crusinbanjo
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Posts posted by crusinbanjo
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3 hours ago, 5waldos said:
Finally- 10 days out, An upgrade from Adventurer to Vista. Which will suit us very well. And I can stop the obsessive checking! Yes one of the luxury suites would have been nice but never imagined that was in the cards.
Mrs Banjo and I are 15 days away from embarking on the Dawn and still not been assigned a cabin. But, as long as we get in the level we bought or better, we will be 😊 happy. Getting excited!!!
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10 hours ago, Lois R said:
Good morning, I know on this board finances are rarely, if ever discussed but I will just say, in my own case, I could NEVER afford a Silver Suite😮 and their regular staterooms are more than big enough for me😃
You know that, we might know that, but SS doesn’t know that, (for sure). But, hey, if they offered me a Silver Suite upgrade, I would certainly not turn it down………. ……So just enjoy it and maybe they will do it again on a future cruise…. I am so jealous, (just kidding), you deserve it!
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19 hours ago, Lois R said:
LOL....I get it. Actually, they had issued me a cabin on deck 7 about a week before I got a call about this one. I was thinking they were going to tell me it would cost me x amount and I was just going to stay on deck 7, which would have been fine with me. When they told me it was complimentary, I almost fell out of my Lazy Boy LOL
I think they are teasing you with that upgrade and hoping once you experience a Silver Suite, you won’t be able to go back to a regular cabin. After all, you do cruise frequently on SS and they do want to keep you VERY happy! I know on another line, they did that for Mrs Banjo and myself, it was almost impossible to go back once you experience the “suite life” .
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2 minutes ago, 5waldos said:
I guess I don't have the patience that I wish I had! 12 days out and I really really want to know. It's not like it really makes a big difference- we are on the Explorer and will mostly be out of the cabin anyway except to collapse after excursions. And it is beginning to look like we may be in transit (4 days home to port) before we find out where we will land.
You can always call and ask. The SS rep may be able to find out for you. Personally, I try not to worry about it, once it was very close to embarkation day. It is always good, just being on the ship!
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It’s not uncommon, Mrs Banjo and I have not been assigned a cabin for our cruise in a few weeks, and past cruises were not assigned until just a few days before embarking.
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22 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:
I still don't understand why the cruise lines haven't taken advantage of their higher stock prices by issuing convertible bonds. They can use those proceeds to refi their pandemic debt which carries double digit coupons.
They would still need to pay a coupon rate comparable to market rates in order to sell the bonds. I suspect the rates today might be higher than what they are paying on older bonds, but admittedly, I’m not an expert in cruise line finance.
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On 9/13/2023 at 12:05 PM, A Tucson Guy said:
What I have found is that there are different "categories" of passengers on SS. There are the uber rich where money is no object for anything. Some of these folks fly their private jet across the pond and book the top cabins. Next we have those that are very wealthy but they do look at the cost but only minimally. Another group, I think a larger group, can afford to cruise on SS but money does matter and that group will look harder are expensive SALT tours or La Dame at $320 per couple with very little difference from the other restaurants. I think SS is trying to cater to the first two groups when it charges some very expensive rates for certain things. I guess this is called "business".
This is nothing new, SS has always catered to the two groups that buy up the silver suites and higher value cabins, the SALT tour pricing is just more obvious. Where it is most noticeable is when you travel in a veranda suite and you travel mates are in a higher class suite, then often the different treatment is easily seen.
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On 9/13/2023 at 1:31 PM, DCPIV said:
I can't speak to what is in those reviews and YouTube videos, but I can tell you that we've enjoyed Whisper a great deal in the past and would not hesitate to go back. I'd be lying if I said I wish there were one more bar on board or dining choice on board, but I'd be lying even more if I said that keeps me from going back.
A smaller, older ship is a different experience, but it's not a bad one of you just embrace what you have. You will know the crew and most of the other passengers. It's cozier but also more congenial.
We're in our early 50s, if that helps for reference.
Same here, Mrs Banjo and i will be on the Dawn for the first time in October. We love the smaller ships and in fact most of our SS cruises have been on the Wind and the Cloud, (both before conversion to expedition ships). We have also cruised on the whisper and enjoyed it very much……. But we are not hard to please.
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If the S&P and the Dow Jones averages go down enough, I’ll be a buyer, but this week’s volatility is just that, up today, down tomorrow
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Mrs Banjo and I use the port to port whenever it is offered. For us Blacklane does not operate in our area, I can also get transfers at lower costs. With air, I can also usually get better routings and comparable rates. But, there are downsides, the cancellation fee is high, but I buy travel insurance to cover an unexpected cancellation or trip interruption. All in all, my preference is the Port to Port
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52 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:
Good luck with Delta, DOT Sec. Pete, etc. My very rough recollection is that the airlines are more "responsible" if the cancelled flights are due to their equipment failures, crew shortages, etc. If it is weather and/or air traffic controller shortages by FAA, etc., that is consider somewhat "out of their control". Also, do a quick Google search as to what type of delays are covered or not by the airlines.
Did you have travel insurance for this trip? Any credit card coverage for your trip disruptions, etc.?? Keep us posted as to how you progress. Good to know for future purposes if we run into this type of "bad luck".
THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio
You are correct Terry, if the delay / cancellation is weather, the airline is not responsible, but Lois, it is worth asking and I agree with Terry, your travel insurance should come into cover for the interruption. Glad you are home ok. I know airlines delays are a pain, but as a pilot, bad weather like we had recently makes for very dangerous flying conditions. So safety first. After that, the airline schedules are a mess for a while. Sounds like a pain, but you came through it and all is well.
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On 9/10/2023 at 3:25 PM, Lois R said:
Well, I thought I,was flying home tomorrow morning.........but of course they changed it again. GRRRRRRRR..........
They really messed up and put me on another flight to West Palm Beach so that had to be changed and now they said there is a flight at 8pm tomorrow night and have me on it. I just have to wonder if it will be there tomorrow......
I went through a similar situation on Delta a few months ago. I was flying to Oklahoma City for Banjo Museum business, with a return flight the next day. 3 days later, I returned home on AA, after 4 flight cancellations.
sorry you had to go through this Lois. I hope you made it home ok.
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21 hours ago, Lois R said:
It makes sense.....you have to get to that airport in order to take that flight and if you are using SS you need to see if they are using that flight.
I have asked for and gotten deviations to direct flights on many occasions from SS, but it usually is a negotiation. On one cruise, they wanted to fly Mrs Banjo and I from Boston to Hong Kong via Dubai with a 10 hour layover. I found a direct, nonstop flight with a nonstop back from Tokyo. It took a few phone calls, but they managed to get our business class reservation moved to the nonstop flights.
more recently, I am just handling my own flights and transfers, that way I am assured to get what I think is best for me without the negotiation.
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13 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:
You CANNOT book before you board! You can purchase the package, but have to wait until you board to reserve the tables.
That seems odd that they will over sell in advance of the cruise. Personally I would be pretty disappointed if after spending $$$ for a selection of special restaurants and then have them tell me sorry, there is no space left.
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1 hour ago, Leo_On_Geo said:
Doesn't happen because you can book BEFORE you board. When you board you book, if there is space you reserve and you pay then. If there is no space I strongly suggest the waiting list, they add additional Chef Tables all the time, I've had cases where I bought and paid for a three table tour, (with reservations) because the Cheftable was sold out. Later they added me to a Chef table and altered my purchase to a two table tour and Chef Table. Try to book as soon as you can, and sign up for wait list. It will all work out
I bought the 3 table tour with the Chef’s table, but I didn’t see any link to make a reservation, guess I’ll go look again.
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So…….. What if you bought the dinning package that includes the Chef’s Table, then when on board, it is all booked out. What happens then?
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On 9/6/2023 at 12:07 PM, crusinbanjo said:
OK today I received an email from Azamara, (the first since I made this booking in March of 2023), providing me a link to make my final payment....... So good, right? (Guess they didn't loose my email address after all). So, I click on the link and it takes me to an error message saying that I am not authorized to access customer information!
So, Just how does AZA think this will help me make a final payment? MY WORD this is very sloppy IT work!
Just to update this post, I was able to make my first of two final payments by calling the US number. The wait time was not unreasonable, less than 5 minutes, and a very helpful customer service representative was able to send me a screenshot from her computer showing the correct OBC so I will have proof when we board in January. Final payment went smoothly from there and the website is updated to reflect final payment and $0 balance.
So, it does appear that progress is being made in the right direction! Let’s all hope this trend continues!
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OK today I received an email from Azamara, (the first since I made this booking in March of 2023), providing me a link to make my final payment....... So good, right? (Guess they didn't loose my email address after all). So, I click on the link and it takes me to an error message saying that I am not authorized to access customer information!
So, Just how does AZA think this will help me make a final payment? MY WORD this is very sloppy IT work!
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I generally book direct. This cruise is no different. Quite honestly, I would like to have a TA, but I have been burned twice, and honestly, it is pretty easy to do myself, so I have been direct booking for the past 10 years, +/-.
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Not sure if this is the right thread for thi, but just in case Azamara management is reading, here goes.
This week, the first of my two final payments are due, and I will make them on time, but there has been absolutely NO communication from Aza at all. No reminders of upcoming payments, no emails on excursions, no communication about OBC that was promised, no promos for future cruises, nothing. It is like I fell off the radar or maybe they lost my email address? I don’t know, hopefully all goes well, but Aza is not making a good first impression!
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27 minutes ago, uktog said:
Mine is there for my cruise and I’ve not made final payment
Mine still shows a coupon with no value.
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7 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:
Our OBC, for our 11/30/23 cruise, just appeared on the website.
Have you made final payment?
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13 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:
DW and I generally do not like modern art, but for some reason the large rusty-steel sculpture The Matter of Time by Richard Serra really spoke to both of us:
https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/the-collection/works/the-matter-of-time
Yes that is quite interesting. One that I found interesting was a large canvas painted in bright yellow, with a small red square in the lower left corner, https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/conoce-al-curador this reminded me of a canvas I painted for my niece, (when she was about 11), wow, so many years ago. Anyway, My painting was all white with single black dot in the field. I titled it, “Polar Bear in a Snow Storm”. I have often thought that it could hang in the Museum as well. 😇😅😎
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2 hours ago, Marylebone37 said:
Yes. in June. You may also take a pleasant walk into the local port town with quite a few shops and restaurants on the way. We had the best fresh fish meal of our entire 14 day cruise at one of the restaurants there. Out of this world and so authentic. Don’t be bashful if you see something that intrigues you!
We did the same when we were there. Had fabulous lunch & shopping, then on the the Guggenheim museum for some “MODERN ART”??. But really it was quite interesting…… (I think one of my more famous painting should be on a wall there). Haha 😂
SS/RCCL Finances: Improving, Options, Questions??!!
in Silversea
Posted
Very interesting