12 hours ago, natefish95 said:

I went on the Jewel twice this year and will be doing the Japan-Alaska transpacific on the Jewel next year. 

 

I love the Jewel and would compare it to a Spirit class ship size wise and ease of getting around. 

 

More cruises will almost certainly be populated after March 2025. It's still a pretty long way out and they're probably going to send Jewel back to Alaska in Summer 2025, so they have some logistics to work out. Regarding flights, I never let a cruise line book flights for me because I like to be in charge of my own itinerary. If something goes wrong or I need to make a change, I can do that myself directly with Delta instead of there being a third party involved which can complicate myself (I'm flying Delta over to Japan using credits I have). 

 

Regarding onboard activities, Carnival definitely does not have nearly as many daily activities (on my most recent NCL Jewel cruise, there were no comedy shoes). They still do the normal trivias, games, etc, but the staff is not as great as the Fun Squad in my opinion. NCL does have a teen club, but on a Japan cruise, I don't think there will be as many teens onboard (if your kid doesn't participate in the teen club on Carnival this might be a non-issue). 

 

You'll want to check pricing, but the NCL Jewel has a few two bedroom suites (one master bedroom and a smaller room that is good for kids). Might be cheaper than doing a balcony and interior. 

 

Let me know if you have any other questions. I love the NCL product. It is better than Carnival in some areas, but worse in others. 

Thanks for this infromation. From the feedback I am gathering, I will definitely book flights on my own. We typically cruise during the winter months on 7-8 day cruises so she is used to not having a ton of kids on board, but she does like to go to the basketball courts and hang out with the other teens.

14 hours ago, Cruise5life said:

 I personally wouldn’t let a cruise line book my flights.  You just never know what you’ll get for flights.  
I’d also arrive atleast a day ahead of time.   If not 2. 
I have an Asian cruise in 2025 and an greek isle cruise in 2024 and I’m flying in 2 days early.   Just to much that can happen.      

Thanks for the insight 🙂  For your 2025 Asia cruise, did you book your flights and then a hotel nearby that will provide a shuttle to the cruise port? One of my main concerns about booking local in Japan versus through the cruise line is the language barrier. 

6 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

For #1, I'd say it's likely they'll have more than one sailing. Japan is really popular in the spring and fall, so in all likelihood, there will be more sailings.

For #2, there's no guarantee you'll all be on the same flights unless you use NCL's airfare booking service, which is separate from their BOGO aka "second guest flies free" offer. But they will handle transportation to and from the airport and cruise port.

Hope that helps!

Thank you so much, that is very helpful. I will look into NCL's airfare booking service to see what I can find. 🙂

My family is looking to visit Japan in 2025. I noticed NCL has Asia cruises that depart from Japan. I have just a few questions that I am hoping you all may be able to help me with. As a little background, we have never been to Japan. We have been on several Caribbean cruises (not NCL) and have always driven to port. I have always booked directly through the cruise websites, never used a TA. For this particular cruise, we would like to book flights through NCL so that our trip is packaged together. My questions are:

1. The NCL website is showing only one cruise departing from Tokyo in 2025, currently that cruise is in March. What is the possibility more Japan cruises will populate for later in 2025?

2. What is your experience with booking flights through NCL? Will they handle transportation to the cruise port for embarkation and back to the airport for debarkation? We are looking at booking two staterooms, will they accommodate our flights so that all of us can be on the same flight?

3. I have a 16 year daughter that is used to sailing Carnival, does NCL Jewel have similar activities on board to keep her entertained? I am having some difficulty locating the onboard activities for each individual ship.

Any guidance, input, experiences you can provide are greatly appreciated. 

Thanks!

1 minute ago, Steelers0854 said:

We are going 9/19 on the Pride, but we had already planned for the eMed proctored test and have them ready to go, so it doesn’t impact us too much, may just be a longer wait time to get the test done.  Nothing like trying to hit a moving target!  But it will all be better once I’m sitting on the lido with a drink in hand!

We are booked 9/23 on the Magic, I also ordered the eMed proctored test and I am so glad I did! Im just ready to be on the ship with a Guys burger and fish bowl.

This information is very helpful, thanks OP. If anyone uses this for an upcoming cruise, please report back. This seems like the best option for us with the lack of testing in our area but I would love to make sure Carnival accepts it before I purchase. We cruise on September 23rd so I am hoping someone can provide feedback before then 🙂 I checked everything against the have fun. be safe. COVID-19 guest protocols, but I would like an extra layer of confirmation.  

1 minute ago, BTromboneFrack said:

OK, we will be driving to the cruise across parts of the country we are unfamiliar with.   How does one get a COVID test when they won't be staying in any one place for more than one night?   

 

If you are planning to stay in a hotel, I would find one along your route that has a Walgreens or CVS pharmacy nearby and make an appointment online ahead of time to get tested. They both offer a phone app and will send the results to the app and also to your email address. I have personally used both pharmacies and did not have an issue receiving the results within 3 days.

Carnival Imagination 2003 High School Graduation

Thank you so much for starting a review, I am looking forward to following along!

I am not sure how accurate this article is, but it appears the CDC is set to meet with the cruise lines today. I am anxious for an update!

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23077-cruise-lines-set-for-thursday-cdc-meeting.html

5 minutes ago, oldjetdriver said:

Anyone else having trouble signing into allstaterewards.com  I get "The SAML message is invalid" on my desktop and in the app.

I am having the same problem. I have logged in numerous times but I keep getting the same error. I even tried the app on my phone but no luck.

4 hours ago, canes20 said:

Thanks for the link. I went and checked the 2 boxes and it is showing I have 26500 points. i hope this link was not meant for just you and causes any issues like happened a few months ago with the "code" that got some blocked out of AARP Rewards for Good.

You're welcome. That was just the generic link, I dont have anywhere near that number of points so I dont think it was associated with my account.

4 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Wow, thanks for the tip! 

You're welcome.

1 minute ago, Joe817 said:

Many thanks! I went to the site, subscribed to the health e newsletter, and something else(can't remember) and even before I took one quiz, I was already up to 4,500 points! Didn't look for Carnival g.c.'s though. Will do that later.

Make sure you look for this! There are actually a lot more options for gift cards, and there are some gift cards of smaller denominations that only require points. If I read correctly the Carnival gift cards will be electronic, (fulfilled as a digital gift code) so no snail mail 🙂 Its a bummer we are limited to one of each denomination per month but I guess we will have to switch over to All State for the others.

19 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

I haven't gotten in either. The main rewards for good main page said the link was "coming later today." Andg I"m not finding out about anything Carnival gift card related either. I'm stumped.

I received an email saying Welcome to AARP rewards and if I click on the link in that email it will take me to the new rewards page, but if I try to visit AARP without the link from the email it brings me to the old Rewards for Goods. I copied and pasted the link below. I also had to pay $12 to become a member but they have a daily prize and I won a $5 Amazon egift card so its still a win for me 🙂

https://www.aarp.org/rewards/

Thanks for info; we have a large group sailing out of Charleston in April 2020 so this information will be extremely helpful.

We are sailing to Princess Cays from Charleston, SC the week of April 4th, 2020. Carnival has Private Bungalow Rentals (4 People Maximum) listed as an excursion but does anyone know if there are bungalow/cabana rentals that accommodate more than 4 people?  We are traveling with approximately 20 people (wedding party) so we are interested in something that would comfortably fit 7-10 people seated indoors at any given time. Any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated. Of course we have the option of booking multiple 4 person bungalows, I am just hoping for other available options that I may have overlooked. Thanks in advance!

I posted this in the Private Islands thread but it did not receive any responses so I am trying here. 🙂 

Good Afternoon,

We are sailing to Princess Cays from Charleston, SC the week of April 4th, 2020. Carnival has Private Bungalow Rentals (4 People Maximum) listed as an excursion but does anyone know if there are bungalow/cabana rentals that accommodate more than 4 people?  We are traveling with approximately 20 people (wedding party) so we are interested in something that would comfortably fit 7-10 people seated indoors at any given time. Any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated. Of course we have the option of booking multiple 4 person bungalows, I am just hoping for other available options that I may have overlooked.  

Thanks in Advance

Love your review so far, we cruise on the Breeze in 12 days 🙂

My wife and I are on the fence about letting our 9 yr old son get self check out privileges.

 

For those of you who have sailed with 9 yr olds' date=' what did you do, and how did it work out? Are there any camp activities that require sign out privileges? (such as a scavenger hunt).

 

Do they have self check in privileges also? We also have a 6 year old, so if we do let him check out, he'll want to go back to his brother, and not the cabin.[/quote']

 

 

We cruised on the Magic in January; I had myself convinced that my 9 year old daughter would not have self check privileges until I got to Camp and realized she would not be able to participate in the scavenger hunt (she had a blast). I allowed her self check privileges and did not regret it. She met a few other girls on the ship that she became friends with and they would meet at Camp and then disburse. My daughter also had the Carnival Hub App on her phone and she was to message me each time she left camp and each time she changed locations. You can also go by camp at any time to see if they checked in/out throughout the day and I would visit the areas of the ship to make sure she was where she told me she would be.

 

The girls spent most of their time grabbing ice creams, playing on the water slides (with adult supervision) participating in the activities put on by the Cruise Director (Dr. E), going to the arcade, playing ping pong, basketball and visiting the Library to play board games. Some nights they even had dinner together at the Lido Buffet.

 

Also, the kids are not allowed to check themselves out after 10pm, so if you send them to "Night Owls" you have to check them out, they are not allowed to leave without permission.

 

We still keep in contact with one of the families (we are in the US and they are in Canada), the girls FaceTime frequently, we are planning to visit them next month, and we are booked on our next cruise together.

We've received six of these upgrade email offers in the last three weeks. Five of them were crazy; almost rack rates. We accepted one, porthole to oceanview, for $50.00

Where the upgrade offers all for the same cruise?

We have decided not to take the upsell offer. After the input for you all and further discussing the cost, we decided it was best to spend that money on something else. Thank you all for your input!

IMO, spend your $444 on something better. I think it’s way too much for 5 nights...ask if they have a better offer available. We recently upgraded on the Sunshine from an ocean view to a balcony for $40...and that was for an 8 night cruise.

 

On another note, we’ve sailed the Paradise 5 times...it’s a great ship! Enjoy!

 

 

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I agree it is a bit pricey; I have received better upsell offers in the past.

Take the upsell - you will enjoy the balcony cabin much, much more than an inside. We love the Paradise and have sailed on her 4 times since Nov., just once since dry dock and the new things are great. Enjoy your honeymoon!!

Thank you so much; we are really looking forward to the cruise. I am still undecided but I am going to call my PVP and get some further input :)

Well it's your honeymoon, so I say go for it. :)

I've heard balconies are great.

Definitely better than an interior.

We booked an interior on our last cruise in January 2018 with my DD who is 9 years old, it was less comfortable than our previous ocean view. It is such a tough decision one that I hate to turn down because I worry I wont get another offer on future cruises haha.