Sebleo

I found some cool looking ones on shore excursioneer. We went through them for our kayaking excursion and remember seeing some I thought would be cool for our family trip.

We did for our 4 yr old who was suppose to go on his first cruise this past Nov. Now he' not going til next year. But, we also plan on getting several uses out of it.

We did it just in case of emergency. I know it can be a tough call if you know it will only get one use.

All of the prizes given away on the Valor last Nov were for specific treatments. At least that is how they announced them. I didn't win so I'm not sure if the winner would be allowed to apply the amount won to any treatment. But, my guess would be no.

The above post is correct. The down side is the discounts are only good on port days.

Thank you all for your replies. My friend will ask their room steward for one of the carnival corkscrews. Thanks again!

We have always called room service for ours. There is no charge for it. Just an FYI if the room steward says they can't get it.

2. Daily activities disguised as sales

pitches

YESS! I forgot about that one.

1. The bloating2. When I walk from deck 10 to the coffee bar on 5 and they are closed and have to walk back up to 9. (Even though the fun times and app say it is open)

3. Lack of comedy shows on the 5 day versus a 7 day

3.5. That there are not more movies/entertainment on the big screen

Victor Boddens in Roatan is a great company. You can see the monkeys and get a private snorkeling tour added for $20 a person.

I don't know why this makes me sad, but it does. Visualizing a 10 yr old all by himself in a sit down restaurant for dinner...Something doesn't seem right about that scenario.

A mixture of sadness and anger for me.

Well as you all were posting, I was on the phone with the wonderful people at insuremytrip.com. Needless to say I just forked over a whopping $66 for total coverage that fits my family needs for this upcoming trip. I feel a little dumb to say the least for not researching 3rd party options before starting this! I was blinded by the fact of what I thought was a somewhat expensive price on the carnival website! Thank you all so much for your input, it has helped tremendously!

Great price! Have fun!

Sebleo, you had coverage from your Standard insurance provider?

I misspoke...through USAA, which is my home and automobile insurance company. But, it is still a third party travel insurance they are partnered with.

Too late to edit...should say...

Jan 2019

Oct 2019

Jan 2020

Thank you Jonboy for pointing that out for me! :')

Check your calendar. This is 2018.LOL

 

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Hahahaha! Yes, thank you! 2019 and 2020

I never purchased insurance until I had my son. Now, I will never cruise without it.

Like someone else said, if an accident happens, you could be looking at a lot of money for an emeregency evac.

Someone posted a few years ago about their son'' appendix bursting and while he was on the table awaiting surgery in a hospital the man was trying to get half the money for the surgery wired to him. They wouldn' start treating him until they had some cash up front. And it was a lot. Over $10,000.

So, it is not always just a risk for future debt but, a risk that you may not be able to be treated.

I do a pretty basic plan through my insurance company that gives us evac and medical coverage. I am not concerned with trip cancellation or luggage and all those extras. It runs $75 or $85 for a 5 day cruise for 2 adults with under 18 free.

Worth checking out.

We are skipping 2018. :(

But, we have our next 3 booked. Just have to wait 356 days!

5day Valor Jan 2018

5day Dream Oct 2018 Our sons first cruise!

5day Dream Jan 2019

Once fall of 2019 opens up we will book our first on the Vista. I really don't like 5 days, but it is hard on my parents to watch my son for 8 days, so 5 it is!

We want to do a short one for my son' first cruise just in case. If all goes well, we want to do the Vista with him next. He will love the thrill theater.

Sooooo, only thing to do now is sit on my hands and stalk cruise critic!:p

Having a spa cabin gets you 10% off the first, 20% off the second, and 30% off your third spa treatment. That special is per person and not per cabin.

Unless something has changed with the deal, those discounts are only on port days. Which is why we didn't use it on the Dream in 2016.

I just booked another spa cabin today but haven't looked at the details of the spa deals to see if they have changed. I know the percentages are the same.

They normally call self assist by zones, then start over on the zone numbers for non self assist. So it’s possible to be the “last” of the self assist and still be off before most of the ship.

 

 

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Yes, that's how it went.:)

Forgot to add...once they called our zone it went really fast. The lines for customs was fairly quick...not too bad. They did, I'm pretty sure, have lines for passports only.

I agree to talk to them once on the ship.

We have an autistic child too, though we are not cruising with him until Oct 2019. But, we did just sail out of Galveston on the Valor in Nov. We were deck 2 midship. I don't know if they keep it the same, but for self assist we were the last or second to last group to get called for disembark.

They may be able to let you get off the ship first. I would talk to guest services onboard. Or even try talking to the special needs department if you have time before you board.

It can be a long wait with little to do before you'e called. Especially if you have an incident like we did...delay due to people getting arrested.

If they won't let you get off first, I would not do the self assist, that way you have your hands free.

Best of luck and have fun!

We used cash in November. They always accept American currency. They will give change in pesos. But, everthing seemed to be rounded to whole dollars anyway at the shops at the port. So no change needed.

I'm pretty sure you can use credit cards but the fees are higher so you end up paying more.

I second the maybe. They usually are open, but we just got off the Valor and it was closed one port day because they were tearing up part of the deck around it. The next port day it was open, but not fun because they were sanding the deck and sawdust was flying everywhere. We went down a few times but between the salt water and sawdust my sinuses were on fire!

It seems that even though the policy is that it is included, and that there are some ships that are following that policy that more aren't. I would FOR SURE verify before ordering now that we know!

Exactly!

Large format bottles are only included in the dining room and specialty dining restaurants.

Small bottles are included only at bars and lounges.

Know before you go!

Just off the Valor and wanted to give you a heads up about the bottled water in the dining room. We had the cheers program and ordered a large bottle of water for the table. When they gave us the receipt to sign they charged us for it and gave 25% off. When asked they said it was correct. We later passed guest services so I stopped and asked them about it. He grabbed a sheet and said it doesn't appear to be included anymore. I told him it was when we purchased it. He apologized and said they are changing and twaking it all the time. So, I thought, no big deal. We're out $3 and some change and we won' order it anymore. But now I'm home and checking the plan again...and it is still included.

Again, not a huge deal, but just letting you know especially if you'e going on Valor soon.

I hope I don't get devoured for innocently asking this but i'm genuinely curious:

 

I DON'T plan on eating at all in the MDR for my upcoming 4 night cruise. I'm always strictly buffet. Now I WON'T do it if it's advised against here, but that $6.20/day could go towards cash tipping for drinks (yes I have Cheers) and more for the room steward.

Is it ok to remove the MDR tips if you don't go there and personally give the cash to other workers for services i'm using? Or should I just leave it as is?

And does any of that $6.40/dining go towards lido buffet workers? If so, i'll just leave it, but I am genuinely curious.

Yes, the auto grat for dining goes to the pool for all servers on the ship, not just the mdr. Lido buffet, brunch, etc.

you are way behind the times, servers haven"t made $2 in many years. I own a restaurant in Colorado and servers make $6.30, in January, $7.30.

Depends on the state. Louisiana still makes $2.13!

To OP...I am curious on all of that too. All you'll get is conjecture or what an employee told a guest. That info cannot be trusted. People ask me all the time how much money I make. There's no way I'm telling someone who I'm expecting to tip me that I make $200-300 a night.