misty57

1 until we fly out... 2 until we cruise.!!!!:D

8 until we leave and 9 until the cruise! 3 more days to work!

Actually a car dealer will not let you buy a car on a credit card, because it will cost him 2% to the credit card company. They will let you do it, but they will jack up the price of the car. I tried to do it on a 22,000 dollar car a few years back. I also tried to pay for collage tuition with the card, again they wanted 2% more. The merchants are paying for all the points that we get.

Does anyone use the Royal Visa card for business expenses? The new rules seem to say the annual limit for points earned is going from 250,000 to 540,000 but it also says use by a business or for a business does not earn points!!! How is anyone going to accumulate that many points with only personal expenses?

Any comments?

I guess if you have a high enough credit limit you could buy a car or time share then pay it off when you get the bill. Depending on your monthly purchases such as groceries and gas you could accumulate quite a lot of points. I use mine for gas, groceries, department store purchases and gifts, charitable donations and sometimes in restaurants .Purchasing a RCCL cruise with the card gives you double points. Anything you purchase on board is also double if your sea pass is covered by your Visa. Your'e not likely to accumulate the limit of points in a year but it's not so hard to accumulate enough for a nice upgrade or some OBC. Oh, and I used mine to make college tuition and room and board payments when I had 2 in college at the same time. I always pay it off each month and keep a close watch on the balance to make sure I can do that.

15!

That's when we take the World Cruise. Waiting for itineraries to be posted and then choose the one with most places we haven't been!

We probably won't do a world cruise..DH isn't much for other cultures, but I hope to make a destination bucket list and start a savings fund for that! 9 years 5 months and 18 days! ( Will probably work a few days a month to fund some of the travel :D)

20 days!!:D

I really like the Voyager class. It has many of the features of the freedom class but a little smaller. Very nice. Sailed on Voyager out of Galveston a few years ago. We really enjoyed it... one of our best cruises. We had the best dining companions. We stayed in Houston the night before and took the transfer to Galveston. We will be on Navigator in Feb. right after the drydock updates:D, but this time we are staying in Galveston at Harbor House. It's a nice change from sailing out of Florida.

39 days until we leave, and 40 until we sail:D. Seems close but yet so far away.

Each cruise is different based on cruise line, time of booking, how far out you book, category of cabin, number of cruisers in your cabin, length of cruise and destinations and whether or not you purchase travel insurance or excursions. As previously mentioned, getting to the port of embarkation is often a huge expense if you have to fly. Since it is suggested to arrive a day early, you have hotel accommodations to consider as well as meals and transportation from airport and to the port and possibly parking if you drive to the airport. We have sailed for less than $1000 for 2 of us on a 4 day cruise out of Miami using 55+ discounts for an inside cabin and credit card points for airfare, using priceline for hotel and being really frugal with meals out.

If I had a really tight budget I would get busy and research all of these points for the cheapest cruise I could find. Only then would I know if I could afford the trip. I wouldn't want to go if I knew I had no "wiggle room" with expenses.

DH hates to have his picture taken but some of our best photos were taken on cruises. In Feb. I begged him to have our pictures taken on formal night. Well, they were horrid pictures! My eyes were closed each time and the poses were ridiculous. No way would I buy those! Those taken in the MDR are still among the best ones. We avoid the photographers at other times.

62 days:)

my wife has had both knees and a hip replaced.. she look's and walks great. but, if she took the stairs she would be miserable. so folks just use some common sense and not worry about what everyone else is doing and why..

Exactly!

By all means, keep an eye on your cruise price even after booking. I just scored a $300 ( $150 pp) discount. All I had to do is call and tell them I noticed the price drop and ask if I could take advantage of it!:D

We took Mio on our last cruise, but we find that we like the Koolaid water flavor enhancers better. They are also a little less expensive. I might try the propel.

I love these things. I have one hanging on the inside of the pantry door as well as the back of the spare 'catch all' room. There's also one in my 'cruise basket.' :cool:

How do you use it in the pantry? What do you put in it?:confused:

DH used to like more active tours. Now the sightseeing tours are more his speed as long as they are not too educational:D. A few years ago I booked a speed boat excursion in Cozumel. It started out fine, but when the "speed" part came about we were both wishing we hadn't signed up for it!

We have always schlepped our luggage around in the terminal at debarkation. This year we decided that next trip we would hire a porter to do it for us or use the luggage valet service. It's too exhausting!

It depends on when Quantum sails next year ( and where it sails).Hoping for next Feb. So approximately 355 days:eek:.

On our most recent cruise we thought about purchasing the luggage valet program but at $20 pp it seemed a waste. I thought more about it when we were schlepping the bags through the terminal ( it gets a little harder every year:p) So.. maybe we will get a porter next time. Does anyone know what a customary tip for a porter would be?

On another note... the cupcakes on the RCI ships are yummy, but not worth the $2.75 as they are mostly icing anyway. Now we know.

I use the cruise line rewards credit card throughout the year and use the points accumulated for OBC. We had $400 worth this cruise and used some of it on specialty restaurants, one discounted glass of wine and DH's traditional T shirt purchases, as well as gifts for our little granddaughters and one soda package. We ended up with a negative balance on our bill at the end of the cruise:D. We did do the "next cruise" program and that will give us more OBC for next year. With our remaining OBC our discounted deposit was only about $50.

We only did one excursion, which was not a cruise line sponsored tour.

If we didn't have the OBC we wouldn't have spent what we did, so we enjoyed it very much.

Next year when I book I am going to look into private travel insurance to see if it is better and/or cheaper than the cruisecare insurance.

Just curious, and not offended or anything but are you saying that using the MIO is cheap? DH also doesn't use salt and we have brought salt sub with us before. Would it be better to ask the waiter to add the flavoring away from the table if it is offensive? It is not something the cruise line offers, so it is not a matter of trying to save money.( Unlike bringing your own wine or liquor on board)

There are some things that I think should not be done at the MDR table but other people think otherwise, so I don't think your'e being a snob, but just not understanding what and why people might do this. :)

My DH can not have anything with Caffeine. He does enjoy a little flavor in his water and we carry Mio with us to restaurants. Caffeine free calorie free drinks are not always available and when they are they are often not very good. So... I agree that it is not something that I would offer to share with others at the table. We have never had anyone offer to share their wine either.

That ship and itinerary are my absolute favorites! I hope you're feeling better soon.

29 days!

Before we were retired, our work schedules allowed us to only have a week for the cruise. Now that we are retired, we...

 

...book cruises that are ten or eleven days (becasue we can!)

...extend our stay in Florida with a couple of days before the cruise and a couple of days after the cruise. Once again, because we can and because New Hampsha wintas are unforgiving!;)

Love the accent:D

Rarely buy pictures anymore

Never the spa

Never the slides or pool

Sometimes the hot tub

Sometimes room service

TV every day

Shows most of the time when we can get a seat!:mad:

Comedy show yes ( PG version unless the comedian is really good then we might go to the late night one)

No Circo Soleil (sp?) acts for us!

No Bingo

Casino slots once in a while

Specialty restaurants yes

Johnny Rockets at least once each cruise when available

Lying on deck, yes if DH can get a lounger in the shade:rolleyes:

Love and Marriage show yes, but it's getting really old

Quest- once and never again!

No towel folding or talks

Internet only to print off airline boarding passes or change flights

Rarely MDR for breakfast or lunch

Karaoke occasionally unless we fall asleep early

Afternoon naps.. yes and sometimes morning naps

Solarium every day most of the day

Pizza yes before we had to diet

mini golf occasionally

Excercise room... always intend to but haven't yet.

Always buy a T shirt for DH, sometimes gifts for our little girls ( granddaughters:D)

Have bought cheap jewelry a few times

Usually book excursions but sometimes use private tours

DH always has at least one or 2 ice cream cones

Soda card.. not any more. Water package instead

Drinks.. one or 2 glasses of wine for me, none for DH

Eat lunch in port

No dancing.. we stink at it in spite of taking lessons:o

Walking all over the ship ( between naps and meals:))

Welcome back party yes, Captains reception no, Dining at Captains table.. never invited and not interested!

Have a good time our own way... the less stress the better.