chris330r

Hi all,

I snagged the $300 OBC this morning and hope I can help with some questions.

They seem to reload the rewards at 10am Eastern time. Right before 10am this morning, the $300 OBC reward was still sold out, so I kept refreshing the reward screen and at exactly 10am, sure enough, it was available & I got the screen that allowed me to click on the next step for purchasing it.

And right after I got it, I saw that it said "sold out" again...that fast....so it's seems quite a popular reward.

The e mail I received immediately afterward that I printed out stated that the reward must be redeemed by November 19th, which is exactly 90 days from today. This means that you have 90 days to call RC and book a 7 day cruise using the redemption code given.

The $300 OBC is good for ANY sailing in 2015, but must be for 7 day cruise or longer, and you can't book online using the reward code, but must call the contact number listed on the e mail voucher given. The number says it's available 24/7 to call and book.

I'm so glad I managed to get this and feel it was well worth the 300k LP's spent for it. As a regular Carnival cruiser having never sailed RC before, this is an excellent incentive for us to try RC.

Good luck to all who play MyVegas, and keep in mind that the rewards reload daily at 10am (unsure about weekends though)....so if something is sold out, have the reward screen open right before 10am eastern time and keep refreshing!

Yes, a nice sweater and khakis is perfectly acceptable for elegant night.

Thank you. That's what I plan to wear. :)

Can men get away with a nice sweater & khakis for elegant night?

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep it packed to be safe.

For our upcoming Sensation cruise, I know there's soap & shampoo provided, but what about toothpaste? Do they provide a mini sample in the bathroom or should I bring my own? My toiletry bag is already loaded up with so much stuff that chucking the toothpaste tube will give a little more room for all my other junk packed in there lol.

Keep placing 24 hr courtesy holds on the cabin you want and each time the hold expires, hold it for another 24 hrs until your next payday. I did this for almost a month until I could put down the deposit.

I'm booked on the Liberty next month. I changed to a pack n go rate last week. this morning...there was a past guest rate that was $100 cheaper. My final payment is past. The gentleman on the phone honored the price drop! he wouldn't give me OBC (I would rather have had that), but he DID refund my credit card. I was shocked. I did have a cabin assignment though before I called, but now I'm TBA again...that's OK though. I would call...all they can say is no. Good luck!

Congrats on the refund! That's great! :)

This is what I've been reading on here a lot...If one agent says no, another one could say yes to the same thing. Strange. Do different agents just make their own rules?...But we're happy with the possibility of our PVP getting us a cabin upgrade so we're not going to make calls to other agents just for $60.

Your cancellation fee at this point would be 75% of your total fare -not $50

 

 

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Ouch....I guess there goes that bright idea lol.

Ok, I contacted my wonderful PVP, and he confirmed what was said here. Out of luck for OBC but he said Carnival would allow him to upgrade us to a better room "if available".

We're both easygoing and just exited to be cruising in 4 short weeks that if we get it, that's wonderful...and if not...that's fine too. We're still going to have ourselves a great time! :)

Ok, thanks....on the bright side though, it's only $60 bucks so no worries.

However...theoretically...if we cancel and rebook....wouldn't we just pay the $50 cancel fee and still come out with $10 extra bucks? LOL...Not that we'd do that, but just wondering if that's possible.

We booked just last week for Sensation 8/24 with Pack & Go rate for $607.40 total paid in full.

Now this morning Carnival has a "Past Guest Sale" out (which we both are) and the same cruise we booked is $547.40 total.

Both sales are guarantee cabin assignments....so, do we qualify for the price drop? I haven't cruised in almost 10 years so I have absolutely no clue how this works...but $60 OBC would be nice to get. Any advice?

A friend of mine who cruised, and just returned this week booked a guarantee cabin. Her cabin was assigned at the 30 day mark, and a week before the cruise she printed out her boarding documents and luggage tags, and her room assignment has changed to a balcony on the Lido deck, which is what she was hoping for.

I'm guessing the original cabin guarantee was OV?

Booked an Ocean View guarantee on the Fascination a month ago, and just got our cabin assignment today. We were upgraded to a category 8B balcony on Upper Deck Aft, so apparently the Upgrade Fairy still lives!!

I'm baffled at how the process works. Is it really just luck of the draw and random? Or are there other factors at work?

We only booked a week ago so I wonder if those who booked OV guarantee before us get priority for the upgrades available.

Either way, we'll hardly be upset if we don't get one...we like where they put us so no worries!

Thats great!! but you know ( dont get your hopes up) it could change. I wont print my luggage tags and other documents until the day we leave... just in case :)

That's good to know, so we'll continue checking daily & hold off on the boarding passes until the night before. An upgrade would be fantastic, but if not, we're ok with what we got. :)

Just got our cabin assignment!! Yay....we're 33 days out and it wasn't showing this morning but it suddenly appeared in the booking around 1pm.

No upgrades....got OV cabin M43....but we're very happy with it! :)

I kept doing courtesy holds for the cruise I wanted for well over a month until I had the deposit funds to put down.

Every 24 hours I would just make another one and I also did it because I didn't want anyone else to get the room I wanted. I'm glad Carnival allows this little service.

I would not get there so late. If you get a flat tire or hit serious traffic you are in danger of missing the cruise.

 

IMHO better to sit at the terminal for an hour than risk missing the ship.

I think we can have all errands finished and depart by noon...this way we arrive port by 1PM at the latest. Car is well maintained & I don't anticipate serious traffic on a Sunday morning. Thankfully, it's only a 45 minute drive.

Thats how i found out, i just kept checking a couple times a day, of course we were gone since yesterday morning so first thing i did when i got home was check and see if it was assigned and it was :D so im not sure if it was assigned on day 30 or 29:rolleyes:

Thanks...i'll probably be checking 10X/day...but it builds up the anticipation and whatever we get we'll be happy with. :)

Just got our cabin assignment today, not too bad of location, would have preferred the other side of the ship but oh well. :p We are mid ship upper deck.

How did you find out? I'm checking the "Manage my Booking" section of the Carnival website & then clicking "cruise details"....yet still keeps saying "to be assigned". :(

Friday will be the 30 day mark, so I'm hoping it shows up by then like others have seen.

My pre-cruise ritual......(Note-I stay in a hotel in Cocoa the night before.)

 

Saturday morning: Have a nice breakfast at the hotel and take a stroll on the beach. Head toward PC around 11am. I usually stop at thw Walmart or Walgreens in Cocoa for any last minute items. Head to Rusty's and eat lunch on the deck. You can look across the water and see your ship while you eat. I like their lobster bisque with a sandwich.

 

If the weather is nice we'll hang out till 2:30pm. Drive 5 minutes to the parking deck after unloading luggage at the terminal drop-off. Walk to the terminal.....show our documents and within 15 to 20 minutes we are headed up the gangway....well before the 4pm departure.

 

The crowds and long lines are gone by now.

This eases my mind tremendously, thanks! We'll set it for a 2pm arrival then...And I'm Google mapping directions to that Walmart in Cocoa now. Great idea for those last minute items.

We just booked 4 day Sensation for 2 at $607.40 total, taxes/fees incl. for 8/24 sailing. This is a Super Saver rate that's still going on.

We have a couple of errands needed to run on the morning of the cruise and estimate our arrival to the port at around 1pm.

Is that still considered peak time when most are still "cattle boarding" or should most of the boarding crowds have dissipated by then? The last time we cruised out of Pt. Canaveral was back in 2003.

We're just driving over from Orlando so having a short 45 minute drive over, we can arrive later to avoid all that while giving us a bit more breathing room for the morning errands.

Is even 2pm ok for arrival or would that be cutting things too close?...We don't have FTTF for this cruise, so I'm thinking the later the better for boarding anyway.

We booked on Fri. 7-4 for that Sunday on the Legend ( pack & go ) nothing on our booking Sunday morning so I called the 800 number & just ask the kid who answered & he gave us our cabin number. Got a nice upgrade for waiting. Ofcourse couldn't book anything but Pack & Go that late.

Have a nice time & like I told everyone just think Christmas Eve with a big box under the tree with your name on it.

Char

What a perfect way to describe it. I love that!

You cannot put slot money on your Sail & Sign card at embarkation. Carnival will not take your gambling money until you are in international waters which is typically an hour or 2 after you set sail after embarkation. After the casino opens, and you will know this because they will turn on the slot machines for play, you can simply insert your cash into the slot machine, play as much of it as you want, and then you can upload what you have left in your machine onto your S&S card. When you do this, you will be prompted by the machine to set up your 4 digit PIN. Once you have uploaded your remaining funds, you can then insert your S&S card in another machine and transfer the money off your card and into that next machine. When you decide you don't want to play anymore, which for most of us is the last night of the cruise, then you can take your S&S card to the casino cashier and show your photo ID to get what you have left on your card back in cash.

 

This player's account on your S&S card is separate from your onboard account although you use the same card for both. You can also get money to play on by charging your S&S card while it is in the slot machine. The machine has separate buttons to push to make that happen.

 

Hope that makes sense. Have fun playing.

Yes, this clears things up a lot. I had no idea it was set up this way, so i'm glad to learn this in advance so I don't make any goof ups. Thanks!

Good to hear everyone else's input! I'll be sure to update here if I get lucky with an early assigned cabin. Fingers crossed. :)