EllieinNJ

Ship: Liberty of the Sea Date: September 7, 2024 5 days Bermuda Total price $1740 for 2 in a 4D balcony It was through a TA with OBC of $75 plus $50 from Royal. When I booked you could pick your room. Now it is a guarantee.

We will be at Puerto Plata on the Prima next year. Is this the same as Taino Bay or a different port?

Have a great cruise. Hope someone does a trip report.

Always love your reviews.

We just came off our first cruise on MSC Miraviglia and their pizza can compare to any from the NY/NJ area.

We are about to book the Prima for next December. Guess what the last stop is?

Last winter I wanted a cheap short cruise so we booked the Getaway to Bermuda in February. People said the temp should be in the 70's so warm enough to walk around or take a bus somewhere. Needless to say we didn't get to Bermuda. Instead we had a five day cruise to nowhere (although it did stop in Nassau one night from 9:30pm to 2am.) I'm sure not many got off. NCL was pretty generous with reparations. We got $250 OBC per cabin and then a 10% FCC which expires this coming February. This was also a very young crowd and many first time cruisers. On the last sea day I was talking to some 20 somethings and mentioned the OBC. They all thought it would be money they were getting back by mail.

I am booked on the 12 day Journey cruise on the Venezia for February, 2024 and am looking so forward to it. Not having to worry about flying anywhere in the winter is so comforting, especially reading about delayed and cancelled flights at this time of year. Unfortunately we have such a limited variety of ships out of NY/NJ. We have done most of them and would love it if different ships rotated here. Our first Carnival ship was to be the Sunrise to Bermuda from NY back in 2020 but that was cancelled because of the pandemic and then she was never again scheduled for a NY sailing. We did miss the Magic out of NY because of several other cruises already scheduled.

Looking forward to more of your report.

I just noticed an offer on my Amazon Amex card for 25,000 points if I charge $1500, which expires 12/31/23. Are these points converted into OBC and/or I can use them to pay for a future cruise? Is there an expiration date? In other words, if I pay my September, 2024 cruise with this offer, can I use the points toward another cruise I have in February, 2025?

Looking forward to your report.

Same with us except our TA said they couldn't honor any OBC because of the price drops and we also had some FCC added from a previous cruise. I was po'd at first but after thinking about it I realized they had to make some money too. I still use them because they do not charge any fees for changes or cancellations and usually their OBC is pretty good. I now always ask for cashback because I learned the hard way that some cruise lines consider TA's OBC non refundable and wound up having to buy gift cards for balances left at the end of the cruise.

I just received and used a new Carnival cc and now have the 20,000 fun points. I have 2 cruises coming up and would like to convert them to $100 OBC on each. Do I have to call Carnival or Barclay's or is it only for statement credit?

I usually wait until final payment, even with gift cards but now I have an Amex offer that has to be used by February for my November sailing so I will put in the $1000 (or $2000 if they accept both our offers).

Henry, we've been looking at videos of the Staterooms and my husband thinks there's not enough storage on shelves for clothing. Did you find the storage adequate?

My TA doesn't reduce the price but gives me pretty good OBC or cashbacks if I want. I deal with her to make new bookings but then usually deal with her customer service department to make changes, price reductions and payments. I just recently made final payment on another cruise line and had several gift cards plus a credit card. They patiently took all the info and made sure all the numbers matched. I then get my final statement about 48 hours later with a paid in full notation.

I have an AMEX offer that has to be used before 12/29/23. If I use this offer for a cruise for next December and have to cancel before final payment, will the money be returned to my credit card? I know AMEX will re-add the discount taken off.

Always enjoy your reports.

We are looking at the Aloft or Fairfield Inn in El Segundo because they have free shuttles from LAX and there seems to be plenty of fast food places nearby and also a Ralphs where we can pick up soda. Is it safe to walk around this area?

I got one too but it's for a specific sailing on the Bliss. Wish it was for any cruise in 2024.

We had NCL cc's that expired in 2017. If we apply for new ones will we still get the 10,000 points each?

I believe so Just ask your steward to set it up for you.

If you are in a balcony you are entitled to use the coffee pot. Lately it's kept on a high shelf so just ask your steward to set it up for you and he will also provide the coffee. Cream and sugar/substitute.

When first booking our Meraviglia cruise we requested late dining for two. Once we got our confirmations it said early dining. When we boarded our time was 6pm, a little early for us so we went to the MDR and had it changed to 8pm. The first few days we did not know you an come at 7:45pm but when we found out it worked out great for us. Now we could see either the early or late shows in the theater.

Henry, do you think they might be combining the CN and Cruise first? I only have one CN left and would love to use a CF also. I know now you can't combine them