Bruin Steve

They come right to the curb where you walk out the door with your luggage.  Hardest time I ever had was when I had to wheel my luggage past two other Ubers...

Agree.  A assume you paid by credit card?  Immediately call the bank issuing the card and challenge the charge.  Helps if you can provide them with copies of everything--like the confirmation from the hotel stating the cancelation policy as well as any copy of the cancelation confirmation (most hotels would have sent you one).

Personally, I am always very wary of prepaying for a hotels reservation--especially one with a small hotel operator.  Small companies go bankrupt, hotels go out of business...or they can just be difficult.  And, if you come back to Long Beach, you may want to consider staying at one of my list of recommended hotels--Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Centric, Renaissance, Westin, Maya Doubletree, Residence Inn Downtown, Hilton...At least you'd be dealing with a major chain--and they have processes in place to deal with this stuff (and you'd be in a better located, nicer, better run hotel).

But yes, file that complaint with your credit card--they will credit your bill, then they will contact the hotel company and make them prove the charge was legitimate.  And, again, the more back-up documentation you can provide them with the easier and faster it will go.

Uber or Lyft...Have both apps, check who's cheaper when you get off the ship.

Going TO LAX, they can drop you right at the curb...no shuttles or LAX-it lot to deal with.  Easy, less than a taxi, no surprise meter readings.   It's never taken me more than 10 minutes to get a ride...usually quicker...

I started reading from page 1, then realized I was reading a lot of info that was almost five years old and/or didn't apply to me.  Thought of starting a new, simpler thread, but figured I'd try here first:

Landing at LHR, T3--AA--at 9:00 am on Monday 22 July 2024.  Heading directly to Holiday Inn Southampton for 4 night precruise.  Two of us will probably each have 50 lb (23 kg) suitcases and, perhaps a carry-on each.  Best way?  Simple better.  Less expensive better. But least walking and fewer changes important as well.  Recommendations?  Thanks.

1 hour ago, Poconolady said:

Another note, the ship offered a tour for b2b guests only , but it wasn’t announced  until you were onboard. 

Do you recall what they offered for that B2B tour?  We are on B2B on Millennium in March/April...but ours are both Yokohama to Yokohama--so we're flying into Haneda 5 days early and staying in Shinjuku...We've got two tours planned for our pre-cruise already and one more for the disembarkation day after the second cruise since our flight doesn't leave until late.  By the time they would let us know what this tour encompasses, we might already have seen the places they are visiting. Probably okay though...with our intensive itinerary, we were planning on just staying on the ship on turnaround day.

Since I originally started this thread, a lot of our plans have taken on more form.  Our cruise has gotten longer--as we've added the following Norwegian Fjords World Cruise leg--another 9 nights--so, now, we are cruising 24 total nights, Southampton to Amsterdam.  We've booked our air TO LHR, arriving July 22, four days prior to embarking on the 26th in Southampton.  And, though we've yet to be able to book air home, we've booked a hotel in Amsterdam for 3 nights post-cruise...

So, since it's going to be a long, complicated trip and since we've toured a lot of the "mainland" of Southwest England in the past, we've decided to keep our pre-cruise relatively simple.  Therefore:

1)  We have booked all four pre-cruise nights at the Holiday Inn on Herbert Walker.  We don't want to drag luggage to and from different hotels and on and off of trains and ferries.

2)  My wife still wants to visit the Isle of Wight (I think it's the Beatles song "When I'm 64" that has her intrigued) and wants to see Osborne House (I'll have to explain to her that its NOT Ozzie and Sharon--they actually live near us--in Southern California!).

3)  We'll need to find some sort of transportation from LHR to Southampton (hopefully something reasonable and easy...National Express?)

4)  We will waste at least one full day lounging around the hotel and surrounding shopping mall recovering from the long flight and major time zone change.

5)  The extra full day in Southampton, we will likely just tour around Southampton--unless there is something simple to do nearby and worthwhile...perhaps an organized bus day tour if one exists.  Other than that, I have no great need to try to visit a lot of places and complicate things.

So, for the Isle of Wight, the passenger ferry to West Cowes, then find local transortation to Osborne House and back?  Or take the ferry to East Cowes, walk to the Osborne House and find transportation to West Cowes and return from there?  Aside from Osborne House, any "must-sees" that could be easily fit into a short one-day visit?  How best to organize the day?  Thanks.

When cruising out of Southampton, we've always stayed at the Holiday Inn on Herbert Walker...It's great to wake up embarkation morning and see our ship docked virtually right outside our window, then make that incredibly short walk to baggage drop and check-in.

But there are also a few other hotels in the area.  Many on our upcoming July 2024 cruise have booked the Leonardo across the road...and there is also a "Moxy" hotel next to the Premier Inn...and two Ibis hotels and a Novotel on the other end of the West Quay shopping mall...and a Mercure and a Travelodge nearby.  We considered all of them for next July ...before booking, once more, the Holiday Inn...

Lots of shopping and restaurants within this same area...and it's a short walk into the more historic part of Southampton...So, any of these hotels work--assuming you like the hotel.

For this upcoming trip, we are spending our longest stay in Southampton--four nights.  We plan on wasting at least one day relaxing and recovering from the long flight from LA and the major time zone change...and another, taking the ferry across to the Isle of Wight and spending the day exploring there.  The Red Funnel (passenger ferry from Southampton to West Cowes) ferry pier is also a short walk from the HI.

UPDATE:  Since people are still visiting this thread, I thought I'd complete the loop:

When we originally booked, there was a wide price margin between a Veranda Guarantee and a Concierge booking.  So, we took the Veranda Guarantee...got quickly assigned...and that is when I posted the original comment in this thread.

But, soon after that, they dropped the price of that Concierge Guarantee...So, I called my TA and we grabbed it.  Gave up that V2 and went back into the unassigned pool....and, this time, we waited 15 days...

...and remainded unassigned for a bit longer after that, but 15 days later, I logged on to find us assigned to #1660--a C1, but even closer to the very rear of the ship.

So, I checked availability...and called my TA and had them call Celebrity...and we got moved.

NOW, we are in #1243--IMHO, one of the best cabins on the ship...on the "slant"...with a balcony almost three times the size of a standard balcony...and conveniently just off the aft elevators.

Still, 15 days for an assignment is not too bad!

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

We booked the Banks Mansion...

Banks Mansion wants 571 euros per night for my dates!  And I checked the Kimpton DeWitt....and, with our dates not there yet, I checked the week before--$417 US per night...

Other choices might come on line soon, but $200 per night for a well-reviewd hotel in a great location will likely be hard to beat.

We're doing a couple of segments of the RCCL World Cruise and we disembark next August 19th in Amsterdam.  Being that far out, we don't even have flights home yet...but I know how expensive Amsterdam can be...and that it helps to book a hotel really early to, at least, hedge for a good deal.  So, I've arbitrarily figured on three nights...We'll get the flights later.  But, because things can change, I'm looking for a cancelable rate.

Last time we cruised in and out of Amsterdam (Summer before the pandemic!), we stayed at the Kimpton DeWitt.  Like the area and the hotel, but rates aren't even up yet.  Looking for something in the same general area, I came across the WestCord City Centre.  It seems to get very good reviews and ratings of 8.0 or higher on various hotel sites.  And, right now, I was able to book three nights on a fully cancelable rate, with breakfast included...and including taxes, for about $200 US per night (depending, of course, on fluctuations in the exchange rates now to next year).  But I know very little about this hotel.

Anyone have any familiarity with this property?  Any opinions or comments?  Thanks.

I live in Calabasas...

...and, when I cruise out of San Pedro (unless I find a "too good to be believed" Park 'n' Cruise rate at the CP or DT in Pedro), my new "go-to" is to just Uber or Lyft from home to port and back...I check both apps and go with whoever is cheaper at the time...

Surprisingly, it costs us about the same as when going to LAX--which is 20 miles closer! Last June/July, for an example, it cost us, with Uber, including tip, $59 Calabasas to the pier and $66 home...So, for us, we save money off the $140 parking tab for a 7 night cruise--and we don't have to pay for a tank of gas or leave our car sitting exposed in the lot.

For you, I guess it would beat the one-way rental car charges and save the inconvenience of picking up and returning the car...plus gas.

So, where are you staying in Calabasas?  We like the Hilton...it was our home away from home for a couple of months just before the pandemic when we had a home repair/remodel going on and had to move out.

One note on the Maya:  At times, they have offered a special "Carnival Rate"...but they also often don't list is on the web...You have to call the hotel directly and ask about it.  May or may not get it but it's worth the call and the ask...

We used to drive down and park in the lot--which had always been fairly easy...

But we haven't done that for awhile now...

Now, we do one of two things:

1)  If we book early enough, we get a cheap enough park'n'cruise rate at the CP...or, if we have a lot of Hilton points, stay a night at the Doubletree and leave the car there...or...

2)  We just Uber/Lyft there and back.  We live OVER AN HOUR from port (Calabasas) and we've gotten Uber/Lyft rides for about $50-60 each way (Edit:  I just looked it up on my "activity" tab on the Uber app--last three rides between home and the pier cost me, including tip, $55.97, $58.96 and $77.94--last one must have had a bit of "surge" and $65.54--Lyft on that last one...So, the last two cruises had round trip costs, including tips, of $114.93 and $143.48...Considering the lot for 7 nights is $20 per--or $140 plus about $25 just in gas, even at its worst, Uber/Lyft has been a bargain)...IOW, for about $100-120 plus tips--less than 7 nights parking at the port, we don't have to drive.  We don't pay for gas (5-6 gallons at $4.50-5:50 per gallon), no wear and tear on the car, we don't have to leave a car exposed to the elements and risks outdoors for a week, we don't risk accidents or traffic tickets there and back...and our driver drops us off and picks us up at the curb...If I lived closer to the port, it would be even more of a no-brainer.

On 8/9/2023 at 6:46 PM, lasvegascruising said:

... The hotel prices in Long Beach are so expensive in my opinion.  Good luck finding a decent price!  I guess it depends on what one considers decent, yes?  ...My only point of posting is that depending when one is cruising, downtown Long Beach hotels, the ones listed by Bruin Steve, are super expensive.  Of course, in my humble opinion.

Hotel Pricing 101

Okay, a little background...

I am retired now...but, II had a 35+ year career as a corporate attorney and executive...and I started out, back in 1977, working in the hotel industry--for Motel 6, Inc.  Before you all laugh, realize that, at the time, Motel 6 was the most profitable chain in the hotel industry.  The guys who founded it were, for all intent and purposes, business geniuses.  They understood how to build cheaper, market more efficiently and fill their motels at a higher occupancy rate than anyone else ever.

But, there was one aspect of their original scheme that soon required a bit of tweaking.  The original concept sold every room, on every date at every property for the exact same nightly room rate.  Problem is that your costs were not the same at every property. You could make an incredible profit in, say, Winnemucca, Nevada in the 1960s selling rooms at $6 a night...because the cost of building that motel were extremely low--since the largest portion of your initial cost was the purchase of the raw land.  Of course a $6 room rate was merely competitive there.  However, when you built that same hotel on the beach at Santa Barbara, California--where property, even in the 1960s was EXPENSIVE, it was very hard to make a decent profit at $6 per night.  And, of course you filled to capacity every night--because no one amongst the competition could charge anywhere close to that low rate--even in the "off-season" (if there was one).

So, Motel 6, as it grew, learned that you could still blow away the competition and fill all of your rooms and charge a competitive price.

The lesson is that ALL hotel rooms, wherever you go, are priced based on several factors.  Most importantly, NO ONE is in the business to lose money.  If you build a hotel or purchase a hotel, there is a cost...and you need to make a return on that investment.  To operate a hotel, you need to have staff...and, you have to pay them a wage commensurate with wages in the area so they can afford to live there.  In Southern California...especially in Coastal Southern California, real estate prices are extremely high--especially for choice, well located commercial property zoned for hotels...and wages are high.  Building and operating a hotel in prime Long Beach requires a very large investment.  You only get that money back charging what seems to you a high room rate.  It's unavoidable.

Now, you also have to recognize that all hotel room rates depend on the laws of supply and demand.  If demand is very high--like when there is a major convention in town--or, in the case of Long Beach, an event like the Long Beach Grand Prix--room rates will shoot through the roof. In any cruise port, hotels near the port will have a spike in rates when there is a ship embarking the next day (and, in Long Beach, that is almost every day).

Now, you will see another result of supply and demand.  When hotels first open their reservations for a particular date, they have their entire room total empty and many people are not thinking about where they are going a year in advance--high supply, low demand--and prices will be RELATIVELY low.  As rooms fill and more people are closer to their stay date, supply lowers and demand raises.  Hence, higher prices.

BOTTOM LINE:

1)  "High Prices" is a relative term.  Long Beach prices seem high to you because, relative to wherever else you have been traveling, they ARE high...because costs are high and demand is high. Compare them to hotels in, say, Beverly Hills...and they are low.  Actually, they are exactly where the market and the realities of the business say they should be.

2)  Always book early--if you can.  Best to book early with a cancelable rate...that way, you can monitor your prices--if they go down (which happens, however rare) or you find another better deal somewhere, you can cancel and change.

3)  Be very wary of extreme bargains--especially in an otherwise high price area.  You may be looking at a hotel that is in a very bad or dangerous area or that is poorly run and maintained or both.  If you fing a $100 hotel in a $300 town, realize that there is a reason.  You did not find a great deal, you found a distressed or scary property.

4)  If you are spending thousands of dollars on a nice cruise vacation, don't ruin it trying to save $100 on one pre-cruise hotel night.  Start your vacation like you are already on vacation.  Stay in a nice environment in a nice location with nice nearby restaurants and places to walk and visit in your free time and with easy logistics in getting to your cruise.  It's worth a little extra money.

Good luck.

2 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

I did scroll through several of the pages on here, but I may have missed it. We're coming into Barcelona next May, at the end of our Viking cruise. We dock on a Friday, and have the day there, but then disembark the next morning. We've opted to get a hotel room for that night, to fly out on Sunday instead. I didn't want to have to stress about getting to the airport the day we disembark. So we'll have all day Friday in town and then Saturday as well. Looking for a hotel near the cruise terminal for Viking, and then I'm looking, it appears there's plenty of public transportation ways to get to the airport on Sunday morning. Thanks so much for any tips/advice on this one night stay.

Cindy, the cruise ships dock near the southern terminus of Las Ramblas...so, it's a fairly short distance to most of the hotels people recommend on ths board...and a fairly inexpensive taxi ride--which is how you are going to want to go from ship to hotel...especially with luggage.  From whichever hotel to the airport for Sunday, it depends on your budget...you can always pay for a taxi or limo to the airport...but, if you want an easy and inexpensive way, again, use the Aerobus.  It goes from the northeast corner of the Placa Catalunya to the airport, departing every few minutes with only a couple of stops.  There are several hotels walking distance to the bus stop...I like the H10 Catalunya Plaza--just across the square.  There is also an Iberostar hotel right near the bus stop and a few others fairly close...But this is the area you should really look at.  Almost everything you might want to do in your short time in Barcelona is close by...lots of restaurants and a great El Corte Ingles department store and supermarket right there on the eastern side of the Placa as well.  Good luck.

7 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

many of us will not ever pay extra for all incl.  because it is not! There is a huge fee added on so my drinks from 5to 7, my laundry and my 240 mins wifi  and my cafe bacio is enough to complete what I need for a cruise .. so very valuable

And, if I don't want to pay for all-inclusive, I can also cruise Royal Caribbean and for my Diamond Plus status, I get 5 free drink vouchers per day, usable ALL DAY (and since my wife doessn't drink that much, I get some of hers too), a free bottle of wine in the cabin plus half a dozen free bottles of water, one bag of laundry each, two full 24 hour periods of wifi each (and can use each others' log-ons) and a Diamond Club with great service, appetizers in the evening and a 24 hour free cappuccino/espresso/latte machine....  The point remains that, even at its most advantageous, Captains Club benefits have gone downhill and those points really aren't worth chasing.

56 minutes ago, keesar said:

Are we allowed to sail on another line? 😀    You won't get those valuable points on Celebrity.

 

I am wondering how much a Power Up Point may actually be worth.  In the airline frequent flier programs,  it has been estimated that each point or mile is worth a little over 1 cent.  

 

 

If you're a point from Elite, they're worth, maybe, a little...

For a lot of us, they are virtually worthless...

I am Elite plus...but, even after my currently booked cruises, I'll still be just over 1,500 points from Zenith!  So picking up a handfull of PUP points is like getting a Fifty Cents Off coupon towards the purchase of a Mercedes Benz...

But, for the rest of you, what does making it to "the next level" really mean?  With All-inclusive pricing, the only real perk you get is a bag of laundry.   Even without AI, the proliferation of Elite members has already caused Celebrity to do away with the Elite Lounge...So, if you can get a server to take your order in an overcrowded bar (and not the MDR if you eat dinner in that time frame), you  may get a free $10 drink or two...Oh, just not on the first night...

As far as cruising other lines?  May be well worth it.  We just came thisclose to booking a cruise on Princess.  For about $60 extra per person per night, they were offering a Premium drink package ($20 per drink limit), 4 device wifi, gratuities and two free specialty restaurant nights per person.  Pricing blew away the AI pricing on Celebrity for same length cruise...and with better perks.  If I get very limited Captains Club perks or very high premiums for AI on Celebrity, it makes Princess all that much more attractive.

I'll be on Quantum in two weeks...supposed to stop in Juneau...wonder how this affects that?

1 hour ago, RetiredandTravel said:

Tokyo is very manageable.  Depending on how comfortable you feel you can easily do it on your own.  Japanese people are wonderful.  Not sure of your cruise or past experience but IMO Kyoto should be a prime focus.

I understand Tokyo is "manageable" on our own...We just like having a tour of some sort for orientation purposes in an unfamiliar city.  It also becames a method of efficiently organizing the day. The Tokyo tour is only one day of the five we will be there.  Doing a tour to Nikko would just be a way of having a guide to take us out of the city.

As to Kyoto being a focus, we will actually be visiting Kyoto for a considerable amount of time.  We are on two 12-night cruises and both itineraries have two-day stops in Osaka in order to visit Kyoto...as well as a stop in nearby Kobe).

Day 1, Thu, Mar 28, 2024  TOKYO (YOKOHAMA), JAPAN  Departs: 7:00PM
Day 2, Fri, Mar 29, 2024  MT FUJI (SHIMIZU), JAPAN   7:00AM to 3:00PM
Day 3, Sat, Mar 30, 2024  KYOTO (OSAKA), JAPAN  Arrival: 12:00PM
Day 4, Sun, Mar 31, 2024  KYOTO (OSAKA), JAPAN  Departs: 6:00PM
Day 5, Mon, Apr 1, 2024  KOCHI, JAPAN   7:00AM to 6:00PM
Day 6, Tue, Apr 2, 2024  AT SEA
Day 7, Wed, Apr 3, 2024  OKINAWA, JAPAN   7:00AM to 5:00PM
Day 8, Thu, Apr 4, 2024  ISHIGAKI, JAPAN   8:00AM to 4:00PM
Day 9, Fri, Apr 5, 2024  AT SEA
Day 10, Sat, Apr 6, 2024  JEJU ISLAND, SOUTH KOREA    8:00AM to 4:00PM
Day 11, Sun, Apr 7, 2024  KAGOSHIMA, JAPAN    10:00AM to 6:00PM  
Day 12, Mon, Apr 8, 2024  AT SEA
Day 13, Tue, Apr 9, 2024  TOKYO (YOKOHAMA), JAPAN   6:30AM to 7:00PM
Day 14, Wed, Apr 10, 2024  MT FUJI (SHIMIZU), JAPAN   7:00AM to 3:00PM
Day 15, Thu, Apr 11, 2024  KOBE, JAPAN   12:00PM to 5:00AM
Day 16, Fri, Apr 12, 2024  KYOTO (OSAKA), JAPAN  Arrival: 8:00AM
Day 17, Sat, Apr 13, 2024  KYOTO (OSAKA), JAPAN  Departs: 5:00PM
Day 18, Sun, Apr 14, 2024  KOCHI, JAPAN   7:00AM to 5:00PM
Day 19, Mon, Apr 15, 2024  AT SEA
Day 20, Tue, Apr 16, 2024  BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA   7:00AM to 4:00PM
Day 21, Wed, Apr 17, 2024  AT SEA
Day 22, Thu, Apr 18, 2024  HAKODATE, JAPAN   9:30AM to 8:00PM
Day 23, Fri, Apr 19, 2024  AOMORI, JAPAN   7:00AM to 5:00PM
Day 24, Sat, Apr 20, 2024  AT SEA
Day 25, Sun, Apr 21, 2024  TOKYO (YOKOHAMA), JAPAN  Arrival: 6:30AM
 

We arrive in Tokyo on a Saturday and stay five nights in Shinjuku prior to our back-to-back cruises embarking on Thursday.  Figuring Saturday is getting to the hotel, checking in, relaxation and acclimating ourselves to the time change, that leaves Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...leaving Thursday for checking out and checking onto the ship.  Never been to Tokyo before.  I have heard itr's easy to get around...but, for orientation and simplification reasons, we always like to do an organized tour or two.   I've found a full day Tokyo tour for, likely, Sunday...and figure we can do something more unusual Monday, then leave Tuesday and Wednesday for "on our own".

Found a full day tour for Monday that leaves the city and heads to Nikko--

--Nikko Tosho-gu World Heritage Shrine

--Irohazaka Route

--Kegon Falls

--Lake Chuzenji --A volcanic lake at the foot of Mt. Futara.

Is this a reasonable use of one day of our four available?  Sites worth going to?

It's a bus tour, so a fairly large group...$117 pp including lunch.  Seems to be a break from the hustle and bustle of the big city on days 1, 3 and 4.

Or would it be better to go to Kamakura & Enoshima--

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, Daibutsukiritoshi/Great Buddha statue, Hase-dera Temple/eleven-headed statue of Kannon the Goddess of Mercy, Enoshima Island...Also a one day bus tour, $65 pp, lunch not included.

Any thoughts?  Thanks...

The only major tour company that picks up at the pier and drops off at LAX:

Sunseeker Tours – Sightseeing in Hollywood, Los Angeles Tours

Might have to do a custom tour to get to LAX when you want...but I'd contact them and ask.

I have two cruises with "all inclusive" bookings where the website shows only one of us (me) having the drink package and the wifi...My wife, apparently doesn't get the perks...And it's not because it was recently added.  We originally booked in 2019 and "lifted-and-shifted" every year since.  OTOH, we've had the same thing happen on two other recent cruises--and it all mysteriously cleared up just before the sail date nd the perks finally showed up.  Of course, nobody has threatened to cancel my cruises...So we can be patient.

2 hours ago, Shelly306 said:

My family and I are flying in to LAX the night before our cruise.  I booked us at the Hampton in Long Beach.  Now, reading some of the posts, I wonder if we are in a safe place?  Would someone recommend a different location or are we ok?

 

Thanks

It's not particularly "unsafe"...It's, basically, in the middle of a very industrial area.  There is a little bit in the way of shopping (Whole Foods Market, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack) within a couple of blocks to the north...and a variety of places to get some food--though mostly fast food (In'n'Out Burger, Jersey Mike's, Dunkin Donuts, California Fish Grill, kabobs).

To me, it's just not a very attractive area to stay in...nor is it all that convenient.  It's sort of out of your way (I assume you are cruising Carnival?).  The Carnival cruise terminal is about 8.5-9 miles from here, depending on route--all surface streets with numerous traffic signals.  To go by Freeway is considerably longer.

I wholly recommend staying in the "Convention Center" area of Long Beach (and beware of hotels calling themselves "convention center" when they are clearly not in the right area)...

Look at the Maya Doubletree and Residence Inn Downtown--both walking distance from the Carnival port...or the Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Centric at the Pike, Renaissance, Westin, Hilton...All close to the pier, close to restaurants, shopping, attractions ...and in the best tourist area of Long Beach.

This morning, we upgraded to Concierge Class (and back into the "waiting for assignment" pot) for that $429 pp price...NOT for $1756.

If you deduct the $108 for gratuities, paid either way...that would have been an extra $1219 per person.

BUT, the wifi really means nothing to us either...We're Elite Plus, so we get 240 minutes each of free wifi--40 minutes per day, easily enough for our needs checking email from time to time...not to mention all the ports being within our coverage area on our unlimited AT&T plan.  So, let's discount the Wifi completely.

That leaves this:  We'd be paying $1219 for unlimited $10 or less drinks.  Six days, that's a bit OVER $200 per person per day.  At $10/drink, we would need to drink MORE than TWENTY drinks per day each--not including the free Elite drinks we get from 5-7 each night.....Just to make it "worth it"!  Imagine that--20 drinks each every night after 7:00 pm!!!  You think one would just buy a drink package before buying 20 drinks...Oh wait, you've already bought that drink package--for over $200 per night!

1 hour ago, dianef said:

What category did they give you?I booked a veranda guarantee and so did some friends for same cruise in October and we all got category V2 on deck 7.Happy with location.We all got assigned shortly after booking.

V2...Deck 8 ...#8320