rebeccac

Absolutely. Certainly TAs selling cruises should be able to make up for anyone who doesn't book since cruise lines pay some of the better commissions. However, hotels and many other land based options pay very little and airlines (unless being booked as part of a package) pay nothing. All I was saying is that I understand why the idea is becoming more common, not that I agree with it one way or the other. I have been fortunate to have known my TA for a long time and by now they know what I like and don't like. It is nice to have someone you can trust.

It is true that it used to be unheard of for TAs to charge a fee to the client and while there are still many many who don't it is becoming more prevalent. Certainly, there are plenty of TAs who still charge no fee, but from talking to a friend of mine who is a TA, I can understand the temptation. There are so many clients who are just kicking tires and after the TA spends time on researching cruises and coming up with a proposal, the client ghosts them and there is no compensation for the time spent. All that being said, my TA still does not charge a fee. I use them for the personal service and any deals or perks I may get, I just consider a nice extra bonus.

I would guess if you have already booked your cruise, you would have to cancel and rebook to get this offer.

If you are sailing from Miami there are a bunch of third party companies that do scooter rentals and usually they will be delivered to your cabin. If you used a TA, they should be able to help you with this. If not, just google "cruise scooter rentals Miami" and you will get plenty of responses. There is also a forum on here specifically for "disabled" cruising.

I would be shocked if VV rents the scooters themselves. Usually, that is a third party thing. Also, while people may park their scooters in the hallways, it is usually prohibited (although often not enforced). The one big advantage with VV is that their accessible cabins quite often are still available much closer to a cruise departure than a lot of other lines.

This is not something that is particular to VV. It can and does happen on ALL cruise lines (and yes, it does happen on other lines even for reasons other than weather or safety). The fact that someone points out the contract does not make them a blind loyalist of any particular line, it just means that they have actually read the contract.

I don't think it is necessarily that commenters are defending this action, they are merely stating the fact that on pretty much any cruise line, the contract that you agree to when you purchase your cruise says that the cruise line can change the itinerary at any time for any reason. This is just the way it is. You may not have read the small print in the cruise contract where this policy is written (and who does read all the small print), but you agreed to it by purchasing the cruise. Whether it is right or wrong is a whole other discussion.

None of the various Carnival brands status match with each other.

Yeah, that is why I tried to differentiate between two concepts. 🙂

The bar tab as a concept is not going away. However, the bar tab as an added "free" promotional part of a cruise is said to be going away. There was another thread on this.

Yes the only benefit of a bar tab is the extra money. If you do not have a bar tab or your tab runs out, it is just charged to your cabin. The loot can be used to pay for excursions, but only once on the ship.

Most travel agents these days work from home. No storefront needed. However, we are not allowed to recommend any on here. I would suggest, when you get on the ship, ask others. Someone may be able to point you in the right direction.

You might want to try calling Sailor Services (or your TA) to try to get them to book your dining for you.

You are absolutely correct, it was the Arena in the Adam Savage video.

Is it possible that the rules regarding taking home the alcohol from your Rockstar/Mega Rockstar cabins are different when sailing out of San Juan vs. Miami? Don't know if this is the case, but that is the only difference I can see.

But 8 tops are the largest they have without pushing tables together?

What are the largest size tables in the MDR? We are on the Sun in October with a large group and are trying to figure how many tables we will need to be divided between.

Even if you don't see the lifts, be sure to inquire as on some ships, they are rolled out of the way until needed.

And they are pretty quick about letting the hold on a cruise go once you hit that 24 hrs.

24 hours

The black soap is gone!

Make sure you check the price of the standard interior. Upon occasion, it is cheaper or very closely priced to book the standard interior for 1 person vs. the solo interior.

I would pick the choice with 2 days at Denali because generally when you are only there one day it is much harder to upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness tour (which, while it doesn't go as far into the park right now as it used to, still goes farther than the Natural History tour).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but even though the renderings showed the coffee machines in all cabins, from the videos I've seen so far of actual cabins, it seems like they are actually only in the full suites????

As far as I know, Viking is the only line that is completely non-smoking.