cruiseracer

Just back from an 8-day on the Vista and wanted to share a great experience. We booked 2 weeks before sailing on a last minute casino deal, which was great, however the late date caused limited excursion choices. All golf carts were fully booked on Bonaire. When looking for a golf cart by email, Hans from Roadrunner explained that no carts were available, but suggested the Twizy tour. Being a car-guy, I checked out the Twizy (made by Renault) and it looked appealing. (It's an EV with 2 inline seats, not side by side.) We booked a week prior to sailing and the entire process was seamless. We met Hans & his wife, Mandy at the dock, as per their instructions. Hans had another tour to tend to and Mandy was our guide for the day. Mandy is very pleasant, knowledgeable, professional and quite fun. She took us by van to their house, which has a connected workshop. (5-minutes from the ship) The Twizy's were lined up, charged up, clean and ready to go. My girl got in the back seat, I got in behind the wheel and after a briefing by Mandy, we were off. Mandy led and we followed. We stopped at 1000 steps, the flamingo bay, a bluff overlooking the ocean, the oil tanks, a distillery, a small but interesting museum and Mandy offered to take us to a beach or 2. (We got plenty of beach-time the day before in Aruba, so declined the beach trip.) We then returned to their residence and Mandy drove us right back to the ship-walkway, where we exchanged goodbyes and walked back onto the ship. Had we been able to book a golf cart - we never would have known about this tour. Now that we know about it - we will definitely do it again. Highly recommended...

Not exactly true. I've walked off ships with a net profit at the pokerpro machines. Have walked away at a loss too. Just like land based casino's.

To the exceptional or elite players - help me understand the "rake is too much" thought process. I'm a rec player and enjoy playing whenever I can. Yes - the rake is a bit high compared to most land-bound card rooms, but you're on a ship with the ocean, excursions, good food & drinks and you walk to your cabin when done. The land-based rooms require drive time and more. I don't get it. Walk me through the mindset... TIA

How about the Vista and Horizon?

Looking for reliable information on the ships that have either Pokerpro electronic tables or live cash games. I've 'heard' that Carnival is moving away from the Pokerpro tables and back to live dealer games. I've also heard that all player to player games are being eliminated. Can anyone provide 1st-hand info? Thanks!

Where was the holdem table located surfergirl?

Just received this email from NCL and I'm a little confused. Booked a 10-day a few weeks ago and prepaid the Bev Srv Charge, Din Srv Charge and Prepaid Service Charge. Today's email speaks of a 'Daily Service Charge' increase of $20/$25 pp/pd, depending on cabin. Is the "Daily Service Charge' the same as the Prepaid Service Charge? TIA Service Charge Increase Letter.pdf

Thanks to everyone who replied to my earlier thread concerning whether or not to sail with MSC. Excellent information was shared by knowledgeable folks. We've already completed the status match and are ready to begin choosing a sailing. We're an active middle-aged couple, experienced cruisers, who enjoy sunny, salty, sandy vacations. We (mostly she 😉) enjoys dressing up and enjoying the elegance of a nice ship. We have kids & grandkids that we spend much time with, however unless they're sailing with us, we tend to shy away from kid-filled cruises. Balcony is a minimum-must for us and always enjoyed. A suite would be considered, however the value-added must be there for us to consider. Looking to book an 8+ night cruise on either the Divina or Seashore. We live in Central Florida and Pt. Canaveral is an hour away while Miami is a few hours away. We enjoy sailing into & out of Miami, but hate getting & leaving there by car. (If that makes sense...) Really - either location works for us. Due to our location and similar itineraries to places that we enjoy - Divina or Seashore makes the most sense. Which do you recommend and why? TIA...

Woodford Reserve! 👍 Thank you...

Status match process was smooth & seamless. Awarded gold status within 25 hours of submission. Hope our future experience with MSC goes so well.

We're located in Florida. It's a shame TA's cannot be recommended. Perhaps a conflict... We'll look into the rental car option. Thanks!

Good tip on using a TA after booking. I didn't know this could be done. Thanks for the detail...

Wow. That's awful! Look like a TA is in our future... Thanks.

Just signed up for Status Match. Thanks for the tip and advice!

Yes, thank you for your detailed reply. Priority boarding is not a big deal for us. In fact, we usually wait until a couple of hours before sailing to board in order to miss the mad rush. Anytime dining has become our thing as we like the convenience. We can go with the flow on other benefits too. Time to do some more research... This information helps - thank you!