Lalory77

2 hours ago, klfrodo said:

My opinion only.

Your first mistake was letting your greed for the $600 OBC cloud your decision making process.

 

However, you are now where you are at. Your stuck. You can't cancel and get refund back. Yes, if you rebook, you do have to pay the full deposit and then apply the previous credit to your cruise payment.

 

If you book thru a TA and buy a 3rd party insurance, you could use the insurance for the carrier default clause should Carnival go bankrupt. However, you have so little money involved that it would be a wash.

 

You could just hope the credit card company you used would credit back your money for not receiving the service you paid for in the case of bankruptcy.

 

Bottom Line

You've only got $250 invested. Chump change in the grand scheme of things. If you are concerned about them going out of business why would you even contemplate giving them another $500? Ride it out until your more comfortable with the cruiselines financial outlook.

First of all it was not “greed” that made me choose the onboard credit. It was my hope to sail again and I never contemplated it would take this long for things to go back to normal.  AND Carnival is still willing to return that deposit in cash if I choose to go that way. But thanks for your option 

So we were booked on the Mardi Gras for November 2020 and unfortunately it was cancelled. I opted to keep my deposit down and receive the $600 promotional onboard credit for the next booked cruise. We want to book for November 2021 on the Mardi Gras with the promotional Cheers package. Unfortunately that requires an additional $500 deposit. Carnival rep said they will not let me apply the $250 deposit I already have down from the cancelled cruise towards the deposit with this new booking. She said the $250 will go towards the cruise as a payment but not towards the deposit. So I will have to pay an additional $500 deposit and will now have $750 tied up with them. My worry is if they file bankruptcy I will lose it all. Am I being overly cautious? 

Does anyone have any clue where the best cabin locations for the cove balconies on the new Mardi Gras will be? I know with the Dream class the suggestion is to not be under the galley. I looked at the deck plans of the Mardi Gras and really can't tell where the galley would be. Anyone with more info on this?

Carnival 

Sorry. Carnival Magic 

We will be sailing on the Magic this weekend out of Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale). Just wondering how picky and strict this port is about bringing on soda. Do they actually count the cans? I wanted to also bring a few 16oz cans of energy drinks so I may go over the 12 cans per person. Will that be allowed? And one last question. My cooler is 12x14. Will that be an issue? Anyone that has sailed out of this port please reply 🙂

Thank you so much for your reply. I've been going back-and-forth whether to do the excursion or take a cab ourselves there. The price difference isn't that much since it's $30 each way for the cab and then there's an admission fee to get in. I always feel safer doing an excursion through the ship LOL. Thank you so much for your detailed description. I appreciate it so very much! 🙂

14 hours ago, purplephenom said:

We did this excursion. Blue Bay is a little less crowded than Mambo, but closer than the western beaches. If you have kids, there’s a protected cove area that’s good for them to swim and play in. 

 

The Snorkeling is decent around the edges of the cove. The excursion includes a mask and snorkel but not fins. It’s wavy enough that you’ll probably want to rent them- I think they were either $10 or $15. 

 

The food there is ok but it just takes a bit so order before you’re starving. 

 

The bus on the way there gave a quick city tour.  Bus doesn’t have window panes so you can take pics of the colored buildings. 

 

On on the way back, the bus drove past the flamingoes and stopped for pictures. It was ok to see but they were sort of far away so don’t count on amazing pictures. They’ll drop off in town or at the pier for shopping. 

 

We enjoyed the beach. We were there about 3 hours. It really wasn’t crowded, no vendors or anything, and pretty good Snorkeling. We thought we would’ve wanted more water time, but I spent all but about 20 minutes in the water and the current was enough to make me tired. Some people say take water shoes, I had no issue barefoot but something to keep in mind. 

Thank you so much for your response! I had read some reviews for this excursion that mentioned the transportation there took about an hour because they went the long way doing some site seeing and there was less then 2 hours of beach time? Do you recall how long it took you to get there? Was the beach nice with clear water?  Thank you for your response 🙂

On 11/4/2019 at 11:57 AM, cruiseapril said:

We took the Beach Break bus through the ship's excursions and went

to Blue Bay for the morning.  The bus picked us up and we went back

to the ship for lunch and then to Willemstad.  We would price compare

for other excursions. 

We are also considering this excursion and read some mixed reviews from others saying the tour bus to get there is very long and you actually only get less than 2 hours at the beach. I was happy to see your post hoping maybe you could give us a rundown on the excursion and if you liked it and how much time you actually did get at blue bay resort. Thanks so much! 

We will be on a Southern Caribbean cruise with Carnival this upcoming week and stopping in Curacao. Trying to decide if we should do the excursion through Carnival or take a cab to Blue Bay. Has anyone done this excursion or just took a cab to Blue Bay? Would love some opinions from those that have visited this beach. Curious how much time is actually spent at the beach going the excursion route. Also is it difficult to find a cab going there? Thanks so much for any advice 🙂

We will be sailing on Carnival this coming weekend on an 8 night cruise. Trying to decide if we should do bottomless bubbles. My question is when you are on the lido deck and the servers come around to take drink orders is it just for alcoholic drinks or will they also bring you a soda if you have the bottomless bubbles package. What about shows and comedy clubs? Will they serve you soda there also. Just trying to decide if it is worth getting. Any and all replies are greatly appreciated :)

We will be sailing on carnival out of port of miami today. I was wondering if they will let us bring on 16oz cans of energy drinks. Just want to bring on about 8 and we are a party of 3 so that’s less then the allowed max of 12 cans of 12oz per person. Any replies greatly appreciated 🙂

We are thinking about taking an Eastern Caribbean cruise the 1st week of December out of Miami. I’m just concerned about weather since we normally cruise during the early part of June. Anyone that has cruised during the month of December that can give me some info on weather would be helpful. I read somewhere that December tends to be a “rainy” month in the Caribbean. Thanks for any replies :)

We will be sailing out of Port of Miami on Horizon in early December and trying to decide on which is our best option for parking. We will be needing a hotel for the night before sailing. When we sailed out of port canaveral we stayed at the Radisson at the port and it was wonderful! The shuttle had us there in time and was waiting when we got back in to take us back to our car. Would highly recommend. Is there anything similar at port of Miami anyone can suggest or any other options? Thanks so much for any advice :)

Sailing on Horizon in December Eastern Caribbean from Miami. Looking for advice from anyone who has stayed in a family harbor extended aft balcony on deck 2. We are a party of 2 adults and a 20yr old son. Thought it would be nice to try an extended aft for the first time but have some questions. We normally choose a higher floor but all the aft extended cabins higher are Havana and only accommodate 2. I am prone to mild sea sickness so was wondering how the motion is that low down and far back. Also is there any shade at all on these balconies or are you in direct sun all day? Is the view still good with the extended railing in front? Lastly how noisy is it being so close to the family lounge? Like I said we are all adults and will not be sailing with children. We are deciding between these cabins or a standard balcony cabin midship on deck 9. Thanks!!

St Maarten is a port we will be stopping at for the day on our Carnival cruise in December. Trying to decide whether to book an excursion or take the water taxi over to Great Bay Beach. Can anyone advise on how the beach there is? Is the water and sand nice? Is it a beach that you could snorkel at? Any advice will be appreciated :)

Having a hard time choosing between these 2 cruises. Would love some opinions on which you would choose and why.

The first is Carnival Horizon and the itinerary is Eastern Caribbean- 8 nights

Start: Miami Grand Turk San Juan St. Kitts St. Maarten End: Miami

Next is on Carnival Magic and the itinerary is Western Caribbean-7 nights Cozumel plus

Start: Port Canaveral (Orlando) Cozumel Belize Mahogany Bay Costa Maya End: Port Canaveral (Orlando)

The difference between them being 7 or 8 nights really isn’t a factor to me nor is the starting port. I’m more interested in nicer ship, better ports, etc. Both are the first week of December. All advice and opinions are welcome and much appreciated :)