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Pit Cruising Thread

deacvision7 said:
We had a Princess cruise scheduled on the Enchanted for the kids 6th bday surprise, but just cancelled that to do an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen instead. We got a swim-out suite so I know the kid is going to have a great time, but I'm interested to see how a resort compares to a cruise.

The price is certainly better and you won't have to then also buy a beverage package on top of that, so that's nice. Expecting worse quality food tho. We shall see.
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We do an adults only all inclusive in Playa del Carmen. I’ve found the food to be pretty good overall but there are definitely some misses.
 
thatguy2016 said:
Awesome, can’t wait. How is the free wine on board?
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dukediggler said:
it's good; excellent choices of 4-6 wines every meal, including some local options for each port. I would NOT pay for the silver spirits addon unless you are planning on getting shitfaced, and if you do you will feel out of place. It's not a party cruise - much more laid back. It's intimate - only 200 people on board, so there's no getting lost.

HOWEVER, you can often get them to add it on to your package if you need to negotiate something, and then you can hit the bar without any costs. Bar charges and laundry are literally the only things you'll spend money on. There is no nickel and diming, which is nice.

We actually did get the spirits package on our ocean cruise with them - someone in our group negotiated it for us. The mealtime wine options were not that much better; the value is in the time you spend at the bar before and after dinner.
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Haven't done Viking river, but did an ocean cruise with them last summer. After some internal debating about it, decided to purchase the silver spirits package. Mainly because I just didn't want to think about paying for something every time I ordered a drink. Since they don't allow only one person in a room of two to buy the package (either both or none) and since my wife doesn't drink, for sure we did not save money on the package. But to me, it was worth the freedom of having everything paid for up front and not thinking about cost/money moment by moment. I did find it more enjoyable to order wine at meals from a more expansive menu rather than take whatever few wines were included for all travelers. Having said all that, they will serve you without the package as much beer or wine as you want during meals and it's all decent enough (and yes, the food was very good), so the silver spirits package is definitely not necessary in order do have beer/wine with meals. And it's not strictly economical unless you drink a lot apart from meals. But for some, it can just be freeing in some emotionally nice way...at least it was for me!

There were 4-5 educational and fun drinking sessions I attended featuring 2-3 bartenders serving and teaching something about certain drinks and these were all included with the package.

Might also want to know that even with the package, there are more exclusive wines and drinks you can still pay extra for if you are so inclined.

Definitely enjoyed the Viking cruise. Was very impressed how they were so well organized, loved the abundant educational talks, the ship was beautiful, food was really good, entertainment was great, other guests were fun/interesting to be with, included tours were generally very good, non-included ones also great and reasonably priced for what you get, etc.

Enjoy.
 
Don't know about Viking, but on Royal after you buy the drink package for both people in your room, you can call in abd get them to remove it for a single person if they don't drink.
 
one other tip on viking - we would often pick up a bottle of wine from a local shop during our excursions just to try something that we'd never see at home. That bottle would usually cost less than 10 euros and would keep us happy until dinner.
 
Liquid Karma said:
Don't know about Viking, but on Royal after you buy the drink package for both people in your room, you can call in abd get them to remove it for a single person if they don't drink.
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Nice to know. I'll keep this in my back pocket for our upcoming Greek Isles cruise this summer. Right now, I'm just planning to bring a bottle on board from every port of call and then pay per drink as needed.
 
tsywake said:
We're taking tsykid and my MIL to Alaska this June. We're going all out with the experiences and excursions. Step FIL had a stroke a few years back, and is paranoid and refuses to travel at all. It's pricy, but we're planning on making this a once in a lifetime trip for her.
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Lord the excursions are expensive. I've found some savings going thru local providers on Viator, but there is nothing cheap about an Alaska cruise.
 
Liquid Karma said:
Lord the excursions are expensive. I've found some savings going thru local providers on Viator, but there is nothing cheap about an Alaska cruise.
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For sure. We've saved a few grand so far going through Alaska Shore Tours instead of the cruise line. Occasionally the cruise offering is comparably priced, but the markup is generally quite substantial.
 
tsywake said:
We're taking tsykid and my MIL to Alaska this June. We're going all out with the experiences and excursions. Step FIL had a stroke a few years back, and is paranoid and refuses to travel at all. It's pricy, but we're planning on making this a once in a lifetime trip for her.
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Stopping in Whittier?
 
I am not sure about tsys cruise, but mine isn't which bums me out. I spent a ton of time there as a child.
 
Fiance and I are taking all the kids on a SB cruise leaving Thursday. Our only scheduled port was Labadee (which sucks), however that got canceled due to the ongoing problems there. Replacement port was announces yesterday...Grand Turk!!
 
TimmyClutch said:
Stopping in Whittier?
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No, Seward->Hubbard Glacier->Skagway->Juneau->Icy Strait->Ketchikan->Vancouver.

I've got quite a few points via my AA Executive Card, so we're looking to upgrade to first class for the MIL. How's the best way to do it, book main cabin then call and ask to use the points to upgrade? We also have a credit from a cancelled flight last year to use.
 
How much time in Alaska prior to the cruise? There is a great train ride from Anchorage up to Fairbanks that passes thru Denali.
 
tsywake said:
No, Seward->Hubbard Glacier->Skagway->Juneau->Icy Strait->Ketchikan->Vancouver.

I've got quite a few points via my AA Executive Card, so we're looking to upgrade to first class for the MIL. How's the best way to do it, book main cabin then call and ask to use the points to upgrade? We also have a credit from a cancelled flight last year to use.
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Yes. Do you have any systemwide upgrades? If so try those first. Also you might see what F costs straight up - sometimes it’s only a couple hundred extra on domestic flights but not sure to anchorage.
 
tsywake said:
No, Seward->Hubbard Glacier->Skagway->Juneau->Icy Strait->Ketchikan->Vancouver.

I've got quite a few points via my AA Executive Card, so we're looking to upgrade to first class for the MIL. How's the best way to do it, book main cabin then call and ask to use the points to upgrade? We also have a credit from a cancelled flight last year to use.
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Whoa. On RC? I love that itinerary.
 
We're doing our honeymoon cruise again this year. 7 days with 3 days docked in Bermuda, during Cup Match.
 
vtwhat etc said:
We're doing our honeymoon cruise again this year. 7 days with 3 days docked in Bermuda, during Cup Match.
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I am big fan of Bermuda. The Cruise ships berth at the southern end of the island, while alot of cook stuff is in middle and north. Its a place where its mor economical to drink rum than beer.
 
TimmyClutch said:
I am big fan of Bermuda. The Cruise ships berth at the southern end of the island, while alot of cook stuff is in middle and north. Its a place where its mor economical to drink rum than beer.
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Cup Match is a magical thing.

Bermuda basically suspends all non-violence related laws for those 2 days.

Young kids run gambling games outside the match, and pump you full of free beer.

They always have a visitors booth set-up where they explain cricket, and also give away all the booze you could ever want.

Is it to pin toursits off? Yeah, sure. Does it work. Hell yeah. I'm fine with it.

Photos from 2023 Cup Match: https://bernews.com/2023/08/photos-2023-cup-match-classic-day-2/


P.s. most businesses shut down & hotels tend to be prohibitively expensive for it, but... guess what? A docked cruise ship solves all of these issues.

The seas can get a bit rough, but again, you get 3 days of recovery time while you're docked.
 
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