cruisin from florida

3 minutes ago, ATG said:

I am a member of that category.  On one of my booked cruises, the difference between a suite guarantee and a junior suite was $800 per person for a 7 night cruise.  That’s hard to pass up.  We’ve done suite guarantee cabins many times.  I figured that JS are all the same and don’t have bad locations, so why not save money? So far they’ve all been fine.  We’ve always gotten junior suites.  

That was our logic for our two recent suite guarantee bookings.

7 minutes ago, little britain said:

I was just going on when the roll call started… apologies 

LOL .. no worries! I wasn't trying to contradict you. 🙂 

Interesting that having had those open so long, the late April cruises haven't shown up yet. I guess I need to get active on the X deployment thread. 

I'm wondering what Brilliance is going to do once it gets to Boston in early September '25. It would be cool to do a b2b with the Transatlantic, if they have an interesting itinerary.

 Here's what they are showing as the X deployment now.

OK, X hijack over. 🙂

4 hours ago, little britain said:

My March 2025 X Japan cruise went on sale in March 2023 and sold out very quickly. 

We booked our April 2025 "best of Japan" cruise on Celebrity last February.

Yes, the cruise contract makes it clear they can change all the ports, cancel the cruise, etc. etc. This is NOT how they market their product, and, in fact, they don't provide the contract until AFTER you book. 

If the headlines are that RCCL is sticking it to their customers, they will (hopefully) take a hit on bookings.

1 minute ago, soremekun said:

What works for me:

Pull up my SetSail pass on the computer

Scan the barcode with my phone's camera

The numbers after the dash show your deck and stateroom number

 

Others, please chime in if you have a more efficient way of doing it.

My barcode app lets me upload an image, so I just do a screenshot. That said, it doesn't work until a cabin is assigned, and I don't think these poor folks ever got to that stage 

26 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

I agree, but go after the big offenders first.  Both airlines and hotels are notorious for substantially overbooking with the expectation that there will be no shows, allowing them to collect double revenue.  They ruin trips, too.  The number of incidents where cruise lines overbook seems pretty low compared to others in the hospitality industry.  

I don't think the airline comparison holds up, given that in addition to compensation for getting bumped, they will usually get you on a flight the same day or the next. One day of inconvenience, or one day of missed vacation, versus missing the whole cruise. I hope this gets enough coverage that they won't do it again, and do more to make those passengers whole.

In terms of people who get guarantees not being big spenders, thus more disposable as passengers, folks getting balcony or suite or oceanview guarantees are still paying more than the minimum to cruise. I really hope that isn't factoring into who gets bumped.

I've just booked 2 guarantee suites, both of which will require international flights. Like everyone else, I have assumed that guarantee means guarantee. This is very concerning.

17 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Indeed...retirement was the key.   Plus we are (sadly) sans pets since the demon cancer took my fur babies 😞.   Until then 2 weeks was the max for us to be away, even with a great cat sitter, I still missed them dearly when we were gone...and still do after 5 years since they crossed over the Rainbow bridge.  🥺

Yes, retirement has been key. Then we lost two years of travel due to Covid. We did a big trip to the south of France and Italy (with a Greek Isles cruise in-between) in late summer 2022, and realized how much we would have missed if we had mobility issues. I warned hubby to saddle up, because we're going while we can!

We had house sitters stay with the fur babies. Sadly just one elderly kitty left. Fortunately we have a nice place with a pool near the beach, so it's not TOO hard to convince the northern friends and relatives to spend a bit of time in the sunny south.

24 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

I would wager you are more of the exception than the rule, but who knows.  Out of curiosity, what itineraries are now peaking your interest? 

 

I can see the Caribbean becoming repetitive. (nice first world problem to have though 🙂 )

For 24-25, we have a Panama Canal, 3 Transatlantics, one Honolulu to Vancouver, a Med and Japan on X, and a couple of Caribbean with friends or family. That's pretty much the only reason we do the Caribbean anymore. 

Two TAs are back and forth on Adventure next fall, with the Celebrity Med cruise in between. The other TA is the recently released Brilliance that hits Iceland and Greenland on the way from South Hampton to Boston.

Last year we did Alaska, New Zealand, and a Transatlantic. The second half of getting to Pinnacle will definitely cost a LOT more than the first half did.

28 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

I live in Florida...but most of my cruises involve flights out of Florida.  There are only so many Caribbean cruises we can stand to repeat over...and over again.  😉 

Us, too! 

The "wearing the pin" thing.... We're D+, and may see Pinnacle in our lifetime. I enjoy the perks we get now, and look forward to the added perks (if they still exist) if and when we make Pinnacle.

What I won't expect is that crew members will or should treat us any better than a first time cruiser. If "wearing the pin" means that another passenger is getting slower service in a bar or restaurant, I'll leave it in the jewelry box. 

Just my 2 cents.

And at the current prices, it's going to cost new cruisers a LOT of money to get the points needed for D or D+. It's certainly going to cost me a lot more to get to Pinnacle than it would have pre-covid. 

21 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Prices could easily rise more than the couple hundred $ you will get in OBC

Kinda already did. I got a guarantee suite. They are gone now. Jr. Suite almost $500 more pp than my guarantee.

1 hour ago, cruisin from florida said:

I'm cruising on 12/5. I may wait and book the 8/30/2025 Brilliance TA onboard.... Thoughts?

47 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Thanks, usually keep track and watch Daily, looks like 3-4 new Cruises Posted. Royals famous for Posting a few like this outside the scheduled weeks. I watch for Repo's, Long Carib and PC Cruises but wish could take that TA.

 

The suite guarantees on the 8/30/25 Brilliance are gone. I just went ahead and put down my deposit on the one I had put on hold. Very excited!!

2 minutes ago, STEVE-O said:

I'm not seeing a Boston RT for 2025.....

Sorry, I didn't see that you were looking for RT. Maybe those will follow now that the TA is up.

On another note, when did the ability to edit posts go away,/move?

Just now, STEVE-O said:

I'm not seeing a Boston RT for 2025.....

It's one way... Southampton to Boston.

I'm cruising on 12/5. I may wait and book the 8/30/2025 Brilliance TA onboard.... Thoughts?

On 11/22/2023 at 12:02 PM, TourDeCruise said:

We are interested in the Boston to Greenland and Canada back to Boston itinerary for 2025 like the Jewel is doing for 2024. Will that be offered again in August/September 2025? Which ship? Brillance? When is it projected to be available for booking for 2025?

It's up now!

Aug.30, 2025 Brilliance TA via Iceland and Greenland is up! I just put a hold on a suite guarantee. 😁

5 hours ago, edub said:

Hi - I'm heading out on Adventure of the Seas next month and would love your tips about how to eat (relatively) healthy. I've been on RCI a while ago and don't remember much about the food; are there health-conscious options? Do they typically offer a lot of Indian cuisine or other vegetable centric dishes (I really enjoyed the Indian food on a Princess cruise earlier this year). I'm hoping with some exercise (stairs for sure), lack of a beverage package and dessert avoidance most of the time that I can avoid putting on more weight!

I find it's easier to eat healthier at the buffet. I'm not tempted to get a little of everything, and I can create a meal from salad, veggies, and grilled chicken.

I'm also going to turn down the bread basket, and warn the MDR waiters that I can't eat large quantities of food so not to worry if I don't finish some items.

I don't know why the more unique Royal itineraries go on sale so much later than X. We booked our 2025 April Japan cruise last February!

We want to sail on Royal, but we're looking for not the Caribbean.

1 hour ago, LisaAtlCruiser said:

My awesome new Travel Agent (first time using him) just found out Royal is not releasing that sailing for booking until April 2024!  I still plan to book that when released but will now be searching for another sailing to use my NextCruise Certificate.

 

I don't think I'll be using Nextcruise anymore, unless I can either book a specific cruise on the spot, or I'm pretty certain that the booking window is opening shortly. 60 days is not enough time!

23 hours ago, LisaAtlCruiser said:

Does anyone have any clue when Brilliance will release the TA leaving Southhampton August 30th and making her way to Boston via Iceland and Greenland?  I saw the itinerary at NextCruise and got one of the certificates to book her as soon as she is released.  The NextCruise certificate only lasts for two months (to keep the benefits) so anxiously awaiting this specific itinerary to be released.  

 

Also, curious if anyone has any insight into Jewel sailings.

 

I'm waiting for that Brilliance TA, too.

Sooo... The rumored August 2025 Brilliance Transatlantic may show up in February?

5 hours ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

Me too. What annoys me additionally is there is only one ex Southampton cruise in 2025 longer than 10 nights so the opportunity to max-out my OBC from my 2 x NCC is sadly diminished.

 

I might only buy one next year and not two.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

We had several cruises already booked when we got our latest NCC in August. The new 2 month booking window is too short. Also, my TA has group bookings with better prices and perks, and he can't use the nextcruise. I'm going in December for a short cruise, and I'm going to leave a comment with the nextcruise folks on this and every cruise, as well as the surveys, that the next cruise program is no longer valuable to me as it currently operates.