waterbhoy

On 10/4/2023 at 5:50 PM, Pylon said:

Following up on an email I received from the account of my personal cruise consultant, which had the word "inactive" by her name, I tried to telephone her extension and was diverted to Manilla.

 

After waiting on the line for several minutes while the person who took the call sought to speak to a supervisor, the supervisor assigned me a new personal cruise consultant also in the Philippines who seemed very young. That and the noise in the background suggested to me Holland America is going down market in the services it provides its customers.

 

Further, we normally sail Princess Cruises and as of earlier this week, while we still have our personal cruise consultant in California, I am worried about that given he is also under the whim of the executives at Carnival.

 

Can others who have a personal cruise consultant with Holland America comment of this matter? My old consultant, a very experienced and knowledgeable older woman at Holland America, is out the door with an incoming young woman offshore?

 

I am not very happy about this development (Princess Cruises has already offshored its regular representatives when booking) and I thought that was very short sighted driven from the top at Carnival. But are they planning to go after their personal cruise consultants in North America? They could destroy their Holland America and Princess brands in pursuit of lower costs.

 

As far as I know as I've been a onboard FCC for the 2 companies you mentioned , Princess has hived off the OBSM position to a company called ONE and in turn instead of 1 FCC you now have a team of 3-4 consultants onboard and a team of reservation Cruise Consultants in Arizona.   So far seen or heard nothing about the Phillipines at Princess

Hello all.

Been cruising on other lines for over a decade now. Top Tier status on 2 lines  but think its time to shake things up. Does Carnival  have a program similar to Crown & Anchor, Captains Circle. Latitudes?  On board cruise consultants?

Not sure what ship im gonna go on first but looking forward to shaking things up a bit.

Thanks

 As a In The Know employee if you've booked everything through us then your refunds will be automatic on everything

excursions Free At Sea surcharges for Bev/Din will be refunded pre paid gratuities etc

you will get it all back.

1 hour ago, jennacruiser said:

I see you have Destiny!! i'm super interested and would happily take it off your hands if you want. 

Jenna would love to but these are the ships I have worked on or sailed on so parting with my collection would be a sad day. 18 years of my life in these

Repatriation of crew I have several friends on it finally sailing home

On 8/6/2019 at 9:01 AM, stevendom57 said:

I apologize in advance for asking yet another CruiseNext question. I am sure this has been answered but I have been unable to find the proper post.

 

I am going on my first NCL cruise this coming September, to Alaska. I already have another NCL cruise booked, having paid only the deposit, for Sept 2020 in the Mediterranean. 

 

If I buy some CruiseNext certificates on my Alaska cruise, can they be used in any way to pay for my 2020 cruise?

 

TIA

 

Steven

Officially no. You can not use them on a cruise that is already booked and has a deposit made on it

What your T.A or CC do is another story But the Consultants onboard will tell you they are for Non existing New bookings only.

There are plenty of ways to work around that though.  you'll figure it out . 🙂

The old if you don't ask you don't get  comes to mind here.

Ok . Here is the definitive explanation on Cruise Next deposits

if you buy 1 deposit . ( 250$) . it is charge to your room account as 250 USD that evening of purchase

the next day you look at your cabin statement and you see a charge of 250$ . CruiseNext

below you will see a Non Refundabale On Board Credit worth 100$ . So you have been charged on paper only 250$ but your credt card upon completion of the cruise will be charged 150$ . 
The hundred dollar on board credit is just like an instant rebate. Your CC is never charged 250 . In essence your paying 150$ towards a cruise but getting 250 off the price.

You are not getting and extra 100 of OBC to go a spend towards your fun in the shops casino or restaurants. Its just accounting to show that yes you were charged initially 250 for the deposit but your final tally will be 150$

Value of Deposits .                   Net Spend

250       (1)                                          150

500       (2)                                          250

750       (3)                                          375

1000     (4)                                          500

1500     (6)                                          750

2000    (8)                                         1000

Another thing . if you are thinking about buying these and you cruise every year and you buy 1 at a time....your losing out. you are not saving money.  the Best practice is to Spend 250 and take the 500 CND ( minimum) . it has only cost you 250$

Buying 1 every cruise costs you 150 and if you do it again on your next voyage later the same year or the following year you do another 250 and are charged 150.....add it up for buying 1 at a time you spend 300 bucks for the same benefit as spending 250 and getting the same deposit. Only difference is you bought it a year later.....  If you are doing this and sailing in Balconies you are losing out on saving 250.

better in my experience to take the 2 deposit for 250 and use them on a balcony over taking a 1 CND and saving a 100$ there and then . it costs you more in the long run

Hope that helped with some of the questions and scenarios about how the CND works

OnBoard Credit is a marketing invention it is essentially buy 1 get 1 and so on

On 8/6/2019 at 7:49 PM, heatherRN53 said:

We are departing New York for a 7 day Florida and Bahamas cruise. We will be on board for Halloween. I have searched Roll Calls and I can find nothing that tells me for sure if there will be a party on board for Halloween. I would really like to know, so we can prepare in advance with costumes possibly, ect. Also wondering about the White Party I have heard so much about. Im so sorry if Im asking a repetitive question, but I dont know where to look to find the information. Any advice, resources and answers are very much welcome. We are first time cruisers!

Trust me there will be a halloween party there is always one and I have been on every ship in the fleet over Halloween at one point or another.  White Hot will happen . bring some white pants and a t shirt you'll be fine

On 7/8/2019 at 12:41 PM, SailorMan20 said:

Where is normally the best place to get Burgers and Pizza on NCL Ships?

It's bread with pepperoni . why not try something a little different 

On 8/6/2019 at 3:17 PM, Mikiejag said:

The title says it all, basically.

We have 3 rooms, 9 people and need to basically re-distribute people.  I know about the rules for over 21, however one of the room is 18, 19, 18, & 18.

 

The only problem is the boarding cards.  How to associate payment with the correct card and room?

 

Is it possible to join a different credit card to a different room key after boarding? 

Or do they not really pay attention to who is in what room?

 

Thanks for any insight.

 

 

Ok 3 rooms are there 3 over 21's? cruising? if so then you book one into each room then shift about as needed remember to leave the ship at the same time and make sure your cards are in the right hands when leaving and entering the vessel. Are any of the rooms booked adjoining rooms? If so then you are fine and can have the 19 or 18 years olds in it.  As for room charges you can direct all charges to one card or 2 cards if needed and you can attach secondary rooms to charge to the one room

6 hours ago, bp traveler said:

Hello I was just looking and we are Platinum and one of the benefits is Cagney/Le Bistro for 2.

My question is this for 1 cruise or unlimited?

 

thanks

Ok so if there are 3 of you that are Platinum in the cabin a second voucher will be issued and it will be amended or should be amended to allow the perks as well. To insure the vouchers are for everyone have your son book a solo studio if you are sailing on a big ship

Take it from me .    you child turns 18 they will get all the points they have accumulated the first cruise after their 18th birthday therefore if they have cruised on every cruise you have gone on and are platinum ,at 18 they will also be platinum.   

If they turn 18 during the cruise they won't get the points either however turning 18 the day of the voyage starting that should be enough to get them status.  Anything else you are told is current and up to date as of end of June

I'm looking for Norwegian Dream, Voyager of the Seas, Original Regal Princess ( one built in 91) and P&O Aurora. Anyone with tips and hints or willing to part with one would love to hear from you

Got these ones already

Rhapsody of the Seas

Vision

Regal Princess

Golden Princess

Mirage II

Semester at Sea Explorer

Norwegian Dawn

Jewel Star

Dream

Spirit

Sky

Jade

Pearl

Gem

Ryndam

P&O Aurora

Carnival Fantasy

Destiny

Volendam

Getaway

Breakaway

Gem

Soveriegn Of The Seas

Monarch

Navigator

Ive got 9 pins from the Dawn still in their plastic ........

Do these guys have a Captains Circle Host, Cruise Next Manager or Crown and Anchor Society future cruise sales reps onboard. Sailed with NCL Carnival Royal P&O and Princess over the years but giving HAL a bash and if we like it will look to book the next onboard or at least get the cruise reward thing started.

My apologies for starting on this awesome forum with a question. Unfortunately, I have nothing to contribute yet. Despite traveling quite extensively, I'm about to go on the first real cruise in my life.

 

So here is the question. We've booked two cabins for me and my mother on Breakaway next month. At the time of booking I knew nothing about these CruiseNext certificates. Now, I can see there are people selling them at a discount. I reached out to one seller, here is what he said.

 

 

 

Is it true and they will really apply the certificate as a credit or OBC to the already booked cruise? The T&C says "A CruiseNext Deposit can only be applied to a new reservation and otherwise has no cash value and is not redeemable or exchangeable for cash"

 

Thanks!

They can only be used on new bookings there are ways around that but thats done with the outbound and Inbound call centre peopel and they play with different rules. I would be careful as the seller may just be wanting to unload them and will tell you anything for the sale.

There seems to be some confusion here.

You can actually buy up to 8 Cruise Next deposits despite the shipboard flyers and cabin mails saying you can buy 4. Buying 1 Cruise next deposit is actually quite pointless. You are paying 250$ for a deposit and you are getting 2 a 500$ value for again 250$ It makes no sense unless you cruise in an inside cabin once every 5 years. 250$ secondary voucher is far more valuable than a 100$ non refundable onboard credit. So if anyone who is reading this and has not taken part in this program. DO NO WASTE your time just buying 1. You miss out on promotions that crop up where if you have multiple deposits you can use them on the same cruise. Remember that 100$ credit you were jonesing for? not so good when you can't take an extra 250 off your cruise now is it?

Cruise Next Deposits are good for any cabin onboard regardless of how many people are in the room.

They are not based on per person basis

They are transferable to who ever you want

There are no travel blackout dates

combine them with what ever deal you can find out there with your travel professional.

Has to be used on a booking that is a minimum of 6 days

If you Buy 4 Cruise Next Deposits I think they call it the value pack its a 1000$ value and you pay only 500$

3 Cruise Deposits its 750 value and you pay 375.....

2 cruise next Deposits is 500$ Value and you pay 250$

If getting 8 is something you want like I did ( big family cruise) I got a 2000$ charge on my count that night and by the next morning the 1000$ Non refundable On Board Credit was applied. ON BOARD CREDIT. this screws up more people trying this program than they can count. So my advice here is forget the idea of onboard credit call it an instant rebate. A price adjustment if you will. Your never paying the value price on your account or your credit card. In fact the oboard charges rarely hit your CC until the Tuesday after the cruise but I digress. If you are frequent cruisers or have a family cruise in mind then you should get these. they keep money in your pocket a lot longer and you can actually book multiple cruises out just by using these. Remember when booking a cruise final payment is not due 90 days before the sail date. do the math.

8 deposits 2000 charged to your room acct, ===== you actually pay 1000$

6 1500 " " " " " " " 750$

4 1000 1000

3 750 375

2 500 250

Don't waste your time buying 1 unless you have only 1 or 3 or 5 left. It is much better to take the Buy 2 option and pay 250 Its the same as buying one and getting one free.

HAVEN have their own category its a 500$ with a 100 Non refudable OBC that comes off your bill. Its better to take the value pack option of 4 Cruise Next deposits if you are not 100% committed to book a Haven. You cant use a Haven deposit on a regular stateroom BUT...... you can use 2 cruise next to book a cruise then add the required funds to top up a haven booking A haven booking deposit is 1500$ cash or 500$ and you have 2 extra CND for the next voyage

Hi any idea how to get the resin based ships sold in the gift shop usually between 21-24 $

Need to get the following

Regal Princess.....know its in the P&O Aussie fleet

Norwegian Dream

Norwegian Pearl

Norwegian Jade

Carnival Fantasy

Voyager of the Seas

Soveriegn of the Seas

Cheers

Dave