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On 10/7/2022 at 7:35 PM, Wor1dTrave11er said:

Just got off Grandiosa and frozen drinks were included in the Easy Plus, at least the BBC, Miami Vice etc., up to 9 euro.

Just got off Seaview and Grandiosa in the Mediterranean and all frozen drinks are included in the Easy Plus package (all frozen cocktails are €8, not 9).

The best Frozen cocktails were BBC and Rock Lobster.

You can also request the bartender to reduce the amount of juice and increase the amount of alcohol in the Frozen cocktail (no charge). If required, you can even have it without ice.

The most popular drinks ordered were beer in the morning and Tequila sunrise, BBC, Ultimate Pina Coladaa & Classic margarita at night.

The premium cocktails €9--13 are not included in the Easy Plus package.

For those who have already experienced one or more Norwegian fjords Cruises, how is the weather from 15th May to 30 June, especially this year 2022?

44 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Royal up is an option program  Travel agents have the option to opt out of the program.  Customers can decide for themselves whether they want to book with that agent based on whether or not they participate.

 

Discount agencies  rely on as few contacts with the client as possible to save money.  Adding the Royal up into the mix increases not only the number of customer contacts but also the contacts with the cruise line and the paperwork required following up on additional commissions and adjusting invoices

In the Royal Up program there is no question of additional commissions or  invoicing.

Your travel agent does not have to get involved. It is directly between you and Royal cruise line.

It is just an extra fee you pay directly to Royal last minute at the time of boarding or soon after, without involving the travel agent at all.

14 hours ago, dada2199cc said:

Also note that some travel agents don’t participate in the bid upgrade option.

 

We book with C——O and they don’t let you win bids per their contract.

I think you are referring to a discount travel agent.

Why would your travel agent prevent you from bidding or winning bids?

How would they benefit?

Can a travel agent really control the customer like that and prevent him from bidding on an upgrade ?

8 hours ago, mom2miracles said:

 

You weren't given or offered an upgrade, you were given an opportunity to possibly upgrade. Bidding offers zero guarantee you will get it. Even if someone cancels last minute or is a no show, there are still zero guarantees that you will get the room. They offer them as a backup for last minute cancellations, no show or rooms that were never booked to begin with. So it's very possible every balcony (as an example) is already completely sold out, it just means they are compiling a waiting list of sorts for that class of room as a "just in case" scenario.

 

Like someone else mentioned, when one person gets the upgrade, everyone below them upgrades too. An example: An interior room could get a balcony; balcony room could get a jr suite; jr suite could get a full suite; so on an so forth. The dollar amount of your bid does matter. Some people have upgraded with the bare minimum and some have upgraded with the highest possible bid. You just never know what will or won't be accepted. 

 

Also, once you bid, you cannot reject/refuse the offer. So you have to be prepared to be in a room that you may not be happy with - floor/location you don't like/want, obstructed balcony room, ec etc... As soon as a bid is accepted your credit card is charged, your original room is released and you are put into your new room. There is no going back. So make your bids with the notion that you will be happy with wherever you could end up.

 

If you are currently 100% happy with where you are, maybe bidding isn't the right choice. Many people don't bid for that reason alone. Or that they don't see the value in bidding. 

 

Lastly, bids being accepted can happen through embarkation day. So you could be on board, in your original room and get notice that your bid has been accepted. Again, you cannot decline the change and will have X amount of time to move rooms. Some people chose to cancel their bids a few days prior to sailing so they don't have to deal with that. Just keep that in mind too. 

Wow, that's an encyclopedia of information.

I got an interior in the best location, but still I would be happy to accept any of the three categories --spacious Ocean view, ultra spacious Ocean view or balcony, even last minute.

I don't even mind an obstructed balcony (There is no mention of obstructed balcony)

But then again, I bid the minimum amount on all three categories.

I think this Royal Up is a very good system that Royal Caribbean has got and I am sure that other cruise lines will also be following a similar system

25 minutes ago, Tolkmit said:

 

Royal offers basically everyone the option to bid for an upgrade to the ~5 categories immediately above them; regardless of any current availability. Them offering you a chance to bid does not mean they have cabins available.

 

Royal's meter telling you "bid strength" is also almost completely unrelated to the likelihood of your bid being accepted. The scale is a generic amount based on all cruises on all ships; nothing specific to your ship or your sailing.

 

Royal is very unlikely to reject any of your bids until after 5pm the day of your sailing. There is no benefit to them to reject bids until they know everyone actually boarded and all rooms are occupied.

Thanks. I bid on spacious Ocean view, ultra spacious Ocean view and balcony, all at the minimum bid price.

if all three categories become available due to last minute drop outs then I suppose they will accept my highest bid, which is for the balcony cabin; and charge my credit card only for that one bid.

what will happen to the cabin which I vacate?

3 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

You've been given lots of good information, I would only add that I do NOT recommend waiting to hear back before bidding on additional categories. While there are exceptions, you usually don't find out that your bid was unsuccessful until it's too late to do anything about it. I generally get that email on embarkation day. 😉 

Thanks. Royal offered me an upgrade to Ocean view,  spacious Ocean view, ultra spacious Ocean view or balcony.

But surprisingly  all categories in Ocean view and balcony are showing as "sold out" if you try to book a new Cruise.

From where will they give me these cabins?

If these 4 categories of cabins are still available,  then why don't they sell them to new customers?

5 minutes ago, okiedrifters said:

Holland America to Alaska..our first and only time on HAL…we were given a free upgrade to a suite! .

Thanks, how would you compare Royal with HAL

1 hour ago, ggo85 said:

Bid an amount where, if you get it, you feel like it’s money well spent and, if you don’t, you’re happy you didn’t spend more b/c it wasn’t worth it — to you.  

Yes for me it's a win win situation.

if I get any one of the cabins at the minimum bid price, it's great deal.

If I don't then it's no problem,  because we will be out of the cabin whole day enjoying all the shows, activities and entertainment.

So it's probably not worth paying more

2 hours ago, J&L~SetSail said:

First one was the Harmony, in early February. It was any easy win due to low capacity. I bid $10 over the minimum from Balcony to oversize balcony and junior suite. Got the oversize balcony. But it was under the lido with the overhang and a support beam in front of it. Next was the Odyssey in April. Went from inside to balcony for double the minimum bid. Won that one a week after I bid-about 30 days before sailing.  Both of those were 7 nights.  I just returned from an 8  night Mariner, and had an inside.  I really wanted one of the new cabins above the spa area-Panoramic Oceanview. I kept upping my bid along the way.  About 5 days out, I saw one come available to book, so I went ahead and maxed out my bid at $275. I may have gotten it cheaper, but I really really wanted that cabin. I was still all in for less than $1000 if I had booked it outright.

Thanks, so what do you think are my chances if I bid the minimum allowed or maybe $1 above that?

Does Royal give these upgrade offers to everybody in inside cabins or everybody on the ship who are not in mini suites or suites?

4 minutes ago, J&L~SetSail said:

I've had three Royal Caribbean cruises so far this year and won an upgrade on all of them. I bid on multiple option on the first two. On one, the "upgraded" cabin was in a terrible location.  The other one was just okay. On the most recent one, I only bid on the exact category I really wanted and won that one. A big however though...I received the upgrade the day before the sailing.

Thanks that's was very useful and informative. how much did you bid and for which category and for how many nights?

Did you bid the minimum amount allowed in all cases?

How much would you pay per cabin (for 8 nights) to upgrade to a balcony, an ultra spacious Ocean view or a spacoius Ocean view for an 8 night Cruise

39 minutes ago, zebra36 said:

If you are overly sensitive to the motion of the ocean and have a cabin that you feel will minimize any problem, I would pass on any potential upgrade(?) that would put your comfort at risk.

My sea sickness is perfectly well controlled with dimenhydrinate tablets.

I wanted to know if it is better to bid for all three categories simultaneously, or only balcony and wait for a reply.

How long will it take Royal to reply because the sailing is 30 days away

Royal has offered me an upgrade from my inside cabin on an 8 night Med Cruise .

I have sea sickness, so I was wondering if it is
worth upgrading by paying more for a balcony or ultra spacious Ocean view or spacious Ocean view.

What are the chances of getting your bid accepted, if you bid at the lowest starting price?

Is it better to bid for only one category & wait for their reply, and if declined, then bid for the second category; and so on

OR

Bid for all three categories at the same time?

In which case would my chances be better?

Thanks 

You don't need to book shore excursions in advance because you will find many travel agencies offering on the spot tours at all these ports in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Phuket. You simply choose which tour you want on the spot

There are also many taxis and minivans waiting at all these ports

13 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Don't see how the first option could happen as that wouldn't be something checked at check-in.

Only the passport is checked, right?

9 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

 That said, there are citizens of overseas countries who live in Canada and USA.

Correct, so a foreign passport holder could still be a North American resident 

What will happen if a US travel agent books a Holland America or Princess cruise for a non North American resident?

Will the passengers be denied boarding?

OR

Will the passengers be allowed boarding & the agent get penalized ?

What will happen if a US travel agent books a Holland America or Princess cruise for a non North American resident?

Will the passengers be denied boarding?

OR

Will the passengers be allowed boarding & the agent get penalized ?

On 8/22/2022 at 5:53 PM, ladyariadne said:

I'm hoping that those of you who are familiar with the fjords might be able to give me some advice.  Next June we are on the Queen Victoria with this itinerary.  Although I have tried researching and looking on this forum, I don't find a lot of information on these ports. I am finding the places we are visiting are not the ones that most ships call at, so I'm looking for advice on whether private tours are feasible and also what companies might offer them.  Thanks so much for any help. 

Date	Port of Call	Arrival	Departure
06/06/2023	Southampton	--	04:30 PM
06/07/2023	Cruising	--	--
06/08/2023	Haugesund	09:00 AM	05:00 PM
06/09/2023	Cruising	--	--
06/10/2023	Cruising	--	--
06/11/2023	Tromso	09:30 AM	06:00 PM
06/12/2023	Honningsvag	08:00 AM	05:00 PM
06/12/2023	North Cape	07:00 PM	08:00 PM
06/13/2023	Cruising	--	--
06/14/2023	Trondheim	09:00 AM	05:00 PM
06/15/2023	Geiranger	08:00 AM	05:00 PM
06/15/2023	Geirangerfjord	05:30 PM	06:30 PM
06/15/2023	Sunnylvsfjord	06:30 PM	07:30 PM
06/15/2023	Storfjord	07:30 PM	08:30 PM
06/16/2023	Cruising	--	--
06/17/2023	Cruising	--	--
06/18/2023	Southampton	06:30 AM

Try Toms port guide and Whatsinport

On 5/11/2022 at 10:26 PM, 8420PR said:

Italy only accepts EMA approved vaccines.  This does include the local brandnames (Covishield, Fiocruz, R-Covi) of the AstraZenica vaccine.

But even today MSC does not accept (Covishield, Fiocruz, R-Covi) for boarding Med cruises at Barcelona,.

Is MSC is also offering a (paid) shuttle from Steinwerder port to Hamburg Central Station and also from Kiel Central Station to Ostuferhafen port?

Thanks so much for the detailed information.

Actually the ship will sail away at 17.00 or 18.00, so I need to be there before 15.00.

So if I get off the previous ship at 10.00, there should be no problem for the first transfer from Hamburg port to Kiel port.

However the second transfer from Kiel port to Warnemunde port looks very dicey.

Hence I will postpone the Warnemunde Cruise to 2 weeks later, and spend 8 nights in Hamburg and 6 nights in Berlin.

From Berlin there is a direct train to Warnemunde port

I decided to spend 3N & 7N in Hamburg in between cruises. That will  make it easier

Hamburg Hbf to Kiel Hbf, taxi to Ostuferhafen

MSC Fantasia  (Ostuferhafen Terminal's Berth 1 at Kiel)

Taxi to Kiel Hbf, then train to Hamburg Hbf

3N Hamburg Hbf

Taxi to Hamburg Cruise center Steinwerder (18-40min)

MSC Preziosa 3 (Cruise Center 3" in the industrial harbor area of Steinwerder at Hamburg)

Taxi to Hamburg Hbf

7N Hamburg (+Bremen, +Heide Park, +Lubeck, +Schwerin & Wismar)

Train from Hamburg Hbf to Rostock Hbf  to Warnemunde

MSC Poesia  (Warnemunde cruise centre)

Train from Warnemunde to Berlin Hbf

5N Berlin (+Potsdam)