cloudchaser

Thanks for the review.  Just booked the Serenade for full Mississippi in August 2023.

Best source is Princess directly.  However, I have been getting the military benefit for years.  I have never known it to be applicable to anyone but the military member.  You need a DD214 to qualify.  My wife has never received any benefit, nor have I ever seen anything that indicates she should.  If you find different it will be good news to a lot of people.  Safe travels.

On 3/23/2022 at 2:49 AM, scokely said:

My husband and I are due to PCS in the summer months and have an older dog. If we were to sail Cunard with her in the kennel, and take leave to cover the extra travel days, would we likely be able to be paid the amount the government would have spent on tickets for our flights? Or are we completely out the money since we chose to go that route? 

 I think your best source of information is to contact your finance office and ask them the current regulations.  If you are sailing Cunard just for the kennel and not the voyage also you may consider a private animal transfer service.  They handle your animal much differently than an airline flight does.  If you are going to Europe be sure to check out the regulations on importing a pet into England.  They are very detailed and specific.  even if you are just passing through. Best of luck on your PCS and thank you for your service.

On 6/10/2020 at 4:02 PM, bones774 said:

One very simple form to fill out and one supporting doc from your broker? I wouldn't exactly call that jumping thru hoops, how else would you expect to receive the OBC?  I've found them to be a very accommodating department. I am a Platinum cruiser. The only problem i have encountered is that i am a solo cruiser and sometimes i get 50% of the OBC and that is stated in their fine print, so when i get full OBC i consider myself lucky.

It is all relative.  RCL Shareholder Benefit is done on line with no faxing or mailing.  

6 hours ago, kccrzr said:

Terrific service from the shareholders benefit group.  I sent an email last night at 5:02pm requesting OBC for 11 cruises and received confirmation this morning at 7:16 am.

Interedting.  I filed four requests (2 btb) on June 6th on the website.  Called today to ask what was going on.  I was told processing takes three weeks and I should hear by the end of June.  If not call back and they will give me other instructions on how to file.

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

To follow up on Shorex's excellent historic note -- when Irma hit, it didn't just damage the airport.  It closed it down completely for over a month, and even when reopened, there was limited functionality - mostly incoming relief supplies.  Water and sand hit most facilities, and much of the building had to be torn down and cleaned out before rebuilding could start.  It wasn't until a year later that some arrival and departure activities even moved back into a part of the permanent structure.

In September 2017 Hurricane Irma deposited five embedded tornados on our east Florida costal island.  One hit our house taking 1/3 of our roof off, destroying the rooms on the north side of the house and stripping our pool enclosure off the back of our house like a broom.  And a lot of miscellaneous damage.  It took us two years to finally complete all the repairs.  I thought I was done with the problems caused by Irma but it looks like she is going to get me again at the SXM airport.  

2 hours ago, alexkrn46 said:

we paid for the insurance But nobody asked us, we bought it by mistake. The taxi tour was$90, which I thought was fair, celebrity was charging $60 for the transfer

Thanks for answering my questions.

18 hours ago, alexkrn46 said:

We  flew yesterday from Saint Maarten. Thanks to the boards here we knew not to go to the airport early for our 4:30 flight. We tried to get a day room but there were none available. The Holland House will let you use their facilities and even lock your luggage but if we went to the beach I would want to take a  shower.  When we picked up our luggage we  asked our porter to see if he could find a driver to take us around the island until 1:30pm. We had a lovely morning touring the island, seeing  lovely beaches and lunch in Margot. At 1:30 she took us to the airport and the line was wrapped around the   building. I asked our driver to take us for another hour. We returned at 2:30pm. We only had to wait outside for 1/2 hour and another 1/2 inside.

Outside if you had an earlier flight, the attendents would allow them to jump the line.

It was a madhouse , you would led into one huge room.

 

I would try to minumize your time at the airport. 

Thanks for this update and recommendations.  Did you have to have the St. Maarten COVID insurance to go around the island?  I'm thinking that since we are no staying overnight we are still in-transit and do not need the insurance.  Did you pay the drivers in US dollars?  How much was you cost for the day?  Thanks again for the information.  We are also out at 4:30 and will probably follow in your footsteps.

On 6/12/2021 at 9:35 AM, kwokpot said:

I now find that using a smartphone browser to access a website,then taking a screenshot of any needed website info,then emailing it to yourself is a easier and faster way to get an electronic version of something rather than printing it out and then using a scanner.

We use the print, scan, and send electronically so I can black out all the information except our RCL stock.  Our page lists all of our holdings and some other personal information.  That is information we don't want floating around who knows where.

I had a feeling it had been around a while.  I was in the process of sending in four requests and was checking if the fax number was the same.  Lucky me I now have a better life.

I just found the electronic shareholder benefit application webpage.  After years of scanning, copying, and faxing we finally have an easy method to submit; or at least I finally found it.  The location is: https://rclshareholderbenefit.questionpro.com/ 

Hi, Ken & Noreen from Merritt Island, FL.  I hope three times is the charm.  This is our third booking   We started in January, rebooked into April, now in November.  I think we'll sail in November.  Anyway, looking forward to a great cruise and meeting old and new friends.  Always a treat on a holiday cruise.

44 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

Did you make a deposit?

People with deposits clear first.

Yes I did.  Thanks for ensuing a newbe knows the drill.  I'm open for any other advise.

Thanks to every one for all the good information and advise.  My wife and I do world cruises (Holland America) and the library is important.  Glad to hear that R class have good libraries.  Actually it seems that our cabin will be left to chance.  Our August 26, 2021 cruise on the Nautica is waitlisted for all but some interiors.  So we are on the list of A3, B1 & B2.  I think in 10 months something should clear.  It is like the Lottery.  Thanks again for the help.

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Which ship?

Nautica for a BtB August 26 to September 19.  I guess there is no Concierge lounge on the ship.  That would have been a definite plus for upgrading.

We're booking first time on Oceania and wonder about the difference between a veranda and concierge level veranda.  Is the extra money worth the upgrade.  Your opinion will be appreciated.

Already booked for the 2022 Grand World.  When they publish the prices for the 2022 GWC it may eat up all our FCC..

Hoping to see a resurgence of the Grand Med pop up in 2021.  One never knows in these times and one can always hope.

I lost a sock in the laundry during the Grand World this year.  We had to disembark before I could initiate a search.  Next booked Grand World is in 2022.  I think I'll stop by the Front Desk and ask if they found it.  Received our reimbursement of port taxes and fees for the cancelled portion of the Grand World on May 8th so things are looking up.

Ken & Noreen from Merritt Island, FL.  We are booked but like many others waiting to see the itinerary and cost.  

Hope all are enjoying your cruise.  We're getting ready to head for Lauderdale Monday to catch the GWV.  I see that you have a land excursion in Antarctica.  We'll have the same excursion on the 2020 GWV,  If anyone is going on that excursion we'd be very interested in your experience and lessons learned.  We'd appreciate anything you'd like to share to kstein AT digital.net or a link if anyone is blogging it.  I know internet minutes are expensive so we'll owe you some minutes if we ever sail together or you can wait until you get home.  After all we still have a year to plan.  Safe travels.

What is global entry?

you can use global entry for customs on a cruise???

Yes but not in all ports yet. You can check in advance for a particular port. My assumption is that it will only be in the busier ports. Port Canaveral has it as well as those listed above. But don't count on it for faster processing. Sometimes they aren't open and other times they feed people from the other lines if there aren't to many Global Entry people. But when it works it is well worth the cost.

Lots of good advise. Here is a recommendation. As a suite guest you can pick the group time you want to debark with. The longest delay is finding your baggage in a large group of folks getting off at the same time, same group. Pick an early group for your luggage. Then get off when you want and collect your luggage sitting all by itself waiting for you. Once your group is called you can get off at any time after. So get tags for an 8:30 group and get off at 9:30. You should move quickly through luggage pickup and customs. For the future apply for Global Entry when you get home and get a shorter customs line (sometimes).

Have a great cruise.

Is anyone else having trouble getting their baggage from FedEx. Ours is currently in Olive Branch MS, again after detours to LA, OH and CT. We live in Alaska.

Oh, the joys of living in Florida. All our bags arrived on Tuesday after the cruise. Best of luck in getting your bags off a US continental tour.

Thanks for doing this.