grumplin

Do you need to be on the Verizon plan to use them or can you give them to others?

We did the Sensation out of that port. No troubles at all.

I have not found them either yet. However an older lady told me you can but Carnival cruise certificates at $90 for $100 on the AARP site through health rewards. I'm not old enough but our parents are!

We thought the " Secret" deck was kind of neat. Its obviously not really a secret but there was rarely many out there! I cant seem to popst the link but just google secret deck on carnival Sensation.We were on the ship Feb 2013. You can make a meal out of just appetizers or have 2 of whatever if you wish. Tip well for room service and it seems to come very fast from then on. You can also order something to be there at a certain time. We had coffee sent at 6:30 every morning to drink on the balcony.

Here is a very good thread about tips for Carnival. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=48388

Are you talking ordering wine and liquor for your room from Bob Voyage? If so your billed when you order it.

Over a year :( Florida is the vacation this winter but I'd rather cruise!

We had 2 GS on the Elation last Feb. We personally loved them.

I am Plantinum cruiser and don't ever recall seeing a line on the reciept where you can add an extra tip. 15% of the bill is automatically added to your Sail & Sign charge for beverages.

We just got off one last Saturday and there is a line for extra tip.

We just got off the Elation Saturday. It was a fantastic trip and I loved the GS! Have a fantastic time!!!

We did not have a fridge last Feb when we sailed. I don't remember a hairdryer but could be wrong.

We upgraded to two GS's and kept the FTTF. We wanted the options to get to the rooms right away without lugging around bags. Since we plan to board early it is worth it for us. The priority tender was another reason we wanted it.

Do the suites get ready sooner. We are sailing this Sunday and our deck 5 wrap became a suite so I want any perk I can get.

From what I was told the room being ready right away is only guaranteed for diamond, platinum and fttf. I called to double check about keeping fttf since we booked 2 GS and it had been pointed out to me here the fttf wouldn't do anything.

My kids will soon be 18 and 21. They get free run of the ship. They have never given me a reason not to trust them. That being I still said under no circumstances will they go to anyone's room besides ours , theirs or bring anyone to theirs. I will have keys to their suite and they to ours.

It still makes me a bit nervous to be honest and these are grown kids.

Accountability for one's own actions is a thing of the past. I think it's gone the way of the dinosaur, so very few even know what it means anymore. She should feel shamed for behaving that way at thirty years old and be grateful she was rescued at all.

I so agree. I can't for the life of me figure out how one falls off a balcony. I am short so it is impossible. Even my spouse who is very tall said he couldn't figure out how unless one was standing on something.

Even if she did drink a lot she could have stopped. I know when I am getting tanked and need to stop. I dont get how Carnival is blamed. Someone else could be getting her drinks. My husband got mine lots of times. She could have smuggled in loads of booze for all anyone knows. Sadly they will likely settle out of court and pay her to shut up.

We were on the Sensation during the same period last year. We did not have our kids with us but there were a lot of children on the ship.

Carnival made me list an adult in each room on my upcoming cruise and our cabins are next door to each other.

Same here and mine are 17 and 20. They said we had to to get the past guest rate. They insisted we had to book that way. They told me to get extra room cards.

We had one for our last cruise and booked balcony this time also. I can't even stand the curtains shut in the house , hate grey days and love light. We used our balcony a lot and had coffee there every morning. I think I would go bonkers without lots of light.

On last year's cruise our tab for the 4 bottles of liquor, a small bit of gambling, and drinks was about $250. $100 off that disappeared when hubby won $100 trying his first game of bingo. We paid around $500 or so for excursions. We prepaid tips and did additional in cash.

This year 2 suites, excursions for 4 in 2 ports. We ordered a bottle from Bon Voyage so the bar bill will be lower. 1 kid wants a soda card. I gave them both a $60 budget for unapproved spending after that they need to ask. If the kids want carnival gear I will buy it. I'm sure we will still buy a few drinks and I know we will buy liquor to gift to friends again. We budget enough to have plenty to spend. We came back with a chunk of our budget last year.

Should be plenty, we only had two bags to check.

Thanks. This time I'll double it as the kids will have a bag also.

You can put everything that you need between 11-1 in just one hand luggage, so you don't have a lot of things to carry around.

Pretty sure that would eventually amount too both kids backpacks full of soda and junk, my purse and my carry on with the wine.

When we used FTTF on the Conquest in May 2013 at NOLA we boarded by 11:45. It was a bit late because the ship did not even get to the dock until around 7 am that day due to weather.

When we got on the ship, the first thing we did was go to our room and drop off our carry ons and our luggage was waiting for us there.

 

We arrived at the dock around 10am and were checked in and waiting for the ship to clear in under 10 minutes. We sat in the FTTF area (red chairs) and people watched for a while and they started the boarding process.

 

If you are arriving to port by taxi, the porters will meet you at the cab and unload the luggage for you. Just point out the FTTF logo on your bag and they will put the sticker on there. I am sure a good tip did not hurt the delivery times as well, I handed the guy a $10 bill for helping us out getting everything out of the trunk and onboard.

We will be parking our car there. Last time they had us pull up and drop the bag before we parked. I tipped $5 for one bag. Think that was enough?

I would keep the FTTF, without it you may not get to your cabin until 1:00 or after. I bought it for my cruise because I would be the one lugging around the carry on things. You get priority luggage delivery too so make sure they know you have FTTF when you check in your luggage. They should put priority stickers on it. Some have reported their luggage made it to their rooms before they did. I can't wait to try it in New Orleans in May.

I will point out FTTF. We didn't point it out last year but it was there right away. Hubby just pointed out I could cancel it for one room and keep the other. Then drop all the bags in the one room.

Thanks so much everyone for the boarding advice! I appreciate the help :)

We sailed the Elation the week before Christmas, got to the port about 10:45 and walked through the whole boarding process without a line or delay. We were in a short line for the deli by 11:15 or so (mmmmm Rueben). If you can, get your money back from the FTTF as there was absolutely no advantage to having it.

We wanted it so the rooms were available right away. I do not want to end up lugging the kids bags too. If we were to cancel wouldn't we have to lug bags around a few hours? How early can you get to the rooms? We had FFTF last year and got right in.

I'm wondering what time we should get to the port for the Elation. I know last year we were on the Sensation earlier than the 1 to 3 our documents said. In Port Canaveral. I don't want to be too early and have the whole family waiting forever. Any tips on the time? We do have priority boarding a FTTF. Thanks for any insight you can offer.