Anton

I'd say the average onboard price for the deluxe drink package is $100 per day before the 18% gratuity is added. Some ships are a little lower ($90) but then the newest ships are going for $115 per day, perhaps higher for onboard pricing. The usual sale to buy it prior to the cruise seems to top out at 30% off the onboard price, or the more common "buy one get one for half off" which is also hyped on boarding day but that is based on the higher onboard pricing. Today my cruise planner shows an onboard price on the Mariner Of The Seas of $105 per day, but with the current 30% sale it is $72.99 per day. Again that's all without the 18% tip tacked on. Bottom line from all the above is if you want the drink package buy it before the cruise. Just like the internet it is always cheaper than buying it once aboard the ship. Or, for drinks you could gamble up to 2500 points and get Prime casino level and then get free drinks when the casino is open, only at the casino bar.

If it's throwing error messages about your login and password being wrong it's a problem that has been going on all week. You can reset the password and it should fix it. Some have kept the same password and it accepted it as a new one. Multiple threads are posted about it. I just logged in to the app with no problems. I changed my password a couple days ago.

He mixed up his gazintas and entered too many naughts in a line of code for the password database.

They also have a brunch once or twice per cruise instead of a separate breakfast and lunch. As you might expect this has a few breakfast items and some lunch items.

My Galveston plan, which I've done many times: I fly in from Huntsville Alabama, which is a direct flight for me, and since it's United Express I have to go to IAH (George Bush Intercontinental Airport) which is the one farthest away from the port. I stay at the Marriott in the airport, which you get to by the airport tram underground, direct from baggage claim. This works for me since I look at the night before the cruise as just being close to the port and not a night on the town in Galveston. I eat at the hotel or take an Uber to a local restaurant. I book Galveston Express for 8am the next morning and they are always there, often early. I board the tram and go to Terminal A and walk out Door A-114 and look off to the left past the traffic lanes. That's where they will be in a black van. I've done it enough to be on a first name basis with one driver and his son who is also a driver. Off we go and usually arrive at the port early, even if we have to stop at Hobby airport for other riders. Then on debarkation day Galveston Express is right there where they dropped me off on boarding day. $70 round trip for seniors, I think $80 for younger people. As I said, it works for me and is easy. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea.

I'm on Caribbean Princess in a couple weeks with the Princess Plus package. I've been reading about how they screw up the bar sales in many ways. One being that they charge the medallion that pops up on their screen, so if I go to the bar to get drinks for my wife and myself, they charge both to me by default. Some even went over the 15 drink limit because of this and were cut off even though they hadn't had 15 drinks. I just can't wait. As for Royal Caribbean - at least 30% of every cruise they are doing now is "new to cruise" or "new to Royal" and they have nothing to compare the drink package price to, so they buy it. And it's not going to stop anytime soon. Eventually the company will tip the scales and package sales will decline enough for them to adjust the pricing.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/plan-a-cruise/certified-vacation-planner

Yes. My mistake. Make Prime after April 1, 2024 and you are good until March 31, 2026.

Yes. And as soon as you get to 2500 you start getting the Prime perks and then you are also Prime for the following year. So go on a cruise that starts this Monday April 1 with no prior casino member level and get 2500 points that night, you are now Prime for the rest of this casino year and also through March 31 2025. The annual free cruise for Prime is in an inside cabin, 7 nights or less. There are blackout dates.

Since Adventure is going into drydock this fall in Spain, I'll say no they are not replacing it. None of the Voyager class ships are leaving the fleet for quite a while.

Which is exactly what I did today during our Adventure stop. And it’s what I do when on Carnival stopping here at Grand Turk. As you well know, there is not much else to do here. Water is beautiful and clear. People are pleasant, even on what was supposed to be their off day until we pulled in on short notice. And you can drop $32 on two frozen concoctions in 12 ounce plastic cups, just like I was on the ship.

Oh, absolutely! Grand Turk is much more pleasant than Nassau. I guess I'll wander down the beach to Jack's Shack for some jerk chicken and a rum punch or three.

We get Grand Turk as a substitute for the Adventure 8 night starting on Friday. Not exactly an exciting stop but it is what it is.

They are about to complicate it some more when they roll out the new three assigned seating time scheme fleet wide. Supposedly just started on the current Icon cruise with times of 5pm, 6:30pm, and 8pm.

It's as if they sourcing their lasagna meat from Taco Bell. And it's always dry to me, not enough sauce is used.