JohnBoy in NC

On the Crown I had a great experience on this issue...the barista knew me since I visited every morning early and he saw my displeasure of losing my card (wind on lido). He reached into a box and pulled out a used card, added some punches and gave it to me. He made me a very happy customer and he earned an nice appreciative tip on the spot.

Yes you are correct that you can't take luggage on the busses. You will have no problem getting a taxi to pick you up at your hotel in OSJ and bringing you to the Pan Am Pier. The ride may take longer, but they will definetly come and get you. Do you have a hotel booked yet? It can be very difficult and expensive to get a hotel during festival. We have been there a few times during festival and it sure is fun! I would recommend staying in the Condado area and taking busses and taxis into OSJ for the festival.

Have Fun!

THANKS for the information..and feedback. I plan on booking when first available....later this year since still over a year out. I am also looking at private residences/rooms. Glad to hear you had fun....I am excited but don't want to be too overwhelmed...but heard it is a great experience. :)

John in NC

Where did you see this? I wonder when...

 

 

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January and March 2016

John in NC

Since about a year, I'm not on a diet anymore. I lost 25 lbs and kept it off with eating Low Carb High Fat. Amazing way of eating, lots of yummy things, never hungry and the weight stays off. I'm never going back to wholegrains and stuff, it's what makes us fat, not the fat itself! Bring back the butter! :):p

We started our diet/food journey while on our last January cruise..came off weight neutral! By July lost 35 lbs and have kept it off doing the same low card (or smart carb for me) high fat eating style. Love it...and can't wait for next cruise to snack on good stuff all throughout the day!:)

Good rule of thumb- avoid sugar, bread, and potatoes (unless you are at your weight goal...and then in light moderation)

Good for you and keep at it! See you on the high seas

John in NC

Hi

I know it is early - but I am on the Jan 2016 Summit and we leave on the potential dates of St. Sebastian Festival (on purpose). I have read through the threads on the festival/hotels/traffic/noise etc. My wife has never been to San Juan and thought a pre-cruise stay in OSJ--and during the festival---will be over the top. :)

From Aviator of the Seas post on this forum last year:

Traffic - Vehicular traffic into San Juan islet will be closed at the bridge approaches to the old city at 6:00 PM Thursday and Friday and at 12:00 noon Saturday and Sunday.

The only exceptions will be tour buses, taxis, emergency vehicles, and Old San Juan residents. This means that everyone else will be turned around so there will be a massive traffic jam in all approaches to Old San Juan.

My question is - if I leave our hotel in OSJ at 11am on Saturday to get to the Pan Am pier - is this doable?...or is it "easy" to arrange a taxi to come into the city and pick us up/take us to the ship? Are there taxis all around during this time? I am just trying to get a feel for what to expect etc. and make appropriate arrangements. I heard the buses don't take luggage---only carry-ons.

THANKS in advance everyone.

John in NC

The answer to your question is above in the sentence that I have highlighted in underlined and bold letters.

Yeah I saw that...but the main wording of the pdf seemed like the prices shown are for their wine and dine packages...so wine is included by default? That is what I wanted to confirm...seems like the discounted prices if they include wine may be worth considering instead of waiting for "deals" when you get onboard.

This will be my first Celebrity cruise...so looking forward to trying the MDR and enjoying the food there...I was just trying to consider options for speciality restuarants if they are a must try. I know the solution is to sail multiple Celebrity ships and then I will have a good feel for what we like...but that will have to come with time. Sigh.....

THANKS for all of the helpful input so far...enjoy reading these boards as we discover a new (and hopefully) favorite cruise line.

John in NC

This list is for various packages, but you can easily determine the individual meal cost from it, as they give you the amount saved. http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/11024491_CEL_SpecialtyDiningPck_Flyer2.pdf

quick question on this document. It says

I have not tried it but I asked C and A that question and they told me that you WOULD get the higher OBC if you booked a specific cruise with an inside cabin and then changed it to a balcony.

Ok nice....gives me more things to contemplate! :)

You would get the balcony discount. The only time you have to worry about not getting the balcony discount by moving up a level is if you had a cruise already booked. Then if you wanted to claim the discount they would reprice it at today's rates.

Good to hear--thanks Ken!

I just did this. We booked two cruises recently when on board Vision. This morning I used those reservation numbers to book two cruises for next month. The LA on board Vision advised me to do this instead of buying the NCC's. I was able to transfer those bookings to the ones I booked this morning.....but had to go to the Resolutions dept for one of them for some reason. I got the $100 OBC' date=' but it was a little bit of an inconvenience. We'll probably try it again....better than those stupid NCC's. If it works, it works.....if it doesn't....it's no big deal.[/size']

thanks for the input. I am caught in the middle, I will be Platinum after my January sailing is complete, so I doubt they would give me the balcony discount if booking a cruise onboard...so I was leaning to just getting an inside.

I wonder, when I change to the "real" cruise date a few months later when the 2016 schedule comes out, if I change say from an inside to a balcony when I move the dates would they give me the higher OBC?

John in NC

I would book an actual cruise (B2B) for something in the spring of 2016 using 2 certificates with both names on them for a total of $400.

 

Many have reported that you will be allowed to change the cruise and keep the OBC associated with booking on board as long as it is not abused. A Loyalty Manager even suggested this tactic to someone on board in order to obtain the higher OBC.

I thought about booking onboard future cruise and changing it later, but the OBC was about the same (inside cabin for example) and it seemed to be a less of a hassle to use Open Booking vs booking a future cruise, transferring to a TA, then having TA switch future booking to definitive cruise once the schedule comes out....

Hi

I am sailing Royal in a few months, and we are looking at future Fall 2016 Med cruise. I know the schedule won't be out until Spring 2015, so I was thinking of getting 2 Open Booking forms in my name for a potential B2B 7 day Splendour of the Seas out of Venice, assuming it will continue the Venice sailings (last schedule shows arriving in Venice April 2016 from Dubai). I know Royal doesn't given hardly any OBC on Open Bookings, I am just looking at reduced deposit benefits.

My question is, can I just use one form/1 guest name ($100) for each cruise when I book with my TA ($200 total for B2B)...and then just simply add an additional $100 deposit on each cruise for my wife at the time of booking?....OR do I need to purchase two Open Booking forms this January with BOTH of our names on it ($200 each Open Booking Form---$400 total for the B2B) while onboard before booking with a TA?

I wanted to minimize investment onboard in case something goes weird (TA group booking or odd uncombineable rates) for whatever reason.

Thanks as always!

John in NC

If you are looking at any other Celebrity Offer than the familiar 123GO one, circumstances could be different

 

For example right now on their website they have a Pick Your Perk promo on that has 4 options not the usual 3 (the 4th is reduced fares for all in the cabin when using ChoiceAir combined with your cruise).

 

If that is your choice... Then ya things are different

 

I notice there is NO Bevvy Pkgs & Internet Minutes for additional Pax under this offer

 

See here... The fine print = http://www.celebritycruises.com/htmlpage/pick-your-perk?icid=hp_bt_pckyrp_1408_spyp_lk_795230

 

In truth, even if this isn't the offer you booked under... ALL Celebrity Offers should be well read before booking as they can be different from one another and Celebrity does change things up regularly (enough so to confuse everyone... And leave you wondering if you truly got a good deal or not)

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers!

Thanks Sloop-JohnB - it does help. I gathered as much within the first week or so of reading the boards here re: Celebrity Offers. Look forward to trying Celebrity - hopefully before our Jan 2016...1.5 years away...aaauuugghhh.:)

John in NC

UPDATE:

I just heard got an email from my TA:

"the classic beverage package is only available to passengers 1 and 2, the 3rd passenger gets a reduced cruise fare, no beverage package is currently offered" ... so I assume it just varies per Promo.

John in NC

Hi

Excited about my first upcoming Celebrity Summit cruise in (sigh) January 2016...but thanks to the board here for the M-class tips/sweet 16 cabin info, I snagged one of those!

A question for you experts - I did a search but could not find a clear answer. I am looking at a Reflection sailing in December 2014 and taking our daughter with us ....so there would be 3 in the same cabin.

Now I seem to have read that if your select the drink package perk for 2, that the 3/4 guests automatically get the non-alcohol beverage package. Is this ALWAYS the case or does it vary by Celebrity promo? If not, does the 3rd person have to buy some sort of drink package?

Many thanks

John in NC

We visited Martinique on a Wednesday. Traffic was bad all the time along the coastal road, much less busy inland. Returning to Fort-de-France we just stopped the car outside the Avis/Hertz office and caused the most enormous honking hooting traffic jam until someone from the office came out and took the car away. There was absolutely nowhere to park.

Wow. Sounds like "fun"....at least I will be prepared for this and lack of parking.

Did you visit the black sand beaches up north---or any other towns?

HOWEVER . . . Martinique. I did rent a car, from Avis or Hertz, can't remember, but it was a brand new Opel which was comfy and as big and as easy to drive as a Jaguar. But driving in Martinique was a nightmare - getting out of Fort-de-France was shockingly difficult. I somehow thought it would be like Papeete or Noumea but it's far, far bigger, a major city, with huge volumes of traffic. And once we did escape and drove the (north) coast road there was nowhere to stop or park.

 

We're going back in November on a Seabourn trip and our ship calls at Le Marin - we're renting a car again and hope the south shore will be less congested.

Thanks for the information Fletcher....I was looking at heading to the South End anyway -- hitting the one black sand beach and maybe 2 others on the southern tip - and explore one village. The distance doesn't look too far, but I have heard about leaving Fort-de-France/traffic. We will be there on a Tuesday--so hoping not too bad. :)

How was the traffic in the afternoon/coming back? the same (bad?)

John in NC

We will be on the Star Princess RT San Francisco/Alaska. We have 3 teens plus other family members traveling. We all have iPhone 5s. Can we iMessage each other while at sea without incurring any roaming or outrageous charges? We have called our carrier (Verizon) who explained standard text charges but I have since been told that to iMessage would be free. Anyone experience iMessage while on a cruise? Thank you!

If you have the $25 International Data plan with Verizon (on each phone), you can use the ship's cell tower to imessage. We have this plan on every cruise, and on sea days my wife can imessage the kids back home for free (using the data package) instead of the .50 send text and 0.05 receive text. Her phone was a 4s and we had some issues when in Aruba, but Verizon tech forced her phone to work.

John in NC

Hi

searched the board here and saw several posts from folks who rented a car from Budget at the cruise ship terminal...they seemed to have a good experience. Did you reserve in advance or just show up at the stand? (it seems online you can't reserve that far in advance...so just curious about availability or any other tips on this).

Besides Budget---did you see other car rental vendors?

Looking forward to doing this---seems like the best way to get to the southern end and see several beaches and do our own tour. Appreciate any advice/experiences on this.

Thanks!

John in NC

If your a Carnival guest can you use your VIFP and get a past guest?

 

 

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No..I looked into my first Princess cruise as well.

My husband and I are considering the 10 day Southern Caribbean sailing on Legend of the Seas in Jan. 2015 as our belated honeymoon. I have cruised several times before on a number of different lines and he has cruised only Carnival x3. This would be the first RCL cruise for both of us. We are 26 and 30 and are aware that the average age on the longer sailings is much older than ourselves.

We are worried that we will be bored in the evenings. We aren't party people, but we do enjoy things like the comedy shows on carnival and live music.

 

I know the Legend is an older/smaller ship and am also a little worried that because of the lack of extra venues it may not be the RCL experience that we have heard about.

 

We love the idea of the longer cruise as 7 days just never feels long enough and the ports are great, but we also don't want to be bored or disappointed in the smaller ship.

 

If anyone has the daily itineraries from a Legend cruise or menus we would love to take a look at some of the activities offered. I haven't had much luck finding anything recent.

 

Thank you

Hi - I hope you guys come on the Legend in Jan 2015 (we are booked on the 1-16-15 sailing) - we are in our mid-40's but did not hesitate to book this cruise - the prices and OBC was great and the itinerary (and port times) is awesome. I loved Tortola but on the Carnival Freedom we had to be on ship at 2pm or so..so did not get a chance to see the Baths...this time we are going (doing it ourselves vs ship excursion)!

LMaxwell has given some great information about his trip on the Legend in other threads...here is a good long one with pictures and menus/daily Compass/activities. We love comedy and live music as well...worried about it being older style music, but I can live with it. Newer RCL ships will be in my future I hope, but I like smaller ships and the 2 sea days coming and going on this sailing. Look forward to Dominica - a first for us!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1968693&highlight=legend

Whatever you decide - have a great honeymoon cruise! (we try to treat every cruise like a honeymoon cruise...we are addicted).

John in NC

Hi Royal cruisers

I have searched and read several threads concerning recent changes to the NextCruise program…which figures since I will be sailing Royal for the first time in 13 years this coming January. :) I do like the opportunity to get a future cruise certificate for Celebrity (which I haven't sailed yet)--so hopefully they won't change that before I board. As for the new "improved" program (ha) I do love the reduced deposit – especially since I am eyeing a 10 day cruise in January 2016.

Anyway, my question concerns combining the OBC you receive for booking a Next Cruise on board. I always use an online TA (the travel agency can vary for me, depending upon the amount of OBC offered etc.). I understand that I can tell the loyalty ambassador that I want it assigned directly to Royal this time and then you have 60 days to transfer it to a travel agent (if I don’t want the credit/booking assigned to the TA for my current sailing)

Has anyone done this since the March 15th, 2014 switchover and was able to combine the Royal OBC given for booking your next cruise onboard with a transferred booking OBC offered by a TA after your returned home?

Thanks!

John in NC

Since this is after the cruise, OP will probably be coming from FLL or MIA.

you are right - 6:05pm flight to London from RDU - so yes OP - 45 minute connection not an issue if Florida to RDU flight arrives on time! :)

hope someone can help, just got flight times for ruby cruise in December ,we land in Raleigh at 17.20 and take of again at 18.05 ,is this enough time :( Its with American airlines for both legs of the journey ,thanks for any help !!

I assume you will have to go through customs after landing (coming from London airport)? While RDU is relatively small, this extra step may eat into your time...but since there is limited international flights coming in (usually just AA flights from London) - you should be processed quicker than say JFK.

American probably has about 6 gates in Terminal 2 (very nice terminal BTW), so changing planes should be easy. However I would be nervous with 45 minutes if I had to go through customs/pick up my bag and recheck then board the MIA plane. Will there be a group of you? Flight attendents can inform the gate agents for the MIA flight to "wait" if possible.

John in NC

Has anyone ever chosen their cruise, purchased their air, then waited to book the cruise till the last minute when prices are at their lowest? Assuming you don't care about cabins, do you think it's doable. Using FF mile , if you weren't able to book, you could just return them to your account. I just hate paying more that someone else for the same cruise. Bit if you wait till last minute to buy your international flight, the prices eat away a good chunk of the savings. does this sound too risky. Looking at something on OCEAN PRINCESS

 

 

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I have done this once before (Alaska)...and doing it now actually for a fall repo cruise, but I was fairly certain of availability based upon previous year and this was for an inside cabin. Booked flights 330 days out, secured great deal on hotel...all almost a year in advance...then waited for final payment date and then price drops for new bookings only. For my fall target, have the flights/hotel secured....now have to anxiously wait until August. But again, this particular repo has never sailed full....so the odds are greatly in my favor. On an overseas cruise on the Ocean, I wouldn't take the chance...but that is just me (unless you have tracked this sailing in the past).

John in NC