luckyinpa

earlier this month we took the mayan tour. the guide was fantastic. you knew he lived and breathed for the history. the breadth of knowledge he had was amazing. best guided tour i ever had! the walk to the hut is simple. but of course as with every port, the maze of junk you have to walk through to get out of the port is just horrific. i felt like a huge bag of catnip and every single shop owner was a cat had different witticisms to try to get you to look at them or engage so they got a piece of me. ive never known a single person to be forced into buying something so unsure why this practice keeps happening. once you get to the native hut you need to make yourself known and check in and pay your balance due or just get your wristband. I didnt count but my guess is the van holds 12 to 14 people. they do ask for volunteers to sit up front. 2 seats are there if you are so inclined. during the trip out he gives you tons of local knowledge. and you can ask anything you want of course. also in case theres any doubt, this is walking through a jungle. there are some paths but there are many tree roots, rocks, and tons of obstacles. you need to pay attention to where you walk. i saw strollers but based on what i saw, that really wasnt fun for those people. theres one optional viewing of 2 temples on top of a hill and the steps to get there are somewhat challenging. im old and out of shape but i made it but if you are scared of heights you probably cant do it. on the way down it's a bit challenging. but the reward at the top is worth it. also i recommend taking the steps on the left. vs on the right. they are smaller and easier to navigate. also put your SHIP CARD a very safe place. someone in our group lost it and the driver (who by the way is tasked with carrying umbrellas AND water for us, which is AMAZING) went back and found it. another group saw the ship card on a tree so someone just picked it up and put it there for people to see. i heard in another group the same thing happened. while you can def get on the ship without the pass, you will have a hard time getting through port security without it. i also have to say as a child id probably be bored stiff with all the educational stuff but there's enough stuff to climb on and walk through the jungle so they probably will be ok. but as an adult i soaked up all the fascinating knowledge. 5 stars!

how much savings is there on GTY? curious how much they saved to get this agony

i read through your review and will be on liberty shortly. im aware the concierge is your point person since these ships dont have genies. for the food/drink you ordered on disembark day for you and your guests did you ask for specific things to be delivered to the cabin or just say we have X people and would like some food? also were you ever charged for the food and did you get any regularly delivered things or just called when you felt like something?

im so spoiled by CK on oasis that i did indeed book chops for embark day on liberty. cant remember last time i did a buffet on the 1st day on any ship. way too crazy. heck on oasis at least you have solarium which also is very good. ive been in there for a while with no one there because newbies dont know it's an option. also i noticed the dinner time filet is only 1 oz larger than lunch and it's 30 bucks more. thats a very expensive oz!

can MDR or YC dinners be delivered to the suite or just room service?

curious. do they size you up for the pjs. or just a one size fits all. ive gotten more..muscular in my old age

i booked ascent and got 800 and glad i booked when i did. i'm sure if i waited not only would pricing have gone up. but if i would have lost 800 that would have been sad

i always wondered how much commission they do get since my TA gives me 10 percent ish across most suites i've booked on a few different cruise lines. i just assumed he gets at least 20 and gives me half.

my 100 msc money showed up as soon as my TA booked my cruise. matter of fact i didnt even know i was getting any from msc

had to email oasis a few weeks after our may cruise. lotta people in the forum didnt get one

introduce pandemic. wait for sailing to open. then book. i got a haven 2 br for 2100 pp. those prices today are a tad higher!

great to know. thanks. i do have high expectations in a year for my retirement cruise. also i hope le voyage and the rest of the dining experiences continue to be free.

curious about any first hand villa experiences

did a princess cruise in 'normal weather' that missed halifax. maine and newport. casino got rich that trip. but one time in st john had so much fun renting a car and spending hours in the caves area. you must get there at low tide and get out or you WILL be trapped but thats part of the excitement

book a car and drive to st martins caves after looking at the tide charts. go during low tide and you can walk out to the third 'alcove' and have tons of fun!

i wonder if an infrequent traveler would have as much luck. also wondering if screenshots from a phone saying delay would be accepted.

liberty cruise

never been on MSC but on my upcoming cruise my TA called MSC and they specifically told him that his gift to me was NOT refundable so he's mailing me a check after the cruise. unsure what your origination of your credit is but i know id never take a chance on losing money

ive been researching flight cancellation situations and i see insurance requires proof of the airline delay . so if you are at the airport does the person at the desk give you a letter saying your flight was delayed or cancelled? just curious the exact information people need to prove a flight was cancelled or delayed for X hours . also how do you prove no other flights were available?

i see nick for sponge bob and hgtv for home shows. im happy 🙂 on NCL they had 2 movies channels and one tv channel that played totally random stuff like star trek. original batman but then stuff like friends or other sit coms .. it was all commercial free but if the show ended at 22 after. you had 8 minutes of time till the next show was on . very strange

for me my source was TA calling MSC and they said his gift to me was NOT refundable on the ship so he's mailing me a check after the cruise. royal , princess and NCL always had put it back on my credit card so this is something new to me and ill be checking for every new cruise line in the future. matter of fact i forget which line but one now demands you go to guest services to get cash or they wont let you off the ship!

speaking of PPV. are they free in YC? like debde, i spend time in my cabin sometimes. i know it's weird to be in a room you pay for, but thats me!

i just noticed on my TA invoice it says 500 non refundable OBC so i wrote to him and his accounting dept will change it to a check he also told me MSC made it against the rules to discount cruises so he cannot just discount my pricing. has anyone else gotten a discount price up front recently?

takes time to find a decent TA. i got lucky and got one on a compete site and he generally gives me shy of 10% on my suites and the cruise lines usually toss in a bit. but a balcony room will never get as much as a suite. also depends on lines. sometimes my TA takes the discount right off the price. but mostly it's listed as Gift OBC. for example one time i just got a mini suite on princess and it was a a small discount directly off the princess price then princess tossed in just 50 bucks. but on my once in a lifetime retirement cruise my TA offered to mail me 2300 after the cruise but the 800 that celebrity is giving me is not refundable so ill have to take it out through the slot machine

until reading on this forum, i had no idea that auto refund to CC was such a luxury that ive gotten on royal. i definitely see that as a perk now vs MSC. im glad i read , read. read. ive been teased for researching too much but this vindicates me for sure!!!! on my retirement cruise im getting 2300 from TA and 800 from X and i cant imagine if i was on msc and not aware that they were keeping that all from me! i'm also shocked that there hasnt been consumer uprising over this issue to change the msc rule that no one gets their money back. i also wonder what their 'theory' is that they get to keep the TA OBC.