TechDiva

23 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

It does matter.  Upgrades are free.  All the clickbait blogs tell newbies to go to Guest Services and ask for a free upgrade.  They never say go to the Guest Services and ask how much to pay for a different room.  It is important to be clear for new cruisers.  You can request free upgrades on airplanes and hotels, both with and without earned status.  The implication that some people are being given free upgrades and others want to know where is my freebie? 

I've never gotten a free airplane upgrade and I travel quite a bit.  Always had to pay for it.  With hotels, I've had to use my points, which essentially aren't free, to get an upgrade.  So, I must be doing something wrong.

At the end of the day, it still doesn't matter to me what it's called.

So, to those that were offered an upgrade for a reasonable cost, congrats!  I've taken advantage of quite a few those myself.

28 minutes ago, pinto18 said:

I never understood this..I mean it’s either a paid upgrade or a free upgrade but it’s still an upgrade right? 

Yes, it is an upgrade but there are some people that just consistently feel the need to jump in and admonish everyone for not using the word "upsell."  It's not like it really matters 🤷‍♀️

7 minutes ago, rellersi said:

I saw that, I meant on the lido deck not in the dining room. We never go to the dining room for breakfast

It appears that you can.  The original post is a little misleading in that it should have mentioned that this is only for the brunch in the dining room.  You can still get a custom omelette on lido.  

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

As I demonstrate in post 61 even a "moderate" drinker can receive value from Cheers, one needn't consume alcohol all day to do it (and keeping in mind that one needn't consume all that is listed to get value). And of course it is possible to get by without buying any beverages, making do with what is provided. If it makes sense to purchase it, then it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But folks who don't think that it does make sense should still use the drink calculator to determine whether it does or it doesn't based on what they are likely to buy onboard.

 

https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator/

That calculator should probably ask what a person thinks they would average per day.  I may drink more one day, nothing the next, etc. 

Anyhow, my significant other and I did a test about 3 cruises ago where we bought whatever drink we wanted, when we wanted, without buying the package.  Ended up spending about the cost of the package for 1 person for the both of us, for a 7 day cruise. But, I do have to mention that we don't drink specialty coffees, milkshakes, sodas, etc. (not at home or on vacation).  We mostly drink water, so we purchase a pack to be delivered to the room.  If we want something other than water, the free drinks work for us and the coffee in the buffet is ok for the 1 cup we may have in the morning.  So, the package would not work for us.

I will add that we just recently went on Margaritaville at Sea (had an absolute blast).  They have a package where you can purchase 10 drinks for $99.  We actually purchased the premium package for $149 that lets you get premium alcohol. For a 3 day cruise (or realistically, 1 1/2 days), that was perfect for the 2 of us.  They allow you to share that package and purchase 2 drinks at once.  Carnival should really consider implementing something similar, even if it's just a 10 drink package that can't be shared.  I would purchase that in a heartbeat.

I'm cruising Carnival at the end of the month and was just looking into excursions.  Check this: https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/amber-cove  I do believe that they have the excursion that you're asking about.  I have used this site before for excursions and haven't had any issues.

I cruise on the Celebration next month, with 2 connecting larger balcony cabins booked.  I've gotten several upgrade offers via email (for extremely low upgrade rates, the lowest was $26 per cabin) but haven't accepted any (nor have I declined them on the website).  I booked the cruise in maybe July of last year and paid a great rate, so I'm sure that if I took the upgrade offer that they could sell my cabins at a much larger price.

I probably won't take any of the offers because I want the 2 rooms to be connected (or side by side) and don't want to lose the balcony cabins that we have.

24 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

I notice Budget has other locations at the Hilton hotel and Irausquin do you happen to know if those are within walking distance.  How is the island to drive around?  Lots of traffic.  We haven't been there in ages. 

No, those are not going to be within walking distance.  Those are going north from the port towards the lighthouse.

The island was not hard to drive around.  It helped that they drive on the same side as we do in the US.  I think that the most traffic that we encountered was in Oranjestead, which is the downtown area near the port.  Probably the biggest annoyance for me was all of the roundabouts.  I hate those things here and it seemed like every 1/2 - 1 mile we encountered one, as if they decided that those were easier to install than traffic lights (as we encountered very few of those).

It was our first time there and we really enjoyed ourselves.  Definitely have to go back on a land vacation.

2 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

Um, OK... it's really weird that these two threads were combined.😕  One was about fantasy itineraries and, I think, one was about a choice the other OP was trying to make between two actual itineraries.  🥴???

I thought I was going crazy when the topics all of a sudden changed.  And, yes, it is VERY weird because they are 2 different topics.

I was going to add my fantasy itinerary but now it wouldn't make any sense 🤷‍♀️

I was just in Aruba last week (9/21) through Royal Caribbean.  We rented a jeep from Budget car rental.  We wanted to rent a vehicle from a global car rental place that we could trust versus one of the ones right at the pier.  I talked to someone at Budget about a week beforehand and they told us to walk to the Renaissance Resort (not even a mile outside of port) and let the bellhop know that we needed to get to Budget.  They hailed a cab for us and it was maybe 3 miles away.  Getting and returning the vehicle were very easy.  When we returned the vehicle, one of the employees drove us directly to the port.

It was a little pricier but worth the peace of mind.

13 hours ago, notscb said:

 

In all fairness, when I was on Freedom a few months ago now the app never indicated what kind of "night" it was when I clicked on and looked at the MDR in the app. I wondered how people figured it out, and as someone who is tech savvy never really saw it in the app. (In all fairness, I wasn't really looking for it, but would have noticed it)

I'm going on the Allure this weekend and someone in our Faces group mentioned that the theme for each night is on the app, always listed at 5PM.  If it hadn't been for that, I would have never known which night was which either.  So, it's possible that it was listed in the app for your sailing but you just missed it (which I would have as well).

1 hour ago, birdylady said:

 

My sailing is 33 days out and I keep getting this message.  Folks on my M&M thread said they already got their email.   Does anyone know what makes a booking eligible or not eligible to bid for a Royal up?

Erika

I was actually able to get into the Royal Up system.  The weird thing is that even though I am the primary person on the booking, I wasn't able to get in until I used my boyfriend's last name (I only decided to try it on a whim).

18 minutes ago, scottjeanne said:

I just tried for a sailing in November and this is the message I received:

 

Please ensure your sailing is within the next 30 days
Please ensure there are no errors in the information you entered

 

So I cannot access it until 30 days prior.

 

My cruise is in less than 30 days and I get this message ☹️

1 hour ago, br76jook said:

If you have kids I recommend the red frog pub on the 5th floor.  It was not crowded and had live music at night.  The women behind the bar were very accommodating with kids' drinks.  They had connect four, jenga, cornhole, tabletop shuffleboard, foosball and other games to play.  It was open and available all day, even when the bar was closed.    

We loved the Red Frog pub when we cruised on the Breeze and Magic!  I cruised on Horizon in June (which doesn't have the pub) and I really did miss it.

1 hour ago, karmamule said:

 

Regarding phones and unplugging but still needing apps, one strategy to consider is getting another phone via amazon, best buy or store of choice and just don't get any data plan or carrier for it. Use it only via wi-fi, and if you want set up an alternative gmail address and only give that out to people you WANT to be able to get in touch during your cruise.

 

That way you don't have to see work texts or e-mail, or texts or e-mails from people you don't want to hear from during your cruise. It's the best of both worlds because you can use apps and such via wifi, but still feel disconnected because you don't have to see all the noise associated with your regular phone's texts/e-mails/etc.

You can just put your phone on silent mode/do not disturb and/or airplane mode to prevent getting the notifications.  Buying an extra device when most phones have the ability to silence the outside world seems like a bit much.

11 minutes ago, hazeleyes46 said:

We have actually never been on a cruise for his bday and this is her 2nd or 3rd time for her bday and her h.s. graduation. He has been slighted a few times already lol. 

So, what has been done for his birthday?

I understand siblings being jealous of one another, thinking that the other sibling is being favored over them.  I have 16 (almost 17) and 24 year old sons.  The last couple of years have favored my oldest son because of his being in college and playing basketball, etc.  He just graduated from college in May and we went on a cruise to celebrate it (among other things).  It may not seem fair but the youngest son has had to just deal with everything. 

Now, the youngest is going into his senior year of high school and everyone knows that this year will be his year.  The focus is now on him and he will have a cruise celebrating both his high school graduation and birthday next year.  While we as parents do need to make sure that each child is celebrated when it is warranted, the children need to understand that there will be times when it's not about them and they need to suck it up.

17 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

Main cabin. Believe me, if there was any way to get it cheaper we would get it cheaper. It would be slightly less expensive  if we were willing to take a super early flight or a super late flight or if we were flying in or out on Wednesdays, but flying in the day before (Usually of Friday) and out of (usually Sunday) the rates have been nuts. Our last one crossed Easter weekend which probably didn’t help, but nothing is happening mid August. 😳 Thankfully I managed to use two of our Amex companion seats for two of our flights (August/December). 
 

Here is a screen shot of the best options for the Atl to MIA  (the flight in shows $328, but all flights for 11 am or after on Sunday is higher then we fees/taxes it is 1284 total.
 

 

Maybe it's because you're going into Miami.  I repriced our flights going into Miami and it was a little higher.  Here's a screenshot of the flights that we would take in September (if we fly).  We're going on Allure, so we would fly into FLL (and only the adults are going this time 🙂 )

We're considering driving so I don't have to worry about how much luggage I bring 😉

15 hours ago, AlohaLivin said:

Our flights have been $1000-$1200 R/T from Atlanta to anywhere in FLA these last months and through December 2022. It hurts, definitely, but for now we have booked cruises and I can stomach that better than an 11-hour drive one way - at least in the short term. If this continues, we will calculate the balance again.

That's a lot!  What seats are you selecting? 

We (4 people) flew from ATL via Delta to FLL in June for about $350 each, round trip.  But, that's for main cabin seats (not basic).  I just really don't want to take that long drive either.  We're cruising again in September and I haven't decided yet whether we're flying or driving but I just priced Delta for our dates and seats are $268 each.

1 hour ago, cured said:

Squierjosh is not doing anything but enforcing the alleged reputation of the class of hard core Carnival cruisers.

 

@squierjoshnot sure what you mean when you say "which means a negative tests causes A LOT of preventable problems."  How can a negative covid test cause any problems?  Also, are you implying that you don't have to test for Carnival? It actually looks like Carnival's testing is stricter than RCL's requiring a PCR test. At least RCL will allow you to do a home proctored antigen test.

 

TESTING REQUIREMENTS

Guests age 2 and older must present a negative PCR COVID-19 test, taken within 72 and 24 hours prior to the sailing date at check-in. (For example, if the sailing is on Saturday, the test may be taken any time from Wednesday through Friday, but not on the morning of embarkation). Unvaccinated guests (age 2 and older) must also take an antigen test at embarkation. On cruises longer than 4 days, guests will be tested again within 24 hours of debarkation. Guests traveling on back to back cruises will need to be tested in between voyages.

• Irrespective of voyage length, antigen testing will be provided on a complimentary basis to children ages 2-4. Children ages 5-11 will be charged US$60 per person, and guests ages 12 and older will be charged US$150 per person on their onboard Sail & Sign account.
• Prior to traveling to the cruise terminal, guests should review their pre-cruise test results to ensure it includes their full legal name, date of birth, type of test, date and time sample was taken, test result stating “NEGATIVE” or “NOT DETECTED” and laboratory, testing site, and/or healthcare provider details. Handwritten test results are not acceptable.

Please refer to our COVID-19 FAQs for complete information on testing requirements and resources.

  I hope you have a good cruise, but I highly doubt you will because you are already pulling stuff out of your behind to be mad about.  

 

I just want to make a slight correction to this.  Carnival's website is a little confusing but only unvaccinated guests are required to have a PCR test.  Vaccinated guests can take an antigen test, whether it's at a pharmacy/doctor/etc. or through one of the proctored home tests.  The above quoted section is under a section titled "Unvaccinated Guests (Updated 6/22/22)". 

Also, I know this for sure because I've taken 2 Carnival cruises since the restart, the latest being last month.

53 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

not sure why you think that. OP clearly said that symptoms appeared on debarkation day so they tested when they got home 30 minutes later.

I meant the person that said that the original poster was being inconsistent and making jokes about it.

24 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

what am I missing? What's funny? they arrived home 30 minutes after getting off the cruise. There is no contradiction in his words: they got mild symptoms on debarkation day after getting home... With a 30 minute difference between these two events, who's to say whether something was a mild symptom or nothing of import.

The poster is confusing embarkation and debarkation, not realizing that debarkation day is the day that you leave the ship.  

I've been on Ecstacy, Breeze and Magic and just came off the Horizon.  The Ecstacy had me not wanting to ever cruise again (this was 2015).  Breeze and Magic totally changed my mind and made me realize that I needed to be on a larger ship with more options.  I absolutely loved the Breeze but now I think that the Horizon may have taken it's place.

Glad to hear that your family enjoyed the Breeze!

12 minutes ago, Pyxie said:

 

I'm considering Walgreens too. We haven't used them but I'm sure they are just as easy as CVS.

I've used them for every cruise we've taken just because it's been easier to get appointments and from what I've seen online, they don't cancel appointments very often (versus CVS doing it way too often).

15 minutes ago, Pyxie said:

What is everyone's recent experience with the Optum Emed tests? Meaning do they seem to still be having issues with faulty tests, no liquid in the dropper, etc like some of them were having before? It looks like we'll be going this route this time. We used them in December, but had been using CVS recently. Now it appears that it's becoming harder to get a CVS test unless you are symptomatic or have been exposed. At least in my area, they are no longer offering them for free outside of those circumstances.

 

Basically trying to decide if one 3-pack for my husband and I is safe or if I should buy two 2-packs so we each have an extra.

I know that you're asking about the home tests but I just cruised earlier this month and we (4 of us) all were tested at Walgreens.  I didn't have any issues scheduling the tests.

Just another option, if it is available to you.

I just got off the Horizon this past Saturday (June 11) and I've heard the same complaint on the FB group page about the ship being hot but I did not notice this.  And, given that I am a 50+ "fluffy" woman starting to experience "the change," this is something that I definitely would have noticed since I am hot all the time.  We were in an 8th floor aft balcony room and the room tended to be on the cool side, especially at night.

I'm not saying that everyone else's observations are not valid, I just find it interesting.  But, I also didn't experience the kids "terrorizing" the ship or the adult fights, either.  Hmm, maybe I just imagined that I was on the Horizon last week 😂

I was on this sailing and didn't see the incident being referenced but it has been discussed on the FB group page.  Someone posted a short video of the incident but since it's dark (and from far away) you can't really tell what is going on except that there is a lot of yelling and cursing.