jc24cruiser

Seems to be a bit hit and miss on here about stories of upgrades. I am one of the lucky few....

I live in the UK and we are not usually able to take advantage of price drops. However I recently saw outside cabins being sold for nearly HALF (£600 for 2 people) of what I paid for an inside (£1,100)....and even balcony cabins still A LOT cheaper (£800) than my inside room. So I called the Crown and Anchor society helpline and simply (but politely) asked if there was anything they could do regarding it.

The lady I spoke to upgraded my room to a guarantee balcony AND refunded nearly £200 to my bank card.

Logged onto my booking a couple of weeks later to find that my stateroom number has now been assigned.....and to my surprise I have a huge aft balcony :D

I know that I was lucky in this case and that I can not always expect it in the future, but I also know that had nothing of been done....I would still have got what I paid for! I also realise that my upgrade can be withdrawn at any point until embarking.....but keeping my fingers crossed :)

I have seen some where on the website that any upgrades may be withdrawn if they are able to sell the upgraded cabin to some one else. I am not sure exactly where I saw it, hopefully some one will be able to help out with a link or a copy of the upgrade terms and conditions :confused:

Getting to try out the RCI robes for the first time on my October cruise on Indy....will then see if I want to buy some :D

Is the charge from taking the ones from the room the same as the amount to buy them? Do you let some one know....would not want to do it and look like I was trying to get away with it!

Well that blows my fourth option :rolleyes:

Does any one have any advice regarding choosing between the Brilliance, Vision and Allure for a family crossing?

Thanks x

Oh no :(

Why would they do it without guests? Not something I have come across before....but have not really looked in TAs before :confused:

It is probably me being stupid....

But doing a search on the website I can see Explorer in the Caribbean in January and February then sailing from Southampton from April onwards.....but no TA from one to the other?!?!

Trying to book my first TA for my family (inc my kids who will be 7 and 8 then and will have been on their first cruise this October).

My choices so far are.....

Brilliance of the Seas - 14 nights - seen bad reviews though re kids on TAs

Visions of the Seas - 15 nights - which will give me enough points to go up to Diamond

Allure of the Seas - 12 nights - more to do (but also quite a bit more expensive, understandably so) but will miss out on Diamond status by 1 point :eek:

Or......maybe the Explorer????

Is the Explorer somewhere between Vision and the Allure in regards to things for the kids to do???

And how am I missing the Trans Atlantic cruise? Do they sometimes set the date of these later than the other cruises either side of it???

Thanks in advance for any help/advice/tips anyone can offer :D

I have not had any issues with a cruise (as it will be my kids first cruise in October this year) but had had a problem travelling to France.

We were travelling by coach, myself, my partner of 5 years and my kids aged 6 and 7 at the time. The kids have their fathers surname, I have reverted to my maiden name and my partner (though we are now married under my maiden name) had not changed the passport from the old name. So we were a group of 4, travelling under 3 different surnames and the kids did not match either of us!

We did not have any letters or birth certificates (it was our first holiday abroad and just getting on the coach on time was an accomplishment) so the French Police were obviously cautious.

We were allowed entry, but I guess it could have gone either way!

Will be sailing on Adventure for the first time at the start of May, enjoyed reading through lots of posts about her :)

Does any one know if Cupcake Cupboard was definitely installed during her dry dock?

The option to book the Cupcake classes is not possible, but not sure if it's just because the system has not bee updated since the dry port.

Thanks in advance for your help :)

x

The only definitive answer is that the dress code is "a suggestion". The reason there is so many conflicting reports is because everyone is different and interpret the "suggestion" differently.

As long as you are not in bathing suits or that sort of thing you can go into the MDR (I think there are a couple more definite NO NOs, but I am sure some one will clarify the exact rules! Shorts may be in that bracket!).

I personally love being able to dress up when on holiday and I will be that person wearing smart clothes every evening (and a dress on the formal evening) as it is a treat for me. I would not turn up to a posh restaurant (which is what MDR is!) in casual shorts and t-shirt....but that is personal preference.

I personally think that there are more casual options like the Windjammer if you don't want to get dressed up. :rolleyes:

However I would like to add though, that I am not one of those cruisers that will shake my head and tut at those that do decide to go casual.

What others wear does not affect my meal, I wear what I like to wear...it's just that I like to wear (and feel comfortable in) smart clothes :D

I agree with the majority of the replies....eat and sleep!

I love to have breakfast in bed or on the balcony and then have fun exploring all the bits of the ship we have not had chance to see yet (there is sooooo much art!). Then have a little snooze!

Last year on Liberty we also enjoyed doing the Cupcake class at Cupcake Cupboard, I know it is not for everyone but I really enjoyed it....especially eating my creation afterwards. Followed by 40 winks!!!

Oh, did I mention zzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

Thanks for posting this thread.

I am looking at Trans Atlantic cruises for next Spring with my kids (who will be 7 and 8 then) and have a choice between the Vision and the Allure. Love the idea (and the price) of the smaller ship and it is nice to see that people love it being more personal, just need to decide if there will be enough to keep the kids entertained for 2-3 weeks :rolleyes:

Does the deposit convert to £75 for UK residents? And I know the OBC is based on cruise length, but is that the length of the cruise you are sailing on at point of booking or length of cruise booked? I assume its the latter but want to check :) Going on a 4 night cruise soon, but will be booking a transatlantic so hoping it's that way round :)

Muster drill started really late last year on our Liberty cruise. A bunch of women arrived to our section and then stood and talked through it all. They should put the rude late comers (as I realise there is sometimes genuine reasons why people arrive late) should go on a black list and not allowed onto the lifeboats until last...though I bet they are the kind of people that will be elbowing their way through the queues to get to the front!!!

I completely understand that you are more likely to catch Noro at work or schools/hospitals. But if you are at home you miss work...not a cruise!

However (even though I love snuggling my own pillow when I'm I'll) I guess that being locked in a gorgeous cabin with room service is a great way to feel better :)

I hope that by the time I get to DL or I am lucky enough to be able to go to the CL, that...

A) things have changed and there is no snobbery

Or

B) my skin will be thick enough that it won't bother me!!!

I am not holding my breath for option A! :rolleyes:

Hi,

Thank you for your replies, it's nice to know I can find out when I get on board.

Don't worry, it is not a crucial part to my planning, I am not sat hyperventilating in front of my computer! ;)

It would have been nice to plan the speciality restaurant in advance and also plan when we want to visit Johnny Rockets (on our last cruise we went to Johnny Rockets at about 3pm and by 8pm we were still not hungry enough to go to dinner!).

But another reason is just to get excited about the food!!! I'm a foodie in hiding, because due to a busy lifestyle I eat boring, quick, "slap on the plate" food :( Eating out and eating great food is a real treat to me, making the food a big part of my enjoyment of a cruise. I just wanted to know, if possible (though I now realise its not) which 4 of the many menus it would be so I could salivate over my fave dishes in advance (whilst my partner watches rubbish on tv!) :D

Hi,

If you booked directly you can add a "celebration" to your booking, including honeymoons. We got a couple of nice treats on our honeymoon.

I have never been called randomly re upgrades. But due to a massive price drop for an upcoming cruise I called Crown and Anchor about 30days out from sailing (even though we are uk based and rcc don't usually do anything about price drops) and we got upgraded from inside to guarantee balcony...just logged onto our booking and we have been allocated an aft balcony :eek:

Just be polite and go into the situation thinking "what's the worst that could happen?"

:D

Those card things confuse me!!!

I clearly don't travel enough as I just stand there wondering why the lights don't work...have luckily never got as far as ringing maintenance about it!!! :rolleyes:

I have just upgraded (for free) from an inside cabin to a guarantee balcony...Only to find out that we have been assigned an aft balcony, so excited to finally have felt the pleasure of the Upgrade Fairy :D

Hi,

I am a really light sleeper too. I have stayed near elevators before and not noticed any noise from the elevator or noisy passengers. I have found them convenient and easy to find too.

We will now be staying in an art location for the next 2 cruises (one assigned to us by a guarantee cabin and one due to family reasons) so will be interested to see if it is any different but I don't see how (other than having to travel more corridor) as I have never had an issue before?!?!

Good luck either way :)

That is great to know. Thanks for posting and for the answer as I will be getting my first alcoholic package next month :)

Hi,

Trying to work out what menus are on which night for 2 upcoming cruises. I have booked 2 short cruises this year, one for me and my partner alone and one for us and our 2 children (their first cruise).

I have tried doing a search on the forum, I have tried looking at previous 4 night reviews and I have asked on my current Roll Calls....I still have no idea :confused:

Adventure - 4th May 2014 (4 nights from Southampton)

Independence - 28th October 2014 (4 nights from Southampton)

If anyone knows (or knows how to work it out) which of the menus will be on each evening it would be really appreciated so I can get doing some planning!

Thanks in advance for any help :D

Do a quick dummy booking for your cruise and see what the availability is like, that should give you an indication as to how likely you are going to be offered an upgrade.

We are sailing on Indy later this year too, October 28th, and were originally booked in a balcony suite but called and upgraded it a few weeks ago, due to a new job, to a junior suite (I needed the extra points!). But have just done a dummy booking for our cruise and ALL the balcony AND junior suites are sold out....the next thing up from us is a couple of Grand Suites, a couple of Owner Suites and the Royal Suite.......so my guess is that we will not be getting a call from the upgrade fairy! :rolleyes:

In the past when I have been really happy with a cabin selection I have put a "No Upgrade" status against my booking, I did it online.

Hope that helps :)

Nice to hear how they handle these situations, just in case it ever happens to us :)

Enjoy your next cruise x

Useful to read through the posts, we are going to be in the same quandary at some point :)