jimmyzwei

Past 5 cruises in last 14 months with MTD on all. MTD has always opened at least 15 minutes before early traditional. and by the time we are walking out it is mostly full. I have wittnessed a 15 minute wait in the 6:30 - 7:00 time range but not often

Just into room. Very spacious sofa and 2 sitting get chairs. Huge room next to Royalty suite. Hump balcony biggest I've had. Will ask steward for a longer later plenty of room for it. Just what we wanted!!

Looks to me to be new carpet and new furniture, kinda orange color with blue and yellow stripes

Any way I'm a happy camper right now.

Wasn't sure what to expect, but pleased. Very clean, older building rooms look recently renovated

I was able to use my Marriott points for this rental so not a judgement on price.

Taxi Airport to here was $20 + tip so reasonable in my opinion.

Flight arrived after 4:00 pm local time and it was dark today by 6

Not a lot to see close, but leave on cruise tomorrow and have done old San Juan before so ok for the safety of arriving get the night before.

I just tried to book a room for our cruise Feb 5th and everything in the area is taken.

?? Super Bowl that weekend in Houston rooms at 1k when booking opened a year out, now starting to clear a little

Just returned from a week in Paris in Sep. I am on a debit card or ATM person myself. Use credit cards exclusively in the US and Caribbean. But i did get a Debit Card just for this trip.

So what do i think I learned from my experience.

Avoid currency exchange booths at all costs -- exchange rate there was 1.38USD to 1E (euro)

Avoid privately owned ATM -- use a banks

Used a bank ATM -- made sure it had the Master Card symbol on it (not all did, my Capital 360 card had no foreign exchange fee and would have reimbursed for any Master Card charges) the 3 different banks ATM's I used must have had no fee of their own -- exchange rate floated daily approx 1.12-1.13USD to 1E -- Easy to do -- could pull from 25E to 500E per transaction (I never tried more than one in a day) I did 3 different amounts at each pull and bills were always broken down between 50E notes and one set of 2-20E and 1-10E)

Also used a credit card -- transaction on some did not final post until 5 days after my return -- the exchange rate was the rate from the day it actually posted not the transaction date

was told never used your debit card to buy directly from a merchant or restaurant -- (unless you know your debit acct offers fraud protection -- again i am not a debit card person normally -- my wife tells me hers at least offers that protection)

Hope this helps someone -- BTW a week in Paris was Fantastic!!

Have you been in a JS before? If not don't do it!! I did and now my wife won't sail in anything less. I'm scared to try a GS now as she might decide that's the new standard.

Seriously even at per person I personally think it's worth it., but then we are on the tail end of 8 days in Paris celebrating her 50th birthday

What ever you decide enjoy you cruise. :D

I fly regularly for business and my only advice is avoid O'Hara if possible. Minneapolis is a significant hub for Delta and I believe Alaska Airlines home is at Seattle.

All things being equal I would lean towards Alaska Airlines . Jmho

Taxi fare looks to be around $150. For one way trip. The RCI shuttle run 47 or 49 per person. I have heard good remarks on Super shuttle and plan on using them next February at around $150 on way to my motel on Galveston island

Actually I just had to do this, sailing in January booked through the my local travel agent. First Leg of b2b booked myself on line then second leg booked as group trip though another travel agent In February (because it's a group booking it doesn't even show up on "my cruises") just ask ed for the confirmation number and I was still able to manage my beverage packages myself. (Same works for excursions)

Ever stayed in a motel or rented a car - now a days both require a credit card on file before you can check in to the motel or leave with the rental car. RCI is a business just like those -- can and do errors happen on occasion, sure but not very often in my experience.

putting a credit card on file sure beats standing in line on the last day of your vacation to pay the bill for a cash account. The have always delivered a paper copy of the bill before i left the ship - we generally prepay everything to include a drink package so for us it is a zero balance anyway

so we have 6:00 p.m. MTD reservation for each night. Two of those nights, the early evening show starts at 7:00 p.m.

Not sure what ship you are on ... but when we have sailed and first traditional seating was at 6:00pm - but MTD seating started at 5:30 - have been told that as long as we came "some what" around or time we would be seated - I would just show up at MTD on those 2 nights just before they open - odds seem pretty good they will seat you immediately (if not hit the windjammer as was you back up plan anyway you can easily eat there in 45 minutes) if you get seated in MTD right away tell the servers you in a hurry; be ready to order immediately and if i may suggest skip desert - worth the try.

BTW that is what we love about MTD dining - we choose the earliest seating time usually 5:30 if traditional starts at 6 (we eat at 5 o'clock at home) and can then still make the 7pm show (not always the best seats - but we are there) we can then have a quick night cap and be asleep by 10pm. Up around 5am and at the gym when it opens at 6am - everyone is different but this works for us.

Good luck !! enjoy your cruise

called them this morning, spoke to an agent then agent spoke to his supervisor, unfortunately they can't do anything "as of now" as the name really "won't fit it the box"

Bottom line is it will never fit not now nor at check in nor at the terminal when boarding. the system just won't take it. No different than the Hyphen problem. (my wife has one) it is either a space or pulled out and names run together - that can vary by company and can be controlled generally. Never had a problem boarding a plane or getting back in the country. really is a pretty common occurrence. JMHO

It sometimes depends more on the next door neighbor rather than if there is a connecting door or not

Absolutely agree with above statement

You can't "go early" when you have traditional seating.

 

I would use the e-mail address above, and see about getting changed to EARLY/Main seating, rather than MTD....Main seating works best with kids.

My observation has been large groups that want to sit together present real problems for not only the staff at MTD but also for the other dinners.

Large groups sitting together are best suited for traditional dining either early or late. JMHO others may view it differently

Just a quick note on my one and only visit. Although your drink package or per drink charge applies it took almost 2 hours after arriving (we were some of the first off the ship) for the bars to be set up. I would take my first bottle of water with me when I get off next time. Also the selection of drinks is very limited in my opinion, they will run out of certain beers brands as the day goes on. Also if you want the special doodle drink get it early because to me they were out of those shortly after lunch. Again JMHO based of one time there this past February :o

The only Promanade cabin we have ever stayed in was on deck eight. Although this level has the window that leans out allowing for a downwards view it was our opinion that deck 8 is too high for an enjoyable view. Did not personally find any disturbing noise, what was detectable was very low volume. This cabin was on a freedom class ship.

don't have a clue how much air fare is from Chicago to either Houston or Florida but if it's about the same I might choose Florida just for the different itineraries.

right now for next winter Jan-Feb flight ORD to IAH run $225-385 pp (1 stop to my preference non-stop); ORD to FLL run $350-425 (again stops) -- all weeks are pretty much the same price - Xmas-New Year times obviously are higher

Of course in Galveston you must figure in the added cost and hassle of transportation that in this instance is offset by the flight cost difference -- i find the motels a little pricier at FFL, but again it depends on what level of accommodation you choose.

Cruises, 7 day, out of Galveston are the cheapest 7 day cruises RCCL has -- again this is offset by limited itinerary (2 routes basically) and one ship the liberty.

My experience on 2 cruises from there has been good - of course both those time we drove down (total gas cost -$250) once it was 5 of us (brought our teens, so significant savings on airfare) the other time just the 2 of us - this coming Feb we will be flying in.

JMHO - enjoy your holiday weekend

The folks a kyss.Com have been very responsive. We're able to get a custom design rather quickly and certainly before promised. Send them an email.

Really like our KYSS bag

Considering all the other options, $100 to drop it off is nothing. We have to get to Galveston anyway, that is not cheap no matter how you get there. At the very least, it takes very little of my time which is also appreciated. Once you spread the cost across a few days it's much more acceptable.

Please make sure you check, but normally with a one way rental and drop fee you do not get unlimited mileage. So be sure that there is not also a per mile charge to pay upon return.

So sorry!!!

 

I REALLY wish that they would implement some kind of system by which they notify the companies who do charters (and the agencies who work with them) say a month in advance of releasing new dates what the itineraries will be. Then they have until say a week before public release to book a full-boat charter. Once the dates are released to the general public, a company could look into becoming a large group on the cruise but a full-out charter would be a no-go.

 

That seems the fairest thing to do if you ask me.

What kind of business man would you be if you turned down an offer to fill/sell out your ship because the customer didn't plan 2 years ahead. Bet this happens more on the shorter duration cruises than on the longer ones.

Good to see the OP was flexible and could adjust. Sounds like they also did well financially.

Have been wondering if those in suites get priority luggage delivery. Seems to be that way in other travel industry type venues

We also unpack as soon as we and the luggage are together and have some time. Though I'm more of a,live out of the suitcase kind of person (wife is the opposite) I won't unpack for just a night or 2 of course cruises are a big exception want to feel at home and relax so thing need to be put away for me

We have used the Courtyard Marriott in the Miramar area several times. It's not on the beach, but it's a very well kept property with an on site restaurant, not far from the port. We use Marriott points, so get it free for 25K points.

Bob, thank for that update on the Courtyard Miramir - have not stayed there but am booked of Jan 2017 also used points 25K - I saw that when booking there was "A mandatory 9 percent resort fee will be charged daily in addition to the room rate" QUESTION: was there an additional charge, if so do you remember how much?

Still not a bad deal though as it appears during that Jan-Feb season most rooms are in the $250+ range

Also that Hyatt House looks pretty new and i found a decent rate on it still around $200 though.

Thanks - jimmyZwei

I fly in/out and through PHL for business on a regular basis. In Oct coming out of ORD you really don't have a weather problem. An hour between flights really is not a problem, no where nearly as bad as ORD when i have had to go from L out to far end of C in that same amount of time. I personally wouldn't worry about it myself. JMHO

Good luck and I hope you can work something out you are comfortable with.

do a couples massage either on the ship or is it available at a resort in one of the ports

personally, I as a man, can take or leave these massages - but my wife loves them and likes it even better when i do a couples massage with her. - excellent Idea

also if you don't normally do the specialty restaurants - I think that is another great Idea

another Idea is to make a door sign that she will appreciate and will show the rest of the world that passes you door how happy you are to have the privilege of celebrating 25 years with her

We went on Royal's excursion September 2014, not sure if they are using the same company now. Then they were using Marineland Tours. One reason we used them is the boat they have actually has steps in the rear that go into the water. Not a ladder, but steps with handrails. It is covered and has a restroom and a shower. 1 person in our group couldn't of used a ladder.

 

http://www.marinelandtours.com/cayman_explorer_vessel.php

was just on RCI tour to the sand bar this past Feb 2016 - actual had booked the stingray and reef snorkel but the reef part was canceled. in Jan the whole stingray tour was cancelled due to rough chop in the sound (appears the government decides when it to rough - make sense that they are trying to protect their reef)

Anyway it was not the business that the link above is for. not a fancy provider, but the people were good at making sure you got to touch and hold the stingrays - there were heads on the boat - ours was a fairly small group < 20. there was a photographer for the business on board and they took photos ($20 for one 8x10 quality or $60 for all 6-8 photos, they said they would email them - glad i only had $50 in cash and no credit card so wife couldn't convince me we need them)

Sorry can't remember the name and not home so i cant look at picture wife took on her i phone.

overall for the I think $54 pp charges I was ok with it