DaveNetMan

I too would like to know if you can cancel your cruise and then immediately re-book it (to take advantage of the new lower rates)? Or do you have to wait until your FCC is mailed out?

We originally booked on the Armonia for $279pp for an inside cabin. The current sale rate on the same ship/sailing is $249pp for a balcony. In other words, a balcony is cheaper than the inside we booked. I discovered this on Sunday. I called MSC Monday morning, and was told they can't match/honor the lower price on an existing booking. My two options were to a) 'uprgade' to a balcony at the rate a balcony was at the time we originally booked and pay the $500 difference, or b) cancel our current booking and re-book to get the new lower balcony rate, but there's a 50% cancellation fee (as of Monday) which for us would be about $450. Neither choice is good.

So now with the new Cruise Assurance program which just started, looks like we can cancel w/no fees. But the only reason we'd want to cancel is to immediately re-book at the current lower rate. Has anyone tried this yet? Is it possible we can immediately use the FCC?

Thanks so much,

davenetman

I'm following this thread because we have a similar situation. We are booked on the MSC Armonia for next week (first time on MSC). When we booked a few months ago, they were still advertising the 12 free drink vouchers. We booked over the phone directly with MSC, and they said they were ending the free drink voucher program at the end of March, so we would not be getting them, since our cruise was in April. So again, when we booked they were still being offered, but because we weren't sailing until April, she said we wouldn't get them. But on our boarding documents, it does say we will get them. I guess we won't know until we board next week.

Hi folks! Longtime cruisers but we just booked our first ever MSC cruise (Armonia) for April. This will also be our first time visiting Cuba. I read alot on the MSC website, and I just wanted to confirm I understood 2 things...

1. My wife and I are not alcohol drinkers, and we usually get the unlimited soda packages on other cruiselines. MSC website shows their unlimited soda package is over $200 ($29/day)!! This seems extremely high, I could swear Carnival was like $50 for the week. Am I reading this correctly? Why do expensive?

2. We were excited about visiting Cuba for the first time, but I'm just now reading about the requirements, which I didn't know about upfront. The MSC website says passengers cannot just walk off the ship and walk around on their own, they can only walk off the ship if they have a tour booked, is that correct? I ask because we were debating whether to book a city tour or not, as we usually just walk around on our own. I also read that a Visa is required for all guest, which is $75 per person, is that true too? Because that's an extra $150 expense.

Thanks in advance

Dave & Chris

davenetman

Thanks everyone for your feedback, very much appreciated

Long-time cruiser but first time booking on MSC (Armonia). One thing we love about Carnival is their stand-up comedy clubs, which we attend regularly. Does MSC have a comedy club, or at least have stand-up comedy shows? Thanks in advance!

20 hours ago, darth frosty said:

In oct on the magic, I used an HDMI cable to connect my WD media player to the TV and watch movies stored on it.

 

I cant remember if it had a USB port.

Thanks darth frosty, HDMI is an option from my tablet 🙂

Do the TV's on the Carnival Magic allow you to plug in a USB flash drive and play videos stored on it? We're going on the Magic for the first time, but I know older ships in the past haven't allowed this. We were able to on a recent NCL cruise, and really enjoyed watching some movies we brought along. Thanks in advance!

DaveNetMan

Looking at cabin selections for the Carnival Magic, noticed it list "interior porthole' cabin. How does that work? My wife jokingly said do we get to look at the cabin next to ours? LOL

We originally booked a 'guarenteed oceanview' on the NCL Jade. We received the email about bidding for an upgrade, offered a balcony or a mini-suite/balcony. I don't remember what their suggested prices were, but we bid $25pp for balcony and $50pp mini-suite. They surprisingly accepted our offer for the mini-suite! $100 total and well spent!!!

After being a long-time Carnival customer for over 30 years, I want to say how absolutely DISGUSTED my family is at how Carnival is treating my sister after her husband passed away last week.

Last spring, my sister and her husband booked a Carnival cruise for this November. About 6 weeks ago, her husband was suddenly diagnosed with cancer, and he passed away last week. We just had his furneral this week. My sister decided she would still like to take the cruise, to both honor him and to get away from reality for a short while. She has a close family friend that would be able to go to keep her company. She called Carnival to see how this can be arranged. To everyones shock, she was bluntly told that not only is there absolutely no refund for her husband who just died, but THEY REQUIRE HER TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL $250 'CANCELLATION FEE' ON TOP OF THAT! When she told me that, I told her there's no way that can be true, maybe she can contact them again and speak to another person. She waited and called them again, spoke with a different person, and was told the exact same thing. This is unbelievable. They kept saying it's because he "cancelled"... apparently they equate DYING as 'cancelling'. She felt she had no choice but to pay it. So as it stands now, they have kept her dead husbands entire fare, plus an additional $250 'cancellation' fee, and if a family friend can go with her, Carnival will gladly charge a 3rd full fare.

Does this sound right to anyone? Do other cruise lines do this? Is there anything more she can do? I would love to hear from others who had a similar situation happen to them, and what they were told.

Oh, she was also told that once she pays that additional $250, she would probably get some of it back, since Carnival may refund the port charges. How generous. But she will need to submit an appeal, including a death certificate. I'm just disgusted by the whole thing. Carnival is not the people-friendly company they want you to believe.

Hi, I'm new to using Uber. I wanted to get an estimate of the cost from going from the Fort Lauderdale airport to the Miami cruise port. The app only lets me get estimates from my current location (Buffalo). Does anyone know?

Thanks!

Dave

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Thanks for the replies! We have never used Uber (not available in Buffalo) but thought we'd give it a try.

I take it there's no restrictions preventing Uber drivers from entering the cruise port area?

I was wondering if anyone knows the current rate (ballpark) of a taxi or Uber between the Fort Lauderdale airport and cruise port for 2 passengers. Looking at our options, I know the Carnival shuttle says $16 per person. Thanks in advance!!

Thanks, crewsweeper! I'm hoping to find something within walking distance of the port, even a grocery store is fine. We're going in 6 weeks, so I'll ask around.

I did find many people selling comicbook-related items, such as statues, so I'm hoping the actual books aren't too scarce :)

Don't laugh :) but I'm a comic book collector, and I'd like to know if anyone knows of any place in Cozumel to buy comic books. I thought it would be fun to have a few Spanish ones in my collection. I've looked around at the shops by the port, but haven't found any. And I don't know if I'd have to go downtown, and if so, what does that cost.

Thanks everyone!

Dave

Our next cruise will have a stop on Port Canaveral, FL. Last time we were there, we hadn't booked any tours, and wanted to just get off the ship and walk around, like we often do in foreign ports. But we couldn't find ANYTHING to do or go within walking distance of the ship. Since we're going again, thought I'd ask, in case we missed something. Is there anywhere within walking distance to go if you don't have a tour booked?

Hiya folks! I have a couple of basic questions on Royal Caribbean. Although my wife and I have cruised 20+ times, our next cruise will be our first time on RCL. One thing we would like to know if we can use our onboard credit ($200) for tips. Also, for the casino. And do they give a cash refund for any unused onboard credit? We know how Carnival does theirs, but like I said it's our first time on RCL. Thanks in advance!

DaveNetMan

I'll have several hours kill in Fort Lauderdale after our upcoming Carnival Freedom cruise. A friend recommended going to the Sawgrass Mill shopping mall. Can someone recommend some transportation options for getting from the cruise port to the mall, then the mall to the airport? How far away is that? We prefer to not rent a car.

Thanks in advance!

DaveNetMan

Hi, can someone tell me the differences between Half Moon Bay and West Bay Beach? We'd like to spend some time at a nice beach that Bodden offers, but don't really want to book them both.

OK I know this is an old thread, but I just had to put my 2-cents in. I too cruised many times with SingleWorld, back in the late 80's to early 90's. My first time was when I had always wanted to cruise, I finally saved up some money, but none of my friends had any money to join me, so I decided that wasn't going to stop me and asked a travel agent if there were any such groups for single travelers. I have such GREAT memories from all my trips, and made so many great friends! I got lucky with the cabin mates I got booked with, because they were all wonderful! I eventually took 7 cruises with SingleWorld. I even met my (now) wife on a SingleWorld cruise! Me from Ohio and her from Buffalo NY!

Oh let's see how many SingleWorld reps I can remember. In no particular order, I remember Dominic, Jeff, Jackie, Coleen, and one 'California tan' guy I remember vividly but can't recall his name. Oh, the stories I could tell!

I'm very sad to see that SingleWorld is no longer around. I'm sure they had thousands of satisfied customers like myself. I would have never taken my first cruise alone if it wasn't for them!

Dave