VentureMan_2000

10 hours ago, RCmommy said:

however finding the location to grab our Uber and getting the Uber was a nightmare.  With Ubers in the area, the ride might show it is only 1/4 mile away, however, due to the traffic in the area it can take far longer than you think.  And since we were going to IAH, a couple Ubers dropped our ride.  We were told by another that some don't want the long commute from Galveston to the Houston airports.  In the end it took nearly an hour and a half to get an Uber and we had to run at the airport to get our flight.

Great input.  After reading your story, I think I'll definitely stick with Carnival's shuttle to the airport... sounds easy.

On 11/14/2023 at 1:54 PM, starstruck05 said:

I highly suggest watching the show "To Catch A Smuggler" on Disney+. All the questions about processes and how they pick people to check and not check and why are answered on that show. It's fascinating and way more complicated than you think. It doesn't feature cruise lines, however, but CBP process is the same anywhere.

We started watching the show "To Catch A Smuggler" on Disney+ yesterday.  It's a National Geographic series -- not a Disney+ specific show.

It's a very interesting show.  I also highly suggest folks watch it... didn't realize to what levels folks go through to smuggle drugs.

For the record, I'm all for a many drug sniffing dogs as they can use, and for using them any time of the day of night on a cruise ship.  Shouldn't be an issue unless you have something to hide.  

5 hours ago, shiner6 said:

Can you check in on the HUB app?

Hub App only works once you are on the ship.

4 hours ago, MURCOTT said:

Our last two cruises I asked the cabin steward how many rooms he had to do. The answer from both was 33. This may be since they went to once a day cleaning.

Sounds correct.  Saw a youtube featuring turn-around day.  The stewards have 18 rooms to turn around -- only 15 minutes per room, need to be done by 1ish.

5 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

 

As I was looking at my account balance in the app,  I noticed this item:

 

 

This is standard so far; I've gotten variations of this across many cruise lines and many, many cruises.

 

But I followed the arrow and this is what I saw:

 

 

 

In case your personal calculator is a little slow, that's $4.68 per day for my cabin steward and his assistant(s) (Aris was the lead this time around; he was pretty good), $7.56 per day for the dining team, and $3.76 for "alternative services ", whatever and whomever they are.

 

Let's do some more math... I like doing the math...

$28.08 / $96 = 29.25% for Stateroom Steward

$45.36 / $96 = 47.25% for Team Dining Services

There are two ways we can interpolate the remaining percentages:

1.  Continue with the equations, 
$22.56 / $96 = 23.50% for Alternate Services

2.  find the remaining difference between 100 and forementioned calculations,
100 - 29.25 - 47.25 =  23.50 -- or, 23.50% for Alternate Services

😁

3 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

My instinct is that the MD is under the "dining" pool and gets a very small portion of everyone's grats. But I don't know if I'm right on this.

 

The bar drinks have service charges attached (including the drink packages),  and I assume the wait staff share in that pool and not any other. But, again, I can't prove it. 

We were talking with a veteran bartender on our cruise who said that the cocktail wait staff at the pool and roaming the ship are newbies at the bottom of the bar hierarchy, just starting out, so they only get a base wage plus a sales percentage -- which makes sense as you always see them pushing the drinks in the dolphin, shark, and coconut glasses.  They do not share in the 18% gratuities.

3 hours ago, momin05 said:

It used to be you could get 2 drinks before muster. In October, we could only get 1 before muster. So…go muster!

I've always found this funny as h-e-double hockey sticks...

It's a sure-fire way to enforce the Muster ( Go Muster ! ) for the majority of cruisers...   🤣

hoping this somehow makes applying easier... all the redacting of my portfolio documents is a pain.

I'm surprised that if Christmas was on a Sea Day, that they didn't encourage a Pajamas Seaday brunch in the MDR.

reported, He Jumped...  

Carnival says security video shows missing man jumped overboard | wwltv.com

Does the parking garage charge tax on top of the $23 per day ?

The rumor is...

That all specialty dining has been canceled...   😁

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Spoken like a fed. We found nothing so our search program is working.

 

Meanwhile the ships reek of pot every week.

I'm confused... you said you no longer cruise Carnival, so how would you know ?

On 10/17/2023 at 8:30 AM, CeeJayPonz said:

When sailing out of San Francisco, has anyone stayed at the Orchard Hotel in Union Square? Tell me what you thought of it, please. We are sailing out of there in August 2024 and are looking at places to stay somewhat near the terminal. Thanks in advance!

I live local.

Union square is not near the cruise port.  It's not like San Francisco is a big city... it's approximately 8 miles by 8 miles.  But I think you would like to be closer to the cruise terminal.  Also, the hotels near the vicinity of the cruise terminal are closer to the touristy fun stuff, such as Pier 39.

Having said that:

There are a half dozen hotels -- residing altogether on nearly the same two blocks -- a bit more than a half mile from the cruise terminal at Pier 27.  Easy walk if you want... or a short Uber/Taxi ride.

Google Hotel Rui and you can see all the hotels there.  Seems Hotel Rui is very popular with cruisers.

Happy cruising.

I'm not sure why anyone is saying or suggesting that this is due to Carnival.  Anything that takes place before stepping aboard the ship is US Customs, TSA, local Law enforcement, etc.  And I'm willing to guess that US Customs has full rights to bring their dogs on board while the ship is in port -- or probably even while the ship is in US waters.

This is not a cruise specific activity.  There are drug sniffing dogs that everyone has to pass by at Disneyland before entering the park... and they search every bag and stroller -- EVERY BAG.  And there are drug sniffing dogs at airports... and I'm sure other places of travel.  

15 hours ago, havanadaydreaming said:

8 beats 7. 

 

But Cayman beats maya. 

All ports beat Maya.

20 minutes ago, john91498 said:

 

You have it wrong and he's right.

 

Very

Important

Fun

Person

 

Not sure where you got VFIP...

 

Typo... sorry.

Not asking what it stands for...  asking what "Sailing on a VIFP rate. " is ?  What is a VIFP rate ?  Are they speaking of Carnival offering a VIFP guest a $50 or $100 OBC... or perhaps half off the deposit... or something else ?

Just trying to decern why a VIFP rate would impact getting a shareholder OBC.

I know that special offers, such as casino offers, TA offers, and perhaps other highly discounted offers do not qualify for shareholder OBC. 

I just don't understand what someone means by "VIFP rate".

On 11/6/2023 at 8:34 AM, USU_Aggie said:

As an update, I bought exactly 100 shares. I waited until they appeared on my monthly statement, submitted it to Carnival, and was approved a couple of hours later. Sailing on a VIFP rate. 

What, exactly, is a VFIP rate ? 

 

1 hour ago, Eskylady said:

Yes. I will be alone.

 

I'd leave the room's guest registration alone since you never put another person's name down as cruising with you.  

Carnival charges a nominal $50 fee for a name change within 60-days of departure, should you find someone else to cruise with you.

8 minutes ago, Eskylady said:

 

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks so much!!

 

Need some clarification.  There are 3 of you originally going -- you and your hubbie sharing a room on one leg of the B2B, and you and your brother sharing on the other leg ?

So, now with both of them backing out, you would be a solo cruiser for both legs of the B2B ?

Camp Ocean (9-11 Years) Sharks: Things to Know | Carnival Cruise Line

If you are in California, you can check in at 9:00pm the day before your check-in date.

If your check-in date is November 18, you can check-in November 17 at 9:00pm.  This because the check-in time is based on eastern time.

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

I have sailed on Carnival over a dozen times but after my last one I feel like I may be outgrowing the brand. I need to see them improve their quality before I'll cruise them again.

Kind of a situation you are in...

If you don't cruise them again, you will not see them improve their quality.  

Leave the spouse at home...

And starfish on the king bed...  😂

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

The text on the luggage tags says they do not need to be in color. Why people think they know better than Carnival, who designed this process, I will never understand.

It's really just a matter of perspective.  Anyone who has been cruising with Carnival over the last 35 years knows that the colors are not meaningless. They once played an important role in luggage delivery to your stateroom.

Before the ability for folks to print their own boarding docs and luggage tags, Carnival would mail you these documents.  Your luggage tag was a little 2" x 3" card with a stretchy to attach it to the handle of your luggage.  The tag was indeed color coded to the floor and position of your stateroom.  You would hand-write your name and stateroom number on the tag.  If you lost or forgot your little tag, the Porter would look up your cabin and provide you with the correct color tags for your stateroom.  Again, you had to write your name and stateroom number on the tags.  

The color specifies the deck and position of the stateroom and gives the guys sorting and delivering the bags an easy visual to know which deck to drop off the bags.

I'm sure the color coding is still produced on the current luggage tags that we all can now print online because you really don't want to make a software change -- any software change can introduce errors and requires a lot of testing before implementing.  Easier to let folks know in the FAQ section of the Carnival site.

Somewhere along the line Carnival decided that printing in black and white is just fine.  I'm sure it was easier for Carnival to just let folks know that it's fine to print luggage tags in Black & White, as opposed to making a software change.