Micahs Grandad

I would definitely be interested in doing a repositioning cruise if it included ports in south east Asia.

That could be a very interesting one.

Strange to me that other cruise lines are building ships for the Chinese market and CCL is bringing an older ship there.

Would think they would have to offer pretty good deals to fill their ships.

Ours was a group, and to be honest, I was somewhat reticent on staying on the QM as it cabins pretty much intact from a long time ago. Our group LOVED it. Add to the fact the proximity and the cruising theme and it was a perfect fit.

Fascinating to see what cruising was like 75 years ago.

It's about a 2 minute walk.

We did it a few years ago was a very easy walk.

I would ask someone on the ship probably at excursion desk if tip is included and than go from there.

I have kept my laptop out on the desk the whole cruise numerous times and never had a problem.

Me too

We did this Dec 2014 on Miracle and than did it again last month on Ruby Princess.

Great time on both.

Will say check in process at Long Beach was the most inefficient we have ever seen with Carnival. Between getting people off the ship and starting boarding took forever and have heard it is always like this.

And no lines at all at lido for lunch:):)

Ships have to pay to park. They are scheduled far in advance.

Get there before 9, won't be allowed to park. Need to stay later than 4,,,, have to pay big bucks.

 

Ship will dock at 9,,, they will begin allowing 2000 passengers to debarked about 15 or 20 minutes later.

Passengers who purchased ship sponsored excursions will be allowed off first.

Getting off first with ship sponsored excursions is only for tender ports. Cozumel is not a tender port.

Since the stock has been increasing in value we reinvest the dividends.

love that obc

We started with fantasy class about 20 years ago and like bigger and newer ships

Lately prices have been on the upswing so have found price drops a rarity but still worth checking to see what is happening

I am not FTTF but am a Plat. I have found that the early luggage is usually 50/50. I am not sure what time it is supposed to come, but on 3 of our last 6 cruises it came after the Muster drill or even after dinner.

 

Often the cabins around me without the stickers end up with theirs before we get ours. My wife attributes it to the fact that we get there early (around 10:00) and it gets buried by the later arrivals.

 

If you want it sooner, I would recommend carrying it on.

We are recently Diamond and dont see a difference as to when our luggage arrives.

If you can bring it on the ship. Less chance of it being mishandled and destroyed. Have lost several pieces of luggage over the years due to mishandling.

You spoil sport! Here, all this time I was thinking I was getting free drinks. And now it I find out it went for that excursion where I rode in a crowded, hot stinking bus ride for 2 hours to see the Mayan ruins. Thanks a lot.

like:)

Balcony in a heartbeat

I suppose it is different with 5 people in a room?

We rarely let the steward into our cabin during a 7 day cruise! We just get towels ourselves from the wagon and let them know we've taken them. We probably let them come in once to do their whole routine .

We are private people and don't really like folks in so often. We don't think it is "elegant" at all.

We actually think it is bothersome.

We are all different. world is more interesting this way

those sample size toiletries are long gone but not forgotten

tips internet steakhouse coffee

I wonder what you all have done to your rooms that you need service twice a day?? I cannot imagine having someone come into our cabin that often to putter around??

They don't do that in most hotels on land so I wouldn't miss it at all on the ship.

It brings a nice elegant touch to a cruise. Might take the steward 10 minutes max to straighten out and replace towels and make towel animals.

We are used to it and will always request this service.

We are going to St. Lucia in March. I am BEYOND excited. I have ALWAYS wanted to stop there. I recognize the name COSOL from various reviews. Do I have to book in advance or is he at the pier? TIA

I would book in advance so you know you have a spot.

All things being equal will see a lot more using a taxi or van than a 50 passenger bus where it will take forever for people to get off and than back on.

and more likely you will get the passenger who thinks it is ok for you to get back in 20 minutes but it will be ok if we take 30.

This is the biggest reason we tend to only do private tours.

Three weeks ago on Ruby somehow broke our corkscrew opening a bottle of wine in our cabin. A new one but it must have had a crack in the steel. Only the second time we had used it.

Room steward was not around so put it in paperbag and brought it to DR. Asst waiter happy to open it but said if we kept the bottle in the DR he would have to charge us corkage.

He opened it and while waiting for rest of our tablemates to arrive brought it back to the cabin and poured two glasses for dinner.

So , if the corkage fee beaters pre-pour a glass in the room and carry it to the DR (I'd be worried about being bumped and spilling and splashing), then the bottle has been opened. So, why not just bring the rest of the bottle next night? It's now open and corkage fee is applied when a new bottle needs to be opened.

 

If you are an AT diner, may not even see same table/waiter and they won't know the difference.

 

And what if you want some more wine? Run back to cabin, re-fill and return?

 

Look I get it that there is not a charge for carrying any sort of drink into dinner.

 

But if I have brought on my own wine on board for dinners, I am bringing on better value wine and saving money with the corkage factored in - and it's a pretty reasonable fee. Wouldn't want to lose the privilege.

 

But I can see where it's nice to be able to save something if have multiple bottles. Why not pay something (I'd be happier to pay it if the fee was going into the tip pool)? Extra bottles are going to be assessed at boarding anyway. Bring those to the DR for free and open the free bottles for sipping in the room.

 

I'm not dumb and I can see how to save some corkage fee. But don't come on here and brag about beating the system on Princess. It never turns out well in the long run.

Not trying to beat a system but dont really want to pay more for corkage than the original cost of the wine.

No big deal to open the bottle in our cabin and bring two glasses. That way we can easily control how many days we will get our of our two bottles.

Aloha,

When my wife and I go out for dinner we use one of two options. Of course there's uber, but recently Teds Hawaii Limo has been our preferred option.

Full disclosure I have used both services and Ted has been a friend for many years. I was glad to see him start out on his own because he understands service.

Both Islands are beautiful and I hope your party has a great adventure here in the Islands.

 

BTW, that's for Oahu.

 

Aloha,

Will

Thanks so much for the recommendation. Ted did an awesome job taking us around his island. Possibly the best tour we have ever been on. I would recommend him highly.

Last week in the Dream, our steward said we had to pick one or other. We could not pick both. He filled the paper out himself , didn't give it to me. However, we choose morning and they still provided turn down service and towel animals. They just didn't clean up in the evening.

Sounds like a reduction in service to me. I would have complained to customer service.

Looks like you have an old copy of the CD schedule. The current one has Mat Seguin staying until Jan 31 and then being replaced by Steven Schwartz.

 

Here is the link to the new schedule. http://johnhealdsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/John-Version-11.11.15.pdf

We will be on the Valor in Feb and have heard that Steven Schwartz will not be CD for some months but someone named Classy Cassie will be the CD.

Have never heard of her before.