JohnG

No one got this last one. I'm sure many of you have been there.

Can't wait to see her. My Sept 11 travel agent seminar at sea is aboard her for the 7 night Maine and Canada sailing from Boston.

Getting warmer now.

Bump!

I'm not sure what your reference to 90 days was. If, for instance you book a cruise for next year, you put the required deposit down now and pay nothing until 60-70 days prior to sailing. Book now for next July and you don't have the final payment due till May of next year. Or, as said above, you can make partial payments if you wish. The biggest advantage of booking early is that the best selection of cabins and price is available now. Since ships are sailing full there are seldom any last minute bargains like in years past. In fact, ships are sailing at fares 10% higher than last year for the same cruise. And Europe cruise prices this summer are approaching full brochure fare as the ships are all sailing full.

A 2pm flight is fine no matter whether you are flying out of Miami or Ft Lauderdale. The cruiseline transfers require that it be 1pm or later for FLL.

No problem purchasing the transfers from the cruiseline no matter where you purchased your airfare. However, they need to know your inbound and outbound airline, flight number and time. They start pickups in FL about 10am and your return flight should be 1pm or later from FLL.

I plan to be aboard the 9/11/05 sailing from Boston for a seminar at sea, and look forward to it.

https://www.hudsonltd2.com/cgi-bin/fla1/res This is the shuttle from FLL airport to the pier and back. You can reserve online and prepay, or you can pick up your baggage and find their rep at the curb outside. About $17 per person each way. The cruise line transfers are $16 but won't start that early.

I have an RCI membership for a timeshare that my mother passed to us. I am also a cruise travel agent. In my opinion, exchanging the week for cruise credit is not a good deal. It means you give up your week and still have a hefty price to pay for the balance of the cruise. You can do better purchasing a cruise outright. But if you haven't joined and exchange organization like RCI, you should do so and just exchange your week in the Poconos for a week in Cancun, the Caribbean, or somewhere else in the US where you want to go.

See: http://www.cruisemontegobay.com/excursions.htm

Have been watching it on the webcam and on Regis and Kelly Live. Looks great. They have it moved out from the pier at Nauticus and have tugboats streaming water in the air. The program has shown some of the interior. Looks great.

I've sailed on Majesty several years ago. Loved the ship, and especially the beautiful champagne bar. I booked my daughter and her girlfriend's family aboard her this past spring break and they loved the ship on the 4 day Nassau/Coco Cay/Key West itinerary.

JoeyandDavid In response to your question about Princess's counterpart to S Suites and Concierge class, I'd say the AC or better mini-suites.

Nobody yet? This photo was taken from the sailboat we were on.

The car train stops in Sanford, about halfway between Port Canaveral and Orlando. I've taken it from Lorton, VA to Sanford.

Nope. Haven't been there in many years.

I have second what folks above said. OUr first cruise on HAL was Ryndaam and my wife l9ved it. They have upgraded everything since then, and we cruised Maasdam in February last year. We didn't notice the age the first time. On Maasdam, there was an older crowd. Didn't mean anything in any port, where we did our own thing. The service and food are superb. By the way, the tiers are: Mass market: NCL, Carnival, and RCL; Premier: Princess, HAL, and Celebrity

With the recovery of the cruiselines since 9/11, they are generally sailing full, and prices don't go down much near the sailing. In fact, any vacancies are selling at closer to brochure price than at a discount price the closer you get to sail date, especially Europe this year. They close out the sailing about 5 or 6 days before sailing so they can comply with requirements to turn over the passenger manifest to the homeland security people. The best bet to get the sailing and cabin type you want is to book early, up to a year in advance, and monitor prices, or have your agent do so, and request an adjustment if the price drops. Most lines will allow one downward adjustment if requested. I have our August, October, December, and June 2006 booked already.

You do have to deposit, but the deposit is usually less when you book onboard, and there is usually shipboard credit. Having said that, your TA can sometimes find a cheaper price for you. The cruiseline agent onboard is working on commission and will probably never see you again and is not incented to find you the lowest price. A TA who wants the repeat business will do so.

Frankly, I'm often able to cruise today for less than we paid in Dec 1992. We did an inside 7 nighter on Sun Princess through a TA who didn't specialize in cruises and I think they had us pay close to brochure price. It was about $1,900 for the cruise, or about $136 per person per day. We cruised in December 2004, same ship, but in a BD balcony for 10 days for $2,279, or $114 per day, and that was not a special TA rate. I booked it with my cruise TA before I went into the business.

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Check your Personal Messages for some info on Excursions companies

Congratulations, Glojo!! That is the old city portion of Acapulco, taken from the ship at the Acapulco cruise terminal pier.

Bumping up again. You are all in the wrong ocean! :smiley: