MisterBill99

Thanks. That was my other unasked question, about the transfer from the hotel to the airport. Sounds like it's not worth it. As for booking the flight through the cruise line, I was just hoping that they would be cheaper than booking it myself. I was actually shocked that the had flights already booked on my courtesy hold. Sadly, either were flights that i wanted, and the price added to my invoice appeared to be higher than I could do myself. And they didn't even book me on the non-stop flight from PRG-JFK.

TMLAalum was responding to my post about getting airfare through Avalon and whether I had to go through my TA to do that. Agreed there is no good reason to buy airfare from TA's.

I booked a cruise for August through a TA who had a promotion that was better with the fly free offer that Avalon is offering on their website, so I did not get my flights from Avalon. I booked my own flight over using AA miles, but need a flight back. Delta has a non-stop that I want to book (the only non-stop PRG-JFK). Will Avalon book me just one way, and can I call them myself (as I do with Celebrity and HAL) or do I have to go through my TA? Is the price likely to be any cheaper than buying it myself? In theory, if they book it I would get a free transfer from the hotel (which is part of the cruise) to the airport, so that could be advantageous.

I just wanted to mention that although AMA has a page dedicated to Jewish Heritage cruises on their website, they only appear to do it when you put together a group of 20+ passengers. They do not have anything scheduled that you can book into, as Avalon and Uniworld do. "With a group of 20 fellow cruisers or more, you can customize many excursions on your itinerary, strengthen your bond with your family and community and celebrate Jewish tradition and culture as you sail along the Danube River"

I just booked the Avalon Jewish Heritage cruise for this August. There's actually only one cruise, but they sell it with an optional two-night package in Prague at the end of the cruise and list it as two cruises. We have been looking to do this itinerary for a long time, and my wife really wanted to do a Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, but I had not found a cruise line that did both. I had been looking at Uniworld since as mentioned above they have a lot of sailings with JH tours. I finally called them this week after seeing their ad in my wife's Hadassah Magazine. Turns out that the Danube itinerary Uniworld does the Jewish Heritage cruises on does not stop in Linz, and that is where Salzburg tours typically start (there are other places you can get there from, but they were further away). I asked on a social media group and was pointed to Avalon, and it turns out that they have an extra-cost Salzburg tour available on their JH cruise. The timing worked for us, so we booked to get it off the bucket list. Hopefully we will not have river level issues.

Unlikely, but you and I are both in the US. No idea where CruizinSusan70 is.

This is actually incorrect. I have purchased Netflix and Chipotle gift cards using my Amazon gift card balance. Even used a 40% off promotion from AMEX with it so long as I redeemed a single Membership Rewards point and then paid for the rest from my GC balance.

So there was no Stowaway Pianist on our Anthem cruise. The CD told me that they are having problems finding people for the job. Not sure if that was true or not, but we didn't have anyone.

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I should have mentioned that we're sailing on Anthem tomorrow and was wondering if anyone has seen him (or her, or them) on that ship.

I actually brought a couple of singles with me one night after we'd enjoyed his performances on previous nights. Plus, I think it's the whole piano bar thing.

Best to do Enrollment on Arrival if flying into a qualifying airport from an International Flight. I don't think it's available at any cruise ports (would be great if it were, but they don't typically have enough people there to handle it). My wife will have her interview at JFK when we return from Buenos Aires at the end of February. We actually could have done it last year in Nassau, Bahamas when flying back from a Crystal cruise (before they went out of business, obviously). The US immigration is actually in Nassau, and they do EOA there. But I had not applied for her GE at that point. They've been piloting online interviews, but that hasn't been rolled out yet.

Subject says it is. Does anyone know what ship (if any) the Stowaway Pianist is on these days? He was on Oasis when we sailed last September. He was great. I understand that he used to perform in elevators, but due to Covid he was performing in public areas. The last post I found here mentioning him was Harmony earlier this year. Is there just one or do they have multiples across the fleet?

Well, there is always the chance that there will be a problem. Sounds like you were on a TA, maybe that caused extra problems with immigration?

I found an old Power Up email and there is a link to sign up for the mailings: Celebrity Cruises Communication Sign-up | Celebrity Cruises

Two new offers? Or two points from previous offers? If there are new offers, can someone please post the links since I no longer get the emails? Thanks.

Will they really claw back the points you got for booking the flights if you cancel later on? Is there any history of them doing this? I would personally suggest booking airfare for a cruise that you already have booked (assuming that it's far enough out), but of the "don't pay until final payment" variety. Then cancel the flights once you get your points, No money laid out like there would be if you booked a new cruise.

It's about time they bring a newer ship up to NJ/Boston! Too bad it's not Silhouette, which has the Lawn Club Grill. I wonder how Martha's Vineyard residents will feel about 3,000 day visitors? Apparently, Bar Harbor residents last week voted to put a limit on cruise ships.

But what time did you (or were you scheduled to) disembark? Presumably you didn't walk off as soon as they opened the gangway.

Thank you! I guess I hadn't gone back far enough since I saw someone post about the offer but did not see the link. Also saw a post with the image and showing where to click, but that didn't do much good if you don't have the email. Just registered my wife and myself.

Did you need to go through some link or was calling OK? Purely by coincidence, I called and booked flights for my rescheduled 2023 Galapagos cruise on Friday. I was calling about seats for my February flights and got a REALLY GOOD agent, and he got me a great deal on my Quito flights. I was on the phone with him for over an hour and a half! For some reason, I have stopped getting the Power-up Points emails. I wonder if there is a way to get them to restart?

Yes, as I was reminded of when I looked for reviews of the Antarctica cruise we're taking in February and noticed that Infinity had problems back in 2019, and they missed some ports and got some very poor reviews here on CC. That's also not a cheap cruise, but not as expensive as this one. For anyone who may care, Xpedition has made it to Baltra and presumably this week's cruise will go off without a hitch.

That probably confused the heck out of them!

BTW, according to Cruise Mapper, the ship has made it through the canal but is still nowhere near the Galapagos. But the folks on next Saturday's cruise should be fine.

So I figured that I'd update this and point out that my refunds started showing up on the various credit cards that I paid with (I split my payments to take advantage of credit card deals). So, as we all expected, you were completely wrong in your bogus claim that they would not pay up. And of course I am booked for 2023 at no cost.

To each their own. This tour takes you out of Buenos Aires, so the crime (or not) is a non-issue, at least for me. We're actually going to be there for a few days before the cruse touring on our own, so hopefully it isn't that bad. And the tour guide told me that she wants payment in US dollars, so local currency is a non-issue. Also this tour includes a lunch including beef, although we are doing a dinner before the cruise that also includes it. The tour you described sounds like what Celebrity offers. Not a surprise, since they all buy them from a third party.