HarryKane

13 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

You don't have to be a Brit to bring your own teabags if you enjoy drinking tea. The fact is Carnival doesn't have a good selection of teas whether complementary NOR for pay at Java Blue. I bring my own all the time.

Edit:

Look what Celebrity has for their complementary tea selections in the buffet. They have another array of teas for purchase at their Cafe Al Bacio. Carnival literally has two types of tea in the buffet for you to choose. 

 

so taking your own tea bags is not just a British thing?
 

You have just blown my mind! 🤯

13 minutes ago, JimmyTheSaint said:

I'm a fellow Brit who's now at Platinum on the Carnival loyalty programme and looking forward to our Carnival cruises this October and October 2024. Just my opinion but your nationality is irrelevant, the most important aspect is what type of cruiser you are. If your cruise history is on the more formal, sedate type cruise lines like Cunard, HAL or Princess then the chances are you won't enjoy Carnival. 

 

However if you've previously cruised the likes of RCI, NCL or P&O then your much more likely to enjoy a Carnival cruise. Carnival are the Fun ships, very informal, lively, we love 'em.

 

By the way whoever suggested bringing your own teabags was bang on, we always bring our own. The tea is horrible and the coffee is just as bad.

Taking your own teabags? I thought people were joking when they said that - such a stereotypical thing to say about Brits ‘take your own teabags ‘ 😂😂😂

I must be an exception then because I would never dream of taking tea bags with me. 
 

American coffee so good - plus the ice

cold beer, guys burgers, Shaq chicken etc

etc… ahh man I love it!

Fellow Brit here. From Nottingham, England.

Did my first Carnival Cruise on the magic in 2016 and since then been

on Vista (2019) and also tried Princess twice and MSC but as easy going brits who enjoy the ‘fun

ship’ aspect that Carnival bring they are our number 1!!

Im 41 now, wife few years younger and our 12 year old daughter LOVE to cruise carnival.

we actually like that there’s not many other English on board and we find the American crowd (and Mexican/Canadian ) 80% 20% split awesome!
 

The crowd on board is always awesome

and we have a great time.
 

Doing our third Carnival cruise this August on Mardi Gras.

Only problem being a Brit who books via carnival.com Is that I can’t take advantage of certain discounts that are only open to US residents (buying the AARP gift cards for example) and is a shame I can’t just get drinks package for myself as wife doesn’t really drink but other than that we LOVE cruising carnival.

Cheers!!!

Anybody had any joy recently with a growler or 32oz mason jar? 

Thanks guys - so I wouldnt be able to take this to the bars on lidso deck and say, get a refill for $9.95 of ANY draft beer?

Hi guys,

Cruising the mardi gras in August - I'm a big drinker, wife doesn't drink.

In previous carnival cruises we've done I've spent just under what it would cost for the two of us on alcohol for myself.

Im trying to save a few dollars this time with flight prices being crazy high to get over from the UK to Orlando and wondered if the offerings of the brewhouse 'Mason Jar 32 oz' and 64oz 'Growler' holders they offer can be refilled all over the ship, lido deck etc? I see a refill price for the 'Mason Jar 32 oz at $9.95 which is two pints so a few of those would save me a few dollars.

Anybody gone down this route on the madi gras? 

Also it says 'any beer' so wondered if they could refill it with domestic beers such as miller, Bud etc at $9.95?

13 hours ago, resetjet said:

Thanks.  This is great.  A 32 oz mason jar refill of any beer is $8.95 at the brewhouse.  Thats cheap $4.50 a pint. I will be heading there!!!!

I'm looking at that too! Wondering if it also includes domestic beers (miller etc) as it states 'any beer' ?

10 hours ago, Thrak said:

Things may well change by August but I doubt they will change enough to let your daughter cruise unvaccinated. If you are adamant that she not be vaccinated then probably cruising is not in her future.

Im not 100% adamant, it's just that I really dont see the point. My daughter had covid in january, was tired and had a bit of a cold for a day or two and was then absolutely fine - so really dont want to give her anything unnecessary. 

44 minutes ago, john watson said:

In the recent past Princess ex-UK cruises  required vaccinated passengers 18 years of age or older.  They also had a special rule for unvaccinated children to have a PCR test at the cruise terminal.  However two weeks prior to sailing they emailed all passengers who had a child on the booking and cancelled their cruises with a refund.  People were not happy.  I should think trying to board in Athens will be a bit more problematic if you fly there initially.

 

Regards John

Oh no! 

Yes that's what we are doing John, we are flying to Athens on the Thursday and then plan to embark on the Saturday.

I might leave it a month and the see if anything changes? I guess princess would issue a 100% refund if we couldn't cruise as daughter wouldn't have had both jabs, or even one?

I’ll have to see what the UK government is handing out to 5-11 year olds. No idea what it is but most (with the exception of J&J) require two shots so unsure.

it’s tricky because we aren’t cruising from the USA but it seems princess are using the rules that apply for cruises out of the USA.

Hey guys,

We are sailing from Athens in August and information from Princess right now is slightly confusing me.

status -

me - fully vaccinated with booster

wife - as above 

11 year old daughter- unvaccinated. 
 

now princess say passengers over 5 years old must be fully vaccinated- BUT in the UK we have only just started offering it to 5-11 year olds.

I’ll be honest I don’t want my daughter to have the jab, but my wife does so we’re unsure how to proceed.

BUT is she definitely unable to cruise if she’s unvaccinated?

Also even if she does get the jab - that will only be one jab and princess only allow ‘fully vaccinated’ passengers on board, so has she would only be eligible for one jab again does this mean she won’t be able to cruise as she’s only potentially going to have had one jab!

I know it can all change in august - any passengers flying from UK don’t even need jabs etc at moment, I’m just struggling to see what we’ll need to be able to board!

Im flying from london in august with BA and my name and middle name is combined! Annoying but I guess it's ok of others have boarded ok?

On 3/11/2022 at 5:23 PM, riffatsea said:

Can you get into your booking on the BA site?

 

Yes I can see my boking on there - the problem is it doesn't say anything about luggage allowance! But looking at posts above hopefully its included. 

Hey Guys,

I booked a med cruise for August with the free flights bundled in. Any idea if the BA flights include a checked bag per person? I cant seem to see any mention of it - i called princess who told me to check with BA - but on BA it tells me to check my ticket but I cannot find it anywhere!

I know princess says 'Prices do not include baggage fees for some low cost airlines' but I wouldn't class BA as a low cost airline?

Thanks

On 3/28/2019 at 9:21 PM, spinspokes said:

Anyone know of hotels in the vicinity of IAH that have a great pool for kids and/or a day rate available? Have a full day to kill post cruise. 

 

Thanks!

Im quite interested in this too!

Im stuck between going to the hotel Im staying at on the seawall after the cruise OR going back towards IAH (we have a 7pm flight) and using an hotel there for the pool etc before we head to the airport.

4 minutes ago, JBSteelerfan said:

 

Try this site.....usually gives a pretty good estimate.

 

https://ride.guru/

Thanks buddy. Coming up at $79 for an UBER X (up to x4 people) so I guess that's pretty good.

On 4/2/2019 at 11:57 PM, MoCowBell said:

Galveston Express has a Discount code (SUMMER) that will get you 20% off Monday through Saturday.

Ive just tried to book using that code for next Wednesday (one-way trip) but doesn't seem to work so ive emailed them.

Hi guys,

Myself, wife and daughter are looking to take an UBER from IAH to Galveston (holiday inn seawall) next Wednesday afternoon and was wondering what the total price would be - ball park figure? We will only need the small sized uber.

We are then looking at doing the same route in reverse after the cruise on Easter Sunday. Any ideas if there is lots of UBER availability around mid to late afternoon once cruise ship has docked back to IAH?

1 minute ago, naxer said:

 

Plus beware fraudulent gift cards.  Every now and again it pops up that fakes are circulating.

I'll probably give it a miss, too many jumping through hoops/risks to save like 10%.

19 hours ago, Joebucks said:

Last cruise, I tried the philly cheesesteak. It was outstanding

philly cheesesteak is one of my favourite sandwiches!!! So say if I ordered this after 10pm (im cruising carnival next month) how much would that cost me?

9 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

AARP's gift cards come from their Rewards for Good program. According to their website, this rewards program is only available to those in the U.S. Sorry.

 

I realize it's a long shot, but do you know anyone in the U.S. who could get them for you? It's kind of a crazy, round-about way, but just about your only chance, unless you can find something similar in the U.K. Incidentally, they can be used for just about everything, not just Cheers. Including paying off the cruise.

Thanks organized chaos. I sadly suspected as much to be honest but thought I would put it out there. To be fair there isn't that many UK passengers onboard Carnival cruises which depart from the US, which I like because it actually feels like i'm on vacation! I guess my best chance is via ebay if i strike lucky with anybody selling on there but by the time ive paid shipping there is hardly any saving to be made.

Hi guys,

I keep on seeing posts where people are recommending 10% carnival AARP gift cards etc in order to bring the cost of the cheers package down.

My questions - Has any UK passengers been able to purchase these? If so how and from where?

18 hours ago, xostacylee said:

 

Depending on the spreadsheet you're using, there's a formula that auto adds the grats. This is the one I use!

1505515654_CarnivalBeveragePackageEvaluator.xls

 

Edited to say: I did not make this, I found it on this forum so thank you to whoever created it!

This one doesn't appear to add gratuities on the per drink price though.

On the current cheers spreadsheet does that not automatically add the 18% grats then per drink?

Quick question guys,

We cruise outta galveston soon on a 8-day cruise. Now I know you cant use cheers on day 1 so that leaves us to use cheers on monday through to saturday (X6 DAYS). We finish the cruise sunday morning early AM.

Do they charge you for that sunday too (X7 DAYS)? Even though we wont use cheers on the sunday?