iancal

Another thing that has changed for us is that we to not plan our days too far in advance. When we vacationed prior to retirement we planned our days here and there and booked accommodation, travel in advance.

 

Now, we are more inclined to get there, reserve some accommodation, but do much of it on the fly. We recently did one way tickets for a trip overseas and are doing it again next month. If we like somewhere we can stay for extra days, or leave leave early as the case may be.

We will be sailing on Princess in late Feb.

 

Our understanding is that the formal dress code only applies in the MDR.

 

We will not be bringing formal clothes (travelling light through Asia for 7 weeks) however we would like to try a user pay dining venue for those nights-as long as we are conforming to a casual dress code. Is our understanding correct?

We would never consider it for three reasons. First off, who wants to sail on a ship that will be in shake down mode? Not us.

 

Secondly, who wants to sail on ship when we regular cruisers will very much be second class citizens and will take a backseat to the 'invited special guests', cruise line execs, and media, and travel industry execs. Regular cruisers will be on board to essentially subsidize this media and PR event.

 

Thirdly, who on earth would want to cruise in Europe at that time of year?

 

The only upside....air fares at that time of year will be low. That is not much of an upside.

Very good for us who have Princess, Carnival, and HAL credits.

 

RCI does this and we were very pleasantly surprised on only our second RCI cruise to be placed in a higher category because of our Celebrity status. Certainly not a deal breaker but very nice IF the perks are worthwhile. In our case a few of them were. Ohers were rubbish aimed at making the list appear longer than it really was or offering some sort dubious exclusivity.

 

Made no difference to our cruise selection since our only indication on booking was that it provided us with a $200 discount on our balcony cabin. The ship, the itinerary, the cruise fare, and the one way cruise air fare from Europe were the deciding factors for us.

No. We usually schedule our private tours or car rentals so that we leave early and return 2 hours or so prior to sailing. I like the insurance. Then, we typically grab the ipads, find a bar w/wireless and catch up on our mail, or tour the town.

 

We spent some time with an expat in St. Vincent-we were on a private tour a few years ago. He and his wife ran a charter sail boat.

 

He gave us a run down on how the cruise lines deal with the tour operators on the small Caribbean Islands. Not very nice. He was charging slightly more than 1/2 what Princess was charging and he was making more money.

Good decision.

 

I have no doubt that you will end up in a great cabin. Wait them out and a good offer will fall into your lap. EITHER WAY I am certain that you will be happy.

 

Before it does though, take some time to understand the prices/categories so you will know a good offer from a mediocre offer..... if you get one. Perhaps establish a target price. If you get a good upsell snap it up before someone else does.

Nope. We find that when it comes to jewelry, ship prices are high prices.

 

The indicated discounts are high, the appraisals are high, and the actual sale prices are high.

We always do private tours. They have always been good and usually less expensive, often much less expensive.

 

The real benefit for us in not doing the ships excursions is the size of the tour. We have no desire to be on a large bus tour and have to wait for so and so who is lost or is in the process of buying that souvenir, or someone who believes that the cruise line comments about physical requirement did not really apply to them. The private tours we have take generally have 8 or less people.

 

Last time, in Ephesus four of us had a private van, driver, and tour guide for a less than the cost of the Celebrity excursion. I have no doubt that this would be the same for other cruise lines as well.

 

I am not complaining about cruise line pricing. We can take it or leave it. No doubt cruise lines have specific margin requirement in all revenue sectors of their business model.

We are always in travel planning mode. And we sometimes take advantage of last minute travel offers/cruises.

I think that selecting a cruise ship to match your preferences can be as, or more important than the cruise line.

 

We have had some good cruises on Carnival but we selected the ship, the itinerary, and the date carefully to meet our preferences. Same with Princess. Both have some significant differences between ships in their respective fleets.

Costa offers this on a number of their Med cruises...not certain about others.

 

I did see data on that Carnival ship from Barbados but on a UK web site. On the itinerary I saw it was possible to board at different islands. The cruise did not stop in any US ports.

Sometimes you have to let certain things go. The trick is knowing what to let go and when to let go. This one is well past it's best before sell date.

Definitely in the don't sweat the small stuff category.

Just goes to show 'there is no such thing as a free lunch'.....most especially on a cruise line.

It is not just RCI. They are all doing it.

 

We were on an RCI Med cruise in early Nov. The excursion prices were high. We are familiar with the prices and costs in Civ. and Livorno port areas. We could have very easily done them for 50 percent or less.

 

Everyone has to earn a crust. Clearly if the demand is present, the prices will remain high. Seems to be inverse to the price of the cruise though. We have also seen what appeared to us to be some very high excursion prices on Celebrity and Carnival. The prices seem to have jumped.

This was exactly my impression of the Mariners Lunches etc. It mirrors what we heard on a recent RCI Serenade cruise,

 

-they had to load three free drinks on room keys because the Diamond Lounges could not hold all the Diamond Club members on many sailings

 

-that the cruise after ours, a TA had just under 1000 Diamond Plus members.

 

So, if RCI has this issue, then HAL must have it in spades if HAL truly has the highest number of repeat passengers.

 

So when is a perk a perk? If essentially everyone gets it then it can hardly be called a perk, let alone an exclusive perk. That was my point. And if RCI gives out a lapel pin every time one cruises what is so special about that EVEN in the very remote possibility that someone would actually want to wear it. I would much rather the cruise line message may wallet instead of my ego.

Recently did a Houston-London trip on United. Very poor compared to what we have experienced on airlines such as Lufthansa, Air Canada.

 

So much so that we took a second look at next months flight to Bangkok on United. Fortunately two of the thee legs (the longest) are codeshares operated by ANA. We previously had very good flights to Bangkok on Delta but their price was not competitive this time. We were Continental fans.....but no so much United any more. Feel sorry for those with lots of Continental points that got moved over.....the service is just not the same.

Cannot comment about excursions. Last time we were in San Juan over Christmas many stores and restaurants closed early on Christmas eve.

 

But they all seemed to be open on Christmas day. We went to a large grocery chain store and bought wine on Christmas morning....they were all open. We took a drive and saw quite a few people shopping. So, you may be in luck.

So here is the other side of the equation.

 

Someone posts that they were on a HAL cruise and had no A/C for 10 days or perhaps no working toilet, or flood.

 

Others, who were not on the cruise and not in that stateroom comments that no, the A/C was working and that the issue is one of perception and clearly implies that the poster is either exaggerating or a plain liar. And the other posters seem to know because they were on the ship six months ago and it was perfect.

 

The poster simply perceived that it was 80 degrees in the cabin, even with the fan. Or that the poster must have left the verandah door open. Or the toilet did not work because the poster was putting things down that should not be put down or simply did not know how to operate a toilet. Or there was not really a flood because the original poster has not replied to the subsequent posts....no wonder. Others then go on to say HAL is wonderful, the wrap around decks, the wonderful staff, the library, etc. As though these have anything to do with the original report.

 

How do you think it makes the original poster feel who is simply trying to convey some data to others who might find it helpful??? I suspect this type of response is where the term cheerleader really came from.

How safe was the Costa Concordia?

 

Did the action or inaction by the officers and crew hurt, hinder or help the rescue process? Did it impact the number of fatalities?

How much earlier. Depending on the cruise, we have to spring for final payment either 60 or 75 days out. After that, you own the cabin.

 

How many days out for Australian based bookings do they grab final payment?

 

Got the web site..thanks.

 

cheers

I would not worry.

 

The VH is a marketing gag category. If you check, you will probably find out there are only four or so of them on the ship. IF bookings are slow they will introduce the VH gty category and sell lots of them...far more than the actual number of VH cabins.

 

This category is used when HAL drops the prices and does not want to re-price those who have already booked verandahs (prior to final payment date) or upset those who have purchased at a higher rate if the VH's are introduced after the final payment date.

 

And they are obstructed only to the extent that the front of the balcony has a metal sheet vs a glass sheet.

 

Relax, you chances of actually getting a VH are low, low, low. Enjoy the lower fare. Our last booking was a VH gty, ended up with a very nice VA. It is about the only category we would ever book because of it's value proposition.

We cruise fairly often and I have to agree with you. We often wonder what the attraction is with things like lapel pins, medals, or lunches attended by hundreds. Who on earth would wear one of the pins or medals?

 

We just got off an RCI cruise...only our second. Because of our Celebrity status we kept getting invites to so called exclusive events. No thanks, the Diamond lounge was just fine and we have no particular desire to meet the officers. The next cruise after us had just under 1000 folks in the higher category. Exactly how exclusive would their reception/lunch be I wonder? We also had priority boarding. We were on board in 15 minutes.....without bothering with the priority boarding line.

 

They also gave us trinkets/trash in the form of two lapel pins. Who on earth would wear something like this on their suit jacket? Not us-they went straight in the bin. Not really sure why they do this.

 

We like the Costco or the airline approach. Reward us with cash back, a cruise/flight, a decent upgrade or other perks that have value beyond stroking our fragile egos.

maintenance, staffing, food. in that order.

Agree with you that the food is mediocre in both HMC and Labadee. We do not think either beach is up to much. Far too crowded and commercial for our liking.

 

There are other much more attractive and much less crowded beaches that we can visit on other stops. The only advantage to Labadee is that we do not have to tender. We stay on board at HMC and enjoy having fewer people at the pool.

We are from Canada. Flexible travellers on a one way air ticket leaving Dec. 31 to Thailand and working our way down for a Feb. 20 cruise from Sydney. BUT, we are keeping our eyes out for some good last minute bargoons. An Oz or NZ cruise is more attractive to us than an Asia cruise from Singapore.

 

So, it seems to me from reading this forum that there are more bargains than normal. We often book in the cancellation window, ie 60 days or less prior to departure. Ideally, we would like a March 6 cruise on Princess vs. a cruise prior to the one we have booked. There is already snow and cold weather here and we do not want to come back to it! Starting to see some better pricing from Celebrity on their Tuesday specials for Dec. sailings....just hope the offers continue.

 

A few questions for the experts out there...

 

-I note that some cruises are fully booked, or that the balconys or outsides are gone. Do you normally see the bookings open up AFTER the final payment date, ie when cruisers can cancel without financial penalty? How far in advance is that for most Oz cruises? A Gty. cabin is just fine with us.

 

-how is the season going. Seems to me there are some selloffs. Is this usual or does it indicate reduced demand in your opinion

 

-we usually book with an on line TA in the US. Good pricing, good OBC's, good service. Are the sell off prices more attractive if I deal and book with an Oz travel agent?

 

-any good sites that I should be tuning into other than the cruise line sites? Maybe one that emails attractive sailing from Australia or NZ?

 

many thanks for your comments