MisterBill99

Have not been on HAL for almost two years, but the last time we sailed the choices had been reduced and appetizers started repeating after three days. Has it improved? We're doing a Virgni cruise in February, and MSC Yacht Club in March (but an inside cabin, for a price comparable to a Celebrity balcony) and the food on both is supposed to be excellent (especially Virgin).

And making it seem like an upgrade without acknowledging that they made a major mistake by reducing the choices. But weren't the everyday classics still there, just listed under the daily menu to disguise the reduction in those choices?

The outlet stores aren't going to be any cheaper than at home, and to honest it will probably be more since Puerto Rico sales tax is 10.5%. And then you have to fit it in your luggage for the trip back home. In general, outlets are not a bargain anymore, anyway. But that's a different topic.

That is unfortunate for you. We ate there last time we had a port visit in San juan and really enjoyed it. We're taking a cruise out of SJ in February, and are staying a couple of nights in Condado before the cruise, and Jose Enrique is actually walking distance from the hotel. But there are also several other highly rated restaurants in that area. And Uber is cheap.

Win-win with the random act of kindness :).

It could end up being cheaper to take a tour than to let them go shopping for the day. Note where it says, "I'm interested in keeping costs low." in the first post. Maybe do the free Old San Juan walking tour at https://www.osjfreetour.com/? The meeting point is under ten minutes from the pier, but it starts at 10am, so you'd need to get off the ship within the first half hour. The other option is just walking along the water towards the forts. There are a bunch of carts selling local food and crafts along the way. Even if you're not into history, the forts could be interesting to see.

Agreed, Uber is the way to go. When we were in SJ a few years ago on a cruise, I asked a taxi driver for the price to a restaurant not in OSJ and was told $15. Uber cost me $6. We're going to be there again in February (this time for a cruise starting there) and priced Uber to my hotel in Condado from the airport and then to the OSJ pier, and each was $10-15.

Those were the days.

I booked the Coral Princess Hotel in Condado. It's reasonably priced, gets good reviews, and Uber from the airport and to the port are cheap. And there are excellent restaurants in Condado. Booking directly with them allowed me to get a refundable rate (no need to pay in advance) cheaper than the other sites. Coral Princess – Hotel

And miles are typically worth around two cents, so that's $500. Not bad. Perhaps, but take a look at how many FF miles the previous poster got.

What sort of crazy hotel discount did you get? I'm staying in Condado (Coral Princess) for a couple of nights, since I was unable to find anything reasonably priced downtown, got a good price and they have very good ratings. Not a big deal since Uber is dirt cheap.

That's surprising that they pay high commissions, given that one big online TA that routinely offers 10% on Celebrity and similar lines is only offering 5% back on VV.

They do have it at the bottom of their website. They're not alone, there are some online agencies that charge it. Of course, I would never use one that did. * Prices shown are samples quoted in U.S. dollars per person, based on double occupancy of a 7-night cruise in an interior stateroom aboard Icon of the Seas departing 1/18/25, and do not include U.S. Government Taxes/Fees, airfare, gratuities, travel protection, or a non-refundable $24.99 processing fee.

It should have been Sailor Loot (aka OBC) that you got from the TA. The bar tab comes from the booking promotion and status match (or Deep Blue Extras, if you already qualified from sailing on VV). As has been said, the big win for using a TA for VV is if they have a(n) MNVV certificate to sell you (and you don't have one of your own). That gets you $600 Sailor Loot, which DEFINITELY makes it worth using a TA. Also, my VV TA called and got my status match processed and 10% credit applied. My regular TA's that I have used give me up to 10% of OBC when I sail lines like Celebrity. They were only offering 5% for VV, but did not have MNVV to sell me. That makes it worth booking with a TA. If I'd had my own MNVV, I could have used the 5% back TA.

BTW, related to the topic at hand, my experience in San Juan is that Uber is much less expensive than the regular taxis.

Ha ha. You're the first one to point that out omission. I'm talking about Virgin Voyages, and it turns out that they're using the pier in Old San Juan (supposedly a terminal that Carnival previously used?) It would be great if I could find a reasonably priced hotel downtown and could just walk to the pier. But the Sheraton is crazy expensive. I found a good deal in Condado and will just take Uber, which is still cheap in PR.

If they are refunding an overpayment, they should start refunding from the last payment method used. There is much less of a chance of the card no longer being valid, if doing it that way. As for TA's who buy the MNVV using the customer's credit card, that is a great idea if time allows and there was a plan to do so when the agent was on the ship (I would have preferred it, since I lost out on my credit card rebate for the $300 purchase doing it this way). But many of them buy extras to sell to clients who come to them after the cruise, and VV knows that. My TA was at home when she booked my cruise, which happened to be the night that the September promotion was ending, before prices went up the following day. Ironically, their refunding it to the TA's card instead of mine means that I actually do get the rebate on that initial $300, since the TA will refund me via PayPal, the same way I had paid her.

It just seems odd that they'd effectively refund the MNVV for an overpayment. Very poor practice.

I recently booked my first Virgin cruise through a TA who sold me a MNVV to use. I qualified for the Match and Sea More Program, so I submitted it after booking, but forgot about the 10% discount and paid for the cruise in full before it was processed. The TA called and got them to process it and give me the discount, which was supposed to be $380. I had paid for the cruise across two credit cards to maximize my rebate, but only saw an $80 credit hit, and it was on the first card that I had used (I had charged $500 to it because I get 5% on the first $500 of the most used category each statement cycle). The TA called VV, and it turns out that the other $300 went to the card she had used to pay for the MNVV. Fortunately, she is going to send it to me, but I found it odd that they refunded to the first forms of payment rather than the last. So basically, they refunded the first $380 paid rather than the last $380. Very confusing, and probably not the best approach, given how many TA's sell MNVV. My TA appears to be honorable, but there probably are situations where the TA refuses to give the sailor the $300. Moral to the story is that I should have held off paying in full until the 10% hit.

Since this thread is still active... Are the signs in front of the dishes at the YC buffet just in English? One of the (/many) things that I hated when I sailed MSC in steerage back in 2018 was that the food signs at the regular buffet were in six languages, with print so small that you could not read them without getting up close (which of course is a challenge with long lines). The pictures posted seem to be all English. Also, is there any way to get fresh pizza or mozzarella at the YC buffet, or do you have to leave the enclave?

My TA got them to apply it to my booked and paid cruise, which I had foolishly paid in full rather than waiting for the 10% to credit. It apparently isn't done automatically. If you booked yourself, contact them directly.

Yes, and the laundry is also per cabin rather than per sailor on Celebrity (not sure about other lines).

Before: Regular price $3800, $500 discount, cruise price $3300. 10% discount based on $3800 = $380, final price = $2920. Now: Regular price $4590, $1100 discount, cruise price $3490. 10% discount based on $4590 = $459, final price = $3031.

Update -- found this in the FAQ's. So, it's certainly possible that with the new inflated fares and 25% discount (which still comes to more than I paid) the 10% discount will be higher than it was previously. It's also possible that when I booked, it was showing a regular price of $3800 with a $500 discount, thus the $380 credit. Which still leaves me with a lower final price because of the fare increase. The 10% Sail-Again Saving Bonus will be calculated as 10% off the voyage fare before any combinable discounts. At the time of booking, the Sailor must enter their unique Access Key during checkout or call into Sailor Services, so that they may validate the Sailor’s loyal status to receive the offer.

Yeah, there is no way that they could match what each person had on their specific line. That would be madness! The biggest thing (for me) is the 10% cruise discount, actually. My TA called them and got them to approve the match that I had submitted and got the 10% applied to my already fully paid cruise. What's interesting is that I ended up with a $380 credit (which will apparently be refunded to my credit card within a couple of weeks), but my fare was only $3000 ($3300 if you don't count the MNVV discount). So, I have no idea where the other $500 that they based the discount on came from, but who am I to complain! I wonder if now that they've inflated the regular price of the cruise to $4400 in the current 25% off promotion, whether it would be based on that number for new bookings?