arf2005

Guess I'm the only one who finds Cruise Critic therapeutic ;-)

 

 

 

Just an update as you all where so nice in responding:

 

I was able to get my hotel in Nassau refunded via Priceline Name Your Own Price- which I thought was 100% final sale. Alaska Airlines offered to redeposit the miles for the two one ways flights home from Nassau for $25 after explaining my situation as a goodwill gesture. Might help that I do business with both companies a lot.

 

I booked my flight to NYC last minute using British Airway miles on American- they always have tons of availability nonstop from Chicago and for this past Monday they had the first flight of the day into NYC available- obviously made the most sense for leaving Monday although I should've left Sunday. Sunday even with the Super Bowl had mileage flights available but I had to work overnight. Otherwise, I would have tracked the weather better and left then. Risky move looking back.

 

The cruise was ridiculous cheap. My total for 2 in a spa room was $528 with taxes.

 

Paid to give Priceline and Alaska Airlines a call. They where very understanding and reimbursed me. NCL is unable to do anything after speaking with them but that I understand and accept as this was indeed my fault. I will 100% get the insurance next time. Not just for instances like mine. My loss is nothing compared to if you had to be airlifted, medical, etc.

Glad to hear you are not losing out completely - and kudos to Priceline and Alaska Airlines for their understanding of the situation. Unfortunately this is one of those situations where you learn more from your mistakes than if everything had gone smoothly. Luckily it didn't cost you a fortune in the long run. Hopefully your next cruise isn't too far off and you will have smooth sailing for it!

If you are in commissioned sales loyalty goes a long way, especially when trying to make a living.

I make it a point to deal with the person I started with as long as they provide good service.

Double like!

Interesting discussion. Some people say they can not afford to lose the cost of their vacation. Actually, this is not true. They apparently can afford the cost of the vacation. They already paid for for it.

 

What they may not be able to afford is the heartache of not taking the cruise they were planning on. That does suck, for sure.

 

There is of course some additional expense if they flew in and now have to stay in a hotel or pay for a different return flight.

 

But, the cost of the cruise itself is the same either way. Actually, if you are not on the ship, the cost is probably less as many expenses will no longer be incurred.

More importantly, can you afford the cost of something going wrong while on the cruise - a medical emergency? That's what would wipe out your bank account if you don't purchase insurance. I know many of us don't even realize when someone has been airlifted off a cruise ship that we are on, but it unfortunately happens more than we are aware - 3 times on the last cruise I was on. I realize that's probably on the high side(!), but to me, that's what the insurance is really for more than anything else. I'm sure there are horror stories on here as to what people have been hit with in terms of cost for such an event.

Rome In Limo is fantastic, used them in Rome and Florence and they were amazing!

I concur.

Hi everybody,

 

My partner and I will be celebrating our honeymoon on the Getaway on May 3rd.

 

Because our ceremony is Friday evening, May 2nd, we have to fly in the morning of the cruise. (There are no late flights available afterward.)

I know it is advised to always fly in the day before, but we can't due to the service being the night before.

 

We are flying out of Atlanta that morning and have booked the earliest flight possible. If something happens to that flight there are still about 5 more that can get us there in time.

 

My concern is if something happens in the air to divert the plane, causing us to miss the boat.

 

Are there any Trip Insurance Plans that would cover missing the boat due to flight issues?

 

We are first time cruisers and would really appreciate your help and feed back.

 

Thank you in advance!

Yes…if you are working with a TA they will do all of this for you…otherwise there are several other threads on here dealing with the same issue that might point you in the right direction. Congrats!

Let me start by saying, I also always buy insurance. I booked our upcoming cruise to Alaska a month ago. Cruise is in June. At the time of booking, I did not purchase the NCL insurance, as I know I can shop around and possibly get a better plan elsewhere prior to final payment of my cruise becoming due in middle of March. My father-in-law has just been diagnosed with cancer and starts his chemotherapy treatments this week (3 x a month for the next 3 months).

My question is, is there a company other than NCL's that I can purchase insurance from and still be able to cancel and get a FULL refund, if, as our cruise date comes closer and he is not doing well. Any input is appreciated. If not, then I may still decide to cancel and re-book for June, 2015.

Yes, there are - but I'm not sure we are allowed to name them on here. In fact if you buy them within several days of deposit they even cover pre-exisiting conditions. I would never buy the cruise lines insurance - always buy from an independent company - but always buy! It's based on the cost of your trip and your age.

How disappointing. I'm so sorry for you. First, don't ever bother with the insurance from the cruise lines - it's worthless. However, always buy insurance - and go with an independent company. Depending on your age and the cost of your trip it is usually very reasonable and if you purchase it at the time you make deposit (and chose the right kind) it should cover pretty much any thing that might happen.

I have to add my agreement to those above who say they come in a day early, especially during the winter months. It's nonnegotiable. Until April 15th rolls around, I don't trust the weather!

The "Getaway" just went under the V~~bridge~~could not see her that well due to the very bad weather~~bet she is ready to "Getaway" from this weather~~just wish I was on her!:)

Will be in 18 days!!!

We booked through a travel agent for our cruise on the Conquest. Next time I'll book directly through Carnival -- there was no advantage in going through a TA.

 

I heard that there are still quite a number of empty cabins on this cruise, so I contacted my TA to see if there are any upgrades available for our two cabins (one inside, one OV on deck 2). She emailed me back that there are is only an upgrade available for the OV to a balcony for $320. Not worth it in my opinion, but I'm curious what others think. Should we ask for something else?

 

 

Carnival Conquest 2/16/2014

Princess Dawn Princess 2/16/2007

Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas 12/26/2005

Carnival Paradise 3/4/2005

Carnival Elation 4/13/2003

Norwegian SS Norway 8/3/1991

If you have a good TA, it costs nothing more to book through them then it does to book through the ship, and the time when you will be glad you have them (and again I want to emphasis GOOD TA) is when something goes wrong - especially if you are in the middle of your vacation.

The aft balconies sizes on the stern do vary significantly depending on deck. Largest to smallest; 9,12,11,10,14,13. The aft cabins do have slight differences in interior sgft within specific categories, which can be somewhat seen on deck plans. But I wouldn't be surprised to hear NCL say all aft cabins in a given category are the same size internally, and the varying total sqft is the balconies. These differences in interior sgft for aft cabins are not noted anywhere AFAIK, that's indicative how little the difference encompass, IMO.

 

Also many pax have noticed sound from Spice H20 sailing aft. The farther(lower) away you are located the less the sound. Of course some enjoy the sounds, some not so much. ;)

 

Have you seen this? Notice the visual aid links.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AkRUeqCmOMnGdFZWTVVzZndrc0NkN1N0TGpZb2ZYU2c&single=true&gid=0&output=html

 

HTH

Could someone post this form - I can't get it to open.

we want to go day before, and is this a good place to stay and is it close to port of Miami?

Haven't stayed in this particular one (don't think it's close to port but could be wrong) but have stayed at other Embassy Suites and love them. We use the one in Fort Lauderdale a lot. In Miami we've used the Hyatt, Intercontinental and Holiday Inn - Port of Miami - all right down next to the Port.

Check out Travel Guard.

This is the first group I've booked with Carnival (we usually take our group cruises on Royal) and it's been hell from day one even with later transferring to a TA.

Trying to book our group was hard because the "group specialist" I spoke with told me we could book at one price (the group price) but that the amenity points were gone for our cruise so we'd have to pay for points if we wanted them. The other option was to do each booking individually at the online discounted price and then roll it over into a group. Well since I had no intention on paying for points and thought it would be nice to save our clients some money I spent the extra time to book them one by one and then call back to roll it over to a group. When I called back I got a totally different person who told me, yes they can roll it into a group but that I shouldn't have needed to book each one individually..they could've done it all. :eek:

 

The second problem we had was that they never sent an email or anything about final payment. (Yes I looked over the initial paper work and it didn't say anything) Luckily, since I'm on CC all the time, I was able to learn of the final payment date through our role call. Carnival's is 75 days where since I'm used to using a different cruise line, I was used to paying at 50 days out.

 

The third issue was the dining room. Maybe it's because, once again, I'm used to the way other lines do it...but Carnival doesn't send anything out asking how you'd like to be sat at dinner. I had to call and tell them who should be at what table and what table sizes we would need. (We still haven't heard back on this yet though.)

 

After the 3rd issue we had I chose to switch the booking to a TA hoping that would alleviate some of the headaches. Nope! I was wrong! :eek:

 

Issue number 4: I went online to book us in the steakhouse for dinner and received an email back stating that only our TA could do that and that in order to book he would have to call the special events department and that we'd all have to pay in advance! Arg! Finally, after my TA was on the phone forever with them, he found a loop hole for us. We would have to split the group and book it under 4 different reservations. Of course when he tried to do that he was told that only We (the booking owners) can book it. :confused:

 

All in all, between calling multiple times and getting someone who has no idea what they're talking about to the hassle of just trying to get the details finalized, the whole experience has been a big disorganized mess.:(

 

I pray that the cruise goes better than this planning has.

With all due respect, you need a better TA...

My husband also is "merely" honorably discharged from the AF (6+ yrs service) and we too have used the military rate a number of times. Just be aware that the military rate - especially lately - is not always the best rate. Especially if you want obc or upgrades.

We had 3 airlifted off our last cruise - seems like it's happening more and more frequently. I think they are less likely to keep you on the ship anymore with fear of a lawsuit. Not going without insurance anymore - that's for sure!

Thanks for the review! We are on her in April.

Link please, I can't seem to find it? :confused:

No, you don't have to look under specific sailings - you can look under the port. Right now I am only seeing them listed under Nassau.

https://secure.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/424117

I don't see the list of concerts anywhere. Am I missing it?

Under excursions

Interesting that those are all older ships.

I thought the same thing - definitely a pattern there....

How did you find that list?

It's under excursions - but as of right now it's only listed for Nassau - not for the other two stops. The starting price is listed as $99!

Anyone see a schedule of what artists are on what cruises?

Went looking to see if my cruise was one of the ones included. Here's what I found:

STYX: 4/7/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fantasy

STYX: 4/8/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fascination

Kansas: 4/15/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Sensation

Kansas: 4/16/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fascination

Foreigner: 5/9/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Sensation

Foreigner: 5/10/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Ecstasy

Olivia Newton-John: 6/27/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Sensation

Olivia Newton-John: 6/28/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Ecstasy

38 Special: 9/6/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fascination

38 Special: 9/7/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fantasy

Kansas: 9/23/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Sensation

Kansas: 9/24/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fascination

STYX: 9/29/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fascination

STYX: 9/30/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Sensation

Trace Adkins: 10/13/2014 Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fascination

Trace Adkins: 10/14/2014 Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Sensation

Leann Rimes: 10/28/2014 Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Sensation

Leann Rimes: 10/29/2014 Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fantasy

Kansas: 11/13/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fantasy

Kansas: 11/14/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Sensation

Trace Adkins: 11/24/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fascination

Trace Adkins: 11/25/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fantasy

Daughtry: 12/3/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fascination

Daughtry: 12/4/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fantasy

REO: 12/15/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fantasy

REO: 12/16/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Sensation

REO: 12/17/2014 in Nassau, The Bahamas on Carnival Fascination

Did the Breakaway last year and will be doing the Getaway next month. Thought the itinerary for the Breakaway was awful - only did it to experience going out of NYC. There has to be a better route they could use for this ship!

We cruise with our children. The exclusive ships would be twice the cost and not have what we need for a family vacation.

Hadn't thought about the kids - good point.

Just curious for those of you who book the Haven...is there a specific reason you go with the Haven instead of spending the same money on a more "exclusive" ship. Trying to decide what makes the Haven worth the extra money (I know all the extras that come with it, but you would get pretty pampered on some other ships too).

I am retired and live in Orlando, so can sail from Florida...uh, today, for the right deal!

 

So I check almost daily for single fares. Doing Breeze 2/1 solo for $449.

 

Would jump at chance to do Paradise again, but never see solo fares on that ship.

 

To the OP: I did the roommate thing once and hated it. She snored and was a space hog. Love having a solo room. Try it and you'll probably like it. Check out the "solo cruisers" forum on CC.

 

Janet

I know this is the Carnival area, but NCL has specifically built solo rooms for people who want to go by themselves. You might check them out. They come with a lounge area.

Exactly!

Just off a cruise 2 months ago where 3 people had to be evacuated! Everyone should buy 3rd party insurance these days....

On another note, several years ago we cruised with a large group of friends and family and several of our friends were quarantined to their room for Norovirus symptoms. In addition to delivering their food to them Carnival also gave them access to any movie on the tv for free (haven't been on Carnival in a few years so don't know if they still charge for some movies or not). They called them several times a day to check on them as well.