Kreiven

What if we fix this post so people can take a look here before submitting a new thread to ask what XYZ mean? I think it would be a good idea.

AFT - Back of the ship

B2B - Back to back cruises

FTTF - Faster To The Fun (check Carnival's website for more information)

Lido - One of the decks on Carnival ships

MDR - Main Dining Room

YTD - Your Time Dinner

OV - Ocean View cabin

Cruise Lines:

DCL - Disney Cruise Line

RCCL - Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

RCI - Royal Caribbean International

... (you can post and I'll be adding them here)

I have a travel insurance but not that one from Carnival. I got it from Seven Corners.

It's not that I don't want to answer, I'm just not sure if I have to or not, since in my case, I'm not getting a plane immediately after the cruise.

Well, I will fill out with my flight info anyways. Thanks!

Makes sense, but in my case, I won't have issues with delays because my flight will be 1 week before and then 2 days after.. so, I think I should answer that I'm not going by plane, or?

Yesterday I was going to check in my 12th Feb cruise and I realized they ask about flights and so on. What is that for?

In my case, I will be in Florida for 2 weeks for holidays. I'm arriving in US one week before the cruise, will visit Miami Beach/Fort Lauderdale/Keys, and then get the cruise. After porting back in Miami, I'm gonna stay 2 days and then flight back to my country.

In this case, should I answer anything related to the flights or I just do not consider it since I'm not going straight from airport to port?

They also ask about staying in Miami, should I put the address of my hotel?

I think you are doing the same cruise I'll do. 5 days cruise stopping in Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman. I really liked the review. It's also my first time and I've been reading every single post here in the past weeks and also asked few questions that I didn't find a convincing answer.

The weather looks great in the waterslides picture. I hope it will be like that everyday for me. What scares me most is if the weather is bad, because I will not only miss the fun (pools, port days, etc) but also I'd be very seasick.

And different from you, I like to wake up early but even though I normally go to bed late.. I'm the kind of person who sleeps 5-6 hours a day and this is more than enough. So, I like the idea of having late attractions and in the morning I can relax at the sun.. :)

As brazilian I don't feel not even a bit scared about going to Jamaica (I'll port there next month).

At least for us in Brazil, we learn since we are kids how to behave and how to be fully aware of everything around you while you are simply walking or having lunch. Most of people I met from other countries complained when visiting Brazil that they got robbed or something like that, but they went to the beach in Rio wearing a necklace, ear rings or even carrying a camera. Then, yes, of course, you gonna get robbed (or stabbed/killed if you try to fight for your belongs).

But brazilians know that you just do not wear anything but your clothes, don't carry any electronic device (phone, camera, watch, etc) when you go to Rio.

I think same applies for Jamaica. Just go there yourself, don't bring anything with you (just few bucks in cash in case of buying something and your ID) and go for the experience, but don't give them a reason to rob you. Most important: Be aware, eyes open, watch your back and most important thing: don't act like a first time traveler. Even if it's your first time, pretend you have been there so many times like if your spouse was Jamaican and you visit him/her every month. They will always look for someone who seems scared.

By the way: Rio has nowadays same murder rate as Syria (while in war) and the army is also on the streets, maybe Jamaica is just in the same situation which is "ok" from my point of view.

Man, just when I think I've read it all ......

Hahahaha before I read your post I told my girlfriend the same... haha first time in my life I see one willing to pay someone else to unpack.

Well, I see here a big opportunity. I'll open my unpack company... :D

Thanks for the tips, guys! I think I'll go with the bucket+ice thing. Cooler is definitely not an option since I'm not taking it home afterwards (I'm carrying a very small luggage for 2 weeks in Florida, pretty much using the same underwears turned inside out).

Do they just lend you the bucket if you ask? It would be great!

A can or two will chill quickly in the ice bucket. This is our preferred method. We are on a HAL ship next week with no refrigerators...we will combine the ice bucket technique with a soda card to satisfy our needs.

 

Check the economy of buying a soda card.

 

A small, collapsible cooler isn't expensive, but finding a WalMart or other discount store before boarding might be challenging.

I'll spend a week in Florida before getting the cruise.. so, I could buy it.. I'm just thinking that it's quite an investment if I'm throwing it away afterwards.. I checked price in Amazon and it's like $15... this is quite a lot.

It's a 5 day cruise so I would drink ~1 soda a day, so, half pack.. and my girlfriend barely drinks soda (maybe 1 or 2)... so, we didn't want to invest in a soda card.. but I thought buying a 12pack at Costco could save me some money, however if I have to buy the cooler, I think it will end up almost same price as buying coke in the ship. And if so, then it would be better not to carry all the stuff (cooler, 12 pack, etc)...

Can't you bring a collapsible cooler with some zip lock bags and get ice?

Well, I'm not from US and if I have to buy a cooler (and throw it away after the cruise) because of 12 coke cans, wouldnt be cheaper just to buy the coke in the ship?

Hi,

I know we can bring our own bottle of wine as well as 12-pack Coke cans.

However, I also heard that Ocean View in Carnival Sensation has no fridge in the cabin.

So, how would I actually cool the Coke? I HATE drinking Coke when they are not cold enough.

You don't happen to be cruising on the Vista do you? She has two built in USB ports.

They have even german standard! Nice. However, I'm going on Sensation.. Think I'll just buy an adapter.

I just logged in and changed it to YTD! Thank you all!

Honestly, I think my cruise is not even going to be full. I've seen so many people going on cruise later than me and the FTTF is already sold out, etc, while mine is in 35 days from now and I got the FTTF 2 days ago without any problem.

Nice!

When I booked the cruise I remember I had to choose the dining time and I picked the late one (I think 6pm is too early). However, after researching a bit I realized that we actually get back from shore excursions by 4/5pm, so we can take shower and then go to grab something to eat by 7pm, but waiting until 8:30 is actually a lot of time... it would actually be better to have dinner at 7 so we could enjoy the evening attractions.

Do they offer this YTD on the embarkation day? Because I didn't see anything mentioning that on the website when I booked it.

Actually they will seat you for the other meals, you don't just go in and sit down. You may also find yourself sitting with others (unless you ask for a smaller table for your party).

I don't mind to sit with other people. It's just me and my girlfriend and actually it would be nice to make friends there hahah we are brazilians so we are very friendly, warm and open people.

So, I just go there in the morning, for example, and they find a table for me for breakfast? And for dinner is the same thing, unless if I want to go to one of these restaurants instead of the main dinning room?

This is great, thanks! I saw a lot of people saying to go to Guy's Burger as soon as we embark (we have FTTF) so we can eat in peace before everyone comes in, cuz the restaurants go crazy since everyone wants to eat as soon as they arrive. Is that true?

I googled about that and found lots of people saying that is quite normal for someone to cancel the trip so the FTTF is available again.

Which I think it's very weird is that my cruise is next month (35 days from now) and I got the FTTF last week without any problem.. maybe my cruise is empty?? :O

I read that Carnival Sensation has 2 main dining rooms which serves breakfast, etc.

Also, they have lots of different restaurants (Guy's Burger, Pizza Pirate, Seaview Restaurant, etc)...

My question is: Can I opt between eating the food in the main dining room or going to one of these restaurants? Are they free?

I had to select my "dinner time" when I booked the cruise, so I thought I would be always eating there. In this case, could I opt to get something else instead of going to the dining room if I'm too tired to?

How does that work?

I have few questions and I've been searching it here but it's not so clear yet.

1) The room service, which they normally ask if you want once or twice a day, morning or afternoon, is about cleaning? If so, is it normal to get twice a day? Why? For me once a day (morning probably) would be enough, that's why I'm wondering if it's only about cleaning or if it's about getting food/drinks in the room.

2) Do people always go to shore excursions? Is it fine to not book any? I'm finding the excursions a bit expensive and I would rather chill at the beach near the port than going on these 4-5 hours excursions. Is that a normal thing to do? (I'm going to Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman) - or will I feel like the only one not going to any excursion?

3) Is there any Karaoke at the Carnival Sensation? Not that I'm a good singer but my girlfriend likes it, so she asked me if there is any.

Thanks, guys!

1-800 ("toll free") numbers in the US are often restricted to US/Canada or US only.

 

No idea why Carnival doesn't have an email contact. :shrug:

 

I would suggest you try the following for guest name:

 

First: MariaCarolina

Last: Silva Souza

 

My airplane boarding passes often have my name as the equivalent of:

Cruiser ProgRoc

 

(Assuming my real name was "Prog Rock Cruiser")

 

I think as long as all the letters are there (up to max allowed for field) they are less concerned about missing spaces, since they get nuked regularly.

Well, just tried that but now they say I can't change First name because Last name was previously changed. What I could do is get rid of "Carolina" and don't even mention this name... Just: Maria Silva Souza. However, for me at least, last name as C Silva Souza looks better, because they can see there is another name there which is abbreviated.

I have a german phone. Does this free toll number work for international calls?

The problem is that I'm not from US and to call there would be a bit hard...

Hi,

I've researched a lot about changing guest names but I didn't find exactly what I want.

When I first booked the cruise, I simplified the name of my guest. The system didn't allow me to use 2 names as first names, so I put only the very first name and put just the initial letter of "second" first name at the beginning of last name. So, instead of:

First: Maria Carolina

Last: Silva Souza

I put:

First: Maria

Last: C Silva Souza

But yesterday I was reading something about the check-in and I saw the name must be EXACT like in her passport, which of course has her full name, not just the initial letter.

However, the website does not allow me to change her first name, and if I try to put her complete name as last name (Carolina Silva Souza), the website saves it as "Carolina Silva S". If I'm not wrong this is the reason why I first used only C instead of full name, because the website was shortening the last one.

So, since the last name is more important, I kept it as it was. Now I'm wondering if I might have problems in the embarkation.

Can anyone please help me with that?

TL;DR: it's the same guest, I just want to type her full name to be exactly as her passport, instead of abbreviating it, but the website does not allow me to do that.

(name used here is fictitious but idea is the same)