mrneil001

Was on the freedom 11/9 and they had matchplay. Don't ask your waiter\Bartender, go straight to the casino cashier to ask.

Just bring Gatorade G2 powder packs and buy a water package from Bon voyage.( unless you want to use their "lido" water, ugh) ;)

Kudos to you for booking Amtrak. I decided to take my leisure way home from Miami to Washington DC by using them on my next cruise.I have traveled several trains across the US and find them very relaxing.

Booked all of my excursions last cruise a few weeks ago through carnival. This coming cruise in a few weeks I booked Second party. Was much cheaper and had more options.although, every cruise I booked through carnival was guaranteed. I was returned to the port very early. Guessing it's because of their guarantee.

My favorite place during any sail away during any port is the spa on the aft. Such a great way to sail away. Love watching people's reaction when the horn blows.

I booked a solo GTY balcony months ago, 2 days ago I added a person and only had to pay tax and port fees. Since I now have a new invoice date, can I use the 48hr price guarantee?

Looks like everyone is on at the same time, Carnival's search engine is super busy.. "We apologize for the error that occurred. Carnival.com technical support staff have been notified and are working to resolve the issue."

Escargot, but politely ask the chef to prepare it for you without the puff pastry, instead just a basic butter, onion and garlic saute... yum!

Lamb chops, aka Rack of Lamb, was great. Just wish they served the same Cabernet sauce that Outback has. Make sure to order it rare since their cooking seems to be a step off. Rare = Medium Rare, Medium Rare = Medium, Medium = Well done etc.

Prime rib was also great. Again, order rare.

So much food, I had to ask to take the dessert to go.

Cant wait to go again on my next cruise!

I think I may have just learned how to quote, can you see my question one post above?

Oh yeah. Sorry I forgot to respond. I was on a six-day cruise.

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=58181763

:confused:

Did this exact excursion last week and it was great!

Boat was in great shape, had an upper open deck and covered lower. Dock was a quick 15 min ride(non a/c) on a trolley looking bus. The guides were great and explained everything perfectly. Water was chest high and the stingrays were very friendly. Think the excursion listed it as 2.5 hrs, but we were only in the ocean for about 30-45 min. Hour and a half was travel time( bus, boat back and forth)

Port of Miami to mia 15

Port of Miami to fll 30

Port Everglades to fll 15

Port Everglades to Mia 30

You can prepurchase online, not put in any flight info and still be on the list. You can also purchase it on the cruise ship at guest services

You might even be able to take carnivals shuttle. Even though you probably won't be able to put in the flight time in carnivals website, the buses start very early and run about every half hour.

I'm on Freedom in two weeks.

 

So, you're saying that you can post to Facebook (Android phone) but can't upload photos?

Exactly. Not sure if it was a kink in the system since the service is only a week old. Hopefully they will be able to fix it.

Was cheers still 49.95 per day? I sail on Freedom in 20 days!!!!

Yes. I got it and personally thought it wasn't worth it

Back from a great cruise! The freedom is such a fantastic ship.

Signs for the new wifi plans were posted everywhere around the ship.

3 plans, social which is $5/day 25/cruise. value (16/day 60/cruise) which is pretty much social plus slow internet good for checking email and web pages, does not support Skype for streaming any type of media. And premium (25/day 99/cruise which boast to be 3 times faster. I am attaching the leaflet found in my stateroom.

My experience with the social plan was good. I was able to easily text using iMessage and Facebook was very responsive, even showed those small videos people post.. Now uploading is a different story. I was not able to upload/post any pics/videos on Facebook or iMessage. The send bar would fill up almost to the end and time out so I am guessing it's a carnival blocking issue and not the satellite. Unfortunately it's only available on the freedom right now.. Teenage passengers will love the social plan but I would definitely recommend getting the value over the social for the ability to check emails and simple web search.

Some people may not like seeing others on their devices on a vacation, but I for one loved the ability to keep connected to the outside world. To each their own. Carnival has kept in touch with what their customers wants, and this is one of their best ideas yet. Personally I think it's ahead of its time. Great job Carnival.

Just borded freedom and thought I would give a quick update. Social media plan started this week. For $5 a day or $25 for entire cruis you get access to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, iMessage, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook messenger, what'sapp and snapchat. My sure how fast it's going to be.

Also got cheers and match play is still in effect, although there are no signs.

Im taking two cruises this month and plan on trying it out on the first to see if its worth it. I wouldnt consider myself a heavy drinker nor a light one, but definitely looking forward to not worrying about running up a large bar bill. Also helps that my first cruise has an Alchemy bar inside :D

Crossing my fingers that match play is still in effect.. but not counting on it.

I tried google searching for an answer and found several post that were pretty old. Some said yes, some said no...

Are you able to upgrade to top shelf for an extra cost? (using the $10 cheers credit per drink)

I understand the cheers program states "25% discount off the menu price for spirits or wine above $10.00 per drink." , but has anyone been able to find a way around it? Maybe tipping heavily ;) ?

Going to ask about it when I board on Sunday. Sounds like a good way to keep in touch with the family.

Thanks for the mini review! Heading out on the same ship next week. Curious if you got Cheers? And if so, was it worth it (esp with having the alchemy bar onboard)

Also.. By any chance did you notice if they were offering match play?

Btw, #18 had me cracking up ;)

Did they have match play?

I'm heading on two cruises in a few weeks and was planning on getting Cheers on both cruises. I was a little upset with the price increase, but still going to end up getting it... Why? ... Match play..

$5 match play x 15 drinks per day= $75 worth of match play tickets per day for the cost of $57.40 per day plus a heck of allot of drinking. Personally I cant drink all 15, so if Carnival wont let me give them away, ill just sip and dump some for the receipt.

So if you're a gambler like me, you still end up on top :cool:

Call Amtrak with code V875, you are cruising before the cut off for that code. They should honor it for you. :)

Just called. Would have worked but the price of the roomette has gone up since my initial purchase. The CS rep said since I had purchased it online, he would have to cancel my reservation and repurchase at the new price plus the discount, which was more than what I originally paid for. O well, it was worth a try :rolleyes:

Carnival Splendor Nov 9th 7 day cruise, Resident rate (Im from VA) showing $219 Interior for 1 person. Think only one room left. $351.74 including tax, etc.

Leaves out of Miami.

Ports:Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Cozumel, Mexico; Belize; Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan

Carnival Splendor Nov 16th 7 day cruise, Resident rate showing $219 Interior for 1 person. $351.74 including tax, etc.

Ports:St. Maarten, NA; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Grand Turk

You could essentially take a 14 day cruise from the 9th to the 23rd for $703.48! :eek: