mickeychicky Posted June 27 #1 Share Posted June 27 I am not used to dealing with such a small cruise line, everything runs smoothly when booking Royal. ** WHEN DO WE GET LUGGAGE TAGS? They weren't attached in the emailed booking confirmation ** CHECK IN: I know there is no app YET, but what is the process for pre-check in? How do you know what time to be at the port? ** PREPAID GRATUITIES were not added at time of booking....is it even an option to PREPAY or just get the daily charge on our statement? Hate having a large bill to reconcile and settle at the end of a cruise and with no available option to check daily onboard charges this seems like a nightmare if there is a discrepancy. ** MUSTER: again no online option to watch videos like most of the seasoned cruise lines, what is MAS process? Are we doing it the old school way and waiting with our group and watching the crew show us how to use a life jacket for the hundreth time? Anything else you can offer up that is different the other main lines, feel free to share. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeychicky Posted June 27 Author #2 Share Posted June 27 FORGOT TO ADD: THIS IS FOR THE ISLANDER, not Paradise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KINGBOBOFTHENORTH Posted June 28 #3 Share Posted June 28 On 6/27/2024 at 12:05 PM, mickeychicky said: I am not used to dealing with such a small cruise line, everything runs smoothly when booking Royal. ** WHEN DO WE GET LUGGAGE TAGS? They weren't attached in the emailed booking confirmation ** CHECK IN: I know there is no app YET, but what is the process for pre-check in? How do you know what time to be at the port? ** PREPAID GRATUITIES were not added at time of booking....is it even an option to PREPAY or just get the daily charge on our statement? Hate having a large bill to reconcile and settle at the end of a cruise and with no available option to check daily onboard charges this seems like a nightmare if there is a discrepancy. ** MUSTER: again no online option to watch videos like most of the seasoned cruise lines, what is MAS process? Are we doing it the old school way and waiting with our group and watching the crew show us how to use a life jacket for the hundreth time? Luggage tags will be emailed to you about 7 days before the cruise. Boarding pass will be emailed to you about 21 days before the cruise. A boarding time window will be emailed to you about 21 days before the cruise. The muster drill is the old fashioned kind. No video to watch; you attend live. Prepaid gratuities is the subject of a different thread here on CruiseCritic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pr8hd Posted June 29 #4 Share Posted June 29 (edited) Dear Pr8hd, It's almost time to Get on Islander Time aboard the Margaritaville at Sea Islander! To help ensure smooth sailing throughout the check-in process at Port Tampa Bay, Margaritaville at Sea guests departing from Terminal 6 are assigned a specific arrival window. Your party's assigned arrival time is: ARRIVAL WINDOW 10:00 am - 10:30 am Guests with Signature Packages that include priority boarding or who have purchased an Express Pass will receive the earliest boarding windows, with all other guests assigned by stateroom location. Your arrival window is printed on your Boarding Pass, which you can view and download from Cruise Control, our online guest portal designed to put you in control of your cruise vacation. Your Boarding Pass will be used to confirm your arrival time once you arrive at Port Tampa Bay. Please print a copy of this boarding pass and bring it with you to the Port. Guests without a printed or digital version of their Boarding Pass will be required to check in via the Standby Line and may experience delays. Log Into Cruise Control In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out with any immediate questions. We look forward to cruising together soon. Fins Up! The Crew of the Margaritaville at Sea Islander Our luggage tags showed up immediately after making final payment. Don't see the option to prepay gratuities on the MAS site. Edited June 29 by pr8hd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CruisingWalter Posted July 7 #5 Share Posted July 7 Luggage Tags will be emailed to you or your TA can send them. There is a Beta App called Cruise Control on their website where you can set up your account. A Check In time will be assigned to you and be emailed to you a few weeks before the cruise. I HIGHLY recommend adding the $42 Express Pass to any booking that is not a suite. Islander is the largest ship to homeport in Tampa working out of the smallest terminal. There will be stops and delays getting into the terminal due to fire marshal regulations. Nothing MAS can do about that at the moment. Express Pass gets you towards the front of the line so you least you should have fewer stops outside. You can call MAS to pre-pay the gratuities or your TA can call for you. Muster drill is old school out on Deck 3. Took 10 minutes on our cruise. No biggie whatsoever and made us laugh at the throwback. Many of the vloggers who I've seen complaining about this are the same people I saw sitting out at the pool deck for hours on end. Standing outside for 10 - 15 minutes for a muster drill is 'horrible' and hot, but sitting in the sun for hours on the sundeck is fine? 😅 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericrz Posted August 25 #6 Share Posted August 25 Adding a question to this thread -- how do dining reservations work? No assigned times in the Fins Dining Room, just show up when you show up? What about specialty dining reservations -- with no app and no way in Cruise Control to prebook, do you just go to Guest Services onboard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pr8hd Posted August 26 #7 Share Posted August 26 (edited) 14 hours ago, ericrz said: Adding a question to this thread -- how do dining reservations work? Fins, no assigned times. The Hostess told our group that Fins gets very busy around 7pm. Specialty Dining: Far Side Sushi is incorporated into the Far Side of the World Bar and is walk-up. Island Eats and Tiki Grill are walk-up quick serve options located on either side of the Tiki Bar. Islander dining room serves the same menu as Fins, with a few additional menu items. There is a pic of the Day 1 menu insert in the thread I posted above. No reservations required for Islander. Pearls Dining is a small dining room adjacent to Fins. It was not in use during our cruise. I believe it is reserved for larger groups and private bookings. JWB Steakhouse Sorry, I have no idea how that one works. Room Service was not offered during our cruise. Side notes: During our cruise, food service hours were rather erratic. At certain times during the day Frank and Lola's was the only food option. The last night of the cruise, the Tiki Bar and both quick-serves there were closed very early. The Mexican Cutie has very good food when it is open. Edited August 26 by pr8hd Typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerryjG Posted August 26 #8 Share Posted August 26 On 8/25/2024 at 11:44 AM, ericrz said: Adding a question to this thread -- how do dining reservations work? No assigned times in the Fins Dining Room, just show up when you show up? What about specialty dining reservations -- with no app and no way in Cruise Control to prebook, do you just go to Guest Services onboard? JWB Steak House did require a reservation on our Islander cruise. I just Called from the room to book. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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