Spudd

I had clients on Caribbean recently and they said the ship was very old and tired. Not a good review at all. Same clients enjoyed Enchanted.

On 9/17/2023 at 6:58 PM, luckybecky said:

Thanks everyone for the comments. Lots of excellent information. Bigdogwon thanks especially for your detailed comments about your recent cruise. 

 

We are truly undecided. I love the many Caribbean island stops -- and long port times -- as well as the 3 stops in the Azores. But as I already mentioned, this would be a huge expense on our budget, more than we typically spend on land or sea vacations. And, we would want to spend some time in Portugal at the end of the cruise. We have not been there before.

 

And to add more to mull over, our daughter is getting married in February, putting additional considerations on the budget.

 

We are continuing to mull our options. One possibility might be to do only the Caribbean portion of the cruise. 

 

Thanks again for all your comments. We have a lot to think about. 🙂

I just thought I'd mention that I got an ad email today advertising the 13 night portion of this and it starts at $2499 per guest. Not sure if that's a big drop from what you were seeing but it seems pretty cheap to me!

There are solo discounts on the Summit Panama canal cruise in April and the following Pacific coastal, just saw these today.

8 minutes ago, awatt said:

Per the insurance company, family member was not a member of travelling party, hence the FCC

Not sure of your state, but in mine, this is the wording: sickness, injury or death to yourself, a traveling companion, or members of either of your immediate families which
is diagnosed and treated by a physician at the time your cruise vacation is terminated.

I'm sorry you had to cancel your cruise, I hope your family member is doing okay.

I thought family member illness was a covered reason, shouldn't you get cash instead of FCC?

I know it's too late for GICNJC, but for others reading this thread, here's the official answer from the Brazilian government. I found this by using the Air Canada Sherpa tool. 

Tourism and Transit (VIVIS) — Ministério das Relações Exteriores (www.gov.br)

• Transit in national territory: a VIVIS will not be required in case of a stopover or flight connection in Brazil, as long as the visitor does not leave the international transit zone and holds a single ticket (under a single booking reference, stating both the origin and the final destination, regardless of multiple stops or multiple carriers). If the traveller does not benefit from visa waiver and holds separate tickets, having to go through border / passport control when disembarking, s/he must obtain a VIVIS.

3 minutes ago, snorkler8 said:

I googled Queens Staircase, looks beautiful.  But I read that you have pay entrance to go into Fort Fincastle to get there.  One reference said $1 and another thing I clicked on said $35....

Also it's a walkable distance from the port?  Not sure what to expect in the way of heat/weather first week of February...

You don't need to pay. There are guides at the staircase who will hit you up for tips in exchange for information. But you can decline their help.

It is maybe a 20 minute walk? I don't remember exactly but it wasn't very far.

9 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

So do people who don’t have premium or plus still get dessert? Its just they don’t get a premiun dessert. Is regular dessert bad?

Regular dessert is fine. The premium desserts are stupid.

Did people dress up for dinner? 

I did. At breakfast (buffet) you can order gluten free toast at the toast man. All dishes in the buffet have a marking for gluten free. It's a bit confusing at first because the symbol is always there and only when it's gf is it a darker color. There were plenty of things to eat for all meals in the buffet. In the MDR we didn't care for the food so we mostly ate in the buffet. But we had a few meals down there and there were enough gluten free options.

I thought I would hate Coco Cay but I loved it. Not everything costs extra. There are plenty of free lounge chairs on the beach under umbrellas. There are free food venues with good food. There are free beverages (water, iced tea, lemonade). There are pools and splash pads for the kids that don't cost anything. 

Yes, there are plenty of opportunities to spend money if you want to. But you don't need to spend a dime to have a good time.

I wondered about the financial issue too, but then they set off on their next cruise like nothing was wrong, so I felt like I was overreacting. Maybe their head office is just over-cautious regarding weather compared to the other cruise lines? It's all very odd and disconcerting. 

Hopefully Erica will hear something from them soon!

Geirangerfjord will be closed to cruise ships except for zero emission ships after 2025. So I would do the Iceland and Norway one if you haven't been there before as it may be the last chance to see the fjord.

On our first Princess cruise we asked our room steward if he could turn off the motion sensor. He wet some toilet paper and made a little cover for the sensor with it, worked like a charm. Ever since then we just do that ourselves.

Are you past final payment date?

We did a disembarkation excursion from the port of Miami with Royal Caribbean (same parent company) that was advertised for guests with flights after 3pm. We got dropped off at the Fort Lauderdale airport around 12:15.

I don't think you can book them until you get on board. We were just on Oasis 2 weeks ago and never saw them prior to boarding. Once you're there you can book them in the app.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but is your reward number on the blue chip offers site the same as your captain's club number? I signed up for the blue chip club but I can't find the welcome email anymore so I'm not sure if there's a different number.

You can also see your OBC on your cruise confirmation document. If you have it, it will be under the section that talks about final payment.

If you can hold it for even one day, then just do that again tomorrow!

Maybe you are booking a "flash fare" which is a lower price requiring immediate full payment at time of booking. Is there an option to book at a higher rate and just hold the room? Then your TA can help you sort out the wrinkles on Monday.

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

That is why some never get the move up offer. Also if you booked under a group rate or discount my understanding is you are not eligible for MU.

Group rate bookings are eligible - just travelled on a group rate last month and was sent the Move Up email.

5 minutes ago, serene56 said:

can you tell me how to do that?   I get the bad 400 thing too 

tried a different browser and get this":

The reservation number entered is locked. Please try again later.

TRY AGAIN

The reservation being locked is something that happens occasionally. It will free up in an hour or two.

4 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

 

A detailed description of the Emerald Princess Thermal Suite (with photos):

https://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.com/2013/02/thermal-suite.html

 

 

Wow, thanks! That sounds terrible. Definitely will not buy!

I'm planning on a cruise on the Emerald next year. In reading about their thermal suite I see it has a "gentle sauna". 

I'm looking for reviews from someone who has used it. I'm used to a normal sauna so a "gentle" one sounds like a waste of time. I'm wondering how gentle it is, or is it like a normal one?

Very annoyed they took the old ones out of the change rooms!