ChucktownSteve

They shrunk and came back as flip flops

The word free in advertising is very powerful in attracting people. There are always those gullible people who bite. That's why I always ignore the language even in the grocery store. They mark it up above normal to lower it. In cruising I look at what I receive at the cost per night. I decide on the bottom line. However any business that uses the word free after marking it up loses my trust and believably. That's why cruise line emails immediately get deleted when I see those words.

Insurance is only expensive when you don't need it. At 10% or so premium to risk, I can cruise ten times and only need it once to recover all the premiums of my more expensive cruise bookings now. Carnival or Royal Caribbean, I can self insure.

Yes I had a Travel Guard policy several years ago. They are notorious for that. The way I got it resolved was through Steve in Tripinsurancestore.com even though I bought directly from the company. He contacted an underwriter there he knew and greased the wheels. I don't know if he can help or not. But I have been using him ever since. Giving him a call for advice couldn't hurt. He likes helping people I've discovered.

If it's not a lot of refundable, no problem getting the cash from guest relations. However with the larger R OBC, our TA has started just mailing us a rebate check after the cruise. Much more convenient than carrying a large sum off the ship. Some cruise lines let them just apply the R OBC to lower the booked fare as if we made the payment.

Have you ever asked them to remove the back of the watch so you can see all the plastic parts they put where you can't see them? I learned that lesson in the islands decades ago. The outside is Purdy. Inside not so much....Sometimes cheaply made at top price. Using up Non Refundable OBC is what everyone apparently does. See the previous posts of free money.. You're the only one who I heard sells the items to friends to recover some cash. I let my wife pick out anything she wants. I call that making a deposit in her emotional bank account. That way I can take debits when I screw up. And if you're married, you know I"m gonna do that. The refund was for a defective Mary Francis purse that I actually got cash back from the vendor and AZ. That's the best way to convert NROBC. I got the cash back AND her good will. lol WIN WIN.

By about 1/3? lol

Glad he was able to help you!

Plus there are lots of people who buy with real cash not the OBC perk which is really built into the cost of the cruise. Free? I heard the people in corporate cruise companies laughing at that one. 🤪

I wasn't complaining. What part was a complaint? The first sentence?

Now I'm not begrudging the cruise line from making profits on top of the lease contract, however I was able to determine the AZ cut on a recently refunded, defective item. After several months, I received the credit. It came in two refunded portions. One represented the amount from the vendor while the other from AZ. It appears AZ's cut adds about one third to the price because the amount refunded by the vendor was the regular retail obtainable elsewhere.Thought I'd share with those who were curious. So is that OBC really free money or are they just getting it back?

I just checked two of the credit cards I use for all our cruises. I noticed last Thursday Regent applied credits to the two totaling $1,200. I don't know if its a credit perk for becoming an SSS member after our last cruise for two additional cruises that were booked prior or it was due to a promotion. One is past final payment before we first sailed so I asked my TA to see if they could get us something as a new SSS member. She said they might upgrade me. We're in a Penthouse cat. Then the credits show up. Regent had already credited the booking not yet at final payment. I have an email into my TA to find out the reason...not that I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Please don't forget to tell us how that worked out for you. Thankx.

I always use Steve at https://tripinsurancestore.com He does insurance threads here on Cruisecritic. They rep several companies and you can preview the policies on their web site. Some of their policies have a 21 day deadline for pre-existing coverage from deposit date. Others are prior to final payment. I'd give them a call and see what they might be able to do for you.

Phil I agree wholeheartedly about the premium liquors and unlimited laundry benefit being real desirable perks. On Azamara late last year the P1 got "basic" shelf liquor in the cabin but premium throughout the ship plus one bag of laundry per full seven days with how much you can STUFF into their bag. I realized the enjoyment of unlimited laundry recently on Regent. We didn't have to worry about stuffing. Sometimes the bags went out days in a row or sometimes we would skip a day. But no worry and no charge was a true benefit that means next time we can certainly pack much less clothing. Full ltr bottles of requested premium brands were in the suite. I'm glad the upper AZ suites do this but perhaps they could consider whether they want to elevate some of the other categories experience to go with their premium pricing. Sometimes a low out of pocket cost with a higher perceived value goes a long way to seal the deal. At that point it's no longer about price but value/perks for less than Zenith.

We used All Transfers in Rome from the airport and a 3 hour Rome tour. Then we picked up another couple at a center Rome hotel to the port. They were very reasonable at the time.

RATS

In May we cruised from Bermuda after a three day port layover (which required testing onboard 2 days before arriving) to Canada but didn't need to test to get into Canada. All the ArriveCAN app required was proof of vaccine. So this is great since we're on Regent from Vancouver in September. Yay no testing. So glad the world is understanding the virus has evolved. Hopefully Celebrity will follow suit.

I scanned a passport photo on my printer as a jpg. Scan it at 300dpi. Then I cropped it to size in Paint. Right click on picture file and select open with paint on the drop down menu. Just save it and upload it as needed. However now you have a picture on your computer you can reuse over and over that is assured to be accepted.

I'm curious. Has anyone calculated what percentage credit equals? I receive 3% cash back on one of my credit cards for booking travel without jumping through these hoops for OBC. Is the BoA credit more than 3% spent equivalent?

I usually price between Friendly Duty Free on Front Street. They have three locations. I also stop at Captains on the water taxi pier at the beach. Depending upon their promotions, either one could be better priced.

I can't speak to wines since I don't usually drink it due to glucose. However when it comes to spirits I prefer smoother liquor. When I sailed in a P1 last December on Quest, I had four 375ml bottles of what I consider close to bottom shelf but others thought they were good brands. Stoli, Bacardi, Beefeater and JW red I consider them bottom because I drink on the rocks and those need to be mixed with something. I upgraded to get the brands I enjoy. I found supply chain better shelf liquor issues on AZ, Celebrity in Feb and Regent in May as did others regularly. So it's not just AZ's fault. On two of the cruises, since we were in suites, they reserved my preferred brand to follow depending upon where we were dining that night. That surprised me. The bottom line is I felt all of them were trying to be as accommodating as possible but were restricted by provisioning. Beamafar if your husband enjoys JW Blue, the best place I've found pricing for that is St. Maarten. This past December I bought eight 200ml bottles for $120 per four at my regular liquor stop there. It was on special. The 750ml bottle was more expensive than the four. But then you have to book a Caribbean cruise lol I consider a cruise including St. Maartin to be my liquor run. Since I drive to the port, I can bring back six liters per person without duty tax. My local Wines and More has the 750ml for $230 and the 200ml for $68 each.

they'll need to fill out the referral bonus form and know your booking number. I had my TA do it. She had a client that she used for the referral. I received my Ambassador $250 off the fare on my first cruise. There is a very short window to submit the form.

I'll do that on your January Panama Canal cruise We spent 40 years in Charleston. Recent transplant to FL.

It's not just the menu in specialty restaurants but the higher caliber service level and the ambiance that makes it more enjoyable.