LizzyDragon

Yes, you will need to go through your TA. Assuming you’re past your final payment deadline, you can still upgrade by paying the fare difference. I don’t believe you’ll get the OBC though.

My OBC went from $100 to $175 -- plus my on board booking -- I'm at $275

Same here. The new promo bumped my fare up about $75, but got $175 more OBC out of it. Works for me. This is for an April Jewel sailing in a D1 balcony.

I'm on January 19th Anthem too. We are signed up for bus transportation to Seaworld for $31, but might cancel since it leaves to return to the ship at 3pm but we don't leave port til 9pm. That just seems like an odd return time. We are on a budget so cost matters. Uber is looking steep and I don't want the potential problems of a car rental (I know, unlikely, but it will stress me to worry about accidents and trying to get back to the ship).

I love Disney but we figured Seaworld would be a bit more manageable in terms of getting in and seeing a good amount and getting out.

That is a weird return time. I would see if there's another transport service outside of the ship offerings that could get you there and back with better timing. I'd look into an option that leaves at 7pm- you'll be leaving at the end of rush hour, so the drive will still be about an hour. Unlike Disney, Seaworld is doable on a slower day (which it will be in mid-January). You'd be able to do most shows and most of the rides in about 6 hours or so.

Bus...but you really don't have enough time to make it worth the money. The trip is about 1 hour each direction...and it's another 30 mins to actually GET INTO the park. Disney is best done over several days via a land-based vacation.

Ditto. As an Orlando native and Disney passholder- the time and money spent getting to/from the park for the 4ish hours you might get to spend there isn't worth it. I'd recommend doing Disney pre or post-cruise. For PC excursions, KSC would be a better option. They offer activities for young children and the drive time to and from there is much shorter. Legoland might also be a good option for young kids (further than KSC, closer than Disney), but don't know if RCI offers excursions there yet.

In most of the rest of the world, you do clear leaving the country as well - the US is one of the exceptions in this regard.

Yep. The US doesn't have exit immigration/customs, unlike most of the world.

And for folks like myself that find signatures annoying when viewing threads, there's an option in the control panel to hide all signatures.

Every promo gives you the same price at the end of the day. It's just a marketing gimmick to make you feel like you're getting a good deal.

Actually, I saved $170 off the current promo. Sometimes a sale really is a good deal.

Is this the video you all are talking about?

If so, I agree with you all that the story is a little cheesy- it's weird that two people would be explaining how the boat works to each other. I would prefer something a little shorter and more straightforward. But I do appreciate that Royal is trying to do something more than a dry explanation of safety procedures. Hopefully they can go more in the way of the airline safety videos. Many airlines are now using them not only for safety reasons, but as another marketing tool, which is partly why they've gotten more interesting in the past 5 years or so.

Personally, this is my favorite airline safety video of all time. It's one Virgin America put out a few years ago.

So everyone in the cabin has to be present at the same time before anyone can purchase?

No. The packages can be bought online via the cruise planner. The cost can be split among multiple credit cards. The way the online system is now, the drink packages have to be bought by all the adults in the room at the same time. The system allows multiple credit cards for payment, but everyone has to be paid for in one transaction. You can do a mock purchase online to see what I mean.

Onboard, as someone mentioned above, not everyone has to be present at the same time. That said, unless you're diamond (or D+? I'm not sure when the discount kicks in), you're better buying ahead of time as Royal frequently has the package on sale ahead of the cruise. It's also easy to cancel and rebook if the package price drops.

Clear partners with Delta which offers discounts so it costs between $0-79 per year depending on status or credit card. Plus I got a deal when I signed up so my husband is on my account free for 3 years so it made a lot more sense for us. We already had global entry so using both is pretty awesome.

 

 

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Nice deal! That does make sense to do it then. And I agree with you on GE- I have it too and it makes border crossings easier.

Looks like Wendy's major chicken supplier is Perdue: http://www.squaredealblog.com/homewendys/2017/10/23/wendys-celebrates-supplier-excellence-with-annual-golden-link-awards

That is actually not correct. There is a clear line in the middle that you can go through and feed into either the regular or pre-check scanner lanes and another clear line against the wall that you go through and directly into the pre-check scanner lane. I live in Orlando and use them both together, average time through security to the shuttle is under 3 minutes.

 

 

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Interesting. I didn't realized they separate the two types out. I fly out of MCO as well and have precheck. I've seen the Clear lanes- I assumed they all fed into precheck.

Still, I'm amazed Clear is still around. With Clear costing $179 a year and Global Entry costing $100 for five years, you'd have to flying really frequently to make the savings in time worth the high cost. I've been fortunate with Precheck- I don't think I've spent more than 5-10 minutes clearing security at MCO with it this year (although I am usually not going through at peak times).

However I don’t think they consider Canada “international”. You go through all the same check in and security procedures as domestic flights.

 

 

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The US does not have exit immigration, unlike many other countries. Every international flight out of MCO leaves the same way domestic flights do, with the exception of a passport/visa check while checking in/boarding. That said, the airlines have more work on the back end to get the flight going. Which is why, in United's case, the deadlines for bag drops and being at the gate is 15 minutes earlier than domestic times.

I’m guessing Wendy’s and RCI are using the same chicken nugget supplier.

I would call and say "I made a terrible mistake when I booked my flights. Is there anyway I can make a change without a penalty"?

This works with all US airlines if it’s been less than 24 hours since the ticket was booked. Outside of that window, it’s at the airline discretion, but I doubt it’ll work in this case since it’s not an airline error.

Ditto the Windjammer. That’s what my family and it worked out fine.

 

I wonder if they will X-Ray the cake when I carry it on board...:evilsmile:

 

dp

Lol, yes, they will. Probably your biggest challenge with the cake would be finding a way to keep it cool if it needs to be refrigerated.

1) Have pre-check (pre-check + clear would be even better) and

FYI- Clear and precheck are two separate lines at MCO. You can use one or the other, but not both.

Thanks for the head's up. we are celebrating our 25th anniversary on our next cruise. I'll have to take this into consideration. We'll be on a Baltic Cruise. I wonder If I find a bakery in one of the ports and purchase a cake, would the ship security let me bring it on board?

 

What if it's a "Rum" cake ;p

 

dp

On Caribbean cruises, I've brought rum cakes on board without an issue. Sadly, all the actual rum went to the cargo hold for later.

$75/p same day flight change fee + fare difference.

 

what a mess up by me. :-(:(

Yeah, I saw above where you got FLL/MCO drive times mixed up. Oof.

At this point, I'd take the gamble- if you win, you've saved money. If you lose, you were out that money either way.

If you do have to do standby, I would consider splitting the family up if needed. Getting four open seats on one flight might be challenging depending on the flight loads. If you're willing to do 2/2 or 3/1, that may boost the odds of getting back home at a reasonable hour.

Good luck with it. If you have precheck and everything else goes right (and you don't get stuck in any line for more than 5-10 minutes), you *might* be able to make it. But if anything goes wrong or just goes normally (like waiting in the airport security line for 30 min), you're screwed. I would take a moment and see what UA flights are leaving later in the day, so you'll know what your standby options are. Plus, I'd find out what the cost of missing the flight is (do they charge a change fee+fare difference or for a whole new ticket?).

As someone else mentioned above, you're going to have to carry-on the whole way. The deadline to check bags is 60 min before an international flight, so you would have to be at the counter by 8:20. United also closes boarding on international flights 30 min ahead of boarding, so you have to be at the gate by 8:50am.

Good luck. May the odds be ever in your favor.

I was just on a charter RCCL 2 weeks ago and they didn't require both adults in room to get the drink package. I realized that Charters and very different than "regular" sailings. Have Fun!

The requirement that both people must have the deluxe package doesn't kick in until the end of this year.

....The cup does not stop or encourage dishonest people any more than a card would.... but maybe that is just my thoughts from an honest person who likes the soda machine but do not want to bother with carry a mug around wherever I go just for the convenience of the machine.

I think the reason the machines use RFID rather than the card is because that's how Coke, not RCI, designed them. I've seen RFID freestyle machines in the Orlando theme parks and elsewhere, but have yet to see one that will take a card.

Wish I could help. :( Sounds like you had photos already, but they got lost/destroyed somehow?

I did Port Canaveral offsite parking on my last Disney cruise. Our party was 4 adults and one kid. Didn't have any difficulties with the process, and found it similar to going to the port directly. Parking shuttles drop off very close to the port terminal. If you're saving 30 bucks, I'd go with offsite. Pickup after the cruise was quick as well- I don't remember waiting very long.