TNcruising02

Just now, cruisemom2 said:

 

 

 

We take Uber from our condo (less than 2 miles to Terminal 3) and have never had an issue.  He drives right in and we drop off our luggage and hug him goodbye.  😂  Yes, that's the correct address.  If you get a driver who's not a local just tell him Mardi Gras @ Terminal 3.  Tell him to go right from your hotel on George King Blvd - you can't miss it.  I can see Mardi Gras from our front door!  

Nice!  Thanks.  I called the Taxi number before you posted and they are booked until noon, so Uber it is.  I actually prefer Uber.  We have a 10:00 to 10:30 appointment time, so I am trying to time it correctly.  Cocoa Beach would be a very nice place to live.

It looks like nice weather for a cruise!

Have a great cruise!  We are cruising out of Port Canaveral today and are ready to get this vacation started.

Are you taking the hotel shuttle, uber, or a taxi to the terminal?  We were planning on taking an uber, but the lady at our hotel said that some drivers aren't able to enter the terminal area.  I googled the terminal address and it looks like it is 220 Christopher Columbus Drive.  I hope that's the right place!

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

The "standard of excellence" just means 95%+ boosted.

Right and that's a very high bar considering many people aren't getting boosted.

It is good news that there are ships with zero cases of covid. The latest variant seems to be running its course.  It is interesting that there are no ships that meet the requirements for excellence.  That's a high bar.
 

My only concern for traveling was my flight to Florida.  I have zero concerns about getting covid on the ship, masks or no masks.

Just now, TravelBluebird said:

 

Yes; that is a good thing!  And partially cloudy and calm in Atlanta.

 

Courtyard Marriott at Cocoa Beach just called me to offer me a free upgrade to an OceanView King if we didn’t need Queen beds. Sadly, we need to two Queen beds because sleep for us is more important than view/nicer room, and I’ll be tossing and turning tonight I’m sure! 

It's nice to at least have an offer!  We are at Homewood Suites and very excited about boarding the ship tomorrow.

Somebody must have beat you to it.  I didn't realize Carnival posted upgrade offers on the To Do lists.  I will have to pay more attention to that.  Maybe another offer will become active for you.

You're almost there (here).  Thankfully, the weather is good today so you don't have to worry about that impacting your connecting flight.

29 minutes ago, Lee Cruiser said:

To be honest, we haven't missed the twice a day service (other than the mint on the pillow 🙂) .  We don't need someone to turn our bed down at night and we aren't that messy to need the room cleaned twice. In all honesty, we probably prefer they just come once a day because we do like to hang out on our balcony.  When they were doing the cards before Covid, we would always choose the morning service and would ask for extra towels. It's never really been a problem for us.

Same here.  Once a day in the morning has always worked well for us.  We aren't messy, so our cabin is never in need of a second cleaning.  When we stay at hotels for multiple days, we usually just get extra towels and let them know they can skip the cleaning altogether.  I can see how a large family might have a messy cabin though and can use the extra service.  

We always leave the automatic gratuities alone and tip extra at the end of our cruise.  If we required two cleanings, we would tip even more.  These people work very hard with very little time off and we like to show our appreciation. 

11 minutes ago, adonisr said:

About a week before

Same.  

We could download the App sooner than that, but we could not add the trip until we received the email.

The bars are usually crowded and it definitely seems like a huge waste of time for everyone just to get soda.  It would be a good choice for the larger Carnival ships to switch to a multiplex system of some kind.

8 hours ago, luckybecky said:

We just got off the Breeze. We used the Verifly app. It was easy. I took hard copies of all our docs (vaccine card, negative tests) just in case, but never had to show them. Check in was quick and easy. They got us through very quickly. 

That's good to know that it worked on your cruise.

2 minutes ago, cruisemom2 said:

I love Grills at the Port but for a fun neighborhood bar, check out Ellie Mae's Tiki Bar on Jackson.  

 

 

Thanks!  I will look that up too.  We have all day tomorrow to find things to do here.  It's nice not being rushed.

Just now, lindya said:

Hope it saves you time..we leave Saturday too !

We will be on the Mardi Gras, so we are super excited.  Have fun on your cruise!

I downloaded the App and did everything on the checklist.  I will see if it actually saves any time at the terminal on Saturday.  I have hard copies of everything in an envelope just in case.  It would be nice if they had a special express line for the people who have everything on the App.

9 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Not well, as it turns out. Our Monday tests were negative, but our pre-cruise Covid test for Saturday's Mardi Gras cruise came back positive, so we obviously are no longer going on a cruise.

 

😫

So sorry to hear that!  Well, at least you found out before you got to the port.

6 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

My pleasure!  If you are in Port Canaveral the night before embarkation, go to Rikki Tiki Tavern at the end of Cocoa Beach Pier.  It's a little hidden but a great way to start off your cruise with yummy food and drinks while watching surfers.

We are actually in Port Canaveral now.  I will have to look this place up!  We decided to fly in two days early instead of one this time.

1 minute ago, ninjacat123 said:

Remember gelato near the shawarma on Lido.  Emeril's, sooooo good!  Big Chicken, I enjoyed both lunch and bfast there.  Get seats near the front near the stage at Grand Central early so you can see the whole background screen.  Family Feud is very funny.  Street Eatz changes daily and is yummy.

I wasn't a big fan of the Mtheory show.  Chibang was a fun ambiance but I wish we would have eaten at Emeril's again. Bonsai Teppanyaki was extra fun for me since the chef sang Carpenter songs and we all joined in.  Food wise it was fine.  I agree with OP that Rudi's is pretty food but I wish I would have eaten at Emeril's. 

Have a wonderful cruise!!! 

Thanks Ninjacat!  Your advice is very helpful.  We can't wait!  

4 hours ago, o-state girl said:

My last set of tests no longer had a bottle.  It had a little plastic "ampule" that you snap the top off of to open.  

That's what our tests had too.  My husband and I took the proctored tests this morning.

I will definitely be reading along during the cruise, when I have some free time.  We are on the same cruise, so it will be interesting to read about your perspective and experiences.  We arrived today and took an Uber from the Orlando airport to the Homewood Suites at Port Canaveral.  It went smoothly. 

Have a great cruise!

Thank you very much for the run down on all of the good, not so good, and bad things about your experiences on the Mardi Gras.  We are boarding this ship in two days and reviews like yours are extremely helpful so that we can keep our expectations realistic.  We are very excited about our cruise and having a different Carnival cruising experience.

Thanks again!

That's great that you got an earlier appointment time and boarding zone.  It really does pay to keep checking!

Congratulations!  We are getting those offers too and sailing on the Mardi Gras this coming weekend with one of the offers.  I can see more free cruise offers for March and highly discounted cabins through May.  I hope you enjoy your cruise!!

I am cruising this Saturday out of Port Canaveral and got the Verifly app.  I uploaded a picture of my covid vaccination card. It required me to take a picture of myself.  When I do the proctored covid test on Thursday, I will upload that info.  Also, it shows the requirement to complete the health assessment within 72 hours of sailing.  

I also plan on bringing my vaccination card and paper copies of everything.  I shall see how it goes.  Hopefully, this will speed things up at the port.