MoxieDoll66

When I did online check in, I was able to set a daily limit on my son's Sail and Sign account while leaving it unlimited for myself and my husband.  I just went back and looked at it again and it's showing up in my cruise manager.

Oh, I forgot this (I haven't ever used it) but Carnival has a "payment plan" that you can select under Manage my cruise.  The balance is divided up into monthly payment amounts and can be automatically charged every month so you don't have to try to remember to make a payment.

You don't have to make any payments until your final payment day-you can then pay the entire amount.  I don't usually do that, I get discounted gift cards from AARP and Allstate Drivewise and use them to pay down my balance periodically before my final payment date.  My mom and brother always seem to wait until it's nearly final payment and then they pay the lump sum at once.  It just depends on your budgeting habits.

There are no fees when you make payments.  It's super easy to make the payments by logging into the Carnival website and clicking on "Manage my cruise".  You can use gift cards or credit cards to make the payments right there.

Are you on the March 9th sailing?  We have a FB group for that sailing  🙂  

We're on our first in 8 years next month!  No real reason for the long break, we just ended up doing more long (and I mean looooooooong) road trips every year.  Now we have 2 booked for this year already-and I convinced my husband to go on one cruise a year and just one or two road trips.

22 hours ago, GTO-Girl said:

 

Yes you can certainly drop everyone off at the terminal before heading to the parking lot to get the shuttle.  What are your plans for getting everyone back to the cars after the cruise?

 

If it were me and I had that many people with walkers, scooters, oxygen, etc I would park at the port for the convenience of getting quickly to my vehicles after the cruise...

Thank you GTO-girl.  After the cruise we were going to send 2 of the guys back on the shuttle to get the cars and then pick us up at the terminal.  I am pushing for parking at the terminal since we have so many people and so much extra carry on stuff.  We won't be doing self debarkation this time-we'll see how that goes.  This is our first time cruising since my parents have needed all this extra equipment.  🙂

Thanks Capt. BJ-that is super helpful!

11 hours ago, Nerkbuck said:

How noisy will it be in Cabin 9347 under Guy's Burger Joint seating area? Not too worried about during the day, but what about at night?

I am going to be in that exact cabin on March 9th.  I'll let you know when we get back!

We will have 2 cars with a total of 7 people next month leaving out of Port Canaveral.  2 senior citizens, so we will have a scooter, walker and 4 tanks of oxygen as well as our luggage.  We're considering parking in an offsite lot for the first time and I'm wondering if we can drop off my parents and another one of us as well as our luggage at the terminal and then the rest of us drive to the lot and take the shuttle.  

We've always parked at the port, so I don't have any real idea which offsite parking lot is better-any recommendations?

Southbayer- you have to do things on the AARP website (quizzes and signing up for newsletters) and then redeem the points for the discounted gift card.  It's called "Rewards for Good".  It's really really easy to rack up a lot of points quickly!

Here's the place you want to go on the AARP website :rewards for good

How fortunate some people are that they haven't had to face a situation in their life where they or someone they know/love need to use a scooter for mobility.  

(Btw, BostwickGirl-my parents live in Bostwick!)

Since I don't work outside the home, I LOVE having the opportunity to pull out all the stops on formal nights.  My husband and son wear suits and ties and I'll either wear sequins or a floor length gown.  My husband's job is super casual, khakis and polos so he doesn't mind wearing a suit a few times a year.  The other nights in the MDR I wear "smart casual" dresses and wedges and the guys wear khakis and button down shirts.  

The last few cruises, we've felt a little awkward but have also gotten compliments from random other passengers.  I personally like doing hair and makeup, but I get other people might not get any pleasure out of it or think it's more of a chore.  

Going on the Breeze in March and I'll be wearing a floor length evening dress/gown on both formal nights. My husband and son will be wearing jackets and ties, so not quite as dressed up as me, but I LOVE to dress up and don't often have an occasion for it at home.

I am so loving this review!! Thank you so much for all the menu pics-it's helping me budget :)

Yay! You've made me even more excited about sailing her in March. I promise we'll love her in PC like y'all do in Galveston.

I guess that’s just what I’ve come to expect from hotels I frequently visit that offer turndown service and advertise it as such. It wouldn’t have dawned to me that was considered extra on top of what turndown service is because it’s always been done that way, for me, without asking in hotels where turndown service was the norm.

 

I wouldn’t expect the room to be vacuumed or the bedding stripped during the second service of the day which is what I meant to imply.

 

My apologies for any misinformation as my expectations are different.

That's what I have always expected from the evening service, fresh ice and towels, turn down the bed and leave tomorrow's Fun Times for us. I think maybe that's where the whole discussion stems, some people think it's a twice a day entire cabin cleaning. I think it's AM cleaning and PM turndown.

Carnival offers an excursion in Amber Cove called "Lifestyle Serenity VIP Resort Getaway", but it's not currently offered on our sailing in March. I looked at the Lifestyle Serenity website but couldn't find any information about day passes.

We would just like a beach with shady hammocks and the fancy beach beds-is there any resort there that offers a day pass similar to this excursion?

223 days until Spring Break on the Breeze!

This is a serious question-when you have twice a day service are they cleaning the entire cabin twice? I always assumed that the evening service was more of a wipe down the bathroom counters, replace towels, turn down the bed and go type of thing. If they're vacuuming and cleaning windows twice a day, that's a LOT more work than I thought.

I guess I figured it was like a hotel-evening service was basically turndown, not a full second room cleaning.

Call them-2 days ago they were having website problems where they wouldn't take 4 different payment methods for a shore excursion, then ended up charging me 4 times (they cancelled and refunded quickly-no worries there). At the same time my mom couldn't even log on, the website was rejecting her PW. The Carnival rep on the phone told her that they were updating the website and having problems. They may be still having issues, so call them and they can check you in.

To be fair, my son was being an ass. He was 15 and didn't want to get up and get out of the cabin-it's been nearly 15 years so I can't remember exactly what his problem was, but I was fussing at him to act like he had some manners and the steward was standing outside the (open) cabin door waiting for us to leave so he could get in. As I was walking out so my son could change out of his pajamas, the steward said to me something along the lines of in his family, a son who acted like that was a disgrace.

I was pretty shocked, but then I just figured the steward was pissed that my kid was holding up his day-and I've never had any other cruise staff be anything but super in my face friendly. Everyone has bad days, he was an excellent steward and just wasn't a fan of my son. Honestly, I wasn't either when he was 15.

The advantage for us is being able to drop our carryon luggage in our cabin as soon as we board. My parents are also going and they have to carry on oxygen and other medical necessities that are heavy-also, by the time we've stood in line to check in and then board, they will be ready for a nap! It's the early access to the cabins that make it worth it for us.

 

Personally, I feel bad for the stewards who have a lot of work to do. They are so friendly, and give great service. 2x is really not "included", but they will do it if asked.

 

2x daily has been standard on every cruise I've been on-I've never been asked at all anything about service from our steward aside from whether we wanted the kids' bunks put totally away or just made up. I agree that for the most part the housekeeping staff are very friendly and that they do work quite hard. But, there are some times that staff ISN'T friendly and you can't always just assume it's the passenger's fault. I actually had a cabin steward tell me that if my son was HIS son, he wouldn't put up with my son's attitude. That was pretty shocking.

When our kids were little, we actually tipped more than the auto grats. We always gave our steward $50 when they introduced themselves on embarkation day and usually another $25 at debarkation on top of the prepaid tips.

Kids are just messy and they bring a lot more stuff that has to be neatened up (toys, extra bunks or cribs, they splash water everywhere when they brush their teeth).

What does income have to do with following a bare bones basic dress code?

Nothing. Some people just want to be difficult.

While I am FAR from equating the MDR with Morton's or Ruth's Chris, nobody would even dream of going to a restaurant like that in shorts, tee shirt and ball cap. If I want to go eat dinner in shorts and flip flops, I go to Chili's. To me, it's the same on a cruise. If I don't want to change into at the very least a pair of nice capri pants and top, then I'll eat on the Lido deck (which sometimes we do).

FTR, we cruise Carnival because they have the largest cabins outside of a suite of any cruise line we've found. They also have the most variety of itinerary and dates available for our needs. Money has nothing to do with it.

I should clarify-just because we like to dress up that doesn't mean that anyone else should have to. If you want to wear shorts to dinner, I totally don't care. I'm not taking your vacation, I'm taking mine :)