monorail81

No.

I’ve been seeing it on our seas days for years - not just pockets of it, but miles and miles of it. I live in a beach community and it's been coming ashore for years. Not sure why this year it’s such a big deal. 

14 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

My confidence level for them doing this as documented and planned is about… 14%.

That’s really generous of you.

3 minutes ago, ramja96 said:

So I have to buy a package to get my diamond "reward"??? That doesn't sound like much of a reward. 

Yes but no. You have to “purchase” the one day package when you are onboard. But you “pay” for it using the coupon that is preloaded into your account. You also have the option of using the value of the coupon and applying it to a longer package onboard. 

27 minutes ago, ramja96 said:

 

Our first cruise as diamond is coming up in a week. So my wife and I will each get one day of internet. To clarify, that means 24 hours each, that can be broken up over the course of several days?

It is one continuous 24 hour period from the time you start using it. So people spread it across “days” by starting a 9:00 on one day and then it ends a 8:59 the next day. 

19 hours ago, crazyfrazee said:

I'm not just seeing higher prices but seeing more cruises for undesired ports like Jamaica and Haiti

You’re not going to see Haiti go away anytime soon. That’s Royal’s private beach compound. 

9 minutes ago, Jussabitconfused said:

Which port are they offered in? And what is the excursion called? I thought they may have cancelled going to them because I had heard stories of tourists not following the rules and climbing on them.

Cozumel. There are several - too many to list. Several to Tulum. One to Chichen Itza. In addition to the ones to the ruins, there are many others to the mainland to cenotes, shopping, etc. 

39 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Are cruise lines still taking shore excursions to the mainland ... like the Tulum ruins?  I heard something that made me think they might've stopped. 

They are still available on my sailing. 

5 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

I still shake my head in disbelief that some pay more for a cabana for a few hours than I did for my whole week cruise.  

As am I for those folks who spend more on the DBP than I did for my whole cruise. 

Also, does anyone know how much Celebrity charges for theirs? Just trying to gauge how far off it is from this. 

I just booked one for our trip later in the year. I feel it's too good to be true, but why not get in on it in case it’s not.  Like when they honored the $18 DBP. I hope it works the way it’s written because I only got one for the two of us. Anxiously awaiting hearing about the first person’s experience who uses it. 

It wasn’t on our October Allure or December Mariner. We look forward to it, too. 

If it truly IS Evian, I don’t mind as much. What ticked me off was when we bought the Spring Water package and they delivered Purified instead. Had we wanted purified, we would have just used the ship’s water. So, if they want to charge a premium price, they’d better be delivering premium water to my cabin. 

They have updated the package to be 1 liter bottles instead of the smaller bottles. Whether or not that’s what you actually get onboard is something else entirely being that I ordered the “Spring Water” and got Niagara purified. 🤮

So, as a newly minted D+, I haven’t yet sailed with having to pick the amenity choice and I’m confused about something. If there are two D+ in the stateroom, only one can pick the toiletry bag, but the other can pick something else, right?  But, if each choses a bottle of wine, two bottles of wine will be in the cabin?  If so, can they be the same wine? Just checking so I can be prepared and make the phone call easy. 

3 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Looks like crystal blocks are changing. 
 

 

 

I don’t hate them based on the picture.  
 

I’d really like to know when they are gonna release the new D+ amenity choices. 

We did the Tour on Freedom a few years ago. I don’t remember how much it cost, but I know it was under $100 each. For us, anything over $100 would not have been worth it. For reference, we are nerds who love to understand how things work and love behind the scenes stuff. 

1 minute ago, ARandomTraveler said:

That stuff tasted like cough syrup. I've still got some in my liquor cabinet from 2015 😂

I thought it was just me who thought it tasted like that! 🤣

We did a mixology class way back in 2002 on the Sovereign. It was fantastic! Haven’t really seen many since. Hopefully, they’ll start adding them more frequently. The bartender remembered us the next night and basically continued the class. He wanted to open a bar back home so he was testing out recipe after recipe on us. Only got charged for one drink each at the end of the night. Those were the days…

Went on Mariner in December and received invites for both the Top Tier event and a Backstage Tour of the theater. 

On 1/24/2023 at 3:31 PM, John&LaLa said:

Anyone want to come along 😁 

 

Are you offering to adopt us and pay for the trip because if so, I’m in!  🙃

6 hours ago, SuperPlanner said:

What brand of water does RCL give you if you order the cases of water from them? I cannot stand Dasani or Aquafina so would definitely avoid ordering if those were the brands. Thanks!

It was Niagara on our recent Allure and Mariner trips. 🤮 It was worse than Dasani and Aquafina. I would have happily taken either one of those over the Niagara. 

10 hours ago, mom2mms said:

 

5.  My mom drinks a ton of bottled water (she is a diabetic), can she bring several cases of water or do I need to buy A refreshment package for her?

 

You don’t have to buy the Refreshment Package for her. You can order bottled water that is delivered to the room. Being a diabetic, she might not benefit much from a Refreshment Package. Current pricing on my cruises are $11.99 for a 12 pack and $16.99 for a 24 pack. Well worth the upcharge IMO for not having to lug it onboard myself.   Water is also readily available all over the ship. You can ask for a glass of water at any bar and grab and go eateries usually have self serve water dispensers. 

1 hour ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

I also found USAA offers travel insurance.  

Thanks!  I never thought to look through them. Have you used it? I was trying to read about the plans and the website keeps throwing me out to the beginning page.  Just wondering if they are usually easy to work with…

12 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Chops dining for 2 at $83 was either a mistake, a dining package or 1st night of your bogo coupon. Has not been that low for years, not months.

They were referring to Chops + 1, which is currently showing as $83.99 in my Planner.