justafem

I just take a current picture/screenshot of my online account, showing that I own the stock. I have an email that I copy and paste each time, changing the pertinent information. It's always applied within a couple of days. I don't even black anything out, seriously, my CCL stock is the only thing in that account, I guess until something bad happens, I'll keep doing it. Just booked another cruise for Feb 2024 and already got the onboard credit. Best investment return EVER!

We were perfectly happy with the coffee cards and the soda and more, buying our booze drinks when we wanted. But when plus came out, we didn't have to worry about the 15 specialty coffees per cruise and could indulge repeatedly and we do. I will happily drink 4-5 butter pecan lattes per day and 5+ bottles of water. I also want a glass of wine with dinner, maybe a couple of drinks with a group or not. I'll have drinks some days and go virgin another (depends on the size of my feet!) and it was only $40 a day! So much value! At $60 it's still worth it. For us it's not all about the booze. We get the value in coffee, juice and bottles of water. We used to spend about $15 per day with the coffee cards and soda and more package and curtailed my wanting more specialty coffees. Or I bought them and paid extra. So with WIFI and grats, it's only an extra $14 a day, which is truthfully 1 booze drink or 2 more coffees a day. I'm comfortable with that amount. Actually happy, as I've cruised with other lines and their booze packages are out of what we'd spend alacarte. I have a carnival in less than a month and their drink package is $1414.82 for 10 days, internet is $374.00, grats are $290.00 for a total of $2078.82. While on princess plus is $1200 and includes all that. Almost $900 difference. And that's on every line. I don't feel that I'm losing value on a separately purchased WIFI, I bought it when it was minutes. I bought it when it was unlimited and I wasn't elite. And I've only had plus since I've been elite. So I'm not getting the $7.50 value, per day. ehhh. I'm not that worried about the pennies. But I can't understand the premier package! For $20 extra a day, we could eat in specialty dining every other day. I'm not any kind of wine connoisseur, so that blows that thought. Pictures, woohoo! I have inches of them from previous cruises. And prizes, well, I do like to gamble, so there's that, but I'd be happier sticking money in a machine.

I had that issue. I didn't spend as much as I thought I would, or ended up with more onboard than I had planned. I cashed it out in the casino along with my 'winnings' (got $450 back on my $1200 investment, grins)

I'm sorry for what you had to go through to get what you paid for. Sometimes I wonder if they're trying to wear you down. I had a lesser issue where we booked the exact room we wanted and had no upgrades checked (or so I thought). Changed our room 3 different times to rooms we didn't find to be an upgrade but the cruiseline did. Each time our online TA took care of the issue, don't get me wrong, that was the only issue I've ever had and even that wasn't that bad until the 3rd time of feeling completely ignored. But I'll use any online TA, I'm not loyal, I'm all about price.

Pre-covid, hubs and I would eat specialty dining every other night. We enjoyed it and felt it was worth the upcharge. Post-covid, we just don't go. We've tried them several times. Criown, the meat quality has fallen, the sides have become ordinary and they cut out my favorite chocolate melting bomb. Sabitini's, everything seems cheaper, the sauces aren't as rich and the pasta is a different kind, not necessarily bad, but lesser. Then again, I've been disappointed with wine-makers too. Same issues with the meat, overcooked (asked for blu, got medium, everyone's steaks were overcooked and I mean everyone's). And let's be honest, after 3 hours, nobody wanted to wait another 1/2 hour for another steak. There's the issue. Those of us who know what the experience USED to be aren't going. The newbs that are are a one and done; They're not going regularly like we oldsters did. We can get an amazing steak at cattleman's locally for the same price. I'm disappointed paying $100 (after tip) for safeway select (or lower) cuts of meat.

Do a board search. I've posted it several times.

Nope, that's it. The free print is from the platinum studio, the price hurts!

I invested $1000. I got $100 from fidelity for funding the grand. I bought 100 shares at $8.2X. Extra $100 hit my account 90 days later. Stock fell to $6.XX and I went all in with the rest of the balance and got another 30.x shares. My stock is worth $1550.xx today. And I've gotten thousands of dollars as onboard credit for my $1000 investment and will get thousands more as I cruise for the rest of my life.

Count me as one of the 'few' too.

You can use them. I've posted them several times on the boards.

Yup. I know they try to make it sound like you get all the pictures, but it's only the ones you choose. I miss the $99 unlimited photo package! (not really, we have inches of pictures that we hardly look at)

I play around with a lot of online TA's. Each one will have a different price, different promotion and/or different amounts of OBC. I can frequently utilize casino offers through them too. My job is to book the cruises as cheap as possible for the trip we want. We always get plus, it works for us. I'm going to see if I can get a cheaper deal using a VPN! Thanks!

A tale of 2 cruise lines. Both free casino rates Princess upgraded to a window for $400. Stock credit approved. Carnival, no upgrade, basic free room. Stock credit denied. I had a B2B on princess last month, didn't upgrade the room. Stock credit approved. My experience. Princess always gives stock credit, while carnival always denies. Another reason I prefer princess.

Once you're on the ship, you can look ahead to all the menus and make a decision based on the menu choices. Royal also has included enhanced alfredo's. It's fantastic. As is the sushi for a nominal fee. Alaska menu is normally more fish and crab. They also used to have seafood boils for an upcharge. Not sure if they've brought them back, but the price was worth it, if you like seafood.

We booked under that promotion several times. Yeah, we had to get a more expensive room, but it was cheaper to book a suite than it was 2 insides. We got a much better room, although there were 4 of us. At no point was it crowded. I hope something like that happens again. I can always get a group of friends together!

Don't know if this is allowed, but you can email me at justafem gmail to share the site(s). Always interested in another way to book.

I completely forget I always have extra bottles of water in my backpack when I get back on the ship. They are the same ones I brought off the ship, but they are bottles. And I've never been stopped, or even spoken to. So I guess the bottles (of anything) are only important when embarking? Hey, new way to sneak booze on the boat! The only time I was ever even looked at funny was last B2B where my backpack was full of bracelets and ducks. No idea what the guy thought he saw, but once I unzipped it, he stopped being interested. I've seen people run into town expressly to pick up sodas, coffees and booze during ports. Never seen those questioned either.

I'm in NorCal (did that hurt, bahahaha) and never need a jacket at night, but I sure do in SF (acceptable? more laughter). I made the lack of jacket after dark mistake ONCE in SF. Now I know better.

I cruise inside cabins because I can cruise more. When hubs gets to come with me, we spring for the obstructed view and sometimes win a bid and get upgraded to a balcony. I don't buy crap. I have enough crap. We pay for princess plus, it's worth it to us, but now we're able to buy it the first day, so we utilize the massive onboard credit we always seem to get, which pays for 1 persons plus. So my all in, is $90 per person per day. I buy FCD and discount gift cards from AARP. I own stock, so get onboard for that too. We only cruise from SF, so there's minimal travel expense or time. I'm after the best vacation at my price range and princess fits all the marks for us. When other lines start home basing in SF, I'll try them. I'm happy with princess. I tried carnival and it's not for us. Don't get me wrong, if it's a choice between cruising 8-10 times a year or 2-3 times I year, I'll carnival. Carnival REALLY nickel and dimes you!

No, there is no brewed coffee or tea without a charge unless you have a beverage package.

Me too, or something completely political!

I have a workaround for hubs if he wants a second tail. I can't eat seafood, so I'll order one and order the meal I actually want too. Elcheapo strikes again!

You notice how you get a shipping notice with a shipping number, then they get stuck in Carson CA for several days? Carson is their sorting facility. They come in epackets. I do enough buying from China and selling online to know what the epackets look like. No actual proof though, other than the tracking said originating from Singapore.

My sister has a doxi seizure dog and you couldn't tell it's a service dog, because of the little outfits the critter wears. But I've seen it do it's job. It gives my sister quality of life that she couldn't have without it and that's all that matters to me.

I don't try to hit 15 booze drinks in a day. Most I've ever had charged was 13, I got drunk and sobered up 3 times that day. I don't drink when I'm not on a ship. But when I'm on a ship, I drink. Not every day, but well over 3/4 of the cruise. On days I don't booze, I overload on specialty coffee, bottles of water and juice. And I'm happy with the price I pay. I also get 3-4 specialty coffees a day, booze day or not. I don't buy the drink package on carnival, for me it's not worth the price, so allotment of wine, and rum runners. And free drinks in the casino.