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I have sailed on Sunrise 3 times and booked myself again for December. I agree about shoulder season. We book on 5th deck. When this ship was Triumph, those cabins didn’t exist. They were new to Sunrise. When we do short cruises we do ocean view or inside. We have found the larger shaped insides to be a really nice, but we also did an ocean view on 5th. 
 

1 hour ago, sunshower9 said:

They're not that different, really.  Main differences are the addition of the hibachi restaurant and the extra Havana cabins on Horizon.  Otherwise the layout is almost exactly the same.  I was first on Vista in 2017 and absolutely loved it.  My second time was a few weeks ago.  It wasn't the same because Vista is having a lot of maintenance issues right now, but it will be going into dry dock after the current sailing ends so I expect that my next time on it in April will be much better.

 

You can't go wrong in the Havana area on either ship.  Even though it seemed like there were more people in Havana on Horizon, it still wasn't crowded.  It was just harder to find an open round bed in the shade (I prefer shade to sun).  And on that note, I was in a deck 9 Havana balcony on Horizon and having entire balcony covered was great.  

I don’t think I could go on any Vista Class ship and not stay in the Havana area. Like you I love the round beds for shade. I am really looking forward to Vista, but it isn’t until this fall.

2 hours ago, sunshower9 said:

Yes, that has always been the case.  I've been on Horizon once and Vista twice, and I did feel like the Havana area on Vista had less people than on Horizon.  

Please tell me more about the differences. I loved Horizon so much, so I hope Vista lives up to my love for Horizon!

44 minutes ago, cruisewiththekids said:

I wanted to try deck 9 so it had the coverage overhead for shade.    It did get hot in the daytime on those lower balconies with no covering.   But I will have to decide if that is more valuable than Havana.    We are not lay by the pool people though, so we didn't use Havana all that much.    We will probably just stick with deck 9.

Because we are pool and hot tub people I couldn’t sit there and watch everyone having a good time! I did like being on Horizon on the 9th deck. It was great to watch the ocean. 

14 hours ago, cruisewiththekids said:

I noticed on Horizon the Havana aft extended balconies are on decks 6, 7, 8 and 9, but on the Vista they are only on decks 6 and 7.     Has that always been the case?    I've  been on the Horizon in one of those cabins on deck 8 and went to book the Vista and found they were not Havana cabins.

It was a shock to me when I first saw that too. I have been on Horizon Havana area twice and decided to do a girl cruise on Vista. I wanted a higher deck, so I was shocked. I am hoping that it translates to even less people in the Havana area.

I will be at GSC for the first time in January. Can you rent umbrellas or clam shells once you get there? I didn't see the opportunity to do it on the excursion page.

For those that have been there before, please tell me the good, the bad and the ugly. This is my first time on NCL, so I am not used to everything being different than I am used to!!  

28 minutes ago, fabnsab said:

Anyone know how to add the gift cards to your spending account? I have $50 left from paying off the cruise and want to add it but they only show credit or cash. 
 

 

You can always buy cruise cash with it.

Thank you to everyone who recommended Dora. She was great! Having a driver and another helper totally made this excursion! Our cruise was arriving into port earlier due to a medical emergency, so Dora moved up our tour. We were out on the tour before the ship excursions, and made everything go smoother. Dora knows her tour and her city!  I highly recommend her.

She told us what to bring and where to meet. I am so glad I followed her directions for wearing closed toed shoes! 
 

How far is it from where a Carnival ship will port to the first stop on the on/off bus? Big difference in price buying it from Carnival than buying it direct from the company.

I was looking for car service to bring about 14 of us from the Airport to our hotel.  Then the next day from the hotel to the port, and then when the cruise is over from the port to the airport. Apparently the wrench in all of this is that you can't have a car service pick you up at Tampa Airport, that you must use Yellow Taxi?  Is this correct?  If so, how does this work for such a large party?

Thank you for any help!  

1 hour ago, sunviking90 said:

Has anyone booked a cruise with an online TA and had the AARP OBC applied. I’m just wondering if this is something I should call and talk to an agent about or if it would be automatic on the booking? I’ve already attached my AARP on HAL and had it verified.

Yes I booked a cruise with my TA and it was applied. I think my TA called them to make sure it was applied.

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

This is insane. When it hit 3:00, the shopping cart button wouldn't appear, so I refreshed the page. That logged me out and by the time I logged back in, they were gone. Then as I was watching it, it flashed, said they were available, and the shopping cart button came back. I clicked on it in a split second and it said they were out. I didn't get one.

 

Edited to add: It did it again...and again I missed. I give up, not worth it. I had no idea they were like that.

I am so sorry you had to go through all of that!  It is crazy. I have really given up trying for those. Of course I also do not try for Taylor Swift tickets! 

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

I just realized last night that Allstate was running daily deals this week. Today's deal, a $5 BP gift card for 500 points. Not much, but I can spare 500 pts. for a gallon of gas. Starts at 3pm EST, link on the homepage.

I have never been able to score a daily deal.  I could try right when it hits 3 pm, and they are already gone.  It is apparently a lot like scoring Taylor Swift concert tix!!  

I really hope you find a way for him to get on and off the tender.  I would recommend calling the cruise line or your travel agent to see if there is a way to rent through the ship.

I am actually interested in the original question.  My husband and I have been to Grand Cayman a few times, and have decided to leave this port to a game day decision. Might go shopping, might go to beach, might want to go to Stingray City. I am just curious what choices we will have at the port.  

Just to clarify......The cruise the OP is referring to is a 9 day that does not go into the canal, but does stop in Panama. I am on this sailing, but I do own a valid passport. Many people who are on this sailing have claimed to have reached out to Carnival and asked about Passports. They were told No. While I understand it is up to the consumer to check, in my opinion many of these people going on this sailing aren't people who cruise a lot. While that isn't an excuse, they were given bad information. There are people reporting that Carnival has actually offered them refunds, I have no idea how true this is. I am sure that for some getting a passport the last minute will be a hardship they just can't do. 

I really need to start looking at AARP more often. I just haven't been checking it unless I need something. 

OMG!!!  I JUST WON!!!!!

I won a $20 Best Buy ecard on the spin game. I do find it amusing that they don't have ecards, but when you win, you get an ecard.  

I had kind of given up hope of winning!

Nah OC, I think most of us are ok with the name!!  My husband swears there was a time he could get them at Lowes with his Lowes credit card and get something off also.  

Terry

I feel that somewhere down the line there will be other places that Carnival cards will be discounted, so I would hope that they can come onto this thread as well. While AARP is a great place for the cards, the whole idea of the thread is really just education. Maybe the name is just misleading and should be AARP and others?

On 12/6/2022 at 2:26 PM, rebeccac said:

Sailor loot can be used for casino play, but cannot be cashed out at the casino.

@rebeccac Sorry to bring up such an old post, but could you explain what this means?  Can I use Sailor Loot in the slot machines? I am used to Carnival where I can draw down the money, put it in my player's bank, then move from machine to machine, or cash it out to use on tables. Does Virgin work the same way?

On 9/19/2023 at 7:29 AM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Merging the Allstate and AARP threads was not the best idea - most of the posts no longer have anything to do with what I subscribed to (AARP).

 

Tom

The Allstate comments will die off next month when Allstate Rewards dies off.  There just isn't a whole lot to discuss with AARP, but we can just keep encouraging those to use it. I had to laugh because later this week we are going to make reservations on a Virgin Cruise that we are taking with a group of friends. I was explaining to my husband that with Virgin you can save 10% by paying it all up front, and not just the deposit (which is 20%). He asked if they also had gift cards. I just had to laugh, he has become so spoiled with AARP. 

14 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Hi did yiu get the AARP on board credit for your Nob 2025 cruise date ? We booked also a April2  2025 cruise on the $1 sale & HAL would not give the credit  .Well after oersuing the issue wi9th HAL management they applied the AATP OBC to our April 2025 cruise

Yes.  It is the only HAL cruise I have booked.  I did it before the $1 deposits.  My TA had to actually make a new reservation since they gave us a hard time putting it on the first reservation I had made.  

I am booked for November of ‘25 and my AARP membership will have to be renewed twice before then.  If I didn’t apply for the room credit when first making the reservation we wouldn’t have been allowed to apply for it later.

2 minutes ago, TAW1963 said:

I took advantage of the $1 deposits today and booked a fall 2025 transatlantic on the Nieuw Statendam.  I first booked an obstructed view veranda and then call ship inventory and added Club Orange to get the upgrade to an aft-facing veranda. When I first received an email with a booking confirmation, after I first booked the obstructed view cabin, low and behold my AARP OBC automatically showed up without me having to waste time calling to try and get it.  Perhaps all the stars lined up, but it worked seamlessly this time.   I sure hope they get things worked out so that it works this way for everyone and customers don't have to waste time calling and harassing them for it.

Are you doing the November 2025 transatlantic?  If so, I started a roll call for it already!  

Thank you to everyone! I started the roll call.  I know it is super early, but I am a planner!