heckledtrio

20 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

They did not.  Besides the removal of the casino bar, all changes were purely cosmetic.  I was surprised they didn’t upgrade the technology - the WiFi’s slow, the app doesn’t show estimated wait times for MDR “your time,” no on demand programming etc.  Or maybe the WiFi’s slow due to the number of morons who think that every single conversation they have MUST involve FaceTime.  

Good to know-- thanks! We're sailing her next September to Alaska, I'll be sure to pack, accordingly 🙂 

Does anyone know if they updated the outlet situation (i.e. increased the # of power/USB outlets) in the cabins? 

I, too, am a U.S. vet and the only time I've ever saluted during the national anthem was when I was in uniform. As a civilian now, I neither salute nor put my hand over my heart, and simply choose to stand at attention. So long as the CD conducted the rest of the gathering in a respectful manner, what does it matter what he chooses to do/not do during the playing of a song? Sounds like he acted respectfully by standing quietly, so I don't see a problem...? 

When you take a taxi back to the cruise ship port, what should you tell the driver (if English is limited) so they get you to the right place? 

6 hours ago, SDPadreFan said:

You should know that because of the Alaskan current that sweeps down the entire North American West Coast as far south as Cabo San Lucas (and perhaps further) that the homeward trek from Cabo back up to California will always be a bit rocky as you punch through that  southbound current. Coldest ocean water temps in Cabo occur in April/May/June. The Alaskan current reaches Cabo usually in mid April. Funny that the whales around Cabo know that it's time to head home to Alaska about that same time.

Ah yes, I remember that from our December 2019 sailing. All was fine until the sea day on our return trip back to Long Beach from PV. It wasn't too terrible but it was enough that, for the first time in 4 cruises, I decided to pop a Bonine. Thanks for the explanation! 

14 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I have no personal experience with this cruise in the summer.  Hot, humid and rainy is what I would expect, which is why I've never done it.  If you go, let us know how uncomfortable the weather is for you!

LOL! If I were just going by myself, I might chance it just to see what it's like (prices are decent-- no wonder). But I don't really want to subject my travel mates to those conditions, esp when one of them is prone to motion sickness and we might have choppier waters. 

I'm contemplating doing a Mexican Riviera cruise this summer, late August/early September timeframe. The typical 7-day cruise that hits Cabo, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta. We've done this sailing once in December and it was fabulous! But summer feels like a whole different beast-- I know it'll be hot and humid, but I was hoping to hear about people's personal experiences about sailing there during the summer. How were the ports? Good chance of rain? Also, what was it like at sea-- rougher waves? Would late June be any better? 

There is flexibility, yes. My recommendation is to NOT pre-register him online, as that would automatically put him into the age group associated with his current age (at embarkation). Not sure if pre-registering would've made it harder for him to switch out once on board. It can't hurt to not pre-register, at any rate! Then, on embarkation night, go to the kids camp he WANTS to be in, explain the situation to a camp counselor, and get him signed up.

We cruised with friends who had a son that turned 12 on debarkation day! She didn't register him online (which would have automatically stuck him in Camp Ocean), went to Circle C with him as soon as it opened, introduced him to a camp counselor, and got her son registered there, no problem. This was on the Panorama, Christmas 2019. Good luck!! 

We picked up a pack of paper decorations at the dollar store. Only needed one for our door. Perfect for Christmas!

My 15-year-old son did the ice cream class on the Panorama,  and he enjoyed it! He wanted to do sushi, but by the time I remembered to book the class online, sushi was sold out 😞 Class took about an hour and 15 minutes, and he got a complimentary spatula to keep. The only downside was that the class was at 3:00pm, so he was still full when dinnertime rolled around! 😉 

I was on the Christmas sailing, and on the ship itself they said they would start regular debarkation at 8:00am. We were on the lowest deck (Deck 1), and sure enough, they called our deck a little after 8:00. And since we didn't have to vacate our staterooms until 8:30, we were actually still in our cabin when they called us, which was nice. All in all, it took about 35-40 minutes from the time they called our deck to the time we arrived at our car in the parking garage. We were already on the road just before 9:00am, when our friends on Deck 2 finally got called off. 

This may be a long shot, but... does anyone know what brand of mattress Carnival uses, especially in their newer ships? Or at least, how I might go about finding out? We just sailed the Panorama and the beds were wonderfully comfortable-- more comfortable than my own mattress at home! I'd love to know what brand/type of mattress it was! 

19 hours ago, glrounds said:

Other Carnival cruisers even as recent as last week say the parking garage has plenty of room, now that they've run the 3-dayers and 4-dayers out to Convention Center parking. I also read that the parking garage fee is $23 per day !  Is this correct ?

 

(you'll note the letter posted above is for IMAGINATION cruisers) I never got a letter  and I'm leaving on the PANORAMA next Saturday.

That's correct. When I first sailed 3 years ago, it was $19/day. Then $20/day the following year. Our most recent Christmas cruise on the Panorama was indeed $23/day... and provided quite the sticker shock because it was for 7 days instead of the usual 3-4 days we were used to! Also, we arrived at around 12:30pm and there was TONS of parking, and this was the Dec 21-28 sailing, i.e. ship was pretty full. From what I've read in other forums, even though the above notice was sent out in November, it doesn't seem like they were enforcing it when we sailed, because I did not see any signage or parking attendants directing passengers to one garage or another. Later cruisers did report signs and attendants directing Imagination cruisers away, so I'm assuming the garage was still housing all of Carnival's cruisers that day. 

19 hours ago, SMSACE6 said:

 However I will say, that while I do like and enjoy ships of Conquest class, I will likely avoid them in the future, only for that reason of muster drill outside, and my extreme dislike of being crammed in.  Fantasy class ships and Dream class up ships, do conduct Muster drill inside in various locations through the ship, so for me, just because I hate the cramming in body to body, in often hot and humid weather conditions, along with the late arrivals of many people, meaning a late start to muster, I am sorry to say that I will be very picky about which ship class I cruise in the future, whenever that may be.

 

 

Doesn't it depend on your cabin location? I've sailed Fantasy-class ships three times, and twice we mustered outside on the Lido deck, but when I stayed in a different location the third time, my muster station was indoors. Friends that sailed with us (both on those cruises and on the Panorama) likewise went to different locations than us for the drill. 

5 minutes ago, Katwoman007 said:

We were supposed to be on Bliss with our 3 kids in March, but after our Alaska trip, we decided that we were not ready for the 3 kids bickering in a small room... so we canceled. Booked one for us 😉 and have been doing fun things like Sea World and Great Wolf Lodge with the kids instead. 5,7,12.... they could not handle 3 nights in the same hotel room 😛 Maybe when they get a little older we will bring them to sea with us. 

Yeah, it was crazy here. We went up to Fresno over Christmas and had to do an 11 hour detour due to the 5 being shut down. That was a nightmare. And all I was thinking was.. this time next year.. we are at sea 😛 I believe we will share the same ports with the Panorama. I think we miss Norwegian's boat by a day. 

Oh my gosh, I'd heard about the closure and the ensuing clogging it caused around our neck of the woods (we live in Santa Barbara, so Hwy 101 is our only artery). Was so glad to be on a sunny pool deck instead 😉 

One of the things I love most about cruises-- kids clubs for all ages so they can have fun, too! Esp at the tween/teen age groups. My son was 12 when we began cruising, and I swear I never saw that kid except for dinner. Some nights he stayed out later than us! This latest cruise was his first time in the teen club (he's 15 now) and it was the same story. Waiting till they're older definitely makes sense! 

We'd never been to Mazatlan before, but there are so many good resources on the web, we felt brave enough to chance it on our own, even though it was Christmas Eve 😉 

I wish I'd had that PDF that Glenna posted, looks really comprehensive! 

I cobbled together the info from these 3 websites (lots of pics, yay!) to plan our walking tour of Mazatlan:

http://www.mazatlantouristaide.com/

http://arewethere-yet.com/wordyexplorers/blog/pages/view/view.dhtml?linkId=4FavoritesMazatlan&storyId=1532711033361

http://arewethere-yet.com/wordyexplorers/blog/pages/view/view.dhtml?linkId=CentroHistoricoStoneIslandMazatlan&storyId=1530238592810

The second link has low-resolution images of the maps that the ex-pat volunteers hand out along the way. If you'd like to see a better-quality version before you sail, let me know and I'll dig mine up and scan it! The maps were VERY helpful in helping us navigate our way to the different sights. 

We basically just hit up some of the highlights on the map and did some shopping at the Mercado Pino Suarez (it's huuuuge). We didn't spend enough time there to sit and relax/eat/drink, but there were plenty of places to do so! 

Enjoy your trip!! 🙂 

4 minutes ago, Katwoman007 said:

Thanks!! Works for me!! We leave the day after Christmas... hehe. When we went for Thanksgiving it was cool till Cabo, then was warm till the last day coming back to LA. But it was a warmer Thanksgiving that year. haha 

Yup, that's how it was for us, too. And apparently we left behind a cold and rainy Christmas in So Cal, so I guess it's no wonder our return trip was cooler than expected! 

p.s. I see you're going on the Royal Princess this year. We were on the Carnival Panorama, but shared the same itinerary with Royal and with HAL's Oosterdam. So funny to see the same two ships at each port! 

We sailed Dec 21-28. Not sure what time we *actually* arrived in port, but the debarkation info said that regular passenger self-assist would be called out starting at 8:00am. So it must have been quite a bit earlier than that, when we actually docked. We were on Deck 1 so we were the first regular deck to be called out, and got the announcement shortly after 8:00. Lucky for us, because that meant we didn't have to leave our staterooms (which had to be vacated by 8:30) before getting called off the ship.

There were lines everywhere, but they moved pretty smoothly. It took about 35-40 minutes from the time we got the call to debark, to the time we reached our car in the port's parking garage. We were already on the road at 9:00am by the time our friends on Deck 2 got called off. 

On 1/8/2020 at 1:01 PM, Katwoman007 said:

Just curious on how your trip went, weather wise! 🙂 We going late December and I forgot to look at the forecast then... just for an idea. hahaha

I was there ON Christmas Day and it was hot! Temps in the low 80's but humidity made it feel hotter. Tank top, shorts, and Teva sandals for me! And a sweater for the air-conditioned bus we used on our excursion 😉 Interestingly, the sea day after PV had warm temps too, but it was windy and felt a lot colder than it actually was. Pack layers and an extra pair of long pants 😉 

Ship - Panorama

Deck - 1

Stateroom # - 1346

Stateroom Category – 6M (Deluxe Ocean View)

Starboard or Port Side - Port side

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Yes, surprisingly!

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Any specific problems with this cabin? - None at all. I do miss the pitch-black darkness of an interior cabin (easier to sleep) but some well-placed hair clips and other objects helped keep the curtain in place well enough to block out most of the light.

Any other comments? - This cabin is smack-dab dead center of the ship, AND right near the elevators, which made it pretty convenient to get around to various parts of the ship. I was worried about elevator noise and fellow passenger noise, being so close to the elevators, but that was never an issue. The new elevator banks are built in such a way as to really insulate themselves from the cabin hallways. As for passengers being noisy on their way to their cabins, I never noticed much noise aside from occasional footfalls from running kids. Either we had really considerate fellow passengers, or the newer ships are built with better insulation!

I did experience a little more shaking than I normally do (previously, I've stayed on Upper deck (deck 6) on the Fantasy-class ships) when the ships approach ports. Woke me up the first morning, thinking my son was kicking my bed, but I think I quickly got used to it.

Also: even though there were only 3 of us in the cabin, the extra bathroom came in sooooo handy, especially when getting ready for elegant nights! The bathtub is MUCH more spacious than the little shower, so my son and I ended up using that most of the time. Hubby would have, too, except the bathtub is slightly more elevated than the shower, and his 6'8" frame would not have fit without ducking! Also loved having plenty of countertop and shelf space in the main bathroom! And TONS of hangers in the closets! 

14 minutes ago, lacy1101 said:

Easier, yes; however, my son does not have a credit card and my daughter and her husband are limiting activity on their credit cards because they have a loan application pending on some property.  In terms of the cabin with the three kids in it, my son has his own S&S account and my daughter and her husband have their own S&S account (my credit card is simply attached to each account).  Will they get two statements then?  And then DH & I will get one for our cabin?

That's how it worked out for MIL and us-- separate statements. Then again, her account was never tied to any of our credit cards to begin with, so I'm not sure if that made a difference? Also, we were in separate cabins so I'm not sure if that factored in, as well-- in other words, I'm not sure if your son would get a separate statement from his sister & her hubby. But even if it IS all one one statement per cabin, each individual line-item expense IS broken down by folio # (different folio # corresponds to each individual person), so it's easy to pinpoint exactly which individual made which charge (see attached snippet from our most recent cruise).

Sounds like the cash option is best! 🙂 

Wouldn't it be easier for them to just tie their own credit card to their account? 

In 2017 we gifted my MIL with a cruise for her birthday. Hubby, son, and I in one cabin, and MIL in her own solo cabin. IIRC, each cabin gets their own itemized statement. Anyway, I did the booking and paid for her (separate) cabin, and also had a $100 Visa gift card that we tied her S&S account to. She was then responsible for the rest of her on-board expenses. Once on board, she went to guest services and gave them a bunch of cash to put onto her account. She could also have switched her S&S account to her own credit card, either at guest services or at a kiosk, but she was using cash to remain on budget. 

Seems like your "kids" could do the same-- once on board, they can switch their S&S account to their own credit/debit card at one of the kiosks, or at guest services. Or give cash to guest services to go toward their account. This would seem to be a lot faster and easier than having to get a copy of their itemized statement and arranging for reimbursement. 

I don't think you can pay off your exact balance before you get off the ship. The balance gets charged to the debit/credit card tied to the account. If you put cash into the account, they will mail you a check for the remainder after the cruise, unless it's less than $10, in which case it will get donated to St. Jude's unless you explicitly request the money back. 

"both relaxing and having fun"-- that's exactly how I would describe our experiences with Carnival. I've sailed the Imagination twice (both times right before Christmas), the Inspiration once (3-day weekend during the summer) and the Panorama during Christmas itself, and even the 3-day weekend summer cruise did not feel like the reputed crazy "booze cruise" you hear about.

You can choose to have fun by partaking of the various activities on board, or you can choose to relax and do your own thing. Port days are some of the best days to stay on the ship-- fewer passengers, and all the quiet and space you want in places like the Serenity Deck, the Atrium/Lobby bar, the Library Bar, etc. The larger, newer ships like the Vista-class ships (Vista, Horizon, Panorama) make better use of space so you can always find a quiet place to escape to, even on sea days. If you end up sailing with Carnival someday, I hope you enjoy your trip! 

6 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Yes - I will definitely ask! It's my fault for not researching correctly and just assuming....it would be nice for them to be together, though. At the end of the day, I'm sure they will find plenty to do on the ship even if they don't do the camp!

The other thing to note is that Circle C and Club O2 both allow the kids a lot of freedom to roam and do their own thing together, so if worse comes to worst and they're in separate clubs, your daughter can just have BFF join her on such outings. 

Side story: the very first time we ever cruised in 2016, my son was 12, in Circle C, and LOVED it. There were nights when he came back to the cabin LATER than us because he was having so much fun with his new friends. This past Christmas cruise, when my friend's son did Circle C for the first time, the exact same thing happened to him! Spent more time with his new friends than with us, and stayed out so late to the point that his mom had to enforce a curfew the night before our port excursion 😉 I'm sure your daughter and her friend will have a blast regardless of what happens with club assignments! 

Interesting... we sailed the Panorama Dec 21-28 and there were no signs indicating restricted parking. No attendants upon entry, either, but perhaps we sailed before they started enforcing it? We simply drove in as we normally do when we sail out of Long Beach. Expensive, though-- they've raised rates to $23/day! 😞 😞 Manageable for a 3-or-4 day cruise on Imagination/Inspiration, but for the 7-day? Ouch! Would definitely be interested in looking at off-site parking options in future...