jkrislc

If they did in fact have any kind of detector on the balcony, it would likely he for heat rather than smoke.

I went online to purchase a drink package for my NOS cruise last month and noticed that sales tax was added. I knew that was new and I cancelled the order. As it turns out, our bar bill was significantly less than the cost of the drink package. Made me realize how much you have to drink to make the package a good value!

That could very well be a Texas requirement. Some states require sales tax to be added to anything sold at the embarkation port or delivered before the ship sails.

7 day cruise, you pay for 7 days. 5 day cruise, 5 days. And so on.

 

If you don't want it on the first day, don't buy it that day. The time of day has nothing to do with it.

 

The package will not work the morning you disembark, since the SeaPass cards have already been deactivated for purchases at that point.

Is this true? On Celebrity, the drink package was valid on disembarkation morning. I used it for fleshed squeezed orange juice and a specialty coffee.

We buy it and I think its RCI's way of making you think its cheaper.

 

Enjoy

 

CHEERS:D

 

Sea Ya

I actual think it's RCI's way to secretly increase prices as they could have removed the gratuity to lower the price but keep the end price instead. In reality, most of the drink packages actually went up in price even though the advertised price is lower. Starting to look like the shady practices the airlines have gotten into with lower upfront pricing.

I think it looked better in person than the photos represent. However, I agree about the branding. I had to Tweet an RCI fan to confirm that this was the RCI float as I was unsure. While there is a crown and anchor at the top of the float, it doesn't look like one ever used by RCI.

We had eight people miss the ship when we left Aruba on Carnival so I asked the question out of curiosity. I was informed that security will open your safe and if there are passports inside, they will leave them with the port agent for retrieval when you arrive. While I don't know how true this is, thankfully, you might want to check with guests services when you get onboard.

Good choice on the change. While I've gotten to the airport as early as 9/9:30 when coming off Disney ships, it's always a gamble. The 45 minute to hour drive can be hindered with accidents, plus the airport can get crowded with all the people leaving WDW and Universal.

My understanding is that you cannot look straight down at the water as the life boats block the view below. Thus, if your standing at the rail and look straight down, you'll see the roofs of the life boats. You won't have an obstruction when looking straight out, though, as it's all below.

If RCI is going to charge a mandatory daily gratuity, it should include all service outside of beverage. On HAL, the prepaid gratuity covers all dining venue--complimentary or surcharge--and room service.

What really gets me, though, is having to pay a gratuity at self-serve venues like the self-serve wine bars, Bionic Bar, mini bar, etc.

For the most part, I've only seen prices go up with the exception of balcony cabins on the Jewel in January. Balconies were selling for less than insides and OVs over one weekend only.

For our July 2015 cruise to the Norwegian Fjords, the price on our inside has gone up $3200 for the cabin for three people. In this case, the BOGOHO helped. It may also be a limited case because it's a very specific and limited itinerary with only one or two next summer.

Even TANG IS Better than the FREE Fake OJ

It was good enough for our astronauts. :)

Babies don't eat the same food, they eat special food - mashed or ground. They also don't drink, so the cruise line gets less income. They don't pay for tours, bingo, etc... This is the way for a cruise line to get their money.

There are a lot of seasoned cruisers who go on cruises and don't spend a dime; should they spend more for the cruise to make it up to the cruise line? On my last cruise, I walked away with an $86 refund as I had only spent $14 of a refundable OBC; did I short the cruise line as a result?

Charging full fare is ridiculous when less service is being provided to the passenger. Outside of the cabin attendant, the cruise line provided nothing extra for my child when he first started cruising and this is the reason he's sailed 11 times on other lines in the past 5 years and is just now trying RCI. While I understand capacity limits, there are other lines that manage just fine without gouging for the third or fourth passenger, especially when they're younger.

I just had to recently cancl and rebook as RCI said they couldn't do a price adjustment any other way. As a result, I had to rebook all of my dining and excursions, and ended up paying more for our drink packages as we purchased them before the removal of the included service fee. Their loss as I opted against rebooking some of the excursions and decided to go with private companies.

I received an email offering 20% back in the form of an OBC for booking the first night and the same for booking additional nights.

A large reason why I haven't cruised RCI since the birth of my son has been the high 3rd passenger fares especially when he wasn't eligible for the kids clubs and ate very little. While I was willing to pay the taxes and fees, it seemed unreasonable to pay such a high fare for so little in return for his fare. As a result, we gravitated to other lines that had seriously discounted and/or third passenger free fares. We even found Disney to be cheaper as their third passenger fares were lower.

Now that my son is older, I don't have a problem with the higher fare as he is getting the value from the fare being paid as he loves the kids clubs and eats off the adult menu. As such, we now have three RCI cruises booked over the next year.

I have wondered the same thing given that my last cruise on RCI was in 2005, yet I have three cruises booked on the line in the next year. Generally, I have seen a decline in service and MDR food quality. At the same time, I've seen a reduction in fares, so the former is understandable. Comparatively, though, RCI seems to charge a premium compared to its competitors on comparable itineraries. We actually ended up on Disney twice because it was a better value comparatively speaking. However, I am looking forward to getting back to RCI.

In general, though, I find many of the cruise lines to be more comparable than different.

Go into settings and turn off data roaming and you'll be fine. I've taken my i-devices on many cruises since 2007 without any data roaming problems. I need to keep my iPhone on to receive calls in case there's an emergency back home. Never had any roaming charges.

I've done two Spring Break cruises and really didn't notice any difference unlike holiday cruises. Spring Breaks are so spread out that they range the entire month of March into the first week of April. As an example, my Spring Break is different than my nieces' Soring Break and my son's is different from both mine and his cousins and we are all in the same area, just different school districts.

While there may be a few more kids/families, it won't be anything like a holiday cruise.

We arrive in San Juan late on New Year's Eve and are looking for suggestions for New Year's Day. Given that it's a holiday, is it best to simply make this a beach day or is it worth exploring Old San Juan. I know we'll need to save El Morro for the 2nd.

Thanks.

Still showing as the first port stop for the Jewel 1/03/15 cruise.

While ships are getting bigger and are offering new entertainment options, there will always be lines that resist the expansion for those that aren't interested in floating malls. While I personally like the added features, optional dining, etc., I still end up on smaller, older ships primarily for itinerary.

I think Holland and Celebrity are going to keep pretty mainstream, but RCI, Carnival, and NCL will keep expanding in order to attract the younger, family demographic that has never cruised. The new features may even entice some to return to cruising after a long hiatus.

There is no 999 area code nor is there a 999 country code!

I wonder if it should be 888 area code and whomever composed the master email that is blasted out to C&A members just mistyped the area code?

That is an interesting point on what we will need ashore as no name or anything is on it for what I can see

 

Have to just wait and see

What do Disney do ashore

 

 

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Last time I was on DCL, they had RFID enabled cards, not bands, so it worked very similar to the Seapass except you tapped instead of swiping it. I know they've implemented the band onboard for the kids, but that for logging in/out of the club and for tracking their location. When you go to pickup your kid, they can tell you exactly where they are. I suppose this is scary for some, but reassuring for others.

I loved using the Disney Magic (RFID) band late last year as it was super convenient. However, I don't see the same benefit on a cruise since you'll still likely need a Seapass in port as I doubt they'll outfit the port personnel with portable scanners to confirm your identity; thus, the only benefit will be while aboard the ship.

I actually cancelled my Jewel cruise for May because of the new balcony smoking ban, and I was told there is not a cigar lounge on the Jewel. Fortunately Carnival still allows balcony smoking AND has a lounge.

Beginning this October, Carnival will be among the last of the cruise lines to ban smoking on balconies as well. There was a press release in July regarding this change.