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Just got off with my TA. She called Carnival and this time got a rep who apparently knows better than the rep she got on Sunday. On Carnival.com the $100 that shows as OBC is the Friends and Family. She figured out that the $100 OBC that I was to get through the TA was not paid yet as she originally thought so that would not show up on Carnival.com. If she had realized that yesterday then $50 would have been taken away from the $100 as the new promotion they were having was only for $50 OBC. With two cruises back to back that is an extra $100 I have as she said they won't take it away from me now! However, if prices go down again I would lose it..

 

If anyone is reading this who does not look at their roll call I would HIGHLY suggest they do. I got the f&f from the roll call and was alerted to two price reductions through it.

So I am assuming you are not booked as Early Saver. For if you were, you can price match without losing the F&F OBC.

Thanks but I still need to know if on the Carnival website under Manage where it lists OBC is that strictly Carnival's OBC or is it also the TA's OBC?

The Carnival website will ONLY show the OBC that is associated to Carnival. If you are receiving some via your TA, it won't show until you get onboard the ship.

Hi, I have never cruised Carnival before but have booked 2 Carnival cruises.

 

We are now considering doing another Carnival cruise before the Miami one. It will be on Glory thus making the first one a B2B.

 

 

The ports on the first one are

Half Moon Cay, St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk

 

The one booked already are-

Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Grand Cayman

 

As I am new to Carnival I am concerned that it may be too much?? Is that too much of the same type of port? I have only just started researching and don't know anything about this area.

 

We are not fussy as far as ships go so not too worried about that. As long as the food and service are good we are happy. I'm pretty busy at work so cruising is the easy option. It takes me many months to plan land based tours.

I think I'm getting addicted to cruising. :D

Too much of what, cruising? My wife and I love to cruise as well as do land vacations. If you enjoy cruising, than a B2B won't be cause for a problem. And in regards to the ports, each one has its own uniqueness. Take the time to decide what you want to do in each one. I am sure you will enjoy the time spent.

There are carnival excursions for this port. It also depends on how much time is in the port. Disney/Universal are an hour+ ride each way. Kennedy Space Center (NASA) is close by. Cocoa Beach (as well as a few others) are close by

Yes, it is the midship area just past the forward wind break under the overhang. There are chairs and tables and a few couches. (I don't smoke but I walked past this area several times. Oh, and it smells like smoke :(

I was on the Conquest 4 weeks ago... I am not sure of smoking in the aft section of deck 9, but I know there was no smoking area on deck 9 midships. The smoking area is on deck 10, starboard, from midships to the aft. There is some shaded areas there but not a whole lot.

Just realize that an upgrade from a 4J is to an OV. So if you like being in the middle or upper decks, the OVs tend to be on decks 1 and 2.

This is all so helpful. Thank u all very much. When I looked at the best price guarantee for the ES, it says if you find a lower rate within 48 hours of booking they will honor it. Am I not reading this right?

With ES it doesn't matter. You can price match up to 2 days prior to the cruise as long as you can price match to the same rate category.

I am booked on the Vista and here what i am did/planing to do:

Early Saver does not have a refundable deposit unlike other fares. I currently booked the Vista using the past guest fare code that has a refundable deposit. I think i can still apply for price reduction between now and final payment. As final payment nears, i am going to switch to Early Saver

 

Your TA might not like this, but it is a doable. i booked directly with carnival so it should be an easy switch for me.

Yes, this will work. And yes, the deposit isn't refundable; HOWEVER, it is applied to a booking you do within the next 24 months.

Doing this you are hoping that the ES price does not increase over what you are paying with a PG rate; for if it does, you either will have to pay more or not have the ES benefit after final payment.

I'm seriously thinking about booking the Carnival Vista at the early saver rate. What are your pros and cons? Also, would you book a trip now that is 18 months away or should I wait? I would appreciate any input that you could provide me. My TA does not like to book early saver rates and is trying to steer me toward a higher rate with more flexibility when it comes to making changes.

So the con is if you have to change from this booking, it will cost you $50/person.

Pro is that you should get a very good rate right now and with ES, it gives you the ability to price match up to cruise - 2 days.

I am sure your TA doesn't want you to book ES since they will have to do the processing if you find a cheaper rate plus it probably reduces their commission with an ES rate and everytime you change it for a price match. We initially used a TA but have been doing direct Carnival bookings for the past 3+ years.

We booked the Pride repo 14 months in advance with an ES rate. Only saw the rate change once and that was VERY EARLY on; nothing as the cruise got nearer. If you know you will be taking the cruise and it is a good rate, take it.

We book interiors and almost always on Deck 7 (Empress). We also book forward since we had a bad experience with aft. And agree about having the cabins above and below

I am guessing stargatefan is booking the past guest rate rather than early saver to save the $50 per person change fee that is part of ES.

I've heard of people doing this as well. When I book onboard, it is for the cruise I will be taking vs booking any cruise and then changing after the fact.

I had the same problem with a just taken cruise. It never got corrected; BUT I was able to access the booking by doing the following:

Go to Carnival.com

scroll to the bottom

under the column "Already Booked", select "Organizer Access"

fill in the requested info and press SUBMIT

this will get you access to your booking to do what you want

what are the best options for Bonaire and Curacao.. have done Aruba already and wasn't really very impressed.

In Bonaire, go with Woodwind. They take you to a restricted area that is incredible.

For Curacao, go with Scubacao.

I know they won't let you see your cruise DOCUMENTS until you have made final payment. But I have not seen it showing the wrong cruise info for a booking number. They should all be separate "tabs" under "Manage My Bookings" make sur eyou mouse click on the tab of the correct bookin gnumber to seet hat one's info. If it still is incorrect then it is most likely some sort of computer glitch on their end.

I'm not sure this is true. I have two active bookings, both months before final payment is due, and I have repeatedly gone into the "cruise documents" with no problem at all.

Mac and cheese on the kids menu? :confused:

Yep, cruizin is correct... I ordered it twice on the just past 8 day cruise. I also ordered the chicken tenders from the kids menu and the banana(less) split and brownies multiple nights. You can order from the kids menu as either an appetizer or entree and also the desserts.

We were on the Conquest in February.

 

We thought is was great! It was our 4th cruise, all on Carnival.

 

We enjoyed the comedy club, as well I spent some time in the casino.

 

There is no serenity deck, but the pool in the AFT is adults only.

We just got off the Conquest a few weeks ago... It is actually a very nice ship and is holding up well. It went through an upgrade recently which also put a Guys Burger and Blue Cantina Burrito/Taco grill on it. It is probably comparable to FOTS with about 3100 passengers aboard. A very easy ship to move around and find things.

Or, give HER the phone number of the ship...if anything is wrong, she can call YOU! No news is good news!

I always provide this number and my booking/cabin info to family in case of emergencies.

I know calling home is very expensive. I am just looking at some of my options. Here is our situation. Our 2 year old will be staying home with my Aunt. This will be the first time we are away from him for an extended period of time. I want the option of being able to call her once a day and just say a quick "is everything ok" under a minute call. Any suggestions on the best/cheapest route for this?

The ship-to-shore call via your cabin is 1.99/minute Not sure what it would cost using a cell phone.

The track on most ships is either 9 or 10 laps to a mile. So you would be doing a LOT of laps. Also, if you really want to do it with minimal hazards (other people), do it either early in the morning (before sunrise) or after 6pm which is early seating.

Just off the Pride which is a sister ship.

 

Found deck 10 is a great place to do long walks/runs early in the morning when the sun is rising. 3x around is a mile.

 

Nobody is there and can go as fast/slow as you want.

Agree with LMG about deck 10 on the Pride. It goes all the way around the ship with no stairs to climb.

I try to walk deck 10 on each of the ships since it is much longer than the track; usually at least twice as long. However, on most of the ships doing this on deck 10 you have to deal with a small set of stairs (3 steps) midships. And do it early in the morning or after the first dinner starts. You will have the deck pretty much to yourself.

I'm confused with the Early Saver program. I booked a cruise for June 2016. I was told that if the pricing goes down anytime prior to sailing because we did the Early Saver guarantee and if our sailing were to go on sale we would lose our deposit? Is this correct? Our deposits were 350 pp so don't want to lose that.

No, you will not lose your deposit; not sure where you heard that. But when you do check for a price drop, it has to be for a same or higher category. You cannot price check to a Guarantee cabin.

Hope this helps.

Agree with LoveMyGkids about not worrying about the booking with the reduced deposit.

However, in regards to when to book a cruise, if you don't care about where the cabin is, probably the best time is a few weeks before the cruise; except on specialty (e.g., repo) cruises.

But as mentioned earlier. If the cruise is a price you are willing to pay and be happy with, do it at that point.

Bonaire is also on the Port side.

GT is also on the Port side.

Not sure if these can be reversed if the winds/tides are different. But for Aruba, twice in the past 3 months it was on the port side.

Do you jointly own the shares? Or does your husband own the shares?

 

Because as described, only the shareholder gets the benefit- so it doesn't matter how many shares your husband has, you aren't a shareholder.

 

 

Would this be different if you jointly held them?

 

 

 

Interesting that some people have gotten into the loophole for 2 cabins.

 

Thanks for responding. Guess we will see what happens.

If the shares were held jointly and the two cabins were booked with separate bookings, with one joint owner in each cabin, they should each get the $100 OBC.

So, just to clarify, if I have 100 shares and my spouse has 100 shares, but we are both in the same cabin, can we each get $100 OBC?

no, only 100 OBC is allowed per cabin/booking