Clay & Brooke are on the roll call!
Welcome on board!!

We didn't get the email either - maybe we are somehow "unsubscribed" as well?

Anyone that is having any issues please just email Julie at
Julie@keenetravel.com

They have done a bunch of new coding at Signatures maybe something when "whacky'. Julie is the one that can fix you up.

well she got us fixed up, walked me thru resetting my password from our account and then I got a confirmation that we were signed up, so we should be good now. Thanks Julie.

For those that for one reason or another did not receive this card via email (went out this morning) then here it is so that you can see our faces for a little holiday cheer.

FROM JULIE

We have to use Signatures for all our mailings. Signature has a parameter setting that prevents us from sending email marketing to clients that have existing reservations.

I'm working with them at this time to find a work around for this, however for now you will not receive our emails if you have an active reservation in our system which of course most of you have. It may seem silly I know, but it is designed to protect you from getting too much spam.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Pat & Jim, Miami to Venice, suite 625

Wonderful news!!
Have you on the roll call!!

Look forward to seeing you and Pat again.

Hi Jim. You can take David & me off of this roll call. We switched to another cruise. Thanks!

what??? Well ok.
You are now off. Darn it!!

Jim,

Please add Mark and I to the roll call. We are in 702 Miami-Venice. Thanks.

OH Great!
Have you down on the roll call!

Was there a very large increase in the price per cabin
for the Miami to Venice section of this cruise?
Maybe something like 30%??

Yes, a large increase. Not sure of the percentage. Great pricing, good itinerary and good bookings. Probably the cruise hit the occupancy level that causes an increase.

What is amusing is that the back to back is now priced much more than purchasing the two segments individually. I hope it is just a website issue and not the loss of sanity.

I think there is a boo boo here somewhere. I only looked at the Back to Back and that showed that it went up a huge amount.

Since you mentioned that i looked at individual sailings comparing pricing to some of my bookings. The 3/26 to 4/09 rates look to be about the same. The 4/09 rates have gone up a varying amount depending on the category.

The original pricing for the back to back that we have is still less than the new individual rates combined.

I just do not see how those back to back figures can be accurate. I sent in an inquiry on the pricing for the back to back.

Error corrected - if you refresh the page on the web in your browser you will see the corrected fares.

Warning: Today I was looking to book a hotel in the Miami downtown area for Friday & Saturday nights, March 23 and 24 (our first choice was Holiday Inn Port). There was no availability...huh, 11 months away?

I called the hotel directly and was told there's a BIG Ultra Musical Festival going on in Miami the weekend of March 24-26 and many of the downtown hotels are sold out. The Intercontinental was also sold out. Tenaciously, two hours later I had two reservations (one at Hampton Inn and another at Crowne Plaza) and will decide as it gets closer. Prices are jacked up !

Perhaps some hotels haven't loaded all their rooms yet ? and others are requiring a 3 night minimum stay.


You may want to start looking into making your hotel reservation.

Thanks for the heads up Marcie.
Jan and I were trying to wait and see where the
Party was going to be held and try to be close to that.
By the way I believe it has been adjusted to just Saturday
and no Friday, but better wait and see what Ngaire says.
Our plan is to fly in on Thursday and play tourist again
on Friday.
Just my opinion. Found the Embassy Suites Miami airport ok but limited menu in the restaurant and nothing close by for something different. Think it would be much better to be closer to the port and in an area where you could walk to different restaurant choices. We were there 2 nights and would have been ok for 1 night.

YES I KNOW. For Rodeo the club had that big golf tournament. What gives--always an issue with the hotel.

I met with Regent about this today as a matter of fact.

1. We are going to do all the events on SATURDAY, the visit to Regent offices about 4.30 pm - drinks - then dinner. That saves one night accommodation for everyone.

2. Regent is checking hotels now as well. There may be a lot of hotel room blocks right now but things may open up.

3. If we have to stay at different places we may have to UBER or taxi to the primary hotel and then join the bus for the transfer to RSSC and then of course the bus to the Restaurant and then back to primary Hotel.

Be best if the hotel we use is close to the Regent offices or the port or inbetween they are about 30 minutes apart - but not critical. Maybe where we can get a hotel with enough rooms.

In the next week I will have an email out to everyone booked on the cruise with as many details as I can provide at that tie

On that note tomorrow an email will go to RODEO people announcing all the KLT escorted cruise, mine and the staff and Rodeo people can book until the deadline date on the email. It will be more than 30 days from opening as we were delayed in confirmation of the dates.

I checked on hotels.com, and rooms in the Port area are very expensive, but several hotels have availability, with free cancellation. I grabbed one.

If you're Titanium, Fort Lauderdale is within the 50 mile radius for Regent transfer from hotel to ship.

What hotel did you use Tim - might be wise to see what everyone is finding. I am in a big project right now but next week this will be my focus.

If any of you check and find hotels please post here OR send me an email with the hotel name.

As a resident of the Miami area you do not want to stay in downtown Miami on Ultra weekend! Hundreds of thousands of young people arrive for the weekend......the music is loud and the traffic is horrid. Many streets are closed or redirected.....
Stay on Miami Beach where it is quieter, but still very busy.
As a local resident we stay north of the action on that weekend, its not a pretty picture!

Thanks Doris. One of our reservations is at Hampton Inn & Suites Miami/Brickell Downtown for 2 nights. Doesn't sound good.
When I search for "Miami Beach" hotels it's seems to be generic for anything in the Miami area. Are there any hotels in the North area you can recommend Doris? We don't need anything fancy.

Hi Marcie,

Here's Trip Advisor's list of Miami Beach hotels: Hotels.

Thanks Doris and Dave, I think being away from the action is a good idea and appreciate the local insight. I know on HEE HAW people liked Aloft, not fancy but convenient, clean and inexpensive. I think that is what we look for.

This is not critical it is a place to sleep for two nights we can be in luxury on the ship and if things are expensive we might chose a medium priced hotel.We will have fun WHEREVER we are.

There is a Residence Inn that just opened in Surfside. Surfside is a good bet nice and quiet and about 30 min from the port. You will need to use Uber to get around as there are very few restaurants near there. The Bal Harbour Mall is a few minutes away with great restaurants and people watching.

There is an Aloft on Miami Beach that also has a great restaurant, The Continental. But I would think that the beach will also be too crowded and expensive.

Hotels that weekend will be expensive as its Ultra and still season here. Prices will not drop until Easter/Passover is over. It is just starting to quiet down now and the residents could not be happier!

Just DO NOT stay in the city, it will be terrible.

Doris,

I'm not very familiar with Miami. Does your warning about downtown hotels apply to Biscayne Bay hotels as well? Thanks for all your information.

Thanks Doris I like Residence Inns not stayed in one for a while but they have that nice large lounge included. I will check that out.

THANKS all the local help we can get is MUCH appreciated.

http://www.residenceinnmiamibeachsurfside.com/rooms-and-suites.htm

Looks nice and brand new and there should be plenty of rooms but not cheap about $450 a night unless we get some specials.

If you get a group rate what happens a lot is there are cheaper fares on line and in reality it is no savings at all. I could try if you all like this hotel.

Then you can book the GROUP rate or the SPECIAL rate whichever you prefer?

Any other suggestions ?

I like the looks of this JUST NOT THE PRICE. We'd definitely be interested depending on what the group rate we could get. Thank you Doris !!

I am thinking Ft Lauderdale and then drop off rental car at port. I don't like crowds and I don't like overpaying for a hotel room. Unfortunately not titanium so no free transfer.

You can check the price at the Hilton Cabana, I think its around 62nd street and Collins Ave.....on the ocean and away from the crowds.

The traffic from FLL to Miami can be VERY heavy Marc so I think it best for the hotel to be in the Miami area. It is a BIG CITY there has to be somewhere not in the main stream area that is reasonably priced. We will find our little gem of a hotel.

http://hiltonmiamibeach.com/

THis is a better price point at $225 - $250 a night and looks okay. On the beach as well. Seems to have availability. What is nice with a Hilton, Marriott etc is that people can use points for their stay as well. Plus it is nice to be on the beach and if you wish get a room with an ocean view. Of course we will have a lot of Ocean to see during the cruise.

DORIS you are a GEM!! Keep the info coming much appreciated.

Checked this out further - this area might work - ocean front - quite a few hotels here.

Hilton to Regent Corporate offices - 16 miles - 30 minutes
Hilton to Cruise Port - 10 miles - 16 minutes
Restaurant unknown but should be options in this area.

Trip Advisor Post - pretty good especially for that price point.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_R...ana_Miami_Beach-Miami_Beach_Florida.html

Ngaire, which Hilton is this ? (the link isn't working for me).
Thanks!

Sorry Marcie must have copied the wrong link

http://hiltonmiamibeach.com/

I just hit this and at this time it shows no availability but accessing it via Hilton I had availability. Probably just hit an internal page that was not supposed come up yet. I double checked the dates and they were in that $200 to $250 range with AAA, AARP and Senior discounts. Hopefully that is the price when it opens up.

I called HILTON they said the hotel had NO AVAILABILITY.

So I asked was it sold out or not open or why were there no rooms. This reservations clerk put me on hold and asked a supervisor and the supervisor said not open yet. I checked mid week dates - same thing not available so it is just TOO early which is a GOOD THING all the rooms wont be taken.

Just depends on the price point WHEN it opens.

ANOTHER OPTION

https://www.grandbeachhotelsurfside.com/reservations

Two hotels just down the road and open now for our dates
One not on the beach for about $250 and one on the beach for about $350.

https://grandbeachhotelgroupsurfsid...e97b67f/hotels/MIAGBW/rooms?currency=USD

Trip Advisor
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_R...otel_Surfside_West-Surfside_Florida.html

Good thing here is people can choose - ocean view or not and the bus can pick up everyone from either hotel - gives us a choice

DORIS you know anything about this hotel?

Ngaire -

I had the exact same experience, checked the Hilton right after reading Doris's post and got those same rates. Decided to take a shower and then come back and book, then was going to post. But now am getting a no availability response, just like you got. I wonder what would have happened had I booked it when I saw it.

The Grand Beach Hotel is nicer, newer, on the ocean and in a better and quiet area. It is only a few minutes from the Bal Harbour shops, the new Residents Inn, Harding Ave, and great restaurants. Its 30 min from the port or downtown and 15 min from south beach. I'll keep looking but the Hilton or Grand Beach should be fine.