dporter

following

"Here is the fine print from NCL website:

Unlimited Beverages:

Applicable to guests 1-2 on the reservation.

Guest must be at least 21 years of age at time of sailing to qualify for the Ultimate Beverage Package. Guests under 21 will receive the soda package. "

 

If we got the UBP does our guest (daughter) #3 automatically get the soda package? Or do we need to purchase it for her?

You would need to purchase any wanted packages for guest 3.

Tipping is very personal. Some people will tip extra if they get great service and others will not. Some swear that extra tipping gets them better service and better drinks. The choice ultimately is up to you.

We sometimes tip extra for a variety of reasons. Since we treat people the way we like to be treated and we happily wait patiently for our turn we haven't noticed that the extra tipping changes the service or quality nor was this the reason we tipped extra. We also have never felt that additional tipping was expected.

Thinking about Alaska in June 2019. Probably a Cruise-tour. New itinerary for us. Never been to Alaska. We are Elite on Celebrity. Is it the time to try Princess or is the Celebrity Cruise-tours on par? Thinking about 3 days for the land portion.

Funny that I came across this post today.

I had originally booked Princess for an Alaskan cruise tour July 2019, today I switched to Celebrity.

I like most people have always heard that Princess does Alaska best, they own their lodges where you stay on the land portion of a cruise tour.

I decided to take some time and put together a spreadsheet comparing the various lines that offer cruise tours to Alaska for 2 people in July 2019 with 6 land days and 7 cruise days in a balcony cabin.

Through my research I found that most cruise lines that offer Alaska cruise tours have very similar itineraries and visit most of the same places. All seem to offer similar included land excursions and transportation between the various locations.

Now I had to decide what things were important to me to sway my preference of a cruise line.

Hotels during land portion - not that important because ultimately you are experiencing Alaska and not sitting around a hotel room. Really only need clean place to sleep - so the fact that Princess owns their lodges no longer held a lot of importance.

Cruise line - not that important. We have cruised several lines and we often find more similarities than differences. We have found things that we really liked and other things we didn't care for on every cruise ship we have been on. Loyalty rewards are not enough for us to really try to stick with one line all the time.

Total price - this is really what is the most important for us. Comparing the two and adding in a drink package and prepaying gratuities we felt Celebrity is a better choice for us.

Princess Royal 13 day southbound cruise tour with drink package and gratuities paid upfront was over $10,500.

Celebrity Millennium 13 day southbound cruise tour with drink package and gratuities paid upfront is $9750. We also get internet and $300 OBC, extra time in Juneau and Ketchikan as well as Icy Straight Point as a port of call.

Of course this is just my reasoning and it may be different for others.

When you add in any additional perks for your status on Celebrity it might even be a better option or you.

Either way Alaska will be fantastic and the memories you make will last a life time.

We just got off the Dream today and this was our experience:

Getting Cheers package so trying to get info on all the bars/places to get drinks on Dream by looking at the deck plans? Also anyone have tips of some of the out of the way stations to get faster service as the main ones say on Lido deck or casino always seemed to be super crowded the last time we cruised years ago. Again this is on the Dream.

 

Dream Bar - Deck 3 - easy to get a drink, never waited (not counting embarkation day)

Club O2 - ? - did not go to this one

Rendexvou Lounge - is this a bar? Deck 4 - not sure about this one, we didn't spend a lot of time on deck 4

Jackpot Bar Casino - Deck 5 - busy bar, but service was good. If you are not a smoker and do not like smoke then you don't want to go here as it is the only indoor place on the ship for smokers.

Plaza Bar - Deck 5 - I think this is the coffee bar, it was often busy and didn't seem to have enough employees

Calente Dance Club/Bar? Deck 5 - we didn't go to the club

Piano Bar - Deck 5 - strong drinks and great service. Ben, the piano player, was a lot of fun.

Waves Bar - Deck 10 Lido (Are these the Red Frog and Blue Iguana?) - yes I believe these are the Red Frog and Blue Iguana, both were great, service was prompt, very little wait

Sunset Bar - Deck 10 Lido - this bar didn't seem to have much of a crowd or a wait

Alchemy Bar - Did not see this on deck plans, does Dream have this? - yes it does and it was great. It is on deck 5 past the casino but before the piano bar. They were always busy, always entertaining, but we never waited more than 5 minutes for a drink. We usually had at least 1 drink a day here because they were so much fun.

 

(not counting Main Dinning Rooms in this list)

 

What is your experience with the servers that walk around say on lido deck, are they hard to come by or do a pretty good job? - The servers on the Lido deck were great, the came around often, even up to deck 11 and 12 (pool is on deck 10) Do you tip these guys even though gratuity is included already? - we did not tip them extra Can you tell them to say bring you another beer next time they come your way or do you have to initiate it each time? - when they walk by raise your hand and they will take your order, unfortunately its not like a waiter at a restaurant where you can say just bring another in 5 minutes.

 

Do all the bars have the same selection available such as frozen drinks? - most bars seemed to have similar selections, exception is for the show in the Encore lounge they will not bring frozen drinks as it is too far for them to go and bring it back.

 

Also on Carnival webpage, for say Alchemy bar it says Additional Cost where RedFrog says Included? What do they mean by that? If you have the Cheers program and order from Alchemy you have to pay additional costs? - If you have Cheers you can go to any bar and it is included, this includes Alchemy

Hi - just got off the Dream today and we had a wonderful time. I haven't been on Carnival in about 10 years because of a bad experience I was reluctant to return. This was my boyfriend's first time on Carnival. This was also the largest ship either of us have been on, while the first day and last were crowded in most public areas due to everyone trying to get on the ship or off the ship the rest of the week didn't seem to be a problem.

The hallways to the cabins were standard, the carpets looked clean and the wall decor was pleasant; they reminded me of the 50's. The main color that you see prominently is red.

Unfortunately, we do not have young children so I don't know any specifics about the kids clubs and babysitting. There were quite a few kids on board considering spring break doesn't start for another week or so, but all were well behaved.

Belize - this is a tender port, which means it is a bit of a hassle getting ashore. If you book an excursion through the cruise line it seems to be easier to get ashore as they give you priority. Getting back onboard at the end of the day is also a hassle. Unfortunately that is not the fault of Carnival it is the fact that ships cannot get into port due to the reef. We did a cave tubing excursion, although I don't believe this would be suitable for young children, a couple of years ago we went to Mayan ruins and kids could do that easily. It tends to be hot in Belize so take water with you off the ship.

Mahogany Bay (Isla Roatan) - this was an excellent beach day, you can easily walk from the ship to the beach for the day. We pre-booked the ultimate beach day but you can very easily walk over to the beach and decide what you need/want without booking in advance. I would recommend bringing or getting life jackets for the kids as there was a drop off when getting in the water. When we were in Honduras a few years ago it was a different cruise line so we did other activities but this one was so much more convenient and great for all ages.

Enjoy your cruise.

We will be in 11237 on the 2/25 sailing! Thank you for confirming there is only 1 outlet. We have a non-surge protected strip that we are bringing to allow us to charge the camera's and other electronics.

We sail in a week in a spa cabin so I will follow closely for any tips!!

You can be a no show for a flight it happens all the time. The only time you will have issues is if you didn't take the starting leg of a roundtrip ticket.

The earliest CHECK-IN time I have ever seen in New Orleans is 10:00am.

 

Priority/FTTF boarding usually starts at about 11:15am.

thank you

In New Orleans they have a list of the people that purchased FTTF. They look for your name on that list. I doubt it would work there.

Do you happen to know the earliest boarding time in New Orleans?

Hi all,

 

Thank you very much for the advice! We would be starting from Minneapolis, and flying in the day before, no matter which port we sail out of. We were thinking of the Martin Luther King weekend. I did attempt to do dummy bookings as well. I did check and it looks like the festival might be going on when we disembark. How hard will it be to get to the airport if the festival is going on?

 

Thoughts on the Fascination? I'm not impressed with how it looks, but wanted to hear from people who have been on it.

 

Thanks again!

You won't have any problems getting to the airport at disembark during the festival because you disembark in the morning and the big crowds are typically in the evening.

Hi -

 

A few friends and I are looking to go on a cruise in the Southern or Eastern Caribbean in January, 2019. :D The top 2 contenders are RCI and Carnival. The primary departure ports we are looking at are Miami or San Juan. The Horizon has the ports and dates we want, but is a bit more expensive than what we were hoping to spend. On the other hand, if we did a cheaper cruise out of San Juan, would we be paying more to fly into and out of San Juan? We are from the Minneapolis area. So, would it be a wash? Is there anyway to get a ballpark idea of what flights MIGHT cost to fly into San Juan (and/or Miami/FLL) from MN in January?

Flights to San Juan typically cost more than flights to Miami. I took a quick look at American for Minneapolis to Miami in October (before holiday travel) and it was about $361 while Minneapolis to San Juan was $476. Also, like someone else said flying to San Juan from Minneapolis will have 1 stop, where flying to Miami will be non-stop.

The other thing is that it looks like San Juan's festival might be going on at the same time as our cruise. A couple of people in our group are a little twitchy about getting to and from the airport/cruise port during a festival. They are also concerned if San Juan is a good place to cruise out of nowadays? TIA!

We took a cruise out of San Juan during their festival, unfortunately I didn't know there was a festival. The festival usually happens right around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday. We flew in the night before and had no trouble getting from the airport to the hotel. Traffic for the festival started as soon as it was dark. The next morning we had no issues getting to the cruise terminal for our trip. We chose not to venture into Old San Juan that night because of the festival and tons of people.

A couple years later we had a cruise that stopped in Old San Juan, during festival week. This was great. We got off the ship very early and walked Old San Juan. By mid day there was so much activity to see, tons of great live music, and fantastic food. I still don't know if I would have ventured into Old San Juan at night with the crowds, but that is because of personal preference not safety concerns.

I have read lots of posts here on Cruise Critic of people that have gone the day before and stayed near or in Old San Juan and while not everything was open there was plenty to do and to see. The tourist dollars are of a great benefit to the city.

Like other have said you will be going in over a year so the damage from the last round of hurricanes will most likely be hard to notice. However, a hurricane can happen anytime, getting travel insurance would protect you financially in that instance.

I know that NCL has a White Hot Party on their ships, not sure if Carnival does though.

I am positive that the BBQ is something we will skip when we are on the Dream in a few weeks. We live in Texas so I am sure we would not like it at all.

Awesome thanks. We will definitely give that machine a try.

Do you recall if the casino was open while you were going down the Mississippi River. We are sailing on the Dream at the end of February and my other half just asked if the casino was open right away or not until the second day.

I can answer a few of your questions:

Over the past year we sailed with NCL three times, the big ships Getaway, Epic, and Escape. We are now booked on Carnival Pride for the end of May. The last time I sailed Carnival was 1991:o so I have a few questions:

How cold are public areas in the evening?

 

Are any bathroom toiletries provided (shampoo, conditioner)? Yes to soap and shampoo, I don't believe there was conditioner

When are upgrade emails typically sent out?

 

Is the steakhouse worth the extra cost?

Is the Social Wi Fi plan good/reliable?

Is FTTF worth the extra cost? We are trying FTTF for first time on Carnival in a few weeks, everything I have read is that if you are not in a suite this is great. Most people have said that one of the best advantages is a shorter line at guest services onboard.

Cost of average drinks (Bloody Mary, rum & coke, etc)? We're thinking about not adding on the beverage program. Carnival drink prices are comparable to NCL. However, Carnival has many more options included such as specialty coffees/teas, milkshakes, bottles of water. Also it covers any drink valued at $50 or less (much better than NCL price limit) They only limit the number of alcoholic drinks to 15, all non-alcoholic are unlimited.

 

Any other specific Carnival and/or Pride hints or tips would be appreciated!

You do NOT have to sign up onboard to get the 10,000K bonus points which equates to $100.

Thanks for sharing, we are like you we just go with the flow it is easier than getting upset.

Dporter and Princess, I'm combining your ideas. I'm going to say it's a Llamasaurus Lidoraptor. A small but slow moving creature. Known to consume voraciously at the buffet, only to repeat the process in the MDR minutes later.

lol you have perfectly described me :)

welcome

When I cancelled my excursions to rebook at a lower rate I saw the refund in about 48 business hours.

 

 

 

 

My wife looked at it and said "It's a love bird?" I said "It's an evil chicken!" Then she pointed out the love card. So I corrected myself "It's an evil love turkey!!". Other explanations have included peacock that lost its tail in an unfortunately accident on the Lido buffet and space creature. If anyone can help settle this argument, I would appreciate it. We still argue about it. It still fills my nightmares.

 

Looks like a dinosaur to me, a brontosaurus.

I have to be honest while reading though some reviews I was really surprised to see that it seemed some people preferred Cheers over NCL's program. Just really wanted to get some feedback on this, just doesn't seem to stack up to me. NCL no drink limit, top shelf with a ton of selections. We were drinking high end vodka the whole cruise with a ton of options. No problem pouring doubles. Almost all of the bars had there own separate drink menu with different specialties drinks.

 

We have sailed Carnival and love "never actually had the cheers" it but the Cheers program vs NCl has us leaning towards NCL again. Really just wanted some feedback for who has both and which you preferred and why. Cost isnt really a factor. The money we would save on carnival brings the price right up with NCL after we purchase Cheers.

This is a topic that is very subjective but for what's its worth here is my two cents.

NCL:

We cruised NCL Jade January 2016 and again January 2017, both times with the beverage package. I missed having the options for bottled water and fancy coffee and tea drinks that other lines typically included. In 2016 they did not have the pre-made drinks and we throughly enjoyed the beverage package. In 2017 the pre-made drinks were everywhere and we did NOT like this, they did not taste fresh or even balanced. One of the things we enjoy is getting to know our bartenders and watching them create our cocktail, the pre-made took that away. There were several drinks on the menus that were over the $15 limit in 2017 that were under in 2016, that was frustrating. We enjoyed the martini bar in 2016 but with the price changes and pre-made cocktails we didn't care for it in 2017.

Part of having a beverage program while cruising is trying things we wouldn't have at home because it is included and if we don't care for it we can give it back and get something else all without extra charges. Did we ever get 15 drinks on either of these cruises - I doubt it but we were not counting. NCL doesn't really allow you to have two drinks, they can see that there are two people in the cabin both with the beverage package so they only need one card. You also do not have to sign a slip each time which is a plus.

CARNIVAL:

We will cruise on Carnival in February with Cheers! We are excited to have the beverage program and we will enjoy it especially with the $50 drink limit we won't have to make sure it is part of the package. We will also enjoy having the bottled water, specialty coffees, teas and even milkshakes. The last time I cruised on Carnival I don't believe there was a Cheers program.

CELEBRITY:

I know you didn't ask about this one but I thought I would give my opinion anyway. This was our first experience with a beverage package and really hooked us. I don't recall any limitation on number of drinks but I do know there were some high end wines that were not part of the package. The ship had an ice bar where they made great martinis, we tried them all over the course of the cruise and it is still one of our favorite on ship bars. There was also a great wine bar which we frequented and tried many, including the ones that were not suppose to be part of the package.

Overall cost comparisons. Before beverage packages we could easily rack up $1000 bar bill in a week and with a beverage package that is now zero. We are just paying it in advance instead of after. For us paying in advance is an advantage as I can work it in to my budget as we typically plan a year out. Since I typically make monthly payments then there is no credit card balance and interest which we would have if we didn't prepay.

Of course those people who are not moderate or more drinkers a beverage package with alcohol may not be cost effective for them. Some people prefer to use their money on other things. Ultimately how you spend your hard earned money is a matter of choice and you should do what makes you happy so that at the end of your cruise you go home refreshed and relaxed instead of stressed out.