zentraveler

Thanks - given that m 9/1 cruise is my first Carnival and I don't gamble, I am guessing I am not likely to see these anytime soon.

What does that mean, i.e. not for the general public. Directed to a specific person? Unfamiliar with the term but would love to know!

Answering my own question. Got this from Carnival today: ONLINE CHECK-IN – All guests will be required to complete Online Check-In, which will open 14 days prior to sailing. Suite guests will be given 48 hours advance access to select their preferred Arrival Appointment. Please visit My Cruise Manager on Carnival.com starting at 16 days prior to sailing to complete your Online Check-In and select the Arrival Appointment that works best for your plans. PRIORITY CHECK-IN – You will be given priority check-in at the cruise terminal. STATEROOM ACCESS – Staterooms will be ready when you board. WATER SHUTTLE PRIORITY – Priority water shuttle debark will be provided subject to local guidance at the destinations we visit, which may change without prior notice. Our team on board will keep you informed of the debarkation plans for each port. DEBARK – You will have the benefit of priority debark.

We picked a later boarding time on our July trip (12:30-1 pm) thinking that the early boarding "rush" would be over (and we had things to do in SF that morning) but it seemed to get worse as the day went on. By the time we got into the terminal building the line was really, really long. So apparently it varies! I am in a suite for this cruise; did your suite get you a faster boarding?

FWIW, I the boarding times for our 9/1 cruise on the Carnival website started at 10 am so I have a 10-10:30 boarding time. We took a Princess cruise 7/19 and were there at 1 pm and there was a LONG line out in the sun for embarkation. There was a luggage drop off that worked well, but it took about an hour to get into the building; from there it went quite smoothly. Not sure how much of the variability is cruise specific as opposed to the smallish lay-out of the SF cruise port.

Does anyone know if the CC discount, i.e. $40 rebate on $100 needs to be in a single $100 purchase. In other words, if I spend $100 on a cruise in a collection of small charges that total $100 or more, does the rebate still apply?

Fascinating discussion AtSeaAtPeace and BlerkOne. Don't completely understand all of it, but so appreciate those of you who do educating us. I bought it back when it had been steady in the $50's (really for the OBC and its seeming stability - ha!) and have been contemplating the idea of buying low to salvage something of my loss. Really interesting reading.

Interesting.... we have taken two Seabourn cruises and two Windstar and we love them both. Have never notice any "attitude" on Seabourn and have thought both of the staffs were lovely and attentive. We decide between them for the itinerary and convenience but love them both.

2021 US Annual Report (carnivalcorp.com) This lists the physical address and email for Carnival. I email them my proof of ownership in an attachment then put it an envelope and mail it to them just in case. There is a fax # listed as well.

Ah, thank you. Mine now shows a green check where the blue plus used to be. What a tip. I have been using these cards for decades and never knew about this! Thank you!

On a related topic, I know we are allowed to bring a small amount of alcohol on board but it talks about wine. Can we bring a small bottle of spirits? (Or will they know if a pint is in one's luggage?)

My card actually has this offer (who knew about any of these?? Never heard of them!) but it doesn't say how to get it. Am used to having to sign up - a la the airlines. Do I just spend the money (which I will need to do for gratuities etc) and Chase deducts $40??

Sounds like you have considered this safe enough to do and have thought it worth the trouble, although I am not sure in this atmosphere I would do that since I am traveling alone. I have gotten to the point where I don't do anything in the spa area of ships anymore. All of it too expensive and everything designed to upsell something (the "free" teasers are the worst). The staff in my experience are aggressive and not used to or at all happy taking no for an answer. They seem like sales people who are incidentally massage therapists.

Where do you get massages Calnev1? That sounds like a reason to get off the ship!

I am on this cruise also and to be honest, am going for the sea days and the fact that I live here and it is easy. Was not planning to get off the ship so really hoping we sail anyway. No word from Carnival yet.

Not sure how I have missed What's in Port all these years but thank you!

I consider myself a bit of a privacy nut and am amazed I did not think of this but you are right FlyerTalker; it is incredibly creepy, although mostly what they will find out about me is that I am not a very exciting cruiser from their point of view. And a trade off I will have to make if I want to cruise out of a port that is 5 miles from my house in the middle of SF. Princess and Carnival are the only 2 cruise lines that seem to use this as a start and end point.

Thanks new_cruiser.We just got off of a Princess cruise where we had an electronic "medallion" on a lanyard which I have to say, was incredibly convenient. All I had to do was have it anywhere on my person, walk up to the door and it recognized me and unlocked the door. Nice read out on the e-panel outside our door which also allowed for "do not disturb" and "make up our room". But it looks like we will be back to key cards on a cruise that will cost x3. But I do love Windstar and will open the door in whatever way works.

What is the entry system like after Star Plus? Same credit card type keys? Something else like wearables ? Going to be on the Legend in October and have an card holder for the credit card ones from and earlier trip.

Thank you new_cruiser. That really clears up the confusion. We will be boarding our cruise a day after we land so will still have lots of clean clothes. If they offer a bag option that would be great for us (we had that on a Seabourn cruise it was lovely) but if not we will likely do a per piece laundry at towards the end of the cruise so we start off most of the rest of the trip with clean clothes!

I suspect that you are right. That the "policy" is a fluid thing depending on several things I can think of (general "hotel" manager of the ship, pax status, cabins left available, etc). On my last trip I missed out on an UG to a classic suite (not fast enough with email) but ended up being very happy I did not get one. There were 4 on the Pride and I checked them out over the week when I ran across them being cleaned and didn't like any of them. First time that has ever happened!

What has usually happened on other cruise lines is that they do this shortly before the cruise (a few days to a week) by sending out a notice, either from the cruise line of TA, and with the offer and price and they go to whoever responds first. Sounds like for Windstar one goes to guest services once on board to ask about them.

Wonderful post - thank you. Have only been on one Windstar cruise before. Regarding the upgrades, are these comp UG or the opportunity to buy up to a higher level cabin? We have no status so am guessing we would be at the bottom of the list unless it is whoever gets there first.

Good to know - thanks RemPuck. As I think about it, we are getting on board the day after we land at IST from SFO and only 8 days so will likely not need too much laundry at that point although I will keep a careful lookout for any offers! Most of our 3 week trip is after the cruise do leaving with a weeks worth of clean clothes would be a big plus!!

Thanks to all for suggestions and appreciate the suggestion about polo shirts, and the Twillory.com and smallwoods.com URL's. All just what I was looking for. Now to figure out the logistics and get packed! Luckily have 2 months 🙂.