cruzfool

Krazy Lobster is my best bet - Mauricio the friendly owner and all of the excellent staff always get my vote for any port visit to Costa Maya.  Beware of the latest taxi scam at the port entrance is to try and sell you on another location for $15 pp, telling guests that Krazy Lobster is full or that you MUST have a reservation.  This is never true, Krazy Lobster will always have enough space for you.  100%.

12 hours ago, crazyank said:

Anybody who "wakes up in Venice to get a cab to the ship"?? Maybe they ought to look at a map once in awhile before traveling?

for me personally, I agree and wouldn't dream of not being prepared, looking at maps etc. but judging by the number of people we heard this from on our sailings last year plus RCCL's continued marketing of Ravenna as being Venice is ridiculous.  It isn't like other European places where the port is listed for the city, like, Civitevecchia, (Rome), Piraeus (Athens), as those are the ports for those cities, but Ravenna is not and never will be the port for Venice.

Last year, we flew into Bologna and planned to take the train to Ravenna a few days prior to our cruise, however torrential rain flooded the area with lots of damage to infrastructure, including railway tracks and needless to say, no trains to Ravenna.  Lucky for us we were a few days early & as we stood hopeless at the ticket machine, I happened to catch sight of a Celebrity Cruises bus outside the railway station and they kindly let us hitch a ride to the port where their ship was leaving from also a few days before our RCCL ship.  We then got a taxi to Ravenna where we stayed at a lovely airbnb.  Having a plan is awesome, having a back up is best.  We took the RCLL bus from Ravenna to Venice on the return. Sold on board, very reasonable, very easy and prompt. 

On 9/24/2023 at 7:54 PM, RD64 said:

Ravenna is not - and will never be - Venice. You are on your own. Not sure why RCL is still trying to make it appear that Venice and Ravenna are next door to each other

YES THIS!!!! I was so vocal about RCCL's continued misleading advertising, I cannot believe they've not been sued by any one of the many folks who wake up in Venice to "get a cab" to the ship, only to find out its 3 hours away.  We heard so many nightmare stories last year.

On 4/7/2024 at 12:23 AM, scoochy12 said:

Hello All,

We will be on Norwegian Pearl next month and have Ravenna as a port day. From what I understand the city center is 12km away from port. Has anyone had experience with this port? Or any locals here? Will there be taxis at port? Or how do you recommend getting to city center without doing a ship excursion? When calling NCL they say to check once on board. 

TIA

For sure, there are a limited number of taxis in Ravenna, and as the other poster mentioned, it is a beautiful city, with nothing to do at the port.  I second the suggestion to take the cruise line bus transfer, usually 15-20E pp, then buy one of the multi-site tickets for entrance to see the painted churches. Stunning.

Just now, erby2283 said:

I always get so confused as to where/which type of ATM to get my money from overseas.  Luckily, my local bank doesn't charge any ATM fees but I know I still have to deal with Conversion factors.  On this upcoming cruise, a few tours are preferring to be paid in euros at the end of the tour so I know I am going to need to withdraw money in several ports (or in Rome over a few days before the cruise leaves as we have 2 days pre-cruise there).  But I am so confused over what the "good' types of ATMs are. 

here's some info based on my experience? each credit card issuer has a bank affiliate and the ATM machines are marked accordingly.  I'm not talking convenience stores, airport or small bank ATM's, I'm talking Main Street banks.  On the machine it will clearly show you what their affiliation is. These are the machines we use for all our currency withdrawals when traveling overseas unless in a country serviced by ALLpoint which offers free withdrawals at those other locations.  I bank with a bank that offers free ATM transactions so no fees, but even if there are fees, its still typically less than bureau de change type locations or god forbid, airport or hotel currency conversion places.  just be careful if on a busy street to guard your pin and keep an eye out for cookie loos...we will try to use one thats in a bank lobby or entrance.  then hubs and I split up the cash between us...hope this helps a little bit? 

On 3/15/2024 at 10:09 AM, erby2283 said:

Question - we received the email that they have confirmed enough people to run our time and are now asking for payment.  We have the option to let them convert to USD when charging our credit card or to be charged in Euros.  Does anyone know what the better option is? If my credit card does not charge international fees, does it matter?

Typically, electing to charge in "native" currency without conversion is better as your credit card bank will offer better exchange rates when they do the conversion...sometimes its only a small amount, but it all adds up over time....also why its better to get money from a Main Street bank ATM overseas rather than an exchange facility🙂

Curious for a solo cruiser, how does the D+ BOGO work please?

just saw they are now monetizing pickle ball on board the wonder....adding sign up for instructor led class at additional cost.

32 minutes ago, vistapat said:

Thanks for the reminder.  Another question.  We're both now D+.  If we chose a bottle of wine, are we both entitled to one, or is it for the room?  Same with other choices.

 

Thanks,  Pat

Sure thing! there are 2 amenity types, so we typically get 6 waters, 1 bottle of wine, and one beer.  of course with the new cpn system of 5 drinks per day plus my free drinks in the casino, we end up gifting the bottle of wine to the crew, but specifically to answer your question, I've understood it to be one amenity per D+ person so yes, 2 per cabin.

On 4/6/2022 at 2:30 PM, vistapat said:

We'll be new D+ on our next cruise.  Is the BOGO 1 pays and 1 is free for one night, or is it both pay on 1 night and then both free on second night?

 

Thanks,  Pat

As a new D+, don't forget to contact C&A & let them know which in room amenity's you'd like, unless you want all waters. 

We've been on 9 RCI cruises since restart, & never had I seen so much "pushing" of the speciality dining venues, plus the various offers than on our last one on Adventure OTS early march.  This wasn't related to D+ it was offered everywhere to everyone...many, many, times everywhere you went...all the way thru day 3...discounts were from 50-30 % off.

I can confirm that Fish and Ships was not covered by the UDP as it was considered a "bar" not a dining venue.  I spent a long time discussing this on board, based only on the principal of unlimited dining and the incorrect terms and conditions which didn't exclude that venue.  We ate at fish and ships one day for lunch and despite it being excluded from the UDP it was cheap and really good.  The fried candy bar was exceptional and the fish and chips both hot and freshly cooked to order.  Otherwise, we enjoyed every venue several times and thoroughly got our monies worth on the Independence with the UDP for the price paid.  I'm not an attorney but RCCL needs to update its terms and conditions to be more exact on the inclusions/exclusions.  e.g. playmakers is a bar, not a restaurant, but it was included up to the al la carte allowance.  Definitely nothing they can do on board (and they would not credit me the $$) so Miami needs to fix this.

On 9/16/2021 at 1:54 PM, ScoobyGal said:

Would you mind sharing what your original category was, what the minimum was, and what your accepted bid was?  No problem if you'd rather not share.  I'm just wondering what chance my Freedom bid has.  LOL

 

I can't recall exactly what the minimum bid was to be honest, but around $350 I think?  We were in a junior suite and my bid for the GS that was accepted was $800 p.p.  I bid the mx because I wanted it and it was considerably less expensive than paying for the suite.  I think its well worth it.  

Just got our confirmation that our bid was accepted for upgrade on Independence of the seas sailing 9/19.  I had bid on several suites, 3 of the 4 of which turned from pending to expired a few days ago.  The 1 Bedroom grand suite stayed pending and today, 3 days prior to sailing it was confirmed.  Very happy sailor..

On 9/9/2021 at 11:11 AM, cynt said:

Hi does anyone know if Johnnie Rockets for lunch is included in the UDP on Liberty and Independence? We are considering getting the UDP if we can have lunch at JR every day and dinner at one of the restaurants Chops, Giovanni's or Sabor. 

 

I'm wondering if Fish & Ships on Independence is also included as a lunch option. 

I wondered the same thing and read the fine print carefully....other than the chefs table and a couple of other special dining experiences, a la carte locations such as JR and playmakers, fish and ships would be included with "meal credit limits" , I want to say $35 per person?  its in the terms and conditions page. We got a great offer of $192 pp for our 8 night independence cruise next week I booked it for the same reason you mention.  speciality dining for lunch and dinner for 8 nights for $384 is a great deal IMHO.

For me this falls into the "Cry me a River" category. You still get your perks when on Board the ship, you still get a great deal, and you still get to go on vacation. What more do you want? If the extra latitude point is important to you then book the latitudes offer. If not then take the great deal they are offering. SMH...some people will complain about anything....

 

6&8

This isn't cry me a river. It's feedback about the February latitudes insider offer not being available to latitudes members to take advantage of when booking a new cruise.

If you read my post you would see that I clearly understand and appreciate the fabulous freestyle choice promo. That's not the point.

An effective loyalty program should respect brand loyalty.

I'm still trying to figure out what this has to do with the Navy.

Lol you're right! That was a typo. Naval should have been NCL!

Sorry.

So this post is for those of us who have been loyal cruise guests, in my case platinum on NCL with over 150 days. I recently returned from an NCL cruise and immediately took advantage of the new "for anyone" promotion called freestyle choice. An amazing promotion where you get UDP, UBP and $300 OBC in haven. All good. I also attempted to use the feb latitudes insider promo to get the extra points (for haven) but have been told that latitude promo isn't combinable with choice promo. Now, I'm not being greedy BUT in neither of the promos terms and conditions does it state that latitudes promo isn't available with choice promo, and mostly they're disregarding the loyalty guests over anyone, whether new or loyalty with the choice promo. Also when I emailed latitudes to discuss, they're so busy they say they won't reply for 8-10'WEEKS. Not sure what they're busy doing since no one is allowed to use the promo!

I say that because no one would choose the feb offer while the choice offer is still running- would they?

Anyone with patter provide details of afternoon tea service in coral dining room or steak house? Need frequency and time, and if they started charging?

Thanks in advance

oh no. I'm doing the same thing your doing. I too cannot get ahold of them and they have my diamond pendant and $3500...