Wally Alligator

On 2/27/2024 at 8:25 PM, mcrcruiser said:

Thanks then the sushi must be California tolls  in the Lido Buffet . Next cruise I will look at the Asian food section ,at lunch time . My DW likes Calif rolls . 

I tried them one sea day lunch last month.  I was not impressed.  Kinda dried out and not much flavor.  Did not try a second time.

20 minutes ago, cruisin*tigger said:

Just booked.  Was debating because I'm not a fan of holiday cruises, but Venezia tempted me too much lol and NYE is the only holiday I haven't done yet so figured why not.  Had initially looked at cruising out of Miami, but wow, hotels are insane.  Was glad to see decent prices in Cocoa Beach so grabbed 2 nights precruise.

Welcome.  When cruising out of Miami we stay up in Ft. Lauderdale as prices tend to be better.  Fortunately Canaveral is less than a 3 hour drive from home so no hotel needed (unless the wife wants a little longer away time).  This will be our first NYE cruise also.  Most NYE we stay home to avoid the drunk driver amateur hour. 

11 hours ago, tompeter said:

It can be added, but you have to call. I believe the cost is still $50 p/p per day. At least that is what I paid last month.

I can now confirm HIA can be added by phone and yes it was the standard $50 per person per day.

9 hours ago, tompeter said:

It can be added, but you have to call. I believe the cost is still $50 p/p per day. At least that is what I paid last month.

Thanks, I will call back today.

A little help from HAL Gamblers please.  I am new to HAL (1 cruise last month) and received a Come Back and Play offer and today received an email with many better offers.  Tried booking on line and after selecting a non obstructed veranda cabin type, I was offered the cabin for $150 pp or $4375 pp with the Have It All Early Booking Bonus.  Feeling confused, I called the casino number in the email and asked about booking the cruise with Have It All and David assured me I could add Have It All after booking.  OK, had David book it.  An hour later the new booking is on the web site and with some clicking around I find HIA is under beverage packages but has no pricing.  Click on the package and get the message: "Our apologies-Your booking, XXXXXX, is not eligible for the Have It All package."  Question 1:  Is this normal and David misinformed or can HIA be added to casino comp sailings?,  Question 2: Comp included drinks while playing in the casino - is this just for me or is the second person in the room granted the same (I didn't look hard earlier as planned on HIA)?  Much thanks.

One difference between Carnival and Royal in comp offers:  My RCCL email offers as of today are for various cruises though June 2024.  Carnival email offers have had a sail by date of December 31, 2024 for several months now.  (Australia offers sail by is currently June 2025).  Been making it hard to book a RCCL offer as when I look at the dates I find a Carnival of HAL cruise booked in the available window already.  The link I use to look at offers is: http://www.carnival.com/cruise-deals/vifp-club.aspx

I found using the HAL app on my android tablet much better than on the phone (also android).  Large screen was definitely worthwhile for reading through menus and such. 

On 8/2/2023 at 9:07 PM, phillygwm said:

Thanks for this.  I don't think I fit into the Carnival demographic but would happily try HAL.  My issue, as a solo traveler, is that the single supplement is more than I cared to pay.

 

I just inquired about a MSC cruise via URComped.  We'll see...

You would probably be surprised about the wide demographic range on Carnival. Common warning to prospectives is to stay away from short 3 or 4 day sailings and this goes double if the sailing is over a weekend. If you start with a casino comp you can forget about the single supplement.  Casino comp rooms are for two people and no surcharge for sailing solo. Royal Caribbean comp rooms follow same practice. We are doing our first HAL cruise the end of this month and will see how their casino program operates. 

Carnival does some matching to get you onboard...https://www.carnival.com/Registration/Promotions/casino-funmatch.aspx

Holland America says upload players card however you could try with an NCL offer???? https://oceanplayersclub.com/hollandamericamatch/

I tried the Holland America page around 7 or 8 months ago and did not receive a reply so simply booked a HAL cruise for September.  We will see what happens in the casino.

Welcome neighbor and shipmate.  This was the first time we booked a cruise 18 months in advance.  Ship looks amazing. 

Hi Folks.  Booked this NYE cruise for Terry and I once I saw Venezia was coming to Florida.  Ship looks gorgeous in early youtube videos.

We were on Pride last December for a Panama Canal partial and definitely say there were some supply issues with certain beverage unavailable (ginger ale and diet cola amongst others).  Service was fine although on the sailing crew was short staffed but occupancy was also held down so really no service impact.  Just got off an Alaska cruise on Carnival Miracle last week. 100% occupancy however I believe it was also 100% crew.  We had a great time.  Miracle and Pride are both around 20 years old and do show their age in places.  That said, their layouts are nice and they get sent on some very nice itineraries.  Next year we are doing Pride's Barcelona to Dover itinerary.  Would I pay double to be on a "nicer" or newer ship in Europe?  Nope - Europe cruises are for the places you visit not the ship you are on.  Caribbean cruises however are more floating resort after the 3rd or 4th time at each port.   Here the ship is more important. 

We did Boardwalk Balconies on both our past Symphony sailings.  Noise during the day - certainly however who is out on their Boardwalk Balcony during the day once you have had your morning coffee?  After coffee, it is time to get out and enjoy the ship.  Come 11 PM nice and quiet.

On Allure next week with a Boardwalk Balcony.

Pre-COVID, a lot of people on casino comps were getting turned down for the shareholder benefit.  Some that had paid upgrades were able to get it and a few on full comps were able but this seemed infrequent.  Definitely hit or miss.  Policy states: "Employees, travel agents cruising at travel agent rates, tour conductors or anyone cruising on a reduced-rate or complimentary basis are excluded from this offer."

On 5/21/2021 at 1:29 PM, TNcruising02 said:

I wish I would get a free cruise offer.

 

There is no such thing as a free cruise.  Many gamblers don't want to admit it but they often lose significantly more in the casino than the value of the discount they received on the room.  But every once in a while we go home with cash in out pocket which brings us back to looking at offers and deciding which ones we can possibly use.

On 2/3/2021 at 7:35 PM, DANCING GRANDMOMMY said:

I believe the change was to accommodate the other Carnival ships leaving from Long B

each. Panorama leaves on Saturdays, and the 3 and 4 day cruises leave on Fridays and Mondays. Therefore we needed to leave on Sunday. 

 

Thank you for the research / logic.  Makes sense.  Now we have to wait and see what gets chopped from the itinerary to squeeze everything into 14 days.

6 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

 

Since we live in Tampa, it made my choice pretty easy.  While the Allure is a better ship, we will sailing her in August (fingers crossed) and I might need a pre-holiday break. 

Canaveral is a short drive away.  We grabbed Mariner 12/13 from this latest offer.

On 12/11/2020 at 8:33 AM, Foosguy said:

Mustang93, as a person who always takes part in the deal when on board, I can say that I have noticed the price varies depending on the ship, debarkation port, and sometimes itinerary. We take about 2-3 cruises a year and in general I found departures from Florida to be way cheaper and usually about $31-$33 carton on average once you buy the 3-4 cartons needed for the deal. Our last cruise was Harmony in Sept 2019 going to St Maarten and this was my finding then. Whereas, our last cruise on Anthem in June 2019 had them about $38-$40 carton when buying the bulk deal. Hope this helps.

Cigarette smokers with stops in Sint Maarten should buy their cigarettes in Sint Maarten.  $16 a carton 12/03/2019 for the German made Camel Blues while $44 on Symphony.

Three cruises booked.  January, February, and June of 2021.  If they sail, great - we will be onboard.  If they cancel, it means there are still significant COVID issues and probably best for us to stay home anyways.

While Italy is nice, there are many other ports the Allure could hit if things get too hairy in Italy.  Definitely should not cancel and don't expect Royal Caribbean to cancel the sailing either.  As long as Barcelona stays open to visitors and there are 3 or more open places within cruising distance, the sailing will happen.  Wish I was going with you.  Barcelona is a great city to visit.

23 minutes ago, texasreb said:

Monthly ? Heck my Jan 19, 2020 sailing was a 19Q4. Some of the dates were of course old. Farthest out was Oct 25, 2020. I got gypped ? LOL

How often do people actually book using the certificate earned?  I went back and looked - 9 Royal Caribbean cruises so far, earned a certificate every cruise, allowed 6 of the 9 certificates to lapse unused.  I find the mailings (postal and email) offers are more than enough for me to find something I want.  In 2020's first 6 weeks I have received 11 different offer lists by mail or email. 

1 hour ago, mcleslie said:

Does anybody have the balcony dates from Q1 2020?  I have the OV sheet but qualified for balcony 

Was posted at the site that shall not be named.  Discussion says Club Royale is moving to monthly in place of the previous quarterly lists. 

20FEBC03 Instant Cruise Certificate - Balcony.pdf

2 hours ago, tomko2 said:

 We have been receiving various offers by mail.   Is there a way to access them on the RCL website?

Thank you.

 

Not on RCL's web site but some people at the "Royal Caribbean Club Royale Casino Patrons Forum" on the social site that shall not be named have been posting some offers to the files section.  Others have posted photos of offers.  Time for Royal Caribbean / Casino Royale to make use of Cruise Critic and follow a recommendation made here many times which is to put the files online and provide a link to the offer on our individual offer page.

3 hours ago, Casino Comp Chick said:

Wow, not one out of New Jersey. Good to know.

 

Balcony Cert has a few for Oasis out of Bayonne next fall.

On 11/23/2019 at 7:32 AM, mat5664 said:

I am UK based so would love a Europe offer - but they won't send email offers to UK based people which is pretty rubbish.  I've just booked to go on the new P&O Iona next year as fed up with Club Royale.    Didn't get a comp  - P&O not very generous with those, but got 50% off, £250 OBC and $500 slot play.

I am thinking you need to blame the EU's GDPR as to why Club Royale will not send email offers to European Club Royale members.  CR's overall system of handling email offers does not meet GDPR requirements.