lakemurraykid

We are cruising the Southern Caribbean in June out of San Juan. Because my husband has back and hip issues, do you know if there are golf carts or some form of transportation from the ship to the end of the dock? I know on several of our cruises there has been, but it's been so long since we were on this itinerary I couldn't remember. Thanks!

It would be awesome to have more options out of Charleston. Went on Carnival Fantasy a couple years ago and the ship was too old for me, personally. I'm sailing with some friends in November on the Carnival Sunshine. The price was a little more than I wanted to pay but since I can drive to the port, it's comparable to other cruises.

We live two hours from Charleston and would love for RCI to cruise out of Charleston. It would be wonderful.

This may help

 

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/limits-slashed-on-cuban-cigars-19049

 

The U.S. allows you to bring in up to 100 cigars (four standard boxes) or $800 worth without paying a duty, whether the cigars are Cuban, Dominican, Nicaraguan or from another country. You can do this once every 31 days. Quantities above that will be taxed. And if you're bringing more than 50 Cuban cigars from Cuba, Cuban officials will expect you to have invoices before you even leave the country. Keep your paperwork.

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/the-new-rules-on-cuban-cigars-19054

We're sailing the second week in June out of San Juan on AOS. Does anyone know which cruise terminal we will sail from? Years ago when we took this cruise we sailed from the Old San Juan pier, but I thought I had read somewhere this would sail from Pan Am. Thanks for letting me know.

Is it now legal to bring Cuban cigars back into the U.S.? If so, is there a limit on the number?

Have a fabulous cruise. I will be following you as we will be on the Adventure in June. :)

Thank you for your review. I am pleased to hear everything was so positive as we will be sailing her in November. This will be our second Princess cruise.

Wow! Adventure deluxe package is actually on sale this time. It's been $46 (technically "on sale") since the deluxe package was released, but with this current sale it is down to $40/day.

 

With such a port intensive itinerary I think it should be closer to $36-$38, but $40 is pretty reasonable. I am tempted to buy it, but know I won't get use out if it every day at that price, but if anyone is sailing Adventure this summer and want that package I'd check the planner and see if your sailing is $40 (or less) too.

 

 

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OK, I went into my booking and saw the breakdown of the deluxe beverage package. It showed the package is $280.00 plus a "service charge" of $50.40. Is this service charge the gratuity? That brings the total to $330.40.

We have only cruised out of Port Canaveral once and that time we drove from South Carolina. We are considering another cruise from Port Canaveral and wonder if there are shuttles from the airport to a hotel in Port Canaveral and will the shuttle pick you up at the cruise terminal at the end of the cruise and return you to the airport. Yes, I have read some information but got totally confused. If this is available, I have no idea what shuttle service to use and who is very reliable. I would really appreciate any information you can provide with recommendations, hotel suggestions, etc. Thank you so much for your help.

I have tried Bloodys on both Oasis and Allure and I think they're awful. They don't make their own concoction; they use something that's already made. It's sweet and nasty. I'm with the other poster to bring your own. My preference is Zing Zang and if you want hot sauce in it, bring that too.

Has anyone heard what RCI's next promotion will be?

There have been several posts lately on Cruise Critic that are very positive about Club Class Mini-Suite benefits. As more ships are offering this class, I'm sure we will hear lots more about M1 & M6 categories.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2443911

Has anyone had a club class mini-suite and did you feel it was worth it?

We are considering a Regal cruise in November and was wondering if there is a Churchills for cigar smoking? Thanks!

Sound like you had a wonderful time!! Thanks for posting and glad you liked the food! No problem about eating in the Lido.. sometimes i am don't want to even dress for that!! DH does a Lido tray room service!! He will even do courses.. 1st run salad.. 2nd run entrees. i bring the cocktails from the pool bar.. We're all set!!

My underline.

I thought HAL declared all balconies to be smoke ffree?

Why wrew you smoki on your balcony? Did your neigh bors make any comment about it? Who gave you pemission? The concierrge?

Didn't want to dress for dinner? All you would have to do is put on a pair of pants and a polo shirt! :)

Just off the Eurodam yesterday 1/7/17. Will start with the negatives. First I would discourage anyone prepaying for a coke card. The staff treat you like a second class citizen when you present it and act like you are really bothering them, even tho they still get their 15%. You don't get a can, you get a glass and usually from an already opened can which I found to be mostly flat. Second, the service at the New York Pizza leaves a lot to be desired. My last visit there was for 55 minutes waiting for my pizza with them coming to tell me they forgot to make it. Really? The only reason I waited that long was because they were busy and it was lunch time. I might add that I checked at intervals and was told each time it was in the oven. Never happened. I settled for a salad.

 

Ok, those were the only negatives the entire trip. The ship was immaculate. The staff for the most part extremely friendly and everyone wears a smile. The staff is very organized and it was easy on and easy off. They got it down to a science. We were fairly disappointed in the entertainment onboard, but that all depends on your taste. I spent a lot f time and money in the casino without any rewards. Machines were very tight. Entered the slot tournament but was not able to qualify. It is held over two days. Both sea days.

I did not realize that you could not utilize the retreat area unless you rented a cabana. That seemed strange to me since if you rented a cabana, why would you be utilizing all the other lounge chairs outside the cabana. There were more than enough for all passengers in cabanas and then some. Oh well.

 

Food was very good to excellent. We did not utilize the Steak House but did dine in the Tamarin and Catalnos and both were well worth the extra money (I am sure I spelled both of them wrong) ($25 and $15).

 

Cabins were very nice, furniture was clean and in good repair. Cabin Stewart's and helpers were excellent.

 

New Years Eve was very nice. You had your choice of 4 different venues to suit every age and taste. Hats, horns and champagne was flowing.

 

We did not get off the ship at Half Moon Key as we had been there several times and enjoyed the quiet of the ship. Being a Holiday sailing, there were a lot of children. Not used to that on Holland America. Most very well behaved.

 

One source of entertainment we really enjoyed was the daily movies in the screening room. they showed a different movie every day and had it scheduled several times day and evening and you even got popcorn. Enjoyed some first run movies.

 

If you have questions, ask away.

We only ate in the dining room once and the rest of our meals in the Lido (just because we didn't want to dress for dinner). I have to say the food was excellent. We love casinos, but this one was a huge disappointment. It was extremely small and the machines were very tight. We went there twice and that was all. Our favorite music was BB King. We went to the BB King New Year's party and they were awesome. HAL did not skimp on New Year's activities at all.

In general the staff was wonderful. There were two concierges in the Neptune Lounge and they were delightful and always willing to help. I think the Neptune Lounge would be the only reason we would travel with HAL again.

We have decided that we won't travel with HAL again just because we don't care for the majority of the activities and music offered. But we can't say enough about the staff, food and accommodations.

Realistically, only you know what is a reasonable price to pay for anything.

 

I hope you enjoy the suite. It's a wonderful experience.

Another factor is how much money do you have and how badly do you want the upgrade.

We really cannot answer this as it depends on what category you in, the length of the cruise and how full the ship is.

 

I use a "rule of thumb" to determine a "fair" upsell price. I figure the upsell price should be about 1/3rd (to 1/2) of the price difference (current website prices) of the two categories involved. Of course this also varies as stated above, but it is a good starting point.

What would be a reasonable upsell offer for a Neptune suite from Holland?

Wow.....I didn't know they would do this, especially going around the TA.

 

Congrats on your UPGRADE!

Congratulations on your upsell!!

We're on the Eurodam for their New Year's cruise and had booked a VA category. Yesterday I received an email from HAL stating that we needed to reprint our cruise documents due to a change in our reservation. I looked and they had upgraded (not an upsell) us to an SS signature suite. I thought a mistake had been made because we booked this trip through our travel agent. I called them and they weren't even aware HAL had done this. I tried to get an upsell to a Neptune. When they told me the upsell price, I declined. I am very happy with the signature suite. I'm doing the upgrade fairy dance!!

Someone posted on our roll call that she had read that HAL has a Black and White Ball on New Years. Does anyone know if this is true? I haven't seen anything regarding this anywhere. I'm thinking that maybe she read a very old post, but don't know for sure. Of course, I'm hoping that's not the case because I had not planned on taking a gown for our New Year's cruise.