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Would some kind soul let me know what the Sapphire OBC benefit is and freeplay benefit [if you cruise during your birthday month?]. Thank you.

Re: Nassau Port Construction: you may be right, but it does seem to be coming together quite quickly now. Two sea days back to New York. Calm seas at the moment, we are moving at 19 knots. Because of the GSC miss, we will end up with six sea days on this eight day cruise. Looks like NCL is going to make their nut this cruise with all the onboard spending going on even with the refunds on GSC .

Burn the floor played 2 nights. MDQ will play 1 night. I understand musical taste is subjective, but the pool band is, in a word, terrible.

Aha. Thank you for the reply.

Has anyone had any success booking a 2023 "free" cruise of 3 to 5 nights (carib, bahamas) as part of the tier benefit for platinum of MGM Rewards? Every time I call I call Casino Royale I am told that the free cruise benefit "has not yet been added to the system." We are almost into April 2023 and that is starting to make less and less sense, hence my question to the group. Thanks in advance.

For those following the thread, I thought I would add a few things from this sailing: 1. We arrived in Nassau today at 6 AM and they started letting folks off by 715, 45 minutes ahead of schedule. They really have done their best to maximize beach time or at least port time for those who wanted it because of missing GSC yesterday. 2. The nassau port buildings are coming along. I spoke with one of the supervisors who "hoped" they would be completed by end of May. 3. Internet has been decent throughout the cruise. 4. Casino has been packed the entire cruise. 5. Lots of availability in many specialty restaurants despite high passenger count. 6. Stewards are still smiling, but clearly working long days and overworked. 2.

Yes we missed GSC. Some very unhappy passengers onboard. Always a difficult thing for the crew to handle but they are doing their best. In other news, there really has been a cutback on entertainment on the Getaway. 2 nights in the theater for the comedians, 2 nights in the theater for the magician. Pretty slim pickings on musical offerings around the ship Next step -- Howl at the Moon in the theater?

BTS and Officers Dinner back on Getaway.

My pleasure. Also may work on omelette line if you complain you can’t stand for long periods of time.

Thank you Always Cruising. Exactly the information I was looking for. I'll report back on what I get.

No, that is all taken care of. Fully operational on both sides for breakfast and lunch. My comment was about dinner. More like yield management, which seems to me to be appropriate. But I'm not complaining about the dinner buffet and the choices available. If you want to complain about that, start cruising with Celebrity. The crew is in surprisingly good spirits as they are clearly working very hard with little rest. I will say that the amount of garbage ending up in the stateroom hallways is ridiculous. And that one is on the passengers, not the crew, IMHO.

Very convenient indeed for all parties concerned. One last note: other than embarkation night, they have only opened up one side of the garden cafe for dinner. A little hectic but not terrible.

I am on this cruise and hope the OP does not mind a few updates: 1. Embarkation began for Haven at 1115, followed by accessible, then sapphire. I mean this as no slight. There were several “limping” passengers as they went through the accessible security line; once outside walking to the ship their limp mysteriously was cured as they broke out into a full walking sprint to the ship. 2. The first rooms were not ready until 230. Some floors waited to 345 for the all clear. 3. The ship is crowded and the upsell is in full swing. Alvin the cruise director is on the PA every two hours with news of some other activity that requires payment. 4. The stewards are completely harried and I can’t help but think the slow turnaround day was a consequence of the recent cutbacks. 5. The ship is provisioning in PC not NY, so certain alcohols are out but should be restocked. 6. Why in the world we spent 2.5 days at sea getting to PC from NY is beyond me. It does contribute to the bottom line though with the captive audience. 7. The crew is very friendly, though the ship feels a little tired. But I could care less—- I’m on vacation.

Thanks for all the replies. Assuming I am offered some non refundable OBC, does anyone happen to know if this can be applied against a) the purchase of cruise next certificates or b) cabin charges for money purchases at the casino (including the 3 percent fee)? Thanks again in advance.

Hi there, Relatively new at the CAS comp game. Current sailing I am on is through land based certificate. I have 3 questions: 1. What discretion do CAS hosts onboard have to offer folio credit or other comps and if they do have discretion what generally can they offer? I know this is often a private subject, but would appreciate some feedback to better understand the system, and some examples of what people have been able to wrangle as discretionary comps based on loss or point totals. 2. Is it better to ask at end of cruise for discretionary comps or does it not matter? 3. I have read the threads about CASNEXT. Besides this, are there any other reasons to hang onto your accumulated points and not use them for point play? Thanks in advance.

Thank you.

Budget Car Rental advertises a shuttle service rate from Port Canaveral. Last time I booked this the shuttle was not running. I have tried in vain to reach the location to see if it will be running when I arrive in Port Canaveral next week at CT10. Is anyone able to shed any light on the schedule for this shuttle and whether it will be running or not? Thank you in advance.

Thanks Steerage Joe. For those of us coming into CT10 for a day, are there any public transportation options? TIA.

I've done it. It is basically an open air tram attached to a truck, at least when I did it in January 2022. Not too many bumpy roads as I recall and it was an interesting insight into the DR -- including eye opening poverty faced by many of its citizens. I recommend it.

Just reporting back from my subsequent experience with another agent. No dice. Will not move. I guess the lesson here is focus on your selection at initial booking!

Will give it a shot. Thanks.

Has anyone recently had any success changing staterooms (same category) after final payment on a casino at seas booking? Looking to move locations on the ship. My recollection is I have done this before several years ago with CAS, but I was just told by a CAS agent that it was not possible. Even though numerous staterooms in same category as my reserved stateroom are available for purchase, the agent informed me that all CAS rooms were sold out for the particular cruise so I could not move rooms. Any insight greatly appreciated as to whether this sounds plausible, or I need to call again to find a more knowledgeable agent. Thanks in advance. .

The pool bar was the only open bar on Apex this morning. They did open up Eden bar around 2. Two other items of note about the tendering into GC from Apex today: 1. Only one side of the ship was used. It seemed like they got it under control by 1:30. By then, there were 3 hours left in the port stop (last tender at 430). 2. Despite advertising that tender tickets would not be handed out until 10 AM, there was a lengthy line when I arrived at 950 AM. Ok, some people got an earlier start than I did? Unfortunately not. They started the tender ticket handout at 915. No CC preferences. Just some people were "in the know," So much for truth in advertising. It has been a lovely cruise, and I will publish a review after completion. Besides this snafu [and yes, sorry to repeat everyone else, the absolutely ridiculously thin offerings for dinner buffet in OVC], things have been great.

Slightly windy. They are not using ship tenders. Things are moving better now but still a disappointment. And very few bars open.

Currently on Apex and this morning’s tendering has been, to say the least, disappointing. For non ship excursions 4 tenders have left in 2 hours. To put this in perspective, tender ticket numbers have been given out to number 56 and we are up to ticket number 16 after 2 hours. Is this always a problem in GC? Word to the wise, plan a ship day for GC.