Changes coming to Mariner cruise planner

[Carolina Girl 99]

11 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

On other sailings which your search missed.

 

Thanks Biker- I was able to locate the missing dates on another site, which just proves it's unreliable to rely on the info from just one site 😆

[Wanderista]

I'm a little bit surprised that my next cruise won't include a day there because it has two sea days in that region. It's ok for me because I like sea days and I've never been there at all but they might fill more cabins up that way. I guess they aren't ready to do that.

 

I'm neutral on Coco Cay. I can always enjoy a day at the beach but I'm also actually looking forward to Nassau. I haven't been though and actually have more than enough potential things to do, but I'm a history and culture type of person. I'll climb just about any fort if the weather cooperates, so I'll be fine in Nassau. No idea if I'll want to visit it after this though, we'll see.

[cruisegirl1]

This  is what I see on the app for my sailing on Jan 20, 2020. I didn’t book a charter, I booked the  cruise as part  of a B2B. 

 

m

Edited August 9, 2019 by cruisegirl1

[snowglobe]

Mine says the same thing (charter cruise), although we booked directly.

 

We’re considering booking the 3nt before our 4 night as a b2b - do you get any perks for booking a b2b?

[brillohead]

18 minutes ago, snowglobe said:

We’re considering booking the 3nt before our 4 night as a b2b - do you get any perks for booking a b2b?

Only if you consider not having to pack and leave the ship a perk!  LOL

You will likely have to disembark so they can get a "zero count" for the ship, then you're the first ones back on the ship, so you do get the ship mostly to yourself until the new cruisers board.

 

[Biker19]

21 minutes ago, snowglobe said:

 do you get any perks for booking a b2b?

No.

[brillohead]

4 hours ago, thepants said:

Negatives would've the extra costs..the pricing at cococay is outrageous and it feels like they are nickle and diming you.

But there's no cost at all to just enjoy a beach day.  

You only have to pay extra for the water park, cabanas, excursions, or certain specific food items (wings and fries, I think?), which would be exactly the same as you'd have to do at any other port of call.  You don't "need" a cabana to enjoy the island, particularly since the umbrellas are now complimentary.  

The beach, kiddie splash pads, kiddie water slides, trams, loungers, umbrellas, pool, food -- even drinks and wifi if you have those packages.... all of it is included in your cruise fare. How is that "nickel and diming"???? 
 

[AshleyDillo]

46 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

This  is what I see on the app for my sailing on Jan 20, 2020. I didn’t book a charter, I booked the  cruise as part  of a B2B.

 

Apparently the call center is reading these as charters too and alarming folks who are calling in about not being able to make reservations or access their reservation.

[thepants]

24 minutes ago, brillohead said:

But there's no cost at all to just enjoy a beach day.  

You only have to pay extra for the water park, cabanas, excursions, or certain specific food items (wings and fries, I think?), which would be exactly the same as you'd have to do at any other port of call.  You don't "need" a cabana to enjoy the island, particularly since the umbrellas are now complimentary.  

The beach, kiddie splash pads, kiddie water slides, trams, loungers, umbrellas, pool, food -- even drinks and wifi if you have those packages.... all of it is included in your cruise fare. How is that "nickel and diming"???? 
 

I understand all of that. We have kids that are beyond splash pad years. So we would have to buy the day water park pass to enjoy the slides or the zip line. We would have to pay to use jet skies and to rent a locker for our things while on the island ..I realize the beach is free and some amenities are free..with two days having to buys two days worth of water park passes at 37-40 per person for 5 people per day is pricy. That is just the water slides. No Cabana, no Zipline, no balloon..etc..just have to plan to do beach one day and free activities and one day of water park stuff. 

[thepants]

On 8/6/2019 at 6:08 PM, molly361 said:

 what is the appeal of an overnight at coco Cay?

 Overnight at CocoCay would be nice because we can walk beach at nighttime (private island is nice because of the safety aspect). As well as not having to rush off the beach to get back to room or being able to get up early and walk the beach or early morning yoga on the beach. Things like that. Just more laid back than rushing back to boat for one day. We enjoyed our overnights in Bermuda very much!!

[brillohead]

6 minutes ago, thepants said:

I understand all of that. We have kids that are beyond splash pad years. So we would have to buy the day water park pass to enjoy the slides or the zip line. We would have to pay to use jet skies and to rent a locker for our things while on the island ..I realize the beach is free and some amenities are free..with two days having to buys two days worth of water park passes at 37-40 per person for 5 people per day is pricy. That is just the water slides. No Cabana, no Zipline, no balloon..etc..just have to plan to do beach one day and free activities and one day of water park stuff. 

Well, you don't "have" to rent jet-skis to enjoy the beach, and the lockers are free from what I heard.  You also don't "have" to use the water park (and certainly not on both days).  

For that matter, you don't even "have" to get off the ship, particularly if you were planning on having a sea day one of the days.  

I'm doing a B2B next month, so will experience Coco Cay twice in one cruise, and I intend to enjoy the island both times, but not spend an extra dime either time.

[cruisegirl1]

1 hour ago, snowglobe said:

Mine says the same thing (charter cruise), although we booked directly.

 

We’re considering booking the 3nt before our 4 night as a b2b - do you get any perks for booking a b2b?

Not really.  On some ships you might get a luncheon, but only if there are enough back to back cruisers. We’ve never gotten  a luncheon on the three/four day run. 

 

 If you have to travel far or fly, you save in your travel costs and conveniences. 

 

M

[thepants]

2 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Well, you don't "have" to rent jet-skis to enjoy the beach, and the lockers are free from what I heard.  You also don't "have" to use the water park (and certainly not on both days).  

For that matter, you don't even "have" to get off the ship, particularly if you were planning on having a sea day one of the days.  

I'm doing a B2B next month, so will experience Coco Cay twice in one cruise, and I intend to enjoy the island both times, but not spend an extra dime either time.

I understand all of that. I Just listed as a potential negative for people if they enjoy doing all of the activities they will have to pay per person per day which does add up for some. We love cruising because we can tailor what we like to do and what we wish to pay for. I get it. We do love rccl

[cruisegirl1]

46 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Only if you consider not having to pack and leave the ship a perk!  LOL

You will likely have to disembark so they can get a "zero count" for the ship, then you're the first ones back on the ship, so you do get the ship mostly to yourself until the new cruisers board.

 

 These days it’s something like five minutes!

 

We  like being able to have a somewhat more leisurely breakfast, and then we usually walk around the ship and take some photos or take a look at other cabins for future cruises. You don’t have to meet up with the back to back group till about 9:30 

m

[thepants]

1 hour ago, snowglobe said:

Mine says the same thing (charter cruise), although we booked directly.

 

We’re considering booking the 3nt before our 4 night as a b2b - do you get any perks for booking a b2b?

For some, booking b2b pushes them to next category faster for crown and anchor points since it's two cruises and not one long one.

[cruisegirl1]

17 minutes ago, thepants said:

I understand all of that. We have kids that are beyond splash pad years. So we would have to buy the day water park pass to enjoy the slides or the zip line. We would have to pay to use jet skies and to rent a locker for our things while on the island ..I realize the beach is free and some amenities are free..with two days having to buys two days worth of water park passes at 37-40 per person for 5 people per day is pricy. That is just the water slides. No Cabana, no Zipline, no balloon..etc..just have to plan to do beach one day and free activities and one day of water park stuff. 

 All of the things that were free before the renovations are still free now. Plus, there are many new things added that are still free.     Labadee has similar attractions, the beach, lunch is free but you pay for the zip line the roller coaster, jet skies etc. Coco Cay  is really no different.    A couple of the new parks or umbrellas at all the chairs, in the past we used to have to rent them at $30 each time.    And, the general lunch is way better than what they used to serve. Plus the snack shack has lots of fun things to eat.  I’m not sure why you would need a locker,  but we use a VAULTZ bag to secure valuable items to a tree or to our beach chairs. 

 

 Visiting any port where you chose to do water activities would have many of the same kinds of expenses. 

 

 Some sailings have half-day water park passes so that might be a happy middle ground. 

 

 I hope whatever you decide, that you enjoy your cruise. 

 

M

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, thepants said:

For some, booking b2b pushes them to next category faster for crown and anchor points since it's two cruises and not one long one.

Crown and Anchor is based on nights on a ship now, not number of cruises.

A B2B of a 3-day and a 4-day is the same number of points as one 7-day cruise (assuming room category is the same... extra points for solo or suite).

 

[thepants]

12 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Crown and Anchor is based on nights on a ship now, not number of cruises.

A B2B of a 3-day and a 4-day is the same number of points as one 7-day cruise (assuming room category is the same... extra points for solo or suite).

 

When did that change? Our last cruise was with carnival and prior to that celebrity so we haven't used our C&A in a few years. I didn't know that changed. That stinks

[Biker19]

Just now, thepants said:

When did that change? 

2011. 

[thepants]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

2011. 

Okay last year we sailed rccl...we're back again now

[brillohead]

6 minutes ago, thepants said:

Okay last year we sailed rccl...we're back again now

Right where you belong!  LOL

They converted the "number of cruises points" to "nights on board points" using some formula they came up with -- some people came out ahead, others not so much.  Hope it worked out well for you!
 

[LuCruise]

So anyone knows why this is taking so long?  You would think they would figure out their changes (BEFORE halting cruise planner and removing the sailings from royal booking), then just have to bring the system down to add in the changed itinerary and additional excursions, and then bring it back up.  Makes you wonder....It's like they are figuring out their changes while the system is down.  (Ken, you weren't kidding earlier when you emphasized "Starting" August 7th)

[Ourusualbeach]

11 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

So anyone knows why this is taking so long?  You would think they would figure out their changes (BEFORE halting cruise planner and removing the sailings from royal booking), then just have to bring the system down to add in the changed itinerary and additional excursions, and then bring it back up.  Makes you wonder....It's like they are figuring out their changes while the system is down.  (Ken, you weren't kidding earlier when you emphasized "Starting" August 7th)

Lol, reading the e mail I figured it would be down for a while.  We are now into the weekend so I wouldn’t expect anything until sometime next week. 

[dswallow]

5 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

This  is what I see on the app for my sailing on Jan 20, 2020. I didn’t book a charter, I booked the  cruise as part  of a B2B. 

 

m

 

5 hours ago, snowglobe said:

Mine says the same thing (charter cruise), although we booked directly.

 

We’re considering booking the 3nt before our 4 night as a b2b - do you get any perks for booking a b2b?

 

FYI, that date appears to be a charter...

 

Caribbean Classic Country & Bluegrass Cruise

January 20-24,2020

Mariner of the Seas

 

There's a Facebook group for it (just search for the name) and it appears to have had artwork posted for the cruise ads around March 2019.

 

Also found another reference for a charter on Mariner for January 13-17, 2020...

 

Danny' Stewart's Bluegrass Cruise

January 13-17, 2020

Mariner of the Seas

 

 

Who knows. But it does seem there's some sort of charter activity coming if not already confirmed.

[thepants]

2 hours ago, brillohead said:

Right where you belong!  LOL

They converted the "number of cruises points" to "nights on board points" using some formula they came up with -- some people came out ahead, others not so much.  Hope it worked out well for you!
 

Lol yeah..at the risk of sounding to snobby, we will never sail Carnival again. Learned our lesson with that one. We thought to give the new Vista a try when it first sailed but then realized quickly we missed RCCL. We did like RCCL sister company celebrity though.