drowelf

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

We have been to this region of the world several times and Dec thru early April has the best weather.  There will be variations from year to year, but you can't go wrong during these times.  Enjoy!

All the lines do these during the SA Summer Season and no month is really better than another as far as the weather goes. What does count through is what the critters are doing at those times of the years. I don't have the details off hand, but whale migrations, penguin mating, seals etc. are the things to try and schedule for. Weather is going to be what you get. It can always get bad at any time. For example when we did Santiago to BA in 2015 we had excellent weather crossing the Drake Passage both ways. Talking to the crew on they said that the cruise from BA to Santiago was quite different, with 30 feet seas in the Drake Passage both ways. So be prepared for the worst weather and be pleasantly surprised when it does not appear. 

4 hours ago, GimmeOcean said:

Heads up! Here's a link to the survey that doesn't prepopulate your info, for those of you who didn't get the email. I was able to enter my info and submit it. 

 

https://cloud.na.celebritycruises.com/Pup_Quiz_Feb_2024

 

 

Thanks a bunch, I did not get the email for PUP, but I did the survey

On 2/10/2024 at 11:45 PM, REOVA said:

Texting will depend on your phone (model and age). IPhone uses MMS to send messages via internet so you can send and receive from other iphones (blue and green text used to differentiate non iPhone/iPhone). Android is different and usually uses SMS and needs cell tower so in airplane won't work. (You have to be able  to modify settings for internet use for Android). 

I text in Airplane mode all the time on my S20+. Once connected to the Wifi I can text all day long. 

11 hours ago, Rubyfisch said:

Across multiple phones and providers, I've had no issues with texting via Wi-Fi on an Android. You just turn on Wi-Fi calling before you put your phone on airplane mode. It's worked on both Holland America and Royal Caribbean. It does not tend to work on airplane Wi-Fi - I assume they block it like they block Zoom (we use the Zoom chat client at work - don't worry, I'm not trying to have a Zoom call from an airplane ...).

I'll have to check my settings, but I don't think I've ever had to explicitly enable WiFi Calling to do texts. As long as I'm connected to the ship (or airplane) AP and have Internet access, texts come in just fine. 

On 2/3/2024 at 5:40 PM, kywildcatfanone said:

Anyone else having trouble with Stockperks?  I uploaded my info a month ago, and still don't have my credit for my cruise.  I emailed them all the information about a week later, and still no response.  I've asked for someone to call me and no response?  How do you get through to them to clear up issues?

On 2/5/2024 at 9:49 PM, mevs904 said:

I sent an email to the SBPCL email address on February 1st and at this point I haven’t received any kind of acknowledgment that my email was received.  

On 2/6/2024 at 12:46 AM, racj846 said:

As noted elsewhere in this thread you might have better luck sending an email to  hello@stockperks.com  who now look after processing of shareholder benefits.

 

I have issues with getting my ownership verification and used the in-app message feature to contact them. 

30 minutes ago, Teechur said:

UPDATE: I just received an email offering to resolve this from Zac at Stockperks.

It concludes with the following statement:

 

 

As an aside, we'll have a desktop version ready in the very near future for any future claims of yours

Yeah!!!

On 2/2/2024 at 4:31 PM, MalcolmCruiseCritic said:

The StockPerk app is still a disaster! !

When signing up (cell phones only, never via PC) it asks for your date of birth and income as well as the usual request for email address and password.  There is no reason the app needs your date of birth or your income.

Then, it wanted access to my brokerage account to verify that I owned Carnival Corp. stock....  What are the chances of a small startup keeping my details safe and/or not using them for other purposes?  Pretty low in my opinion.  If my details get hacked in the future do you think I'll get compensated for any losses (e.g., my brokerage account drained...).

Although I realize that by not signing up I'm foregoing $100 per Carnival cruise, please consider the risks and do yourself a favor by avoiding the app. 

You can always give some fictitious information for those data point. And you don't have to give it access to your brokerage account. I printed off the relevant copy of my recent statement, did the normal black out process that I would do for sending into CCL/RCL and uploaded a picture of that to the app. After a couple of days (and a message to poke them) I got the email on verification and then went back into the app and claimed my perk. Not the best system. But why anyone would give this app access to your brokerage account is beyond me. 

Thats also one of the key items that adds a new step to the old process. Once your verified, you have to go and claim your perk. So Step 1 - Get verified, Step 2 - Claim Perk (OBC). On the Claim Perk action it asks for the booking number so that it can determine how much OBC you get. 

On 2/5/2024 at 8:24 PM, happytotravel said:

Hello,

Do any of you remember cruising in the 90s or before when there was no internet onboard and getting any real news was when you got into port and bought a paper.  There were mini sheets from the in house printing onboard but only the briefest of news?

 

We have come a long, long way.

Enjoy life, happytotrvel

On 2/5/2024 at 9:30 PM, happytotravel said:

Hi RuthC,

Thanks for your comments....those were the days.

I'm sure some folks probably think we are talking about crossing over on the Mayflower!

I think we now get too caught up with staying connected that we've forgotten how to truly relax and just enjoy being on a ship.  But, that's the world we live in now.

 

Take care, happytotravel

I actually miss the daily papers. As soon as we boarded I would go to the front desk and ask that all the English Language versions be delivered to my cabin each day. Then I would have some reading for trips to the facilities. I remember one cruise when it was a bumper crop of papers as I would get US, UK, Canadian and Australian versions. The first 3 would come in the morning and the Australian would be with the nightly delivery of the of the daily program on the bed. 

On 12/6/2023 at 12:50 AM, mcrcruiser said:

as you are aware the problem with holding the stock  in a hard down market  losses can mount up quickly ,so who in their right mind would continue holding any stock that was moving down rapidly ?

On 12/6/2023 at 2:30 AM, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

I bought, and will hold, 100 shares at 11.85 per share.  It could go to 0 and there would not be much of an ache to my portfolio, particularly considering that I've already gotten 500 in OBC on 2 cruises with more to come.

We started out with 100 shares of CCL and RCL in the DW's IRA-SEP account over 20 years ago. Paid in the low single digits for the CCL and somewhere in low $20's for the RCL. Since then we have sold and rebought many times over the years. Sold high and bought low, depending on when and how many cruises we had scheduled. But again its only 100 shares which is such a small percentage of our total portfolio, that I don't sweat it when its down. I've recouped several times its value in OBC over the past 20 years and since our cruising is about to accelerate over the next 5 years, we will get even more ROI from our measly 100 shares. 

If it was not for the OBC I would not even invest in the 100 shares, as with the debt load the lines have right now, its probably going to be a long time before dividends come back and profits are going to have to be really high to pay off the short term debt they took on to survive Covid. 

17 hours ago, icat2000 said:

AUD if the sailing out of AUstralia or NZ ports for casino. Tight machines. Always take my money 😄

 

Always on a cruise ship, which is why I spend the majority of my money at the Craps/Blackjack Tables. Might play a slot or two if they one of the machines that I just enjoy the game (like Lucky Lemmings). 

1 hour ago, Torfamm said:

The casino currency is AUD

Thanks to everyone. Have to stock up on AUD during our pre-cruise time in Sydney, unless I can get cash via the Casino with any surcharges. 

41 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

1. The whales are always on the opposite side.

And when everyone rushes to that side of the ship, it noticeably tips in that direction. 😁 and if the crew joins you could be in danger of rolling over.

Something I've never encountered, as our Folio has always been USD. We have a 2025 New Zealand Cruise, where my booking states that the on-board folio will be in AUD. I don't have an issue with this, as I figure it must be an Australian regulation of some kind, since even on our European cruises the on-board folio has always been USD. But I do have a question as to what currency the casino will require? Will I need AUD for the table games or will they still be running on USD? What about the slot machines, which my DW prefers. 

On 1/24/2024 at 4:22 PM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I usually add a few days pre and/or post cruise, so I don't use the cruise line insurance. I want to be covered door-to-door. 

 

I had to smile at the several remarks about this being creepy, but necessary. My emergency contact is my SIL, and before each trip I call her to remind her I'm emailing itinerary and insurance info. Also where the "black file" is. That's the file with all the important stuff, like will, deed to the house, bank accounts, power of attorney. We joke about it being the "morbid phone call."

On 1/24/2024 at 6:25 PM, Cruise NH said:

I don't think this is a creepy subject at all, it's just a necessary one.  Similar to a previous poster we keep a file with all our financial and insurance info in our safe and let everyone in the family know where it is.

 

Beyond that, this past year, we sent a letter to our close family members to let them know how to handle things when (not should, remember we all go) die.  We told them to have our remains cremated where ever we are in the world, not to have a memorial service and basically do whatever is easiest and best for them.  We'll be dead, we won't care.  We wanted to make sure they had no guilt about any of this process.  Have fun with the insurance money!

While its an unpleasant thought, stuff happens and its best to be prepared, both for you and your spouse and whoever has to take care of things in the event you both suffer an accident. 

Ditto for us. I have the trip details and the "Just in Case" letter which gives all the basic information on on our wishes and financial information and contacts. This is either mailed or hand delivered to my SIL/BIL before we depart. Part of the standard instructions is that the sealed "Just In  Case" letter be shredded when we return.  As we also have a small business, it has our CPA, client contacts and info on outstanding bills/invoices. Its more of a concise summary, as it also has information on the pointers to where to find the detailed information. This really import stuff is in a small fire safe and the remainder in a 2 file cabinets, the locations of which are detailed in the "JIC" letter. 

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

You may want to rebook with another room. 

 

Families like the mini suites that are connecting, and there's not a lot of them.

You have any experience here, with this? I'm not sure I understand your comment. We are going to be one-half of the connecting rooms, so what would a family that likes them have to do with this, as the occupants of the other room are unknown to us. 

Or are you telling me that I should give up the room just so a family that want connecting rooms can book it? 

We've booked a mini-suite on the Royal Princess (Aloha Deck) and just realized that it is connecting room. Does anyone have experience with one of these rooms. How much noise comes through the connecting door and does having the door mean you have less closet or other space that would be there if the door was not. 

3 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

 

Agreed. Most tour companies that cater to cruise ship passengers have a full refund policy if the ship misses the port. If you are going with a company that does not offer this guarantee, I would at least try to negotiate a deposit to hold the reservation with full payment due when you actually do the tour so at the worst you lose you deposit. I would be very hesitant to pay in full for a tour with zero refund policy, especially if you are the one holding the financial responsibility for a group of people. 

Ditto on that. I would not even book a tour without a guarantee of at least 90% of the cost back. I can understand compensating them a little for the inconvenience of a ship missing a port as that can be a major impact to the financials of tour providers in the small ports and even the bigger ones. Just think of all the tours that got canceled in Egypt and Israel this year because many lines have ditched those ports for the foreseeable future. When I was in discussion with an operator in Egypt and had questions about why my refund was taking so long, I was told that they had to issue push almost 10,000 refunds through their payment processor, which really overloaded that service. 

9 hours ago, Meaux said:

How do you coordinate payment on private tours?  I would hate to schedule a $1,600 private tour and 4 people commit and don’t show leaving me with the bill or doubling the cost for the people that show up.  

If its s small amount (< 100pp) I'll just cover it and collect it on cruise. If its more than that I'll generally try and collect most of the payment prior to the cruise, either via Venmo, Zelle, Paypal or even a check in the mail. Lots of private tours I've been on have also been pay (other than a deposit) the day of the tour at the port, so no money has to be collected before hand. 

On 1/20/2024 at 10:38 PM, drowelf said:

I uploaded my modified statement on the 15th and still awaiting StockPerks to complete the validation. Anyone else had it take this long? The email I received after the upload said I would receive further communication in 2 business days. Well its been more than 2 so far. 

On 1/20/2024 at 10:48 PM, crystalspin said:

Yes. Weeks. Eventually I received a notification to contact the old email address, then I had to send HAL the "proof" all over again just like the old days, and 5+ business days (over MLK weekend) I eventually got notification (with a scolding that in future I would have to use StockPerks!), and my PCC was able to see it and send me new Booking Confirmations.

It looks like my poke with an email got them off the dime as I received an email today that stated my "Your proof of share ownership has been processed. Please go to the Stockperks app to explore and redeem your perks." So now I can proceed to claim the benefit. 

On 1/21/2024 at 9:46 AM, RRFan said:

Did you go back into the app afterward and “redeem” the perk?  It’s a two-step process. Instructions are not very clear. You have to 1) upload your documentation and then once they verify it you go back in and 2) REDEEM (their term) the perk. 

No I did not, as my proof of ownership had not been approved so that was not an option. Actually when I did go back into the app and tried to select it, it told me that ownership had not been verified so please try again after I received the approval email. I did step one, but could not proceed to step 2 since it was not approved. Was it not clear from my post that I was still awaiting approval?

I uploaded my modified statement on the 15th and still awaiting StockPerks to complete the validation. Anyone else had it take this long? The email I received after the upload said I would receive further communication in 2 business days. Well its been more than 2 so far. 

Does anyone know if I can register the stock perks account to me or does it have to be in the stockholders name? Both the RCL and CCL shares are in my DW's IRA-SEP Account. We did this because while I'm never going to take a RCL/CCL cruise without her, she sometimes takes girlfriend cruises without me. So decades ago when we purchased the stock, we had it stashed in her IRA-SEP. Since I have access to both mine and her account, I would simply print out the relevant page from her statement, black out the relevant portions and then fax it in with the cover letter. 

If I have to start doing this from her phone, its going to be a pain. 

2 hours ago, hcps-osullivax said:

The boost in wifi coverage out to the balconies is due to the in-room wifi router. When each ship was updated with Medallion technology, the new tvs that went in place are hiding a small wifi router behind them. This is the major boost of connectivity we've noticed since 2018/2019. Prior to that, the routers were only in the hallways and would struggle getting a signal through the heavy metal/fire proof cabin door. 

In addition to the in-room routers, there are medallion sensors overhead in the bathroom, cabins, and balcony. But the one on the balcony is a lot smaller than this emergency light dome, and fully enclosed in opaque plastic (and all medallion wiring is purple too if you haven't noticed). 

Are these really routers or just access points. I can't see the reason to put a router in each room, that not how wireless networks work. You would want either Access Points or Extenders in various locations, but unless each room is its own network (sub-net), you would not need routers. 

Layers are the key, along with your outermost layer being waterproof. Another valuable extra is the dry chemical hand warmers. On a Holland Cruise many years ago, we spent over 7 hours out on deck watching the views and wildlife. We each had a couple of the hand warmers in jacket pockets and was able to stick our hands in occasionally to get them warmer. I also stuffed a couple in the bottom of my shoes to help keep the feet warm. What with undershirt, shirt, sweater, vest, jacket, long johns and jeans, my core was always comfy outside, it was the extremities (feet, hands) that got cold at times, especially the camera hand, as I could not wear thick gloves, as I had to hold and operate both my camera and phone at times. 

12 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

What makes you think there is a bathtub?

35 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

They only have a shower.  What makes you think they have a tub/shower?   I don't see any i

The room layout picture they showed in the MoveUp offer does not look like a shower to me. Its more tub like, as it does not show a shower door. Here is a clip from it. 

Can anyone answer a simple question about the Ultra Deluxe Concierge Cabins on the Infinity? I know the normal Concierge Cabins are shower only in the Bathrooms. The deck plans seem to indicate that the UC might have a tub/shower. Can anyone comment? 

Thanks 

Just got this answer from my TA direct from Viking. 

Called was told you can bring whatever water or soda you would like onboard.

7 hours ago, Canal archive said:

I’m sorry but I must ask this question - are you actually concerned about the quality of European water? And Soda excuse me why?

No problems with ships water, but as this is our first time on Viking, I believe free soft drinks are only available with meals as I read things. I don't drink alcohol, so I like a soda or two in the evenings or during day at non-meal times. The DW likes to have some bottled water to take off the ship with us on ShoreEx and possibly store in the fridge (or balcony for this colder trip). Does Viking just give out bottles of water for free at any time? Is soda available any time for no cost? 

As I said, first time on Viking River and I could not find any definitive answers on-line. So I thought I'd ask. 

I've search the internet and poured over the cruise contract and can not find any reference to the policy on Viking River Cruises about bring water and/or soda on-board at boarding. Does anyone have the answer to this question? What is their policy? I'm also going to have my TA call them and ask. 

TIA