kurukthemal

You are doing exactly what my husband and I did for our vacation this past March. We knew we wanted to go someplace warm (we live in the Northeast) but didn't want to break the budget. We decided to watch for a good last minute deal and if nothing came up, we would just bum around Florida for the week.

 

We bought our airfare first as we knew what dates we could travel. I then looked at ALL the ships leaving from Ft Lauderdale, Miami and Tampa that would fit with our travel dates. I made a list, and started tracking prices.

 

We knew for sure we did not want Carnival so I never had them on the list. I was watching RCL, HAL and NCL. There were 8 or 9 itineraries. We ended up on a HAL ship which I booked about 5 weeks out. I never saw RCL go down, only up...and the per day cost was higher than the HAL ship.

 

We booked an inside guarantee on a 7 day for $449. One week after booking, I was offered an upsell to a balcony guarantee for just $300 total (making the cruise $599 each). I thought that was a great deal for a balcony and we really made out well...was assigned an aft with a HUGE balcony that had more than enough space for two loungers plus two chairs and a table.

 

That experience has hooked us on looking at last minute fares for trips.

Carnival is my backup and my cruise line of choice for getting "out to sea." I fully understand their amenities are not usually up to par with other lines, but I don't mind it. Just give me a place to sleep, a pot of coffee in the morning and a sunset at sea at night and I am happy. I am fascinated with Anthem and am very curious about these virtual windows/balconies.

How do I know you are on Southwest out of Albany????

Leaving the 13th. when is you flight home?

 

Navigator and Conquest look reasonable out of Ft Lauderdale on the 14th, but only 6 nights

Glory out of Miami on the 13th looks good too!

Yep and I'm using SW points, so pretty much I can cancel the day before the they just get redeposited back in to my account, unlike if I paid cash for the ticket. I am scheduled to come back on the 20th. I'm realize the airport is going to be a nightmare. That's why the Anthem looks good too. However, the thought of cruising out of NYC in February isn't very appealing. During our Alaskan cruise it was so cold that the top deck wasn't used at all which made the interior of the ship that much more crowded.

It's fun to have options, I'm not committed to any particular cruise line and I love scoring a deal, so we will see. :)

This may be a bit of a no-brainer, but for me it depends on port times and where you are eating. We originally booked the UDP for our Alaskan cruise, but once on board I noticed several of our port times went into the evening. Well, we didn't want to eat on board and wanted to experience the local culture. So, we sort of wasted our money. However, if you are departing every day around 5:00pm and will be eating on the ship, then I think the UDP is worth it.

Just checking the post again and thanks for the continued information. I am interested in exploring the newer ships and here is my current preference - RCL Anthem, NCL Escape, RCL Oasis and my back up just for fun and to see a sunset and Key West is CCL Conquest. My airfare is fully refundable and I won't be upset if I just have to do a scenic drive from FLL to Key West for the week.

Cheers!

You answered your own question. If you can afford it, then yes, Disney offers a very superior product. However, your one cruise is about the same cost as two or three on RCL or Carnival.

Thanks all and I appreciate the feedback. Again, I will be crying my eyes out if I just have to spend a week on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. Greatly appreciated!

Hi all,

I love a deal and am going to try something, mostly for fun, but a trip is nice too. I booked my flights for Feb 13 into Ft Lauderdale months ago and am looking to try and score a last minute cruise deal. Does anyone have any insights into when the best time to book may be relating to a last minute deal as you get closer to the sailing date?

If I don't get to book because the prices increase, that's fine and I will find something else to do that week.

Thanks and Happy Veteran's Day to all who served!

Bill

Thank you all!

We have a late flight next spring out of San Juan when we return from our cruise. What do people do with their bags, etc. if you have the better part of the day to explore the town. One member of our party is 88 and we can't lug our bags around everywhere we go. Any ideas?

Thanks!!

I have been really torn about this announcement. I am a huge Star Wars fan and a huge Disney fan. However, I really am struggling with Star Wars on a cruise ship. It just seems so out of place. It would be like moving Star Wars weekends to the Magic Kingdom. It just doesnt fit. As you all said, customer feedback will determine the outcome in the end.

OP, did you have insurance through Carnival? just wondering . . .

I did not. I don't think it would have mattered because it wasn't an illness, weather, work or anything just that. Just some crappy events as I said.

Could be all of the above...I don't know. When I called to cancel the rep told me to contact Carnival and try. So, I went to the Contact Us paged and filled out the form. I was really surprised because I had nothing to offer in terms of support documentation. It was just a crappy, set of events that led to me not being able to take the cruise this Monday. I fully expected them to say no.

I am stunned and Carnival has moved up on my there is goodness in people list. I needed to cancel my upcoming cruise ten days out for personal reasons. I had no real documentation other than to tell them my ex messed up our custody schedule and I couldn't go on the cruise. I took a shot and emailed them requesting my cruise fare be transferred to our family cruise in April 2016. I fully expected them to say no and really wouldn't have blamed them if the did.

Obviously by this post, I am delighted to say Carnival transferred my cruise fare to the 2016 balance. I am beyond thankful!

This falls into how much discretionary income do I have? No doubt whatsoever that Disney is the best for me. However, I view it like a treat that I would do every few years. Our family loves to cruise and we like to do it as often as possible. That means we need a cruise line that will do a decent job and get us out to sea. That is pretty much Carnival for us. However, the onboard booking program by Norwegian continues to suck me in. So, that's been a recent line for us.

All that being said, I am planning another Disney cruise, but just need to save up for it a bit longer.

I am headed on the Ecstasy in a few weeks and started to look into this again because I really like playing blackjack. Here is what I found on the Wizard of Odds website, which is a pretty rational and mathematically oriented review of gambling.

"Although the CSM gets a lot of criticism from players the truth is that it actually lowers the house edge. To prove this I ran large simulations both with and without a cut card under typical blackjack rules. The following table shows how much the house advantage is reduced by the use of a continuous shuffler compared to a cut card game.

CSM reduction in House Edge

Number of Decks - Reduction

1 - 0.113%

2 - 0.063%

4 - 0.034%

5 - 0.028%

6 - 0.020%

8 - 0.014%

However, it must also be stressed that the CSM allows the dealer to deal continuously, increasing the number of hands dealt per hour. For the basic strategy player, this will result in a greater expected loss on an hourly basis. In actual casinos I have only seen these machines used in shoe games however the effect is the same on the Internet where it is common to see games shuffled after every hand in all numbers of decks. The effect of shuffling after every hand and the use of a CSM are the same."

I am interested to hear feedback from those on cruises since NCL Started the package promotions.

 

We will be on the Breakaway in August and want to get feedback from recent cruises.

 

-- any issues getting reservations?

-- any tips for us CC friends?

 

Thanks

I think its worth it overall because the food is much better...we love Cagney's, Le Bistro and Teppanyaki. Now, that being said - you have to be on a ship to enjoy it and get your money's worth. Your itinerary is very important because if your ship's port time is say 1pm to 8pm, well you may want to eat a local restaurant to experience the culture. However, if you ship is leaving at 5pm, then you are already onboard and looking for a place to eat anyway.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Surcharge covers the meal, except for alcohol and soda. Teppanyaki and Cagney's are a must! Happy sailing!

I was reading the recent reviews for QOS and was surprised by the number of negative reviews. I do notice this for many lines and ships too and always take each one with a grain of salt.

Most of the bad reviews were based on customers feeling the ship and staff wasn't ready for the debut and that kinks were still being worked out. My question is simple - shouldn't customers get a discount during this time period? Why do we, as customers, find it acceptable to put our hard earned money down for a trip and then give a company a pass because they are "working the kinks out?"

I supposed if you experienced this you could reduce or eliminate your gratuities, but I personally don't feel it's the fault of the staff.

Just curious and Happy Holiday's to all!

We loved that restaurant on the Pearl too! In fact, that is what my girls refer to hibachi dining now...."Can we go out for Teppanyaki tonight?" :D

Thank you! Would you happen to know the cost for each?

What is the difference between these Spa and Posh passes on the Epic? When would you buy them -onboard? I can't find any information on the NCL website.

Thanks!

I want to quickly comment too on watching the tables. What is totally cool to think about while you are watching...is that the top of the table is remaining perfectly level and you actually the thing bouncing up and down. It was fascinating!

I have the following offers to me 1) Casino Offer; 2) Premier Cruise Casino Offer and 3) Carnival Players Club Getaway.

What the heck are the differences? I can't find anything specific in the descriptions.

Thanks!!

Any experience this room and the services offered with it. I am looking to switch our DCL cruise in February. Two ocean view rooms are $2k on the Majesty and the 2-bedroom suite is $4.2k. While that is still below the cost of the DCL cruise I am trying to think if the addition $2.2k is worth it.

Thanks!!!!

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

My wife and I have always considered taking the kids on an Alaska cruise when they are "old enough to appreciate it" (probably when they are teenagers.) I wondering now if we should just take the same money that we would have spent on a cruise and use it on a land based vacation out of Anchorage instead. They would definitely get to see the "real" Alaska that way.

 

For those of you that have taken children/teens on an Alaskan cruise, did you consider it to be worthwhile for them?

Thanks and that's a very individualized call to make. The combination of our DGM (86) and the three younger girls did limit what we could do. However, my girls did have a good time and very much enjoyed playing with the Iditarod puppies. The cruise option is good because you do get to see several ports/places vs spending more time in one or two. It's a tough call and just comes down to what you want to do. Good luck!!