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I thought Carnival let you order a bottle for the room now, you just can't take it out of the room. Was thinking about doing this instead of paying for individual drinks over the course of the trip. https://www.carnival.com/FunShops/item/K30/grey-goose-vodka-mixer-package
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Mar 11, 2019 23:01
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Yeah you can order that, but if you’re, say, out by the pool, you have to get your mixer from the bar/server, walk to your room, then go back to the pool. Also the glasses of soft drinks at the bar are pretty small, as I remember. Unless you get the soft drink package and then buy a (apparently) 14oz. insulated Carnival cup for like $8 and take it to the bar. But I just wanted to mention that the soft drink package is a no brainer for me, because it includes juice. Orange, grapefruit, cranberry, pineapple, and tomato IIRC.
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Mar 12, 2019 01:31
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:Yeah you can order that, but if you’re, say, out by the pool, you have to get your mixer from the bar/server, walk to your room, then go back to the pool. Also the glasses of soft drinks at the bar are pretty small, as I remember. Unless you get the soft drink package and then buy a (apparently) 14oz. insulated Carnival cup for like $8 and take it to the bar. Don't forget the free POG juice at breakfast on Carnival.
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Mar 12, 2019 01:56
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If anyone takes a cruise that stops in Victoria BC, hit me up and we'll have goon-coffee or whatever. Most of the cruise ship folk seem to just slosh around the most touristy street or go whale watching.
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Mar 12, 2019 02:17
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Silly Burrito posted:Don't forget the free POG juice at breakfast on Carnival. The juice changes each cruise. There may or may not be POG.
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Mar 12, 2019 03:08
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skipdogg posted:I thought Carnival let you order a bottle for the room now, you just can't take it out of the room. Was thinking about doing this instead of paying for individual drinks over the course of the trip. I thought you were talking about buying a bottle at the on board duty free. I was going to mention pre-buying a bottle which isn't a bad idea if it's all you want and will only want to drink in your room. Don't feel pressured to buy an alcoholic package if you don't think it will save you money. But I will say (on my RCI cruise) the drinks were easy to get on the pool deck and at dinner and I easily had 5-6 drinks a day because it was so easy to get one with my package. I paid $45 a day for the package and easily beat that.
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Mar 12, 2019 03:51
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Holland America Line fan here. Granted, it’s mainly because my parents are obsessed, but I’ve traveled several times on them and I love hanging out with old people. Norwegian cruise and Caribbean cruise completed, and debating on where else I’d like to go with my parents.
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Mar 12, 2019 17:43
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So I got a huge MEGA deal on a Disney Cruise out of San Diego that goes to Cabo, Puerta Vallarta, and Mazatlán. I've never been to the Mexican Riviera before. Any tips on what's fun to do in that area for 3 adults?
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Mar 15, 2019 13:26
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Mom and dad are hitting Puerta Vallerta next month via HAL on a Panama cruise - I’ll ask them what they saw/liked if you like.
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Mar 15, 2019 16:46
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We're going next month too! Crazy last minute deal!
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Mar 15, 2019 18:28
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Just got back from the JoCo Cruise*, which currently uses Holland America. We were aboard the Oosterdam, which is one of their smaller ships. This was a chartered cruise, so the setup was slightly different (and the average age trended about 50 years younger than usual- mostly people between 25-45). But the food, service, included amenities, and that sort of thing should apply for anyone. The food was uniformly amazing, and they had 24-hour in-room dining included. Hooray for 2am quesadillas in bed. The menu was expanded a bit for us, both because we're more adventurous eaters than their normal clientele, and to add some extra vegetarian options. It was odd that they didn't charge for juice, iced tea, lemonade, or basic coffee, but they did charge for soda. I guess most cruise lines are going to that model now? Seems weird to include daily, chef-prepared gourmet meals and then nickel-and-dime for a Pepsi. The service was spectacular, although the main dining room tended to get slow at times. Rather than have assigned times and seating (as is the case on normal HAL cruises), JoCo splits into two dinner "teams", each with a 2.5-hour block, and seating is free-for-all. I think this threw off the wait staff a bit, because some nights we'd finish dinner in 45 minutes, and other nights we were just getting dessert nearly two hours in while nearby tables had finished, re-seated, and been served again. I've heard that some cruise lines will include a basic tour at certain ports, but nothing off the boat on HAL is free. The shore excursions seemed overpriced, and several people we talked to said they varied wildly in quality. We skipped them all and explored ourselves. Boat-wise, HAL ships suffer from narrow hallways almost everywhere. I'd heard cruise veterans mention that most cruise ships have one or two nice, wide Promenade areas, but even the main activity decks on the Oosterdam felt cramped. And that appears to be a "feature" even on HAL's larger ships. Still, the staterooms and public spaces were nice, and everything was well maintained. Overall, I'd try Holland America again, even for a non-chartered cruise. Which is good, because I'm already booked for next year's JoCo Cruise aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam. * - Jonathan Coulton cruise, a week of gaming, concerts, cosplay, parties, and panels. I know it's cool around these parts to hate on anything that has been embraced by geek culture, but it truly was an amazing experience, and during the trip I met some of the kindest, smartest, most inclusive people I've ever encountered. It's not a ship full of "Comic Shop Guy" by any stretch. WhiteHowler fucked around with this message at 11:03 on Mar 18, 2019 |
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Mar 18, 2019 11:01
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Thanks for sharing. Did you meet the McElroy bros? The paid soft drinks has been a thing forever on pretty much every line. I remember a cruise I went on as a kid in the 90s and my parents had us only ordering the free ice tea. The only line that has free soda is Disney. As for the ship size that is pretty common for charters. Buying out a ship is expensive and you need to make sure you can fill it (the lines typically don't offer you any assistance with sales once you've chartered). There is one group that is able to charter the big Oasis class every year. It's the LGBTQ Atlantis events so they have a much broader audience than JoCo. Zero One fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Mar 18, 2019 |
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Mar 18, 2019 17:41
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Zero One posted:Thanks for sharing. Did you meet the McElroy bros? Yeah, the Oosterdam definitely felt small every time we pulled up next to another cruise ship. We docked alongside the Disney Fantasy in Tortola, and the Carnival Breeze in San Juan - both of which can carry at least twice as many passengers. We'll be on the Nieuw Amsterdam next year, which is slightly bigger but not all that different from the Oosterdam (300ish more passengers, an extra feature restaurant and bar, and a pizza window). Even Holland America's biggest ship still has the weirdly narrow promenade decks though. It's not a huge deal, just makes it a little awkward walking past someone when the boat is being boaty. Anyway, I'm happy to answer questions about my trip, whether it's about JoCo Cruise specifically, or the Oosterdam and Holland America's peculiarities.
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Mar 19, 2019 03:37
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I was on the Oosterdam last December, and comparing it to the Koningsdam was interesting. There were some things I missed on the O - the Dutch cafe, more spa amenities in the thermal spa, and the mini cabanas on the Lido deck. However, I really liked the grandeur of the O more than the modern feel of the K. Food on both was wonderful, I did more main dining on the O, but I did the Pinnacle on the K - both fantastic. Loved the breakfast room service - so relaxing! The sports bar area was a favorite for me on the O as well, just behind the casino. My parents are on the Volendam next month, I don’t think they’ve been on that one yet. I really do love HAL - just wish the piano bar area would do a couple more songs made after 1980.
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Mar 22, 2019 21:34
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Anya posted:I really do love HAL - just wish the piano bar area would do a couple more songs made after 1980. I didn't eat at any of the premium restaurants, though I heard Pinnacle Grill is excellent. They organized a couple of specialty lunches for  each (Thai and Korean), and I did try those. The food ranged from fantastic (Thai) to pretty good (Korean, I've had much better), but service was slooooooooow. Like, even by cruise ship standards. I think they were using us as a test audience, because apparently they don't do these types of focused specialty lunches on normal cruises.I'm wondering how Tamarind is on the Nieuw Amsterdam. It looks like my kind of menu. I'm pretty sure JoCo has ruined normal cruises for me. We got 90% of the standard cruise amenities, plus games and better concerts and a boat full of awesome passengers. I heard the crew absolutely adored us too; their purser already requested vacation for next year so she can go on the cruise with us -- as an attendee.
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Mar 22, 2019 23:36
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ATK was fun to watch, got some great recipe cards. The JoCo sounds fun, and it would probably be a shock to the system to see a HAL ship not filled with the 60-80+ crew (which does make it very relaxed and chill). Looking at next year’s itinerary, that’s wonderful to have so many sea days, that’s my favorite part of the trip.
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Mar 23, 2019 13:07
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Anya posted:ATK was fun to watch, got some great recipe cards. The JoCo sounds fun, and it would probably be a shock to the system to see a HAL ship not filled with the 60-80+ crew (which does make it very relaxed and chill). Looking at next year’s itinerary, that’s wonderful to have so many sea days, that’s my favorite part of the trip. Sea days would seem to be the whole point of the average tropical cruise. I mean, honestly, what's the point of getting off a floating resort to visit a tourist town that's entirely filled with... resorts (but also more hawkers and pickpockets)?
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Mar 24, 2019 13:51
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I think it depends on the location, and you need to do some research beforehand. Half Moon Cay - Private island owned by Holland America, expressly for the purpose of selling you overpriced trinkets and manufactured "experiences". However the beaches are free and absolutely beautiful, and there's basically no crime (because nobody lives on the island, everyone there works for the cruise line). So we hung out on the beach and went Geocaching and didn't pay a dime on the island. Tortola (Road Town) - There's a super touristy area at the port with overpriced food and shopping. Beyond that, it's a run-down town that's still rebuilding from hurricane damage. We couldn't get cell or internet signal (despite T-Mobile supposedly having international coverage in the BVI), and we weren't sure where it would be fun, interesting, or safe to go. Pre-cruise research hadn't been very helpful outside of canned "excursions", so we walked around for a few minutes and then got back on the ship. Puerto Rico (Old San Juan) - Touristy right near the port, but once you get a few blocks away, it's just a city. There were police everywhere - a lot of Puerto Rico is still trying to recover from the hurricane, so the last thing they want is a reputation for being dangerous to tourists. San Juan proper is more like a regular city anywhere else, mostly fine but with a few areas to avoid. Next year is the same private island, then Grand Turk and Santo Domingo. How much we do there will depend a lot on research and availability of cell service. But hey, the boat is always fun.
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Mar 24, 2019 15:44
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For the record, Carnival goes to Half Moon Cay as well, since Carnival owns Holland America.
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Mar 24, 2019 16:01
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Braksgirl posted:For the record, Carnival goes to Half Moon Cay as well, since Carnival owns Holland America.
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Mar 24, 2019 16:09
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How to move a giant ship down a tiny river backwards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09mr_IePyrs Zero One fucked around with this message at 16:35 on Mar 27, 2019 |
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Mar 27, 2019 16:32
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I've recently gotten curious about cruises. Others mentioned JoCo, but I've presonally noticed GACUCon, which seems to be slightly closer to my particular interests (they mention virtual reality): https://www.gacucon.com/ Has anyone been on that one, or the ship it uses (Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas)? And are there any of those 3-day weekend cruises going out of any of New York City's ports? I've seen a website mentioning them, but I haven't fount any available.
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Apr 4, 2019 13:05
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Navigator of the Seas would be a great ship to go on. It just finished a huge refurbishment last month that added new features like restaurants and waterslides. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/02/28/navigator-of-the-seas-completes-115-amplification-upgrades-across-the-ship
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Apr 4, 2019 15:29
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Cockmaster posted:I've recently gotten curious about cruises. Others mentioned JoCo, but I've presonally noticed GACUCon, which seems to be slightly closer to my particular interests (they mention virtual reality): JoCo actually did have a few virtual reality rigs this year -- among other stuff, there was a lot of Beat Saber, some Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, and a "relaxation chamber" area with VR meditation software available.
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Apr 5, 2019 00:34
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I just noticed a 3-day cruise from NYC ending on Memorial Day (which would only consume two vacation days), but it's with Carnival (which charges solo travelers the full price of the person who isn't there). Crap. And for playing poker with people who don't know what they're doing, is there anything one should look for in a cruise? Say, a cruise line where the rake is relatively not-too-bad, or one which especially appeals to casual gamblers, or an ideal ship size for ensuring a decent number of people to play against?
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Apr 6, 2019 14:25
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Cockmaster posted:I just noticed a 3-day cruise from NYC ending on Memorial Day (which would only consume two vacation days), but it's with Carnival (which charges solo travelers the full price of the person who isn't there). Crap. Royal Caribbean hosts a poker tournament on most of their cruises, with the prize being a free cruise. No idea if they have enough people play and no idea if they have poker regularly outside of that. Their casinos are pretty popular though, so I’d be surprised if they didn’t have at least some poker.
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Apr 6, 2019 15:07
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Cruise ship poker is the worst poker I've ever seen. It's like being at a home game in 2005. Last time I was on Royal Caribbean was 3 years ago now. Large-ish ship, but not one of the newer mega-ships. There were usually 2 (maybe 3) tables of cash games going on at night. They did a tournament each day which was really just a single table SNG. Winner of each one of those played each other on the last day in a 5 person tournament with the winner getting the free cruise and tournament entry. The play was unbelievably bad but the structure is super fast, so you need some luck. 15 minutes in you're just shoving every hand hoping you don't get looked up. I don't remember the rake, but I'm pretty sure it sucks. Is the play bad enough to over come it? Only one way to find out. I doubt it will be worth it to use the likely quality of the poker tables as a way to pick the cruise.
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Apr 6, 2019 16:06
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It's been hilarious watching NCL trying to spin their failure with the Joy in the chinese market. Yes NCL, we totally believe you just spent $60 Million on a ship less than 2 years old so you could do more Alaska cruises.
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Apr 15, 2019 07:54
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Cruises to Cuba may be over. https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/trump-administration-imposes-restrictions-on-travel-to-cuba No one is really sure how this will impact already booked and scheduled sailings. No lines have made any statements yet.
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Apr 18, 2019 16:51
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Well, gently caress. Was supposed to go in mid-May. Hopefully whatever bullshit they're going to do is either done quickly, or verrrrry slowly.
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Apr 19, 2019 06:12
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Kase Im Licht posted:Cruise ship poker is the worst poker I've ever seen. It's like being at a home game in 2005. On the Eurodam, HAL had an electronic machine with really reasonable rake iirc on their 1/2 cash game. I paid for my fiance and my cruise through Alaska winning what ended up being a 2 table tournament and through about 10 hours or so of cash, playing from like 10pm-1am most nights after whatever show or entertainment finished. The week long Alaska trips are pretty badass and surprisingly on HAL the clientele wasn't all 80+, the majority of the population seemed to be in their mid 30s and we had some of the bigger stacks I've seen on a cruise, quite a few $500+ stacks on 1/2NL. I also paid for most of our cruise through the Caribbean on the Oosterdam (I think?) that had a dealer but was still fairly reasonable for a cruise, I wanna say 10% up to a max of $6 or so per pot. I paid for half of our 17 day LA to Valparaiso on the Norwegian Sun but my god the rake on that ship was insanity. I'm pretty sure it was an uncapped % but I can't recall with certainty. Also, their tournament was like a $60 buy in with an obscene $20 rake and IIRC 12 min rounds lol. All in all, I love playing poker on cruise ships and wish the games played bigger they're literally the easiest games I've ever played in, easier than 2003 when I was a senior in high school and everyone was Chris Moneymaker.
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Apr 23, 2019 09:43
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Currently on the Disney Wonder about to leave San Diego for seven days. San Diego is a beautiful city, and this ship is nice. Already had lunch dining as soon as we got on the ship, and so far, the theming is incredible. We will see how it compares to Carnival/Royal Caribbean for the whole seven days but so far I’m pretty impressed. Can’t wait to finally see Endgame in the ship’s theatre on Wednesday. I’ve tried really hard to avoid spoilers. 
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Apr 28, 2019 23:24
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Disney is a hell of an experience, but you pay for it. The Mrs get a nice discount?
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Apr 29, 2019 00:10
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skipdogg posted:Disney is a hell of an experience, but you pay for it. The Mrs get a nice discount? Yep. It was a last minute deal.
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Apr 29, 2019 00:20
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Silly Burrito posted:Currently on the Disney Wonder about to leave San Diego for seven days. San Diego is a beautiful city, and this ship is nice. Already had lunch dining as soon as we got on the ship, and so far, the theming is incredible. We will see how it compares to Carnival/Royal Caribbean for the whole seven days but so far I’m pretty impressed. Can't wait to hear your review- the missus has been hounding me about a Disney cruise but I'm reluctant given the fact that we don't have kids, and I'd assume they're the ones that would benefit the most from the theming?
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May 2, 2019 07:57
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TheKevman posted:Can't wait to hear your review- the missus has been hounding me about a Disney cruise but I'm reluctant given the fact that we don't have kids, and I'd assume they're the ones that would benefit the most from the theming? 30 minutes before we leave port in Puerto Vallarta so this is short, but so far so good. To answer your question, not necessarily if your missus is a big Disney fan like my wife and sister are. You get a lot of the character experiences here and can take pictures with pretty much a lot of the characters from the parks and more (Marvel characters are on the boat). The theming is very nice, and if you’re (or your significant other) big into Disney, you’ll appreciate all the small touches. Different things from Carnival/Royal Caribbean: We have three dining rooms that we rotate through for every night so you get a different dining experience but with the same table mates. There is no buffet at night, but the buffet turns into a quick service with its own menu, and I think that’s how they train their staff. Cokes are free, so bring your Yeti/RTIC and fill it up. The split bathroom is something I’m definitely not a fan of as it seems really small, but it does allow someone to shower and pee at the same time in privacy. Tonight we have fireworks, so I’m curious to see how they compare to the parks. Endgame was great, and we saw the first showing in the big theater as that was the main attraction for the night (and had lines at the door an hour early). Two more days at sea, and then we come back to San Diego.
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May 2, 2019 22:22
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Not sure if this will come through but this is a shot directly from our balcony facing down right now. Just a funny thing to see on a boat instead of the normal port pier.  
Silly Burrito fucked around with this message at 22:29 on May 2, 2019 |
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May 2, 2019 22:27
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Silly Burrito posted:Yep. It was a last minute deal. What's the best place to find deals?
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May 2, 2019 22:49
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Pixelante posted:What's the best place to find deals? I ask Braksgirl. 😁
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May 2, 2019 23:11
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Pixelante posted:What's the best place to find deals? I personally used to use vacationstogo.com with good success. I don't think they have *as* many smoking deals as they had a few years back, but we've done well with them. We got a last minute (like 2 weeks before departure) Alaska cruise on HAL's Eurodam out of Seattle 2 or 3 years ago for $599/person for oceanview (partially obstructed) but because the prices were falling through the floor we upgraded onboard for $100/pp to a balcony. $699/pp for an Alaskan cruise balcony room. Granted, we were literally the first ship of the season at each port, but the weather was phenomenal and the cruise was amazing. We also got a $599/pp 17 day cruise in an unobstructed Ocean View room from San Diego to Valparaiso, Chile about 5 years ago about a month before departure. $399/pp 7 day Caribbean on the Rotterdam about 3 weeks before departure as well.
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May 2, 2019 23:13
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