gcuecruise

Deck: 10

Cabin: 10211/10213 connecting

Class: C1

Balcony:- central park balcony

Bed: 10211 Near bathroom, 10213 Near balcony

Quiet: Yes.

View: nice view of central park. Almost directly above Park Cafe

Balcony size: Normal. Good for 2 chairs and 1 table, with room to walk past.

Wind: No problem.

Any specific problems with this cabin: Could not rappel down to Park Cafe.

Next time I will book more Aft. This is midship and a long walk to room each time. Not a big deal, but most often we were going aft for activities.

I have to be the worst possible person to ask, but... No, the form we filled out said we could use the Next Cruise certificate at any time, no expiration date. It only "costs" $100, which is applied to your booking when you make it. And you'll pay the deposits for any additional pax at the time you choose an actual cruise.

When you get the NC certificate, you get a booking # and that is applied to whatever cruise you book. We decided to book right away because we knew our vacation week and our experience with Oasis was that the rates only go up, so we wanted to book Allure as soon as possible, but I wanted the benefit of booking on board ( we will get the $100 OBC for using the NC, or booking on board for our upcoming Allure cruise).

 

If that is wrong I know someone will set me straight! Usually my go to gal is Crusinfever, Patti, for any of these sorts of questions- she always gets it right!

Sounds like you have it correct as I understand it. When a NC certificate is used one has to tell them the booking number before making the booking. In other words I think you have to go through RC directly on the phone. At least that is the safest way. I believe once the booking is made it can be transferred to a TA. What I am unsure o fis if you can make your booking using the NC and then some time later add to that booking another room or two, or have them linked, to get OBC for the two additional rooms you are entitled to. Haven't heard anybody discuss it that way.

Regarding expiration, they state there is none. So I interpret that as when I retire in 25 years I can use it. We bought one knowing we cruise every three years. Of course we all know that rules change (e.g. Crown and Anchor benefits) so RC could all of a sudden pull the rug out from under us. But since they have our money I doubt they would do that.

I have the brochure they provide onboard that describes the program. If anybody wants to see the details I can send some pics of it. Just let me know. gcuemail at gmail dot com

 

I was unaware I could get something called "Friends and Family" to get the $100 OBC for another 1 or 2 cabins (which we will need because of my kids this time).

If I understand correctly you turned in your NC certificate form, right? If so did you get an email response from them that contains a reservation number to be used for a future cruise? When you use that number you can book 2 additional rooms each getting the OBC. That is how it was explained to me on Oasis in December and I have the brochure that I believe explains it that way too. No need for a Friends and Family certificate per se. That is my understanding.

I am so glad you shared this! Even though I've sailed this class, I would not have known to do this with my teens when we sail Allure, now I do! Thanks! It's pretty tough to become expert on these ships, there is soooo much to do!

 

Glad I could contribute. It was a unique perspective that was very fun. Now I can't tell you a thing about specialty restaurants, but since we were the only ones on the rising tide for the parade and I never heard of this on CC before, I was kind of like, "I know something they don't know!" during the experience.

I will post this in its own thread as well.

 

A note on the parades if you want a unique experience. For several if not all of the parades, they utilized the rising tide bar. I know for the Rockin Rhythm street parade (the first parade of the week I believe) you could get onto the Rising Tide Bar in Central Park with the Cruise Director and her right hand man Ken (talking Oasis here).

 

This is very cool! How far ahead did you have to get on the bar? My girls would love to do this on Allure!

 

For the first parade of the week they said to meet them at the rising tide bar at 12:15 as the parade started at 12:30pm. We did and we were the only people there. It was a good chance to meet the cruise director and chat a bit. Other friends in our group rode it for a different parade too. Actually my oldest daughter was one of them. My wife and I were with our two youngest and we were watching the parade and then our littlest (5) looked up at the bar coming down and saw her sister and our friends. It was very cute as she got excited.

 

I also know that for the 70s street party (not really a parade) Po from Kung Fu Panda came down on the rising tide bar which was full of people just in time for the 70s song "Kung Fu Fighting".

 

As you might know the main action for the parades and street parties was in the middle of the Royal promenade. Rising Tide Bar/Cafe Promenade/Cupcake Cupboard/Globe and Atlas bar area. I believe it was the big globe over the Globe and Atlas bar that opens up and a bridge comes out of it and extends over the royal promenade, where performers can go out over the crowd. This is where they sing and throw stuff to the crowd, etc (as well as on top of the Cupcake Cupboard). So good to be near there but not right under it as it would be hard to see straight up.

I will post this in its own thread as well.

A note on the parades if you want a unique experience. For several if not all of the parades, they utilized the rising tide bar. I know for the Rockin Rhythm street parade (the first parade of the week I believe) you could get onto the Rising Tide Bar in Central Park with the Cruise Director and her right hand man Ken (talking Oasis here). We rode down with them and were right in the middle of the parade with no crowd problems! The kids loved it as they were the cruise director's (Amy Fickert) "backup dancers".

I know you could do this on the last parade of the week as well.

We actually heard about it on the Ken and Amy (cruise director's) show on TV in the morning as they said meet us at the rising tide at this time and you can ride down.

Here was my view of it: The cruise director Amy in pink and my daughter and friends as her "backup dancers".

Hi,

I got the cert. ( freinds and family or whatever they call them now) on my previous reservations / bookings of the "Next cruise", but when I did the last one on board the Navigator just two weeks ago - I did not get them.

I asked Mr. Peter Enns Loyalty & Cruise Sales Manager for the certificates and was told; " we do not do that anymore" ( provide the cert.)

He did say something about informing the reservation agent during making the actual 'specific booking' that others ( friends or family) will also be booking the same cruise and that the benefit ( OBC) will be provided for them.

I do not know if this is some new policy that RCI implemented or if Mr. Enns just wanted to tell me 'something'.

 

Any one else with similar experience ?

Wieslaw - we booked a Next Cruise on our Enchantment cruise 2 weeks ago and were given the Friends and Family certificates so they are still doing that.

I did not get a F&F certificate on Oasis last week. The only thing I got was an email with a reservation number for a future cruise. I was under the impression I just book with this number and I can book a total of three rooms under it and get the OBC for each room. This is line with what Texasnana has experienced.

When you do one of these, does it have to go

on your seapass or can you use a credit card?

Credit card. They would not accept the seapass card when I got mine.

Here is the brochure. I don't think the resolution will be good enough to see the details, even if you save and enlarge. I can email these pics to those interested.

You should also get 2 "Friends & Family" certificates to use with your NC.

Hmmm....maybe that is why I got three emails. They looked the same to me. I guess I need to look at them more closely.

Mine was in my email the same day I submitted it onboard, which was a.m. on the say before debarkation.

The sender was listed as "documention" and the subject was "Bkg: Agent Invoice for Reservation ID:...."

So it was a rather non-discriminate email, almost missed it myself. Might want to check your spam folder too.

All it is is a reservation number associated with your C&A number. If you don't have it just give them a call with your C&A number and they should be able to pull it up for you....especially if you know they processed it already.

I was Gold by 23. I am now Gold at 41. Will turn platinum next cruise. I have been waiting 18 years for the robe and slippers!! :):rolleyes:

I guess I was thinking midship between the forward and aft elevators. But indeed if you are at the end of the ship beyond the elevators there would be more walking. But to me if your room is mid ship it seems like its six of one half dozen of the other as to whether or not you are "near" an elevator. Unless of course the places you tend to frequent are near one end of the ship.

I never completely understand why some people insist on being by the elevators. I mean I do understand that it is a good thing, when you are going to or coming from the part of the ship near the elevators your room is near. But isn't one going to need to walk a longer distance if they are going to the other half of the ship?