Sobro

Wait just a minute here. Since when was here some sort of "Daily breakfast in the MDR" for Diamond and above. Granted my most recent cruise was in the previous decade, but I don't remember ever seeing that exciting perk on my welcome back list.

Epic seems to be a love it or hate it ship. Reservations open 120 days out. We will try our first of two "free" specialty restaurants during sailaway since we can experience the same thing a week later. 

Some say Epic's spa is its best feature although I'm not a spa goer.

Epic has the Priscilla Queen of the Desert musical. Also a singing and dancing production show.

It will be weird not having a set MDR table. 

I've read plenty of negative posts about Epic but it'll be our first cruise since April 2019 so it'll be fantastic regardless of any crowding and standing in line. 

My first NCL voyage will be next January  aboard the Epic out of San Juan. At about 200 days out I've been researching the ship and its culture on the NCL boards.

The variety of cuisines aboard Epic appears to be a win over Royal. Passenger traffic flow on Royal is rarely a complaint and that's not true of NCL ship design. The rest seems to be a wash.

We're boarding Explorer the day we disembark Epic so the contrasts will be sharp. 

The rule under my L&S was it had to be within 4 weeks of one year from the original sailing date. October 25 looks to be within that rule.

The best benefit is the use of the Diamond Concierge, who can do everything Guest Services can do except cash transactions. I hate spending time in line while on vacation.

And I also don't believe in chasing Status for the minimal monetary benefits. 

On 10+ night cruises we have three hard sided bags. One medium is nested inside the large and I have to lift the bed slightly to slide it under. The other medium is filled with shoes and is kept open and accessible.

2 hours ago, ramja96 said:

 

I keep the flier bookmarked.  It's depressing as hell looking at it still saying March 17, 2020.

Me too. I've been tempted to post a screen shot for nostalgia.

Try this: Do a mock booking onboard and then compare that with the NextCruise offer.

If you don't use Voom the computer center computers will load the RCI website for free.

I'm vaccinated. I don't care if others are. 

If a ship I'm on goes all Flying Dutchman I will be on my balcony enjoying the views.

A newbie Diamond should know that their concierge can do anything Guest Services can do except cash transactions. Much nicer than standing in line.

1 hour ago, coldflame said:

God forbid y'all don't have the humility to not jump on every thread that's even semi related to announce how much money you have tied up in deposits 🙄

Deposits? I'm fully paid up. And modest about it.

We're looking at Panama Canal for '23.

We're cruising to Denver next month with our camper.

Aside from that we are booked Jan 23 on Norwegian Epic and a week later on Explorer, both out of San Juan.

I love good battle featuring iron ships and wooden men. Oh wait, this isn't the CDC thread.

Agreed. The free days of surf only are OK but I prefer to buy a surf and stream package. Best I have found for my January 2022 cruise is $11.99 per day, currently offered at $14.99/day.

I called C&A to Lift and Shift my January 9 cruise on Monday. Because I had not yet received email approval by this morning I logged in to my RCI account and there it was on my future cruise list. I promptly called for a better cabin since they had assigned us a Junior Suite next to the forward elevator lobby and got an aft JS.

The old cruise was Enchantment 7 nights, San Juan and the new one is Explorer 7 nights, San Juan. We had already booked a friends' group cruise for Jan 2022 on Norwegian Epic out of San Juan and now we're going side-to-side.

If memory serves, I received my first final payment notification email after 12 years of cruising with Royal for my January cruise.

Book a 9-night because the more days at sea the better. And Royal has some great southern Caribbean itineraries that are 9's. 

Enchantment in January is all three answers. It will have been 21 months onshore for us at that time.

Still a thing. I saved $400 in July for my January cruise. It took a while because FCC was involved. The CSR and I were on hold for 25 minutes for resolutions to figure out the final invoice. 

Galveston Limousine is a CC favorite. I used them and they were very good. This assumes that they are still in business.

We sail out of San Juan January 9. I haven't bought plane tickets yet. I'll wait until November for that purchase but I'll make the final payment. I think we'll sail, the numbers are dropping everywhere.

I saved $300 on my January cruise in which I had already applied 125% FCC from my canceled May cruise. I called C&A and the rep and I were on hold for about 40 minutes while Resolutions took care of it. This was three weeks ago. 

There are also direct flights from Nashville to Houston Hobby airport, the closet airport to Galveston. An advantage to cruising out of Galveston is that Roatan and Belize are possible ports, and NASA  Mission Control has a great tour and museum 40 minutes from the port.

This has to be a thread revival record. More comebacks than John Travolta.