molole

46 minutes ago, rusty nut said:

Anybody get a feeling that RCL won't be sending any other offers, like dining plans, etc. to those email addresses that scored the deal?

I have never received anything worthwhile from their emails.  

Also, to some this $18 gate is not some deal of the century. In fact I still may cancel it on my little 3 day cruise because even if I just use it as refreshment package I still will not get my money's worth.  

And no, I don't have access to diamond lounge or suite lounge or some high roller lounge.  Just not a drinker. 

And I didn't bother with it for my 7 day, 8 day and 10 day cruises even though they were all offered.  No way I could be close to breaking even.  

I do begin to think this might be an experiment. NCL has been effectively selling their drink packages at $20/pppd regularly for a couple of years now.  Royal seems to follow NCL's marketing shtick a lot, just usually a step behind.  

Can you on the last day choose to pay down your cash acct with a credit card?

Also, I am not clear on the advantage.  Wouldn't Royal still just charge up your sea pass card with whatever amount they want and you still have to pay on your last day?  

When I think about that arcade thread the only advantage I can think of is the kids would hit the $500 limit much sooner. 

I only have one carnival cruise booked and it's far out.   If I use this offer and later decide to move (not cancel) my booking to a different date, will it trigger Amex to take back the $75?  

She ignored me for years.  She was always dead to me.  

5 minutes ago, iWillSailAway said:

I didn’t purchase it, but I am pulling for you guys. And I think the case to honor it might be stronger than what initially looked. 

 

First, for every person who bought at an exceptional value to them there is at least another person who otherwise wouldn’t have bought did so just because the price made sense.   So the total revenue might not be all that different. 

 

Second, because the price is low and easy to get your money’s worth the heavy drinkers are less likely to go totally crazy.  The moderate drinkers will just use it like a refreshment package with benefit.  So the alcohol consumption may not be all that much more.  

 

In addition, if Royal admits glitch the only fair thing to do for each purchase is to revert back to whatever sale price it was at.  Royal might not have that system readily built in.  It would mean a round of over flooding their call centers.  

 

Not to mention, the much easier path to positive PR if they choose to honor it. 

 

We will see. 

 

 

Very true. And If they don't honor it a little bit of OBC or a real sale price would be nice.  

Personally i I am hoping for OBC but sale would work for many others. 

Is there a place I can check for dry dock and "amp" schedule for all Royal Ships?  

2 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

We like the refreshment package too but when the deluxe package is offered at the usual sale price of the refreshment package, it is a no brainer to get the deluxe package.

Quick question,

 does the refreshment package have items NOT included in the deluxe beverage package?

The more I read the more it seems like a trap.  

No charging privilege?  But wait, there is small print. It doesn't apply to arcade. 

What's next? MDR included.  But wait, it's only from 3pm to 5pm with pre cruise reservation. 

Yes, I think a little bit of OBC would be nice.  For us it really doesn't matter because even at $18/pppd it was still a toss up.  

When I told hubby he was like we can never drink $18 of alcohol.  But then he doesn't realize how cruise drinks are priced.  

Yikes.  I feel for you.  If the system has a glitch there should be a recourse.  

It's there for my cruises from April to Nov 2020.   Too bad we hardly drink.   I did purchase it for one short cruise just to see if it would let me go through with it and it did.  I will probably cancel it later.  

Do the gift cards have expiration date?   My next Carnival cruise is in 2021. Not sure if I want to buy pay $900 now to get $100. 

AA just screwed me up today.  I arrived home a day late thanks to them.   They gave me some miles but I know AA miles expire after 18 months and I don't like them enough to care.  United is even worst.  Might have to try Delta.  

Saw a lot of obnoxious looking luggage today and as ugly as they are they don't get taken by mistaken so I might have to do the same.  

Thank you @martincath

I have chipped credit cards so I am thinking iwill be fine there as long as the ship docks as scheduled.  

hopefully there will be no fog delays or things like that in Vancouver as in Tampa.  

@martincath

Thank you you for the info.   I am taking the Canadian with VIA rail, Vancouver to Toronto.  It's more expensive than the cruise itself and I don't want to miss it.  Lol

it requires me to check in 90 mins before so I need to arrive by 1:30 pm.  I travel light and will only have a carry on and a backpack.  

Just wondering if there is any tips I should know .  

My plan is to get off the ship late, likely around 10am, then take the Expo line from the Waterfront station to Science World station.  I wont have any Canadian change, but I do have $5 Canadian bills.   I believe I can use a credit card to buy the ticket at Warerfront, am I right?

The ship NCL Jewel docks at 8am and the train departs at 3pm.  My plan is to stay on the ship as long as possible and then take SkyTrain to Pacific Center.  

I am assuming I will have plenty of time but just wondering if there are anything I should be aware of?  I can self disembark if needed.  

Same, mine is also this weekend.  What happens if we can't print edocs before boarding?  

7 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

I'm looking at doing an 11 day cruise, with 9 ports.  At a $450 value, it's a no brainer for me.  I'm choosing this perk.  I know people always say the cruise ship excursions are overpriced, but when you're solo I think it makes the excursions cheaper than booking on your own.  Two cruises ago, I took this perk and loved it.  didn't pay more than $40 for any excursion.  On my last cruise, they had free airfare as one of the options, and I took that.

Totally agree about solo and ship excursions.   When I cruise solo I like to book ship excursions for convenience.  Also, maybe I have been searching in the wrong places but I have never found independent excursions all that much cheaper.  

I did notice NCL inflated their shore excursion prices, at least for my Alaska cruise.   On my cruise almost every exclusion is somewhere between $15 to $40 more than the exact same exclusion on other lines like Carnival, Princess, Royal.  Taking that into account the real value of the shore excursion credit is less than $50 per port.   

To think I canceled my Cuba sailing only last week but not because of any of this but because I realized cruising was not a good vacation to visit somewhere I really wanted to visit.  I canceled my Empress sailing and booked airfare and a multi-day land tour in Cuba instead.  

Luckily we won't be affected.  We have two citizenships and in the worst case scenario we will just fly to Cuba from a different country.  

Hope those who booked Cuban cruises will find some good alternatives. 

Awesome! 

Is it still $50 per stateroom per port for solo travelers?  I get $50 if I go by myself?  

Does it vary a lot by ship?

i am looking at a solo snowbird on either Zuiderdam, Zaandam, Veendam or Caribbean Princess.  Any of them stands out?  

1 hour ago, Lovely other said:

I think it depends what you like doing onboard as well as how you feel about motion etc.

I was recently assigned a midship deck 1 inside and hated the thought of it. It made me feel claustrophobic just thinking about it. However, I’ve moved to spa inside on deck 10 forwards and couldn’t be happier. I’m a gym bunny, who wants to be able to get outside quickly or down to the gym and spa easily, I love the movement of the ocean even in rough seas,  so for me it’s perfect. 

That is also my hesitation with those nice and spacious square rooms on deck 1 on Kdam when I go solo.   

Did you have to pay to move an assigned room?   I know on some cruise lines you don't always have to pay to move a guarantee assignment.  Not sure about HAL's policy. 

Where I live I see these events all the time in summer weekends.  I bet there is one going on in the state park close to my house.   They are just the Spanish version of the Sweet Sixteen party for girls, except one year younger and more dressy.  

These events are very visible for sure, but are not particularly noisy, nor are they prone to getting drunk or out of hand.  After all the girls are only 15 and the parents are most likely in their 40's or 50's, neither in the binge drinking age.  I doubt they will be unduly intrusive to anyone.  More like a large group wedding with a dry bar.  

40 minutes ago, fshagan said:

The cheapest rates I see on NCL are a week or two prior to sailing. For instance, right now you can get a balcony guarantee sailaway rate for $549 per person for the June 10th 7 day Alaska cruise (Seward to Vancouver ). Total price for cruise fare and port taxes ends up right at $1,568 for two people. That's a deal!

 

I suspect the cabin they choose for you will be above the theater on deck 8, but it could be anywhere they have a spot open. If you're particular about cabin location you can spend another $300 and select your cabin. Perks they "give" you might drive the price up due to mandatory gratuities on the perk, so you have to watch that.

 

If you're flying to the port then air fare is also a consideration. It can be much higher if buying without a lot of advanced notice.

 

Usually, very, very early purchases or these last minute ones are going to be the cheapest. Up until final payment you can usually do the cancel / rebook thing, but I suspect NCL will follow the lead of some other lines and make deposits non-refundable soon.

I saw that $549 deal too.  Best part?  ZERO single supplement! 

I spent the whole night last night trying to figure out how to get to Anchorage without breaking the bank.  No luck!  Lol 

NCL tend to have best deals last minute.   More so than other lines, especially if you cruise solo.