pacruise804

Hoping you have a quick recovery.

@Honolulu Blue I'm glad you are symptom free. My husband and I got ours Friday (Pfizer) and not much effect that night, but very rundown and fevers on Saturday. We were much better by Sunday. At least we planned it for a weekend and were able to get a lot of much needed naps.

We will be on the Legend next month. First time in a 4K for us too.

Spirit class ships have 4K interiors that have floor to ceiling windows. They used to have doors that opened (but no real balcony), but are now picture windows. The view is of lifeboats, but you do get some natural light and peeks of water.

Packing booze is "smuggling" because it is a prohibited item that you agree to not bring. Trays are not prohibited, so are like packing any other convenience item that, while isn't necessary, some people enjoy. The dish one cabin orders the most often is not basis for what the most ordered item is for all room service orders. (The one time I got fries they were good though 😉 )

As others have posted, tax is collected when necessary on transactions - even if the purchase was pre-paid through the beverage package. I think the merchant needs to collect taxes on the value of the goods "sold"/served while in the port. I've only had one NCL cruise, but this was our experience with drinks while still in FL waters. I don't think anything was charged at the Western Caribbean ports.

You would need to check the terms/conditions of the gift card. As mentioned, Visa gift cards usually have a fee at purchase so it isn't a better option to use if you are buying one. If you received one as a gift you might be able to use it, but I thought they couldn't be used for variable expenses with holds like restaurants (tips) and gas stations (initial hold). Where have you seen this? My experience is each day's charges are a hold, then one final charge at the end. This is why so many caution against using Visa debit vs Visa credit due to the holds. I agree with the hold being removed in a day or two, but that varies by issuing bank/financial institution (people warn it can be weeks). Extremely rare example, but using cash would have saved the couple who was charged over 90K on their American Express at specialty dining (folio number entered instead of extra tip amount). The charge was corrected right away but the hold remained and they were unable to use their card at ports since there was no available balance.

I'm sorry you lost your wine 😞 It's been a while since I read the terms/conditions, but I thought fortified wines (like port) are not allowed and I think someone mentioned upthread that this is fortified.

While my husband and I can usually get nourishment for ourselves, I was grateful for the option (even with a charge) to have food delivered when my husband was miserably sea sick from extremely rough seas. I did get from the buffet to bring back one time, but that was more challenging than I thought it would be. Our room service food was hot and tasty. I've been dealing with chronic pain for over a year, so I'm glad it's still an option if there is a day when I'm just not up to leaving the cabin. We are sailing with you, but trying one of the 4K "interiors" for the first time. Looking forward to trying some new ports 🙂

I've only used a gift card once (2018), but my experience was similar to what I read others had too. I purchased a physical card from a local store that gave gas points for gift card purchases (many on Cruise Critic purchase on-line and get a discount on the purchase). I went to guest services at the start of the cruise to load the card to my account. If you have some onboard credit with you booking this should be used first (order of operations is non-refundable OBC, refundable OBC, cash/gift card up to amount, credit card - if any - on file ). So if you have OBC, you can wait until a slow time to apply your card. We did not spend all of our gift card (I think there was over 200 left over), so another gift card was sent to us via FedEx 2 days after our cruise. It might have even required a signature, but I'm fuzzy on that part. We were then able to use the balance from the replacement card toward the fare for the next cruise we booked. We knew we would book another cruise, but that is a risk with left over funds is that they are still in the form of a Carnival Gift Card. If you have less than $10 balance on your card, it will be donated to St. Jude's rather than returned as a gift card.

@Jamman54 Angry Orchard has two new flavors for fall: Hardcore Dark Cherry and Apple Pie. The Apple Pie is really good.

My husband and I took our very first cruise to Saint John in 2012 with Carnival. And we can join the crowd in being hooked 🙂 On our sailing last month we had a lot of fog in Saint John - enough to delay docking.

That makes sense. It's still a good place to stay even without the shuttle. I'm glad someone appreciates not having the screen - I usually see complaints about it. We enjoyed outdoor movies on our very first cruise, but ever since I don't think we have watched outside so it doesn't bother me to not have it. I'm trying to lean from the wise example of you two. 😉 Two questions about the Legend: 1. Do 4K interiors have refrigerator/coolers? We recently sailed in our first interior on Enchantment of the Seas and were disappointed to find only balconies had coolers. It's not a deal breaker, but nice to know and be prepared. 2. Does the casino offer free play? We have just started dipping our toes in the casino a little and didn't know if Carnival does anything similar to Royal. Thanks!

My daughter did a mission trip to Ponce in 2018. I'm glad to read they were spared. Our son will be doing a mission trip in Rincon in November. Any word how they made out? We walked a lot. We did the City Market, then walked up about a mile or so, then went over a block and back down toward the water on a street with a lot of shopping (King Street?). We visited Battery Park (and saw some dolphins), then walked back to the ship along the water (there was a second park with fountains). It was a nice, slow paced day. We took our own water from the ship, so it was just a sight seeing, no-cost day.

Thank you so much, Jeff and Patti! Wonderful information and pictures as always 🙂 We were in Baltimore a few weeks before you on Enchantment to NE/Canada and will be going on our first Journey's Cruise next month on the Legend. I'm excited to see the Legend through your eyes. I don't know if you remember, but we actually met on the Sunrise in 2019 (the one where we sailed into the hurricane en route to Bermuda, then ended up in Charleston). I've just gotten back to Cruise Critic recently and I'm relieved that you both survived COVID and are still cruising. We stayed at BW Elkridge based on your reviews and really liked it. We booked through a Park and Stay option (through Trinity) and let the hotel shuttle us. I understand if you like getting right on the road after the cruise, but wanted to let you know they have that option if you were unaware. Stained Glass pub was very nice and we look forward to staying there next month. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review. Thanks again!

I had a particularly bad bout of Mal Debarquement after one cruise and found Sea Bands (the pressure point bracelets) helped it some.

My husband and I were on the Sunrise in September of 2019 heading to Bermuda. They did not change course and we ended up sailing to Charleston (which was a beautiful port day). It was some of the roughest seas we ever encountered - many people were even sleeping in the public areas to be as low and center as possible. I doubt they would do that again, but pack some motion sickness pills just in case 😉 Hope you have a great cruise with calm seas!

You can try searching for @Jamman54reviews. Pre-COVID he had several good Pride reviews (I have just started looking at Cruise Critic again so there may be many since then too). On YouTube, ParoDeeJay also has good videos of Pride.

We will be joining you on Monday! My husband and I are taking his parents on a 50th anniversary vacation and have been enjoying a few days in New Orleans to start. @uktog Thank you for your excellent review. I hope the positives outweighed the frustrations.

Our agent had several issues as well, but finally received the documents. We sail tomorrow and she got the docs last Friday.