cruzelover55

I don't believe it is open at lunchtime any day other than embarkation day. Maybe someone who knows better than me can reply.

Though we have sailed Magic 3 times, all I can offer to this is, maybe, it is like the seaside bbq, which is only on sea days. I AM sure it is open more than just the embarkation day. We never went there for dinner as, not only is it, an extra charge, it is something I could get at my home city for less. As the lunch is "included" in your fare, you should at least try it once. Usually less crowded on embarkation, than the buffet, but, as we all, keep telling everyone on Cruise Critic, may get more crowded. 1st time we went we were one of only four tables. Enjoy!:)

I have always booked early saver, and in the past, it has really paid off. I have boarded with over $800. OBC. Alas, not the last 2 cruises. I used to use a PVP, but, he no longer works there. Some of you, I recognize your names, so you have probably heard my rant about this. I got involved with my parent's booking, as they don't do computers, so I get all their email from Carnival, and print out their boarding passes, luggage tags, etc... My dad is pushing 90. The PVP that called them, lied to them so much, I made a big stink about it. And get this! since my email is the same as when I either take care of their cruise, or book my own, he somehow put me on a "no fly list" with Carnival. Funny, as usually, if you even get on the site to just look up cruises, I get several calls from PVP'S. I have even called Carnival and asked to have a PVP to call me. Years later and still hasn't happened.

Our last cruise was on the Freedom in 9/16. I originally booked a suite on the Breeze, then called back, as that turned out not to be doable. Since, I was downgrading, I was told I could not do it. The Carnival rep, not PVP, finally let me change it, if we went on Freedom, instead. My head was spinning when I got off the phone. How did I end up on a smaller ship than I had ever gone on? Was like taking to a car salesman.

But, to put things back to what has been discussed, I did find 3 different price drops, but, was denied each time. The forms to fill out are different and you have to insist that you don't want to change rooms, just want the OBC. I called when my online form was denied, and especially when 1 time, I was only going to get a $39. drop and they changed my room, added extra taxes, extra tips, and it was a bigger price than I started with. I was on the phone about 2 hours to get everything back to what I began with. Huh? I won't be booking early saver again. Have booked with PVP, or online, and just with whoever picks up the phone on Carnival, one time with an online travel agent. I now will be booking with the travel agent. Hope you get everything straitened out and have a GREAT cruise. Any cruise is better than no cruise. My cruise on the Freedom was disappointing, but, I still would have rather gone than not!:):)

As far as the break even question, we have always came out ahead. I tracked my spending, so, just for one day, example-1 specialty coffee, 2 bloody marys, 4 beers, 2 non-alcoholic milkshakes, 2 glasses of wine at dinner, 1 gin/tonic, and a glass of champagne at the steakhouse bar, ( you don't have to eat there to drink there) 1 mango dacquiri, totaled $101.05. plus would have included 15% gratuity per drink $15.31,so I would have paid $116.36 for that day. And that was before I hit the Martini bar, and started getting mostly frozen drinks. It's a win-win for us. This was just my day, but, neither my husband, nor I, have ever hit the 15 mark. We try!:D Since they have added the coffees and milkshakes, etc... it is really a great deal for us. To each his own. Do we HAVE to drink to have a good time? It's not a yes or no answer. We spend whole days at home doing other things than drinking, but, on vacation, either on a cruise, or at a casino, yes, we drink!:eek:

My last cruise was 9/10/16-9/17/2016. I was prepared to have to choose between morning service or night time turn down. It has been discussed on many threads here. When our room steward came in to introduce himself, he had a clipboard. I said, oh, now you will be asking which service we want for the room? He looked very puzzled, and said, no, the room would be serviced twice a day. And it was. It has been that way on every cruise we have been on. I have, noticed, that our steward, (on every ship) has always had an assistant, but, we deal with him or her (the main one, not the assistant). We do give them $20. on the 1st day, and I feel it is well worth it. And by the way, we had not given him the $20. yet, when the ? of 1 or 2 times servicing the room came up. We have had some go, so above and beyond, that we have tipped $50. in total, through the week. Not so much, nowadays as service has gone down so the $20. seems enough. I took a notebook on this cruise to jot down some of the things people ask about here. Room climate, etc... Funny, though, as there are 100's of people complaining about tablecloths versus none, I just don't seem to care enough, to even remember, and so, forgot to jot it down.:):o

I "lurked" on this site for years, before I finally signed up. And then, years, before I actually posted. I have enjoyed getting opinions from other members and have benefited from lots of the tips. BUT, to get actual answers and not just opinions, you should simply go to the Carnival web site. Every question the OP asked, can be answered, on Carnival's site. Not being "snarky" just stating the facts. It is a very helpful site, especially for newbies to Carnival. Have a great cruise! :):)

If you were doing an excursion on Norwegian, RCCL princess or some other line then maybe I would tell you as a first time cruiser get off the ship and pick an excursion there. However, Carnival price is very close to port pricing and typically there isn't a exact match on many excursions therefore you can't beat their price. Lol. Carnival is reasonable on price and like others mentioned they guarantee you get back to the ship. After you get a cruise under your belt maybe try it.

 

That is a sensible suggestion. Having 1st done a cruise, then a person can see other options. Our 9/16 cruise, we finally felt comfortable enough that we took the local city bus in the Cayman's. The bus stop was mere blocks from the port. For about $2.50 each, one way, we traveled all over and saw many things we wouldn't have, in another venue. We had already done the stingray excursion, hell, beach things, on other cruises, so this was great. Bus was not crowded. An excursion to see all that we saw would have been over $100. each.

 

And to the poster that chimed in with the comment, that what I said was not correct??? I am only trying to offer advice. If I am not 100% correct, jeez, sue me. It says right on your Carnival info, that if you take a non Carnival excursion, and don't get back in time, you will be left. So far, we have always made it back in time.:rolleyes:

We usually book about 11 months ahead and excursions are available to purchase. EVERY time I forget, that if you book an excursion for, say all 3 ports, you get a 20% discount. I finally remembered to do this for my next cruise. When I forgot, that this option was available, I had not researched what we would want to do, and there is a time limit, that this deal is offered. And I couldn't make my mind up, that fast. Now, I research the excursions BEFORE I book the cruise. Maybe, this will help,:) someone.

I'm not really sure if I understand what you are asking. You can get off the ship and go through local excursion deals for less than Carnival's. Or google them and pay ahead online. Some places only want a $5. deposit. But, if a Carnival excursion is late, they will hold the ship for you. Otherwise, not.

We just returned from a cruise 9/16, and hadn't any plans for Cozumel. Been there, done that, way too often. We had noticed the day before that they had made an announcement, for a last minute excursion, that was not full for that port, Grand Cayman's. We had plans for that day, so paid little attention. But, we decided to listen to see if there would be anything like that at Cozumel. There was. I can't handily find our final bill, but, know it was amazingly cheap. I think, less than $30. per person. Bus, with super friendly host, dropped us off in town, vouchers for free drinks and discounted food, then we got back on the bus and went to a beach, again, discounted food and beverages. Simple, but, was just what we wanted, as have been almost everywhere there, and this was relaxing and fun and inexpensive! Sorry, if thiss was not the info you wanted.:)

OK, I'm bored now. Moving on.

Me, too! As far as all the posts about the quality of Carnival's services going down, what HASN'T? It is just a sad fact of life. Every year for more than you can imagine, I buy my husband, 18 white t shirts, that he wears under his dress shirt and jacket for work. Every year the fabric is thinner and the price is higher. That is just one of millions of examples of how life just IS! Why, then, is it such a surprise that Carnival's quality has gone down? We still cruise them. I did complain on some of these threads about my last cruise, but, it was mostly my own fault as we booked a smaller ship than we had ever been on, and I didn't like it, for mainly that reason. Had the food quality gone down? Yes. But, there is always something to find to eat that is good. ETC..... I feel it would be rare to expect, higher quality, from year to year, on a cruise, UNLESS one is willing to pay much more to receive it. Just saying.:)

what do you need clarification regarding, beyond what is explicated here:

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1106/~/cheers!-beverage-program

 

yes, it covers alcohol and soda. and soda doesn't count against the 15-day limit.

 

i don't mean to sound short, but it's pretty clearly explained on their website ^^ there.

Thank you for saying what I always want to. 99% of most questions, on these threads could be answered simply by going to the Carnival website. :rolleyes:

What the OP is saying is that he plans to spend $1800 on gift cards that have a face value of $2000. He is asking if he can withdraw the full $2000. AARP and Verizon sell gift cards at 10% off.

 

The answer is not quite. You will need to actually have some plays on the slots (or whatever) if you plan to cash out in the casino. But even a few $0.09 bets on the slot machine will do.

 

 

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You are spot on. We got back 9/17/2016. I had $1000. left in gift cards I purchased from AARP (10% off). Cashed all out in the casino. We had applied them to our sail and sign and presented a credit card to cover if we went over. We knew we wouldn't go over as we had prepaid tips, FTTF, and Cheers! Carnival is not keen on us using them for an ATM, so I was a little nervous. But, we spread them out over 3 days, and actually hit a couple of bonuses and came back even further ahead. Good luck to the OP! Have Fun!:)

We are thinking of the Discover Atlantis excursion and then in Freeport maybe the Segway excursion. Any help or input would be appreciated..

We actually spent a week at Atlantis, that was before the cruise industry took over and made it a day trip. We loved it, but, would never go back now. As pricey as the rooms and food are, I can't imagine people that go to stay there, NOT from a cruise ship, would enjoy having to line up to even get a chair at the beach. It is an amazing property, though. I am glad I have the memories of it before it got so touristy. If anyone is like we are, been there, done that, we went to a super bar with great food the last time our port was there. Green Parrot Bar dot com. We walked there from the ship and had a great time. They have a website. Have a great cruise whatever you do.:)

Milkshakes are $3.95

Energy drinks are $4.95

Coffee starts at $1.95 goes up to $3.50/$3.95 for iced/specialty capuccinos.

Specialty coffees without alcohol-you are correct. My 1st I had them "build", I had cappachino, double shot of expresso, hot chocolate and tequila. $7.95. 2nd day, the guy wouldn't do it, so I chose the "chocolate lovers dream" YUM!!! Don't remember the exact ingredients, but had vanilla vodka and was really good. Again $7.95. We had Cheers! If not, it would have been another 15%, added to the $7.95. I also took my own tervis? type cup in order to keep it hotter and plus it was larger than their cups.:)

At first, just read this for entertainment. Then, many points I read I agree with. We usually always book Carnival, balcony, Lido. Always have loved that location. 3 days before sailing 9/10/16, received an "upgrade" call. Could have gotten a $4000. suite for just $500. more than we had already paid. Passed. Good deal, but, as we don't stay in the room much and this was 2 decks below our "preferred" Lido deck, saw no reason to do it.

And we probably won't be cruising ANY line after this last experience. As some have stated, go, all inclusive vacations. We have before, mixed and matched. The all inclusive is more expensive than a cruise. This time we made the mistake of going on a smaller ship than we had ever been on. BIG mistake! I felt motion to the point of vertigo. Seems like the food was not as good. Loved the burgers, but, I don't take a vacation to eat hamburgers. Maybe things just didn't taste as well as I felt "wobbly" the whole trip.

I didn't mention to my husband that I was not enjoying the cruise. He works hard and I did not want to show disappointment. Then. when we disembarked, he looked at me and said, let's don't do this again. Hurray!! We will drop the cruise out of our rotation, and spend a bit more to do the all inclusive. It's quite a bit more for us as we live less than a mile from the port, so will have to factor airfare in. But, this cruise, honestly sucked so much, I really don't want to do another. Maybe, we are just burned out of it. We had some amazing ones and leave with good memories. I would never try to discourage anyone from going on a cruise. They can be awesome!:)

I always bring 2 plastic containers, $1. each from Dollar Tree, we use them for water in the cabin. Though we do have 2 large free bottles in the room, we have, so far, never had any problem just filling up our own bottles with ice and drinking the water from the sink, when those run out. I just leave the ones we brought in the room when we depart. I do, also, take a nice large "tervis?" type of container to get the specialty coffees put in to. We have always gotten Cheers! and since the coffees are included, I like my own container, as it keeps it hotter than the ones they provide. I pack these in our carry on and have never had them confiscated. Makes no sense why they would take away an empty bottle from you, but, I can easily believe it. Sometimes people that are allowed a little "power" over others, just have to use it "because they can"!:(

My husband went alone one time. I was surprised he wanted to, as he eats like someone is going to take his food away, if he doesn't gobble it down. I am so used to having to rush through meals in restaurants, I have learned to just eat my appetizer and salad and box up my entree. So, I certainly wasn't interested, as it is a long process, from what I have heard. But, he said he really enjoyed it. In fact he raved and raved about how nice it was. I was beyond surprised as when we go to the MDR, the moment the server approaches we give them our whole order as we have looked up the menu beforehand. As to get out in 35 minutes or less. It's about the only place I enjoy eating with him as we are old, so think nothing of him leaving when he is finished and I stay and enjoy my meal. Sorry to ramble on, (I did mention I am old:)) But, my point is it must be really special for him to have the patience to stay through the whole thing. Next time, I will go! Enjoy your cruise, the 1st one is usually very memorable.

Thanks for the advice! This is my familys first Carnival cruise! :)

We had FTTF, arrived about 10:30 am, was in our stateroom 12:30 pm. Luggage was there. 1st time that had happened. Usually luggage was not much earlier than others. We always find FTTF, totally worth it. The ship arrived a little later than usual that day as we are usually in our room earlier. Enjoy your cruise!:)

I find the waiting area at the port chilly and just had a VERY light windbreaker on, and they made me take it off and send it through the exray belt.

I'm aware of that. According to Carnival's site, these are the stores that sell their gift cards. So, in a nutshell...........no there aren't any department stores that sell them.

10% off at AARP. Available about every 2 days or so. We paid off our cruise with them, prepaid tips, bought FTTF, but couldn't pay off Cheer! with them. I still had $1000. left when we boarded and loaded to sail and sign, then cashed out at the casino. 10% is a great savings!:)

FYI, we registered for this... Even got a confirmation email, well it never happened

We also got a confirmation email. Was told an invitation would be in our stateroom, but, others said it would be announced in the Fun Times. Neither happened. And this is current info, just got off the ship 09/17/2016. Sorry if this has already been posted, but, am not going to read through all the posts, just letting all know my experience of it. :( Seems as if it was just a tease.

You pay the 15% gratuity on the Cheers program upfront. It is based on the cost of the program on a daily basis. It is the same amount whether you order one or fifteen alcoholic drinks per day.

 

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Yes, you are correct. I just thought since you were giving drink prices, which don't matter if you get Cheers!, unless you have one that cost over $50. if you were talking about prices that one would pay if they were paying per drink. And the per drink price would add an extra 15%.

My 2nd day on the cruise, we came back 9/17/16, I kept up with my drinks. It would have cost me $107.90. Sounds like a super drunk, right? But, 2 of the specialty coffees were over $15.00, bloody mary, 3 beers, $25, glass of champagne (you can go to the Steakhouse bar and get better quality drinks) mango dacquiri and wine with dinner. Boom! Oh, and I forgot, I had a couple of milkshakes. I stopped keeping up with it after that as I just liked the feeling I could order anything I wanted, as it was paid for. I got a cucumber something in the Alchemy bar that I did not like. No problem, ditch it and 5 minutes can get something else. I tried to find something close to the $50. range and the closest I could find was either port, brandy or scotch in the steakhouse bar.:)

Domestic drafts are 4.50 per pint, imports and Thirsty Frog Red are 5.50. Domestic 16 oz bottles are 5.75, Bud Lime Lime is 6.25 for some reason. 16 oz imports are 5.95, 12 oz imports are 4.95 and Foster's Oil cans are 7.75. 16 oz Strongbow and Angry Orchard ciders are 5.75.

plus 15% gratuity each.

We love the Magic, we miss her but look forward to sailing on the Breeze.

 

The pool and hot tubs at the rear of the ship are usually less crowded, it's usually much quieter back there too. Thats where youll find Tandoor, the Indian restaurant thats only open for lunch.

 

We spend a lot of time at the Red Frog Pub. They have great snacks like hot wings (you do have to pay but they're only a couple of dollars), there are board games as well as Foosball and shuffle board. There's often cornhole game boards set up on the deck outside of the Red Frog Pub. That deck is also a smoking area.

 

The Ocean Plaza is right next to the Red Frog Pub, there is a small sandwich and soup bar set up at lunch, there's a little coffee bar that has specialty coffee drinks and pastries for purchase, and out on the opposite deck at lunch there's a bbq grill with sausages, chicken, veggies, potato salad, hot dogs, and more. Trivia is done there in the ocean Plaza.

 

I hope you love the Magic as much as we do, she's a wonderful ship.

You may have meant this, but, to make it clear, smoking is no longer allowed outside the Red Frog Pub. It is further aft in a section of it's own. We never tried the wings, but the grouper fingers were horrible, at least to me, tasted like fish wrapped in a pancake. We did enjoy the free bar snacks they gave us as we sat outside and watched people playing the games. Of course, we had ordered a Red Frog beer, yum! Not sure what the bar snack was, toasted peas? very spicy, good with beer. Magic is our favorite ship. Since we did not enjoy Freedom, we will try the Breeze next time. Loved Ocean Plaza. We always did the Italian place embarking. Lasagna different than I am used to, the meat was like roast beef, but, was good. And you don't have the lines there as you would in the buffet. Though that could change since everyone on Cruise Critic has gotten this info. I swear every time I am going to try Tandoor, but on all 3 trips on the Magic, never could find anyone that could speak English well enough to tell me what the stuff floating in a sauce was. I am usually fairly adventurous, but, would like to know if I am eating fish, fowl or beef.:o

We have never asked for this service when entering the MDR. We always do your time dining and get a 2 top. Though most nights we stay for the whole meal, some, we just get seated, order an appetizer, salad or soup. At the same time we order a cheese plate, dessert, whatever, to be plated to go. Have never had a problem with this and did not have to go through the MD.

Just got off the Freedom 9/17/16. Smallest ship for us, would never do again, had been on Magic 3 times. Really missed it. At the Ocean Plaza, great karaoke in the daytime. Many DAYTIME things on the Lido. Not as much on Freedom. I felt ship movement on Freedom to the point of vertigo. Never on the Magic. More outside decks on Magic. The Red Frog Pub has outside seating with games that are fun. Both sides of that deck has outside things. No outside decks on that deck on Freedom. I really saw and felt the difference of the sizes of the 2 ships. Since Magic doesn't leave from our port at this time, we will do the Breeze next time. Don't get me wrong, any cruise beats no cruise. But, for us, we find it is better not to size down. We always book the Lido, as like to be close to that area. This time, it just was not the same. Whatever you book, you will have a good time.:)