Alaska Cruise/Excursion comments July 2-9 -- the good, bad and ugly

Just came back from a cruise on Royal Carribbean's Serenade of the Seas July 2-9. The first cruise for me and my immediate family. We were there as part of a 20+ person family reunion:

The Good:

- Avis Rental car in Skagway - relatively cheap and an incredibly scenic and very fun drive. We drove to Carcross and back (kids were getting a little punchy, so we skipped Emerald Lake). Highlights were some close up black bear sightings along the road, waterfalls and countless spectacular photo ops. Perhaps the most priceless part of this excursion is the ability to get away from the crowds for a few hours and do things on your own schedule. Big thanks to Yukon for his driving map.

- Coastal Helicopter Glacier Sleddog trip in Juneau (we booked direct with Coastal). We were blessed with great, mostly sunny weather. We were the only 4 booked for 9AM, so we had the place to ourselves. The scenery flying over and through the Juneau icefields is unbelievable from the air. On the ground on the glacier is also very cool....you feel like you are on some sort of Everest expedition up on this isolated glacier with soaring cliffs, icefalls and snowfields. The sleddog riding was fun, although I managed to flip the sled...still, very fun. Kids absolutely loved it. One thing this excursion drove home for me was the need to book an airborne trip for an AK cruise. There is no way you can get this kind of view of the glaciers/moutains from the ground. Coastal did an excellent job....I would certainly recommend them over Temsco, given their smaller size and more personal operation. Temsco looked like some sort of military operation, with multiple choppers flying in formation. They apparently have 2 large adjacent dog camps with 250 dogs in each. Coastal has one = 75 dogs. Much more intimate setting and personal feel. Of course, some of this info about Temsco comes from Coastal; I have no direct experience with Temsco, so you may want to take these comments with a grain of salt.

- Ketchikan Misty Fjords Flight-seeing with Michelle/Island Wings (again booked directly): fantastic. We did flightseeing combined with a landing/90 minute hike with Michelle. Great experience. If you know anything about AK aviation history, Island Wings is a treat since you get to fly in her restored De Havilland Beaver (beautiful plane, and Michelle is a great pilot). We landed at Punch Bowl lake and had a great hike to a secluded waterfall. Getting out into the wilderness was special in such a beautiful, isolated location. She went out of her way to show us noteworthy sites and wildlife.

Bad/Ugly:

- 20-25 foot waves during our steam from Ketchikan to Vancouver (before getting inside the shelter of Vancouver Island)

- Several of our party got very sick at the end of the cruise -- ugh.

I generally enjoyed my first cruise experience, but have to admit that I enjoyed the time off the ship the most.

Chris

With Alaska as my destination - I also prefer the time off the ship also!

I have also had rough waters that last day. It was my roughest day on all of my cruises was up in Alaska on the way back to Vancouver.

Glad you had a good cruise otherwise.

Bad/Ugly:

- 20-25 foot waves during our steam from Ketchikan to Vancouver (before getting inside the shelter of Vancouver Island)

- Several of our party got very sick at the end of the cruise -- ugh.

 

I generally enjoyed my first cruise experience, but have to admit that I enjoyed the time off the ship the most.

 

Chris

Thanks for the review - we'll be on the Serenade of the Seas departing for Alaska on Aug. 6 - our first cruise. (DH, myself and three children ages 16, 13 and 8). We're on Deck 9 - balcony.

Were the people in your party sick because of the waves or the food? If it's form the rough waters, how can this be prevented? :confused: This is my biggest fear.

Thanks for the review - we'll be on the Serenade of the Seas departing for Alaska on Aug. 6 - our first cruise. (DH, myself and three children ages 16, 13 and 8). We're on Deck 9 - balcony.

 

Were the people in your party sick because of the waves or the food? If it's form the rough waters, how can this be prevented? :confused: This is my biggest fear.

Bonine (Meclizine) for everyone except the 8-year-old.

Boy weren't we lucky with the beautiful weather? We were even a little tickled that we got to "experience" a storm at sea! Fortunately none of my group got sick. We all took the little pills that the concierge gave us. Per her advice we took them several hours before the storm. The only downside to the storm was that I couldn't sleep because I was so afraid that the ship was going to break in half. (I know it's kinda stupid.) However my husband, sil and daughter all slept like babies being rocked to sleep. The next day was a sea day so I caught up on my lost sleep.

I wonder if our children ever met. My 12 year old daughter, Alana, was inseperable from the Fuel club.

It was a great cruise. I'm working on my review. It'll be a long one.

First let me start by saying that we booked our cruise 6 weeks before sailing through American Express Platinum Travel services. We decided to take an Alaska cruise because some of our friends had taken it before and said it was beautiful and amazing; however, we did not choose Royal Caribbean as our first choice and would have taken Holland or Celebrity if it would have been available. This was our second cruise; our first one was on the Carnival Pride in the Mexican Riviera.

Embarkation -

As we did with our first cruise, we arrived a day early in Vancouver just in case there was some travel snafu. We stayed at the Pan Pacific hotel right on the shores of Coal Harbor. This is not the cheapest hotel choice but it put us in the center of the city for great shopping and all of the Canada Day celebration. On the day of our cruise we left the hotel at noon, a short 5 minute cab ride to the embarkation pier, and we literally had our SeaPass card by 12:45pm! By 1:20pm we were on the Serenade. Our rooms were not accessible until 1:30pm so we went and wandered the ship.

The first thing we noticed was that all of the access from top to bottom is made in the center of the ship, unlike the wide open access on the Carnival Pride from the forward, center and aft aspects of the vessel. Be ready to fight the elevator game. There are 8 total elevators mid-ship that are broken in to two groups of 4. In between the elevator groups is a 3-D aspect of the ship that identifies the deck you are on. If you stand at this point after pressing the up or down button, you stand a 50/50 chance of making the elevator. If you are at either end of the banks, be ready to run, with your hand out to kick the doors back open, providing you see the doors in the first place! Even the comedian joked about this but it is no joke, especially when there are 50 people leaving the WindJammer Café! :confused:

Anyway, we walked around deck 11 and 12 and saw the putt-putt golf and rock climbing wall, two items we never got to take advantage of. After leaving deck 12 we headed for deck 13 that contains the Vortex nightclub and the Hollywood bar, which the Hollywood bar was closed for the entire cruise. By this time it was 1:45pm so we headed back down to deck 8 to see if our room was ready and indeed it was and 3 of our 4 bags had already been delivered. Our final bag and most important was not delivered until 6:20pm and it was damaged! Somehow they managed to tear off the tow line and handle on our beefy Samsonite hard shell bag. They claimed nothing could be done for compensation since the sailing agreement states that it is “acceptable” damage.

Our stateroom-

On to the room, it sucks. First of all, there is no clock in the room other than the time on the phone which is not back-lit and cannot be seen at night unless you turn on a light, walk over to the phone and look at the display. If you are hoping for a clock radio to pipe your iPod through, forget it and make sure you purchase one of those iPod speaker systems.

The room is about 50sq ft smaller for the same class on the Carnival Pride however the stateroom on the Pride cost us half of what we paid for this which was $2,600 per person. The balcony was also noticeably shallower and was less private than the Pride. One note for those of you with privacy phobias, when it gets dark out, your balcony glass becomes a mirror. Anyone to the right or left your stateroom can see everything in your room! Close the privacy white curtain to mask your nakedness, please! Storage is adequate for two people with 4 bags. The toilet seemed to be 3 feet off of the ground and I am a tall person to begin with. There was the noticeable stench of what I called the RV blue water smell in almost every hallway of the ship. On any of the decks the smell of bleach was substituted. Vile!

You will also not find an iron or ironing board to save your life. You will pay a nice fee for them to press your clothes! The hair dryer is a joke so even a travel sized hair dryer is better than the piece they let you use.

Food and dining-

After checking out the stateroom, we headed for the WindJammer Café. Before you enter the café though, one of the hand cleaner guards will make sure you place your hands underneath the hand cleaner station! Everything here is served buffet style. The food is marginal at best; in fact most of the cheap buffets found in Las Vegas beat it hands down. The selection was your typical breakfast, lunch and dinner de jour and the quality and selection remained consistent throughout the voyage.

As for our dinning, we chose the second seating which is not a good thing on this ship or perhaps just this excursion. First of all, if you wanted to catch any of the shows, you have to go before dinner, usually between 6 and 7pm. On the Carnival Pride, second seating dining got their shows between 10:30 and 11:30pm! Sadly, we never went to one show, except the adults-only midnight comedy. Back to dining, it is tasteless and not very imaginative. Anything we ordered that we medium always came out well and the portions are very “California” style. Our waiter seemed annoyed if we asked for an additional portion and it wasn’t until I complained did he lose the attitude. The assistant waiters service was excellent though.

If you are counting on the WindJammer being opened for a midnight snack, forget about it! The nice touch on the Carnival Pride was that the buffet was open until 1 am. In fact, the Carnival buffet was open from 6am straight through until 1am; however the Serenade buffet closes periodically throughout the day. So, what do you do when you are hungry at 1:00am? Order crappy room service that will take over an hour to get to your stateroom, even with VIP status. One night our order of hot dogs took an hour and a half and when they arrived they were ice cold on stale buns. The room service selection is horrible and if you are craving a turkey sandwich from room service between 6am and 11am, forget about it because they only serve breakfast! LAME!

Our only decent meals were during our excursions. I know everyone has different tastes but we were not the only cruisers that had such a negative opinion of the food; more to follow on this.

Ship activities-

Shopping, BINGO, shopping, silent auction. Royal Caribbean, if you are reading this, PLEASE stop hocking cheap watches, roses and gold on a roll on the deck floors. Every deck from 4 to 11 had junk for sale during most of the day. Then in your room you had a couple of pounds of crappy shopping coupons not to mention the shopping junket information for each destination city. I have never seen so much cheap shopping in my life, not even in Mexico! There is no live music in the Solarium, the only pool that is protected from the elements, in fact there are no live activities other than a bunch of rowdy kids running around between 1pm and 4pm. Although our weather was perfectly sunny almost the entire time, you just can’t sit out on the main pool deck without feeling a little chill. The activities just seemed very limited compared to all of the constant shows and bands that played around the clock on the Pride.

The spa and gym is where we spent our time between excursions. The spa is over priced compared to the level of the experience of the “spa technicians”. The gym has one lonely water fountain and there is no bottled water to be found. I do recommend that you purchase the couples package for use of the Razual and the spa lounge for the week. The equipment in the gym is average and will get the job done to burn off those extra calories. The locker rooms are also adequate except I kept finding peoples junk in my assigned locker. By the third day I stopped being nice and just left there stuff on the bench since they apparently could not read.

Excursions-

This is the only thing that saved our trip next to the perfect weather. The two excursions we booked, albeit the most expensive, through Royal Caribbean were perfect. We booked our own whale watching and helicopter tour for Juneau and it was exceptional and substantially less than Royal Caribbean’s package. Expect to do nothing in Skagway so book something that takes all day. We did the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari Expedition in Skagway and in Ketchikan we did the Exclusive Guided Fishing & Wilderness dining. For Juneau we booked both packages directly with Orca Enterprises and I recommend you do this too if you want the best whale watching and glacier helicopter tour. You can save some money on the Ketchikan expedition as well if you go directly to exclusivealaska.com. One thing I would like to point out is that we had some of the best weather that even the guides hadn’t seen in years. The skies were flawless blue and bright and sunny. I couldn’t have imagined it rainy and I think it would have taken the experience down a notch. Every mountain peak was visible around the clock!

Debarkation-

We were in group purple 8, one of the last few groups called to leave the ship. You have to be out of your room at 8am, which we were. We did not leave the ship until 9:50 and then we spent the next hour in the Canadian customs line followed by another 45 minutes in the taxi line. Both the WindJammer and the dining room closed by 8:30am whereas the Pride kept the buffet open the entire time, albeit limited in selection.

Final thoughts-

This was a disappointing holiday from a service and value standpoint. It seemed that this was not the appropriate ship for this cruise. All of the other cruise ships had retractable enclosed upper decks. Given that you have daylight almost around the clock through most of the cruise, too many things closed earlier than they should have. For two of us including airfare from Phoenix, Arizona, hotel and the excursions, we spent $13,000! That is for two people! The balcony on this trip is a must as it allowed us to privately view the glacier, see whales and keep dry and warm in the process. Other well traveled cruise folk (10+ cruises) also noticed a lot of the same things we did so I know it wasn’t just us. I did fill out a comment card but I don’t expect anything will change. I doubt that we will every use Royal Caribbean again because of this one experience. More about this cruise including pictures can be found on my blog at http://www.garyhart.com/blog

and PS... I was the guy with the blue hair if anyone saw me around the ship or out on an excursion :D

and PS... I was the guy with the blue hair if anyone saw me around the ship or out on an excursion :D

Thanks for your review. It sounds like Carnival is a much better fit for you than RCI.

Thanks for your review. It sounds like Carnival is a much better fit for you than RCI.

We are going to give Holland a try next and perhaps keep working our way down to the smaller groups. It just seemed that RCI wasn't trying hard enough rather just doing the minimum required. With the decline in cruise bookings this year you would think they would take it up a notch to get repeat business. While your stateroom attendant and waiters have "nice" personalities, it the consistent level of service and offerings that complete the expectation circle.

We are booked on The HAL Westerdam - Alaska Inside passage 8/27-9/3. the posts concerning the wether have been so varried... What is the best/worst we can expect in terms of the weather? THANKS!

We are booked on The HAL Westerdam - Alaska Inside passage 8/27-9/3. the posts concerning the wether have been so varried... What is the best/worst we can expect in terms of the weather? THANKS!

From what the local guides told us, it is mostly rainy and cool. For instance, Ketchikan gets 244 days of rain per year. The day we were there they had none. In fact, the owner of Fat Stans was leaving to go play golf of all things! We were blessed to have 100% clear skies with the exception of one day at sea before arriving back in Vancouver but we were confined to the ship anyway.

$13,000??!! We are in a Grand Suite on the Radiance and have a 13 day cruise tour. With airfare the total for the 3 of us was $9200. If I spent $13,000 for a balcony room, I would be miffed as well! :eek:

$13,000??!! We are in a Grand Suite on the Radiance and have a 13 day cruise tour. With airfare the total for the 3 of us was $9200. If I spent $13,000 for a balcony room, I would be miffed as well! :eek:

The breakdown:

$2400.00 - RT First Class Airfare PHX-YVR

$5800.00 - Stateroom, Class E2 Deluxe Oceanview Balcony

$2700.00 - SeaPass charges (mostly all SPA)

$1100.00 - Excursions

$1000.00 - Hotel and meals in Vancouver

Hi,

Wow! That sure is a bit more than our trip on the NCL Sun. Here is our breakdown for two adults:

Cruise- oceanview room $578 (I had an NCL mastercard voucher for $2,000)

Airfare- $420 from Ohio (Capital One paid for the other ticket)

Hotel- Crowne Plaza in Seattle: free- (Capital One card)

Excursions: $538 (Yukon adventure on WP RR), Wildlife excursion in Ketchikan,

Mendenhall deluxe tour, gold panning)

taxis and shuttles: $82 plus tips

Casinos, drinks and extras: $90

Total: $1,708 plus gifts purchased and tips for two adults and we had a GREAT time.

I love a bargain!!!!

Donna

The breakdown:

 

$2400.00 - RT First Class Airfare PHX-YVR

$5800.00 - Stateroom, Class E2 Deluxe Oceanview Balcony

$2700.00 - SeaPass charges (mostly all SPA)

$1100.00 - Excursions

$1000.00 - Hotel and meals in Vancouver

If this was only two people, somebody's travel agent got in somebody's pocket pretty good. 6 weeks out and a balcony room-you should have almost been given the cruise for free. You were charged close to full brochure price.

And air from PHX to YVR is readily available, FC, any day of the week on Am West, American, Alaska, and United for about $1000.00

Please do your homework next time. Maybe you will enjoy the cruise a little more.

Total: $1,708 plus gifts purchased and tips for two adults and we had a GREAT time.

 

I love a bargain!!!!

 

Donna

And a bargin it was, way to go. I will be sticking my next holoday to American Express and Diners Club big time as I have accumlated massive points between the two, enough I believe to keep us away for a month and a half! I was just disappointed with the value we recieved on the ship for the amount we paid. First class domestic airfare only gets you more of an area to relax and nothing else so I never expect anything there. The spa treatments where ok and it certainly was better than sitting around and getting hammered.

If this was only two people, somebody's travel agent got in somebody's pocket pretty good. 6 weeks out and a balcony room-you should have almost been given the cruise for free. You were charged close to full brochure price.

 

And air from PHX to YVR is readily available, FC, any day of the week on Am West, American, Alaska, and United for about $1000.00

 

Please do your homework next time. Maybe you will enjoy the cruise a little more.

Ok, I purchased two First Class tickets on America West and they were $1100 per person, round trip and then I added the trip protection. Both the RCI website and American Express travel had the identical prices for the stateroom. The published prices for the excursion are just that!

So what homework do I do the next time? Who sells the stateroom cheaper? In fact, who sells the first class airfare cheaper?

How many places are you goint to post the same review? I would have thought from your actual review and where you mentioned prices, but no breakdown, that you had some great suite or something. I do think Carnival is for you, now more than ever.

How many places are you goint to post the same review? I would have thought from your actual review and where you mentioned prices, but no breakdown, that you had some great suite or something. I do think Carnival is for you, now more than ever.

How do you come to the conclusion that Carnival is for me? Do you know me? You are taking my review way to personal and as I pointed out in my last reply to you in another thread, I guess the only thing that pleases folks around here is a positive and happy review.

I had great excursions, I met great people but the quality and consistancy of the service on this ship was lacking, period.

Take a look at http://content.onlineagency.com/index.asp?site=3835&tide=2272859

The E2 cabin is about $1800 (that's high). I assume that's per person. Even for two people that's only $3600...why did you pay $5800? Where is the other $2000 going?

I think maybe what the other poster meant by 'do your homework', is that the trip probably could have been had for less money if you had checked out other sites, maybe done some shopping around. It seems like you did everything as expensive as it could have been done. We are flying from L.A. to Seattle on Alaska Airlines in a few weeks for an Alaskan cruise and it's going to be $344/person.

We have also booked excursions totalling $1100.

We aren't going to stay in Vancouver this time, but we've been there before, and it's not an expensive city to visit. You only stayed for one night and it cost you $1000? Where did you eat? What did you do? We were there for 4 days and it cost us $1000, total. We stayed in a very nice place right in downtown...the name of it escapes me at the moment, but a beautiful hotel.

Our total cruise...we will have an oceanview room, because we spend little time in the cabin, and most of the time out and about on the ship...will cost $2500.

We have to pay $34 total for the shuttle to get us from the airport to the port...we are sharing that with the other couple, so about $17 for the two of us.

Yes, we'll have some charges on our SeaPass card (we'll be on Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas)...the tips, whatever souvenirs we buy onboard, whatever we buy on the excursions, but the fact is, this trip won't cost us anywhere near $13,000. Probably about $5000. And, for $13,000 you should have had a much longer cruise, and probably could have gone to Europe.

I've been on Carnival Pride many times...we live in so. California and we can drive to the port in less than an hour...it's a cheap, fast getaway for us.

I think you were looking for a different experience. A Carnival ship and any other cruise line are two different types of experiences. There are many Carnival ships and destinations. I would try to stick with the Carnival cruises...I think you'll enjoy those more.

Take a look at http://content.onlineagency.com/index.asp?site=3835&tide=2272859

 

The E2 cabin is about $1800 (that's high). I assume that's per person. Even for two people that's only $3600...why did you pay $5800? Where is the other $2000 going?

 

I think you were looking for a different experience. A Carnival ship and any other cruise line are two different types of experiences. There are many Carnival ships and destinations. I would try to stick with the Carnival cruises...I think you'll enjoy those more.

I just got of the phone with American Express Travel and they said any cruise on or including the July 4th holiday is always more expensive and the rates available for a middle of August booking are more in line with what you posted above. Damn those holiday's!

We also believe it is the number of people on the cruise as well. This was 100% full whereas the Carnival Pride was 60% booked in October of 2004. A lot of members here have emailed me and suggested Celebrity or Holland so we may try one of those next.

Ok, I purchased two First Class tickets on America West and they were $1100 per person, round trip and then I added the trip protection. Both the RCI website and American Express travel had the identical prices for the stateroom. The published prices for the excursion are just that!

 

So what homework do I do the next time? Who sells the stateroom cheaper? In fact, who sells the first class airfare cheaper?

I am not going to pick on you, but I think you need to do your homework. You spent $13,000 for everything. OK, your money-spend it as your wish. Excursions and personal expenses don't count-only fixed costs.

What caught my eye-you purchased the airline trip protection, which to me would indicate you didn't buy travel insurance. Or if you did buy travel insurance, you over insured. The extra airline trip insurance cost would have almost paid for a total travel insurance policy, which would have covered EVERYTHING. So there is a saving.

Direct off AmWest website for travel TOMORROW. FC RT to Vancouver. FC prices don't change much from day to day or week to week.

Summary (1 Passenger)

Base Fare $967.50

Taxes and Fees $42.23

Grand Total $1,009.73

That looks cheaper to me.

And there are so many ways to get a better price on your cruise. If you have the luxury of leaving at the last minute (and it sounds like you do), there are websites which sell cabins at the last minute. Very reputable agencies. Can't mention a name, but they advertise on CC.

Just for comparison-same ship, Labor Day, CRUISETOUR, including two nights in Vancouver and Vancouver tours and a trip to Whistler, as well as the same cruise you were on. 10 days total- Per Passenger Fare Summary in a D1 cabin, which is two category grades better than your cabin.

#1

$1,889.00

$170.00

$57.85

$2,116.85

#2

$1,889.00

$170.00

$57.85

$2,116.85

†† ProtectAssist® Protection Plan (Insurance):

$242.00

Approximate Total Price:

$4,475.70

Do your homework.

What caught my eye-you purchased the airline trip protection, which to me would indicate you didn't buy travel insurance. Or if you did buy travel insurance, you over insured. The extra airline trip insurance cost would have almost paid for a total travel insurance policy, which would have covered EVERYTHING. So there is a saving.

 

Direct off AmWest website for travel TOMORROW. FC RT to Vancouver. FC prices don't change much from day to day or week to week.

Summary (1 Passenger)

Base Fare $967.50

 

 

Taxes and Fees $42.23

 

Grand Total $1,009.73

 

That looks cheaper to me.

 

 

Do your homework.

My airfare was close to that per person but I had tickets for 2 (TWO) people not one!!!!!! The travel protection from the cruise only protects airfare that you purchase as a package, not on your own - read the travel protection policy.

As for the actual cruise itself, I was just told from AMEX Travel that rates for certain holidays, including the 4th of July tend to be higher because the booking rate is almost 100%

My airfare was close to that per person but I had tickets for 2 (TWO) people not one!!!!!! The travel protection from the cruise only protects airfare that you purchase as a package, not on your own - read the travel protection policy.

 

As for the actual cruise itself, I was just told from AMEX Travel that rates for certain holidays, including the 4th of July tend to be higher because the booking rate is almost 100%

You said you spent $2400.00 for air for two. Well, unless my math fails me, $1009.73 x 2 is $2,019.46, a saving of almost $400.00.

Why would you buy cruise line travel insurance? There are plenty of policies readily available which cover air and cruise and a whole lot of other stuff.

I will give you that certain holidays are higher. However, my example included 3 nights hotels and tours + the same 7 day cruise you took, so the price is probably close to the same for a seven day cruise over 4th of July. And if nothing else, when it gets close to sailing date, the last few cabins generally have huge price reductions, so the ship does go out at 100%.

Since we can't duplicate the rate for THIS year, we can take a look into the future. Same category, same ship, next year over 4th of July.

Per Passenger Fare Summary

#1

$1,570.00

$219.00

$57.24

$1,846.24

#2

$1,570.00

$219.00

$57.24

$1,846.24

†† ProtectAssist® Protection Plan (Insurance):

$194.00

Approximate Total Price:

$3,886.48

Pay this amount today:

$694.00

This amount due 11 Apr, 2007:

$3,192.48

As I stated, you need to do some homework. AMEX travel, unless you are getting some kind of special, is one of the higher places to book anything. I have called AMEX to book some specialty stuff (resort type hotels mostly) for my company. They never could compete with the average travel agent and certainly can't compete with direct booking off the internet.

Do your homework.

You said you spent $2400.00 for air for two. Well, unless my math fails me, $1009.73 x 2 is $2,019.46, a saving of almost $400.00.

 

I will give you that certain holidays are higher. However, my example included 3 nights hotels and tours + the same 7 day cruise you took, so the price is probably close to the same for a seven day cruise over 4th of July. And if nothing else, when it gets close to sailing date, the last few cabins generally have huge price reductions, so the ship does go out at 100%.

 

Since we can't duplicate the rate for THIS year, we can take a look into the future. Same category, same ship, next year over 4th of July.

 

As I stated, you need to do some homework. AMEX travel, unless you are getting some kind of special, is one of the higher places to book anything. I have called AMEX to book some specialty stuff (resort type hotels mostly) for my company. They never could compete with the average travel agent and certainly can't compete with direct booking off the internet.

 

Do your homework.

And again, the $400 difference is nothing when it comes to airfare and I was never complaining about the airfare, only the price of the cruise when it comes to the level and quality of the ship and its services.

As for the cruise price I paid, I went to the Royal website first and their rate was $40 more per person than AMEX. I did a few other website searches and they were all in the same ballpark for qouting a room with only a GTY status!

Sure, a cruise a year from now probably has plenty of "cheap rate" rooms available but I booked 6 weeks out and there were only 3 GTY rooms left in the price category with a balcony. I was out of options at that point but I am sure you have another way I could have gone.