harry0

Arzeena

We are looking into going to MB this Jan. from Falmouth. Can I pick your brain?

How long of a drive is it?

We were in MB several years ago and remember being at a beach near the airport-is that close to where you were?

Did you hire a cab for the day-if so who and how much?

We are a group of 8. I sent emails a couple days ago to a few tour companies and no reply.

Thanks in advance

When I traveled with my children many years ago I too was freaked out at the Jamaican people's aggressiveness. After many more visits I see this is a cultural trait that I am still not 100% comfortable with. However I am now much more tolerable-after all it is their country. I love Jamaica and its people.

I recently booked the Royal Beach Palace for January

$140 a night plus fees-close to beach and Ft Lauderdale by the Sea

Used Hotwire-gets great reviews on TA

Here is my 2 cents.

I would try this only if there are no other flights before 3-4 pm-because this makes for a loooong wait.

The last day of the cruise I just want to get home

Or book a hotel and stay an extra day if time/budget allows.

Another reason to try to make the early flight is costs-if you are saving a bunch of $$$$ and that is important to you, than the little bit of stress in the morning is worth the savings IMO

I remember on my last cruise- I was in the MDR-I saw a passenger take his napkin-wipe his mouth-sneeze in it and then wave it around in circles to the music- sharing their germs with anyone and everyone near him. Oh wait; that happens every cruise.

lol

We take our grandchildren (8 and 13) every year. The only problem we had as their grandparents was trying to figure out the new math that is being taught. 2+2 is not 4 anymore. LOL

It is some of the best time we spend together and we try and make it educational too.

3.5* Ft Lauderdale Beach

Royal Beach Palace

Jan 12-14 2018

$141 before tax and fees-

$170 Total per night

Hotwire

We stayed in this area before and love to walk to Ft Lauderdale by the Sea.

Meet and Mingles could be called "Hit or Miss" I have met some very interesting people-my wife never comes with me-thinks its awkward.

I am a early riser so thats not a issue

The gift exchanges were fun. I was impressed with the thought and planning people put into their gifts.

Yes, but it's valued at whatever is the minimum available OV stateroom, which may be much less than $1250pp.

True-but I have done this years ago-if you are flexible with dates you can find a cruise that has limited OV available cabins and the price is high and many available balconies and the cost is reasonable. So you book the OV and upgrade to balcony for a small fee.

To the poster that asked about getting to the 125000. It takes just over a year and I pay for everything I can with the card-down payments on cars and other large purchases, vacations, utilities,etc.

Good point-No costcos around here-I have Capitol One Venture-might just keep it.

Thanks for quick replies and link to rewards-If I read it right after 125000 points ( valued at $1250) you get a minimum ocean view cabin cruise for 2-up to $2500-seems like a decent deal if you use this-agree?

I am looking for a new credit card and wondered if I should consider this.

I had it many years back and was able to get a few free cruises from the rewards. I cancelled it because we traveled outside the country quite often and they charged an exchange rate. We are not traveling internationally much anymore but still cruise

Does anyone out there still use it-I cant find the perks list. Are the rewards still decent?. We pay off very month so the interest rate dosent matter-its no fee and now they are offering $100 OBC for newbies.

Thanks in advance

We have done it many times-one of the reasons we enjoy Royal.:)

Ok, I read the T&C and I don't see anything that says you cannot transfer your booking to a TA after booking with Royal. We have made bookings with Royal or Celebrity to get their perks and then transfered the booking to our TA to get their perks. Anyone tried that yet?

I have done it many times-not sure how that is going to work with gift cards -The one negative is that you loose control of your booking-if there is a price drop you cannot hop on it-you must go through your TA-I still do it 90%of the time.:cool:

I read all the restrictions but thought I would call my TA and see if I could use these to pay off $3000 ($300 potential savings) worth of a balance on a previously booked cruise. They said yes no problem. I am still not 100% sure -so I emailed a link of the verizon card to the TA so they know exactly what it is and I have a paper trail.

Side note: Verizon rewards will be canceling program Nov 1st

The fact is that if internet is available- which it is- you can find just about any song you want on you tube. We did it at a recent party and it worked great. No more discs or software needed.

Karaoke is a blast with the right crowd. Royals playlists usually are very limited.

Where are you getting RCCL gift cards? I got the Disney gift cards from ,SamsClub at a discount and used them through my TA to pay a Disney vacation. Saved some $. Is it an option like that?

I got them through verizon rewards-I am going to call my TA today to confirm they will take them for final payment for a January cruise.

So can I get my adult daughter linked to my C&A level? She moved back in with us several months ago and will be joining us in Jan. on the Allure. She cruised with us on Royal about 4 times.

Oasis-no comparison. Aqua Theater is amazing-Ice skating and ice show awesome.

xitappers2bx-you feel more nickel and dimed on Royal-Realy?

I tryed to take a picture of my grandaughter with a dR sUESS chaRACTOR ON THE mAGIC AND i WAS STERNLY TOLD IT WAS NOT ALLOWED-i HAD TO BUY THIER PHOTOS. Oops cap lock was on. Not the case on Royal -Pics of the kids with Shrek and Alex from Madagascar are encouraged.

that being said-we had a wonderful cruise on the Magic!

Shannonsto

did you get the ship-wide wake up call at 3:30 AM ON THURSDAY(I THINK)

They were looking for a passenger-who turns up sleeping in another cabin-there was actually 3 in cabin announcements between 3:30 and 4:30.

There was a lot of cranky passengers and crew!

I have been on the Magic, Oasis and ALLURE.I was actually booked on the Harmony but I switched toMagic follow family members.

Magic was very good

Oasis class is in a class by itself. The neighborhood lay out is awesome. There are 6 thousand people on board but you do not feel crowded. The aqua show is amazing.

Another cool thing Carnival offered-I did not use it but my sister and wife used the social media package $30 for week and $5 chat/text which came in handy when we wanted to communicate with home and each other on the ship.

I dont know if it is a fact but Carnivals insides seemed more roomy than Royal-we had connecting cabins. Bathrooms were large too-we loved the shower curtain as opposed to the circular slider.

My wife used the serenity area and said it was great but she said there was not enough shade-and when she used it the outside temp was 95-that was the day in Belize.

I was too busy with with the grandkids to enjoy it.

Probably because you paid for the breakfast.

I guess it could work that there is no structure but if the parents do not follow up with their children it is a recipe for trouble.