BEAV

15 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

PSA:

 

The patio is open for the season at the Chez.

 

And since it is Friday, yes, it's Burger night in America! (and wherever else you may be.)

 

Also, it was a great day to take the physical copy of the newspaper.

14 hours ago, TheKingD said:

It is sheer perfection in North Carolina too, on the

patio sitting in the pergola.  We had ribs and corn on the cob tonight and we will have lobster claws tomorrow night.  Maybe Key Lime Pie too.  No cicadas providing their chorus yet, though, but hummingbirds are here.

Chiming in here to assert the Left Coast had supreme weather as well yesterday. Can’t give you East Coasters a leg up on us. We dined Al fresco at a great wine and small plates bistro that even the Chez’s discriminating Chef would most likely approve. The watermelon gazpacho was 😋😋😋! 
 

I wonder if the Hitchcock foundation is filming a sequel to The Bird’s with all your circling hawks @BWIVince ? 🤔🤷‍♂️

15 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

I would bring something to layer just to be on the safe side.

 

There are areas of the ship that I found very cold day and night.  

 

While I found the restaurants to not be as cold as some of the other areas I am reminded we are all different. I am often cold.  Some are often hot.  So what works for me might not for you but you can't go wrong bringing a few items to layer to be on the safe side and something like a shawl could do the trick.

 

Keith

With all due respect, Keith, the thought of you entering Osteria in a shawl is giving me a headache. Might I suggest increasing your consumption of red meat 🥩 if you’re feeling a chill? 🤔🤷‍♂️

Thanks for the follow up 👍

@occasional cruising, the link buried inside the article @360Guyprovided says the only trains affected on June 24 are two early morning northbound (4am and 6am) departures from San Diego. This makes sense as the work is done overnight to provide the least impact on the traveling public. 
 

So unless the work window is modified going forward, southbound trains LAX-SAN on Monday morning June 24 are unaffected. In a worst case scenario, I’d take Uber/Lyft from Solana Beach station to the cruise terminal if things unexpectedly went south. 😉

https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/plan-your-trip/alerts/travel-advisories/delmarphase5/

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

Most are suggesting similar to this, but when we get notification of a schedule change and we go to the airline website and look up our locator number, the airline website usually gives us the option to change online for free because of the schedule change.  Some airlines also give you the right to cancel for a full refund because of the schedule change.

Excellent point. It only makes sense to first try and modify online within the airline’s parameters for schedule changes. 

@GabbyRose, I’ve reported your post to a moderator with the suggestion they move the thread to the Cruise Air forum. There’s some excellent regular posters over there that can offer you good advice in addition to those who’ve responded here. 
 

To the best of my knowledge, your non-refundable fare shouldn’t invalidate your chances of getting a better connection that will work for you. You’ve encountered a schedule change, and your booking simply needs to be adjusted.

Good luck, and please report back how it goes. 👍
 

35 minutes ago, Clewgarnet said:

I'm a bit confused that I've been invited to put in a bid for an upgrade when all cabin classes above mine are sold out. Is the upgrade system so fully automated that it can't take account of that, or are they just getting their bases covered in case someone cancels?

@Clewgarnet

The bid upgrade system has nothing to do with current inventory levels. This is a common source of confusion across all the cruise line boards. Instead, it’s a brilliant and efficient way to capture and maximize revenue with regard to ever-changing inventory fluctuations. 
 

Example: Friends of mine recently sailed the new Sun Princess (debuted in February). A few weeks before departure Princess began soliciting people to take move over offers as the sailing was oversold. Simultaneously, my friends were invited to place up grade bids (administrated by the same 3rd party company Cunard contracts with). They thought it was pointless to place bids on an oversold sailing, but I encouraged them to roll the dice. A few days before departure their bid was accepted and they moved from a balcony to a suite. To their complete amazement, obviously! 😉
 

On 5/11/2024 at 11:57 AM, TinyG said:

No cards/envelope , all the bedding on the floor and left over sharp’s container on the counter. 
 Little disappointing to have a dirty room on arrival. Why let us on at the time to be dissatisfied. If the Elites can come sooner, only to leave your room. I am glad to be on the ship and not in a line. I know turn around day all the crew members dread. We left be and went on our way. 

No one likes to board earlier than me (!), but if they’re boarding around 10:30am, there’s no way I’d expect a room to be ready. Simply not enough time to turnover a huge ship in that small window of time IMO. 

2 minutes ago, Illsticktocrusing said:

This was not a MoveUp win so no charge against my card, I just want to bid on a higher class based on my new catagory type I have booked.  I will contact MoveUp.  

Ahhh, I misunderstood your upgrade was via MoveUp.

Despite MoveUp showing your original stateroom, what does your Personalizer list? 🤔

1 hour ago, Illsticktocrusing said:

Already cancelled my bids, My Current Stateroom is my old one.  

Can you confirm your credit card was charged for the MoveUp? 🤔
 

Does your online cruise personalizer display your upgraded stateroom number? 
 

Surfing through this thread reinforces why for the past 5-6 years we now wait until after final payment time to book as we’re bargain seekers!  I realize that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, some folks have to book early, etc, but it simply works fine for us. 
 

While I realize demand for cruising is high following the pandemic, each sailing is its own entity, and supply and demand will forever dictate pricing. 

12 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

I also know that they load various local beers at times, so check to see if anything local is available.  In Asia, they have been know to load Tiger, so ask your bartenders if there's any stock that is "off menu".

Thanks for the list. I’m going to hold out hope they can source a few West Coast/PNW crafts this summer for the Alaska season. 🍺

@History&Wine or @FlyerTalker, can either of you speak of the current beer 🍺 selection? 
 

Craft Beer lover here looking for some love. 🍻

1 minute ago, avic77 said:

Oh no I booked 2 days go and the same rooms are available. I was just shocked that they sent a move up offer so fast and that they are more then what i would have booked in the first place. I guess move upp in geared to people who maybe booked early and have decided they can spend more at the last minute.

MoveUp is just another tool in the algorithm of inventory and maximizing revenue. 👍

18 minutes ago, horseymike said:

The move up thing has become a money grab. 
The attitude they have if someone is willing to pay it , they will sure take it. $$$$

Exactly. 
 

=X= isn’t a community service organization focused on providing low cost vacations. If someone doesn’t do their homework (good job OP 😉), then Celebrity’s all too happy to accept their overbid. 
 

On the other hand, @avic77, there’s another thread floating around here where someone who had your same experience with ridiculous move up prices returned a week before sailing only to discover the bid rates were substantially less than previous, cancelled their original bid, rebid at lower rates and successfully won their upgrade. So remain diligent! 
 

5 hours ago, Maclet said:

Thanks for all the replies.  I was originally booked on United, called back to the gate and cancelled due to technical issue, ended up on Air Canada.  It was a Canada to USA flight.  

 

FBC didn't say anything about contacting the airline(s).  Just asked for the details, any receipts and my cruise booking number.  I was very grateful to have made the cruise at all so for now will wait to see what they offer.

The US Department of Transportation is cracking down on the airlines when it comes to flight cancellations and delays with regard to adequate consumer compensation. If you get an unsatisfactory answer, I’d be tempted to pursue/inquire either directly with USDOT or your local Congressperson. ✈️

Please update when you have new info, and good luck! 😉

2 hours ago, Mike981 said:

From the reports I have read online I don't see myself ever booking with FBC. It would be hard if it was a long flight and they had great prices, but...

I understand what you’re saying. But remember people don’t tend to report when everything goes smoothly and according to plan and without incident. 
 

The 4-5 times I’ve used this service were without incident, so there was no “story” to report! 😉✈️👍

On 5/12/2024 at 9:37 AM, Coral said:

Plus the train ride to Seward provides stunning beauty.

The train Anchorage to Seward is indeed spectacular in the scenery department. 

We stopped in Dutch Harbor aboard Celebrity in 2016. It was one of the highlights of that sailing. There’s a historical WW2 Museum (Japan bombed Dutch Harbor in 1942), in addition to the Museum of the Aleutians.

The locals pulled out all the stops, which added real flavor to the stop. The school buses provided the transport to/from the port to town, but local citizens supplemented as well.

I’ve seen a number of times where Dutch Harbor gets dropped as a port stop previously scheduled. My opinion is not because of a lack of tour options, but because of cargo ship priority can bump cruise ships. Perhaps others can elaborate or correct me on that. 
 

I hope your stop doesn’t get cancelled. 🤞 

Sept 22, 2024 Cunard Queen Elizabeth San Francisco to Sydney. 
 

Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia 

@YoPhilly @Yehootu, is this in the port of Apia? 🤔

1 hour ago, KenzSailing said:

 

You're welcome.  Roy, have you ridden any of the routes of the Rocky Mountaineer?

Both Canadian and US Rocky Mountaineer trips are bucket list items for me. The US route (Denver to Moab) is fairly new compared to the long-established Vancouver-Banff run. 

For those looking for longer itineraries and/or crossings…

I’ve booked Cunard Queen Elizabeth San Francisco to Sydney 25 nights departing September 22. Solo balcony US $4100 ($164 per diem). Inside/outside staterooms are less. 
 

Ports:

SF

Honolulu (two days)

Apia, Samoa

Latouka, Fiji

Suva, Figi

Lifou, New Caledonia

Noumea, New Caledonia

Melbourne 

Sydney

For $6100 ($160 per diem) you can sail from Vancouver for 38 nights in a solo balcony departing September 9 and add Alaska to the Pacific crossing. 
 

Prices are on Cunard US website, so not an exclusive rate through any specific travel agent. 
 

On 5/1/2024 at 7:00 AM, Zach1213 said:

 

Yup. While I was working on my PhD, I was also working for the University itself and they had a travel agent on hand for flights. We had to use them by contract. They were fine at actually booking flights, but I learned quickly that I needed to go to them with exactly the flights I wanted because they really had no idea what was going on. When the guy told me I should fly Aer Lingus to Saudi Arabia, I just kind of gave up all hope. 

My pet peeve with call centers and contract TA’s. I’m old school where taught project knowledge, geography and route systems. 
Today it’s just “order takers”, and whatever the computer spits out is all there is. 🤬

On 4/28/2024 at 5:15 PM, leaveitallbehind said:

Yes you can.  As long your booking timeframe has flights listed by the airline as available and open for booking you can book early pre-cruise, or delayed post-cruise, or both, flights.  We do so frequently.

 

To confirm I just did a mock booking on our 11/23/24 cruise through FBC and used 1/5/25 as the return and was able to book it - a full month post-cruise.  Granted it was a domestic itinerary, not international, but I am not aware of any differing booking restrictions between them.

 

To add, as soon as the flights open up, we will be doing a similar itinerary with our 10/25 Italy land trip with flights 10 - 12 days prior to our return transatlantic cruise.

This mirrors my experience as well. 
 

In addition, you’re not restricted to returning from the cruise destination airport. Example: We disembarked in Rome, but flew home several weeks later from Geneva, Switzerland. 
 

When you think about, the cruise line could care less about where you’re flying from. Having an active cruise reservation is your “ticket” to accessing their contracted air inventory system.