ScottsSweetie

Yes they are, but probably still cheaper then buying drinks individually. I cannot bring myself to purchase bottles for my cabin as I very rarely spend time in the cabin drinking. Since Carnival rules state that you can only consume the room service or bon voyage purchase in your cabin, it is not for me.

If you are walking the ship with a glass of wine, no one will know if you purchased it on ship or not.

Also, if you are not swigging from the bottle but making a mixed drink, how will someone know that you didn't purchase it at a bar?

This makes me wonder - since you can order the same bottle of alcohol through room service, does that come with the same rules about consuming only in your room??

I think the rule of thumb for the first elegant night is usually the 2nd cruise night (your first whole day).

Also, I've never seen an elegant night on the last night of the cruise - I don't think they would schedule it then because of people putting luggage out that evening.

Princess (which I have never sailed) has actually been offering some great rates lately. I would check them out.

Also, I think kids would really like all the offerings on the larger RCL ships.

I think, even for the ones who still have what they call "live" music, it is only "live-ish". A lot of it is programmed so there are only a very handful of actual instrument players.

I use a clear plastic folder that has a "zip-lock" type of closure at the top.

I put all documents in order that they will be used - airline tickets, car rental reservation, hotel reservation, cruise docs, bon voyage confirmation, so on and so on. This folder fits in the outside pocket of my tote-bag carry on.

I keep passports in the outside zippered pocket of my purse so that they are handy, but a little more secure.

If I am drinking my wine that I brought on board, I simply pour myself a glass and take it with me to the dining room.

When we consume our bon voyage alcohol, we usually make a drink in our room in our tervis tumber glasses and take them with us wherever we are going.

Makes sense. I ordered a little cooler with 4 beers, 2 coozies, 4 cups and bottle opener and it didn't show til day 2 of a cruise out of Texas. Texans are cool about guns. Alcohol, not so much.:D

This made me laugh out loud! :p

We always have our bottle of Captain Morgan's waiting on our desk, all wrapped up in a pretty package. If I remember correctly, last time I ordered, it asks you on line to fill in a kind of name tag: to, from, and message. I wrote a funny message on the tag for DH (sorry, a little too R-rated to repeat). :o Think I'll do the same again.

I would add that you won't ever see the screaming deals out of Charleston like you will out of the Florida ports - there is no competition. That being said, we have found reasonable rates out of Charleston several times (will pay a higher sailing rate to avoid transportation to Florida).

Absolutely not.

On our last Carnival cruise I wasn't feeling well one night and skipped dinner. DH went with friends and the waiter asked where I was. DH told him that I was in the cabin resting and that I didn't feel very well. The waiter went above and beyond, bringing my husband soup, fresh bread with butter along with chicken and rice, all packaged up for him to take to me! How nice was that! Even though I wasn't very hungry, I was able to eat some of it later in the evening and was grateful for the very nice gesture.

That is awesome!

If I may catch up without reading pages of dialogue......Am I correct in stating that this ship does 7 day cruises, and the 2 pax in voluntary quarantine have been on the ship for 21 days.....3 cruises? So pax turnover, crew reassignment/vacations, entertainment replacements have been going on as usual with the ship returning to Texas each Sunday, or has she been floating around for 3 weeks with helicopter dropped pop tarts and spam? I wonder if the crew had to draw marbles and the one who drew the black marble had to remove towels, sheets, food trays? I bet the crew nor the pax even knew anything until late this week!:cool:

 

Seriously, I hope everyone is well and our gov't gets educated fast. This is not a funny topic, nor should it be ignored or taken lightly.

No, she has not been on ship for 21 days. She will hit 21 days on the incubation period tomorrow - she has only been on the ship since last Sunday.

Edited to add: all reports are that she is showing no symptoms.

Another interesting article concerning "Ebola Cruise" (speaking of television coverage & ratings):

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/10/17/if-you-liked-poop-cruise-youll-love-ebola-cruise/?utm_source=hafbp&utm_medium=fbpage&utm_campaign=haupdate

So, I've read about 1/2 of the pages here, and wanted to share a couple of things I heard / read.

1. Yesterday morning, I saw an interview with a doctor who is an Infectious Disease Specialist. She was asked, among other questions, about the cruise ship, and her comment was along the lines of - that is the one I am the least worried about. When the interviewer looked puzzled and asked why, her reply was (again, paraphrasing), - they already have some of the best cleaning procedures in place because of dealing with with the norovirus, so I am not worried about their practices.

2. There happens to be a television reporter on board the Magic who is tweeting from the ship. You can see his tweets at

http://twitchy.com/2014/10/17/mood-on-the-ship-is-good-tv-reporter-recounts-vacation-aboard-ebola-cruise/

Again, the reality on the ship doesn't match the hysteria that might be reported in the media.

If I remember correctly, Ecstasy doesn't have a sports bar.

On the ships with no sports bar, we often saw sports playing on the televisions in the bar at the aft of the ship (usually outside of the aft lounge and right at the steps that go down into the aft restaurant).

OP - Sorry, I had to say that I giggled a little bit at your typo in the subject and my first thought was, "they don't need any more wine!" :)

This looks like the best vending machine ever!

There was a discussion a few days ago on the boards about someone wanting their young child to do an excursion that they did not qualify for as they were too young. The Carnival website would not allow them to add the excursion to the cart for that particular person.

Someone (or maybe more than one, I don't remember) advised that there are instances where the company has different restrictions than Carnival, allowing either younger or older participants if booking directly with them.

Perhaps this is an instance where a private excursion would be appropriate?

As far as the asthmatic goes, I took my asthmatic DS snorkeling once in Cozumel. He told me later that he ALWAYS feels like he is breathing through a tube, and while he was glad to experience it, he is not interested in doing it again. Your experiences with scuba may be different! :)

Bummer - I just looked and neither DH nor I got the offer.

We got the last one but were unable to take advantage of it.

My in-laws did get this offer, though. They probably won't use it. I did a mock booking and it only showed $30 OBC - I'm guessing it's different on each sailing?

Congrats to those of you who got the offer and will get to cruise!

Thanks to all, especially andy.captain! :)

Is creme brulee offered for dessert the first night of a 6 day cruise? I know that it is normally on the first night of a 7 day (along with the gazpacho, 2 of my favorites)! My in-laws are also looking forward to trying it for the first time.

I will be sailing on the Freedom, but I'm guessing that 6 day menus might be the same fleet wide. I have checked Zydeco Cruiser's site, but there are no 6 day menus listed. :(

When we sailed out of Miami, someone was standing at the door telling everyone with larger than carry-on luggage to go check them. I guess it's a particular problem there, because I've never seen that done anywhere else.

As the above poster said, it must fit through the scanners, which are the same size that you go through in security at the airport. Don't think a full size suitcase will make it through.

I've searched, but can't find it - how many cruise elegant nights on a 6 night cruise??

Thanks in advance! :)

they are not allowed to ask you that by law. Im surprised to hear that.

 

I do know if you do not have a letter on file-- then you can be bumped with no notification.

 

we bumped someone out of the 4J - deck 7 a few years back-- and they were bumped to deck 3. How do I know? his luggage came to our room with the room number and the cabin steward came to collect it. We asked = he said (which i dont think he shoulda done but----

So Carnival is not allowed to ask if you need it?? I can understand that they couldn't ask why, but to ask a yes or no question would not seem to be illegal to me. Just wondering.

Wow, I had forgotten about the horse races - thanks for the memory! :p

Even after all these cruises, every single cruise has new & exciting things to do!

Things we will be doing for the first time on our next cruise:

1. Cruise with the in-laws. :eek:

2. Visit Falmouth, Jamaica.

3. Sail on the Freedom.

4. Sail from Ft. Lauderdale.

5. Eat at Guys Burgers, Red Frog Pub & Blue Iguana.

6. Take a land tour of Grand Cayman.

Looking forward to these and so much more! :p

Any good pop / rock band on board for evening entertainment?