Tiger0613

I am on the May 8th sailing. I got an email at 10:00pm(CST) on January 10th about staggered check-in for Seattle. I immediately logged into my account and was able to select a check-in time.

I have been on one cruise (out of Mobile on 12/26/16) where the port had staggered check-in, and I was able to choose a time immediately after receiving the email(8/27/16). When I booked the 2/9 sailing on the Triumph on 7/8/16, I was able to select a check-in time immediately after booking.

There must be a glitch somewhere because I received the same email for Seattle on January 12th, 13th, and 14th. I received the same email for Mobile twice on August 28th.

Check-In Times Available(for me)

Mobile: 4 months before the cruise

New Orleans: 7 months before the cruise

Seattle: 4 months before the cruise

Oops. I didn't see the part where you said you saw the prices for booking early. Never mind.

With the exception of my first cruise, I have always done early dining. I had late dining on my first cruise because I was 13 and had no say in the matter. It worked out just fine for me.

One reason for choosing early dining is that my mother has diabetes and needs to eat at around the same time every day. If she doesn't, she feels like crap.

Most of the time I think I would prefer late dining, but it would have been a problem for me on the Inspiration and Fantasy. The Playlist Production shows were at 8:15pm and 10:15pm. One starts when you are seated in the dining room, and the other starts soon after you finish eating dessert. Seats without something obstructing your view could be hard to find. That's what I had to deal with if I wanted to see the 8:15pm show since early dining usually ended at about 8:00pm.

My mom and I were on the Fantasy on 12/26. They were not enforcing staggered check in. We had an 11:00am check in time and FTTF. I had read a few reports about staggered check in not being enforced in Mobile, so my mom wanted to take a chance and arrive early. We got to the garage at about 10:28am, and they let us in. I paid for parking(at 10:35am) and went inside. There were already people that had checked in and were waiting to board.

After we finished checking in(about 10:50am), we sat for around 20 minutes before they started boarding. We were on board at about 11:15am. At least that's how I remember it.

They may have gotten it together since then.

When I was on the Jubilee, the muster drill lasted for over two hours. Our muster station was the Lido deck. We had to stand the entire time, and I am pretty sure we were never given a reason for the delay. Back then you had to wear your life jacket to the muster drill. I was 13 and bipolar. To make matters worse, it was June in Tampa, and I forgot to put my hair up.

A chocolate shake is $3.95($4.54 after 15% gratuity). A smoothie is $5.25($6.04 after 15% gratuity).

A daiquiri is $8.25($9.49 after 15% gratuity). When I was on the Fantasy a month ago, the Red Frog Rum Bar had a higher price(can't remember what) for a daiquiri. The atrium bar and main lounge had it for $8.25. The casino bar may have had it for $8.25(can't remember).

Also on the Fantasy, a bartender at the casino bar said that he thought a can of soda was $2.25. He didn't actually look it up. The price wasn't on the menu. The most recent menus(November 2015) I could find online had a can of soda at $1.95. Then again, those same menus have outdated daiquiri prices.

http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/719-carnival-cruise-alcohol-drink-prices

http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/711-carnival-cruise-bar-menu-prices

I hope you get better. Don't give up.

I am sorry to hear about your health scare and hope it is not as bad as thought to be. I think you should still continue planning your cruise seeing that it is something you enjoy doing. If my calculations are correct, final payment for that cruise is not due until February 22nd which is about 4 weeks away. Do not cancel as yet. Wait until last minute to make that decision but make plans just in case you have to.

Final payment is due February 7th. Alaska cruises are now 90 days out.

If you have Verizon, you should be able to use the Message+ app to text over wifi. The texts count against your plan at home. That shouldn't be a problem if you have unlimited messaging. There shouldn't be any extra charges. You would still have to buy a wifi plan.

When I was on the Inspiration in August, a text came through even though my phone was in airplane mode and everything automatic was disabled. I decided to take a chance and text my mom for the remainder of the cruise. The texts arrived in the same amount of time as they did at home. I was relieved when I got my bill and there weren't any charges for those texts. I can only use this method when on solo cruises. Sadly, this won't work when my mom is with me since she has a basic phone(no wifi).

I don't know if it matters, but I have a Samsung Galaxy S5. One potential caveat is that I have told two Verizon reps about this, and they seemed surprised that it worked.