TeachAloha

Thank you all! With the gondola up & running it looks like we can DIY a decent day! 🙂

We had a Icy Point wildlife hike booked through the cruise that was just cancelled and no other wildlife hike available. Is it possible to set out on our own (by foot) from the terminal and see some sights? What is offered through the cruise line is very limited (whale watching and zipline). It has been hard to find info as all tours say "book through your cruiseline" 😞

9 hours ago, gardengalaz said:

Hi, Everyone!

 

We're sailing the Mexican Riviera on Millennium in December and are curious about the value of purchasing one of the Perks packages.  We'd love your feedback and advice.  Perks Extra is $54.99 per passenger per day, so $440 each for our 8 -day cruise.  The perks seems VERY generous IF EACH OF US receives the benefits listed -- not so generous (actually a rip-off) if the perks are per stateroom, or $880 for the two of us:

What's Included

• $250 shore excursion credit - you will be contacted within 3 business days after booking to select your excursions.
• Premium Wifi (one device)
• Two dinners in specialty restaurants of your choice - reserve with the Maitre D' once onboard.
• Laundry service (one bag).

 

So we're figuring that's about $650 worth of services for $440, that's a great deal (about 30% savings).

 

Our cruise fare included the Elevate package, so we already have Premium Drinks, Basic Wi-Fi, included tips and a $300 OBC.  

 

Thoughts??

 

 

 

 

We bought each package separately & did get the $250 each credit within a couple days. YMMV, but it worked for us! 

We went with Temsco and booked directly as they are the comapny many cruise lines use. MUCH cheaper booking directly and the reviews are very good. https://temscoair.com/juneau-tours/

On 3/18/2022 at 5:11 PM, Northern Aurora said:

@izmeeh: Is your $100 per day target budget $100 for the four of you, or $100 each for a total of $400 per day?

 

I had the same question! If it is $100 total for 4 people, and exceeding $100 would not be a huge financial stress, please consider upping the budget a little. With the recent supply-chain costs making everything more expensive (even more so in Alaska) just grabbing a light lunch in port may be a budget buster! Also, it has been a heck of a couple years for the port towns in Alaska and they are still financially recovering so any little bit extra $ spent in port would appreciated. 

11 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Is that screenshot from the Move Up page or just a general description of an RS from elsewhere?

 

Edit: Answered my own question. I went into the Move Up bid options for my March 24 sailing and it does indeed say that, so it is definitely from the Move Up page.

Yep straight from the move up page! 🙂 And if we get the RS & get the drink package refunded it would end up costing $100-200 to upgrade! 

Question, I just did a moveup bid to upgrade from a SS to a RS, since we had a SS guarantee, we purchased a drink package (the guarantee package we had was a steal, but no drinks included). Looks like *if* we get our bid accepted The RS includes the "all in" benefits including a drink package. Has anyone experienced this? Would I be able to get the drink package we already purchased refunded? TIA! 

I am thinking *if* a test is needed before disembarking, I am hoping X they may treat it in a similar fashion as they do in Mexico. We stayed at 2 different resorts last year that provided testing for your return trip. It was actually very easy! They have a testing center space with 5-6 techs & you had a reservation to go get swabbed. They were able to run tests & get results in 10 minutes. They were able to get 1000+ guests done a day. It may need to be a bigger version of this, but is doable! 

We changed our tipping routine (previously at end of the cruise) after talking to a friend that has worked on cruise ships for years. She is in a non-tipped position. But she mentioned that the crew is SO happy when they have a day off in-port (rare!) and have some extra cash as it goes a LONG way when having to buy things in expensive port cities. And IMH,  I I just don't trust these big companies to get every $ I add on a bill as a gratuity to actually make it to the employees. And I don't have to spend the last day of a cruise hunting everyone down to give them a tip so it's a win-win! 🙂 

2 minutes ago, s0479 said:

I have a similar cruise - the only thing I could find is 100% vaccinated for crew and passengers which I wouldn’t think would be that hard for celebrity 

Thank you! I was wondering if I missed some important news! 

Can someone post a link so I can get some info? We have a Vancouver  RT cruise scheduled and can not find any new (to us) updates to the travel restrictions currently in place? Should we start a backup plan? 

The cruise ship docks are very close to the main drag, it may be the least amount of stress to pop back on the ship to do your meeting (if you have strong internet connection). I have to do the same thing and luckily most Alaska ports are easy to run back to 🙂

Curious, we have a SS Guarantee reservation. Will we be eligible for bidding for MoveUp when the window opens? 

Thank you everyone for the helpful information! In looking at the photos, I realized I have a mesh pocket bag that goes on shower hooks to hold stuff. I think I am going to bring that for some extra bathroom storage 🙂

Thank you all so much! The pictures were super helpful 🙂 Looks like an extra shower curtain may not do the trick. I always hate to create extra work/laundry for the staff but I think towels will be the way to go... Or maybe a cut-to-fit pool noodle 😉

We have been assigned an accessible sky suite (2136) on our next Eclipse cruise. Some reviews say the open accessible shower means water everywhere and to get extra towels for the floor. Silly question, but I was thinking of throwing a $1 store shower liner and a small tension rod in luggage to avoid the mess. Is the shower designed in a way that would allow this? TIA! 

We have stayed at a couple all-inclusive resorts recently where we normally tip at the end just like a cruise. However because of Covid staffing shortages, many people had to work in multiple venues and we started tipping at the point of service because we sometimes would not see the person again and wanted to ensure they got the gratuity. Just wanted to put it out there that we were not doing it to get something extra, just trying to do right by the staff that is stretched so thin. 

1 hour ago, Hutcha said:

Funny, I just posted, in another thread that Brits aren't known for their tipping.

 

Here's an example of why we tip. I'm in Virginia. Minimum wage here is $11/hr. If you're a restaurant server it's $2.13/hr. The servers depend on those tips. Same on the ship those people are hired and told that their wage is $X, but they can count an average of $Y in tips per week. Then, someone comes in from a country that doesn't traditionally tip, and they get shorted. 

 

It's not that we think we'll get better service if we tip. When I travel to the U.K., which is often (1/2 my family is there), I don't tip much. Why? It's not built into their wages/expectations.

2 hours ago, JFontaine said:

These people were out of work for more than a year. They live away from their families and only see them for a couple of months a year.  They work 12 hour days or more to give me a great vacation.  It gives me JOY to acknowledge that work ethic and sacrifice, especially as I am the beneficiary. If I can afford thousands on a cruise I can afford $200 to do a good thing.  And it makes ME feel great.

 

Thank you! Way way back I worked for an on-ground resort for Princess Cruises. After talking to the cruise crews, I was shocked that the service jobs pay is VERY low since the cruise line touts they will make it up in tips. But.....the tips you pre-pay tips may not make it to everyone. If $5 here and there is not a financial stress (and if someone is cruising in a suite I am assuming $5 is not a financial disaster) then a small cash tip is a great way to show immediate gratitude. Also with covid staffing issues, I tip a small about daily since the staff may be pulled to different places and I may not see them again to say thanks. 

*bump* just in case someone has the info 🙂

I was going to pre-buy the Ryde spinning classes for our upcoming Eclipse cruise. I had a couple questions before I hit "buy" and would appreciate any info! 

• Are the bikes the "clip in" style where your shoes have cleats? If yes, Can I bring my own? 
• Do they have classes scheduled everyday? If no, may be better off buying ala carte instead of a package. 
• Do you have access to the bikes outside of class times? 
•  

Thanks!

This was so helpful thank you! We are sailing Eclipse, but I have a feeling the flavor will be similar 🙂 

Thank you for this thread! After working from home this long, I think I went overboard (pun intended) on cocktail dresses since I am SO happy to be dressing up for once! So if you see someone extra sparkly every night at dinner that's me breaking out of my sweatpants for work rut 🙂 Hey, better overdressed than underdressed right? 😉

On 10/19/2021 at 9:35 AM, richbum said:

My intention was not to whine about the restrictions...I have had covid...and was recently exposed again by someone who was vaccinated (but didn't get it a second time)....My natural immunity worked...All I was asking was if there was options because I don't believe we will be able to cruise...and I didn't want to loose a bunch of money that they have had for years.....

Hmmm Vaccines are FREE so that would be the best way to protect your investment, trust science talk to a doctor and have the additional bonus of actually getting to go on your vacation. If you make the choice to not be vaccinated then it no one else's responsibility to give you $ for prolonging a public health crisis by declining the vaccine.As the spouse of a medical worker, trust me that we have lost WAY more than money in the last 2 years thanks to vaccine misinformation (like "immunity" after you have had covid that is a straight up fallacy) is just prolonging this needless suffering. 

On 11/29/2021 at 4:41 PM, Julma said:

Just a bit of added info on this.  My husband holds the primary Platinum Amex and we have 3 associate cards.  It's the same price for 1, 2 or 3  extra cards, so we gave them to our two children so they could use some of the perks.  I was able to get $150 statement credit for my husband's card, 15,000 points for my card and another 15,000 for each of the kids, so a total of 45,000 points and $150.  I just made payments for upcoming cruise in $500 increments.  

We're doing the same! I have the platinum and my husband has a gold card. We're splitting the final payment on the cards and getting a total of $300 back! 

Also another fan of the Platinum card. The $20 a month Uber credit can be used for Uber Eats & Postmates too. They also added a streaming service rebate too. 

I was trying to book Persian Garden passes and a couple spa appointments for our May cruise, however, the scheduling is not open yet. Does anyone know when the booking usually opens?