crookedhalo

46 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

I think you'll find that a Bloody Mary will cost the same as any other alcoholic drink you buy.

Well it's been a while since I've been on Royal without a drink package. Trying to decide if the coupons would allow me to skip the package (and save a lot of money). I tend to like expensive martini type drinks at night. I haven't gotten around to pulling drink menus yet (yes I know we just go off of Vision, but had the package so didn't pay attention to prices).

Follow up question - can you select which drink you apply against or is it automatically the first four alcoholic drinks? Like say I want a bloody Mary with breakfast can I pay for that one and later use it for a more expensive drink?

Slightly different question but in same vein - we are looking at our first ' Diamond ' trip. What if you don't use your four coupons one day. Do they carry over? Next, are they limited in time for use? Like 6p to midnight or similar? TYIA for any info.

Another thing to consider is that those offers are capacity controlled and you may not find anything you like. Best to respond quickly to those offers.

We received a casino offer for a free interior cabin, only paying port fees etc. Of course we jumped on it, but then I got to thinking...would we get points? My invoice shows cruise fare of $100pp but they offset that with $200 OBC ( and DH  gets free drinks while playing). Just curious, not like it would push us up a level or anything 😑 

Congrats. We just booked an unplanned trip because a casino offer was too good to pass up! Five and a half months to wait😉

It will also appear on the final invoice as a comment.

National Beach Club in Majhal is awesome. Reserved directly with them. All inclusive, small resort. Private cab to and from was part of deal as were massages on the beach! Owner was great to talk to (ex-pat) and food and drinks were incredible. We waited til we got there for breakfast,,,yummy!

My upcoming trip is a Casino rate and I've never had to call the Casino department and we've pretty much found the Casino rates are better than anything else over the last few years.

Silly me - I must be a sheeple LOL. I guess I don't like to be hung up on, so I beat them to the punch 😉

Stayed on and actually got someone who took care of what I needed in total (hold & rep) of 45 minutes 🙂

Thanks everyone 🙂

I'm sorry if there is already a thread on this, but the search the forum feature seems to have disappeared 😞

To my question - I have been trying to call Carnival since like Saturday morning and get the standard 'we're busy please hold', which I have no problem with and am willing to hold as long as needed. BUT about 15 seconds later it comes up with 'the system is having technical difficulties. please call back later" and then disconnects me!

Is anyone else having this problem?  I also got a Vax Attestation for a cruise in February of next year, which I find a bit odd. The other option is that it is for my canceled Horizon cruise in December, but they tell you if you don't reply in 48 hours the world ends. And it's not in my 'things to do' section of my upcoming Feb. cruise. I am flumoxed.

11 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Seems like the cruiselines went into radio silence mode since the cdc set all those guidelines, like if you ship is outside us waters you have to file 28 days in advance to re enter, and do all those mock cruises and get labs set up and hire crew back ... are ships moving yet? Waiting to see cruiselines respond a little more. 

10 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Nothing obvious yet. 

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I blamed the lack of the cruiselines showing they were pushing to get started again on the election. Well for all practical purposes election is over, but still nothing from the cruiselines. Barely a trickle anyway. I'd like to see ships moving, more crew being hiring, more signs they plan on cruising soon. 

Well given what is going on right now, they may not be in a big hurry to start moving things as no one knows which administration will be in charge and which direction the administration will lean in. The Trump administration was fighting the CDC to reopen the cruise industry - Biden is an unknown - will he switch back to the CDC recommendations? Who knows..but that maybe why everything is slow in getting moving again - don't want to commit the cost to something that could do a complete 180...

3 hours ago, scottca075 said:

I readily admit I am perplexed by the notion of an RV trip as a replacement for cruising. It seems to me RV-ing is 180 degrees from the cruise experience.

 

If people said they were going to AI resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico, I'd get it. AI resorts seem like land based cruises to me; all your meals, housekeeping, resort activities and day time excursions are extra and optional.

 

But RV-ing you have to cook your own meals, make your own bed, keep the RV clean on your own as well as driving to your camp site/park and doing your own set-ups and hook-ups. I'm not opposed to RV-ing, but it is a very different experience than cruising. I feel stress when I camp/RV. I never do when I cruise.

It's a new experience for us...I think we've done the bulk of our cruising, it's changed a lot since we started in 2005, and not for the better. On our last trip we both sort of looked at each other and were like "yeah, that really wasn't all that great". The food was mediocre at best (you almost felt forced to go to one of the specialties just to get a decent meal) and the dining room service was like going to Applebee's - they sit you down, want you to order everything all at once and literally were hovering waiting for you to finish one course so they could grab the plate and move you on.  Bar service in the DR was basically non-existant. If we spent more than an hour in the DR for dinner, start to finish, I'd be surprised. Never even saw our steward during the whole trip, the room was kept clean and nice but I had to leave a note to let him know (I think it was a him - couldn't tell by the name and since I never saw the person who knows) that I just wanted ice left every night. Just a very lack-luster the whole way.  Not cancelling my next trip yet, since I managed to grab a vista balcony in the Havana area on Horizon, but time will tell.

While you are right, camping isn't as do nothing for myself as cruising, I have my own space, my own mattress (and boy have the last few on the ships sucked) and I'm away from home relaxing with no time frames...nice change and DH helps with all the 'chores' so win-win I think 🙂

DH and I stepped off Carnival Breeze on 2/1/20 - just as all of this was breaking loose. We found ourselves less impressed/satisfied on the cruise (food quality and short staff). We have one booked for end of 2021, but may or maynot go on it depending on how everything opens up and the strictures (won't do ship excursions, no way no how).

But that being said, we had been looking and thinking about what retirement will bring and decided that a RV would give us a lot of opportunities after we retire. The original window was to possibly buy one next year for short trips before retirement. Yeah, so found a great deal on one on Mothers Day this year...we've been out for at least a long weekend every month since then and have two more scheduled for October and November.  It's different, but gets us out of the house and we are safely socially distant. We are so happy we decided to pull the trigger earlier than anticipated, as you can't find many RVs on lots right now - only drawback is that the campgrounds are hard to find a spot in without ressies 😞, but it can be done :).  Planning is underway for early next year!

Yeah it's been two days already - no big deal but I was hoping to see if there were better cabins on the trip 🙂 Though I've already got a Havana Vista...

Good morning all! Am I the only one who is having issues with the Carnival website and past guest numbers? When trying to do a mock booking for my 2021 Horizon trip it keeps telling me that my PGN is invalid (mine and DHs). I've even used their 'forgot PGN' function and the number it puts in is still coming back as invalid?

21 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

May I ask....how long ago did you book?  And how long ago were the price drops?

December and one in February and one just last week.

1 minute ago, MsTabbyKats said:

I have a Sept 2021 booked...ES rate with a bonus obc.  I got "almost the least expensive" cabin (Sept to Canada...no need for a balcony...so we booked the interior spa).  With all the cancellations and OBC to spend, my instinct tells me the price has nowhere to go but up because of demand (assuming it sails).  If not....there's always 2022!

We've already caught two price drops so far - it's a group of four cabins.

On 6/23/2020 at 1:02 PM, MsTabbyKats said:

I get it.

On the other hand, if life becomes normal....and it sails without all these restrictions....the prices will skyrocket.

 

Yes, and we've got Havana cabins on the aft deck six, including a vista...

I'll keep watching for price drops...

30 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Yes...but it depends on the size of the deposit.  OP may not want to loose it. And he could switch back to "early saver" before final payment.  However, if there's a cash flow issue with Carnival, getting the refundable deposit back may be an issue.

There will be a penalty if you change fare codes....so you really need to speak to someone and look at the numbers.

Yes, that is part of the concern. Our trip is more than a year out, but not sure now if we will want to cruise...

Good morning. Tried searching for this with no success.  If you are currently sitting in an ES rate, can you switch to another rate that is refundable? Any issues?

19 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I believe that’s only on one specific fare category.

Yep, early savers only.  I have so much difficulty understanding their pricing online - this 2 category upgrade but then you select  your cabin? I've given up trying to understand that one... SMH

Royal did allow after final pay but I think that ended around 2007? I know because I got quite a few on a trip in 2006 but can't remember any since then 😞 Plus then final pay was a lot closer to sail date so time frame was longer.  Oh well, times they are a changin' 

The last one I got was good for any trip - used it to book the one that starts Saturday.  If it makes sense to cancel and rebook I guess that's what I'll end up doing.  

So I am already booked for Horizon in 2021. We will be on Breeze this coming weekend. My question is I know I will get a 'bounce back' email for a discount on another trip.  Can this be applied to an existing booking (assuming makes sense and price hasn't increased that much)? Also does Carnival have onboard booking and would that be beneficial also? Thanks!