and the ship leaves at 11 PM. I think the luau ends at 8:45 so I figure we would probably head up there about 9 PM, stop for gas and then drop the rental car off, they close at 10:30 PM. Do you think this is something that we could do? Or is it a bit too ambitious? I am paranoid about being late for things and I certainly don't want to miss our ship!

Thanks to advice here I think we are leaning towards a Long Island City hotel. Do you know if any of them offer a free LGA shuttle service or how much is a car service like Dial 7 that I keep reading about would run? I live near Los Angeles so I always opt for a rental car when I travel but NYC is out of my comfort zone!!

Thanks for the replies! Long Island City sounds like a doable option and it is between booklyn and La Guardia so might not be too hard to get to from the cruise terminal. I will see how much we can come up with if we want to stay in Manhatten but it looks like I need to budget at least $200 a night to include the taxes and fees just to stay in Long Island city. This is a long and expensive trip so we are trying to keep it reasonable.

I checked out La Quinta in LIC and they have a King bed for Per Night Rate: 144.00 USD

Subtotal: 288.00 USD

Estimated Tax*: 49.48USD

Estimated Total with Tax*: 337.48 USD. It ranks #24 out of 25 hotels on tripadvisor and I would rather have 2 twins at the

Nesva hotel which is #4 on tripadvisor and would be $ 326.00

Total Tax(es): $ 55.09

Total Amount (with Tax): $ 381.09 for 2 twins with a balcony view (same price without balcony). There are other options as well if we want to pay a little more and maybe I can priceline something in the area.

My Mom's idea of a hotel is something super cheap and less than $100/night because she just wants somewhere to sleep. She doesn't mind staying on someone's couch and I am sure I will have my share of the floor but I prefer comfort and would be fine with a 2 1/2 - 3 star. I would like to keep it under $150 a night and we need 2 queen beds. The last time I traveled to Europe with my Mom and shared a bed with her it was 1984 and I was 16 so I am a little afraid of this big trip but it is a wonderful opportunity. We are going to stay with family and friends in Ireland and England and then back home on the QE2 for 7 nights in an INSIDE cabin.

My 71 yr old Mother and I are arriving on the QE2 October 25 2016 at the Brooklyn Red hook terminal. We are flying out of LGA on Oct 27th at 6pm to California. I am trying to decide what area I should book a hotel and what you would recommend as a decent hotel. She is English and has her ideas about what we are doing in Europe and I am in charge of NYC and getting us back home!

This is her 4th trip on the QE2 and she seems to know it all and said she wants to stay in Brooklyn near the cruise terminal but I think it would be easier for later and maximize our time there if we stay near LGA with a free airport shuttle and with easy access to a bus or subway to Manhatten or stay in Manhatten with a taxi or car service to LGA. This would be the end of a 3 week European trip so we will be a bit tired and will have some heavy luggage. I am on a budget so somewhere economical but decent is important which I know can be hard in NY!

I have never been to NY and would like to do a Ellis island tour, tour the Statue of Liberty, walk around Times square and go to the top of the rock and/or Empire state building, visit the 9-11 memorial and go to central park.

We will have Oct 25th starting from early afternoon after disembarking, all day on the 26th and the morning/early afternoon on the 27th before leaving LGA at 6pm. We will be there the end of October so what is the weather usually like?

I will be very appreciate for any tips and/or advice.

Does carnvial discriminate based on the type of cruise you book?

i.e. I am in Southern California and I can easily book 2, 3 or 4 night cruises for pretty cheap. We are going on a 3 night weekend cruise Nov 19th for $589 for 2 people which includes tips, taxes and fees and there were even cheaper ones if I wanted to keep searching. My fiance and I have decided cruising is more relaxing than the crowds at Disneyland and we are letting our premium passes expire and taking more trips instead. We can take lots of little cruises and then possibly use our mileage cruise towards a longer Hawaiian cruise.

Thanks!

How much extra is the discounted cup? Can I bring my own cup, like a travel mug or do you have to use theirs? I have the Carnival water bottle bag I bought on the last trip I will bring for this one. Last time I brought soda on board and on RC we purchased the soda package and they gave us nice mugs included in the price.

My boyfriend loves seafood and I want to do a Salmon bake while on our trip. There is gold Creek in Juneau which I think is $49 pp, Liarsville in Skagway $59 pp and then one in Hoonah/Icy straight for $36 pp but I have a buy 1 get 1 free coupon but I cannot find anything online about this. What do you recommend?

I am on the June 5th RCCL sailing as well and looking into the doing Resurrection Bay lunch cruise with kenaifjords.com for $99 that leaves at 12pm for a 4 1/2 hour tour and includes salmon and prime rib buffet lunch. I don't want to do the early morning tour since we are not good at waking up super early. Can you post any prices and pros and cons for any of the other seward cruises?

I haven't fully decided on the bus Vs Train but the train will cost almost double but it gives us another adventure to experience before heading home. The bus leaves us more money to spend on other things plus the it gets in around 8:30pm so we will have plenty of time until our 1am flight.

I decided to book the day before and got a rate of $82 for a one way flight on Air Canada rouge (I hope the seats are not as bad as I read) out of Los Angeles and that saved $127 so I put that into a hotel. We leave LA at 1pm and get into Vancouver at 3:48pm nonstop. I booked a room at the Sandman City centre for $117 + fees for a total of $144.14 which came to more than I wanted but I am glad it's done. For those familiar with the area what station would we get off at for the hotel and what would be the best way to get to Canada Place? Would you recommend walking with a carry on and large suitcase or is there a shuttle?

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For those that have flown into Vancouver for your cruise on RCCL and took the train to the pier how much time did you give yourself? I can get a flight coming in at 11:22am and then planned to take the Skytrain to Canada place. I figure it would take until 12:15pm for bags and customs and getting to the station and then 30 minutes to Canada place and then the short walk to the ship. If we make a 12:30 train we should be there around 1- 1:30pm. Is this doable or should be spend more money for a hotel the day before? This is costing a lot more than I anticipated so I want to save money but I also don't want to risk being late for the ship.

I have been searching but not found an answer. The Northern lights coupon book has a coupon for a buy 1 get 1 salmon bake but I cannot figure out where it is to see if it is worth and how to get there. Is this the same as the Gold Creek one?

"Icy Strait Outfitters - Juneau - One Complimentary Alaska Salmon Bake With The Purchase Of One Accompanying Alaska Salmon Bake At The Regular Price. (Regular Price $36-) Valid May 1, To Sept. 30, 2015. Advance Reservations Are Required. Must Mention Coupon When Making Reservation. Space Is Limited. One Free Salmon Bake Per Coupon. Only One Coupon Allowed Per Party Per Trip.