Introduction — Status Matters – A New Cruising with MJ Series

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Carnival

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Disney

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with NCL

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Princess

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Holland America

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Celebrity

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Royal Caribbean

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status Reciprocity with Affiliate Brands

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status Summary

Latitudes Rewards is the loyalty program of Norwegian Cruise Line, or NCL as the line is commonly referred to. Latitudes Rewards is a points based program where one cruise night = one point. Like other lines, NCL awards a bonus point if you are booked in a suite or The Haven. You can also earn an extra point per night when booking nine months in advance (that’s actually pretty cool) or book a Latitudes Rewards Insider Offer.

Images Courtesy of NCL

Latitudes Rewards features a four tiered elite system with benefits beginning after just one cruise. All tiers receive monthly “Insider Offers,” Priority Check-in, and a onboard discounts at the duty free shop and on internet with an internet package purchase.

Beginning with Bronze status, the benefits increase as you attain higher levels of status ranging from discounts on spa services, exclusive parties, priority tender services and welcome gifts. Platinum members, the highest elite level receive concierge services (believe me…can be helpful), complimentary dinner at Le Bistro (a specialty restaurant), and behind the scenes ship tours. Complimentary laundry is also a benefit of Platinum status. There are other general benefits including an on board credit of up to $250 dollars dependent upon your stateroom category. All of the program’s benefits can be reviewed in greater detail on NCL’s Latitudes Rewards website. An online brochure can be viewed here.

Overall, I think NCL Latitudes Rewards is a reasonable loyalty program. Complimentary laundry for top tier elites, along with complimentary specialty dining (at Le Bistro), on board credits, and internet package discounts make the program attractive to me. Perhaps Latitudes Rewards will work for you too.

-MJ, May 24 2013

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Royal Caribbean International has posted the inaugural itineraries for their groundbreaking new ship, Quantum of the Seas, which will be based in the New York area. Quantum’s first cruise will actually be an 8-night trans-Atlantic cruise from Southampton on November 2, 2014, to Royal Caribbean’s New York area base at Cape Liberty, New Jersey. Based on the published itineraries I believe there will be a week or so of promotional cruises  or opportunities to preview the ship for the travel community and media, then a formal launch on November 18, 2014, with a three night, then two night “sampler” cruises.

On November 23, 2014, Quantum of the Seas will set sail for the Bahamas and Florida. Quantum of the Seas will then fall into a routine of Bahamas and Caribbean itineraries varying length from 7 to 12 nights. I had planned to book the inaugural, but after viewing the itineraries, I plan to be on the first southern Caribbean cruise departing December 1, 2014. Who’s with me? I’m pretty jazzed about this new ship, and look forward to sailing.

Yesterday, the Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA) announced that its member lines are voluntarily adopting a passenger bill of rights. According to the CLIA

“…member cruise lines are each immediately verifying in writing that they have adopted the Passenger Bill of Rights, which is a condition of membership in the Association. CLIA also will submit the Passenger Bill of Rights to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), requesting formal global recognition and applicability under the IMO’s authority over the international maritime industry.  The Passenger Bill of Rights will be effective immediately for U.S. passengers who purchase their cruise in North America on CLIA’s North American member cruise lines, regardless of itinerary.”

The bill of rights reads as follows:

INTERNATIONAL CRUISE LINE PASSENGER BILL OF RIGHTS

The Members of the Cruise Lines International Association are dedicated to the comfort and care of all passengers on oceangoing cruises throughout the world.  To fulfill this commitment, our Members have agreed to adopt the following set of passenger rights:

1. The right to disembark a docked ship if essential provisions such as food, water, restroom facilities and access to medical care cannot adequately be provided onboard, subject only to the Master’s concern for passenger safety and security and customs and immigration requirements of the port.
2. The right to a full refund for a trip that is canceled due to mechanical failures, or a partial refund for voyages that are terminated early due to those failures.
3. The right to have available on board ships operating beyond rivers or coastal waters full-time, professional emergency medical attention, as needed until shore side medical care becomes available.
4. The right to timely information updates as to any adjustments in the itinerary of the ship in the event of a mechanical failure or emergency, as well as timely updates of the status of efforts to address mechanical failures.
5. The right to a ship crew that is properly trained in emergency and evacuation procedures.
6. The right to an emergency power source in the case of a main generator failure.
7. The right to transportation to the ship’s scheduled port of disembarkation or the passenger’s home city in the event a cruise is terminated early due to mechanical failures.
8. The right to lodging if disembarkation and an overnight stay in an unscheduled port are required when a cruise is terminated early due to mechanical failures.
9. The right to have included on each cruise line’s website a toll-free phone line that can be used for questions or information concerning any aspect of shipboard operations.
10. The right to have this Cruise Line Passenger Bill of Rights published on each line’s website.

My take – this was coming, one way or the other. This “bill of rights” is not unlike the airline customer service plans many of us are intimately familiar with, which were also voluntarily implemented to head off legislation back in the late 90′s and early 2000s’. Whether it represents a plus up to initiatives the cruise lines were already doing is subject to interpretation. I like the fact that it makes at least a minimal commitment more formal.

Of course, I’m a fan of cruising as you all know, and haven’t experienced any major difficulties in 31 sailings. I don’t expect that to change. That said, I think this is a positive and proactive step. What do you think?

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-MJ, May 23, 2013

The only thing I love more than taking a cruise is taking two cruises! Known as a back to back (or B2B), taking two cruises in a row on the same ship is an ideal way to really unwind, and make the most of your time on board. Admittedly, I can’t frequently take two week vacations, but when I can, I like to fill at least a portion of that time with a cruise. The entire two weeks? For me, even better!

My most recent B2B cruise was aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world. We never considered just a seven night cruise on a ship so large and chock full of stuff to do. Our planning revolved around a B2B, Allure’s alternating eastern and western Caribbean itineraries appealed to us, and we could not have been happier. In fact, over 200 of our fellow cruisers elected to do the same thing, though I think we were definitely the youngest!

Why B2B

What makes a B2B so satisfying? During week one, you’re still a little wound up from work. By week two…. you’ve let go, and are really unwinding. Not to mention, there’s an almost giddy feeling knowing that when all the other poor souls have to leave the ship you get to stay for another week… or more. Yes, I met a couple on Allure that were on a B2B2B2B cruise. Yes, that’s four weeks of cruising if you’re counting at home. However, if you only have a week to enjoy you can still take advantage of a B2B opportunity. The short three and four night Bahamas cruises from Florida ports offer some of the most affordable cruises. If you aren’t port particular, and are really looking to just take an affordable get away, combine a three and four night Bahamas cruise into a B2B and enjoy a reasonably priced seven nights of cruising. Here’s a little video courtesy of Royal Caribbean International to wet your B2B appetite.

B2B Logistics

There’s nothing special about booking a B2B. Call the cruise line directly to help arrange for the same stateroom and note your reservations as consecutive or use a travel agent. Then go cruise! The logistics of “turnaround day” on your B2B vary by cruise line, and even by the home port of the ship. Typically, you’ll get a letter on the last evening of your first cruise that contains your onboard charge card/room key for the following cruise. The letter will explain how customs formalities will be handled. If you booked a different stateroom for your second week (try not to, but it happens), you’ll need to pack your belongings and leave them in your stateroom when you exit to clear customs. Your bags will magically appear in your new stateroom. If you have the same stateroom (Yay!!), no need to worry about packing.

On turnaround day, there are one of a few possibilities most of which will include waiting in a lounge until everyone except those on the next cruise have disembarked the ship. Then a crewmember will walk you through customs. Some ports will even send a customs inspector onboard to collect your blue card, and you won’t even have to leave the ship. Wish they all did that. Once you are back on board, you may have the ship to yourself for a bit, or you may just barely beat the new guests on. During a B2B turn in Miami a few years ago, we were alone by the pool for nearly an hour before any other guests were allowed on board. The few minutes of quiet were nice…interesting even.

In summary, a back to back cruise is a wonderful way to maximize your cruise vacation. Try to keep the same stateroom for both cruises if you can. Part of the joy of not needing to leave the ship should also include not needing to pack on the final night of the first cruise! It’s a good idea to book your B2B cruise on the phone with the cruise line, or have your travel agent handle things for you to ensure the cruise line knows you are on a B2B sailing. Enjoy your cruise!

-MJ, May 22, 2013

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I recently wrote about using Ultimate Rewards points to pay for cruises. It is an option, but in most cases, I continue to recommend you use your Ultimate Rewards to pay for flights, and just pay for your cruise with cash. No matter what currency you use to pay for your cruise, if you are like me, you want to get the best possible deal. Opinions vary on how to do that. Some swear by booking with one of the various online travel agencies that specialize in cruising, while others prefer to do it on their own. Still others book with professional brick and mortar travel agents they like. You can put me in the later camp, with a twist.

As long as you are booking outside the final payment window (60 to 90 days in advance of your cruise – check with your cruise line to confirm yours), you can have your price adjusted to the new lower price if the price you reserved drops. The exception to this, sometimes cruise lines will offer special deals good for “new reservations only.” There are ways to go about monitoring the price of your cruise. You can watch cruise line websites yourself and monitor the price for the cruise you’ve booked. You can also join the Cruisecritic.com Roll Call for your particular sailing and oftentimes, your fellow cruisers will chime in if they’ve noticed a price drop.

Still, there’s another option, a website called Cruisefish.net I had heard about this site on the various cruising boards, but I have to admit I never really thought about using it until a chance conversation at the Freddies with MrPerryP. I recently registered an account on Cruisefish.net, and am now using it to track three of my upcoming itineraries. Fortunately, I booked early, because the prices have done nothing but climb, especially for my upcoming Southern Caribbean back to back (B2B) voyage on Adventure of the Seas.

Setting up an account is easy enough, you just need to register a username.

Once you are registered you can look at current pricing, and if applicable, a history of price changes is listed as well.

In my mind, the real value of the website is the ability to establish pricing alerts. However, this is not free. The charge to monitor and establish alerts is $.99 cents per cruise, and the minimum package of alerts you can buy is $4.95 for 5 cruises. They even offer a one year and lifetime package for those of us known as frequent floaters.

Once you purchase credits, you can set up alerts. Click on “Finder” then choose your cruise line, ship, and sail date.

Once that’s done, you can click on your stateroom category, and set up an alert. In the case of this example, a “Superior Oceanview Stateroom” D1. You can create email alerts to notify of you price changes, up or down, and even qualify your alerts to include resident and other discounts. Multiple currency options are available as well.

Click “Create” and hope for the best. If the price goes down, great! If the price only goes up, at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you got the best deal you could at the time you booked your cruise vacation.

Getting Your Price Drop

Let’s say you hit the jackpot, and have identified a price drop you would like to take advantage of. As long as you are outside of your final payment window, you should be able to have the price of your cruise adjusted to your new lower price. If you booked directly with the cruise line, simply give them a call. If you booked through a travel agent, contact your them and let them know you’ve identified a price drop. It may be helpful to take a screen shot of the new price, and let your travel agent know where you found the price. If you’ve only made a down payment for your cruise, it is not likely that the new price is below the amount you’ve already paid. In that case, your bill on final payment day will just be less than it originally was. If you’ve already paid for your cruise, or made significant progress towards paying for it in full, then one of two things will happen. The cruise line will refund the difference to your original form of payment or they will credit the difference to your onboard spending account. Policies vary across cruise lines so check with them.

Unfortunately, if the price of your cruise drops after the final payment date, you are probably out of luck. I say “probably” because there may be a cruise line or two out there that will honor a price drop after final payment day. Even I can remember a time when cruise lines would refund the difference if you bothered to call them very close to sailing date. Not unlike the airlines, the cruise lines have learned to tighten their revenue management practices. Usually, the best you can hope for in the event of a price drop after your final payment date is an upgrade to a higher class of stateroom of equal or more value. In fact, this is how I arranged for MrsMJ and I to enjoy a suite on our European cruise last fall.

In summary, as long as you are outside the final payment window for your cruise, you can take advantage of lower pricing if it becomes available. Monitor pricing by whatever means you prefer, and contact the cruise line or your travel agent if you identify more advantageous pricing. I hope this information is useful to you as you plan your next cruise vacation.

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-MJ, May 22, 2013

I’m in the office for the remainder of the month, and that’s making me a little twitchy. I could use a little break to catch up on some things around the office, so I won’t complain…..much. This week, I’ll continue with my cruise line loyalty program elite series, and I’m sure we’ll find a few other things to talk about along the way too. This week:

• Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Disney
• Electronics Update – iPhone vs Galaxy
• Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with NCL
• A New MJ on Travel Series – Traveling with Diabetes

We’ll talk about these things, and I would bet just a few more, this week at MJ on Travel.

-MJ, May 19, 2013

No, this isn’t about how I dutifully do my share of the laundry, it is about keeping MJ on Travel in order. This is an administrative post, if anything, and it’s one that will tell you about a thing or two that have been done, and more things that are to come.

The BAcon conference of Boardingarea and other bloggers that I attended last weekend is no secret. I learned a lot, and I am going to be implementing some changes here that I hope make the blog better and more beneficial for readers. I’ll tell you something that I’ve done already. I’ve had a menu bar up top for a while, but I never thought about that menu bar as saying something about the blog. I reordered the tabs that I currently have as a result. Now they go something like this: Home (which is always be first), Ethics, About Me, Contact Me, and Credit Cards For Traveling Well (which is divided into Airline Rewards, Hotel Rewards, and Other Rewards).

Something else happened at BAcon too. I heard from a lot of great speakers, including my fellow BA bloggers, Two BA Bloggers spoke to us about some of their blogging successes. Both of them inspired me to be a better blogger, but one said something that has stuck with me in more ways than one. His advice was “write your passion” and that really resonated with me because it reminded me of why I started MJ on Travel in the first place. Write your passion speaks to me because that’s why I started MJ on Travel in the first place. I’ve told you before, my day job is very writing intensive…and editing intensive. As a result, writing MJ on Travel is almost therapeutic. I’m sure you hadn’t noticed that I’m pretty passionate about cruising, but I feel the same about travel in general, and the tools we all love to use to help us do so in comfort.

I’ve got some other clean up work to do with the blog as well. Priority number one is finding a different picture for the area above the menu bar. Why? That is not me up there….not that I’m planning on sticking a picture of my lovely self at the top…but I want something different. I’ll find it. I mean, seriously, that guy has great hair. Second, I’m going to add a professional shot of the real me to the About Me page just so you can pick me out of a crowd . And finally, I want to take the name of the blog back to what got me started – MJ on Travel. You know who I am, and that’s the way I want it. I actually thought about joining the rest of the modern world and coming up with some cute moniker of a name. In the end, the MJ on Travel brand is out there, I own the url, mjontravel.com, and…well… I kind of like the way the logo looks. Besides, what would I call the blog? Captain Baldman Flies Up Front would make for one heck of an email address change. Most, if not all of this will likely need to wait until some behind the scenes IT upgrades are done at Boardingarea. Then I’ll feel like I can bug the great folks there with some mundane template tweaks.

In the meantime, thanks for reading MJ on Travel. I feel like the next 1,500 posts are going to be a lot of fun.

…one of my favorite things, free GoGo wi-fi!!! Late last night, I blogged that MJ on Travel arrived at a milestone 1,500th post. That’s a reason to celebrate, I think. I have a couple of GoGo passes I would love to give away to a reader, along with a $50 dollar Amex gift card. We will keep this simple. Enter by commenting to this post. You can say anything you want that doesn’t involve profanity or personal attacks (sorry, had to have a rule). If your comment is travel related, so much the better. Contest closes tonight at 12:00 midnight EDT in the USA. I will choose the winner using Random.org tomorrow morning and announce it here.

CONTEST CLOSED – WINNER TBA

Introduction — Status Matters – A New Cruising with MJ Series

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Carnival

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Disney

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with NCL

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Princess

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Holland America

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Celebrity

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Royal Caribbean

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status Reciprocity with Affiliate Brands

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status Summary

Carnival, the biggest cruise company, likes to use the tagline “fun ships” and their loyalty program plays along. Known as the VIFP Club, you aren’t just a very important person, but a Very Important Fun Person. Unlike the majority of cruise line loyalty programs, you can join Carnival’s VIFP Club even if you haven’t cruised with them before. If you are new to Carnival, you will join the VIFP Club at the Blue level which includes members-only offers and a newsletter. The VIFP Club includes five levels of status with varying point requirements to obtain. After Blue there is Red, which you obtain on your second sailing and will remain at through 24 points. Note that one cruise day = one point. Now you’ll begin to feel more at home with the program level names as you elevate to Gold status at 25 points, Platinum at 75 points, and Diamond at 200+ points.

The benefits of Red and Blue are pretty basic, but begin to improve once you achieve Gold status, when you will get an invite to a cocktail party on 5-night or longer sailings. In other words, free drinks and apps for an hour or so. At the Platinum level, the perks become more attractive with things like priority boarding, priority tendering, and some complimentary laundry services. If you attain 200 cruise days with Carnival, you will achieve Diamond status. You receive the perks of Platinum plus additional things including unlimited complimentary wash and fold laundry (that’s actually not a small deal in my opinion), guaranteed dining reservations in the main dining room and specialty restaurants, and a dedicated phone line for sales and service. You can review all the benefits of each status level here.

In summary, the benefits of Carnival’s VIFP Club are basic, but things like priority boarding, disembarkation, and reservations for specialty dining are always appreciated. I especially like the unlimited complimentary wash & fold laundry for Diamond members. Notably missing from the list of benefits is a complimentary internet allowance, a big deal for me and a weakness in the program. You can join the Carnival VIFP Club here.

-MJ, May 14, 2013

Housekeeping Note: This is the first in my series on elite status programs with cruise lines. If there is something missing that you were hoping to see, please comment, and we’ll improve the quality of the series together.

Introduction — Status Matters – A New Cruising with MJ Series

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Carnival

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Disney

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with NCL

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Princess

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Holland America

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Celebrity

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status with Royal Caribbean

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status Reciprocity with Affiliate Brands

Cruising with MJ – Elite Status Summary

There’s more to elite status than meets the eye. Most readers will be intimately familiar with the benefits of holding elite status with airlines, hotels, and even rental car companies. But did you know cruise lines offer elite programs as well? Not unlike the programs you are more familiar with, the more you sail, the more elite you can become. You’ll recognize a lot of elite benefits with cruise lines, especially the level names like Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. No, they don’t call their levels helmsman, second mate, chief mate, and Captain! The benefits are even similar like priority check in and boarding, upgrade opportunities, and even lounge access. That’s where the similarities end. I’ve toured the bridge of the largest cruise ship in the world thanks to my elite status. Can’t think of any cockpit tours I’ve received thanks to my elite status with airlines. Other elite benefits run that gamut from complimentary shoe shines to free laundry. We’ll cover them all here.

With cruise lines, your progress towards elite status is cumulative for life. OK, sure, they can change the benefits, but you need not requalify each year. In other words, once you hit a certain elite level, you’re there. You only need to worry about getting to your next level, and once you hit that mark, it’s yours from then on no matter how often you cruise.

In this series, I’ll cover the elite programs of the big cruise lines, and wrap things up with a summary of elite reciprocity amongst brands. In other words, Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity and they offer elite reciprocity between the two lines which we’ll talk about here. Much like air travel, I find that I’d rather cruise with elite status than without it. Feel free to ask questions along the way.