Itchy&Scratchy

so glad y'all mentioned this.... I was about to get redeem my award points at work for a Celebrity gift card, but I read the T&Cs, and yeap - just like yours, it's a certificate, not a gift card, and as such it can only be applied towards the cruise balance payment. Cannot be applied to OBC or a cruise deposit. 😞

if you do a search "bring and soda", you will find many similar threads:

will NOT be a problem.

it took 2 weeks without expediting in December 2023. It took 8 weeks in August 2023. I think I'll wait a bit and not lose a year of passport validity.

oh. We don't have that "problem". 🙂 We can only go during school breaks which we know of well ahead.

through Celebrity. We don't book through TAs. P.S. Oh, and it's our first X cruise. P.P.S. Didn't get any OBC for our next two X cruises, though.

why hurry? You don't even know if she has another cruise or international travel planned any time soon.

not THAT long. We got $300 OBC on our upcoming 8n cruise in the inside cabin on Reflection. I booked it less than a year ago.

not sure what "outside the norm" means, but we cruise with a school aged child, so we must adhere to school breaks, and we only like to sail in the Caribbean at this time. We also never get alcohol packages or specialty dining, and we don't gamble either. Never had a butler, and the most upscale cabin we ever got was a regular balcony. But mostly inside or obstructed balconies due to cost, though. I am sure that sailing outside of holidays or school breaks would definitely save us money (as it did before our kid started school), but we are not willing to either leave him at home or take him out of school when it's convenient for us to sail.

try pricing a shorter cruise during a school holiday instead. 🙂

we are going to stop by Publix before the cruise and carry on a couple of 12-packs of sodas.

reminds me of this.... darn, somebody already posted it. Fine. I'll post a different one.

from the IV reviews I've read, it gets hot very quickly in the Caribbean climate and it takes hours to get back to normal temperature.

we usually end up going to the beach bar right where the taxi drops you off. It is not very big, so it fills up pretty quickly, but people do leave sometimes in the middle of the day so you can get a better spot. Last time we were there, they roped off a large area for our own cruise's beach break, but before that - the entire beach bar area was available. I think there is Sorobon Beach resort right next to it (to the right if looking at the water), but we never looked closely. I believe other people recommend Chogogo resort for fuller amenities, and it's not very expensive for the day beach break option. I think $25 including $10 food credit.

well, I guess it was sorta fun. I love talking and love dogs (and dog parks).... A rather small consolation, I am afraid. Get better soon!

well, now that you quoted it, even if she removes her images, you will still have to remove yours.

I think it may be because your kid is over 12. At 13+ they get the non-alcohol package. Applicable for minors aged 3-12 on North American and Caribbean itineraries (Alcohol-free package available for minors 13-20 years old).

thanks, but that looks like paying for the cruise fare, and I was asking about adding gift cards as OBC before the cruise (online). I just looked and couldn't find it online.

that's why I only use the gift cards for onboard spending. I use Chase to pay for the cruise...

there might be a difference between Minor's package and Alcohol Free package: https://www.msccruisesusa.com/on-board/dining-drinks/drinks-packages but it won't let me click on them. I do see that there is a difference between a package for under 12 yo and 13 and over: If an adult purchases a drinks package, are underage guests required to do the same thing as well? Yes, the Minors Package must be purchased for all underage guests travelling with adults who purchase a beverage package. Applicable for minors aged 3-17 on European itineraries and 3-12 on North American and Caribbean itineraries (Alcohol-free package available for minors 13-20 years old).

we only cruise twice a year (this year is an anomaly with 3 cruises, yay!), but neither my DH nor I change a lot over the years, so the same pic works for a loooong time. Now, our kiddo's pic is from like 3 years ago, but he still has the same baby face even though he added a bit of height and weight. 🙂

oh, no! Since you mentioned being a very active person, I totally thought that you must have been doing some sporty or fun activity... Also, I deemed myself safe from sustaining a similar injury simply because I don't participate in any active fun. Well, apparently, I am not safe either. ok, yes, that happened to me too, but not a shattered leg and months of recovery and PT... My situation is better described by memes:

is there a way to add an e-gift card to my onboard account before the cruise on the website? I don't want to call. Or do I need to wait till we board? Thanks. P.S. To clarify - this is not a gift card purchased on X website. This is something I'd buy a the store or credit card reward points.

I took a passport style photo of my DH and DS against a wall some time ago, and DH did the same for me. I cropped them and now use the same photos as security photos for all our cruises. No need to do a selfie every time we need a security photo for the cruise.

yes, we got it for our then 12 yo kiddo on our Nov 2023 Seascape cruise. We got the "Easy Plus drinks and wifi included" package. Not free, obviously, but the kid's Minor package was tucked on with ours. Otherwise, I think it's expensive on its own. Seascape only had Red bull and Red bull zero sugar in terms of energy drinks. They had real problems with supplies in the buffet bar, sometimes they had regular and sometimes only the zero sugar version. Maybe, other bars were better stocked. Don't know anything about the protein cocktails. Didn't order any. Soft serve is only free for about an hour in the afternoon in the buffet on Seascape. It is supposed to be included in the non-Alcohol/Minor's package, but crew members were very confused about it. I hope it's different on Seashore. 🙂 Otherwise, it's $5 for a cone of soft serve. Ugh. Fancy coffee is included in the Minor's package (latte, cappuccino, americano). They didn't have many different varieties, like Starbucks (not that we ever go there anyway). The cups were tiny. Might as well get a couple while you are at it. If you got it at a non-buffet bar in a to-go cup, they were bigger. Mocktails were all included, I am not sure there was a $ limit, but they are all under $9 anyway. My kid tried a ton of them, and love Miami Vice Zero most of all.