Revdoll

Disney Dream

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I am always fascinated by how easily these ships can turn. The most enjoyable part of cruising for me is to stand on the deck and watch as the ship turns. It's very relaxing.

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I enjoying watching web streams of different cruise ports, one of the things I notice is some ships back into the dock while others pull straight into the dock. Does anyone knows what determines whether a ship pulls in or backs into the dock?

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I tend to agree. In most ports, I've gotten comfortable booking my own or just winging it. But in Jamaica, for example, I feel more comfortable booking it through the line.

 

Best I can tell, the significant advantage is that the ship will not leave you if the excursion runs late.

Yes Jamaica was one of the Sketchy excursions we went on, won't do that again.

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We have cruises booked for May on the Valor and a partial Panama Canal cruise in April 2018. I've been looking at the shore excursions for both trips and it seems the prices are really out of control. Most excursion are almost $100 or more now, with having five people on the cruise it adds up really quick. It is conceivable that I could spend $1500 for excursions on a three port cruise. That's more than half of what I paid for the May cruise. We have booked excursions through third parties before and most of the excursions were really good. Although we've had a few that did not live up to its billing and a couple of times we ended up on some sketchy excursions. Sometimes we like having the security of a carnival excursion especially if we are going a long ways to visit a ruin or not get back until late. It seems that carnival is pricing their shore excursions beyond what most people can or should pay.

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We've been on 12 cruises with Carnival and have never had the ship time change for a port. It may happen but it is not my experience. We usually book our own excursions and each excursion company used ships time. They are all aware when the ship leaves and will get you back on time. I'm sure someone will have a story of missing the ship, but again we have not had any issues. Keep your watch on ship time and be aware of the time. If in doubt about what times tour leaves, ship time or local just ask the tour operator when you book. The ones we have used always had a number that you could call usually a toll free number.Just remember it is in the best interest of the ports to ensure a smooth experience for the cruise guests and in our experience the ports always work around ship time.

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Stay on the ship and enjoy sitting by the pool. The shore excursions are overrated and the shopping and beaches you can go to are not exciting. I enjoy watching the ships come and go from the port. There are new shops in the port area, but it is all the same stuff you can get all over the Caribbean and every tourist place in the US

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Apologies....The continental US is referred to as the lower 48 by some Canadians. Did not mean to disparage any cruise lovers from Alaska and Hawaii.

 

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No worries just having a bit of fun, we always referred to the other states as the lower 48 plus 1.

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Checked the price for our May Trip Tuesday morning and it dropped another $90. Since Sunday the price went down $390. So with the saving we booked the Chief's table. BTW the price drop includes the two cabins we booked. So it was $195 per cabin.

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Another update. checked Tuesday morning and the price dropped another $90 so this time I filled out the form and about 45 minutes later it was approved. Going to keep checking. Hopefully they might start paying me to go on the cruise [emoji51]

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I just clicked on the link I provided on my cell phone and both seasons came up as an option. The best thing would be if a technologically inclined Canuck would download it on You Tube so us from the lower 48 could view it for free.

 

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Being born and raised in Alaska I do believe my family from Alaska and friends that Live in Hawaii would love to see the show also. Remember the US is made up of 50 states. :D

Thanks for the info, I noticed there is not a stop for colon. So I'm assuming we won't get off. Which is fine, although I would have liked to go to the visitor center.

I checked on the price for the cruise, hoping to find a price drop. But found just the opposite it increased almost $500. Glad we booked early.

Also I booked a short 5 day cruise to Cozumel for May just in case cruise #13 is cursed. We've been to Cozumel so many times so if Cruises #13 is cursed we won't be missing out on anything. So now the panama cruse is lucky 14 and all will be just perfect.

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Just checked this morning to see if there was another drop over night and I was surprised to see that the price had gone up from yesterday. Still cheaper from the original booking but $50 more than yesterday.

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I checked the rate for our upcoming trip in May on the valor. Between our two cabins the priced dropped $300 so I called my PVP and got the new rate.

Decided to check on our Panama Canal cruise in April 2018 and the price jumped $400. Super glad I booked it back in November. Pays to book early.

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We normally use the military discount on our cruises which usually has an on board credit but never a price guarantee. For our upcoming and 13Th cruise we booked early saver in December. I never checked to see if the price dropped as I've never needed to check before. A few days ago someone posted that people should check the current prices as they noticed the prices were going down. So I checked this morning and saw the prices had dropped for both of the cabins we booked. I called my PVP and within a few minutes we saved $350. We had to give up the $50 per cabin credit but even with losing that we are still ahead. Plus, I won't miss a credit that I only see on our account, but I would miss an extra $350 in cash. That gives us enough money to go dune bugging in Cozumel and drink a few extra beers [emoji482] afterwards. Think I'll be using early saver more often.

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Miss the chocolate buffet

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Another reason to move to Canada [emoji1063]

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I'm retired Army and we used the military rates a lot, we have never had any issues with the military rate. Of course being military means there is always a chance that the service members plans can change at the last moment. We have always bought travel insurance from a third party that includes a military clause that allows us to cancel for any military reason. Carnival does not offer this option. We have found third party travel insurance is cheaper and better than the cruise insurance. Just do a web search for travel insurance and you will have lots of options.

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On our last cruise we dropped off our bags, grabbed a quick lunch then went down to watch people as they came on board. This was the first time we went to watch people board the ship. It was fun to watch newbies as they came on board for the first time. Of course watching the children board and seeing their excitement was great. It reminded us of the times we took our kids on cruises. I think we might make this our new ritual.

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Just booked my 13th cruise on Carnival yesterday, heading out on a partial Panama Canal Transit . I hope there is no bad luck associated with my 13th cruise. Thinking about taking out extra cruise insurance just in case. The only unlucky part is that it's not until April 2018 [emoji53].

We were hoping to do a full transit but the length and cost was prohibitive, so we are doing the partial. Has anyone done a partial transit? Would like to know if we will be able to get off the ship at all. The itinerary says it arrives at 7:30 and departs at 7:00, not sure if that is the time it takes to transit half of the canal or if that is how long it will be in port.

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I love sitting on the dark balcony at night listening to the waves, it's very calming. It's even better on a cove balcony because you are a lot closer to the wave action.

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I would say you are way past due for a cruise. In my humble opinion you should book one ASAP

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Have your parents said they wanted to spend the majority of their time with you, or are you assuming that they want to spend the majority of their time with you. As parents of adult children we certainly don't want to spend the majority of our times with our grown children. We raised them and now we enjoy our time together as a couple. Why would adult parents need "rules" when traveling with you? Maybe an adult conversation would be more appropriate about what you both desire rather than coming up with "rules" for your mature parents.

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We are new cruiser to RCCL, we've been on 11 cruises with Carnival and we are ready to try something new. I did a mock booking for Liberty of the Seas yesterday. I noticed there was an option for a three specialty restaurant dining option for $70 PP. Not sure if this is a good deal or not. Would it be cheaper to just add the extra charge for a specialty restaurant as we go, or go for the three restaurant package for $70.

Going to be booking our first RCCL cruise in a few days!

Thanks for the input

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Except that the food on the buffet may be sitting at the steam table for an hour or more.

The food in the MDR is not cooked to order, we did the Chef's table and we visited the kitchen during dinner and all the food were sitting in big pots waiting to be served. I suppose the buffet food comes from the same place. At least the buffet food is warm to hot. Most of the time I eat at the MDR my food is barely warm when I get it.

BTW- I highly recommend the Chef's table

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