rodndonna

It doesn't surprise me - but kinda of a bummer when you read what they state they can help with - I would have thought flights would be the number one thing they can help with according to their website. What's the point of being an Airline travel card concierge if you can't help with booking flights? (And it specifcally mentions flights). I had envisioned it perhaps being a useful resource for flight re-bookings and change arrangements rather than dealing with AIr Canada directly - but maybe not. VACATION PLANNING From pick-up to drop off, let our IATA-travel certified Concierge representatives help plan your next vacation. Whether it’s a flight, accommodations, attractions to see and everything in between, let the Concierge team design a trip that’s perfect for you.

I have no experience with this .. but having recently (just yesterday) upgraded our credit cards and stumbled upon the "Credit Card Concierge" little known or used feature .. apparently this is something they may be able to help with. If you check your credit card features and you have that feature give them a try.

Not really a cruise question, but a question for Canadian credit card holders - have you ever used your Credit Card concierge service (if you have one)? From a thread on here a couple of days ago we had an epiphany and have now switched from our TD Travel Visa Infinite and TD Visa Aeroplan Infinite to just have a TD Visa Aeroplan Priviledge card (primarily for the access to the Maple Leaf lounge!). When I peruse the benefits I am intrigued with the idea of the credit card "Concierge". Apparently, we already had one .. which I was unaware of and never used. I am just wondering if anyone has ever used the services of a Canadian credit card concierge and if so what their experience was (the description is pretty wide - booking flights, hotels, cruises, sports tickets, dining etc ....)

Why not Atlantic Salmon? Being from Atlantic Canada, that is our default when I hear "Salmon". That being said, I personally don't think of Salmon (or any fish - except maybe Mackerel) when it comes to boiling, but there are people who like boiled Salmon.

Good to hear, We are not "big" Classical fans .. but we enjoy it on cruises since it is not something we get to experience much (live classical perfomance)

Thanks for posting. He is one of the better (probably the best) of the cruise Youubers. Always informative and well-balanced views.

Thanks for the info. We currently have the TD Visa Infinite Travel (primarily used card for Expedia poits) and the TD Infinite Aeroplan (rarely used)... but maybe swap them both for Priviledge. Our fees are currently waved on the first card ... so see what they will offer us to swap them over (maybe wave the 2nd card fee or something?)

My comments on the signing thing - We asked a bartender on our Oosterdam cruise last fall why sometimes we were asked to sign and other times not. He said it is left to the discretion of the bar manager (or his boss). I don't recall if we inquired further but I think it would then be how busy the bar is, is it just regulars who are known to the bartenders and such.... As someone mentioned they can be used for additional tipping. We like them towards the end of a cruise as an easy and cashless way to provide extra tips to bars. It's good for us as Canadians who prefer limiting US cash requirements and also allows us to use up OBC for those extra tips 😀

We've been on a quest trying different cruise lines in the last couple of years. So far between HAL, Princess, NCL and Celebrity - HAL has come out on top (by a good margin) for fish based meals (we don't eat meat).

Exactly..... During Covid we purchased CCL and NCL (both also have shareholder discounts). We left RCL out as it was more than we were willing to "invest" for OBC perk. CCL is nice - as it covers quite a few cruise lines.

That is a good point. As we often sail insides, we normally do "try" to locate ourselves closest to an outdoor space we think we would frequent. It seems with the YC insides, all cabins are very close to nice public areas and outdoor spaces which works well since we had no choice in cabin (only 1 left) 😀

She was still "going' to Vegas at that point ?? yikes! Can't imagine what her return flight would have been like .....🤮

We broke our rule of testing cruises at the lowest grade - standard interior (with drink, wifi etc). Was just too hard to pass up testing the YC experience for the price point. 😎 Thanks Tabby, I read your thread about your experiences with YC (interior and balcony) and that was part of our decision to give it a try with the (last remaining) inside cabin.

Title pretty much says it all ... We have spent the last couple of years cruise line sampling managing HAL, Celebrity, Princess and NCL. Time to try MSC! So - we just booked our first MSC cruise on the Seaside for late next March. Nabbed the last interior YC cabin available 😏 We generally sail insides but have been known to splurge on Aft balconies. Hummed and hawed over Premium Aurea aft wraparound cabin (non-YC) or interior YC cabin with comparable cost. Really wanted to try YC (although I expect we would be content without) so going tat route. Also hummed and hawed over Seaside or Seascape. Seaside had and extra port day (Nassau - no big draw - but I believe we are in the minority who have never actually been to Nassau!). Also thought Seaside "might" be a slightly better YC experience as there seem to be less YC cabins on that ship. Anyway, we've pulled the trigger so can look forward to finding out what MSC (and YC) are all about 😀

is there a Rant 5 coming/ ... it hasn't sounded all that bad (except for Embarkation).

We are looking at booking our first MSC cruise and am kinda surprised with the thread response being so resoundingly in support of TA booking over MSC, and in particular in case something goes wrong. I guess intuitively with other line bookings we always book direct as I feel like I have more control over the booking (no in-between) . I guess my biggest concern is that maybe MSC is known to have more issues with bookings than other cruise lines. Is that the case? What kind of problems arise? I see one poster referring to being downgraded from YC, but wondering how common that is and what other kind of issues arise from the MSC side. We're looking at a run-of-the mill Seascape 7 day Caribbean next March in a Premium Aqua cabin or YC inside cabin if that matters ....

Just one final comment from me .... (famous last words)... I totally understand people's frustrations and that thinking of "I have been a regular XYZ cruiser for 35 years... and they are not focusing on "me" ... their loyal customer" I kinda would argue they are focusing on "you" , but more in the form of the "new you" ... As an example If you are a now loyal 75 year old cruiser you likely started with HAL when you were 40-50 years old .... they were focusing on you then, and that's still who they are still focusing on I expect. There is still something for everyone, but the focus I believe is the 40-55ish demo ... and that demo has a much wider palate and more dietary restrictions/desires that previous generations. Maybe I am wrong, and I am not a cruise business expert, but if I were a HAL like brand of cruise, that is who I would focus on.

I totally agree. The majority of time people complain about food decline from the "good old days" they complain about "steak" and/or "lobster" .....without noting the PLETHORA of new options and dietary restrictions that are now accomodated. For us, the things we eat today is NOTHING like what we ate 40, 30, 20 years ago ... . The restaurants (ones that have have survived changing trends in what people eat) have varied over the years, my grocery stores have varied over the years, Most of my diet today (probably 5 out of 7 suppers a week) are items I NEVER ate 30 years ago.

I'll only add that, although I am no coffee exper, I think that the decaf coffees at Dutch Cafe and such are as good as the regular coffees. I am "sensitive" to caffeine and typically have a regular coffee in the morning (can only drink half of it), and then only decaf after that (afternoon and after dinner occasionally). I can't tell the difference in quality (but again - no expert)

If they are making the effort to develop the menus for the venue on Aqua, I would expect some of the better/popular ones would start making their way into the MDR menus for veggie/vegan options on all ships expanding what they have currently.

Since Covid we have sailed HAL, Celebrity, Princess and NCL and have been lurking on those boards. They all have an equivalent version of this thread resurrect regularly. I suspect the boards on the lines I don't peruse much have them also.

Using a site like Cruiseplum (it's not a booking site - so can be named here on Cruisecritic) the cruise price history is easy to check. Like you I see no difference in prices for 2 cruises I have booked and another one that I have been looking at.

Do you know people that would actually do that though? How common do you think that would be? I wouldn't ..I've never booked a cruise I didn't have a good expectation of taking. As a person who always books HIA and therefore always has refundable deposits, the promo is of limited interest to me, but I think it is good opportunity for others to book "Best Fare" price without having to risk typical deposit.

That is very good news - love Thai food and are "mostly" plant based diet (some fish) - so 2 big wins for us 😀

For the CO to be refundable - it would have to be booked as a refundable (HIA based) fare though..... is that correct? We always book HIA anyway ...just wondering