hirent

There are two regular wide body flights — a KLM service from Amsterdam, and an Air France service from Paris.

• Depending on the time of year, KL789 operates as an A330-200 service on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, landing at either 13:40 or 15:25
• AF498 also operates as either an A330 or 340 service, daily during the northern winter, landing at 14:50, and reduced during the quieter northern summer

https://onemileatatime.com/maho-beach-plane-spotting/

Seems like it would be simple enough for the company to determine the owner.

Just contact the last 10-15 occupants of that particular cabin.

Ask them if they have lost a ring and to verify by sending pictures of their ring.

They have the resources to do it, but will they?

Just take a cab, or the bus as suggested above.

There is nothing any tour operator can do, that you can't do for yourself at Maho Beach.

At the most they can package up transportation with some food and drink.

The airplane experience itself is independent of anything else.

One tip: determine the day of the week (of your port day) and check out the flight arrivals on that day. You can plan your trip to be present during the landings of wide-body jets.

Have fun.

lol.....2 year old thread revived because of a new poster who replied to an old question.

Anyway, the answer is 'Parking'.

Parking costs money, whether its your car, a bus, an airplane, or a ship. You gotta pay parking fees.

Also, as others have mentioned, ships are subject to local laws when in port and have to shut down certain money making operations.

All of that contributes to lost income.

On 12/1/2018 at 9:23 AM, sanmarcosman said:

It can be confusing. There are two options for ordering an Indian meal. The first is, as you say, on the menu. With 24 HR advance notice with the maitre d'  the chef's staff will prepare a special off-menu meal for you which incorporates many of the foods being enjoyed by the Indian kitchen crew that day. I've read here that people may be asked which proteins they would prefer, e.g. chicken or beef, and what degree of spice they would like the meal prepared with. So that should clear up the confusion. I'm going to pre-order one evening on the Dream this February. If it goes well I will start a topic thread on my experience.

Bit late to this but to clarify, it's not a special meal per se that can be custom ordered, it is simply the non-vegetarian option for an Indian meal.

The vegetarian option is listed on the daily dinner menu, the non-vegetarian (meat) option is not. This menu is set in advance and it has to be ordered the previous day.

The setup for the entree is the same as the vegetarian option for that day. The vegetarian entree comes with three bowls of curries; two vegetables and one lentil. The non-vegetarian entree swaps out one of the vegetable bowls with a meat-based curry.

When we took a 7-day cruise on the Valor out of San Juan, I spoke with the hostess and she said I cannot have it the first night, since the chefs require 24 hours notice but I could have it every night going forward. However, she was required to come check with me every night and I had to confirm every single night.

She said the rules didn't allow me to say yes to all nights all at once.

I pigged out and had the Indian non-veg entree every night along with any other one that struck my fancy. It was really delicious.

I've attached an older Indian menu below, Carnival has probably made changes to the menu since then.

Carnival - Indian Menu.pdf

I'd explain the wine to the agent as I'm sure I'd be asked. I even have a write-up printed out that I'd keep with my paperwork. If they gave me a hard time about it, and confiscate it from me, oh well - it wasn't that expensive.

Please come back and report on what happens with it.

Thank you.

This is highly subjective and depends who is checking your bottle.

You should be fine if you point out the label which says 'Grape wine'.

The less than 15% alcohol content puts it squarely in the 'middle alcohol wine' category.

If I were you I would say, this is a Irish wine with cream and has lower alcohol content than other liquors, similar to wines (though Bailey's is at 17%).

Daughter worked on Carnival ships for a year after college for the experience. I also had opportunity to see first hand by spending time in crew quarters while on ship for visit. So I'm much more knowledgeable than someone who did a Behind the Scenes tour.

Can't argue against that kind of first-hand experience.

So is any of the information they told us true?

Does the staff menu rotate on a 30-day basis? How about choices & variety?

Did your daughter or other staff receive minimum wage according to the federal law or state law, (since Florida is higher)?

Did she find a big quality difference in the staff food vs. passenger food?

We were told shifts are max of 8 hours: True or False?

Just curious. Would appreciate it if you could answer at your convenience.

Thanks.

And the meals are NOT like what you get. The crew occasionally gets the left over food items that passengers don't consume and consider that a treat such as left over chocolate melting cake which by that time is no longer melting.

Where did you get this?

Maybe they don't get the 'fancy' meals that customers get in the MDR, but on a 'Behind the Fun' tour, we were showed the staff dining area. It was not meal time so no food, but it had plenty of spaces for food trays. Plus their meals are on a 30-day rotating basis, meaning they don't get the same meal for at least a month. At least that is what we were told.

May be what you were told refers to staff getting some of the leftovers that are not eaten by the passengers.

And of course the staff meals are not going to be individualized. It will almost always be buffets. They do have desserts but it won't be anything like individual bowls or plates. And why would it? Even paying customers don't get that in the buffets, only trays laid out with individual dessert servings. There is no WCMC in the buffet for paying customers either.

I'm guessing the staff buffet isn't much worse than the passenger buffet food.

Comment on the original point and other posts:

I think work hours are regulated and shifts cannot last more than 8 hours each. The 80 hours per week comment is true though.

On the other hand, no expenses whatsoever. No rent, no utilities, and no food expenses. If you are frugal you can bank your entire salary.

We can keep debating the low wages till the cows come home. But making $1500-$2000/month with no bills to pay isn't the worst job in the world. I didn't make that much in grad school and had rent & bills to pay.

If you are smart and save your money, you can come out with potentially $20,000 or more in a year.

We love the new venues and upgrades but also the smaller ships. We do not need the waterpark, but realize that is on all ships now. Which ships should we look at?Thanks!

Here's an excel file with a cross-reference to all features on all Carnival ships.

Carnival Ships - Features.xls

'Google Flight' is your best friend.

Look into one-way tickets, sometimes those are cheaper than buying RT from a single airline.

There is full capacity and max capacity .. Most ships sale at full.

There will be enough lifeboat spots for max ( by law) .

Conquest has 6052 lifeboat spots for 3756 max guests plus 1180 crew. The normal guest capacity is 2974.

I don't think the lifeboat situation has anything to do with adding guests unless they are at max, not full.

Thanks.

Never knew this.

I am pretty sure we lost Tandoori to get Guys Burger Joint. It is no longer listed as a dining option for the Valor on Carnival's website.

The Valor never had the 'Tandoor'.

The only 5 ships that originally had 'Tandoor' were the Freedom, Splendor, Dream, Magic and Breeze.

Out of these, the Freedom lost it when they installed Guy's Burgers.

The other 4 ships still have it.

The Magic and Breeze are the only two ships to have both, Tandoor and Guy's.

Thank you very much for all the pictures.

Is there was a video of the dry dock being emptied? And filled after work completion?

Thing with the Oasis it has more restaurants,

The Magic has by far the most included/free dining locations and options.

Many RCCL venues are paid.

Eg. Guy's Burgers vs. Johnny Rockets, Blue Iguana vs. Sabor, Cucina Del Capitano (free for lunch only) vs. Giovanni's Table.

The Magic also has the new Guy's BBQ, as well as the Indian Tandoor and the Mongolian Wok!

I just hate that Carnival doesn't have a lot of restaurants

I find that the opposite is true!

All of the above are free/included

This is one area that I feel CCL is better than RCCL.

Of course, if you have never been on the Oasis class ships, then it is a must do; at least once.

But foodwise, I would prefer Magic over Oasis.

Looked into Allegiant. The problem is the limited days it flies. We'd have to leave two days earlier than planned and stay two days longer. That would put us in NOLA three days before and five days after. The savings from a cheaper flight would quickly be gone and probably doubled in extra cost staying an additional five days. I've never really looked at Allegiant before....definitely interested in using it for another vacation for sure!

That's true.

However, your trip isn't until next May, right?

Schedules may change by then.

Use Google Flights to search for the best flights.

It's an excellent tool, and it searches for most airlines except Southwest.

This excursion is for my two kids and they saved up for it. Why wouldn't they put that $320 on on-board credit so my kids could go on a different excursion?

I can't believe I'm 4 days out and I have very bitter feeling towards Carnival. I turn platinum and my kids gold this cruise and I'm hoping the anger subsides.

Was it the Dolphin Swim excursion?

I would say stop worrying about something that cannot be changed and book an excursion with an independent tour operator. Book it and you may not have to deliver any sad news to your kids.

Here's a quick search result.

Best bet is to go search on the Cozumel board for a similar excursion. It will probably even be cheaper than Carnival.

Good Luck!

First planning post….fly or drive? I refuse to fly anything but Southwest because I am NOT paying for my bags to fly. Tulsa is a little over an hour away……it would cost about $600 more…that’s probably worth it, right? …thoughts? :confused:

Is Tulsa the closest airport to you? How about any other airports?

Look into other low-cost airlines as well; Southwest is no longer the cheapest option. Even with paying bag fees, other airlines work out cheaper sometimes.

Look into booking one-way tickets. That way you are not locked into a particular airline and can get the best price for each way.

For eg.: Allegiant Air flies from Tulsa to NO for $33 on Sunday, May 29. You do have to pay for baggage but it could still save you a lot of money.

$600 is a lot of money; personally speaking of course.

It would buy me a better room or excursions or drinks package or many other possibilities for that matter.

We're looking at the 5 day cruises going from either Jacksonville or Ft. Lauderdale. We are a family of 7, as a result I'm pretty price conscience.

Hello fellow 'Louisvillan'.

Are you planning to fly or drive down?

Jacksonville is a small port and as far as I can see, it has only the Carnival Elation, which is one of the smaller/less fancier ships in the fleet.

Ft. Lauderdale & Miami are two of the busiest ports and have the most variety of cruiselines and ships to choose from; thus more competition and lower prices.

Oasis had more pay restaurants, while the Breeze just has a steakhouse and an Italian restaurant that have up-charges.

This is actually a positive for Carnival.

They have by far more free/included eating options than RCCL.

I don't get the logic in this rule. Why should a legal adult be forced to travel with a guardian?

Perhaps someone can shed a light on it.

Maybe this could be used as a loophole:

-The guardian does not need to be a legal guardian.

If you could find someone on that sailing who would be willing to be a guardian to the girl, and link their stateroom to your bookings, you could perhaps 'bypass' this rule.

We are UK citizens but are living in the US for 3 years due to my husband's work. This is our first cruise with Carnival and I have just attempted to do the online check in. When it came to the citizenship part, it allowed me to put our counrty of citizenship as United Kingdom and country of residence as United States, but then asks for our permanent residence card number which we obviously do not have. I spoke to Carnival & the travel agent but they were unable to supply a solution and said to enter our US Visa number and "everything should be ok when you check in at the port" Anyone experienced this & knows a solution? Thanks!

My wife & I, are citizens of India and are in the US on visas.

We have had no problems going on cruises.

Over the years, family members have visited the US on tourist visas and they have had no problems either.

From your post I assume you are here on work visas.

If so, do not enter US as your country of residence, the system takes it to mean as you being a Permanent Resident; hence it asks for your Green card number.

Alternatively, use US as your country of residence & just enter the visa number as the agent suggested.

I can't recall doing an online check-in, not sure whether it would save any time for cruisers like us.

When you do travel, take all your documents with you. Especially the ones that allowed you to enter the US. So namely, your passport, US visa & I-94. A closed-loop cruise will not ask for your I-94 to be surrendered at departure. You will hold on to the same one that you already have. They will inspect your visa and entry documents for re-entry.

Why limit yourself to only these two? :)

There are other ships as well as other cruise lines around the same dates with lower prices. As I understand from your first post, your main concerns are the dates and total costs.

Miami has the brand-new Carnival Vista for the same date and it is cheaper than the Splendor. It also has the Glory & MSC Divina for the same price as the Splendor.

Pt. Canaveral has the Carnival Magic, but it is a little bit more right now. It also has the Sunshine doing the Southern itinerary.

New Orleans has the Carnival Dream for a similar price.

You can calculate total costs including airfare, and price out the least expensive option.

For eg. Spirit Air flies non-stop from MSP to IAH for $107 RT/person; and this is a price for flights next week!

Frontier flies non-stop from MSP to Orlando for $170 RT.

Even with baggage fees, there could be substantial savings over paying for other airports.

I would start by defragmenting the computer. Basically, if it does this, the puter maybe salvageable. If it doesn't let you defrag; you many have a big problem that will frustrate you more than the computer is worth. I am assuming you already ran it through an antiviral software program. p

Defrag actually doesn't help with BSODs, it simply arranges the fragmented files together so the processor doesn't spend time looking for files in different places.

And computers are hardy, the only thing in computers that goes bad with regularity are hard drives.

Hard drives are also the reason computers run slow.

I would love any advice or help you have for me. I'll try whatever. If nothing works, I'll be getting a new one and this one can be wiped clean, install a new version of Windows on it and taken to the hubby's store for customers to use.

I sent you an email with some steps.

Hopefully, we can sort this out for you.

One option is to do a clean wipe and reinstall from system restore.

But we'll get to that later.