BullDawg91

We have great friends that we never vacation with because we have very different vacation styles. Keep that in mind if you cruise with your friends. What suits them may bore you or exhaust you.

Try a cruise with an open mind and remember there are tons of choices to suit every taste.

You will love it!

Didn't know you could pick the time you wanted to board??

That's the catch. The times seem to be assigned randomly. We sure didn't pick the times. They don't appear to be related to your status or whether you bought FTTF. It doesn't have anything to do with any flight information you put in because we're arriving a day early.

Our ship appears to be at capacity which is why we're worried about it being enforced.

I posted the same question at the same time. We'll see what folks say.

We'd have to sit in the hotel lobby like hobos for a few hours.

We are sailing on the Breeze on May 23rd. There is a lot of debate among fellow cruisers as to whether Carnival will enforce our arrival times. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the times. We got 2-3 which I do not appreciate considering muster is at 3:30 and sail away at 4:00!

Anyone have experience with Carnival actually enforcing those arrival times?

We've sailed DCL a couple of time where they have scheduled times that they DO enforce, but usually they open boarding to everyone by around 1:00 I think. And you check in online and chose a time instead of it being arbitrarily assigned.

I don't know what we're supposed to do between hotel check out and cruise check in if they enforce this.

Go to the section of Cruise Critic called ROLL CALLS and look for your cruise there. You will find some people there.

Next week!

When I had to file a claim for my parents, we waited a while on doctors to fill out and return paperwork too. I think it was about 3 months before we got a check, but I never felt it was the insurance company's delay.

I'm glad that you are recovering and ready to cruise again!

I meant "Indian stuff," of course, not "Indian stud." But Indian studs are nice, too.

Ha! I was wondering about that.

If you're looking to go out of FLL or MIA, also check Palm Beach. We got cheaper airfare on Delta out of Atlanta to WPB than FLL or MIA. We did rent a car, but that was fun for seeing Palm beach and Miami before and after the cruise.

One other thing--they can't play different characters on the same day unless they go to a different park. So Cinderella in the castle show can't play Ariel for a meet and greet later that day. Unless she goes to the Studios. They will cancel a meet and greet or remove a section of the parade rather than break this rule!

We came across what must have been an exception to this rule in 2008. We had breakfast with princesses and Mary Poppins in Norway and saw Belle in the afternoon in France and she remembered us! I cried of course. We couldn't figure it out until we looked at our pictures later. Mary Poppins and Belle were twins! ;)

On the Hyatt website it says you can sign up for a shuttle to the ship through the hotel.

 

Is that the DCL shuttle?

 

If not do we sign up for the DCL shuttle through our cruise reservation?

 

Also, does taking the DCL shuttle offer an earlier boarding time?

 

Thanks!

Do you know how you get your Port Arrival Time? That affects when you get on the ship (after you are assigned a boarding number in the terminal).

To me, least stressful would be to stay at an airport area hotel and take DCL transfers to the port. ($35 pp one way).

If you have an early Port Arrival Time, I would go on out to Port Canaveral by rental car or shuttle and stay there.

I wouldn't fool with WDW. It's the wrong direction from where you're headed and you'll possibly wait longer on a bus which would be frustrating if you have an early PAT.

We're doing one. I'll let you know in 2 weeks.

NMLady...since I don't even know what that is, I'm going to have to say no! :)

Look for a section on Cruise Critic called ROLL CALLS. You should find a thread for your cruise where other people who are going will post.

She has a short window of time to get insurance with no pre-existing conditions restrictions. Check into it today!!

We applied late February and received the kids' passports in 3.5 weeks. Mine came maybe a week later. My husband had to renew his. It took about 3 week as well.

Surely the cruise lines have an agreement to charge back damaged luggage expense they incur OR they have factored it into the contract.

. I met someone on a Mediterranean cruise who didn't know Medicare didn't cover their foreign travel !

[emoji33]

To be sure I understand, you were able to cancel under medical terms for a person who was not insured on this trip? you were able to submit forms saying you and your wife couldn't travel because of a relative's medical condition?

I have filed a claim for my parents when my father couldn't travel but he was the insured who was expecting to travel.

I also had a reasonably good experience with collecting. Lots of waiting for doctors to return paperwork, but the insurance company was easy to work with.

I've wondered why they bother selling popcorn. They can't make that much money from it. Just make it free.

We can all only give our opinions as none of our crystal balls can be taken as guaranteed........

 

 

 

My guess ducklite's suggestion some cruise lines will merge to eliminate duplication of like product is highly possible. I suspect Princess and HAL (both sister companies under Carnival Corporation's umbrella) could be in the early start up stages of that happening.

 

 

 

I believe ships will become very much more a la carte. You want a hamburger, order and pay for it like in any restaurant. You want to see the show, the price of a ticket is whatever amount. Possibly the only included food might, at least initially, be the buffet. MDR's will become extinct and those spaces will be converted to small venues offering various dining choices.

 

 

 

I think two things are going to be critical in cruise lines' short term future: economy and specifically economic stability and growth in Asia. There is some talk China/Asia are new focus for bookings to a growing middle class....... IF that growth continues, if their economies continue to grow.

 

 

 

It seems to me unrealistic to not consider the state of world unrest and terrorism as not very pertinent to stability of leisure travel. The more hot spots, the more terrorism, the more fear and concern......the fewer travelers.

 

 

 

JMO ....

Paying a la carte will certainly turn me off as a cruiser. I'd rather pay a little more and have more things included.

I posted a similar thread dedicated to the subject here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2196875 . Please report your findings after your trip. Facetime SHOULD work. The "voice only" would likely work better though.

Right. I'm hoping a fresh thread might get some replies from recent cruisers. Either way, I'll report back in early June.

I suppose it depends on what you rank first in priorities. If it is your bank account, DCL is not worth it. There are plenty of ships out there that will take you from point A to point B, feed and water you, and let you sit by the pool while at sea. From a cost perspective, probably every other line out there will beat DCL. And I'm not faulting or arguing with folks where the total cost is their bottom line.

 

 

 

If those intangibles are important to you, then all bets are off. Food, service, condition and cleanliness, type of fellow passenger. All those things are valued differently and are impossible to assign with a universally agreed "worth." Whether you label those intangibles as pixie dust or customer service is irrelevant.

 

 

 

I, for one, adore staying at the Four Seasons. It has beds and running water like any other hotel, so technically it is definitely not worth the extra expense. That said, they have provided extra touches including finding peanut butter at midnight for me for my daughter's peanut allergy densensitization management (because I forgot to pack it) that I'm pretty sure the front desk of Motel 6 would not have done.

 

 

 

That said, I don't consider the Four Seasons to be a good value every time I travel. There are times when I really do just need a bed and running water.

 

 

 

I'm sure there will never be universal agreement on which cruise line is the better value, since "value" is such a subjective term, and can fluctuate with the same person as times and situations change.

Exactly!

I suppose it depends on what you rank first in priorities. If it is your bank account, DCL is not worth it. There are plenty of ships out there that will take you from point A to point B, feed and water you, and let you sit by the pool while at sea. From a cost perspective, probably every other line out there will beat DCL. And I'm not faulting or arguing with folks where the total cost is their bottom line.

 

 

 

If those intangibles are important to you, then all bets are off. Food, service, condition and cleanliness, type of fellow passenger. All those things are valued differently and are impossible to assign with a universally agreed "worth." Whether you label those intangibles as pixie dust or customer service is irrelevant.

 

 

 

I, for one, adore staying at the Four Seasons. It has beds and running water like any other hotel, so technically it is definitely not worth the extra expense. That said, they have provided extra touches including finding peanut butter at midnight for me for my daughter's peanut allergy densensitization management (because I forgot to pack it) that I'm pretty sure the front desk of Motel 6 would not have done.

 

 

 

That said, I don't consider the Four Seasons to be a good value every time I travel. There are times when I really do just need a bed and running water.

 

 

 

I'm sure there will never be universal agreement on which cruise line is the better value, since "value" is such a subjective term, and can fluctuate with the same person as times and situations change.

Exactly!