Hotel room during port visit ( as your excursion)

[marco]

If it were me, I'd just stay on the ship and enjoy all the amenities while everyone else is ashore.  Save the $$$ and the schlepping!

[ronrythm]

You may want to check cancellation policies, as Cabo is a tender port and sometimes gets dropped due to weather. You may not know until you get there if the port is too windy to tender.

Enjoy

Ron

[slidergirl]

On 12/12/2019 at 12:34 PM, SRF said:

 

Hmm, sounds like Hilton program. 🙂

 

I tend to be a Marriott person, and have stayed enough, they REALLY treat me well. 😄

 

I have had times when they asked me if I could check out an hour or so before the time I wanted.  And I do so.

 

Only time I got a bit bent was when I arrived at a hotel, and they would not put me in a room, while others were coming in and checking in and getting rooms.  Hmmmm.

 

After mentioning this to corporate, and them having the GM apologize to me, the next time I stayed at that property, I was in my room RIGHT AWAY, and got an upgraded room. 😄

 

It wasn't specific to Hilton.  I just really like the "But I'm a Diamond Guest" YouTube video.   I had it as part of my training class a a NOT Hilton property.

The reason others were getting checked in and you were waiting - not every room is the same and not everyone is staying for the same length of time.  Rooms marked ready as the housekeeper cleans a room and then an inspector verifies the cleanliness and the room is set up to the standard of the brand.  So, they are not available all at once.   Trying to block people into rooms is just like playing Tetris - you gotta fit people where you can fit them.   Trust me - it's not just snapping fingers and having a room ready.  Most good hotels have rooms pre-blocked for everyone to be sure they can "fit" in that Tetris chart.  More times than not, I have to bounce multiple guests around to try to get one person in a different room.  If it is a group, I will do my little "passive aggressive" move of "Sir, I will be happy to take the room from one of your colleagues and give it to you and they can wait for your original room."    Were you attempting to check in prior to the posted check in time?  Did you say you would take a less desirable room if it would get you in?   I'm one of those who thinks everyone needs to spend a day at a Front Desk to see it isn't as easy as everyone believes it is and to see what it is like to be verbally abused every damn day by someone.  

I hope you appreciate the lost revenue the hotel had at your expense because you were piqued that your room was not available when you wanted...  It's a good chance that they put your "upgraded" room off market for the night before so they wouldn't have you complain again.  

[SRF]

1 minute ago, slidergirl said:

It wasn't specific to Hilton.  I just really like the "But I'm a Diamond Guest" YouTube video.   I had it as part of my training class a a NOT Hilton property.

The reason others were getting checked in and you were waiting - not every room is the same and not everyone is staying for the same length of time.  Rooms marked ready as the housekeeper cleans a room and then an inspector verifies the cleanliness and the room is set up to the standard of the brand.  So, they are not available all at once.   Trying to block people into rooms is just like playing Tetris - you gotta fit people where you can fit them.   Trust me - it's not just snapping fingers and having a room ready.  Most good hotels have rooms pre-blocked for everyone to be sure they can "fit" in that Tetris chart.  More times than not, I have to bounce multiple guests around to try to get one person in a different room.  If it is a group, I will do my little "passive aggressive" move of "Sir, I will be happy to take the room from one of your colleagues and give it to you and they can wait for your original room."    Were you attempting to check in prior to the posted check in time?  Did you say you would take a less desirable room if it would get you in?   I'm one of those who thinks everyone needs to spend a day at a Front Desk to see it isn't as easy as everyone believes it is and to see what it is like to be verbally abused every damn day by someone.  

I hope you appreciate the lost revenue the hotel had at your expense because you were piqued that your room was not available when you wanted...  It's a good chance that they put your "upgraded" room off market for the night before so they wouldn't have you complain again.  

 

First, they told me there are NO rooms ready.  But they checking in other people and giving them keys to rooms.

 

Yes, it was before normal check in, but one perk I have is to check in early.  And it was not that early.

 

No, I did not discuss the level of the room, but would perfectly accept what I booked.  I have, at other properties, run into this, where they were trying to get me an upgraded room.  Which was great, but I just wanted a room.  In this case, they did not say anything, and the room I got, was not anything special.

 

The reason I said Hilton was due to your comment about Diamond member.  My experience is that other chains have different terms for their top level. 🙂

 

 

[slidergirl]

28 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

First, they told me there are NO rooms ready.  But they checking in other people and giving them keys to rooms.

 

Yes, it was before normal check in, but one perk I have is to check in early.  And it was not that early.

 

No, I did not discuss the level of the room, but would perfectly accept what I booked.  I have, at other properties, run into this, where they were trying to get me an upgraded room.  Which was great, but I just wanted a room.  In this case, they did not say anything, and the room I got, was not anything special.

 

The reason I said Hilton was due to your comment about Diamond member.  My experience is that other chains have different terms for their top level. 🙂

 

 

You really didn't have a case, then.  The rooms they were blocked into were ready for occupancy before posted check in time, yours was not.  Did you verify that those other rooms were the same types as the one you booked and blocked for the same amount of time?  I've had people call me a liar because they have to wait for that King room while others are checking into Queen rooms.  Suites can be broken into rooms at times, and you can't get checked in until the entire suite is ready.  

 

I've not been Titanium, but I have earned Gold and Plat with some programs.  One of the things people don't remember is that early check-in is "based on availability."  I don't remember seeing any guaranteed early check in with Starriott anymore.  The one time I know of a guaranteed is if you book was the AMEX Centurion or Virtuoso program.  Some do have guaranteed late checkout.   Best thing to do:  call the hotel around noon and ask if your room is ready.  If it is, great.  If it isn't, chances are they can attempt (it's not an easy thing to do) to have HK expedite cleaning your room.  One of the most stressful times for employees starts that hour before the posted check in time - for some reason people feel it is appropriate to yell and demean people who have NO control over when your room is ready... 

[MicCanberra]

On 12/11/2019 at 10:59 AM, Tammyd549 said:

I’m an experienced cruiser but have a question I can’t find the answer for . 
 

I’m cruising into Cabo (but this question could apply to any port visit)  next month and the port time is 12-8pm, I’m thinking of booking an all inclusive hotel room, checking in at 1pm and checking out at 6-7pm, using the hotel as my “excursion” for the day. I figure even if they don’t let me into the room at 1pm, they will let me check in and use the facilities.
 

Ive searched for day use hotels in Cabo (And other ports too!) and they seem limited so I was thinking this was a good alternative.

 

Thoughts or suggestions?

I cannot see an issue with it. but why not just stay on the ship? it is likely to be fairly empty.

[SRF]

22 hours ago, slidergirl said:

You really didn't have a case, then.  The rooms they were blocked into were ready for occupancy before posted check in time, yours was not.  Did you verify that those other rooms were the same types as the one you booked and blocked for the same amount of time?  I've had people call me a liar because they have to wait for that King room while others are checking into Queen rooms.  Suites can be broken into rooms at times, and you can't get checked in until the entire suite is ready.  

 

I've not been Titanium, but I have earned Gold and Plat with some programs.  One of the things people don't remember is that early check-in is "based on availability."  I don't remember seeing any guaranteed early check in with Starriott anymore.  The one time I know of a guaranteed is if you book was the AMEX Centurion or Virtuoso program.  Some do have guaranteed late checkout.   Best thing to do:  call the hotel around noon and ask if your room is ready.  If it is, great.  If it isn't, chances are they can attempt (it's not an easy thing to do) to have HK expedite cleaning your room.  One of the most stressful times for employees starts that hour before the posted check in time - for some reason people feel it is appropriate to yell and demean people who have NO control over when your room is ready... 

 

That is fine.  But after mentioning this in my survey on my stay, I got a nice personal email from the hotel General Manager, apologizing, and on stays after that one, NO issues.

 

And sorry, but if you say there are NO ROOMS CLEAN (not qualified by bed type or class), then there should not be ANY ROOMS.  Otherwise you are lying.

 

Other hotels in the chain have handled it, we want to put you in X type/class/view of room, but none are available yet.  But if you wish, we can put you in Y type/class/view room.  

 

If you know the Marriott program, I am what used to be Premier Platinum. 

Edited December 19, 2019 by SRF

[slidergirl]

3 hours ago, SRF said:

 

That is fine.  But after mentioning this in my survey on my stay, I got a nice personal email from the hotel General Manager, apologizing, and on stays after that one, NO issues.

 

And sorry, but if you say there are NO ROOMS CLEAN (not qualified by bed type or class), then there should not be ANY ROOMS.  Otherwise you are lying.

 

Other hotels in the chain have handled it, we want to put you in X type/class/view of room, but none are available yet.  But if you wish, we can put you in Y type/class/view room.  

 

If you know the Marriott program, I am what used to be Premier Platinum. 

We're going to have to agree to disagree.  You have no idea which type of rooms those others had nor how long they were staying.  That is a HUGE part of rooms.   

 

Marriott was the last option for me.  I much preferred Starwood and Hyatt before I'd stay at a Marriott.  All I know now about Marriott is that they screwed Starwood employees in the merger, giving them far inferior benefits,  

[gerryuk]

I can see the advantage of booking a hotel room if the ship is overnight in a specific port, I assume that you don't have to return to the ship at night on the first day, if the ship is doing overnight?

[mjkacmom]

12 hours ago, gerryuk said:

I can see the advantage of booking a hotel room if the ship is overnight in a specific port, I assume that you don't have to return to the ship at night on the first day, if the ship is doing overnight?

Depending upon the size of your party, booking a room can be cheaper than a day pass. Plus, some resorts don’t offer a day pass, and if you are looking for a nice beach and pool day, it’s a good option even if not staying overnight.

[Tammyd549]

On 12/16/2019 at 3:19 AM, ronrythm said:

You may want to check cancellation policies, as Cabo is a tender port and sometimes gets dropped due to weather. You may not know until you get there if the port is too windy to tender.

Enjoy

Ron

Ah good point , didn’t even think of that! Thank you!

[dadofjessie]

On 12/10/2019 at 6:59 PM, Tammyd549 said:

I’m an experienced cruiser but have a question I can’t find the answer for . 
 

I’m cruising into Cabo (but this question could apply to any port visit)  next month and the port time is 12-8pm, I’m thinking of booking an all inclusive hotel room, checking in at 1pm and checking out at 6-7pm, using the hotel as my “excursion” for the day. I figure even if they don’t let me into the room at 1pm, they will let me check in and use the facilities.
 

Ive searched for day use hotels in Cabo (And other ports too!) and they seem limited so I was thinking this was a good alternative.

 

Thoughts or suggestions?

I don't know why anyone would do this.  Why would you want to spend the extra money?  We have been on many cruises to the same port, such that we don't want to go on any excursions.  What we do is just stay on the ship and use the facility which are remarkably quiet with everybody on shore.  Very enjoyable.

[frantic36]

On 12/11/2019 at 7:59 AM, Tammyd549 said:

I’m an experienced cruiser but have a question I can’t find the answer for . 
 

I’m cruising into Cabo (but this question could apply to any port visit)  next month and the port time is 12-8pm, I’m thinking of booking an all inclusive hotel room, checking in at 1pm and checking out at 6-7pm, using the hotel as my “excursion” for the day. I figure even if they don’t let me into the room at 1pm, they will let me check in and use the facilities.
 

Ive searched for day use hotels in Cabo (And other ports too!) and they seem limited so I was thinking this was a good alternative.

 

Thoughts or suggestions?

 

 

Tammy in ports I have visited often I have done both day passes and booked a hotel room for the night when the ship was leaving 9 or 11pm. Sometimes it is nice to do something different and still get to eat local food rather than ship food. 

 

When booking into the hotel both in a Cambodian Port and a Bali Port we did need to show our passport to check in. They weren't all inclusive but the local nice restaurants closer to the hotel was very cheap especially juices or local beer with our food. I'm not a beer drinker normally but on a hot day it is fun to try the local beer at lunch.

 

So maybe check if you will need your passport to check-in, which is standard I think.

[mjkacmom]

13 hours ago, dadofjessie said:

I don't know why anyone would do this.  Why would you want to spend the extra money?  We have been on many cruises to the same port, such that we don't want to go on any excursions.  What we do is just stay on the ship and use the facility which are remarkably quiet with everybody on shore.  Very enjoyable.

Because cruise ship pools are small and gross, there is no ocean to swim in, it’s enjoyable to many travelers to see different places, one of the main reasons people travel.

[Rala]

On 12/12/2019 at 4:30 PM, marco said:

If it were me, I'd just stay on the ship and enjoy all the amenities while everyone else is ashore.  Save the $$$ and the schlepping!

This makes sense to me if you don't find any excursions that appeal to you.. You can always just get off the ship and walk around the immediate area and then get back onboard and enjoy the relatively empty ship.  Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy!  🙂