dcdiva

Bars were also closed while in port at GC on X Summit last week (Jan 9 sailing). In theory, non alcoholic drinks could still be served, but with all the bars shut down it was impossible to get even that. 

I don't ever remember them specifying a letter category in my conversation with the booking agent. But I'll check my original email confirmation. Undoubtedly, it was the least expensive option available for a solo traveler. 

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

What level did you book a GTY? You may not consider it an upgrade, but if it is a cabin level above the GTY category you booked, it is, in fact, an upgrade. You weren't guaranteed an upgrade, you were only guaranteed the level you booked.

Ooops. Didn't mean to imply I was expecting an upgrade. I booked an inside GTY and that's what I got. And I am quite happy with the location. All in all, very pleased. 

Reporting back as promised. Got my cabin assignment 5 minutes ago -- 9 days before sailing. Category K, which isn't really an upgrade. But it's on Deck 10 which works well. Two days ago, the rest of my party took an up-sell and moved from Deck 1 to Deck 10. I'll be just around the corner. 

Still no cabin assignment, but got this notice this morning. So, no idea when I am expected to board.  I assume that I just go with rest of my party. 

Please be advised that guests embarking in Vancouver on Sunday, July 14, 2019, should expect delays during the embarkation and immigration process. To enhance the check-in and boarding experience, we have implemented a progressive cruise check-in schedule. Guests should not arrive prior to the suggested check-in time below. Boarding will begin at 12:00 noon and all guests must be onboard by 3:30 PM.
10:30 AM - Decks 8 & 10 - Navigation & Observation Decks
11:30 PM - Decks 6 & 7 - Upper Verandah & Rotterdam Decks
1:30 PM - Deck 5 - Verandah Deck
2:30 PM - Decks 1 & 4 - Main & Upper Promenade Decks

Also, how will luggage work if I don’t have a cabin number before arriving at the pier? 

Thanks for all the good info. Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst — with both the timing and the ultimate cabin assignment. I’ll post back if I get a cabin before I get to the pier. 

Did OP get a cabin assignment yet?

I may need some help from you all in talking me off the ledge. Logically, I know that my cruise doesn’t leave for 14 whole days and there is still time for my guarantee to be assigned. I also know that if all else fails, I will get a cabin assignment at the pier. But the irrational me is incredibly anxious. I don’t have to worry, right? 

We stopped at a place called Luekens Liquors, right on Rt 60. (Actually, our hotel shuttle drive brought us there.) It didn't look like much from the outside, but they actually had a huge wine selection in the back.

Update - Dining time issue has been resolved!

As of this morning, we have a confirmed dining assignment for both cabins. Woo hoo! Again, many thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

There are still a whole bunch of weird things happening with vanishing and reappearing drink packages, wifi and bottled water orders. That stuff probably won't get resolved before we sail, but hopefully we won't end up being charged twice for anything. So now...it's time to pack!

Quick Update - We have been granted an "Arrival Appointment Exception" which will allow our party to board together, and most importantly, enable both children to board with their mother. Still no resolution on dining.

When I first posted here, I was pleasantly surprised that I got some helpful and useful suggestions for how to solve a problem. Thanks to all of you who provided useful info and advice. We acted on your tips and are hopeful that we will be able to enjoy our vacation as a family, including dining together.

Since this thread has veered away from the original topic and turned into lectures, attacks on the TA, and condescending and judgmental remarks about our unreasonable expectations, I will be signing off for now. I will post an update if we get any resolution. And I'll plan to post a review of the Havana cabins after the cruise.

Again, many thanks to all of you offered assistance!

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Of course the TA says its not his fault, I would blame someone else too.

Of course Carnival says it’s not their fault. They would blame someone else too.

NO one should be penalized for upgrading.

It is just really hard for me to see how it wasn't the fault of your TA?

When I am on the phone with a random person at the 800 number on carnival I always tell them not to change anything but just change the room. Make sure everything else stays the same and since it is the same booking code everything always is the same. Nothing is ever lost.

I just wonder about all this and would be after the TA to make things right for you however they can!

I am just going to say this one more time, and then I am done. This is NOT on our TA. It was a Carnival error. That is not in question.

With all due respect, it's not our TA who made the error. It was Carnival. I won't go into all the details as to why we know that, but \it was not our TA's mistake.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. Our travel agent is continuing to work on the problem and after continuing to escalate things, Carnival is at least talking to our TA. So hopefully, we'll get some kind of resolution.

While it's true we added another person at a late date, we only did so with the assurance "everything would transfer over" to the new cabins, including dining. In fact, nothing transferred. Everything was cancelled including our specialty restaurant reservations, prepaid wifi, water, soda packages, etc. I haven't discussed all that here because we've been able to get some issues resolved or re-booked. It's only dining and boarding that remain a problem. If there was any indication that we'd lose dining assignments, we wouldn't have gone for the upgrade or added the other person.

As for Your Time dining, we are simply not fans. We prefer a set dining time, with the same table and wait staff each day. At this point, we'd make do with Your Time dining so we can actually dine together. But, it's simply not our preference.

Again, thanks for all the helpful suggestions. I am hopeful that we will find a workable solution. We are all very much looking forward to this cruise!

Hi DC Diva

 

At worst, if at boarding day it (dining time) still isn't resolved, have Aunt, board at 1p.m. alone. She can go directly to the dining room to sort out your dining time and meet up with the rest of you when you board.

 

This would be a great idea, but Aunt has the last boarding time assigned. And we can't send Mom alone. Sigh. Hoping John H will come through. And our TA is also still working hard to get Carnival do something. It's just so frustrating to pay hefty sum for an upgrade and then get kicked to the end of the line.

For those with suggestions on dining, I may not have been clear about where things stand. Right now, we have NO assigned dining. Two of are on the waitlist for late seating, and two are on the waitlist for Your Time. And Carnival won't even move us to the late waitlist.

On the upside, we are really looking forward to the Havana Cabana cabins.

We boarded with split party before. My best friends son was 12 and booked in a cabin with my in laws, who were platinum at the time. They boarded before us. My best friend was in a totally different cabin from her son and they let him check in the line with my husband and I. We had his documents and even though he was in different cabin. Not ideal but it worked. Keep looking for boarding time changes that may come open. As for dinner , make sure you all are linked together, then choose waitlist for both same dining times. If you are anytime and she is fixed dining, they are two different dining rooms. But we were able to get our dining situation resolved by talking to the dining room team as soon as we boarded. We had a major split issue once where none of our 6 cabins were booked, same cruise, and we all had different dining from our own children , I had not linked everything together when I booked. They gave us a temporary arrangement that first night and then send a postcard to our room that they were able to give us a 12 top table the next night at our selected dining time. If you can’t get there before they close that first night, see them as soon as you can. The waitlist option has worked for us on several cruises too, whether it be going from late to anytime or early to late. After a few days, we were notified that we got changed. This happened to us a month ago on an upcoming cruise. Good luck to you, keep working on it and it will work out for you.

 

 

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Thanks for sharing this. Gives me some hope that we will be able to board before the very last group. With only 13 days until sailing, it's unlikely that any earlier slots will open up. We will keep checking, but will take our chances and arrive early.

As for linking our bookings, we have no idea what the status is. Our TA has been told we are linked. But nothing in our online records or cruise documents confirms that. We are waitlisted for different dining times, and have been assigned different boarding times. No options to choose anything else. Only hope is to try and resolve things onboard -- which will be time consuming and may prove fruitless. Carnival will not guarantee seating for our family of 4 at the same time or in the same dining room. We would hate Your Time dining, but at this point, we'd take any option that would allow to eat dinner together.

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Any chance you can get FTTF?

That would be great, but we've had no luck with that.

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How old are the kids?

Kids are 12 and 14. 12 year old is booked with 'Aunt Diva', not with her Mom. So she won't be able to board with me. Which is one reason why the split boarding is such a concern.

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Which ship you are going? I would contact maitre d a head of time to get one thing resolve. Also you need to make sure the two booking are link together

We are on Horizon, sailing on June 25. So not a lot of time to get this resolved. If anyone knows how we can contact the Maite's D or onboard dining team, please let me know.

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Looking for some suggestions on how to resolve this problem. We paid for an upgrade from a balcony for 3, to a 2 Havana Cabana cabins for 4. Our party is mom, two kids and aunt. In order to make this happen, Carnival split our reservations and booked us into two cabins which each accommodate two. Mom and one child is one cabin, and aunt in the other with the second child. Before the upgrade, the single cabin had late dining and boarding at 1pm. Now the family has been split, as have the reservations. For dining, we are split between 'waitlist' for late dining - although it was confirmed before the upgrade - and waitlist for Your Time for the other cabin. For boarding, we are split with 1pm boarding and 2:30 or later boarding. But I am pretty sure Aunt and minor child will not be able to board without Mom who doesn't have the same boarding time. Our travel agent tells us our reservations are 'linked'. But we still have different boarding and dining times.

 

Our TA has been unsuccessful in getting this resolved despite multiple calls to Carnival. We sail in 13 days. We paid more than $3,000 for this upgrade, and now we are told we have no recourse. Anyone have any suggestions on how to escalate this with Carnival?

 

 

 

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Thanks for this suggestion. I've reached out to John. I'll post back here if I get a response.

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We are not excited about standing on the sidewalk in NYC for two or more hours before waiting to board. (Does anyone know if there is an option to wait in an 'early arrival' standby line in NY?)

Also, we understand that Maitre D is only available until 3pm on embarkation day. Unless our boarding times get changed, we won't even be on the ship until after 3pm, so it seems unlikely we will be able to speak with the Maitre D on day 1. No offense to those who like the Lido, but we didn't spend eight grand to eat the in the cafeteria. Carnival rep assured us 'you will be able to eat' then laughed. Didn't find this funny. At all.

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Looking for some suggestions on how to resolve this problem. We paid for an upgrade from a balcony for 3, to a 2 Havana Cabana cabins for 4. Our party is mom, two kids and aunt. In order to make this happen, Carnival split our reservations and booked us into two cabins which each accommodate two. Mom and one child is one cabin, and aunt in the other with the second child. Before the upgrade, the single cabin had late dining and boarding at 1pm. Now the family has been split, as have the reservations. For dining, we are split between 'waitlist' for late dining - although it was confirmed before the upgrade - and waitlist for Your Time for the other cabin. For boarding, we are split with 1pm boarding and 2:30 or later boarding. But I am pretty sure Aunt and minor child will not be able to board without Mom who doesn't have the same boarding time. Our travel agent tells us our reservations are 'linked'. But we still have different boarding and dining times.

Our TA has been unsuccessful in getting this resolved despite multiple calls to Carnival. We sail in 13 days. We paid more than $3,000 for this upgrade, and now we are told we have no recourse. Anyone have any suggestions on how to escalate this with Carnival?

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I stayed in 4058 - across the lobby from those cabins. We never had a problem with noise even when there were events happening in the Centrum. We liked the location so much we booked the same cabin again.

Thanks for this info. I am also wait listed for late seating on my next cruise, and now in My Time for our cruise in January. The info on reservations was helpful. But I am curious if the My Time folks will be relegated to a totally separate dining room, or just in a different section of the MDR. (We'll be on the Freedom.) Everyone else in my group has been assigned traditional dining, so we are very unsure about how to handle this.