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We like Villa Europa. Nothing fancy but clean and quaint. Not right on the beach but less than half a block away. About right in the middle of the "strip", close to everything.

Vacation starts for me when I leave work the last day but the real excitement hits when I see first glimpse of the ship upon approaching the port [emoji568][emoji322][emoji2]

With Cocoa Beach Shuttle, it looks like I'll have to call them to get more info, but do they do earlier pick ups? We fly in a bit before noon, and don't particularly want to wait around the airport for hours for the shuttle to fill--that's valuable beach time! The Two Smart shuttle doesn't start picking up until 2:15.

Cocoa Beach Shuttle told me they pick up every 30 minutes at MCO and they group people arriving around the same time, so I think maybe you are scheduled for a specific shuttle and don't have to wait around for it to fill up, but I'm not sure on that?

Thank you both. Will check those out. I was excited about s few hotels. Checked reviews on Trip Advisor and folks wrote about bed bugs and cock roaches and posted photos. Oh my!! I am moving on and checking more hotels out. So thank you again!!

LOL yes, there are actually very few reasonably priced hotels I looked at that had good ratings on tripadvisor. I didn't want to spend a lot on a room for a few hours between airport and cruise, especially with the Canadian dollar the way it is and I was losing hope! I actually had booked one that had some great reviews and some terrible reviews but then second thought it and found a good price at Comfort Inn. The reviews seem pretty good so far :)

Which Holiday Inn?? Holiday Inn Cape Canaveral Beach Resort or Holiday Inn and Suites Cocoa Beach?? Thanks!

Oh sorry!!! It is Comfort Inn and Suites Port Canaveral Area. It is actually in Cocoa Beach on Atlantic Ave. I've been booking so many hotels this week that I am now mixing them up!

We are also staying in Cocoa Beach and shuttling from MCO. I haven't booked a shuttle yet but looking at the Florida BBB website, there are only a few accredited companies. I know lots of people recommend Cocoa Beach Shuttle and Cotrans but I found a few accredited agencies who have great reviews and the price for a private van for 7 of us is cheaper than a shared shuttle from other agencies - Florida Sunshine Shuttle and Orlando Chauffeured Services are two of them I am considering. We are staying at Holiday Inn Port Canaveral (in Cocoa Beach) which is close to restaurants and shopping. Booking the room and transportation separately was quite a bit cheaper than their fly, snooze and cruise package.

Carnival also has a similar thing. Their website is free to use on the ship on any device and there is an area where you can even keep in touch with people at home. They also have a new internet package for $5 per day that allows access to social media - facebook, twitter, etc.

Anyone ever taken a taxi and if so what was the fare? The hotel we are staying at in Cocoa Beach charges $10/person for a shuttle to the port. Since there are 7 of us, I'm thinking that maybe 2 taxis would be cheaper.

My daughter and her boyfriend had ,between the two of them, $800 OBC. She called yesterday to add some more and was told that they had the maximum OBC allowed for the cabin! Called back today and added more without an issue. This is the first I've heard of that so thought I would add it to the list of inconsistencies in case anyone else gets that line - just call back and get a different agent :)

Has anyone used LuxTransO transportation from MCO to Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral?

We loved Villa Europa in Hollywood Beach.

Squaremouth.com and kinetix.ca give you multiple quotes to compare.

I am considering getting one of these cards for Europe as using the CC will be the best conversation rate from Euro to CAD. May I ask why you pick one and not the other. I thought of getting Sears but I am little concerned if they may close down the Canadian stores and cancel the card, which happened to my Target RBC card.

 

My theory for this "benefit" is that there must be a substantial reduction in Canadian cruisers. Most cases, we are still paying the 30%+ higher cruise fares. Because of insurance benefits, I want to pay cruise fares in CAD CC where possible.

I have a TD US$ credit card. No transaction fees on that. I also have a TD US$ bank account that I transfer money into every month and use to pay any balance on the cc.

So I just rebooked my Nov cruise from USD to CAD, due to a great price drop! On top pf that, I was then able to purchase OBC and take advantage of the 10% exchange rate.

 

So, cpl questions. I did not receive anything from Royal about the OBC purchase. Should I or is this normal?

 

Secondly, will my account now be considered a "cash" account because of the OBC sitting on there?

Call back and ask for an email confirmation of the OBC purchase. The confirmation does not show the US$ amount of your OBC only what you paid in CND$.

No, you can still set your account up with a credit card if you want.

I must admit that I am little bit confused. It is the fourth time that I call to purchase obc and every other time I seem to remember being able to assign the obc to the cabin so that both my wife and I can use it. This time the rep insisted that it needed to be assigned to a specific account.

 

I explained that we will not have separate accounts that we will just have one cabin account. She said it didn't matter that the obc was assigned to a seapass card, so unless I split the amount half and half, my wife wouldn't have access to it with her seapass card.

 

Is this true? I noticed that my amenities invoice lists my name with all of the obc that I have purchased. Will I now have to call back to get all split?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Once on board you can go to guest services and transfer whatever amount you like of your OBC into your wife's account. Each person in the cabin has to have their own separate account. You can use the same credit card on both accounts or have one or both accounts as cash accts, but each must have your own account.

LOL I just added to my OBC as well! I wonder how long this is going to last??? I might end up with enough left over at the end of this cruise to pay for another one :p:D:p

hello,

 

 

For one of my cruises coming up in Canadian dollars they charged me $24.70/ per day plus 18% and that seems higher.

 

Anyone experience this?

As per the website when trying to purchase a package it quotes $24.70 per day but it doesn't say whether tax is included or not and when I add it to my cart an additional 18% is added. Some have said the prices quoted include tax? I've decided to just purchase extra OBC at the great rate they are giving for Canadian exchange and buy the packages once on board.

There are lots of recent reviews on TripAdvisor that are good. Most say that the property is old and worn but that the rooms are clean and the staff is great. It doesn't appear that it has been fully renovated, in fact, none of the recent reviews I read mentioned anything renovated! We are staying there for one night in February pre-cruise and I was hoping for renovated rooms but as long as the rooms we get are clean with doors that lock, I will be happy :) I chose it due to the reasonable rate for a hotel right on the beach and that is where we will be most of the time, or the bar which, from the reviews, is a great place to hang out :)

Look at the dates of our next sailings in my signature. Avoid these.

:):):)

We stayed at Villa Europa and loved it. You could stay 4 days without a car if you just basically want to hang out on the beach. There are lots of shops and restaurants along the broadwalk, but you could probably also get a car pretty cheap if you wanted to go that way.

So, my booking is in $CDN and when I add a Premium Drinks pkg, listed at $59 cdn to my cart for an 11 night cruise it prices at $700.70 plus $126.12 gratuities for a total of $826.82

 

by my math it should be $59 X 11 = $649 plus $116.82 in gratuities for a total of $765.82

 

that's a difference of $61, times 2 of us is $122.

 

is there something I'm missing?

I just did a mock purchase for my 7 night cruise in Canadian dollars and got similar pricing ..... 7 x $59 CND which is $413 + 18% grat ($74.34) which is a total of $487.43 yet the total for my RCI shopping cart is $526.16.

When I open my shopping cart it shows a total of $445.90 plus service charge of 80.26. So they are basing the 18% grat on the $445.90 but I don't know where they are getting the $445.90 from when $59 x 7 is $413????

And for those commenting on the price and how many drinks would have to be consumed to break even - I don't care if I break even, although I'm sure I will be very close if not over!, I like the freedom of the drink package - I don't have to worry about my final bill and I can try any or all drinks I want to try without fear of not liking it and wasting my money or without caring what the cost of the drink is.

Booked with Southwest this morning for Feb 2016. DTW to MCO $358 (with early bird check in), nonstop outbound, one stop homebound. Delta was $764 (plus $50 baggage) nonstop both ways and has been since flights were released. We have always flown Delta for under $400 by booking when flights are first released (even last year) but we would've been driving to Orlando this year at that price! I have never looked at Southwest - very glad I did this time :)

According to the royal Caribbean blog the original flyer was a mistake and it is actually the Refreshment (pop only) package. I'm not sure how trustworthy the blog is though....

Royal Caribbean offering free Royal Refreshment package with any Ultimate alcohol package purchase

Royal Caribbean is offering a free Royal Refreshment package with any Ultimate unlimited alcohol package purchased for a limited time.

Royal Caribbean had created a flyer over the weekend advertising the deal was to get the Royal Replenish package, but Royal Caribbean Global Brand Communications manager Lyan Sierra-Caro confirmed that "was an error" and the deal is in fact for the Royal Refreshment package.

In a message to Royal Caribbean Blog, Royal Caribbean explained, "It seems there was an error on the trade flyer and it is being updated."

"With purchase of an ultimate beverage package, guests will receive an additional souvenir cup and royal refreshment package to share with a friend."

Guests will also receive a complimentary bottle of limited edition American Summer Domaine Chandon.

The Royal Refreshment package allows for unlimited fountain soda refills and a free Coca-Cola souvenir cup for $6.50 per person, per day for adults and $4.50 per person, per day for kids.

Offer valid June 15 through August 31, 2015. One bottle of champagne per stateroom.

Loved our cabana on HMC and would get one again if we return. It was great having your own guaranteed spot in the sun and shade, loungers, floating mats, snorkeling equipment, misting fan and even an air conditioner, of course you had to stand right in front of it to get any benefit :) We got fruit, vegetables, salsa and chips and water/pop as well. We are going to Labadee next cruise but we won't get one there as they are more expensive with less amenities and the location is not always so good.

02 Nov: received this message from TA,

“You are going to receive the Free Gratuities on your reservation. Once you get on the ship you can go to guest services and they will give you a print out showing that you have a credit on your onboard account. They will deduct the rate of gratuities per person every day from that onboard credit. You do not have to pay any other gratuities.”

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It seems as though your TA is giving you an onboard credit equivalent to the cost of gratuities. Usually OBC from a TA does not show anywhere on any cruiseline documentation but if you go to guest services they will be able to see it on your account - many times OBC does not appear on your account until the second day of the cruise. As mentioned in the response from your TA, your daily gratuities will be charged to your acc't every day but will be covered by the onboard credit that your TA provides.