ronkeykong

On 5/27/2024 at 12:17 AM, Saint Greg said:

You going to try Margaritaville at sea? They have an all new old ship.

 

The Mrs. and I went on one a couple of years ago, and with proper expectations set, had a great time!  It's all what you make of it.   

On 2/3/2024 at 7:39 AM, Saint Greg said:

For some reason I can’t remember that voice and it’s coming out as Randy Savage in my head.

That was the other option and similar.  Haha!

<koolaid man voice> Oh Yeah! <koolaid man voice/>

We are going on this one in 2 weeks!  Will be reading along as always.  Thanks!

On 9/6/2023 at 7:50 PM, Saint Greg said:

For as much as they shove that down your throat, they advertise it poorly. I even sat through an entire presentation and the guy never said that. He only talked about getting $100 OBC for $250 deposits.

 

Yeah it’s clear they don’t try to help you. Otherwise shouldn’t my vacation planner have said “hey you can get your $500 cruise for $250 if you buy a cruise first certificate.”

As I think I mentioned previously, on our first NCL and Alaska in May, we bought a $250 CruiseNext, declined the $100 OBC, and received another $250 CruiseNext instead.  

(Yes, I am way behind, but catching up.)  Thanks for the review.  Looking forward to the Princess cruise as we have not done one of those yet.

On 8/30/2023 at 10:07 AM, Saint Greg said:

I was really torn on booking that excursion. I saw so many videos on YouTube of the ship getting almost as close to the glacier as the excursion boats. But they don’t really post the videos of times that it’s too foggy for the ship to get in there. And that’s what happened yesterday. I’d be surprised if the people on the ship got to see the glacier at.

 

I’m very happy I got to see the glacier up close. The section of glacier we got to see today was probably 30 times the size of what I got to see of Sawyer glacier on my Tracy arm excursion last year. It doesn’t come through in the stills but I saw a lot of calving. Probably 5 times. And we heard stuff happening you couldn’t see a lot more. I have some of it on video if it’ll ever upload.

 

If you’re interested in seeing what Tracy arm was like you.can see that here https://www.saintgregtravel.com/tracy-arm-fjord-glacier-explorer/

 

 

 

I think this is the one we booked also, but could not go because it was too hazardous.  The ship got as close as it could, which looked close, but Google Maps said the edge of the glacier was still 7 miles away.  Hard to figure.

On 8/29/2023 at 4:02 PM, Saint Greg said:

I am interested in cruise next info. It sounds like he’s saying it’s good for four years. If so I’m interested. Those of you in the know waiting to spew info feel free.

 

Yeah, I'm way behind and this is probably already discussed. 

Our first NCL and Alaska was in early May.  We bought 1 $250 Cruise Next "thing".  It was on the last sea day so we declined the $100 OBC and got another $250 CN "thing" instead (only paying $250 total).  Knew we couldn't use them in 2024, but something came up with $100 credits for each of us when we returned.  They were expiring in late July, maybe, so we booked a 2025 LA cruise.  It was a double up, and we were able to use both $250's and both $100's to put $700 down. 

Worked out pretty well for us! 

Hey, alright, we did this cruise in May, Seward to Vancouver.  It was our first NCL and first Alaska.  Really enjoyed it.  NCL "Free at Sea" worked out great for us.  Flew in a couple of days early and ride shared and walked around Anchorage.  Go see the earthquake park, it's very interesting.  A ride share guy gave us a bar / food recommendation of F Street Station.  We sat at the bar by the kitchen area.  Had a great meal and atmosphere.  Lot of locals we talked to also.

Flights back for us were at 2030 from Vancouver to Seattle, and then 2330, I think, to Austin arriving 0620 on a Tuesday.  I couldn't have really gotten better tickets for arrival in Austin any other time.  They had some, but they were early in the morning on Monday, which we could not have made.  

This should be fun!

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

 

My first 10 cruises were out of New Orleans/Galveston. It definitely gets old. Since then only 3 of my past 12 have been out of New Orleans or Galveston. I will be going out of Galveston twice next year only because of Jubilee.

We don't mind it too much since it's close (4 hours) and the price is right.   We are also going on Jubilee next year (February, I think) since the transatlantic was cancelled.  Also the 2 week southern Caribbean in October.  

22 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Look around at other cruise lines. I've been on 22 cruises. All Carnival. They don't offer me a darn thing Joe Schmo blue card can't get. And my next cruise is on NCL.

 

We just did our first Alaska and first NCL in May.  My wife and I have 15-18 Carnival cruises or something like that.  NCL / Alaska was a nice change.  Our usual port is Galveston, and a few times New Orleans.

Hey, we will be the Jewel for the May 8-15 cruise.  First NCL and first Alaska.  

In December there were also separate lines for entering the building and all the way through.  There was also a separate waiting area.  

We too are Carnival cruisers taking our first NCL and first Alaska cruise in early May on the Jewel, Seward to Vancouver.   Just yesterday, we snuck in our -2 flight deviation (75 days out today), booked a hotel near the airport, and booked a bus to Seward on embarkation day.   Looking forward to more tips in this thread.  

Thanks y'all!

On 2/26/2022 at 5:35 PM, Saint Greg said:

Speaking of the OBC I actually had a discounted cheers package on this cruise. I think back during the shutdown they discounted 20% for cruises within like 6 months and 10% for later ones. I bought it for all of my cruises. All got canceled except this one. My TA did save one of the 20% discounted ones by transferring it to my Celebration cruise in November. This one was a 10% discounted package that survived. My OBC is actually 800. and I have a 100 cruise cash that I purchased discounted during the shutdown. I figured with Cheers paid for there was no way I could spend $900 on Glory. I was coming up with 200-300 left over any way I sliced it. So I canceled the package. I'm going to put that $400 towards Alaska. And I'll buy the package onboard and maybe go over by a 100 or 200.

Fair warning on the discounted cruise cash...  We bought 2 of these early on ($80 for $100 cruise cash).  We used this on a 4 day cruise out of Galveston in late January on the Breeze.  On my statement these showed up as $80 credit each.  On the 1st sea day afternoon (Friday) I went to Guest Services to inquire.  I had to explain fully what it was and fortunately had taken screen shots of the cruise cash on my account.  It was corrected by Sunday.  

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I gambled a little but I guess not enough. I have no casino offers. ..I'd jump if it was close to free. ..I'm half packed. Lol 

We booked the Vista $0 casino offer tonight.  We last sailed on the Breeze in October and January and gambled $20 each in October and none in January.  Go figure!

28 minutes ago, babygrljaz said:

Holy smokes this was my offer....

Yep, us too!  We got in on this offer.  Can't wait!

23 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

I had a booking on hold and my PVP said I needed to cancel the hold so she could book it for me.  I did as she requested and all went well.  Must be some sort of protocol that needs to be followed so PVPs are in control of the booking.

Have a great cruise! 

Here's what happened to us just a couple of weeks ago...

Had a hold on a Jubilee cruise that was for a room no longer available and expiring in a couple of hours.  I contacted PVP and she called back while we were actively boarding for another cruise, and I mean taking pictures, walking the gangway, and boarding the ship.  I asked to have the hold booked, gave my CC#, and we were done.  Depends on the PVP, I guess.

Following your link, I see absolutely no where to "sign up" .  Please explain how to do this.

3 hours ago, sunshower9 said:

I have a cruise booked under RU2 and noticed a price drop today.  The booking was done under my husband's Cheers offer and he does still have the offer available on his account.  I called Carnival but the agent said that since we have the Free Cheers offer, that means we forfeit the option of getting price drops.  I don't have a PVP so maybe a PVP would've made a difference in this case, but I wasn't able to get the price drop by calling Carnival directly. 

That is sad.  As stated in this thread, I've been able to drop our amount due for our January cruise $160.  I think it has been 6 different price drops applied via our PVP.

Our latest price drop was granted.  And, I still have RU2 as an offer in my cruise offers.  

Using a PVP, I have dropped my January 2022 4 day cruise, booked with RU2 and $300 OBC from cancellations, a total of $140 via 6 price changes.  There is a 7th one pending.  I have been able to keep the RU2 and $300 OBC with each change.  The savings, so far, has come off the total dollars that I owe.

Last Friday, my wife got an offer for Galveston / Breeze / 4 days for $150 a person in October.  We jumped on it that day, even though it said you had until August 2 to book.   On Monday, it was no longer available, and I believe the cheapest rate was $309.

Okay, so just checking in....    RU2 showed up in my offers this weekend; haven't seen an email though.  

I've been looking at the early November and late January Galveston 4 day cruises for quite awhile.  The price changes for November on this offer (interior / spa interior) are both $40 per person and loss of the onboard credit (which I believe is $25 at this time).  

I haven't contacted anyone to ask (complain) about not receiving this offer previously, but was perturbed by it.  

Still can't beat the < $500 cost I had booked for next January (again, 4 days) for 2 people in a spa balcony cabin, with $600 OBC.  We'll never get that again!!

Thanks.

I received my January 27, 2021, cancellation email as well.  

Looks like the sailings for November from Galveston are gone.  They were there earlier today.  I have one scheduled, but have not received a cancellation email... yet.

The early November cruise (4 day) we booked gave us $100 per person, $200 total OBC.