euroguy

@Ditzy Diner I agree with what others have advised. You will need to speake with the head of dinning which will be at the entrance of the restaurant in an officers uniform. on my last cruise in september i had an issue with my dinning as i was approved for early dinning but for whatever reason the system put me for anytime... barf. Now comes the twist in the past I've had to make ding ING changes and the person was always available prior to opening g time however during my Alaska cruise noone was available until the time the restaurant opened which was a real pain so be prepared for that possibility. I would maybe make sure your whole family is with you when talking to them

@3Sisters it pretty clear that you have learned alot about me through all my post... yes I do a lot of extensive planning months in advance for each destination so I can fully appreciate each and not just a typical tourist spots as I'm never sure if I will return to the location or how long it might be before I return. Another reason is at least 1 cruise out of the year I will almost always try to go to locations I have never been to. Expand the horizons and see the world, which has so many wonderful things to see and experience. I have met so many people that have never left the state or at best went to 1 or 2 different states, i find that so sad. I have to admit I do enjoy planning the trips and excursions as it's almost like a challenge to what I can see and do and enjoy when I do it for others it brings me a true inner feeling of happiness when I see their smiles and amazement. Yes the baby sea turtles release was incredible almost like a spiritual moment. Just like back in April when I was able to play/interact with the tiger one on one, one of my life long dreams. In regards to specialty restaurants, I'm guessing you mean on the ship. Short answer is yes..lololol I actually look at the MDR menu in advance to the cruise and figure out which night dinner options look the least appetizing and select my specialty dinner during those nights, along with looking at ship activities so I won't miss something I want to see or do. Yep I usually have it all planned out. Then I'm incredibly organized with all the paper work, contact names and numbers and what's taking place. I think I might ruin you after I planned your trip but you would love it and remember it fir life 🥰 This will be my 1st trip to san juan, grand turk and amber cove.

@Tootie I do agree with some you state like limit cash, 1 credit card and making photo copies of credit cards and passport. With that said i think carrying a copy of your passport really is not very effective as if you needed to seek sanctury in a u.s. embassy or proof of citizenship a copy will not hold up, nor a government issue I.d. I would recommend to get a passport card which is as good as your actual passport and the size of a driver's license. This way you can carry the card with you and leave the actual passport on ship. If you don't have the card you can order one. If you don't want to do that then I would carry the actual passport and leave a copy on the ship safe. Also I've never been asked for my drivers license when reboarding the ship at a port, all port personnel and ship security ask for the sail and sign card and when scan it shows on there computer your picture to verify its really you. Consider this... would you travel by air to another country, let's say in Europe would you leave your passport at the hotel? The answer should be No!! It's your proof of citizenship and undisputed proof of identity. A cruise ship would be no different.

I'm not sure about being on all of CCL ships but certainly a lot of them...lol

@Kendall James-Vargas well you are in the right area to be able to squeeze in a quick cruise on the cheap as Florida's is the cruise capital. Yeah you do have a ways to go but I have to say from what I've seen CCL does a have a really great perk package compared to other brands. In my opinion if you're going to cruise be brand loyal and reap the rewards. One thing that is great though is a lot of the brands are starting to do loyalty matching, I think CCL does that as well but only once so you would want to be at an upper level from another brand prior to matching. If you did that you could start seeing of CCL perks faster. A transatlantic cruise sounds amazing and certainly once retired I will do one. Do you have one in mind?

@3Sisters i think i was a trvel agent in another life...lol Im all about maximizing time/experiences along with leveraging cost/money. I seem to be blessed with this gift and really do get a fully immersive experience, as you seen on some of my previous posts. As for extra time in San Juan Puerto Rico yes I will have a few extra hours and thinking about possibly doing a 45 minute helicopter tour as it would go over jungle areas, city and coastal travel which would be great to complete the experience. Thank you for the heads up about the wide brimmed hat... the good thing is I will be in a air conditioned car going from location to location from one end of the city to the other and hitting the majority of the high lites. But of course some walking will be required. I did forget to mention in grand Turk the boats 1st mate and I will gather few conch then he will make a fresh conch cevechie on the private island. Few years back I took my mom and couple friends on 10 day cruise that stopped at several ports including Acapulco. I did all the planning and we had a private drivers at ech stop and saw so many things both on and off the beaten path. One stop the 5 of us each got to release 2 baby sea turtles to the ocean. It was just us private and truly a special experience that was a once in a life time experience. If you ever need help with planning I'm available to help. I'm sure I could make your trip epic on a budget.

@Tootie I'm so happy to hear that you have been using the STEP program, it really is a useful resource and is the only place to register your travels and provides all official outlets know your travel plans and gives one a level of security or stream lined ability to get out of country or help if needed. Last year i did travel to mazatlan which was level 4 (highest level) due to the drug cartels bombing cars kidnapping and other bad apples creating caous for would be tourist. Being ex combat vet, and knowing how things can go side ways in a blink of an eye, I opted to briefly get off the ship to pick up a couple tshirts in the secured port area and then promptly returned to spend the day on the ship. I was amazed how people on the ship just blindly journeyed out on foot to other city areas beyond the secured area as if taking stroll through a park in U.S. suburbia. More over I was really surprised that #1 the ship completed the stop #2 not even a peep from the ship letting people know or to be safe etc. It's like the ship turned a blind eye to the state departments extreme warning. I wish more people used and read about STEP Thus the reason I started this post initially as you can not count on the cruise ship to look out for you and we as travelers need to lookout for ourselves and make educated choices. By the way it was wonder having a mostly empty ship to myself, got a great deal on a massage, restaurants available, jacuzzi with noone else. I am 100% agreement with you... leave the flashy jewelry and high end watches on the ship, you are only asking to become a victim.

@Kendall James-Vargas I think I'm certainly going to really look at Canada for September 2025. on my recent trip to alaska we stopped at Victoria BC and i really enjoyed the stop even though it was only 4 hours. People were really nice and was a beautiful city. I would have loved to have arrived earlier and longer to experience it more. Regarding the non stop flight yes I agree and wish one from Northern California to Florida existed, but I did make sure that I was flying out a day earlier, the connecting flight was in the northern portion of the United States (texas) in this case to avoid the snow zone and lastly if my connecting flight was delayed or canceled that I had addition flights available to get on and still make it in time to get on the ship. In this case I have 11 different flight that I can catch out of Austin TX that would save me. As for the pools during the Alaska cruise the luminosa has a dome that covers the lido deck and it was really warm inside. I didn't try the pool but did see others enjoying it.

@Kendall James-Vargas yes im already booked through 2024 and now eyeing feb-march 2025 and aug-oct 2025. Sounds like Aug or Sept might be good for Canada out of NY. And flights will be easier/cheaper to NY from California. Also more direct non stop flight options as well.

@Kendall James-Vargas yep each port certainly has its own flare. I too check my luggage with the dock porter and just carry a small backpack on the ship which I do get to drop off at my cabin right away, and if i want to change clothes as well, another vip perk. I thi.k once you get a taste of some of the vip treatment you will think how did I ever manage before. It's really does make the cruise nicer. Hopefully soon you will get the perks

When I see the stairs I will be thinking king of you jogging g up and down them 😂

@Kendall James-Vargas as a general rule I do avoid the buffet but every rule does have exceptions. A lot depends on what is being served, the crowds, time factor etc. Generally i stick to MDR, specialty or semi specialty places to eat. As for pools and Jacuzzis it seems like every ship gets crowded in those areas and I too will utilize during off peak times or a port I don't get off ship. I'm really excited to see some of the shows on the Mardi Gras as it is a newer set up and ship so suspect it will be grander. Also I think k this ship will be more alive which makes for so much more fun for me. Less than 30 days but who's counting... hehhee yeah I'm starting g to get excited !!!!

@3Sisters I have a feeling I will see the David statue on my Sept cruise with the Firenze. I suspect it will be put on the ship during dry dock/refit which is scheduled prior to coming to long beach. I will of course give an update when I return but that's a few month out still.

@Kendall James-Vargas no I have not been on the celebration. Maybe some time soon, but will depend on its destinations as i am on a journey to visit different locations 1st which is becoming harder and harder as ive been to so many hmmm, did like your idea about canada out of ny. Have you taken one to canada?

@3Sisters I see a red butt 🤣 less than 30 days out to my cruise and yes im starting to count down and begining to get excited... I have a private driver for the day at amber cove and will be making a tour of many locations so to get a fully immersive experience, from mountain to city and everything in-between. Grand Turk I will be on a private boat diving the coral reef and then swimming and playing with sting rays on a private island. San Juan is another full day seeing old San juan with a private guide. I'm thinking I might need a vacation from the vacation 😆 It looks like it will be 80 degrees in San Juan when I'm there hopefully 80 doesn't feel like 100. What time of year did you go and how hot was it??

I can totally relate as I was a recent victim too. In December someone tried to use my CC info to make a purchase 600 Mike's away. Thankfully capital one saw it and asked if legitimate and notified me via text. I called them vs. Clicking on text link (might have been fraud text) turned out true they blocked charge killed card and sent me a new one few days later.... then also in December I received a notification that a change happened on my credit report, looked and had a collection for a verizon account in NY (I live in California) took a couple weeks but got it all cleared and restored to normal. But what a pain in the butt as had to file police report, prove who I was and show proof of residence etc. Grrrrr. Couple things a person can do are #1 put a freeze on your credit reports which won't let companies pull your credit. You can unfreeze it when ever you need to. The more extreme measure is a full lock on credit bureau but much harder to unlock. All 3 of my credit bureaus have freeze on them. Problem solved. Hope this helps

@KeithG glad to see you're getting some great offers. I'm a CCL frequent flyer and also get amazing deals. Some of the latest for example is 7 day cruise balcony cabin, solo travler, free drinks everywhere on the ship, $300 with $200 on board ship credit and $100 casino credit that equals 100% free 🤣 and i can use this deal 3 times. I agree with others either regarding Bahamas stick to secure areas or CCL excursions and worst case stay on the ship and enjoy it being empty.

It would be great to hear what the difference is at different ports for Embarkation at different loyalty levels. I'm certain it will be valuable information for everyone. I've traveled through primarily Long Beach and Seattle and once years ago through Miami (don't remember Miamis) LONG BEACH - Ive been through the system both in lower levels and Platinum. Drop off location with porters is spit and polished, super easy. loyalty level Blue, Red and Gold line up outside according to there boarding time assigned, no shade or covering. Depending on time of year can be pretty hot or raining. Once your boarding time arrives the process to get inside of building is pretty fast. Platinum and Diamond get to walk straight into building and the literally takes about 5 minutes to get checked in and get a VIP lounge to wait in. Then they call each group to take a bit of a walk to get facial scanned to board SEATTLE - luggage drop off is disorganized and fend for yourself. Check in process...from what I saw.. Blue, Red and Gold line up outside regardless of boarding time, then once you get inside bldg you have different lines for your boarding times. There was hard cover areas outside to prove shade and protect from rain. Platinum and Diamond walk straight into bldg and get check in right away, then all loyalty levels go up stairs to have carry on baggage scanned and escorted to your assigned seating area. Platinum and Diamond we had a roped off area near the exterior door to walk to the gangway and had priority boarding. MIAMI was yeas ago and can't remember anything about it.

@Cruising Caribbean things a Long Beach port have greatly changed even over the last few years. I think for the better. Don't believe everything you see on the news. Yes we had a lot of rain but major flooding has not really been an issue. Sure isolated issues but nothing major. Love how the media finds the worst area and present it as the whole area or state 🙄 The one thing I think is poorly designed about long beach port is loyalty cruisers gold and lower they stand outside and in lines according to there boarding times with no shade or water and it can get pretty hot or raining depending on time of year. As a platinum or Diamond regardless of your boarding time you get to walk right into the building verify your info then go to a lounge and relax took about 5 minutes for me. Seattle was similar as I saw ppl standing in line out side to get in but Platinum and Diamond card holders got right in and process was seamless and took me all of 10 minutes to get through the process and seated. They didn't have a vip lounge but had a roped off area for us to sit and wait and got to board 1st. I'm curious as to how it will work for me on my upcoming cruise in Feb for Orlando. Also curious how Miami port handles platinum and diamond guests vs lower levels.

@Cruising Caribbean we waited in one of the lounges and had coffee juices and pastries waiting for us. I've had a lot of people suggest for me to explore other lines and it has crossed my mind multiple times however the perks and rates that I am receiving makes it very difficult. Also most lines are going to same locations as CCL so main Dorrance would be ships, but CCL has so many different ships. Some of the main perks I really like are 1. priority boarding with a VIP waiting lounges (depending on port for vip lounges) but always a different area than other cruisers 2. priority debarkation for tenders and end of cruise, 3. FREE drinks everywhere on the ship which includes all alcohol and non alcohol drinks (pretty much anything you can order I get free) 4. FREE Laundry service, priority restaurant reservations (specialty and MDR) 5. Special line at Guest Services Desk. I've seen 20 ppl deep in standard line and I can walk right up and handle whatever i need (huge time saver). 6. My own personal CCL assistant with a direct phone line to her (worth the weight in gold) 7. Ship staff that see my sail and sign card seem to step up and be more helpful and nicer. The list could go on. Regarding my rates well it's pretty hard to beat $100 or free balcony cabins (even though traveling solo - dbl occupancy) all I pay for is port taxes, gratuity, insurance. Insurance is minimal cost. Example $300 for balcony cabin $200 ship credit, balance owed $100. Insurance is based on cabin fee, so on 300 cabin insurance is $49. As for how long to get to Platinum, you become Platinum at 75 days of cruising with CCL. Another nice thing with CCL is if you will reach the 75 days during your cruise CCL will count you as Platinum on that whole cruise. The long and short of all this I do believe being loyal to a cruise line is worth it in the long run but one really needs to explore what the perks are on each line at what level and how hard it is to get to each level. I do know cruise lines are constantly adjusting there loyalty programs but usually grandfather your current loyalty level so better to reach one of the upper levels asap. It's been about 10 years since CCL made the last change so thwy are probably getting close to making a change. How many cruises days do you have with CCL? Do you have upper level loyalty level with any other cruise line? How are your loyalty perks?

@Kendall James-Vargas that a pretty good idea about sailing out of Boston or NY. I would need to do it possi ly in Sept so I would avoid most storm issues. Have you ever taken a cruise out if either port and gone north?

CCL Ambassador John Heald addressed the whole banning of the ducks, to which has stated the CCL has NO intention to ban or remove the ducks from the CCL cruise ships. I for one am a full supporter of Donald and Donald juniors being hidden about the ship. I don't intentionally go out seeking them but I do stumble across 1 per cruise and it puts a huge smile on my face each time....and I'm a grown adult, what more for kids.

@Kendall James-Vargas just wondering what is the largest ship you've been on and what did you like / dislike about its size?

@Kendall James-Vargas lol 😆 love visual of a conveyor belt idea at the buffet that is brilliant. on a second note just think how many decks/stairs you could jog 🤣 you could jog to exhaustion 😃 Mardi Gras that is now 30 days away will be largest ship to date that I will have been on. I suspect that it will be a love hate situation but I have to try it atleast once.

@3Sisters that sounds like a hose full. Sorry to hear everyone gor sick but happy you're on the mend. Yeah I'm still smelling and tasting my most favorite pie...hehehehe. during Christmas mom made my second most favorite which is cherry pie...she makes the old school way so it's a bit tart with a touch of sweetness... omg!!!! I was in heavan 😇