Mic101680

I've been sailing Carnival more often because the pricing is so much lower when compared to similar itineraries on other cruise lines (at least from what I have seen). If they increase their pricing, they need to step up their game with the quality of their food, entertainment, and service to match it IMO.

I'd pass on that and keep looking. That's crazy pricing.

Bigger and newer doesn't always mean better. I love the smaller, older ships and am actually doing a B2B on the Paradise in January! Stinks that the older ones usually almost always have shorter sailings to the same old places.

It entirely depends on what the itinerary is and what the weather is likely to be. I refuse to go anywhere in the Caribbean in the summer (end of May - September and sometimes October) because the heat/humidity is absolutely unbearable for me. Unless it's a special itinerary, or I can get a really fantastic deal, I also avoid cruising during typical spring break months (March-April) and major holidays. January and the first part of February are my favorite times to cruise the Caribbean, though the weather can sometimes be on the iffy side.

During the times I avoid cruising, I will do other kinds of vacations, depending on where I want to go and what I want to see/do.

There are some circumstances where a visa may be needed (ex: may depend on the type of passport you have, how long you plan to stay in each country, etc). I would check each country's visa requirements, including the U.S., and double check with your consulate/embassy to see what would be necessary.

I'm obviously not familiar with the Canadian requirements, but to give an example based on my experience, most countries don't require a visa for US citizens unless the stay is over 30 days (or some other specified period of time), but the passport has to usually be valid for at least 6 months after the dates of travel. If the Canadian citizen requirements are similar, then it's likely you don't need visas.

45 minutes ago, Fawkes Trotter said:

Thank you all! I'll wait and see what happens when we get on. Seems a bit silly not to be given any guidance from the cruise line on how to pack, but I guess that's just a feature of a different line. Thanks!

Agreed. On my last cruise, we had no idea the whole ship would be decorated for Halloween (even though it was still weeks away), and had no idea there was going to be a costume contest. Obviously the information was somewhere before sailing because there were plenty of people with costumes on the ready for the party. We would have brought costumes had we known, but still had a great time just by showing up.

We talked to some of the employees about it, and even though they couldn't give us an answer on how to know for sure what the theme parties would be, they did say that the CD can change it, depending on the demographics of that cruise (ex: a 90s party vs a 70s or 80s party due to the average age on that sailing being younger), but that it didn't happen all that often.

Honestly, an email about a week out would be plenty of time for most people to put something together if they choose to participate and dress for the occasion. Other cruise lines I have sailed have done this, or have the information easily available in their equivalent of the planner section.

2 hours ago, river_raiser said:

So we'll be traveling with a toddler and a 6 month old. On our last two cruises, we were actually escorted to a separate, faster line because of our kid. If that were to happen again, I would hate to leave our friends, but wouldn't want to be in line if we didn't have to. 

If your friends are in line with you and this happens, it's possible that whoever escorts you to the shorter line will allow your friends to go with you. It happened to me once when traveling with some elderly friends of mine - even though we were on separate bookings, the employee that let my friends go through the priority line let me go with them. But of course it's not a guarantee and your friends may have to wait.

They can assign the room any time, up to when you arrive at the port. I found out recently that part of it depends on how well that sailing is selling. 

Someone posted a link for a drink package calculator just yesterday on a similar topic. Most drinks are around $12, so you could do a general estimate from that and decide.

4 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

Yeah. As soon as I hear they drink “occasionally” I don’t think they would get anywhere close to 6-7 per day.  Even if you added in coffee and milkshakes and stuff. 

Exactly.  I'm not a coffee drinker, and all those other specialty drinks are just not my thing either, but if I for some odd reason want them, they're there for purchase!

For value, I have been known to bring a large reusable insulated tumbler, order a margarita pitcher from the Blue Iguana Tequila bar or a fishbowl from the red Frog Pub, pour it in and nurse it all day 🤣

Yes. Just as crowded, if not more so. I much prefer off season cruising (January/February/early March before spring breakers start coming in) due to lower crowds, fewer children, and still generally great weather in the Caribbean with less worry of big storms.

How many drinks do you think you would realistically drink in a day? Most of the alcoholic drinks run around $12, give or take, unless you're wanting top shelf liquor (then it's more of course). So for me, to make Cheers worth it, I would generally have to drink a minimum of 6-7 per day to make it worth while, which I rarely ever do, especially on port days. On my last cruise (4 nights), I may have had 10 drinks the entire cruise while onboard, and my usual travel roomie and good friend drinks about the same as I do, so we never get the package.

The calculator someone posted is very helpful and will give you an actual number breakdown (if it's the one I've seen before), so that can help you decide as well.

I didn't get a call, but I noticed an upgrade offer available to me when I was reviewing some info for an upcoming cruise. $40 from the cheapest and smallest interior room on the ship that barely sleeps 2 (can't complain - it was a freebie where I was just paying the port fees and taxes to go solo anyway) to go to a much larger interior room on a more desirable deck in a much more desirable location. It pays to check to see if an upgrade button is available when looking at the Booking and Order Details page 🙂

He can bring it if he wants to, but it's definitely not necessary. It's rare to see anyone dressed super formally on elegant night these days.

It may depend some on what the spa manager offers, and what they offer is usually dependent on how full their bookings are by the time the pamper party comes around, but the ladies in the spa told me that the best discount is generally when you book your services online ahead of time with whatever promo you have. 20% is about as high a discount that I have ever seen, unless you get one of the bundle offers where you get 10% off one treatment, 20% off a second, and 30% of a third when you book certain times ahead of time online (and requires 3 services to be booked).

I just got an email for discounts on the spa (20%, so not anything different than their regular bundle presale pricing) and internet packages (10%, but I never use internet onboard, so this one is useless). Was hoping for something for excursions but oh well.

On 11/15/2022 at 9:29 AM, groundloop said:

What times can you go to the MDR after getting on the ship to request a change to your table assignment?  

There is almost always an assigned person available once you board the ship who can assist with this, up until usually an hour or two before the first seating time for dinner. Just ask once you're on board and they can point you in the right direction.

• I book insides more often than anything else primarily because of the price difference, but also because I love sleeping in the pitch black. The room temperature also stays more consistent, and I love a cold room. I'm not ever really in the room all that much anyway, so it's not worth the extra cost to me - I'd rather spend the extra money in the spa or on a fun excursion.

I've always been able to get them at the same time of the rare occasion I do actually order 2 entrees, so unless this is a very new (like, within the last 6 weeks) policy, then there shouldn't be any reason why they can't do so.

I've found that the piano bar largely depends on whoever the entertainer/pianist is, but the crowd can help make it fun too. Some are much more interactive and lively than others, and those are the ones I enjoy the most.

Since standard gratuities are already included/added for specialty dining, I only add extra if the service was above standard service.

Not surprised. Australia has been particularly weird and stringent about their virus policies, which combined with asinine flight prices, has kept me from using the cruise deals from there. It's a bucket list destination for me, but until that mess settles way the heck down, it's a hard pass for me.

I only have one offer currently that is valid for dates in 2024, and that is specifically only for some sailings in Australia. Any other destination where my offers would work are only through 2023 at the moment.

It could be that the offer you're trying to use is not valid for the itineraries/ships/dates you chose, or also could be that the dates you want are sold out for that particular offer.

On my cruise last month, they had cups but you had to pay for them. They did advertise all over the ship that they were discounted for those with the soda package though. I want to say the discounted price was $10-15 but I honestly can't be sure since no one in my group got one.

Love it! I find it's soooo much easier to travel light and either do a small load of laundry somewhere in the middle (can't tell you how many laundry room wine parties I've had with friends on laundry day on land based trips), or purchase a few pieces of clothing while traveling if I need extras of something. I did 7 days Alaska cruise +4 days in Seattle in a carry-on size roller bag and a backpack. One thing I will always and forever overpack though is 2-3 extra pairs of underwear than I think I'll need, which has saved me from feeling gross and uncomfortable a few times with unforeseen travel delays.