cloudninecat

20 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

You must occupy the stateroom.  

Thanks that what I figured. 

We love b2b's. Yes you will get a new card but if you collect them as souvenirs be sure to ask for the old one back. We did our first b2b on our first cruise and they took our old cards so now we have all our cards but the very first. We were the only ones on our ours and had the ship to ourselves about and hour to hour and a half before we seen another passenger on board. It was nice. It's a good time to get in the hot tub without any other guest. Be sure to have your bathing suit on when you leave your cabin if you want to do this. You won't be allowed back in the cabin until they have cleaned them all and open the doors back up unless you have status. We were walked off through customs and back on but we've never been on one with a large group. Our next one is a b2b2b on the Carnival Celebration and we hear they can get quite a crowd of b2b'ers. Like others we had to wait in a public area before they walked us off. We got all you wanted mimosas until they started loading other passengers and wine and fruit basket when we got back to our cabin. We also got a free bottle of wine at dinner but that may be because we were celebrating our Anniversary as well. 

I'm completely new to Casino Offers. I have an offer that I'd like to use to price match a cabin we purchased already but only on the cabin that I booked for my daughter and her husband. Is that possible? We'll be on the same ship but the offer is more for that type cabin than we paid because we booked it so early for ourselves. They were added later and I didn't have the offer then. Will they honor it that way or does it have to be in a cabin I occupy? I sent a price match in but got nada back so I wondered if it was worth trying again. TIA. 

9 minutes ago, bdrcole said:

@cloudninecat Like you we are booked up with cruises to 2025 and we are looking to book this cruise with AMAWaterways in the Feb/March 2026 timeframe.

Have you given any thoughts on avoiding the Ramadan period which is scheduled from 18 Feb to 19 Mar 2026?  It may or may not have an impact on daily activities depending on your itinerary during this period.

 

Thank you @Host Jazzbeau for proving the link for Scenic's Egypt/Nile cruises as I'm also interested in options for this cruise.

 

 

We're actually looking toward October of 2026 so I'm assuming that wouldn't be a factor. I had not thought about that though. Thanks for mentioning it. 

Would you believe I received another $100 adjustment before that cabin sold out again. 😄 That's the most price matches I've ever done on one cabin. Not the best but the most. The best was when I got an Aft Excel Vista Suite for 50% off at their birthday sale. That was a $2,594 difference. Now if that countdown clock could move a little faster. 🙂 

On 8/22/2023 at 5:56 PM, Haljo1935 said:

Question on timing of the request  - there's availability when you check so you submit the request. 

Price goes up or category sells out (or both) before CCL looks at it.

Do you still get the credit?

I always screen shot it first but you do enter the code for that rate and that's what they look up along with the fare. They know if it was ever available at the fare you entered for that code. 

Well she couldn't fix the part with the gratuities going up but I don't mind that so much because the crew gets it. At least I got $83. Every little bit helps. That will buy a few drinks or an excursion. Hopefully this helped someone else. 

Ok they are saying my gratuities went up because I changed my booking and I had prepaid those before the rate change. I would still end up with $83 net but she's going to see if she can fix it to the whole amount. That kind of sucks but at least the crew will get those extra funds. Though we tip our room steward on top of those. 

I'm on with them now. The new rate had $50 OBC which I already had with the original booking so that shouldn't have changed. She's checking what they did because no they didn't do it right. 

Yeah that's where I looked and it's not there. Yes I was surprised to see it because it's on a Vista Suite and those have been sold out for a long time now. I guess someone canceled. 

I just received an approved price match for $130 after final payment for my September cruise. I know I receive it as OBC but it doesn't show up on the confirmation email they sent me under the OBC line and it isn't available online. Does anyone know from experience does it not show up until you are actually on the ship, or should I have received it now so I can use it for excursions and other purchases like regular OBC? I'm a little worried they messed it up even though they approved it. TIA!

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Not sure what you mean.  Would February be cooler or warmer than when you went?

 

I am thinking about going in November – and I definitely want to avoid heat!

We were thinking about October. I hear it gets very cold at night in the winter months. It would be nice to hear from someone that has experienced it though so yes, I would love to know the answer to this too. Is it still warm in January? We'd like to go when it's nice both during the day and night. No more than low 80's during the day and 60's at night. It's a dry heat and we're use to humidity so low 80's wouldn't bother us. 

Very well done videos. Thanks so much. I enjoyed them very much. 

Oh wow, thanks for the videos. I'm sure I'll love watching those when I get a few moments. I'm not totally blowing off river cruising. It was already on my bucket list of things to try, just not high up. We'll see how it goes. It's not as much about the ship as how we enjoy the atmosphere and pace of it. We're sort of foodies as well. We don't get to go out much at home, so we love to try new cuisines when we're on vacation. Even if that's just street food. Though I hear you should stay away from that in Egypt. 

5 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

 

Final statement.... Do the trip.  This was a trip of a lifetime to us and we are happy we did the river cruise.  The food was excellent, the Egyptologist / guide was amazing.

 

BUT, don't base the experience you will have on the ship as basis to do or not do any other river cruise.

Thanks! That's the only reason we're considering it. Otherwise, we would be sticking with our ocean cruises, which we love. I'm not sure river cruising would be for us. It's the ocean that normal draws me and the ports are the icing. This is a special circumstance. Egypt has always been a fascination for both of us. It's some place I've always wanted to go but never thought I could. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

19 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I've been researching this myself and AMA is one of the trips on my comparison spreadsheet.  It is unusual in giving you 7 nights on the river ship (most are only 3-4 nts on the water even for 14-nt trips), but that is a double-edged sword because if you don't like the ship you'll be 'enjoying' it for a long time...  

 

I suggest you also look at Scenic.  They are all-inclusive but on this itinerary actually cheaper than AMA:

https://www.scenicusa.com/escorted-tours/egypt---jordan

 

Once you decide which cruise and date you want, email the cruise line to enquire when you will be able to book it.  AMA just opened up their 2025 dates, but I wouldn't wait until this time next year as you can get a jump by contacting them.  I recently did that with AMA (last month, enquiring when they would open their 2025 bookings) and got a reply from a new Travel Agency who is obviously one of their preferred ones.  He was able to book the trip and get me really good discounts.  [My cruise wasn't likely to sell out quickly, but there is only one cabin in the category I wanted so booking ahead of the public release was helpful – Egypt cruises tend to sell out quickly, so this advice applies to you.]

I already spoke with AMA. They told me that the 2026 itineraries would release in the spring of next year. We're looking for a French Balcony so no worries of it selling out before we call. I'll have a look at that other line. We really were looking toward the longer trip though as this is a once in a lifetime trip and we wanted to get in as much as possible. It's for our 30th anniversary. 

16 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

When I booked Chefs Table for next months cruise on Celebration I was given the option to pick the day, all the days have the same time 6:30. 

I wonder if that's because it's such a big ship? We're on the Spirit and when we booked it stated it will let us know the date when we get onboard. The time is 6:30 though. 

32 minutes ago, CastleCritic said:

Its going to be 2025 before I can give you firsthand knowledge of that particular cruise but.....

 

That's an odd one to pick as your very first cruise because its different in several ways from a European river cruise.  AMA doesn't even run the ships (wings Egypt does, its Egyptian law).  There is a YouTuber (tips for travelers, I think we can mention YouTube channels) who did it.  His only negative was noise near the bow due to how ships dock in Egypt(which again isn't an issue in Europe for a few reasons), other than that it was a stellar review of the ship and the excursions.

 

 

 

Thanks for the information. We picked this one to start because we know we would enjoy the destination as it's always fascinated myself and my husband. We don't feel comfortable booking Egypt our own though. We'd much rather have the structure. I don't really think that river cruising itself would be our preferred method of travel for European destinations. It may be the first and last one that we take unless we find another destination that we'd rather book this way. Or we get surprised and fall in love with it. I have seen the video you mentioned it's what actually spurred the interest. We were also looking to add a post excursion to Israel. We already have our 2023, 2024 and 2025 vacations booked which is why we're looking at 2026. I look forward to hearing about your adventure when you return. 

Thank you. That's what I needed to know. We still want the specialty dinning and don't mind moving it. 

This is my first time booking The Chef's table. When do they let you know what the date and time is? If we have another specialty dining booked (in advance) and it conflicts. Will they let me cancel with a refund even if it's less than 24 hours' notice? Our specialty dining is booked on the 2nd night. That gives us very little time to cancel depending on when they let us know the date and time. TIA!

I'm researching a 2026 Egypt river cruise with Amawaterways. We've never done a River Cruise before. We've always done ocean cruising. What would you tell a complete newbie? Have any of you done the tour? What did you like, dislike about it? I know that 2026 isn't out yet but I'm getting a head start as we usually book several years in advance, so I wanted to be ready with my questions/research when the time to book comes. Would you use an agent that the cruise line suggests or try and find one on your own? I usually book my ocean cruises on my own but don't feel comfortable doing that for this cruise. Any advice or insight you can give would be appreciated. TIA. 

Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. 

We're taking a full transit through the Panama Canal in September and one of the stops is Puntarenas Costa Rica. Forgive me if I put this in the wrong place I didn't see a place for Central American Ports. I wondered what was some things people have done there that they enjoyed or if there was a must see item ? Any info would be helpful. We're in our late 50's and early 60's and reasonably fit for our age though I have a bum knee that acts up sometimes. My husband won't do anything that puts his life in jeopardy so zip lining is out, though I'd love it. Thanks in advance. 

3 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Btw it says priority boarding is back also for diamond and platinum. 

It doesn't apply on Journey's Cruises, which is why I wondered. I think it's because they have so many of them on those cruises. 

I've never been on a Journey's Cruise. Our next one will be one and we have a Suite. Will we get Priority boarding? Or does that not apply on Journey cruises like it doesn't for Platinum and Diamond guest? I tried searching it but couldn't find the answer. TIA.