Cras108er

3 hours ago, Almighty188 said:

 

The reason advisors advised you not to make the purchase is because it wasn't a security they are promoting.  Since advisors get paid for securities they recommend by the company which is why they don't care if you make money or not as their job is for you to bring your assets to them and for you to buy what they recommend to you as they make money from the recommendations and they usually require you to hold the security for a certain period of time too.   I know someone who used Edward Jones and they keep recommending things to buy so it gets bought but they would not let you sell it until 5 years later as they will not even accept your instructions to sell.  Another friend used Banc of America Investment Services, Inc. which was before Bank of America purchased Merrill Lynch.  The advisor sold them Mutual Funds and it was losing money big time and even 6 years later, they won't let them sell saying that they have to keep it there for a full 10 years or something.   A advisor really doesn't use their own skills to recommend things as they use what's on the list supplied by the Chief Analyst.  As for the dividends, even at 4%, it will take you 18 years to recover 100% of the cost of your investment.  And at 3.7% which is the actual dividend, it will take 19.5 years.  Regardless, it's better than putting the money in the bank even for the dividends alone and the depends on the actual return on the stock price itself.  If you cruise though, then the return is higher.  The shares you own will mostly be in street name as it's owned by the brokerage firm where you are the beneficiary owner.  Otherwise you will have the stock certificate in your hand and it has to be delivered to the broker before you can even sell the shares should you need to.  Make sure when you buy for the dividends, you look at the dividend-ex date and your shares need to settle on or before that date or else you won't be eligible for the dividends for the next dividend payment date.  

 

I purchased my shared several years ago for $35 a share against the advice of my Edward Jones broker. No regrets. It has increased in value AND I have enjoyed quite bit bit of OBC. Great investment, as far as I am concerned. 

17 hours ago, TwoCruisers said:

Yes, you can cash in OBC.

Here is an answer I gave recently to a question about cashing in OBC from stockholder credit: (This cruise was on the Pacific Princess 12/22/2018 to 1/5/2019)

 

“On my recent cruise on the Pacific Princess I had over $600 in OBC. Some of it was from the Princess promotion, some from the stock holder credit and some from other sources. All of the credit is lumped together and I can’t tell which is which.

I used some of the OBC to pay for Princess tours, some for the Steak house and I also took out $100 on each of two nights in the casino. One night I lost my money and the other night I cashed it in. So yes you can use the OBC in the casino.”

I too have cashed in OBC.   I was surprised when they allowed it on the final day, as I had heard that you couldn’t. Had also heard you couldn’t use it for tips. Turned out I was able to do both.  Just go to the customer service desk at the end of the cruise. 

As the title says, I am looking at a Princess Emerald cruise (LA to Hawaii).  The price seems VERY good, almost too good.  I'm wondering if there are others who may have done this ship before.  Is there anything that I should be aware of in particular before I book?  I'm not even sure what to ask.  Just want to make sure there are no "surprises" - if you know what I mean.   As you can see, from my signature line, we have done this itinerary previously.  Thanks. 

I must have missed that. We were in 12912. It was a handicap accessible room that we got moved into when they freed them up about 2 weeks out. If another passenger needed the room we would have gotten bounced. As for noise, there was very little at all. Some from Spice H2O but the door keeps all the noise out.

 

 

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Where can I find your review. I looked through. Number of reviews from the April 2017 sailings. How do I know which one was yours? Thx

No. We've stayed in 12304 and 12908. We walk to aft elevators, go up to Garden Buffet entrance. Walk out of Buffet, in PoolDeck. Walk through pool deck to Vibe (2 staircases up). Elevators are right there forward to bring you down to OSheehans or atrium. Escape is a big ship, but most activities are " in the middle", with balcony rooms extending well past common activity hubs. I have a bum hip, and the walk doesn't bother me at all. And, again, I like that our rooms have been away from activities and even other cruisers. Less noise, quiet when we're in the room. 12304 actually is a regular balcony that has room for a lounger, two chairs, and a table (last room on the port side of ship).

 

 

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Sorry for all the questions. As you posted, I was just studying the deck plans. How did you find the difference between the two cabins. I see one is a true aft, and the other was the last cabin (both butting up against a suite). Funny thing is a friend just booked 12908.

The website is offering me 14908, but I hear those balconies are smaller. You know anything about that? Would I need to be. concerned about noise from the common areas above?

I REALLY appreciate all the inside info!

Aft balcony. I like being away from the noise and bustle, and do like the aft elevators more than the forward (seem to be less busy than the front ones). We have another aft balcony in February 2018, three straight Escape cruises with aft or rear balconies. So, I am biased. And, we've gotten Vibe our previous Escape cruises, so we go the furthest distance from room to front of ship. But, we leave our room by 8 am everyday and hang in Vibe till 4 on sea days and Nassau.

 

 

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On such a large ship, is it a long walk to all the activities?

The large balcony is ok if you are just sitting outside. It is large. It sticks out for all above to see. You WILL be immortalized on YouTube for almost anything you do.

What do you think I'll be doing Bird? 😉

We need help! We're planning to book a cruise on the Escape. We have the choice between a Larger Balcony on deck 8 (near the Waterfront) or an Aft Balcony.

One would be more "near the action, the other is... an Aft Cabin (need I say more)?

Which would you take (and why)? The Aft Cabin is about $100 more pp, and we do not have any mobility problems. Thanks in advance.

we generally save seats by the pool at 6 am so we can go back to our room and smoke on the balcony and then when heading back to our reserved chairs around noon we stop at guest services to have our DSC removed because we like to tip only those who serve us ( we really don't tip anyone, please keep this part secret) yea we tip much more then they would have gotten, we are very generous ( we are really not, please don't tell anyone). During all this we let our kids run wild down the hallway ( actually we join them) and sometimes we have to take a rest and sit on the steps while blocking everyone from going up and down.

Wow! I've found my double. We do the same thing, except we never take the stairs. We always take the elevator. It's so frustrating when others are trying to get off while we're trying to get on.

Also, we'd never thing to smuggle alcohol on board. Instead, we buy one UBP, and share it with all our travel mates. The cruise line is making a bundle on it anyway. We just help balance the scales. 😎

I booked my first cruise on NCL in 2015 on the same deal. Booked another one in 2016, and another one last weekend. It's an ongoing offer. No catch if you're a drinker, except that you have to pay an 18% service charge on the retail price of the package. That said, they do seem to raise fares a bit to offset the cost of the promo. For us, it still works out cheaper than actually buying the UBP (which we would do).

Hmm. That is what I suspected. So much for "feeling special," if everyone on the ship is getting it too. It makes sense that they would hide the cost somewhere else, as they're not in the business of giving money away. Not saying I won't do it. I just like to go into things with my eyes open. Thanks!

So are they just "selling" the associated service charge?

NCL currently has a special that offers the choice of UBP, Speciality Dining, internet, or credit toward shore excursions if the cruise is booked by a certain date. On the surface, it sounds like a good deal, but being the skeptic that I am, I have to ask. What's the catch? Is this a common offer, or is this genuinely a one-time good deal?

Thanks for the great pics. We are in FLL as I write this waiting to board the Coral in amanither 24 hours or so. Can't wait. Your pics helped whet our appetite!

How do you pay for the washing machines and dryers in the laundry on the Coral Princess. In the past, I seem to remember taking quarters to plug the machines, but I read something recently about being able to charge it to your cruise card. I don't remember that latter option. Can someone enlighten me? Thanks!

The at sea day south to Vancouver is really at sea. No land in sight, truely a sea day. No inside passage on the way south. Going North from Seattle the first day is true at sea day and coming back stopping at Victoria is at sea.

This is correct. It is in unprotected waters. When we did our Alaska Cruise, the last day was a "wild ride." All pools were closed and there was quite a bit of rocking. Your mileage may vary.

But being a first time Princess cruiser this thread is useful to me!

 

 

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That was my thought too. Not everyone will go back and read the previous versions. New people come to the boards every day.

They weren't actually "refusing". They were SO drunk they were passed out. Thus the banging on the door by security. Apparently they were young professionals on a well deserved vacation and it was unreasonable for the ship personnel to expect them to comply. It was, after all, their vacation.

 

They were put off at the next port with their luggage and banned from the cruise line. The funny thing was, this guy acted like he wasn't involved like "has anyone ever heard" and "were they able to get back on" kind of questions. Since the people on CC aren't stupid it didn't take long to figure out he was talking about himself.

I'm old school. In my mind, that is the same as refusing. You're ALWAYS responsible for your behavior. Being drunk is no excuse.

This reminds me of a poster about two years ago. He came on asking about the fairness of being kicked off just because they were so drunk that they didn't attend the muster drill. They also didn't attend the next two set up for them. They had to get the Captain, head of security and I forget who else but the hallway was crowded. He was from Europe and commented that they were just young people trying to enjoy their vacation.

 

At first he acted like it was an innocent question. Then it went into his personal involvement and wondered if he was banned from A cruise line, would that mean he would also be banned from B, C and D which were owned by the same group.

If you miss THREE muster drills, including two that were specifically arranged FOR YOU, you deserve to be kicked off. That is outright defiance. If they refuse to follow instructions, they put everyone on the ship at risk.

Buy 100 shares of Carnival stocks and get an OBC every time you sail!

It doesn't hurt that the $35 share I purchased approximately five years ago, is now selling for $59 a share. I get a quarterly dividend, PLUS OBC on top of that. Its a deal that can't be beat! Works on any Carnival owned line.

The last cruise I went on, I made out like a bandit. between Shareholders OBC, Veteran's OBC, FCC OBC, and OBC I received from my travel agent, had about $900 in OBC. I didn't use it all, and traded the balance in for cold hard cash before I left the ship on the last day.

And the Sharpie pen? What was its role in the offer?

I actually thought sharpies WAS the "random act of kindness, until I looked closer." Couldn't understand why folks were patting Princess on the back for being so "cheap." lol

I have computer packing lists as to exactly what goes into each suitcase -- 4 suitcases and 2 carry-ons.

So I pack 2 days before we leave for the airport hotel.

For one person?!?!? :o:o:o:o

On Coral the front viewing areas are there but also the aft viewing areas on the same decks. Island had a huge refit and they replace the aft public venues with cabins. There is no full walk-around Promenade deck. There are no aft viewing areas on Caribe or Baja. We had an OV cabin on Coral all the way aft on Baja and the viewing deck (with loungers) was steps away from our cabin door. (The front viewing decks don't have loungers.) It was like having a huge balcony. Yes, we had to share it but it was never crowded or busy and often we were the only ones there. Given a choice I would pick Coral every time over Island.

So we are aft on the Dolphin deck. There is a viewing area just steps from on our cabin door (not to mention our balcony). Are you saying we can see all we need to see com there? Thx!

Thanks for the great tip about adjusting the number of posts per page. So much better!

Ditto what he sad. That was definitely a useful tip!

When my husband was ordering his "doubles/triples", the bartenders got to know what he ordered very quickly. he would give the bartender his card and they would pour him whatever he wanted, double or triple and the bartenders would just put the charges through while he was drinking, spacing them apart by a few minutes.

It could be a little frustrating for some people but not for my husband as he always says that he always has plenty of time in life for the fiber things.

Always good to keep things "regular. :cool:

Your room card, Tamara. Once you get on board, you are tied to your credit card through your room key, soon to be your medallion.

Hmm, I never realized that. I have taken a bag of quarters with me. Not sure if that was on Princess, or another line. would be nice to be able to use my room card.