Asawi

They have not taken my picture when boarding so I've been stuck with my no-glasses-really-can't-see-anything picture onboard. I thought it had to do with facial ID/passport-something but I really don¨t have a clue!

As others have said: There¨s always availability. If not for the times you want - bad luck! But no refund. Book early. If times you want are not available before cruise, try booking after embarkation. If still no luck, try showing up at the restaurant and hope for a last minute availability.

I'm sure it has been pointed out already, but that 4 months is not for EU bookings. Our final pay (as has been pointed out) is 30 days out and my guess is that it's final pay that determins wether OK or not. (I applied my second CN to a cruise that at the time was around 70 days out. EU booking.)

You are correct. People have been charged the whole cruise. They embarked in Barcelone but disembarked in Italy (Rome?).

Restaurant scoop ice cream is pretty unimpressive as well. Not much "cream" there...

1. Some of us aren't Americans that cruise in US waters/ports. (I have only cruised Alaska on that side of the Atlantic and no VAT added there) 2. This seems to not be in ports only, but in Spanish waters. "Spanish waters" (or possiblu EU waters) seems to be most of the cruise in some cases while in US you get into international waters pretty soon after takeoff from for example Seattle. (At least that's how I understand it). 3. The letter in post #6 seems to contradict what is said in the email quoted in post #1 regarding drinks package. (To add to the confusion, it "should" be the same for Italy, but it seems like Italy doesn't enforce the tax, as has been discussed earlier.)

I have not used a travel agent, but I have booked through my PCC. I can log on to my booking and make payments and book stuff the same as when I have booked myself.

I don't understand this! The email in post one by @room with a view is very recent. And then there's the letter posted in the other thread and reposted here that, in my view, contradicts it. (Not that I currently have a med/Spain cruise booked. thinking ahead though. This summer the ones that boarded i Italy didn't get charged but those that boarded in Barcelona did. As deiscussed in the other thread.)

Isn't it a 10-day cruise! That makes 218 PER PERSON. So 218 for one person!

Isn't it a 10-day cruise? Drinks packages gratuities are 21.80 per person per day.

No. It's still 4 years. (Bought two onboard a couple of weeks ago)

Just like @ggTexasGal says: Book for 2. It's the types of tables they need to keep track of, and there are no tables for one. Absolutely no problem at all arriving at the restaurant and telling them it's just you!

Maybe, maybe not... I'm booked in a studio on Bliss in April. Compared to an inside with solo supplement the studio was a little bit less than the inside on that sailing. However, getting closer to sail date the solo supplement will more than likely be dropped at some point making the inside cheaper (less expensive...). (Possibly a lot cheaper even!) I'm fine with having the solo gatherings in the studio lounge and keeping the lounge open during those (less than an hour per day), I would however NOT be pleased to have other people using the studio lounge at other times! It is a privilege that studio guests have choosen to pay for. (And I think it would be better to use another venue for the solo gatherings. I think non-studio-guests would feel more comfortable that way, but it's no big deal either way for me.)

In EU we buy the FAS separately. (Gratuities are included in the price we pay, so it comes to about the same as US customers.) There has been a couple of short 50% discount offers for us and I was lucky enough to be able to take advantage of one of them.

Yeah... I was not impressed... Let's leave it at that...

I had most of my food in the buffet, and will do so on my next Star cruise in October. Why? Because then I see the food before it's on my plate! I'm an average cook at home and I suck at food presentation. But I'm not as bad as what has been shown here! Wow! There are at least two professionals involved in bringing out this "food" (cook and server). Surely at least one of them should react and think "this does not look all right" and act accordingly??

If you are meat eaters food won't be as much of a challenge as for a vegetarian. Food may not be fantastic, but if you look around you're sure to find something nice for every meal. Vegetarien options did not impress me (mostly vegetarian at home, meat/fish-eater on Star). I'm not sure if there's more than one "internet person", but the one I met was the only grumpy staff person I came across. But I guess he had his reasons. Internet issues can do that to you. 😄

I normally drink very little alcohol. On my recent 12-day cruise I "should" have declined the package because of the cost (€250), but the cruise was such a great deal and I just forgot to "not buy it" when my PCC quoted me the price including airfare I basically just said "Wow! Go for it!". Having said that, it's really nice to be able to go to one of the bars at any time and get a drink, with or without alcohol. It turned out I had 1-2 alcoholic drinks and 3-4 sodas most days. I could have done without them, and if I hadn't had the package I doubt I would have bought even the sodas at around $4/each. Can't say the package was great value for me even though my speciality dinners were nice, the Internet minutes came in handy during our sea days and I took advantage of some excursion discount. BUT, sometimes what's not great value money-vise can be great value anyway because of the convenience and also for me a sense of "luxury" (I very rarely go out to eat or drink when at home). (And those BBC cocktails are so yummy!) (If there is a way for us EU people to opt out of just the drinks part I haven't seen it. It's kind of an all or nothing for us. On my next cruise, 10 days in October I was considering not getting FAS but then the FAS half-price came along and at €100 I didn't have to think twice!)

You are absolutely right! No such thing as "free" What I should have written is of course that in Europe the package is a separate purchase and not included in the cruise price.

If you booked with a reputable company I'm convinced this won't be any challenge at all. Quit the drama! (If you didn't book with a reputable company and didn't check their cancellation policy it's all on you, nobody else)

No, that point didn't come through because that really wasn't made clear until now. Honestly, what on earth made you expect an early morning arrival time without making your own arrangements? I'm sure 11 am sounds like a great arrival time for most (good likelihood to be able to check in at the hotel right away for example). If all of you would have had the 11 am arrival time, would you have been happy then? No "agonizing" wait for anyone. Oh wait, no, you wouldn't be happy because you foolishly had booked an all day excursion. Well, that is entirely on you as I'm sure you realise (but want to vent to maybe shift blame). And if you're the organiser you claim to be I'm sure you'd never be stupid enough to book excursions without a good cancel/refund policy. Plenty of time to find a nice 4-6 our excursion to replace the full day one.

In Europe we buy the Free At Sea. We don't get it for free. We can buy it with sail away cabins.

Yeah. Chlorine in municipal water is pretty common over here, especially in cities, and if you're used to it you won't notice it in the ship's tap water. I'm used to crystal clear chemical free water (rural!). I notice! I can still drink it, but I prefer the non-chlorine smell/taste of the filtered water in the buffet. (Those carbon filters are great at removing bad taste. In my summer house I have my own well water with a slight metallic taste. My carbon filter water jug pretty much removes that taste)

Things can be selectable but then not go through. What happens then is that the payment won't get accepted and the coupons get back to th account. A second CN should be fine though. Applied one of mine to a Cruise that at the time was 80-soneting days out. (EU)

There is no latitude discount on cruise price. Just excursions.