wo5m

For those that remember years ago Carnival offered a future cruise certificate and we took advantage of it every time we cruised until they canceled the program. One of the perks was you got onboard credit for your next cruise. So we would buy a $100 certificate and then apply that to the cost of a 7 day cruise and in addition we got an additional $100 of on ship credit.

Well our problem was during one of our trips aboard the Carnival Magic. We wanted a cheap cruise so we called our PVP and asked for an interior for three people. He presented us with a special deal and said for just a little more we could have an interior cabin on the lido deck and as part of the special we each would get $50 onboard credit. So using this option, we figured going into the cruise we would have a total of $250 on onboard credit($100 for FC certificate + $50/pp X3 for lido upgrade).

Fast forward to the cruise, on the third or fourth day I discovered that $150 for the lido upgrade wasn’t reflected on the sail and sign card. The first time I went to guest services I was told “it just hasn’t applied yet” then on the last day and after several GC trips we were told after they checked with corporate, the onboard credit for the future cruise certificate superseded the lido upgrade and the two couldn’t be combined. Needless to say I was angry, but there wasn’t much I could do. It was also about that time they killed the program.

Have any of you encountered this when combining more than one on-board credit deal? I’ve recently became aware of the sleepers cruise and have thought about taking advantage of it on our next trip, but wonder if I would run into the same issue with other on-board credit offers.

Just FYI for those who don’t know a “Sleepers Cruise”(unofficial name, I actually had to search all over the forums the first time I saw someone mention it) is a cruise you book on-board using the past guest rate for a cruise that you have no intention going on(ideally the furthest in the future). Since you book it on-board you get the same benefits as the future cruise certificate except your booking an actual cruise instead of buying a certificate. The advantage of past guest rate is you are allowed to reschedule your trip and even change ships without any penalty and the on-board credit benefits follow. You can even reschedule it multiple times as long as you keep the past guest rate and you’re not within so may days of the cruise(I think its 60 or 30days) . However, once you switch to something different like the early saver rate your stuck(well at least not without paying a penalty).

My fear is I'll schedule a Sleepers Cruise then use it on one of those specials where Carnival is offering on-board credit, and then only to discover like before, I can't have both.

Any thoughts?

I like the rental car idea, expect id be coming one way from Fort Worth. The only problem for me, is all the cruises I've taken from Galveston has been on Sunday and enterprise isn't open. You would have to drop it off the day before and then during the limited open hours(for a Saturday).

If you chose to use a hotel shuttle don't plan on taking advantage of Platinum/Diamond/FTTF priority boarding. Most shuttles will drop everyone off long after boarding has already started.

The last time we sailed out of Galveston, we deiced to stay at Moody Gardens in Galveston. They allow you to park your car there and offer to shuttle you to the Terminal. The only problem was both the Carnival Magic and RCL Voyager were there at the same time and there were too many cruisers at the hotel for the shuttle to accommodate. On top of that, the shuttle didn't start running until 12pm.

We were still in the hotel lobby at 1:30pm when we decided to call a cab. The only problem with that was the cab would pick up the first person they saw regardless of what we were told on the phone. At 2pm we gave up and just drove to the terminal and I paid the outrageous rate for parking.

On our last cruise on the Legend(in Seattle), I didn't what to deal with that again so I did my research and decided to use Uber, I loved it and decided I'd use it from now on. The only problem with that is Galveston and passed ordinances that caused both Uber and Lift to pull out. UGG

After doing more research I discovered another ride hailing service that operates primarily in some Texas citied(including Houston and Galveston) called GetMe(https://www.getme.com). While I haven't used it yet, I do have the app on my phone and will probably give them a try the next time I'm down there. They may even be an option getting from one of the Houston Airport to the terminal.

I'll be honest, I really like Uber for stuff like this and when the news came out that Galveston ran both Uber and Lift out, I seriously considered going a bit further and giving my Cruise business to New Orleans and making that my new home port.

Prob when they get ready to announce vista 2 schedule for 2018

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

It could be both in the same announcement, with the new set of locks opening later this month, all of Carnival's ship will be able to transit the Panama Canal. Up until now only the Spirit class ships are in the Panamax class and capable of using the current locks.

If Carnival is smart, they could one-up Royal Caribbean by putting the newest/biggest/best ship on the west cost. All of Royal's new ships are still way too big(PostPanamax), and would have to transit around South America to accomplish the same thing.

In a time with cruise lines are packing more and more people on ships for profit, Carnival could have ordered massive ships like Royal to fit more people, but they didn't. I think Carnival had "New Panamax" specifications in mind when they ordered Vista class ships.

This is not to say the Vista isn't big, she is, but not as big as many expected to compete with Royals's Oasis class.

Bigger isn't always better...well for some things:D.

Riff raff??

What??? Are they saying they don't want me on the other lines because that is my legal name after all! ....Just kidding.

That said, when I first read this I thought that couldn't be the case because if they wanted to keep the so called "Riff raff" it doesn't stop me from booking at cruise with them. I'd still Riff raff, just the blue card equivalent Riff raff.

However, on the flip side I could see people gaming it must like they did old Carnival VIP program. If you remember you had people who would stack up 10 two, three or five day cruises to become platinum, but the people who went on on 7 or 10+ day cruises missed out even though they had much more time at Sea.

I don't know about that one. I've bought the most expensive internet package my last two cruises and I haven't been able to stream video yet.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That and the ships Satellite Internet can't get through the mountains any better than the TV signal. However, once you get to one of the Alaskan ports you can use your phone to stream it. I have At&t and I had very good LTE coverage in each port and since your still in the US(believe it or not, some people on the ship didn't understand this) there is no roaming. I just had to remember to turn off the phone once we left port so I didn't end up on the ships expensive cellphone system.

We were on the Legend last year and they did have all the local networks. However, there were times were the mountains interfered. There is only so much technology can do when you have 2000 ft mountains towering straight up on ether side of the ship(see attached pictures and you will get the idea).

The good news is when it isn't working there will be plenty of amazing things to see that you will not want to miss. I'd even go as far as saying if you choose to watch a game over seeing this, this you might have booked the wrong cruise.

Most the time we left our TV on the forward looking bridge camera with the volume turned all the way up so we could hear the naturalist when she came over the PA. We spent hours sitting on our extended aft balcony and I used a bungee cord to keep the door open so we could hear the TV.

Back to TV channels, if you cruised before you probably already know this, but the local channels will be local somewhere but nowhere near you. On our first cruise we were on the Conquest and we were docked in the sunny 90 degree Montego Bay while we were watching the local morning newscast for a station in Denver. They were being hit by an unusually bad blizzard and record lows temperatures. It was funny listening to them telling everyone to stay home and off the roads while we were sitting there getting ready to go to the beach.

I don't think this has been discussed yet, but when we went on the Legend last year we learned from the Facebook group that the first person in the Red Frog Pub gets a free beer(or something like that).

We had FTTF, but none of us drink. We mentioned this to the couple behind us while we waited to board. Later that day we ran into them again and they thanked us as they apparently were the first and took advantage of it.

On a side note as for its name, I have a script that data mines raw trademark data from several international sources and I did find that the "Carnival Bliss" was recently filed for by an individual(not carnival corp like the other ships) and its in a pending status. It probably doesn't mean anything as it doesn't fit the name hint given, but who knows.

Disregard this information, turns our Carnival Bliss is an abandoned trademark in Canada. The record was mistakenly marked as pending in data stream sent to WIPO. It was corrected today. My script flagged it due to its new "Pending" status and the fact trademark services field contained the words "boat" and "cruise". See http://goo.gl/5UTU6K for trademark details.

Dream to the west coast, Vista to New Orleans and Vista 2 to Miami.

I would love that!!!

Caution, putting a such a large ship there will only cause New Orleans to sink faster:p.

Keep in mind that when Carnival ordered the Vista and Vista 2 they didn't go super big like Royal Caribbean. I believe there is a reason for that. I think Carnival is going to bring the bigger ships to the West coast.

The Panama Canal Expansion is due to open 23 days from now. Once open, every one of Carnival's ship will be able to transit though it.

This is just my opinion, but I think the west cost is where Carnival will be looking.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love for The Vista 2 to be in Galveston(as I'm in Fort Worth).

On a side note as for its name, I have a script that data mines raw trademark data from several international sources and I did find that the "Carnival Bliss" was recently filed for by an individual(not carnival corp like the other ships) and its in a pending status. It probably doesn't mean anything as it doesn't fit the name hint given, but who knows.

I will agree that Dallas traffic is terrible and getting worse. I think we are running a very close second to Houston. :)

I'll totally agree those people across the county line, they are crazy(I'm in Fort Worth)!!!

That said, I'm cracking up that we are discussing how bad traffic in Dallas and Houston is, on a review post that include a port of call in Jamaica.

I've been to Jamaica twice, once on the Conquest and the other on the Magic. We don't do a lot of excursions and always try to get away from the tourist areas. All I can say is drivers in Jamaica are absolutely insane. I've been to a lot of countries and nothing compares to Jamaica. I wouldn't ever try driving down there myself. I've had more than onc person down there tell me "Traffic signs are just a suggestion".

If all possible, I highly recommend a balcony without an obstructed view. This is the one cruise that it is worth it every penny.

Another balcony tip, while in our cabin or on our balcony we couldn't hear the announcements from the naturalist. While on the balcony we turned our cabin TV to the bridge cam channel(you can hear all the announcements there) and cranked the volume up. I then used a bungee cord to prop balcony open.

I have attached a few more pictures to give you an idea of what type of view you can expect. All of these were taken from our balcony using the internal camera on my Galaxy S5 phone. I did just re-size some of them for form.

Enjoy

Several people have mentioned the cold. I'm also from Texas(Fort Worth specificity). While on our cruise, it never felt colder than the average winter day here.

That said, I'm probably a little bias. I am addicted to cabins with an extended aft balcony and that is what we booked for our cruise. On a normal cruise in the Caribbean these balconies can get quite warm during the day, but on the Alaskan cruise it was really nice. For most of the cruise I was able to sit out there with just a t-shirt and shorts.

I did venture to the front of the ship once or twice and it was quite cold up there. Everyone up there was bundled in heavy coats. I'm sure looked very out of place in my t-shirt and shorts and I'm sure people even questioned my sanity.

One thing I discovered on the Legend is if you don't like the cold, but still want an good view. Go to the hot tub on the Lido deck and just stand next to it. Its elevated a little bit and gives you a good view all around and it will keep you a little warmer.

I am on the fence about the Tracy Arm Fjord excursion, that will put my excursion total over $800!! When my daughter talked me into this cruise I had no idea how much the excursions were going to cost. Thanks for all your comments!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Knowing what I know now, if I could only pick one excursion, I think that would be it.

We normally don't do a lot of excursions. For our cruise we did two inexpensive ones. In Skagway we did the tour bus that crossed into Canada and the night bus tour in Victoria.

I did buy a day pass for the mountain cable tram in Juno, I don't really consider that an excursion thought. I did get the all you can eat crab legs at the restaurant at the top and I was up there, I also snapped what was probably the best picture I've ever taken in my life, considering I'm not a photographer (see attachment).

I have been on several Carnival cruises and last year we decided to give Alaska a try aboard the Carnival Legend. I will say it felt much different then the typical Cruise.

Probably the biggest thing you will notice is unlike a typical cruise, there is always something to see. You never have a day where there is just empty ocean. As someone already said you have a naturalist on-board. On our cruise she came over the PA very regularly(sometimes 4-10 times an hour) giving us information like island/location names, local history, and most importantly whale/wildlife sightings.

We had an Aft Balcony were we did most of our watching. On one occasion I went to the lido desk to get a pizza and I was amazed at the site of seeing people packed like sardines sitting in chairs facing the windows just watching eagerly awaiting the naturalist to say there was another sighting.

The best part of the cruise for me was the Tracy Arm fjord. I never imagined being on a cruise ship and having 2,000ft mountains towering on ether side of the ship. I highly recommend doing the Tracy Arm fjord glacier excursion, I didn't and I really regret it after hearing about it and seeing the picture of other cruisers.

I also recommend taking the highest power set of binoculars you can find. I forgot mine and ended up buying a pair from the photo lounge. To my surprise, they were actually very reasonably priced.

Lastly, funny you should mention "ship time", although its not want you meant, one thing that was different about this cruise is the ship's time actually changed 4 times. Twice we changed clocks back an hour and on the return trip we moved them forward hours 2 times. I will say they were very good about communicating the chance and there was absolutely no way you couldn't know about it.

Enjoy your trip.

We took the Carnival Legend out of Seattle on an Alaskan last year. We had an enterprise rental car and had the enterprise shuttle drop us off at the terminal.

As soon as the shuttle dropped us off there were porters ready to take our luggage as soon as we stepped out of the van. The drop off point was right next to the terminal building.

On the return trip we found out the enterprise shuttle was out of commission. I decided to use Uber (my first) to get back to the rental car please. The wait time for Uber was less than 5 mins and he was able pick us up right next to the terminal building.

I don't think you will have any problems as we saw a lot of other hotel shuttles.

I will say the Seattle was by far the smoothest port we have encountered, however it's the only port so far where we didn't have a car to park. Will probably do the rental car/hotel shuttle/Uber thing for all my future cruises.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Every game or slot machine in every casino in the world are designed so the odds favor the house.

 

What does vary is the payout percentage in each casino.

Actually that's not quite true. I found this machine(see picture) and it paid out every time! :p

2. Unlike a normal Balcony, you will not have the breeze that you have on a regular Balcony so it can get very warm.

 

I forgot to add, to mention, this was actually a huge benefit on our Alaskan cruise. I was able to sit on our Balcony in shorts and a t-shirt while we were going through the Tracy Arm Fjord while the people standing on the forward observation decks(some people call them secret decks) were bundled in thick coats trying to keep warm.

I've had Aft balconies on both the Carnival Magic and Legend and I love them. I think that is all I'll get from now on.However, there are some things you need to be aware of and I see some have already chimed in on a couple of these.

1. If you in the Cabin directly bellow the Lido Deck, you will hear people moving chairs around. It wasn't that big of a deal for me because I use ear plugs at night as I'm a very light sleeper.

2. Unlike a normal Balcony, you will not have the breeze that you have on a regular Balcony so it can get very warm.

3. Most Aft Balconies don't have much an overhang so much of the time there is no cover from the sun or rain. The exception to this would be the cabins directly below the lido deck.

4. Lastly, keep in mind the aft part of the ship is a low pressure area. So if anyone smokes(even though its not allowed) on their balcony towards the back part of the ship(not just the aft part), the smell of smoke will accumulate there. We had this problem on the Legend as the very least amount of smoke causes my wife to have an asthma attack. I also every once in a while noticed drops of soot from the engine on everything outside. So I wouldn't leave anything out there for a long time/over night that would potentially get ruined. I will say our cabin steward wiped everything down balcony regularly.

One thing I would recommend, before the cruise go to Academy or some other sports store and buy a cheep hammock to suspend between balcony dividers. I promise you never want to sit on the balcony furniture again.

We are in a spa balcony on 11. Hopefully we are indoors especially if it ends up being super long again. August in FL out on deck with tons of people is not my idea of a great start, but what can you do!

I have been on the magic twice.

First time we had a interior cabin on the Lido desk and we mustered on the second level in the main theater.

The second time we had an extended aft balcony one deck below lido and we mustered in the Southern lights dining room.

I forgot to add that I don't get the insurance through cruise line as it is extremely over priced. There are many travel insurance packages that are a fraction of the price that will cover what you need. We chose not to even bother with the hassle of the $175 bill.

Remember the insurance you get when you pay for your cruise is with an insurance company(an outrageously priced one at that) and NOT i repeat NOT with Carnival. Your will have to jump through the same hoops if you buy it from them or from another insurance company at 1/4 the price.

If you have been on the Sick Bay "Excursion" and had insurance through Carnival, I am interested to know your experience with being reimbursed for the medical fees.

 

Thanks!

Several times when myself I needed some over counter meds.

Then I went another time when my Dad had a severe bronchitis and I got to see more of the Sick Bay that most ever do. We were in Roatan Honduras when I took my dad to the the Sick Bay . For the visit they charged for doctor consultation, a breathing treatment, antibiotics, and steroids. They charged him $175 for everything and that included a followup visit two days later. Keep in mind had I we to a doctor without insurance here it the United States, it would have been many times that.

Site note:

During the visit with my dad the ship was doing an emergency drill so while that was going on, they put him in the infirmary so he could do his breathing treatment without being in the way. This infirmary is a room in the sick bay almost nobody sees unless your in really bad shape. It was setup to handle 7 people and was as fully equipped if not more so than any ER trauma or ICU room I've seen. You name it they had it, sonogram machines, ventilators and even dialysis machines.

Another woman came in while we were in there with a broken leg. They took her to the x-ray room(that I didn't see) and planned to fit her with a cast.

I learned a lot from that visit and I can say I have absolutely no hesitation going there in an emergency.

Awhile back we were docked in Nassau with our balcony facing the pier coming from the shore. A tropical storm was imminent and we were having wind gusts of 40-45 mph. We had a great afternoon sitting on our protected balcony sipping wine and watching very tipsy fellow passengers from Senor Frogs trying to get back to the ship laden with a shopping bag full of souvenirs in one hand and holding their balloon hat on with the other as the wind nudged them this way and that :D:D:D

 

As the last passengers boarded the ship the gangway was pulled in and we took off to outrun the storm. By midnight it was smooth sailing back to home port.

I wonder if that was the same storm we experienced. We were on 5 day cruise on the Fantasy out of Charleston. First port was Freeport and the second on Nassau.

Days before we docked at Nassau we were all aware of a fairly week tropical storm called Earl as the rough seas it created had canceled most boat excursions(I was scheduled to dive). However, in the few hours we were docked in Nassau, Earl decided rapidly intensify and by the time we were scheduled depart it was a full a category 2 Hurricane.

The outer bands of the storm actually started coming overhead just as we left. As soon as we were out of port, the captain set a course due west at the ship maximum speed. For the about 4-5 hours we were in really rough seas(the worst I've experienced). The captain took the ship west until we were about 50-100 miles off the cost of Florida and we then rode the cost line up until we got back to the home port of Charleston.

The day after Nassau was a typical sunny day that you would expect on a cruise ship only a little rough. I did the behind the fun excursion that day and while on the bridge the crew were exceptionally busy planning for the next cruise to avoid the storm. The captain talked about the storm for a bit and why we chose the coarse he did. He explained the reason things were so rough was was because the Fantasy lacked stabilizers that are on most newer ships.

In the end, the storm turned north and totally missed the United States before falling apart. Never did I feel unsafe and the only compliant was that it was only a 5 day cruise(I only do 7+ days now)

As for rain and cruising it happens a lot. On our Alaskan cruise, there wasn't a day when it didn't rain and that is typical for Alaska. However, I've never been in the middle of a thunderstorm.

I would love to cruise a first voyage. Maybe I need to start saving...

I've thought it would be fun to. however from reading the forums, there always seem to be things that are closed and/or not quite finished on the first voyage. The same seems to be true for a ship just out of drydock.

Those who have seen my signature(and don't assume I'm crazy) know I have a little inside information on this topic. So here is the list of the next 6 ships as I remember it*.

1. Carnival Horizon - Vista Class

2. Carnival Spectacle - Vista Class

3. Carnival Fiesta - Technically Vista Class, Special 50’th Anniversary Ship)

4. Carnival Solaris - Solaris Class

5. Carnival Aurora - Solaris Class

6. Carnival Cosmos - Solaris Class

*Names subject to change and are quite possibly a complete figment of my imagination! However, if we start complaining now maybe we can stop them from ever using the horrible name Cosmos!!

Now I just need to avoid the temporal agents since I just polluted the time line by posting this!:p