nc762shooter

On 6/4/2024 at 10:06 AM, papaflamingo said:

I don't think it's that people are blaming the victims as much as the victims are blaming Carnival which is entirely unfair.  Sounds like Carnival went well above and beyond with an offer for a full refund via future cruise credit.  That is beyond fair. 

I agree, since the cruise was cancelled within 2 days of sailing they would incur a 100% cancellation penalty, Carnival offering a $10,000 FCC and to book them in 2 available inside cabins for that same sailing is going above and beyond in my book. I suspect that between the FCC and whatever rate the 2 cabins were going for would be pretty close to the $15K they claimed they lost. The cruise contract alone should be enough that Carnival doesn't owe them a dime except on port fees, etc that are refunded for anyone who doesn't sail. Not Carnival's fault that they didn't accept the offer to make it right. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

I'm like you, I don't drink "fancy" coffee LOL. Since you like black coffee you might prefer the Caribbean or Irish since that's what they are instead of cappuccino. If you want them to have less sweetness you could probably order them with just the shot of rum or whiskey and none of the other stuff. I haven't had the Javablue versions but I can attest that there is nothing wrong with strong black coffee with only a bit of rum or whiskey.

Glad you were able to pull off your surprise without needing any disguises!😁

Different bars are busy at different times and I'm sure it varies depending on the particular crowd on each sailing. Haven't sailed on Vista but I've been on cruises over New Year's, spring break, and July 4th on different ships which I think would skew towards busier bars in general. Even at the busiest, most crowded times I don't think I've ever waited more than 5 minutes to place an order. Of course I consider myself to be pretty patient and having to wait a few minutes for a drink wasn't a huge deal to me. Also if it looked like it might take much longer than that to get up to the bar I would just go find another one that was less busy and have my drink in the same amount of time or less had I waited. I certainly wouldn't let concerns over crowded bars stop me from getting the drink package.

Besides once you've frequented some of the bars enough and are patient, friendly and polite, in my experience the bartenders will a lot of times prioritize serving you over the rude and obnoxious customers lol.

52 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

Go CCL Navigator.  Yes it has all of the Carnival ships and all cabins.  Some parts of the site are only available to travel agents, but a lot of the information is available to everyone.

 

https://help.goccl.com/app/answers/detail/a

 

 

That is fantastic, thank you!

20 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

Yes.  The balcony partition does open between those two rooms.

 

6276        8B          185/35 sq ft
Beds: two twin beds (convert to king)-single sofa bed                                              
View: window and standard balcony                                      
Bathroom: shower-toilet-sink   
Features: flat-screen TV, telephone, 110 AC current, individual climate control, hair dryer, safe, non-stocked mini bar unit, 3-closets, desk and ottoman seat, sofa and coffee table
Balcony features: 2 patio chairs and table / balcony partition opens to: 6278

 

6278        8B          185/35 sq ft
Beds: two twin beds (convert to king)-single sofa bed                                              
View: window and standard balcony                                      
Bathroom: shower-toilet-sink   
Features: flat-screen TV, telephone, 110 AC current, individual climate control, hair dryer, safe, non-stocked mini bar unit, 3-closets, desk and ottoman seat, sofa and coffee table
Balcony features: 2 patio chairs and table / balcony partition opens to: 6276

I would appreciate knowing where to find this information, is it on here or through Carnival when booking and is it available for all/almost all ships/cabins?

On 2/8/2022 at 1:28 PM, famof4togo said:

Or just do a google image search...I have never been so cute and creative personally, but it does make it easier to find your room.  I know they have the text feature on the HUB but if for any reason you guys don't plan to utilize that feature having dry erase boards on door can help too to leave notes like "we are at the pool" or whatnot.

Be aware that whiteboards tend to occasionally collect, um, "colorful graffiti" at times from enterprising drunk people...😂

23 hours ago, ishap said:

Does this really get your around the 15 drink limit?  I will be going on a cruise in September and if me an my girlfriend start early (think like 10-11am), we can easily hit that 15 drink limit by the evening as we are beer drinkers.  I don't mind purchasing extras outside of Cheers.

I've done this several times, it's like ordering a round of drinks for you and friends except the friends are me, myself, and I. They will count one of the beers as a Cheers drink and the other few will be charged to your sail and sign account. The number of beers they let you buy in your bucket may vary this way, I think I always got four, one on Cheers and paid for the other three but it may be up to the particular server how many. I wouldn't wait to try this if you are getting close to 15 though, I was probably around drink 8-9 and early afternoon when I did this.

On 5/6/2024 at 5:14 PM, LDL1220 said:

Hi all:

 

We just booked a cruise for two (no small feat since we have 8 kiddos between us) and I have a few questions.

 

1.  Are we assigned a PVP and if so, when do they make contact?

2.  How do upgrades work?  Do you just get a random offering?

3. How about price drops?  Does Carnival honor them and if so, do you just notify your PVP? 

4.  My husband and I have both purchased the Cheers Package but he also receives free drinks in the casino.  He is strictly a beer drinker and can definitely go over 15 on sea days.  Is it 15 alcoholic drinks a day period?  Will free drinks in the casino count toward his 15? If needed, can he purchase a beer or two before he hits the 15?  This probably will not be an issue since it's highly unlikely I will reach my quota but one never knows. 

 

Thank you!

 

Lisa

 

 

 

 

Regarding 4, if you wait and purchase Cheers onboard at guest services they can look up and see he has Drinks On Us and waive the requirement that both of you have to purchase. You won't get the discounted price by purchasing ahead of time but will only have to get it for yourself. Although if he only gets free drinks in the casino he may rather have Cheers so he can use it all over the ship. As far as the 15 drinks in a day goes, he (or you) can buy buckets of beer like you are buying a round of drinks for you and friends where only 1 beer will count towards your 15 on Cheers and the rest are billed at menu price. Just make sure you do this earlier in the day before you get close to 15 drinks and remember they can cut you off after any number of drinks under 15 or not if too intoxicated.

Just now, hurricane0226 said:

superhero underoos maybe?

So underwear outside your pants?😆🤣

8 hours ago, bethfelk said:

Lunching now. I have ordered gf pizza from the pizza place and waiting now while my mom goes to get the BBQ. Drinks we have from watering hole for me a planters punch and for my mom a watermelon crush. Protip for my fellow special diet cruisers, get a drink before you order your special food, it makes the wait feel much less shorter 

It would be rare to find me waiting for something on a cruise without a drink in my hand, I agree 100%🤣

Dark n Stormy, most any kind of Mule, none of those are sickly sweet. Mai Tais aren't too sweet if made right. Malibu and pineapple juice tastes just like a pina colada without the thick, sugary sweetness of the frozen variety, still sweet though. If you like whiskey hard to go wrong with Manhattans or Old fashioneds. Martinis that don't have sweet flavored ingredients as the base. Gin, rum, or whiskey with ginger ale. Rum or whiskey with cola, you can always go for diet if you want it even less sweet. A proper margarita not made from the premade mix also won't be too sweet and much more tasty lol. Also tell them at the Alchemy Bar what kind of flavors you are looking for and they will almost certainly make something you will like.

If you are really looking to try a lot of new drinks it might be worth it to get Cheers, it helps you feel more adventurous ordering something new when your bar tab is already paid and no pressure to finish something you don't like and order something else instead.

3 hours ago, hawkinsh said:

This is really good info, and a lot to take in.  I still think we are leaning to the drive.  Means more fun on the the ship and in ports.  Maybe even an adventure along the way to the ship.

 

Some other factors to consider for driving:

Depending on your vehicle you may not need to worry as much or at all about luggage capacity like you would if flying (also no risk of the airline losing someone's bag). It's also helpful for everyone to pack a small bag with the necessities for any overnight stays on the road so you aren't having to dig through the rest of the packed luggage or load/unload everything multiple times. It definitely streamlines checking in and out of hotels and the less you have to wrestle with luggage in the Southeast in July the happier you will be, or at least I am LOL.

If you want to minimize the amount of time stopped you can pack a cooler or bag with drinks/snacks that are easy and filling to eat while on the road. Buying this stuff at home will save you some money and time vs getting everything on the road from vending machines or gas stations or making a dedicated food stop. Save your money and time for a leisurely meal after you've stopped traveling for the day. 

How many in the vehicle could help with the driving/are comfortable doing so? Also, how comfortable will all passengers be and is it feasible for anyone sharing the driving to take a decent nap? This will be important if you are wanting to drive through the night any or for longer stretches at a time taking shifts. 

Another thing I like about parking at the port is once you get off the ship you can take your luggage straight to your car and get on the road without having to wait on a shuttle, deal with all your luggage on said shuttle, and then have however long a ride before you have to grab everything and load your vehicle. You would probably be looking at a bare minimum of 30 extra minutes to get to your car if you don't park at the port, most likely longer. Again, it will be July and the less I have to stand around in the heat or handle luggage the better.🤣

I would also recommend not staying more than a couple hours from the port the night before if you can to make sure everyone feels as fresh as possible for the first day onboard without feeling rushed or stressed to get there on time. 

As for the return leg, you will get off the ship Sunday morning and have until Wednesday evening to get back so you have plenty of time to make that drive. Everyone will probably be more tired than on the way down and lacking the energy from the pre-cruise excitement so I would plan to be flexible about how far you drive before stopping. It may be worth considering only going 3-4 hours from the port and then finding a place to stay, maybe with some touristy things you want to do. You wouldn't be too far from Orlando or Cape Canaveral at that point. 

13 hours ago, bethfelk said:

Kyndall just said the dining staff will cook over 60,000 meals today alone?? Surely that can’t be true? I know people eat a lot on cruises but surely the average is not 10 a day?

I know there's a lot of food waste but maybe that number also includes crew meals as well?

Years ago wife and I did an 8 day cruise for our anniversary out of Miami over July 4th and drove down from NC. Cruise sailed on a Saturday and we decided to leave around 8-9 pm Thursday and drive through the night to avoid traffic, especially because there were races at Daytona Friday and Saturday. We booked a hotel room in Port St. Lucie for Thursday night and Friday night even though we wouldn't be getting there until 5-6 am just to ensure we had a room ready for us to crash in whenever we got there. Just let the hotel know you will be checking in very late so they don't think you're a no show and cancel your booking. We took turns driving and napping and overall it wasn't a bad drive. Got to the hotel a bit after 6 am checked in and slept until about noon, then got up and went to grab some food, a couple things from the store we forgot to pack and caught a movie later that afternoon. Had a pizza delivered for dinner and went to bed early around 9 pm. Got up the next morning about 7 and checked out, on the road before 8 for the ~2 hour drive to Miami. Traffic was heavy but not bad until getting close to Miami but we didn't hit any major snags and were at the port before our check in time which I think was 11 am. We just parked at the port, yes, it's more expensive than some of the offsite lots but for we felt the security was worth it. I've seen enough accounts of people using cheap parking to save $50-60 only to come back and find that savings erased from having their car broken into. If I were to drive to a cruise from Miami I would seriously consider doing it this way again.

Coming home for some reason we thought it would be a good idea to make it all the way to around Savannah before stopping at a hotel, I think we thought we might do some things there on the way home. After doing it, I would NOT plan to drive that far after getting off the ship again, we were tired and traffic was not fun. Of course it might have been better had we not stayed up until 2 am the last night and gotten 5 hours of sleep LOL. Depending on how tired you think you will be getting off the ship you may not want to drive for more than 2-3 hours tops. Now with internet working better on phones while on the road I probably wouldn't even book a hotel on the way home ahead of time, just start driving and find one when we start getting tired of driving.

Our drive was roughly 780 miles and 11 hours total for reference so not quite as long as what you would have. Anyway this was our experience driving to and from Miami, it was definitely cheaper than flying and overall not bad. The drive down was definitely better and easier than the return with how we did it. If we were to do this drive again I would be fine doing the same thing going down but would definitely change how we do the return portion.

A foam pool noodle from Walmart or the dollar store tucked under the sheet makes a great bumper too. If you're flying in you could probably pick one up near the port so you don't have to pack it. It's also cheap enough that if you don't want the hassle of bringing it home you can ditch it. 

6 minutes ago, mlshum said:

I agree!  Not my favorite either BUT it's almost a necessary evil I guess.  LOL  A couple of years ago we had a stop in San Juan changed out for a stop in Nassau.  Not cool at all!

Yes, yes and yes!  LOL  I'm sure if you wanted a total darkness in the room those would do the job!

 

That's interesting!  I've only been in the side balconies or interiors on Fantasy class.  That sounds massive!  We also kept our towel animals there!  It's actually a convenient storage space.  I kind of liked the porthole in spite of the noise.  I may do it again at some point.

 

The only time I ever had an aft balcony was on Sunrise, I think.  To be honest, I wasn't a fan.  Every morning there were be soot all over everything and in the afternoon the sun beat down on the space and made it uncomfortable.  That, coupled with the fact that people above you could look down onto your balcony made it a "no thanks" for me going forward.

We loved the oceanview aft cabins on the Fantasy class, the way the hull is sloped made that shelf probably be about 2 ft deep. Nowadays our daughter would love playing in there, especially since the curtains make it like a little stage. Honestly it would probably be a struggle to keep her from using blankets and pillows to make a nest and SLEEP in there🤣! You also get some noise during docking from the thrusters and vibration at times but not enough to be a problem in my opinion. You will feel movement being at the extreme end of the ship but to us it's much more like a slow, gentle rocking motion that is predictable, similar to a rocking chair or seesaw and is quite soothing. Midship the movements always felt choppier and less predictable to us. 

The best part on Fantasy (RIP) if you stayed on deck 7 was a "secret" staircase right across from the aft cabins that you could use to go up past the crew only deck area on 8 to another staircase and quickly get to Serenity and the Lido bar without having to go forward at all!

We've never done an aft-facing balcony, only a regular side balcony very far aft, but from the sound of things is the soot level does seem to vary between ship classes with some being much worse than others. Not much way around the privacy thing though! 

1 hour ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

Are those lights on the top of the porthole? I've never seen anything like it before. Love the shelf!

 

 

 

Yes, this is a Bermuda Chub. 🙂 

Wow it's really beautiful there! I hope to make it there some day.

 

 

On another note, I loved your review. Nassau looks like it has really changed a lot. I'm having a hard time picturing this area. I just remember getting off the ship and walking down the long pier and then you go out onto the road area. Where are all these vendor shops located? I just can't picture this area now. (We've been here multiple times and I try to book a cruise to avoid this stop so haven't been in awhile). 

 

 

Those covers would be great if you decided you want interior levels of darkness😂. The shelf is neat, all the aft facing cabins on Fantasy class used to have really big ones before they added the balconies. Big enough that I (6'3" 230 lbs) could tuck sideways and recline fairly comfortably and watch the wake for a bit. My wife being a foot shorter could almost use it like a chaise lounge😆. Also makes a great place to keep your towel animals!

17 hours ago, Bill Miller said:

Yep, anchor drop, thruster noises, pretty cool because your on a ship doing what ships do. Embrace your marine neighborhood. Enjoy your new surroundings. 

“Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore”

And that's why you've chosen a cruise vacation. If you want Interstate noise, stay at the Days Inn. 

Exactly, I want to feel the ship moving, hear the wake, feel and hear the hum of the engines. Otherwise might as well be on land!

I cruise because I enjoy the sensations of being at sea, I'm one of those that wouldn't care if we pulled into port for days or not. That said, I don't mind having an even mix of port and sea days. Almost all the cruises I've been on had an equal number of port and sea days which I think is ideal, whether it was a 5 day, 7 day, or an 8 day. I look at the ports as something that has the potential to add to my vacation but not detract from it. I rank departure port/dates/price/ship above destinations when looking at cruises, if a cruise happens to have favorite ports or new ones that's just a bonus. I'm not going to let making it to a particular port or not make or break my vacation.

Governor's Beach had great snorkeling you can get to right off the beach, if you have your own snorkeling equipment it makes for a budget friendly and chill day, plus way less crowded than the beach right at the port and Margaritaville. 

Absolutely get it now, it's not going to get any cheaper and if you end up not wanting it later you can cancel and get your money back up until a day or so before you cruise.

Not that I want them removed but the menu still has several Fantasy class ships that are sadly no more.

The general consensus being that tipping an extra dollar makes you stand out enough to get better service seems to indicate it is not all that common, otherwise you would be blending in with the majority and not notice a difference.

1 hour ago, Butterbean1000 said:

It does make sense, thank you.  I'm sure we'll be constantly texting with my son to try to coordinate things.

If you really want to play it safe you could always show up in disguise!😁