momof4boys

Last July (2023) we were booked at Comfort Suites like we had done 7 times before.   I read somewhere that Atlantas was no longer allowing CS guests to use their pools.  I called both Comfort Suites and Atlantas and was told that they no longer accept Comfort Suites Guests at the Atlantas pools.   I emailed them their comfirmation that said it was allowed.....but it didn't matter.   Even after talking to higher ups....they said we could use the pools at Comfort Suites only.   UGH.   So we cancelled.  When we went in July we asked again and were told they do not allow reciprocity between the two.  Be very careful booking CS. 

53 minutes ago, relmondcrsise said:

I found the new dinner menus being tested on the Dream posted here.  So far I'm impressed.  The lamb dishes sound delicious.  Some nice fish too. Wish there were a few more desserts to choose from, although the melting cake is always a sure thing. What do you think?  I'm eager to see the rest of them as the days go on.

 

See them here:
NEW Carnival dinner menus

I only see the first night....are the others somewhere else?

We love FTTF.  Almost every cruise something happens that we have to go to the guests service desk.  If you do....you get to go to the side that is diamond, platinum, and FTTF and it has always been much shorter.  (Once my son's credit card was breached on embarkation day.  It wasn't the card he was using, but they let him use their satellite phone several times to rectify this issue.   He was so glad we all had FTTF.)  You never know why you might need this service.

On 3/11/2023 at 2:32 PM, jean87510 said:

You lost me when you said Garth Brooks fan so not much on social graces.  And I suppose no other voting blocs or ethnic groups act like this.  If you really believe this, cruise on a 5 day out of San Juan or NYC.  

I think he was referring to the Song....Low Places.  lololol.    NOt really an insult.

On 3/6/2023 at 3:03 PM, Cyn874 said:

It's a bit unnerving to me because I'm sailing on the Sunshine in May.

Are  you traveling with her husband?   You will probably be ok   

16 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

And what's wrong with $2 bills?

We are friends with several crew members.  They have explained to us several times that since $2 bills are not common, they have trouble using them in places because they think they are counterfeit.   

On 2/8/2023 at 11:13 AM, stobe1 said:

I remember when I worked for tips during my college years. If someone had given me a gift I would have been insulted. I was working for money to support myself.  These people are no different. Instead of spending $10 on a useless trinket that is probably headed straight for the trash can anyway, give them that $10 instead. They work for money, not useless gifts and chachkies.

Exactly   And all those folks wanting to give them deodorant and body wash.....YIKES   How does that make the person feel.. GIVE the $$$$$$$$

On 2/6/2023 at 8:25 PM, kelkel2 said:

I bet that’s what it is then! I bet the booking isn’t open yet. When I went to my June 2024 booking just to look, we don’t have anything listed at all under specialty dining. 

Our cruise is mid July and have been scheduled for the breakfast since mid December.   It sold out the first day.   I imagine it is just sold out.  

On 2/5/2023 at 1:19 PM, pcvtmom said:

I thought the same thing about my June cruise. I kept checking for that last sea day, when it is offered, and it still said "sold out". I had a large group to book (kids and grandkids included with hubby and me). When  I played with the numbers, I was suddenly able to book it! I booked us in two smaller groups,  and it went through. 

Where you able to sit together or near each other?  We have 12 going and would like to be together.   Thank in advance

On 10/19/2022 at 11:03 AM, groundloop said:

I just saw on facebook where someone had complained to John Heald about dinner in the Main Dining Room taking an hour and a half, so John did one of his polls and it appears that most folks (or at least the ones that bothered to respond) don't have an issue with that.  This has been our biggest gripe about cruises recently and several times had to miss shows because dinner took so long.  

 

I'm wondering what everyone here thinks about dinner that takes that long.  Is there something wrong with me for being annoyed by it?

Like I, and many others said on FB.....eating in my family is an event.   We enjoy the conversation and slow pace of the good meal.   We don't like being rushed. It has always taken us about 90 minutes on the ship in the MDR.   Go to the buffet if you want a quick meal....or do ATD or early seating.....we always do early and miss nothing.   We have never had to rush back to the ship from our excursions and we have time to see every show and comedy club performance we want.

On 9/21/2022 at 6:38 AM, Cool Breeze Cruiser said:

We toured with Royston in 2015 & had an amazing day. I emailed Royston a few weeks ago at Roystontours@hotmail.com & he emailed me back yesterday. He apologized for the delay & said he had been doing other work. What a shame because I can’t imagine a better tour guide.
We have been to St. Kitts numerous times & have toured with Javin & Thenford Gray. We liked Royston's tour best.

 I am excited we will get to our with him again when we are in St. Kitts in January.

Juli

Was this a tour with others or a private tour?  If private did you ask for certain places to visit or did the guide take you to well known places.   

Correct!!    You must book a head of time.   I have three rooms for twelve of us.   We are pre booked and will have access to Atlantis.  You may not book the day of.     Have fun!!!

1 hour ago, lazydayz said:

I never had that issue.  We have shown up at 10 and be given immediate access to Atlantis.  Things changes so you can call them, but I doubt this is true.  Very few cruisers would book with Comfort Suites if that were true. 

Thanks.   I have booked with them 5 times before, and loved it.   I just read that because of the pandemic...they weren't allowing 1 nighters to use Atlantas.   I am going to book and see.  I am a member of Choice so I can cancel if they don't allow it.   It is much cheaper for our group of 12 to get 3 rooms than paying for a day pass for all of us.  Again Thanks.

On 8/19/2022 at 8:06 AM, lazydayz said:

Yes, has to be booked in advance. 

I have read that several people stated that even if you do an advance booking at comfort suites..you cannot access Atlantas until 3 pm.  Can anyone confirm if this is still true???

On 3/26/2022 at 6:35 PM, layteacher said:

We didnt do the kayak but did the Mamma Gal East End Experience to the Lucayan National Park. The beach is just beautiful there. 

Would this be appropriate for children ages 3-8?

On 7/6/2022 at 5:55 PM, ramidon1 said:

I know these are older posts and the OP has already traveled but just in case others are looking for Freeport options…..I can highly recommend Mamma Gal East End Native Experience…Charlie was our driver for 6 of us.  He was so flexible when we gathered our peeps later than planned and he catered to our interests.  He was full of interesting stories about his life on the island, history, hurricane recovery (still very rough on the island).  The port area is dismal and shops closed so don’t count on that for entertainment but if you take the time to get out with Charlie, he will make it a memorable day.  We went to Lucayan National Park, hit a couple beaches and at least 3 beautiful beach bars….we passed on a shopping stop.  Been there many times over the years and we were so glad we did this tour and they really appreciated the business.  

How much time is there at the beaches?   Our group has 4 kids with us that will be ages 3, 4 7, and 8.   Will they like this or is this more of an adult tour?   Thank you for responding.   

On 3/28/2020 at 8:20 PM, julig22 said:

Nobody has said it will take 90 days to get your refund.  So far, we are 5 business days into the refund process for the March 13-April 11 cancellations.  Outside that time period, the process is probably different. 

 

I would expect that if you had a simple CC transaction to book your cruise, your refund will also be simple and there is no reason to believe that it won't be in your account soon (BTW - you probably will NOT get a notification from NCL - it will just magically show up in your account).  But not every transaction is a simple credit card reversal.  Some people paid by check.  Some people paid with multiple credit cards.  Some people may have closed the account.  Some people may have moved.  Some people have applied for refunds for cruises that they canceled, not NCL.  Some people have applied for refunds and canceled the CC transaction.  Some people have applied for refunds and used their FCC as well.  And probably many more creative actions. Those are the transactions that will take time - so allow 90 days covers every situation, including the fast ones.

 

To the OP who had their Asia cruise cancelled, what did they tell you about refunds?  I had a couple of modified cruises and they notified us in late December - my airfare and transfers were credited to my CC immediately and they gave us a list of options with timelines to decide between rebooking and refunds.  So in your case, I would think that your refund should have already been issued, unless you chose a different option?

 

I'm not defending NCL in any way but perhaps a little more understanding?  Not an excuse, but nobody who had a cancelled cruise was expecting this money back - it was spent.  If your argument is that you are paying interest, then call your bank and explain - contrary to popular belief,  they might temporarily suspend the charges (to be clear, I don't mean doing a chargeback) or reverse the interest if you ask.  As to the argument that they took your money right away, not entirely true.  They might have gotten a credit but for large purchases, it could be up to 55 days or more before they get anything. I time major charges so that they hit at the beginning of a billing cycle (30 days) plus 25 days grace period, so the money is in my bank, not theirs.

 

Respectfully disagree. We have known since mid March that we would not be allowed to port in Canada...yet just got a cancelation email yesterday with our options. We want our money back and they said it would be 90 days not up to 90;days.  We got our CCL refund back in about 8 days.  Big difference. We will not book with NCL again.  

On 4/17/2020 at 7:03 PM, PhillyFan33579 said:

It is standard procedure for a credit card company to refund the disputed amount when you dispute a charge. Once your credit card company completes their investigation there is a good chance the charges will be reinstated. Also, and this may not matter to you, but it is also fairly common for cruise lines to ban passengers who dispute legitimate charges. 

 We are loyal Carnival cruisers and booked an Alaskan cruise on NCL.  ( June 22). We've been waiting since March 1 for NCL to cancel our cruise. Just got an email today saying they canceled it,  and we can ask for a refund beginning March 7...and we will get our refund in 90 days. I don't care if NCL bans us because we will NEVER book with them again.  Carnival has so much better customer service. 

On 4/13/2020 at 9:46 AM, dexddd said:

File with CC.  We had refund due a few years ago when only one sailing from one ship had to be done.  Several of us on rollcall took 16 weeks.  NCL lost major trust there.

My Alaskan cruise (June 22) was my first NCL cruise. I already got my money back on my canceled Carnival cruise.  Never again for NCL.   Ill go Princess or HAL for Alaska. 

On 3/28/2020 at 6:58 AM, BirdTravels said:

In the past, a simple cancellation has been faster than 90 days. But anything that requires audit has taken 90 days or longer. 
 

For example, we had a cruise cancellation last year due to a hurricane and had a refund on a few weeks. But on another cruise where we had airline and hotel charges, those refunds took over 3 months. 
 

The cancellations of all cruises with hundreds of thousands of passengers is unprecedented and no matter how much people say “it’s easy, just refund me my money”, it isn’t. 
 

in our office, less than 20% of our staff can be at work at any one time to maintain separation. So rather than surging staff to handle requirements, we significant reduce staff. 

 My Carnival cruise money was returned within a week.  This is unacceptable. Yes I have insurance but NCL  canceled this cruise. It should NOT take 90 days 

Beautiful!!!

On 2/11/2019 at 9:19 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Why would Carnival sell over 30% of their current revenue producing ships?  That makes no sense at all. I understand you may not like the Fantasy class ships, but a lot of people obviously still do, not to mention people who prefer the older, smaller ships. 

We love the Fantasy Class for many reasons. Most importantly, we always get a suite and end up looking at a deck with people on it in the Dream class.  We dont care about have more than a thousand food options. Lol!!

So happy to read the positive reviews on the forward facing PH suites. I have been questioning myself constantly...thinking that I would not have a good view (I noticed the balcony railing was not see through or rails but a solid piece of metal. I worried that you could not see through it). This has eased my mind!! Thank you.

I am thankful, too, for this information. Going on our first cruise to Alaska...and it feels like my first ever cruise. The ports are different and I still don't have a good feel for what I plan to do. I need all the help I can get!!;p

We have only cruised Carnival Cruise Lines to the Caribbean. We enjoy the large size of the suite rooms for a cheaper price than on the other lines. We don't care about the extras in suites on other lines. The food is good and entertainment is what is expected (although both food and entertainment is not as good as it was 5 years ago)

We chose NCL for Alaska for several reasons. If I am only going to visit Alaska once (or maybe twice...) I want to see as much as I can. CCL only has round trip...no cruises deep into Alaska. Every book on cruises reports that Glacier Bay is a MUST. So we booked the Northbound cruise....on NCL : The Sun. We are excited to try NCL.

Good Luck and no matter what....have fun!!