Sugaree5335

I got the email saying that the pre-cruise price would be honored. And they did honor it. BUT....it took a whole lot of running around that I'd rather have not done right after embarkation. I hope that it's fixed by the time I take my next cruise.

This is kind of timely since I'm starting to run the numbers on our next vacation. I'm looking at spending a week in Coz at an AI that includes diving in the price. For a week, including food, hotel, diving, and flights it's going to be about $2700 for the week. Alternatively, I can also book a cruise that is also 7 days. The cost of this cruise, once you factor in the cost of the cruise, drinks (Cheers for two people for 7 days), and diving (excursions through the ship where offered and through a different vendor when not) is ~$2900. Actually, it would be a bit more because, while I don't have to fly into the home port, I would have to drive about 6 hours and either stay in a hotel or pay to park at the port. And it includes two fewer diving days than staying on land. This may not apply to you if you don't dive or have a spouse that doesn't dive or don't want to dive every day. But it's another perspective.

I was thinking the same thing.

Except that Carnival can't automate the jobs they're "keeping."

The Holiday Inn, the Admiral, and the Battlehouse all have these packages as well. I've stayed in all three for various other reasons and like them. We're staying at the Admiral this time. I would have preferred the Battlehouse, but they were booked up when I made my reservations. They only offer valet parking, so I feel like my car would be safer there. That being said, I'm getting conflicting information about whether they're actually offering a park and cruise package. It was on their website at one point in time, but I can't find it now. We're staying at the Admiral. I'm very excited to see the recent renovations. The parking there is at the public parking lot next door. The Holiday Inn will have open parking in their lot. It's not an access-restricted lot, so your car will be out in the open. That is the same for the hotels in Tillman's Corner/Saraland that offer the same package.

The website is no longer listing Alabama as a state where you can't get Cheers the first day. And when you add it to the Fun Shop cart, it lists all days of the cruise rather than the one-day-less that it used to charge. The law didn't change, so I wonder if they found a loophole?

They sell up to 30 per cruise (depending on how many "priorties" onboard if more is offered)

I can confirm that at one point in time at least 45 were available for the Fantasy 1/4/17 sailing. And that was after I'd already bought one. There are currently 10 available, so I don't know if they've sold a bunch or if they've reduced the number available. I don't imagine that there will be too many P&Ds on this sailing though.

If Mobile is like Galveston then bottles cannot be delivered until day 2.

I'm not sure exactly how the TX law is written, but I believe it has to do with the taxes paid on the bottle. Alabama's law says that multiple drinks can not be purchased for the same price. That leads me to believe that you could get a bottle delivered to your room for the first day.

I'll have to agree! I'm so close to Mobile and with the price? We're really loving it. My DH has never cruised and I thought that maybe a shorter cruise on a smaller ship would be a great honeymoon get-a-way. I was considering the Dream because we are 3 hours from New Orleans. The only issue I saw is what if he doesn't like it and we have to be on the ship 7 nights.

 

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LOL. That's pretty much why I chose this one too. I wanted him to start on a smaller ship. We actually had our pick because we're pretty much equidistant from Mobile, NOLA, Jacksonville, and Charleston. Mobile is closer by about an hour or so and I used to live there, so I love to go back whenever I get a chance.

Would getting a passport now help?

I would think that the name on a passport would have to match the name on the birth certificate. While I would recommend anyone that is going to do any traveling, closed-loop or not, have a passport, I think that in this situation it would be better to fix the BC and then get a PP.

The Fantasy was my first ship and will be my husband's first ship as well. I was on her in 96 when she was still fairly new, so I'm very interested in seeing how she's aged.

I'm sure you know this, but she'll be going out of Mobile, AL starting next month. I've only seen a couple of itineraries; a stop in Cozumel and maybe another in either Progreso or Costa Maya. Those are fun stops, but IMO there are better itineraries out there. But I won't complain too much because it's nice to have a ship back in Mobile again.

According to the CSR I spoke to, the suffix doesn't matter so much. That they just go by the name and birthdate (my husband is a fourth so it comes up occasionally). The spelling could be a problem. If the documents aren't corrected by the time she sails then I'd say she'd need to do a name correction through Carnival.

Is this new? I have bought several through AARP and have them delivered to my work address, which is not the same as my billing address for credit card. That will make it difficult since nobody is home to sign during the day.

It's been within the last couple of months. My first order was $600 (1 @ $500 and 1 @ $100) and I was able to have it sent to my parents house (except the UPS carrier brought it to my house and almost ruined the surprise for my husband). My second order was 1 @ $500 and it was also sent to my parents' house via UPS. My third order was $400 and it had to be mailed to my house.

I put a Carnival gift card in my cart on AARP and it said taxes would be added at checkout. I did not realize we have to pay sales tax on gift cards. If my state tax is 7.5% that makes my savings only 2.5% instead of 10%?

You're probably located in the same state as the clearinghouse. When I worked in e-tail, we had to charge sales tax to anyone who ordered from the same state, county, or city as we were located in. It sucks, but it is what it is. Or you live in a state that enforces sales tax on online purchases. Technically, you're supposed to report online purchases and pay taxes on them, at least in my state. But here it's on an honor system of sorts.

For that price, I think I might look into a credit card that offers rewards points for travel that are more in the 5% range. Or one that has a hefty sign-up bonus for spending $X in Y days.

I would love to spend a couple of days docked in NYC (assuming that I can use my Cheers package while docked) and get a discount on my next cruise.

But I can kind of see the POV where passengers chose to get on board in Baltimore expecting at least a trip to St. John's and now their not even getting that. I don't think it deserves a full refund, but I can see why maybe some people wouldn't be happy. Especially if they live within driving distance of NYC.

Self insurance is indeed an option. I can't self-insure because I don't have $20k-50k just sitting around that could be used for a medevac.

This is the only reason I get travel insurance. My credit card travel insurance covers me for trip cancellation/interruption as long as I put a portion of the trip on the card. My health insurance covers me on the boat and in foreign ports. The only thing that isn't covered is medevac, so I get a policy (it was ~$30 for two people this time) to cover that need specifically. It would take a lot of trips at $30 to make up the cost of a single medevac flight.

If I booked onboard and got $75 OBC, and found that the price dropped $10/pp and includes $50 OBC, will I lose my original $75 OBC?

 

 

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Yes. You'd be better of sticking with your original rate unless you have more than two people booked. ($50 + $10 + $10 = $70 vs $75). I have one booked right now where I booked ES and then an OBC sale came around that got me $100 OBC. The price then dropped $10/pp, while the OBC sale was still going on, so I got $20 more. The sale that's going on now is only giving $50 OBC and the price is $25/pp less than when I booked. So, unless the price drops another $15/pp it won't do me any good to change. Make sense?

Although the early saver rate will no longer be offered, the price match you get from booking the early saver rate is valid up to 2 days before sailing. You don't just have to price match to early saver rates - you can price match to any lower rate you would qualify for your ship/sailing/category that is verifiable through the Carnival site (so resident rates, sales, past guest offers, casino rates, etc.).

 

And once you're early saver - you're always early saver. Price matching to another rate doesn't change that.

Thanks for the succinct explanation. It may be a moot point because it's going to be really hard for anything to beat the deal I got during the last OBC sale. I noticed last week that the base price had dropped, but the price of the upgrade to a porthole room had increased by the same amount. Touche Carnival.

I've wondered this myself. I've looked at these SIMs/phones for a business phone because they are the closest thing to a true pay-as-you-go phone I have found. If it works in port, then that might be the catalyst I need to actually get one.

I totally agree with this. Try to make it to Alabaster to stay the night. The traffic on I-65 south of Birmingham through Pelham is ridiculous!

I second this. I'd also try to make it so that I didn't hit Montgomery at rush hour. Also, just because Mapquest says Birmingham to Mobile is 3.5 hours, I'd assume an extra hour at least. Just in case. Mobile traffic isn't as bad as Birmingham (at least not on the Interstate), but it can be bad.

I think if it were me, I'd pick somewhere about halfway between where you live and Mobile and stop there (leaving a day earlier) and then drive the rest of the way the day before. I know it's probably too late to make those arrangements though. For the record, I live an hour and a half from Birmingham and probably could make the drive on the same day, but who wants to get up at 6 a.m. on the first day of vacation?

As for the dinner menu, I have heard that the Fantasy does have the American Table Menu.

Great! I knew that when you used price protection you kind of get put into whatever rate is going at that time. For example, if I took advantage of the ongoing OBC sale, I'd have to give up my OBC from the previous sale and it wouldn't be beneficial for me. I just didn't know if you gave up ES benefits because you were taking advantage of a non-ES rate.

Thanks for your help!

I hope this makes sense.

I booked ES a few months ago and have taken advantage of both a price drop and an OBC sale. Final payment date is today. There is an OBC sale going on for this sailing through the end of the week, but the fare would need to drop $10-15 per person for it to be worth it for me. There are still at least 164 cabins left as of this morning, including at least 24 in my category. Should I expect a price drop now that final payment date has come? If so, is it a one-shot deal? What I mean is that if I call up and get the lower price and I now stuck with that price because the ES period is now over? Or can I get more than one price drop, if it should occur?

what is the benefit of a gift card over credit card? Just wondering since I am new to this and have seen many comments about gift cards. Thanks!

There are a couple of places online that you can pick up discounted gift cards. $100 cost $90 and $500 cards cost $450. AARP and Verizon are the two that I know about. Some grocery stores also run deals where you get gas perks for buying gift cards.

Do either of your rooms hold 3 pax? Assuming that the friend is old enough to purchase Cheers, then she's old enough to have her "own" room. Could you book her into a room and you and your husband and daughter into another room? She'd lose the early boarding perk, but it's something to consider.

I've been in porthole rooms on the Fantasy and Elation and we love them. Those rooms had the regular twin beds that could be pushed together.

We're going to be in a PT on the Fantasy in January. I booked it specifically for the porthole. DH has never been on a cruise, but he's sails and I thought the porthole would be a nice touch.

As for local restaurants, check out Felix's Fish Camp (locals may refer to it by its former name of "Pier 4"), Wintzell's Oyster House, The Brick Pit (BBQ), Jerusalem Cafe (Middle Eastern), and Cammie's Old Dutch Ice Cream. There's also a hot dog and burger place-that keeps very limited hours-called Dew Drop Inn that is another Mobile institution.

I agree. I used to live near the Brick Pit and the piping of the smoky smell onto the road is just evil.

The Original Oyster House and the Bluegill are both near Felix's on the Causeway and are good too. There's an Irish Pub called Callaghan's that has amazing burgers. I like the crab claws at the Mariner, if you can find it.

Unfortunately, it seems that some of my favorite joints have closed since I've last been to Mobile.