imola

4 hours ago, CanHardlyWait4NextYear said:

Stupid question. If phone is in airplane mode, does clock keep up with time and time zone?

No it does not.  Check stateroom TV for correct ship time.  

On 10/20/2022 at 3:29 PM, scottca075 said:

As you can see, LGB is the overwhelming choice, and for good reason. LAX was recently named on someone's list as the Worst Airport in America. It is a well deserved 'honor'.

Just flew into LGB last week.  Took 5 minutes to get an Uber.  It was an XL and cost from airport to Crown Plaza was $30.00.  DH gave him a cash tip.  Ride took about 15 minutes at 1:30 pm.  All went well and look forward to doing again but will probably stay in Long Beach and Uber over to ship in the morning.  

We are on a 14 night from LA to New Orleans.  We literally just finished taking our Covid non proctored test.  Passed with flying colors.  We are taking the test along with picture of the test with us tomorrow for boarding on Thursday morning.  Folks should check what their sailing actually requires. 

33 minutes ago, 3yorkies said:

Long Beach may be easier in some ways, but think about what happens if your flight gets canceled.  There are few alternatives available to most markets.   I will always take the larger airport just in case, especially in the current climate.   I really have no problems with LAX.   The shuttles to LAXit for Uber and Lyft are frequent and simple to catch outside baggage.    Small airports lack flexibility IMO.

Flying at time when more flights available if needed and going into San Pedro day before cruise so hopefully we will be OK. 

We normally fly Delta but there times and cost were crazy high to both airports.  Decided to try for a better deal with Southwest for Long Beach.  They were having a great sale awhile back and grab 2 tickets for $49.00 each one way.  We will fly home for New Orleans on Delta as I was able to grab cheap flights one night when I was up in the middle of the night. lol  We have not done Long Beach before but everyone says it is great and only 15 minutes to the hotel.  I did read somewhere that the taxi fare is pre sent at $45.00 so we will see.

Received and email today from RC regarding our October 20th sailing through the Panama Canal.  Seems Nicaragua is not allowing to cruise ships into port so we will no longer be stopping there.  They will be porting in Hautulo, Mexico instead.  We have not been to either port so I guess it doesnt matter.  We are not mad just have to do new research for the new port.

On 10/1/2022 at 6:32 AM, bookbabe said:

I’m looking for later this month, so while it might not be a priority for them, it is one for us.  They did finally respond late last night, $130 for 3 people LAX to Disneyland (pre-cruise stay).

 

They did finally respond.  We are looking for less than 3 weeks.  Going from Long Beach Airport to Crown Plaza on a Wednesday arriving about 1:00 pm.  Quote was $90.00 for two people, plus tip. 

We will be looking at a taxi which I am told is a set fee of $45.00. 

On 9/27/2022 at 12:01 PM, scottca075 said:

 

Do you recall the rate so others can compare options?

I reached out to them for a quote but zero response. We will look elsewhere for transportation.  

On 9/26/2022 at 7:01 PM, Ashland said:

Yes...I was disappointed in the GS on Serenade...and board her again this coming Sunday for her Panama Canal. We'll be in an OS for this itinerary...I took a quick look at the cabin while I was onboard and it's similar to my OS on Jewel recently however, the lighting from what I saw on Serenade is just as bad as the GS was. Lack of good lighting in the bathroom is just a pet peeve of mine.

 

Enjoy the Radiance.

Thank you. I just blame my wrinkles on bad lighting so can't get my makeup right. Lol. Enjoy your Canal trip as well. Stay safe. 

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

I've always loved the Radiance class but just returned from sailing Serenade in a GS and was very disappointed in this category. The lack of lighting in the bathroom and certainly the location of the TV was horrible...such a bad design !!!

Oh no.  We are in a suite next month on the Radiance I am hoping it is better since we are there 23 days. 

On 9/22/2022 at 2:18 PM, STEVE-O said:

We have 8 sailings on Radiance next year. By far my favorite ship!

Well now I am jealous. 

I was able to get into the website about 20 minutes ago.  Wanted to check on our 3B that starts next month.  All 3 said we are checked in (which I had not done for the second 2) and the sail passes and luggage tags are there for all three.  Problem is they all have the same sailing date (the first one) and all for the same cabin which is not correct.  It would be great and we tried but not true.  Don't know if I should be concerned about all this or just get on the ship and let them worry about the rest?? lol

I had already printed our Sail Passes and tags for the first leg starting next month. 

We prefer the smaller ships. Better to get to know the staff and service seems great.  We don't do all the "amusement park" stuff so that is a waste to us. I want small ship, great staff that get to know me and I them and my balcony to sit on and watch the world go by.  I look at it this way,  The food has always been fine but I look at it this way, I didn't have to plan, shop, cook, serve or clean up so how bad can it be. lol  I have never gone hungry on a cruise much to my doctors unhappiness.

I wonder if the difference is drinks with alcohol vs those without?  I have no idea, just a thought.  We are doing a 3B starting next month so I will try it out. 

3 hours ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

I saw no overt evidence they were using facial recognition to speed up processing.  The CBP officer took all our passports, looked at them, and looked at us.  I didn't even see him scan the passports, but they could be using RFID.  

There was no facial recognition or scanning on the 6 cruises we did between January and mid May. Officer just looked at us the at passport, told us to have good day and sent us on our way. 

19 minutes ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

Just came back in July.  The regular debarkation line was long and slow.  Pay for a porter and go to the short line.  

Already did 6 cruises on the Navigator this year.  Your recommendation is right on point.  Do self debarkation if you can as it is even faster.  That $5.00 to $10.00 tip is well worth it as there is a line just for porter use and we were out and in the car within about 5 minutes.  

On 9/13/2022 at 6:25 PM, ehughes said:

We flew in and out of Long Beach in May.  Much better and easier than LAX.  Shuttles/taxis/ride shares are right out the doors.  Luggage was at baggage claim quickly.

Did you grab a taxi or Uber?  Can you share what your cost was?  We are arriving at Long Beach Airport the day before our cruise going to the Crown Plaza in San Pedro. 

5 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

I was just thinking the same thing. 😂

We got these as well.  Very handy to have.  Cost like $4.00 on Amazon when we purchased.  Keep them locked in the safe until sailing time which will be next month. 

On 8/31/2022 at 6:24 PM, Ashland said:

Get cans of soda in the SL during the evening hours and put them in your fridge...This works easy for us. Bottles of water also.

I love having you on here as you know the info I am looking for.  Hopefully we will get to meet someday.

2 hours ago, robmtx said:

In the Lounge, coffee and tea are available throughout the day.  Each evening, between 5:00 pm and 8:00 pm, hors d'oeuvres, petit fours and complimentary wine, spirits, beer, and soft drinks are available for our Suite guests.

 

This is word for word from the concierge email. It doesn't mention beer/wine/soda being available during the day, but people say it is. So the letter is still a bit confusing to me. I'll know more on Sunday 😉

Please keep us posted.  DH is wondering if he can get a can of soda in the SL during the day. 

On 8/21/2022 at 7:18 PM, RumpunchGirl said:

Well, we changed our flight to 4:30. At least we won't have to rush right off the ship.  I wonder how many more changes Delta will thro at us?🤔

We are flying home from New Orleans with Delta in November after a 3B.  They have changed our flight as well.  Most infuriating is that they did not notify me.  I found the change when I went to price check and my flight was no longer listed.  Now I check every few days.  Have a great cruise.

6 hours ago, LinRon3 said:

Wow.  We thought people would be dancing up and down doing flips and somersaults and singing hallelujah.  We certainly are.  Lot of Debbie Downers here.  Celebrate people!!!  NO MORE TESTING!!!  [uh, proctored anyway].  YAY!!!!!  

That actually depends on the lenght of one's sailing.  We are sailing for 14 days in October and at this time we are still being required to test because the cruise is longer than 10 nights.  We are hoping that changes before embarkation.  Good news it can be a home test and we just have to show them the results before boarding.

On 8/21/2022 at 8:17 AM, Jen88 said:

 

Thanks! Can't believe the handling of time zones is so inconsistent, makes planning so much more difficult!

 

 

Thanks! We're not planning on doing any excursions, but might want to book a spa appointment or something, in which case it would be useful to know in advance if arrival and departure times are local or "ship time"...

 

 

Very useful information, thank you so much! Fingers crossed for low occupancy the week we sail...

 

 

That's useful to know, thank you! How much should we tip for this service? We're not used to tipping where we come from, so it's always a challenge for services like this where there is no base price to calculate a percentage of... 

We tip $5.00 to $10.00 depending on how much luggage we have. 

Another vote for the great service from Trip Insurance Store.  Steve helped me with a policy for a long sailing.  He took lots of time and guided me to the best option for us geezers while saving us some money. 

When getting off the ship, self debarkation, we get a porter right away when we get to them.  Customs has a line for folks leaving with a porter.  We walked right up front and out the door within minutes.  Porter took us across the street to the parking gate opening.  We are parked two cars down.  Well worth the tip.