LostPuppy

I'd consider getting a cabin on the Port side. 

With the number of sea days on a westbound TA cruise, a Port side cabin would have sun every day while a Starboard cabin would only have late morning/evening sun at best. And as others said, predicting which side faces the dock for port calls is a "roll of the dice".....

What's this have to Carnival? 

We're doing a B2B on some ship out of NOLA with this "Sailabration" being on one of the legs. Meh. we'll see.....

nothing says "fine dining" like a 64 oz "bubba mug" on your table.  I'm guessing they'd allow one to bring any kind of mug into the steakhouse too.

5 hours ago, coevan said:

FYI, the social plan is not the full internet, it's more of a messaging platform. FB would require the mid plan or better.

FB works fine on the Social plan. 

AFA pictures loading, yes it is a bit slow, but it worked fine (e.g. a post with a dozen pictures would take 15 minutes to upload).

4 minutes ago, cmptrwiz said:

I would like the Tervis cup brought back.

We did a B2B2B and received six of these.  Left them all in the cabin. As one may guess, I'm not  too big on possessions....

AFA a realistic, universally liked gift, I'd suggest a voucher for a single drink (I'm a shareholder too). 

We were here overnight a few months ago.   The ship docks in the industrial port area, so no touristy junk (or amenities). The first night around eight we got off and walked around finding a convenience store about a mile away.  We stood out on the street and drank several beers before heading back to the ship.  Didn't know any Spanish, but they took our $ and was able to bum some cigarettes too.  Rained most of the time and were soaked by the time we got back.  Still a fun night.

The next day we took a taxi to the old town and walked around.  As others have said lotta vendors pestering you.  Later we found a bar off an alley and had several local beers. The bartender's brother took us back to the ship later for $10.

52 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

OMG! How can you do that? I have one full suitcase and a carry on, and my hubby has the same. No way could I fit everything in a carry on! 😱

Not that hard, my spouse & I have been doing carry-on's only for the last dozen cruises or so. Last cruise was a five days in Tampa followed by a 13 day cruise to LA.  Tomorrow we fly to PR prior to a Southern Caribbean leaving on Sunday, again carry-on only.

One piece of luggage forces one to prioritize.  I heartily recommend it.

We did a couple of Journeys Cruises and they're pretty much like any other cruise except longer.

The only one that sticks out in my mind is the one we took from Hawaii to Vancouver as part of the Legend(?) re-positioning from Australia.    Apparently they had a lot of Australian beers left over and were handing them out for free at the "captains celebration", the returning cruiser's party and the D/P party.  I recall taking 6/7 beers to our cabin one night....

ALSO, they had some guest lecturer aboard that talked about photography and astronomy(?).  I went to one of them and it's more-or-less on the 6th grade level, I was not impressed......

Nobody really cares what one wears on Carnival for formal night.  It's pretty much anything is allowed other than shorts and "wife-beater" T-shirts.  That being said, wearing a formal military uniform would be fine...

AFA Belize, we go outside the gate take a water taxi to Cay Calker, wander around get some seafood and a few drinks, then head back to the ship a few hours before departure.  Always fun.

As to  those who say "they are adventurous, but won't go outside the gate a Belize";   No you're not.

On 8/14/2019 at 9:14 AM, moondog73 said:

I never understood the fascination with door decorations.  Some say it makes their room easier to find., but isn't that what the room numbers are for?  People don't decorate hotel room doors, so why should they on a cruise ship since it is a floating hotel.  It doesn't bother that people decorate, but I am not wasting time or luggage space to do it.

I agree. 

Door decorations are an exercise in vanity (look at me!) and nothing else...

I especially like the irony of suggestions to put your booze in a Yeti cup in your cabin, then carry it around. 

On one hand the cup is used to signal "Look at me! I can afford an overpriced, impractical cup", but it is used to ferry booze from the cabin to poolside to avoid high priced drinks there....

Oh sure, people will rationalize their decision (they don't have MY booze, I don't want to walk to a bar, etc, etc), but I find the whole "Yeti cup thing" comical, curious, and strange...

Whats this have to do with Carnival?  Shouldn't this be in the Florida ports board?

I did the behind the fun tour once,  it's OK, but I won't repeat it.  Then again, I did a stint in the Navy and sorta know how ships work...

Glad we went when we did.  I think we were on the fourth or fifth Carnival cruise there. Had a great time and fun memories...

21 hours ago, jbethel11 said:

So I've been eyeing this cruise on the Magic for August of 2020. For some reason, it is no longer being displayed. Since I had saved that itinerary, along with a few others, when I go to view them, the others are fine, however, the Magic itinerary is no longer being displayed, and in fact, is substituted for the same sailing in July. Shockingly, I received an email from CC saying the price dropped for that sailing and when I go to check it out, it redirects me to that July sailing again! Does anyone know what is going on?

What did Carnival say when you called and/or emailed them?

If you didn't, wouldn't that be a better way to find out than posting here?

Doing a "carry-on only" cruise really  isn't that tough (e.g. there are no "secrets").  Just use your common sense.  We've done a week in NOLA followed by a B2B2B just doing carry-on. it's not that big of a deal.

One thing not mentioned so far in this thread is how liberating it feels doing only one carry-on. Ya pack what ya need and exclude the rest.  I'm a big believer in the phrase "happiness is knowing the differences between needs and wants...".

I have a small (3") ceramic bear I purchased at a gift shop in a retirement home in Sitka, AK. At the time of purchase I was told that it was one of "Eleanor's bears"  and she was eating lunch if I wanted to say hi.  We did, and had a charming visit with her and heard many interesting stories about Alaska in the 30's/40's.

I also have a 4" clay egg, white with black spots I bought from a street vendor in Roaton (before Mahogany Bay).  Nothing special other than being hand-made.

Not a big fan of buying anything made in China and being sold as a "souvenir".  To me that is an oxymoron.

On 3/8/2019 at 10:53 AM, ProgRockCruiser said:

All S&S cards I have received recently have been swipe with mag strip on back, not RFID.

 

Last cruise was Dec 2018 on Sunshine.

 

Are the cards now switching to RFID, no mag strip on back?

On 3/9/2019 at 4:42 AM, RWolver672 said:

 

Just got off the Horizon and the cards still have the magnetic strip on the back.  No RFID.  To unlock your cabin door, you just hold your card on the pad on the door and it unlocks it.

RFID and Magstripe technologies are not mutually exclusive (i.e. your S&S card can have both).... 

On 3/10/2019 at 9:53 PM, myboatsinwater said:

Whoo hoo thank you for looking. i have question i received the kinda beach bag that you you can put cold things in the bottom, it's got the VIP logo on it. My question is it waterproof, i'm thinking of taking it snorkeling and just wanted to know if its waterproof or should i just take my dry bag.

Thank you

Am I missing something here???

So you own the bag and have it your possession, yet are asking others if it is water proof?  I would think you are in the best position to make that determination yourself. 

19 hours ago, l8cruiser said:

My wife and I were on the Freedom a few years ago.... my bare feet were on fire. I jump from shaded spot to shaded spot trying to get back up to the serenity deck. I couldn’t make it. The deck was hot enough to fry an egg..... . 

Rookie mistake.

20 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

If you haven't already, you might want to contact your PVP, or TA, or whomever you booked the cruises with to make sure they are "linked" as a BTB, so that you are in the system as  BTB PAX and thus will get the proper instructions and processing while onboard.  Since you booked these cruises at two different times, it might not be linked.

Just to be clear, THERE IS NO LINKING!

We did a couple of different cruises and happened to have the same GS manager (Gabriela), so I asked her about B2B's at the returning guest party  She said it's a report they run.  That's it!  To infer that one NEED's to link cruises is just plain wrong and perpetuating a falsehood. 

Does one really think Carnival will escort you off the ship because you didn't talk to GS?   "I'm sorry sir, the 2nd leg of your cruise is not in our system. please debark the ship and wait with the unwashed masses to come back aboard."  Jeesh...

1 hour ago, aftermidnight said:

Good Morning: can anyone tell me if we can get our luggage tags at the pier.  We always do this before boarding RCCL.

Thanks

Yes you can!  Just tell the porter your ship name and cabin. They have sturdy tags for this purpose. AFA any delay, maybe 10 seconds?

Done this numerous times and never had a problem.  Tell them you're Platinum and they'll put an orange sticker  on it so it gets "priority" treatment (Ha!)

People call them "secret" decks because it sounds cooler than "unused" / "unpopular" decks:

• They are on the deck plans, no secret there....
• There's no lounge chairs, only a few wooden benches.
• Metal railing limits your view (i.e. you need to stand if you want to see anything).
• No amenities (e.g. bars, food).
• Not easy to get to; walk ALL the way forward on a cabin deck. Oh, now you're done?,  time for another hike back.

If one wants to watch sail away (and have more fun!) I'd suggest Lido/Sky decks.  A lot more going on there....