slyster

First, congrats on finishing treatment! I think Deck 8 is a great place to be on Allure. I booked it originally and ended up moving because of my budget. It's nice to be close to Central Park and Park Cafe.

so if i understand correctly, you can buy a gift certificate and have it applied as OBC?

Wow glad I came across this. Gifts and Gears it is. I was almost about to buy the gift certificate for my brother to use it onboard for his upcoming cruise. Thanks!

I have only found Downy wrinkle release spray to work with lightly/barely wrinkled items. It didn't seem to work too well on our last cruise. I do like some of the suggestions you all have provided though!

Thank you! I read about complaints from cruisers having difficulty getting transport from pier to airport. I hope this helps with it.

Oh wow! So super fresh news LOL. Thank you for sharing!

Can you provide a link?

Wow thank you all for your feedback and experience! Being a RC cruiser, I know their “sales” are not really sales because the prices remain steady. I didn’t realize you could upgrade your freebies which of course means you have to pay more. It seems quite a bit to sift through but that’s because we are not familiar with NCI. The British Isles itinerary is jam packed which we love. As for the flight info, thank you! It sounds like booking on our own is the better bet. Appreciate all the feedback!

We are looking at a British Isles cruise next year and I see they have a lot of offers that I wonder are true good to be true. “Free at Sea”…is it really free unlimited drinks, free speciality dining, and free Wi-Fi or are you only getting discounts on it? I see the excursions are free, but only up to $50. I am wondering what else I am missing. Lastly, I see they are offering free airfare for second person. Any insight into using NCL for your flight plans? We are experienced RCI cruisers and we have been on Carnival a few times, but not NCL. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

The cheapest I saw was $101.99 I saw that before Black Friday and it hasn't been that cheap since. It's been around $112. I believe I saw it for $106 at one point.

Thank you both. I have used the downy wrinkle release. Only really works with lightly wrinkled clothes and barely that.

Great! Looking forward to hearing your experience! I will be on Allure, same class in August!

Thank you for sharing that and for the heads up!

I know anything plugged in is a big no no, but I wonder if cordless or battery powered steamers are ok?

Yes, that's your best bet.

I am curious if I am a beginner, would it be okay or accepted for me to play? I know some folks play sports and get a little competitive or frustrated when someone is not as skilled. I have never participated in open play time on board a ship for any sports activity before. I would be nervous about signing up to play and folks being frustrated with a beginner LOL.

Lyft drivers are able to drop off and pick up at cruise terminal. So, yes, they pull in wherever pier workers direct them to drop off bags by the porters. I do not know much about Uber, but I know for sure they cannot pick up at the terminal. As for dropping off, your comment is in line with them not being able to drop off at the cruise terminal either.

interesting! I have not seen that as an option in my cruise planner, but I will admit, I haven't looked for it either. I have never played pickleball. I have friends who have tried convincing me to play. I am 53 years old. I planned on learning at home and then playing on board. I have been told it's very easy to play. I do not think I would pay $70 unless I didn't have anyone at home to play with. I can almost see why taking an introductory course in pickleball was worth it. You play with people at a beginner level. I would want to know how long the class is. It's probably an hour? I'm tagging along in your thread in case I learn something new.

I have seen numerous posts you can only check in in at midnight in the time zone the ship departs from. Like you, I am EST so that's 1am for me. I haven't heard other experiences outside of that though.

So we had to call. It's a pain in the tush. We had to have each person call RC to link the reservations. Last year we did it, no problem. This time, we called they linked them, but you should be able to see both reservations in your RC account. You can do the same things with their reservation that you can yours. However, after calling twice, we didn't see it under our accounts. Each time, they verified we were linked reservations. The third time, we could finally see them. There is dining reservation linking which doesn't show up in your account and then there is linking your booking reservations. P.S. I wonder if each person called individually and give permission if it would work? I would call and then conference in my brother and inlaws so we were all on the line together. Not convenient, but the only way to link booking reservations is by calling.

my understanding is Lyft drops and picks up right there at the pier/cruise terminal

Yes, Lyft has a contract and is willing to pay the terminal fees. Uber is not. Their pick up is a short walk across the street (I do not know where exactly)

I appreciate your post. I am booked on Allure later this summer. I remember trying the app for my cruise last year and the app wasn't open for check in a couple of min after midnight. I went to the website and checked right in. I hope it goes well this time. I need to check in 6 people! We are all linked.

I was seeing $411 for inside cabins on Allure on Aug. 27....it fluctuated between $411 and $450 for a few months. It's now $803 a person. I got a junior suite for $2900 for two people. Yesterday, it was $2655 a person. I don't see junior suites anymore and THEY pick your suite for $2281 a person. I almost got a grand suite for $3995 for two people and thought, no it's too much. It's now $3769 a person! That was pretty much the cost for 2 people November - January. Man the prices have gone up. By the way, the last week of August is a lot cheaper than the rest of the month too.

We usually communicate with the head or assistant waiter who takes my wife's order the day before dining in the MDR. However, how do we communicate with specialty restaurants? We usually just visit 1 specialty restaurant, and we work around it, but since we are going to three restaurants this time, it would be good to know how to handle it. Her restrictions are low sodium, no gravy, certain ingredients. The MDR is great handling her requests by taking her order the day before. We just don't know how it works with specialty restaurants. It also has me thinking if we miss meals in the MDR, we will need to let the assistant headwaiter know too.