JHawk63

We are currently booked & have linked reservations with my BIL & SIL. I can see what they have purchased as far as dining & excursions go, but can't see any of their personal info. When I go to look at new excursions to book, all of our names are listed & I have to select the ones I want to purchase for. My SIL says she can see our reservation as well, & the same info about choosing who to book a new excursion comes up on her end, too. Don't know if that helps you or not!

Has anyone done this excursion? We're a group of 4, not really interested in monkeys or sloths, but want to get off the ship & see some of the island & perhaps see the reef, but not necessarily snorkel. Any suggestions??

I think everyone in our party will be able to find something to eat, but NO banana split anymore on the kids menu?!?

I was told to email shorex@rccl.com regarding a question I had about a shore excursion. I did that about a month ago...still haven't gotten an answer back, but I do still have 58 days until I sail!

On 10/6/2022 at 5:35 PM, Jayhawk said:

We will be at Costa Maya on Christmas Day....any ideas? I have been searching for a church with services (preferably Catholic) but having no luck. I also have sent three messages to Native Choice - 2 through the web site and 1 via direct email from three years ago when we did a tour with them which our family LOVED! And no response?? Any other suggestions of things to do that day? We really don't want to stay in the man-made area and we're not a fan of ship excursions.

Thanks!

Please post back what you end up doing in this port! We will be going there in the beginning of March & are looking for something to do that isn't a ship excursion as well. There honestly aren't even many excursions listed via ship anyway.

P.S. Great screen name!😉

3 hours ago, PCWalton1 said:

Just a note on the car rentals. Most of the locations are up by Kapalua Airport and close at 5 pm. If you decide to return the car after that you can take a taxi or Uber back to Lahaina 

Thanks! Yes, ours is up there too. Figured if we are cutting it close, we can Uber to the luau & then Uber back to the ship when its over.

Thank you all for your input. We've decided to just explore the west side a little since we'll have had a full day with the RTH. While the sunrise excursion would've been beautiful, we're thinking it would just be too exhausting. 

Question for those of you who have been to Maui before. We will be on the Ovation, tendering in Lahaina, on Sept 27th & 28th. We've got a trip arranged with several other cruisers, for the Road to Hana on the first day & as of right now, plan to rent a car on the second day, ending it with the Old Lahaina Luau. The car rental place opens at 7am & closes at 5pm. From what I see, the tenders should run all night. IF we can get off the ship early & arrive at the car rental place when they open, would we have time to drive to Haleakala, spend some time & get back? I've found a shore excursion thru Viator that would pick us up in Lahaina at 2:30am & do the sunrise tour of Haleakala, getting us back around 11am. Would it be better to do it that way? Or should we just rent the car on our own & drive around, seeing other things? Any suggestions on what to do the second day & still get back in time for the luau are appreciated. Sorry for all the questions....just trying to see as much as we can in such a little amount of time!

I worked shore side for Royal in the call center in Kansas for 10 years (that was 6 years ago). We got 1 free cruise the first year we worked there to aquaint ourselves with what is was like being on a cruise, so we could have first hand knowledge of how to answer questions. After that, we could request a sailing, but it would be based on seniority for the WHOLE company. So....a lot of times the Miami or Ft Lauderdale sailings would be snagged by Miami agents (their offices were there long before KS opened). Many of us in KS would try for Galveston cruises which we could drive to. Most times, we weren't confirmed on a sailing until a few days before the sailing, which could be very stressful. There was only 1 time my family didn't get to sail, I had already purchased air, so we spent a week in Orlando instead! The only time I got confirmed a month prior to the sailing, was when I put in for a Med Cruise for my husband & my 25th anniversary (no body wanted to purchase airfare that far away!). If we were confirmed, we paid the taxes & port fees. We could always put in for a friends & family discount, it was only 10% off, but at least you knew you were going to get to sail. And if I remember correctly, crew family requests were processed just like shore side employees. The crew member's seniority with the company was factored in for confirmation. As for Crown & Anchor status, we couldn't apply for C&A unless we were full paying customers. As a result, I've sailed many times, but am still only a Gold member! Our cruise coming up in Sept will finally move us up!

9 hours ago, jerseyjjs said:

Been on the Anthem 4 times and the Symphony.  Wonderland was the only specialty restaurant on both ships that was constantly sending their representatives all over the public areas trying to persuade passengers to book a dinner there.  That alone is a warning sign.  Plus, I've looked at the menu, it doesn't intrigue me whatsoever......even if they offered it to me for free.  JMO.

Do you remember, did they offer it at a discounted price than what is in the Cruise Planner?

Thank you ALL for your suggestions! I just got off the phone with the International Desk & the very kind lady had NO PROBLEM changing the flight for no fee. We now are leaving OKC a little earlier, flying thru DFW with a 3 hour layover, that I will happily sit thru knowing I will make it to Vancouver that evening! Doing a happy dance right now & my husband is thrilled that I'm done stressing over this!!

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm going to be making a call back to AA Mon morning & ask for a supervisor. I did get the last person I talked with from AA to take the third party flag off, so i don't have to deal with Hopper. I've written down several flights that would work better & will also mention the luggage, flying into an international gate & the gates closing 10 before scheduled take off. I have all this written down, so I can plead my case factually & will do my very best to be polite, but firm. Wish me luck!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I called AA back this morning & got a very nice lady, who said it is a legal connection, although very tight. She took the "third party flag" off the reservation, so I don't have to go thru Hopper any longer (one hurdle down!) She advised its still 2 months away & the schedule could change again, but if i'm not comfortable, to contact customer relations via email & explain the situation & see what they can do, hopefully at least waive the change fees, which are more than the cost of the original tickets! I have checked the AA site & there is 1 flight after this one from PHX to YVR & 2 in the morning that would get us to Vancouver in enough time to go straight to the port. We did book 1 day prior, thank God! I'm going to contact them again & just ask to speak to a supervisor, but still email customer relations. I am a loyalty member, but just signed up after we booked these flights, so don't think we'll have a leg to stand on there. I've got a list of earlier in the day flights that I am more comfortable with ready & hope I can get some satisfaction. Hubby is still saying I'm crazy for worrying & doesn't want to spend anymore money, but I'm to the point, what he doesn't know, won't hurt him! 😉

The connecting airport is Phoenix. We've never been thru there so I'm not sure how big it is. I do know that all American flights are out of Terminal 4. I do see other flights later in the evening on other airlines that they could put us on, but don't really have any experience in that sort of thing since we don't fly that often & thankfully never missed a connection before. 

No, I didn't get insurance. It's American Airlines. When I called first thing this morning, the lady said, "no, that's too close, but call the company you booked with & have them change it". Which I did, & Hopper said no problem, we'll get it taken care of. THEN, I get a call in the afternoon that the airline says its a legit connection, blah, blah, blah. I think I'll call American again in the morning & see if I can get them to budge.

5 minutes ago, ldubs said:

I'm kind of amazed that the airline is saying this is a legitimate connection.  I think I would push that a little.  

 

I hope it all works out for you.  

The kind lady I spoke with this evening with Hopper said that same thing. She advised to keep watching it & push the airline directly a little closer to the flight date.

No, its leaving Vancouver, first port is Seattle, then a bunch of sea days before the first Hawaiian island. We're flying OKC-PHX-YVR. I've checked flights out of PHX if we miss this connection & there are several,  just 1 later on AA, but several on other airlines. There is an early flight out the next morning, which would get us into YVR around 11 am & another at 1pm, but that one makes me nervous, too. My husband thinks I'm worrying about nothing, but I'm the planner & he is the "adventurous" one. UGH! I thought we had this all planned out & perfect, now I don't know what to do.

OMG!! I hadn't even thought of that! There are later flights on different airlines, but IDK if they would rebook with another carrier or not.

Long story, short, I booked afternoon flights the day before our cruise & now the airline has changed the flights & the connecting flight is now 34 min! I stupidly booked with a third party, whom I called this morning & they agreed it was too short of time, but the airline is saying it is "do-able" & won't allow a change without a change fee & difference in ticket! The cost to change the flights is more than I originally paid for the 2 tickets. Hubby is willing to take a chance on what we have booked & if we miss the connection, they will supposedly get us on the next available flight, which could be the next day. My question...IF they next flight is the next day & we can't get to the port in time(Vancouver), can we get on at the first port, which in this case, will be day 2 in Seattle? We're doing the Sept sailing of the Ovation Vancouver to Hawaii. This is all just stressing me out so much & we've still got 2 months to go!! Any help or thoughts are appreciated!

Thank you! We will check those out!

Thank you! We are staying at the YWCA Hotel & I think I saw via Google that there is a 7Eleven fairly close. I would think they would have 12 pks of coke or water.

Is there a grocery store or convience store near the port where we could stop in & get a 12 pk of coke or bottles of water to carry on with us?

Thanks! We're on the Vancouver to Hawaii sailing, so we've got a while to wait!

We haven't sailed this class of ship before & I've seen posts about pre booking entertainment on other ships. Will we be able to do this with the Ovation or will we do this onboard? Thanks!

4 minutes ago, molly361 said:

What ship?  The larger ships will show it listed on your tv.  If not GS can tell you which is which

We're on the Ovation to Hawaii cruise.