bogofman

I have done this a few times. Most recently was for a cruise later this year that was booked a year ago. Flights weren't on sale and couldn't be added during the booking process.

 

I was quite specific about who I wanted to fly with and the dates and times. Because I wasn't flying in on the schedule they wanted (going early and not booking the hotel through them), they charged me a deviation fee of £20 per person. However, after the fact I learnt that this fee is waived once for Platinum members and above. Basically this means that if you booked your flights it would be waived but if you changed your flights, it would be added back on, I guess like an admin fee. I called back and after an initial 'you are wrong towards me', I showed the website area that shows this and it was removed. The woman I spoke to initially was really helpful all the way through and it wasn't a problem to add the flights after - it was around 7 months between booking the cruise and adding the flights.

 

Here is the website about the fee (last question), incase it is applicable to you: http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions/before-you-book/air-travel/

 

In the past I have booked one way flights for TA's through them and like you say, they are much cheaper. For that however, I did not specify airline etc. I wanted to fly Virgin but it would have been an additional £400pp, so I had to wait for flights to be allocated and was given a direct with BA. Some other people I know were given an indirect but could have paid a small fee to change to a direct.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

Thanks, Its good to know its possible, with RCI if I cannot find flights at the right price myself.

Norwegian do good prices Gatwick to Fort Lauderdale but they only go on Tuesdays, so its a bit limiting.

(BTW I asked the port in Southampton about parking the car at the port, so it s ready for the return and it is possible to do for not more than the normal cruise price then get the train to heathrow for the flight out

I assumed their margins are less on the beers otherwise not beers up to $8

That would then include some of the better European brands,

I did think of upgrading to premium (just for the beers) but found myself experimenting with lots of different cocktails and spirits that I would not otherwise drink.

there was plenty of variety for me.

We have the Select package next time on Anthem of the seas so may upgrade to premium (with our OBC) as that only includes beers and wines upto $8

for our up coming equinox cruise will probably stay with the classic again.

(its port intensive anyways)

About the post of Team Alpha: When we booked the Classic Pkg. it said: "beers up to $6". So, in viewing the menu that you posted.....there weren't any!! Does every ship have a different menu??? Surely they have to honor the price on the package that was purchased.

from memory, most beers were priced over $6

draft ales , which I prefer were $6.50 so not allowed, I only sore one person have a draft beer in the gastrobar on equinox.

beers included were the US beers, Bub, Bud lite, millar, millar lite

plus Heineken in 330ml bottles

and a weissbier franziskaner which I liked but I drank them dry half way through :-(

this beer is a premium so don't know how that got on the package (ssshh don't tell anyone)

eg the UK where folks seem to queue up to cross a street (just joking....we've lived there though and at times this isn't far from the truth).

 

QUOTE]

 

No queuing in UK, we can cross any road where and when we like:)

 

maybe you are thinking of the pelican crossing (traffic light crossing) if the light is red and you want to cross, its difficult to avoid a queue

 

that must be the same in any country

Has anyone experience of booking flights via RCI after already having the cruise booked?

We are looking to do a repo from Florida to UK next year and will need a single flight out to Fort Lauderdale

If we book the cruise now, can we add flights to our booking at a later date when more flights are available.

It seems that the main airlines charge around 3 time the price if booking a single flight , but travel companies get them at a much better price.

The web site allows flights and hotel to be booked , but we would like to only book a flight and be able to fly out a week or so before the cruise, so as to have a weeks driving holiday before the cruise

Are RCI flexible to do this?

( I'd ring up and ask but we get put through to agents in Guatamala and they are not easy to deal with)

Across all the lines and different ships we have been on in the last 11 years, there is only one cruise directors name I know (remember)

Joff Eaton

He appears to be involved in everything that is going on, where others (not all) cruise directors have been less front of house and looked more awkward, where he is a natural.

I like his early evening, radio show (over the TV) The morning shows are hilarious and the connect he has with his staff is very good.

The quiz show presenting, jokes, singing and dancing are all very good, he could have been an entertainer on TV, I've seen people with a lot less ability do well on TV here in the UK

But it could give celebrity ideas :(

Covered at Post #289.

Ahh I didn't get that far, gave up and moved to the end.

I was only joking though

:eek: Now you are just trying to stir up trouble!

:)

oops I forgot the extra 3% as well from 15-18

No one has mentioned that those who have the free classic package (at $49)

will be required to pay an additional $6 per day before they can make use of the free package

;)

We had connected cabin on INDY (first time with RCI and choose a guarantee)

NEVER AGAIN

the couple next door were larks, TV full blast and hairdryer going at 6AM every morning.

After two days we complained to guest relations and a maintenance man came along and stuffed foam insulation between the door and frame and then gaffer tapped over the gap.

problem solved for the remainder of the cruise.

This must be a standard remedy as the wall had left over tape before ours was sealed (this gave us the idea to complain and try and get it sorted)

Yes that indy cruise currently has premium drinks and grats included for 13 nights

so that is about $1000 included, approx. £700

so I guess the cruise is only £350-400

My last few cruises, I've noticed a big drop off in the happiness of the bar staff. this is on both Celebrity and RCI, with some exceptions.

Pool bar staff seem to be particularly grumpy ( and this is from different nationalities )

Coming from the UK I'm not bothered about very good service (not used to getting it :-) )

I find the comment made by many posters sums it up 'surley' and everything is too much trouble rather than the other way around.

I'd have though that once the cruise line have either given out Free drinks packages or sold them to passengers. Its in the interests of the cruise line and hence their staff to avoid wherever possible to serve drinks

(and increase profit)

The 18% is already taken and will be pooled to give out to the bar staff.

It might be on the bar staff team briefing agenda.

1. only serve drinks to customers who specifically ask for a drink

2. serve lowest possible grade of drink unless customer asks for a specific brand.

3. etc etc

or am I too cynical?

I find that searching using the few sites that offer pppd sorting helps find the deals.

 

can't name them but if you spend a few hours trying out as many cruise sites as you can you will find the onces that have good interfaces into searching.

 

Once you narrow down the cruises you can then go looking for the best deal for that cruise.

 

Rock bottom pricing if you can take an inside will be in the $25-$30pppd.

$30-$40 opens up a lot of options.

$50pppd get you on Celebrity.

 

Using one sites.

cheapest cruise is NCL star or Epic TA,

$399 for 11 days + tax at $66 grats $143.

goto a balcony $649 and get the grats paid.

inside $42pppd balcony $52

 

My other main site has the cheapest cruise at $12pppd and I have read this was as low as $8, taxes are I think $240 this is a 14n TA so makes it $30pppd but by all acounts this is also all inclusive.

 

We shall see when people review.

 

A couple of years back MSC were doing base fares of $15pppd on their TA and that was any cabin(even Solos).

Are these [prices for real?

looking to book Independence of Seas TA next May, current pricing is around £1000 each that's approx. $1500 pp /13 =$115 each pp per night,

Should we wait , and wait before booking,

when is the best time to book a TA, the day before it leaves

Looks like this offer is only available in US,

here in UK the only offer until 1st June is up to $400 OBC

No drinks or grats

In our case we were above the O in equinox on side of ship

assuming we do the cortans transfers as mentioned above for $20, how can I ensure I am off the ship by 1030, don't they still call you off by sections as given times?

on all the ships I've been on, staying on after 9:30 was not an option, disembarkation usually starts at 6:00 am

A few days before disembarkation we have been given forms to fill in, on this form, you state the time you want/need to leave.

put down 8:00am, that will be when you are called.

( this has been the case on RCI and Celebrity in Europe, I assume its the same in US ports?)

We have done the Baltic in August and the weather was similar to UK, when it did rain the temperatures were high enough to not be cold.

I assume July would be similar.

have done Norway in June and the weather was similar to UK and quite hot on some days.

also on Equinox

We assumed its maintenance staff banging doors/gates at the front of the ship, we were on Deck 6 and heard it every night.

this was one on the Select package

beringer white zinfandel

typically less than £5 in UK store or $8 a glass onboard

We had complementary Select package last year on a Med port intensive cruise.

I'd say overall we easily drank less than the package value over the course of the two weeks, some days may have broke even, I'd say unless passengers have a permanent drink to hand its very difficult to drink the value of the package every day for 14 consecutive days

especially as a beer drinker, you would need to be drinking 10+ pints of beer a day everyday.

hence I'm sure there are more that underspend the package than those that over use the package. hence the staff should be ok tip wise.

(I have no experience the sea day intensive cruises in the Caribbean, so maybe the staff work a lot harder for their tips on those cruises)

What's the point of it, who is it meant to appeal ,

I had the same, you need to phone up (number on Web site) and get them to confirm and then send out a new invoice which would now show the extras added.

I think a new invoice would eventually be sent out but I wanted to see it , so phoned up

Can we hook up our devices to the TV on quantum, using hdmi, or usb

I,d like to be able to play my music and videos on the tv from my tablet or hard drive media player

what type of tv is in the cabin, samsung?

Do I need to bring a remote to access the locked down tv functions, hopefully they are now in the 21st century and allow us to hook up

Norwegian are famous for their very long delays... At least for their long haul flights out of Scandinavia. They also swap their dream liners for ancient planes if there are problems. QUOTE]

 

Umm , I thought it was too good to be true, need to do more research

 

we were looking at xmas as well, but the flight prices are sooooo expensive