brian310

On 9/27/2019 at 7:46 PM, TrustMeI'mANurse said:

I'm just not finding that kind of return. When we booked Celebrity and spent around 10k (on 3 rooms) we got about 10% in a warehouse club card.  When we booked Celebrity with a large online agent we got about 10% OBC. Looking around with MCL we're looking at a return of about 3% on a YC suite. I was kind of surprised.

Keep looking. 10% OBC is not too hard to find. I have received it for a YC suite in the last 7 days. 

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

MSC must be pretty stingy with travel agents, if I book just about any other line, I get in the 10% range, mostly in refundable obs. Not a lot of online travel agencies handle MSC, hence in the two cruises I've done on MSC, the obc has been between 5-6%. They are still the best bang for my bucks (only in the Deluxe Yacht Club Suite).

I just went through all of this. Here's how I did it:

1. Booked online to get the cabin I wanted etc. The cruise had low availability in Yacht Club. 

2. Applied for status match and waited. Took ten days and a phone call. They applied the 5% to my booking. 

3. You can transfer to a TA at that point. I believe the limit is 60 days. I have found a couple that offered 10%, at least for my booking, in OBC. I picked one I had used before. 

Got the cabin I want, the status match discount, and the OBC. Just took a little patience. 

I was the recipient of a MoveUP offer that was successful on the August 6th Eclipse cruise. Some data points:

1. I received the original email about 3 weeks pre-cruise. I made offers in all suite categories (Sky Suite, Celebrity Suite, Royal Suite), but none of the non-suite categories. I was booked in a a "hump" balcony cabin. My offers were on the weak side. No inventory was showing in any of the suite categories.

2. About 12 days pre-cruise, a single Sky Suite appeared in inventory for sale. It was an aft corner. I revisited my offers, and pushed up the Sky Suite bid to the middle of the range, more or less. The available Sky Suite disappeared from online inventory about 8 or 9 days out.

3. Seven days before the cruise, my Celebrity and Royal Suite offers were declined by email. About an hour later, I was notified by my credit card company that I had been billed for the amount I had bid for the Sky Suite upgrade. An hour or so after that, I was advised by email that my Sky Suite offer was accepted, and I was assigned the same Suite that had been available in inventory until a few days prior. I believe it was a cancellation, because when we boarded there was a single piece of "mail" for a person under another name.

4. It took about two hours online before the new cabin showed up in our reservation.

A bit OT, I have to say that the suite experience was amazing, and made the cruise for us. It took it to a whole new level. We decided we would rather cruise a little less often with this level of comfort and service.

I don't know if it's done on all cruises, but the last few I've been on, including Millennium last week, the casino would give you $575 in slot play for $500 paid upfront. This offer was only available during the first two days of the cruise.

On Eclipse last week, they had this at various times for both slots and table games. Up to three offers ($1500) per seapass card. The special chips (and especially the bonuses) are a bit of a pain to play with, but worth it for the 15% discount.

There is an outlet in the dressing area, and to the left of the desk. We were able to get a triple plug block into that one with some wiggling.

I did not check around the TV.

This was in an Ocean Suite a couple of weeks ago.

Trifecta. Us too.

This was a great review of a lot of things rarely mentioned, and will help us on our Splendor cruise at the end of the month. Thank you!

We were there last month, and made it in, but it was definitely a bit more exciting than really preferable.

So very, very sorry. We will pray that you and your family find peace and healing.

Anyone with recent experience on Crystal, especially Serenity? The last update was years ago, and looked good.

1. Blackjack payout?

2. Dealer hit on soft 17?

3. Surrender?

4. Still a pretty loose game? Can I use my BS card?

I play just for fun, but it’s more fun when you win!

Thanks in advance....

Anyone with stories on the slots are very welcome too!

We are booked on a 7 Day Splendor next March 24th out of Long Beach, a Spring Break cruise for my wife and (10 year old) daughter.

I am second guessing myself on the extent to which this cruise will be used by "party hearty" college kids and others. We are "go with the flow" kind of people, but if this cruise has a reputation of turning into a party ship, I want to rethink my plans.

I'm going to ask my travel agent, but I figured I would get a more useful answer here.

Families vs. Fiestas.... how do you think it will shake out?

This was the best deal of our entire Alaska cruise this summer. We always had cold water at hand, and it was so cheap that we didn't even think about it.

I ate here on Ruby Princess during the 6/12-19 Alaska cruise. I was not impressed relative to the other venues we enjoyed, but that is just my impression.

If I had to take a guess, it would be that this food is a bit "fussier" to prepare and time than in some of the other specialty restaurants, and it suffers from that. Most of the appetizers were good, not great, and the concept behind the Ernesto burger didn't appeal (to me). It is in essence several kinds of meats piled atop each other on an (excellent) bun. It tasted like it had been finished maybe 10-15 minutes before it got to me.

We had spectacular dinners in the Crab Shack and the Steakhouse; this was one that missed the mark (for me).

We will do it!

Brian310, we are on this cruise in July with 5 kids and I would appreciate it so very much if you could bring the kids patters back with you so we can know what to expect for the kids clubs. I am especially interested in knowing which nights are the "kids dinners" in the Horizon Court, as we want to plan an adult night at the Crown Grill the same night the kids get their special dinner with the clubs. If you could help us out when you get back I'd really appreciate it!

Thank you for this excellent review. My 8 year old daughter and I are on this cruise a week from Sunday, and we both appreciate your notes.

I think the problem here is that when you go to the pulldown menu for reservation times, it shows what the waitlist *would be* if you joined it at that moment, including the time you are already confirmed for!

See screenshot. Bad user experience online, but nothing more than that in our case.

I had the exact issue suddenly appear, and we are waitlisted at something like 241 for a June Ruby cruise. I think it has to be a programming error, but am calling today.

I know there have been many fishing questions over the years.. perhaps you will have patience with one more?

My eight year old daughter and I will be on Ruby Princess and in Ketchikan in mid-June. We want to use our excursion time fishing.

Her priorities are to be in a bigger boat than a skiff, but also have her own rod. She has river fished walleye with me and done well, so I'm not concerned about her getting bored. I would like an excursion staffed by a friendly captain however.

I have read many old threads and made a few calls, but can't quite put my finger on what I want to do.

Anyone offer some advice?

Thanks..

Is there any place to get good iced coffee? We will be on Ruby. Thanks