SeeBurd

Paul asks:

Good day, Mr. Heald! I have a question that concerns something somewhat trivial. One of the friends I cruise with is rather addicted to Diet Mountain Dew. A 12-pack of Diet Dew is a mandatory carry-on item for him and his wife. Still, it’s not unusual for him to run out.

 

John says:

Hello Paul

 

I know this is a very popular drink but, unfortunately, it is not made by Coca Cola who we have an exclusive contract with. I am sorry but hopefully you can continue to bring this (cans not bottles) on the ship and maybe replenish in port. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you. Best wishes.

 

John

 

 

 

 

This is from his blog from yesterday -- there is a maybe about replenishing in port. Sounds like a clarification is needed.

Wow! That answer clearly tells me he doesn't know. <not shocked>

The only thing that I've heard that might have practical value are calling cards, but even they may have limited application (the crewmember's family might not have a phone). I would give the extra tip and maybe a note to the crewmember's boss about how great a job they did.

That suggestion is very 90's. Skype and even FaceTime have replaced phone calls. Or any free internet service.

But don't they have to purchase personal items??? As I said we ALWAYS leave an additional tip. I was thinking of gum, blank note cards, body lotion, all occasion cards with stamps included etc. just a thought

All garbage to them.

We ALWAYS leave our room steward an additional tip. But this time In addition I wanted to leave a goodie bag of things that they would have to spend their own $$$ for. Any suggestions

Cash. Nothing more. Anything else ends up in the trash after they thank you for it.

We're planning our 30th anniversary cruise next year! We definitely want those popular-sought-after HUGE aft balconies/suites. We've been in the aft wrap on the Conquest. In your opinion, what is the BEST aft wrap (we prefer the completely overhead covered balconies) and suite? I've seen some great aft wrap balconies, but the rooms are incredibly small. Then there are the aft wraps on the Legend, and the room is a 3 room suite with a huge walk in closet. However, we'd have to take an Alaskan cruise to said on the Legend and we prefer the warmer weather cruises. Any ideas/suggestions/pictures? Thanks!

The 2 aft corners on deck 4 of the Spirit class ships.

Sailing on Fascination Aug 6. Flying DCA to JAX nonstop on the 6th. Arrival 10:45 am. Carrying on only, no dealing with baggage claim. Getting to pier using Carnival's transfer service. In my head this is plenty of time but all the comments I read on here and on a Facebook Carnival page have me thinking otherwise.

 

So: if you have had SUCCESS flying in the day of the cruise, please comment here. I know the stories are out there!!Thanks!! :-)

I wish someone would post stats, as I gotta think the success rate is in excess of 95%, and I'm being less than generous. I've yet to miss a cruise due to a missed flight on the same day of the cruise.

Do they still have the Past Guest Party for Gold Members? Or are they just doing it now for the Platinum & Diamond? Going on the Dream. Thanks for your time!

No party. You get water. Or you can buy a 12 pack for 2.99. So instead of a party you get something worth 23 cents.

As a cruiser I have complete control over what I spend aboard the cruise, no one cruise line is giving you something for nothing, you are always paying for it in one way or another. If the implication is that Carnival's beverages or shore excursions cost more than don't buy them. It's pretty simple really. I don't think I spend any more on a Carnival cruise then I do on RCL, in fact I spend alot less because there are less Ala Carte restaurants and dining options onboard.

I'm not defending it one way or the other. All I was saying is it should be taken into consideration. A recent conversation with a friend told me they went on a cruise for $299. Then we talked tax, fees, tips, drinks, excursions, a steakhouse dinner, soda and a couple of other things, he realized he actually spent between 2 and 3 times that amount.

It is rare that other cruise lines can beat Carnival's pricing and for what you are offered on a Carnival cruise, food options, quality, ship decor, ports of call, activities it is very difficult to beat Carnival in relation to pricing. I am going on a Southern Caribbean cruise, it will be my 3rd time sailing this itinerary. Once Princess was able to price match so we tried it. For this upcoming sailing Sailing on RCL would have meant paying $300-$400 more per person for a comparable OV stateroom. Sorry, I sailed the Liberty OTS back in January (again booked on a great promo) and while the ship was beautiful there was nothing about it specifically that beat Carnival IMHO. While the ship was huge, the food was bland, cheap and boring....they were handing out cheese pizza on the promenade boardwalk like it they were throwing money at people....I was pretty much in shock to see people clamoring over terrible cheese pizza, but alas. Sorry for the tangent.

Some people are blind to the fact that they need to add their on board account to their cruise fare to compare what they spent on a cruise. Carnival counts on this the most.

Folks,

 

Water is water. H2O. Even "spring water" needs to go through a filtering to remove stuff the water police opine is "bad" for you if ingested in mass quantities that even the Coneheads couldn't imbibe:rolleyes:. The difference in taste is in part due to what you are used to and in part due to what's in the pipes your household water comes in on. If, by habit, you must drink water from plastic bottles not fountains or taps on the ship, then the $2.99 is a reasonably good deal, regardless of which company's name is on the bottle or the water's actual source.

I respectably disagree.

For years we went to Myrtle Beach SC. And for years found the water not only disgusting to drink, must have had something in it to created a mild case of Montezuma's revenge.

So one year I thought I'd be smart, and bought a couple of gallons of water from the local A&P, and ugh, it was the same taste as the tap water.

The following year I brought the Gallons of water at home and brought them with me. These days if you find an outlet selling Evian, it's a lot easier.

I ordered Bottled water awhile ago when the price first dropped. I've been charged, and got an order confirmation.

 

But there is nothing in my cruise paperwork that shows it has been ordered. Is there a place fun shop orders usually show up?

 

It's only $3 so it isn't a big deal; but our travelmates are planning to order alcohol, which is much more expensive, so I am wondering where it is we should be checking to make sure everything looks right.

I would follow up. there were a lot of reports of cancelled orders due to someone at Carnival thinking there was an error. In fact there were many here putting in orders as it was perceived as an error.

it is $2.50 per person per day!:)

It's actually $3.90 per person per day.

I've been to Maui on cruises twice before. Both times our port was Lahina and we tendered from the ships. This time our port is Kahului, and I can't find anything about tendering. Does anyone happen to know if we dock or tender in Kahului? Thanks.

That's a docking port, on the east side of the island. We had an overnight there, and was the only time seeing whale while pulling in.

Gave us easy access to the Toad to Hana, and the top of the volcano, but we did make a trip over to LaHaina, with a meal at Cheeseburger in Paradise while watching the sun set.

My question to you is, was there any GI illness (noro) on your cruise or the one before? What you are describing sounds to me like Virkon, the agent used to fog the public spaces, and which will provide virus killing to both hard and soft surfaces when fogged.

 

The "sewer" smells that most people find on ships generally smells like when your Uncle Bob does his best "Blazing Saddles" imitation, or the dog has left you a present in the living room when you've been out of town for a couple days. (Not that I've experienced either first hand :rolleyes:) Generally this is localized, and is caused by the air conditioning drying out the U-traps in "gray water" drains (sinks, showers, deck drains, galleys, but not toilets), allowing the smell to come back up, just like the sink traps at home. Most common is the smell in a single cabin, and this is caused by the floor drain in the bath (not the shower drain), which doesn't see much water flow to replenish the trap. A glass of water down this drain daily takes care of any smell there.

I dis stink ly remember this is the first ship i cruised where the steward regularly closed the drain to the sink. Made me wonder if there were traps. But I quickly learned it was being done for a reason.

Ever hear of the infamous Carnival Dream sewage smell that plagued its inaugural year... and then some?

Yeah. I laughed every time that NEW SHIP SMELL Catnival commercial came on at the time. I wish I could teach myself how to cut and paste links on an iPhone 6s.

We sailed the Ecstasy a few years ago and had a similar smell in the rear of the ship. It smelled like an RV toilet and likely for the same reason. Its an old ship and likely harder to keep sewage system clean.

I can go back further than that. she had that port o potty smell in certain areas of the ship when she was relatively new in the early 90's. And it was always in the same places. Other than that, we loved the overboard decor of the ship.

Hello All,

 

I heard that when you reserve at the Steakhouse for the first or second night you get a complimentary bottle of wine? Is this true? If so or not have anyone experienced this?

Yes, it's offered both nights. But drink it fast. The expiration date is midnight.

We usually board, have lunch, unpack, and get off again, and usually pick up a 3 pack of Gods nectar.

I know that the Chef's Table seats 14. I'm wondering if this is for couples only? I would love to try it once and maybe even go solo, though my husband will be on the cruise. This would not be his cup of tea. He can barely sit through dinner in the main dining room. He thinks the meal is too drawn out, although lately he's been making it all the way to dessert! Have any of you gone solo or without your mate? I wouldn't want to bump a couple for one person either. Thanks in advance for your replies...

I'm surprised he would pass up the opportunity to meet 12 new friends.

My only concern is they would have to have another solo, or a trio, quintuplet, or any off amount to balance it out. We last cruised as a trio, and as one wasn't interested, we skipped it.

I'm a little confused by your two posts. If you are onboard, to have heard the noise and felt the list, you would know whether the ship sailed 2 hours late without resorting to FB? :confused:

 

Anyway, yes, both the Master and the Pilot would be required to report a grounding, allision, or collision to the USCG. However, after initial notification, first to the corporate Qualified Individual, who then notifies the USCG, the ship has 24 hours to submit the USCG-2692 form giving the details of the incident. To date, nothing has been uploaded to the USCG incident information exchange website, but it is too early for this to mean anything.

 

If the ship had run over something, I really doubt the Captain would have continued on his way, as the classification society would require an underwater inspection at the first possible moment. Assuming the ship hadn't passed the Boothville anchorage, the ship could have stopped there for divers, or gone to the SW Pass offshore anchorage.

 

My guess is that there was some miscommunication with passing traffic which caused the Dream to maneuver harder than normal (turn sharper). Maneuvering in the Mississippi River is a challenge at the best of times, particularly when proceeding down river. Because the water is flowing with the ship, turning effect is lessened both with rudders and azipods, which is why downbound ships have the right of way over upbound ships. The use of excessive "rudder" (azipod azimuthing) will cause the ship to heel away from the turn. Also, turning the pods to steer harder can cause severe vibrations in the relatively shallow water of the river as the wash is now directed towards the even shallower banks. Unless there was a distinct and pretty violent jarring rather than a vibration (which could sound like running over rocks), I doubt you hit anything, or even touched bottom.

I'm reading that it happened on her cruise early in the AM before she debarked, and was reading the FB group page pertaining to the passengers that embarked the same day, and left two hours late.

Around 3:00 AM last night the Dream sounded like it struck something and then listed violently (felt like we were tipping over). Some folks were talking about how all their belongings were knocked onto the floor. Apparently the Fun Shops were disturbed during the incident as well.

 

Adding to the mystery, someone on the FB group for the sailing reported that the ship was two hours late leaving New Orleans this evening.

 

I'm not holding my breath on an official statement from Carnival.

We hit something hard and heavy one cruise, and experienced one of those famous lists that emptied the pools and trashed the dining rooms and gift shops on another, but no announcement was ever made, nor did we ever find out the cause of either.

We had Hulk Hogan on ours.

I just came off of a Carnival cruise and after over 20 cruises our luck ran out and my family of 4 got the dreaded Norwalk virus. Can anyone out there give me any guidelines on what, if any, reasonable compensation they received from a cruise line after getting Norwalk on a ship?

 

It definitely marred the cruise and vacation!! We received some very limited future cruise credit, but nothing in relation to the overall impact it had on our vacation? Should I be getting something substantial?

 

Thanks

You didn't catch the virus from the cruise line. You got it from another human, and it is impossible to know which human it was. You might have been the one that brought it onto the ship yourself, not knowing exactly when you were exposed to it. Imagine if they could though, and someone thought you owed them compensation for bringing it onto the ship and exposing them.

Hello

 

I picked an early dinner time so both my kids could have dinner with us. I'm starting to think my 5 year won't be able to sit still long enough? Is the kid center open during dinner time? If it is do they feed the kids? I feel horrible thinking of doing this but I don't want to ruin dinner for everyone. I'm going to take him one night but if it's too long and he starts complaining I might just think of other options for him. Any thoughts? Thank you

We took our oldest on her first Carnival cruise, her second, when she was 5. We ordered off both menus, and had no problem in the time seated. There was always something going on, as the servers live to entertain the kids. And then there's the dancing at the end of the meal. And then there's also the eating, as well as conversation. I'm proud to say we never had a need for the camps, at any time.

I was planning on making this a place we just walked around on our own and did some shopping. Is this do-able in this port. We were hoping to hit big name stores like maybe at a mall and of course local vendors as well. There's a local market right by the port if I can remember correctly?

Yes. Just across the pontoon bridge.