undercat

I'm currently on the Glory. No steel drum band on Lido for yesterday's sailaway from Miami.

Like others have mentioned on other threads, I think that the Empress returning to the Royal fleet was not meant to be a grand move. It just happened. Pullmantur wasn't doing well financially, they needed to right size their fleet, it was cheaper for Royal to transfer the Empress than to sell it, so all of sudden, Royal found themselves with the opportunity to bring back a small ship back to their fleet which seems like the perfect choice to enter the Cuba market once they can get that approved. And while that happens we are benefiting from ridiculously cheap cruises during high season! [emoji3]

I agree with your view! :)

I think that they are correct. Royal may have started with overly aggressive pricing since these sailings are only a few months away. With the reduced time frame to sell these departures, it seems like they may have received a bigger response than expected and now they are adjusting prices accordingly.

 

Even with the overnight 50% increase in fare for our sailing, it's still priced competitively with similar ships, itineraries, and cruise lines departing on those dates.

 

Just for kicks, I just priced out the closest itinerary to mine that I could find, a 5 night itinerary on the Carnival Sensation departing from Miami on the same exact date as my cruise.

 

For an oceanview stateroom, the price on the Sensation is MORE than double what I paid for the Empress cruise!

The 50% price increase: I assume this refers to a C&A rate increase/discount decrease? I don't have any C&A status (I'm a Royal Rookie) so I pay the BOGOHO rates listed on Royal's website. The BOGOHO rate for the May 28 OVs hasn't jumped by 50% this week. However - the BOGOHO rate for some of the suites and even Insides on other Empress sailings did increase by $100 or more throughout the week, according to the fish site. I agree that the the rate of interest and bookings may have spurred Royal or their revenue algorithm to ratchet up the rates (either directly through fare increases or indirectly by reducing loyalty discounts). I'm with you on "book now, discuss later" tactic. It's only a deposit, and a refundable one at that until final payment is due three months from now. I'm a price-watcher and figure that a good deal isn't likely to last for long, so I pounce when I see it (if I can). I'd also priced out that May 28 Carnival Sensation cruise because the itinerary was pretty good for a short cruise, and even at my Royal Rookie rate with $200 OBC and VOOM (not sure if it will be free or fee) the Empress was a better buy.

Rumor has it on the RCI boards that Empress is ultimately being brought back to prepare RCI for Cuba sailings, which Carnival already has a ship in that race with its fathom voluntourism line. The 4- and 5-day Empress Caribbean sailings are only scheduled through June 2016 as of this writing. Curiosity got the best of me and I booked us for a 5-day Empress sailing, not because we're party people (we're not) but because the price seemed fair for a long-weekend getaway with two sea days. Crown & Anchor members with sufficient status to get discounts are grabbing even better pricing than the rack rate paid by lowly newbs like me :D

I dug up what I *think* are some photos of Empress cabins, along with some cabin dimensions. I don't know how closely these mirror the cabins' current appearance, or the future appearance when RCI rolls her back out as Empress OTS.

First, a general search link: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pullmantur+empress+camarotes&iax=1&ia=images

Category A (RCI Category F1) https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/barco/empress/camarotes/a/349-243px/camarote-categoria-a-exterior-lujo-barco-empress-1.jpg and https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/barco/empress/camarotes/a/349-243px/camarote-categoria-a-exterior-lujo-barco-empress-2.jpg

Category B (RCI F2 and F3 on Dec 9)https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/barco/empress/camarotes/b/349-243px/camarote-categoria-b-exterior-superior-barco-empress-2.jpg

Category C (RCI F2 and F3 on Deck 8) https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/barco/empress/camarotes/c/349-243px/camarote-categoria-c-exterior-superior-barco-empress-3.jpg

Category D appears to be RCI F2 and F3 on Deck 7, and I non-obstructed

Category E (RCI G & H?) with bright lighting in the photo https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/b2bbrasil/barco/empress/camarotes/e/349-243px/camarote-categoria-e-exterior-superior-barco-empress-1.jpg

Category F (RCI G & H?)https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/barco/empress/camarotes/f/349-243px/camarote-categoria-f-exterior-barco-empress-2.jpg

Category G appears to be RCI Small Oceanview (SO on the Empress deck plans although SO on Majesty's deck plans means Superior Oceanview - a larger, not smaller, cabin!) and some of the I obstructeds

Other categories:

Category I interior https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/barco/empress/camarotes/i/349-243px/camarote-categoria-i-interior-superior-barco-empress-1.jpg

Junior suite https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/barco/empress/camarotes/jt/349-243px/camarote-categoria-jt-junior-suite-con-terraza-barco-empress-2.jpg and https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/barco/empress/camarotes/jt/349-243px/camarote-categoria-jt-junior-suite-con-terraza-barco-empress-1.jpg

Royal suite https://www.pullmantur.es/media/images/b2bbrasil/barco/empress/camarotes/rt/349-243px/camarote-categoria-rt-royal-suite-con-terraza-barco-empress-2.jpg

Cabin sizes https://www.pullmantur.es/en/barco/EMPRESS/camarotes.html (note that the title for category A on this page is not correct as Category A/RCI Category F1 is an OV with Window, as the descriptor text shows, and the photo appears to be for a suite not for a Cat A OV)

According to Pullmantur's website, OV sizes range from 18.18 square meters for a Cat A/F1 (~206 sq ft) to 10.08 square meters (~109 sq ft) for a Cat G/Small Oceanview. Some categories come in a range of sizes - Category Es may be 11.40m2 or 12.96m2 or 13.38m2. Category Cs may be 10.31m2 or 13.12m2 or 13.20m2 or 15.12m2

That's quite a size range within a single category!

More cabin size info: http://www.cruisenation.com/cruiseship/pullmantur-cruises/empress?sid=8218#, click on Cabins

Really not sure that Empress is an upgrade. Good luck.

Shipwise probably not, itinerary-wise yes, IMHO. :) I'd love to see CocoCay someday, but it seems like making it there is a crapshoot.

I'm picking mine up from the post office box this week. I'll report back once I have them in my hands, but I'm glad that the reported experiences have met expectations thus far!

It took me a while to report back, but I received my gift cards and they are each worth $120!

Looking at prices now for June. I am currently booked on 3 night Majesty in an OV. For 4 nights on Empress, I can sail for $300 less in OV. Why the big price difference?

I was in the same boat, so to speak: we were booked on a 3-night Majesty sailing for Memorial Day in a standard OV. Snagged a (hopefully) bigger OV on a longer cruise for a similar rate on Empress, give or take a few bucks. Cancelled Majesty.

There are a handful of F1 OVs showing as 206 sq ft and they appear to be larger than the other OVs on the deck plans. These F1s had better be ~206 sq ft because I booked one of them expecting that larger size. Fortunately final payment is still a few months away, so I have time for more old (pre-Pullmantur days) and new (Pullmantur days) cabin info to surface during my research.

 

According to the deck plans it appears that most of the OVs are 117-139 sq ft.

Meant to type 137-206 as the OV range on the deck plans. Also seeing the 206 sq ft for a lower-cat OV on the booking page. We'll know for sure soon enough.

I suppose the size of the OV shown as 206 square feet is also a transposition :D

There are a handful of F1 OVs showing as 206 sq ft and they appear to be larger than the other OVs on the deck plans. These F1s had better be ~206 sq ft because I booked one of them expecting that larger size. Fortunately final payment is still a few months away, so I have time for more old (pre-Pullmantur days) and new (Pullmantur days) cabin info to surface during my research.

According to the deck plans it appears that most of the OVs are 117-139 sq ft.

In for 2 on Empress, Memorial Day weekend. IMHO not a bad price for a 5-day holiday float with no Nassau and two sea days. OV cabin, new to Royal with no C&A discount but $200 OBC. Hoping VOOM will be "free"/included at no additional charge.

I'm picking mine up from the post office box this week. I'll report back once I have them in my hands, but I'm glad that the reported experiences have met expectations thus far!

I received my shipping confirmation yesterday as well!

Yeah, after I saw the post about it I called and asked. The guy told me it wasn't a 'spa' cabin so I did some research and that's what I learned. Cloud 9 spas are only on certain ships.

 

But hey, I'll be right by the spa and I watched a video that showed a hot tub in the gym that is real close to my cabin and they say it's rarely used. So.. it will be our little private spa area :D

 

I'm excited that my room is now a balcony and it's gonna be a great cruise! !

Enjoy, and it will be a great cruise! Plus, I *think* you'll have sliding balcony doors on Spa deck rather than the open-and-slam kind. Take good care of the Glory for us - we'll be aboard in January :cool:

Congrats on your upsell!

Perhaps more experienced cruisers than I can verify, but I don't think there are "spa amenities" for Glory Spa deck cabins. Spa Deck on Glory, as I understand it, is just the name of the deck because that's where the Spa is located (on Glory, it's Spa Carnival).

Carnival does have a Spa cabin type with those spa amenities, but only ships with Cloud 9 Spas have those amenities in the Spa cabins, and the "Spa" cabins on ships with Cloud 9 spas aren't all located on the Spa deck (confused yet?) The Cloud 9 Spa cabins are on Breeze, Dream, Magic, Splendor, Sunshine and the upcoming Vista. http://www.carnival.com/staterooms.aspx.

On the other social media site where this was posted, someone posted that the PayPal/EBay fraud guarantee did not cover gift cards. I would be very careful. I buy a lot on EBay, but would never buy a gift card.

Not sure which "other social media" site to which you refer, but I'm a fan of the Deal News, and the Slick Deals (not sure if those website names are allowed here, hence the split spelling).

Thanks to your post, I did a bit more digging to get the latest info. Here's my understanding of first-level consumer protections available from eBay and PayPal for my gift card purchase:

Within the first 30 days after receipt, eBay Money Back Guarantee applies. From Day 31 to Day 180, PayPal Purchase Protection applies. I stand corrected regarding PayPal Purchase Protection for gift cards and your social media poster is correct: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US#13.%20Protection%20for%20Buyers.

13.3 Ineligible Items. Payments for the following are not eligible for reimbursement under PayPal Purchase Protection:...Items equivalent to cash, including prepaid or gift cards - Paypal User Agreement dated October 30, 2015

With other posters in this thread reporting success with prior transactions with this seller, I am optimistic (although the process isn't complete until I verify that the receipt matches the order - which would be the case with any online purchase). I'll report back once the cards are received.

GiftCardMall (GCM) is a huge distributor of, wait for it...........Gift cards.

 

Quite a few companies use them to process their GC's. I've bought directly from them and I've bought some from Staples.com that come from GCM.

 

They're good, not perfect, but good.

 

I don't know how these will process but some others that I've purchased from GCM come with an activation code. That activation code comes in a separate mailing. It's a 2-part system. You can't use the GC until it's activated and that can't be done until you have both parts. For those that read the material in the envelopes (which is probably not many), it's fairly clear. For those that don't, they bitch. Imagine that.

 

Stealing of GC's is big business. That effects both in store purchases and on-line purchases which can also contribute to people complaining.

 

thanks again.

+1

Just bought 2! Found out about it on a deals website. Paid through Paypal so I will leverage someone's buyer protection and get restitution if these cards contain less than the advertised value. In other words, the $200 I paid for, plus the $40 in bonus (however that will be paid out: $40 in additional promotional cards, GCs worth $120 each, or similar).

Good catch about the wording ("bonus $20" rather than "get a $120 GC for $100"). I think Carnival GC can be loaded for any denomination between $25 and $500, so a $120 GC *could* happen.

Because some people won't read the "subject to change" and get upset when something is moved or removed. It's just like ports, but when a port is changed for whatever reason, you get people complaining about it.

I think it's ridiculous to ask that they do what you've mentioned OP because there'd be no "subject to change" about it and I don't think they plan that far ahead, simply; they deal with the variables in front of them as they put together the same regular things with them in mind. They do this very near-up for a variety of reasons I understand.

 

What I do wish and think is reasonable is if I didn't have to post for or scour for recent Funtimes for a ship/itinerary and if they were just routinely posted online (like if I could see the last 10 or so Fun Times for each ship and it was automated).

I agree with the above. Some people would ignore the "subject to change" disclaimer and demand restitution if their ship and schedule does not match 100% the sample FT posted by Carnival Corp on a Carnival Corp website.

I like the suggestion of putting a sample schedule on a Carnival-owned website, similar to how they have a sample Steakhouse menu. Of course the Steakhouse menu probably changes less frequently than the FT and the changes are less subject to sea conditions and other factors than the FT. But rather than post a specific FT with the slotted times for the events, something like "Port Day list of activities" and "Sea Day list of activities", or a sample schedule without specific times listed, might be helpful. I've read FTs, Princess Patters and RC Cruise Compasses that CC'ers and others post online in order to determine whether a particular ship will have enough events of interest to me.

I was able to choose between two ships based on Cruise Compasses posted online, because I was able to see what kinds of activities were onboard, how long certain venues are open on sea days vs. port days, and so forth - with the understanding that any of these factors is subject to change.

I'm grateful to those who have posted their FTs/Compasses/Patters etc. :)

It's normal for full deposit to be required on the website. Royal has never bothered to program the website to handle reduced deposit promos.

As part of the recent updates, Royal's website *finally* accepts reduced deposits. I was able to book an OV cabin with a 50% reduced deposit this week. The website now displays the reduced deposit amount during the booking process, and the reduced amount was retained through to the payment portion of the reservation.

Oh well, had a semi-sudden inspiration to book a short getaway with the half off deposit in the 11th hour, couldn't get the website to retain my login info (I kept typing it in, hitting Submit or whatever the button is called, page would refresh and still my info was not pre-populated). Tried multiple browsers, Incognito mode, F5 F5 F5 and still couldn't get that info pre-populated. The Cyber Monday sale is over now, and with that I avoided an impulse purchase on an ordinary short cruise that I'm no longer interested in after all this hassle. Thanks Royal for saving me money!

No they are charging you and extra $134 and from that giving you an on-board credit of $75...and then sending $59 to the bottom line ...clearly it works or they wouldn't keep doing it!

I was trying to figure out if there was some other value provided for that extra $59 in your example. At first, I thought that the Cyber Weekend OBC sale allowed the deposit to be fully refundable if cancelled, unlike Early Saver which has a $50 pp penalty and the deposit is not cash-refundable if cancelled; instead you get a future cruise credit for the remaining deposit amount.

I looked at the disclaimer for Fun Select, the highest but most flexible fare: "Change fees are not assessed outside of the final payment window. Refundable deposit subject to cancellation penalties."

I looked at the disclaimer for Early Saver, the lowest but most restrictive fare: "All cancellations that occur prior to the final payment due date will receive a non-refundable and non-transferable future cruise credit in US dollars in the amount of the deposit less a $50 pp service fee. Future cruise credit must be used on a sailing within 24 months from the date of cancellation."

And then there's Cyber Weekend OBC Sale: "Changes made to the reservation may result in the assessment of cancellation penalties or service fees." (and of course the OBC itself is "non-transferrable and non-refundable")

So it sounds like the OBC Sale is somewhere in the middle of ES and FS when it comes to cancellation penalties. It seems like Past Guest Rate still provides more flexibility than OBC Sale, even though there's no OBC.

I'm back to where I started, wondering what the extra $59 buys the cruiser in terms of value....those unspecified cancellation penalties and service fees make it hard to truly compare, unless they are referring to the standard cancellation penalties (in which case, why call it out separately in the disclaimer?)

Methinks bottom line is the fittest answer here :D

http://www.carnival.com/cruise-deals/cruise-specials.aspx?icid=CC_h1_hm_thanksgiving_1126_3633

The little robots in the video are cute. They could be Bender's sweeter, gentler, family-friendly kin.

This would assume that I had an iPhone. I don't nor do I want one. I'm team Android, lol.

 

I really don't need a expensive camera as after this particular cruise I don't know when the next one will be. I'd like something I can shoot with underwater but can take pictures on the beach as well. Just want to be able to capture some fishies on my snorkeling. I'm not doing an excursion and my trip are few and far between. But we are doing a horseback ride and swim so I can't use my regular camera.

 

Funds are slight and I'd really like to keep it around the $150 mark. Recently got a new job with a good salary but have been living frugally for the past five years and it's hard to part with those ways!

If the TG-4 is too much then this one is a top pick also.

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-TG-860-Waterproof-Digital-Camera/dp/B00S86KZZS/ref=sr_1_3?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1448414964&sr=1-3&refinements=p_49%3AOlympus%2Cp_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A10705328011

I've been watching prices of the Olympus Tough TG-860 Jeepenfun linked in his post as a less-expensive TG option, and currently (Thanksgiving Eve) it's at the lowest price I've seen, $199.99. If you're willing to stretch the budget a bit and can buy it now (I wouldn't anticipate this price will last beyond Black Friday) it might be worth considering! I don't own this camera but would consider it at the right price and if I were planning to take underwater photos. Currently the most "element exposure" I'd foresee for my camera is sand from the beach, rain from the sky and a splash from a stingray swim. The sample photos I've seen online taken with the TG-860 look really nice, IMO.

Just to give you an idea of the price range, prior to Thanksgiving Eve, the TG-860 sold by Amazon had dropped from $249.99 to $229.99.

As for the $150 range, the Fuji Finepix xp80 has dropped to ~$160 for pre-Black Friday, and it seems to be a popular "basic" waterproof model. I don't own this camera either.

ps - I'm team Android too, at least for personal phones.

Its VERY rare for carnival to upgrade a person that has a selected cabin.

They give upgrades to those who booked guaranteed OR call people for selected upgrades for a fee of course.

Thanks, this is good to know! As of now I prefer to research and select my own cabin at booking rather than roll the dice with a guarantee. I figure, might as well pick the cabin I want and if I get a chance to upsell or upgrade later, all the better - otherwise I'm happy with what I picked.

In my case I would have entertained a better upsell, but it's moot now because the suites are now sold out on our sailing. I was willing to pay for the OS upsell, just not full-fare-difference pay. :D

Just out of curiosity... What makes an itinerary "exotic"? I have seen both western and eastern itineraries referred to as exotic and always wondered what that meant. Thanks!

I think it has something to do with the ports.

For example, here's one of Glory's 7-day Eastern itineraries:

And here's one of Glory's 7-day Exotic Eastern itineraries:

Here's Conquest's 5-day Exotic Eastern:

For Eastern, it looks like Grand Turk makes an itinerary "exotic"

Here's one of Conquest's 6-day Western itineraries:

There is also a version that swaps Key West for Jamaica.

Here's one of Conquest's 7-day Exotic Western itineraries:

On Breeze the difference between a 7-Day Western and a 7-Day Exotic Western is swapping Roatan (Mahogany Bay) for Jamaica (Montego Bay). Splendor also does Westerns and Exotic Westerns. Same diff: Swap out Jamaica for Roatan to make it Exotic.

For Western, it looks like Roatan makes an itinerary "exotic"