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Gardyloo2

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Posts posted by Gardyloo2

  1. Hi, I’m looking for advice on Las Caletas in Puerto Vallarta.  The ship excursions are sold out and we booked through the tour’s own site.  My adult daughter called them and the tour operator said they take cruise ship pax independently all the time. 

     

    But today we got an email “warning” us that we may not be able to get off the ship in time for the tour and their transport is away from the dock area.   And they recommend all ships pax take the ship’s tour.

     

    Can anyone comment on this?  It’s been many years since I’ve been to Las Caletas, and we did an independent tour there easily.  Is this warning real or is it because the cruise ship wants to book the trip themselves (at a 25% mark up)

  2. Thanks for all the input. We are indeed sailing on the Discovery early next month.  Our Medallions have shipped and we have one more item to add before my partner is ready for the Green Line.  I'm all set myself

     

    We'll probably drop off our bags with a Porter then park the car. Easier than lugging our stuff through the parking lot.

    • Like 1
  3.  

    I’m looking for info about the boarding process in the Port of LA.  Last month I was on a HAL cruise out of Miami. Boarding was so easy: walk up to a kiosk, let it scan the passport, and walk right on the ship. It took about 10 minutes from the time we walked in the door to stepping onboard. Most of that was walking up the ship ramp.

    Yes, we’d prefilled everything before going, and it was smart of them to use the passport-gotta to have a passport to get onboard.

    Miami is a huge huge destination; is the Port of LA as technologically advanced and easy as this?  Or do we get in the giant lines while they check everything like before COVID?   

  4. 2 hours ago, phabric said:

    I had planned a cruise with family plus 2 yr.  I told my agent the 2 yr would not use any of the packages.  She was able to get Princess to remove the package for the 2 yr.

     

    This is what I want to do but the TA was unable to do it. I'll probably go to the service desk and see if they can at the same time I remove the baby's crew appreciation so it won't hit my credit card.  

     

    Baby's parents are generous tippers and they're aware of how much extra work he may be for the room and wait staff. They'll take care of the baby's tips

     

    I talked with the TA this morning, final payment is made and it's too late to make room rearrangements, so we'll roll with what we have.  

  5. 20 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

    Would either your son or his wife benefit from the Plus package? If one of them would benefit, it might make sense for one of them to book in your cabin with the two of you having Plus and the other one to book with the baby in the other cabin.

    On board, Guest Services can program any of your medallions to access the other cabin. You just need to have an official occupant of that cabin with you when you make the request.

     

    This makes a lot of sense, thank you.  I'll talk with them and the TA and see if it's not too late to make the change.  The TA said I might be able to get it for myself only, once we get onboard, but your solution would be easier.

  6. Deferments vary depending on who has jurisdiction, but I've always been able to reschedule.  These days it's usually online, and you can even pick the date you want to start serving.

    Good luck!

    • Like 1
  7. This spring we’re going on a Princess cruise. I haven’t been on Princess in over 20 years, but was just on HAL two weeks ago. I'm looking forward to it.

     

    My son and his wife are going with me; my technical cabin mate will be their 22 month old baby. We have adjoining mini suites and the baby will be sleeping with them. Our TA said it’d save us money since I'm a solo traveler.

     

    My question is about Plus:   I want it, they don’t and there’s no point in the baby having access to any of the features. They plan to pay his gratuities in cash. 

    Has anyone been successful in adding Plus for one person under any cicumstances? I’d say normally no, but maybe the baby makes a difference.  When I went into the cruise personalizer it wanted to charge me for both of us.

  8. We haven't been to the Caribbean since well before COVID.  We'll be in South Florida and the Caribbean for the next two and a half weeks, but not Sint Maarten.  I'm out of Guavaberry liqueur  (Vaanilla) and would like to bring some back; has anyone seen it on any other island?  Is it at all possible it might be at a bar on board?

  9. On my first AZ cruise, I was delighted to see Floating Islands in the MDR one night.  They were sublime in their deliciousness.  After that, I always asked what night they'd be on the menu.

     

    And you're right about the burgers on the pool deck;  that dining location is my lunchtime favorite for many reasons. Lamb skewers, anyone?

     

    Being a dessert aficionado, I always wished that the Mosaic Cafe would have specialty cakes and treats made only for that location, like Café al Bacio on Celebrity.

  10. I was halfway through filling it out, or at least I think I was halfway, and the survey site crashed. This was a much more interesting survey than most cruise surveys.

  11. 4 hours ago, combine said:

    Costa Rica January 2018? What a great cruise and what a phenomenal Cruise Critic attendance. Oh happy  days! 

    Agree it was a very fun cruise, and meeting you all was delightful.  Hope to meet up again.

    • Like 2
  12. 34 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

     

     

    During normal times I’m in Southern Marin at least once a week, and occasionally further afield in the Bay Area. 

     

     

     

    I'm SIP'ing in the Greater Walnut Creek area. Feel free to PM me 

    Thank you for your kind wishes for my son; yesterday was his birthday, so I sang The Song to him over the phone.

    • Like 2
  13. On 4/17/2020 at 10:34 AM, BBMacLaird said:

     

     

    I’d like to confirm that Azamara’s Loyalty Ambassador was not laid off; she was put on a leave of absence until Azamara resumes operations.

     

     

    This makes complete sense. My son is a manager of a 500 room hotel in San Francisco; he's also on an unpaid leave of absence until operations resume. He told me it was done this way to preserve his benefits, particularly his medical benefits; and to keep his seniority intact. He was able to file for unemployment.

     

    Sandra will be back; Azamara understandably needed to create some cash flow.

     

    On another note, Bonnie- if you're in the SF area, maybe we can get together for lunch after our Governor lets us all meet again. My treat, and I won't do any arm twisting 🙂  Stay well!

    • Like 2
  14. Not sure if this is the right place to post, but it IS a cruise question. 😃

     

    My cruise, due to sail April 5, was canceled about 10 days ago.  After all the price difference wrangling on rescheduling, I decided to take the full refund, about $7k.  The Cruise line told my TA it’ll be 60-90 days to see the refund on my credit card.  I’m wondering if I should file a dispute with the credit card company to place the charges in a hold status while the refund is processed.

    Thoughts please?

  15. Last summer there was an extensive thread discussion about moving shampoo, conditioner and shower gel into  wall mounted dispensers or into larger bottles instead of the little bottles in the past.  Whatever became of that? Can someone who has been on AZ recently fill me in? My most recent AZ was about this time last year.  What brand is in the CC suite, any idea?

  16. What a great thread!  Thanks for the tip about the Abeo shoes; I'll go try some out at the Walking Company.  

     

    My all time favorite shoe is actually my riding boot with a birkenstock orthotic inside: Ariat Terrain Boot.  Not cute, but terriffic support and comfort. They've saved me from turning my ankle many times.  I'll probably take them for shore excursions.

     

    For on ship, I just bought some Munro Pisces  and Taos Rita.  Thank goodness there are actually shoes with built in arch support that look nice these days

  17. Very interesting concept, and definitely something different. I agree some Gilbert and Sullivan could be fun.

     

    Regarding singing CD's we got a good taste of that with Russ on our Jan 15 cruise on the Quest. Luckily for all of us, Russ is very talented and engaging, so good decision there.

     

    I really wish they could have some featured dancers; one of my favorite things on cruises over the years have been watching professional dancers live; and in Azamara's case, up close. Why not have ballet night, followed a few nights later by Bob Fosse night, and jazz dance night. There are so many dance genres that a talented pair could mix it up with the other new entertainment and really create something special.

  18. I'm back from my trip and figured I'd let you know what I did in case anyone else needs to do this.

    So I already get distilled water because of my CPAP machine. I brought along a new Neilmed sinus rinse bottle, because that what I needed to heat up. Filled the bottle as usual with distilled. After discovering that the bathroom sink water can get VERY hot, I put the bottle in the sink with the super hot water and gave it a few minutes to transfer heat. Did this twice and the water was just the right temp.

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