bakersdozen12

4 minutes ago, AandBmom said:

Thanks for the info.  Cucina was free at lunch the first time I was on the Breeze.  I guess that's not a thing now.  I Mongolian wok is always free right?

It wasn’t the same food as what they serve in Cucina, which is the point I was trying to make. Some people think it’s the same menu, just a lunch version, but it’s not. What they serve for lunch is the same as what Pasta Bella on the Dream serves: you choose your pasta, sauce, add-one’s like meat and veggies. And they have a lasagna option, if I remember correctly. But the menu at Cucina is different. And very delicious, if I might add. Well worth the $15 per person! 

I’ve been on the Horizon and the Vista and never felt like it was crowded on either. The ships are so huge and there’s so much to do that people disperse to many different areas. I love the ships, actually. 

To be honest, unless you have kids or are a really huge fan of Dr Seuss,  it’s not really worth it because the menu is no different than what you can get for breakfast in the MDR any other day. They just add green dye to the eggs, red food coloring to pancakes (to make the hat), etc. But, it’s only $5 per person, so not bad to just try once, for the experience. 

A common misconception that people have is that Jiji’s and Cucina are free at lunch time. They are not. Rather, Mongolian Wok and Pasta Bella are served out of Jiji’s and Cucina, respectively, at lunch time. It’s not the same food. Not even close. But yes, this arrangement is included on the Panorama. 

The Fascination is actually a great ship. And honestly, the ship doesn’t matter anyway on that itinerary. The islands are amazing, and you only have one sea day. Trust me, book it!

I sailed in a cove while in the Gulf when Hurricane Patricia was hitting Mexico (very rough seas), and I sailed in another cove right through a tropical storm (the name escapes me), and neither times did our storm door get shut.  I can't imagine how rough the seas have to be for them to close them.

3 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

No more stalking FTTF.

Haha, yup!  I love that I no longer have to purchase it. I have since my very first cruise.

Lol, I totally get it.  My next cruise will be my Platinum cruise so as soon as I got home from my last one, I printed out my documents just so that I could see "Priority" on them. 😄

11 hours ago, Joe817 said:

You are correct! I did not know that. apparently Disney has ships that have been modified to allow fireworks.

 

https://www.capitalgazette.com/os-pictures-fireworks-at-sea-fantasy-gallery-photogallery.html

Ah, so if it’s a matter of the ship itself needing to be outfitted with equipment to allow for it, I wonder if that means there’s a possibility that Carnival could enlist some other kind of vessel to meet up with the Carnival ships that could launch fireworks. That would be really cool! 

Booked the 7-day Mexican Riviera sailing on the Panorama. I’m running out of itineraries that we haven’t done, and this is one of them. Other than Hawaii, but I just can do two weeks that close to doing to weeks for a Panama Canal Cruise in late Nov/early Dec of 2021.  

On 2/7/2020 at 4:36 PM, NightOne said:

I would bet that there will be a fireworks show or something similar.

They can’t do fireworks at sea. Only Disney can. Something about they trademarked the process that allows them to be able to do it. I don’t know the full details, but maybe someone can chime in and share. 

They give you a meeting place onboard the ship, and once you arrive there, someone escorts you onto the water shuttle. It’s really easy. Incidentally, they are not called tenders anymore. They are water shuttles. 

I haven’t been having any problems. I would suggest clearing your cookies. Or trying another browser. 

On 2/2/2020 at 6:09 PM, isladonna said:

i still don't understand why she locked it though.  There are lots of posts where the question has been answered ALOT lol..I see no other posts locked.  guess she just don't like me. haha!

 
From what I have seen, she seems to just lock random posts every once in awhile. With no rhyme or reason behind it. 

On 1/31/2020 at 12:27 PM, graphicguy said:

Any specialty restaurants worth seeking out?  If so, which ones?

I think all of the specialty restaurants are well worth the money, but if you only do one I suggest Jiji’s Asian Kitchen. It’s absolutely delicious! My second choice would be the Steakhouse. But again, I love them all. 

On 1/31/2020 at 9:13 PM, coevan said:

Host Carolyn, please don't take this wrong, do not want to be banned, but the OP of this thread asked "Can you access your airline (southwest) with the social package, to check in for your flight?  I presume you can use ship computers to check in for your flight also?"

You must have missed my post. I was the first person to post on that thread, and I did answer the question about whether or not you can access the Southwest website with the Social Media plan. 
 

Here’s the thread, for reference, if you would like to take another look:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2730327-boarding-pass-for-flight/

The answer to your question can be found in the details of the Social plan posted on Carnival’s website. https://www.carnival.com/internet-plans/social-wi-fi-plan-SRA

I would highly recommend paying for Early Bird checkin, at least on your return flight. Then you don’t even have to worry about checking in online at the 24-hour mark, because your boarding position will be automatically assigned. 

1 hour ago, thymcruisers said:

I noticed the price difference between the "other" site and Carnival - (20.00 pp cheaper) - but wanted the assurance that we'd get back to ship on time. I hadn't thought about the price match guarantee from Carnival.  

 

Your thoughts on the Grand Palladium - good? bad?  

Thanks!

Since we could price match with Carnival, I booked with Carnival simply to have to peace of mind that we would not be late returning to the ship. As it turns out, we were late returning to the ship. For two reasons. One, there was one family that couldn’t seem to adhere to the return shuttle meeting time at the resort. In my experience, there is always someone who can follow directions. Also, and this is the only part of the excursion that I wasn’t happy with: lady who greeted us both before and after the tour, and rode with us both ways, decided to stop at a convenience/souvenir store on the way back. She said that she was doing so because someone asked her where they could buy Jamaican coffee, but I suspect it’s because she has a friend that owns this store. Anyway, what was supposed to be a quick 10 minute stop turned into 30+ minutes. Because again, people cannot be bothered to come back to the bus on time. Anyway, we were late getting back to port which really annoyed me because even though Carnival was guaranteed to wait for us, I feel that it was rude to knowingly abuse this policy. Because I do feel that the tour guide new we would end up late, as she reminded people even before stopping at the store that Carnival would wait for us. 
 

Anyway, this aside, I did very much enjoy the resort itself. The drinks were very good, and the waiters were attentive both near the pools and on the beach. The water at the beach wasn’t the clearest I have been in, which makes for less than stellar snorkeling, but it was overcast that day so I’m sure that was a part of it. The jerk chicken we had for lunch was delicious. I would definitely go back to this place again, and would recommend it. 

You have to do just that: log in and do a mock booking. They did away with the Fare Viewer that you are referring to a year or two ago. It was notorious for being wrong anyway, so it’s really for the best that you do an actual mock booking.
 

I’m curious, though, what is the big deal about logging in? You don’t have to enter in any info once you are logged in, except for the state you reside in (I don’t know why it can’t remember that info). But your VIFP number will populate automatically. And you don’t have to go so far as entering in names in order to get the price. 

9 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

Does Carnival know someone has a B2B before boarding ?  If Carnival were to bump to Platinum, would that happen at the port during check-in, or during online check-in ?

Did they contact Carnival prior to sailing to have the cruises linked together?  If not, then that may have been the reason for the gold card on the first cruise.

They will leave a letter with instructions for you in your cabin.  They will tell you where to meet the morning of the water shuttle port.  You will go there, and someone will escort you down to the water shuttle.  The whole process is really easy.

Well for starters, I would suggest that they stop giving Platinum and Diamond gifts for every single cruise that Platinums and Diamonds go on. With the number of Plats & Diamonds increasing every year, it's becoming more and more expensive of a benefit to maintain, evident by the fact that the gifts have become "cheaper" (for lack of a better word), and people are appreciating them less.  I think that they should, instead, give a really nice gift to someone on their first Platinum cruise, and an even nicer gift when someone makes Diamond.  It would be a one-time only thing for when someone reaches these milestones.

If they are worried about current Plats/Diamonds feeling left out, they can give them the same gifts once, on their first cruise after making this change to the VIFP program.  But this way, they will cut down the overall expense while still putting value into the gifts.  I would rather get one really nice Platinum gift then to get 17 cheap gifts during all of my cruises as a Platinum; or worst, none at all.  Which is what I fear is the direction that Carnival is heading towards. 

You can check in at different times. Not sure why you would, but it’s your prerogative to do so if you choose. The MDR is not open for lunch on embarkation day. There are other food venues other than the buffet, like Guy’s Burgers, the pizza place, etc. You can find out what venues are on your ship by going to Carnival’s website and exploring the details of this particular ship. Not sure on the wheelchair question, but I would suggest calling Carnival’s special needs department ahead of time. Their number can also be found on Carnival’s website. 

It’s shampoo only, no conditioner. And they no longer give you the products in small containers. They simply fill the dispensers in the showers with the Elemis products. 

Are you asking because if the recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico? If so, then please understand that the earthquakes were no where near San Juan. That city was not affected.