IcanSeaclearlynow

I’m currently in the 1 hour frame.  My corona light is keeping me quenched & 😊  Guy is super nice & apologetic as he checks back with me from time to time as he waits for confirmation to do the switch.  He did confirm the price protection with no additional deposit & final payment due next year.   Also said that yes, the timeframe can be 4 weeks before or after.  
 

Two cruises cancelled this year in addition to previously cancelled carnival Mardi Gras &  sensation bookings this year due to delay in ship building.  So if 2021 doesn’t go according to plan I’m taking that as a sign I don’t need to be on a cruise ship 😅

A head's up, we are considering the lift & shift for our 10/2020 cruise. We are currently OVB 8D and all I saw was 4D. She and supervisor weren't sure if categories had been recategorized and also wasn't aware of the 4 week b/4, after timeframe to rebook.  Asked me to screenshot it from RC website & send to them lol.  Sure no prob, am I now on RC's payroll 😂.  If we decide to lift & shift me thinks it's gonna entail a bottle of something stronger than beer next to me to get through the process.  🤣

Sorry if this has been asked & answered.  I looked through but sometimes I miss things 

We have an Oct 2020 sailing with final payment due in July.  If we opt to lift & shift to Oct 2021, do we have until next year to pay or does the final payment of July 2020 still apply?

3 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

The Mardi Gras can't do an 8 day southern because it's home port is Port Canaveral.  It would have to be home based in either MIA or FLL in order to do it.  The other southern choices are based out of San Juan and usually are done with a Fantasy Class ship.

Miami would be a great place to have her.  We took an 8 day southern on Horizon last year & loved it.  

Totally agree with OP. Need new itineraries. We were surprised of the itinerary for the Mardi Gras & decided to not rebook after it was cancelled b/c of delay & instead book Panorama.  Thought for sure Mardi Gras would have maybe an 8 day southern or more eastern.  

I would definitely gamble onboard if they were smoke free.  I'm hoping they do this on all cruise lines.  We've only sailed carnival (1st booking for RC in Oct.) but the smoke was so bad on Horizon last year my husband wouldn't go in it & he normally gambles at sea.  All of our casinos here are now smoke free & it's great.  Well at least to us nonsmokers.  

Go for it & book an extended balcony or suite to celebrate your 20th!  Not something many achieve these days 😉🎉  If you haven't been on it, Horizon is a beautiful ship. 

Breaks my heart for her.  She's a single mom & like most in her industry has really taken a hit.  

23 minutes ago, voyager70 said:

 

Just curious if your niece knows how they're going to maintain social distancing once the salons reopen.  I've been wondering about that.  I'm assuming the stylists will be required to wear masks, but you can't maintain 6 feet distance when you're doing someone's hair.

Just talked to her & her salon (much to her bank account's dismay) has made the decision not to reopen.  They would wear a mask & require customers to also wear a mask.  The problem they are having is finding masks that keep out the majority of germs/virus & they can't find sanitizer or spray disinfectant anywhere.  
 

She also said when they do go back the customer will have to text upon arrival as they will only be able to have 1 customer per stylist in salon, no children.  The stylists there are now cutting garbage bags in shape of cape because they can't find disposable ones & they will definitely need those.  She said sadly It will be their new normal for a while. 

Anyone on here who lives in Georgia can get your lovely locks taken care of beginning Friday.  My niece is a hairdresser there & she's excited to get back to work.  
 

I didn't realize how important bowling is over there.  Apparently they're opening lanes as well.  No thank you.  Too many places for this virus to land on.  🥴

Hubby asked me to cut his hair - Not.  Gonna.  Do.  It.   He's too picky & I kind of like being married to him. Although this shut in with him is really trying my patience 😂

Having myself been disappointed in the MG being delayed previously resulting in a cancelled trip, I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed & say it will be ready for your trip.  However, prepare yourself that it won't be. Unless they're using funds not being refunded to those who have had to cancel due to virus to complete it, not sure where they're finding the $ or the workers to work on it right now.  I would think Carnival can change the website to show sold out or not available with the push of a button.  

Hubby needs a cut but I like his salt & pepper so no need for color.   Told him I’ll put it in a man bun & had to describe what that was 😂

LaLa, your hair is beautiful.  
 

Frozen pizza - ugh.  Tried one last week for the 1st time in probably 10 years.   I’ll give away the 2 that are left in my freezer 😝.  We could do some serious damage to a Dominos pepperoni deep dish right about now.   

I would say MG but tbh will it be ready by then?  I'm optimistic it will but who's to say with everything else going on.  Maybe they're using everyone's refund $ to finish building it & it will be ready on time.  💁🏼‍♀️

15 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:
My favorite cruising memory is when my husband and I were touring St Thomas.  Our tour driver stopped somewhere on top of a hill and we got out to view the ocean.  It was like something out of a dream.  It was so beautiful that my thought at the time was that this would be what heaven looks like.  The view was amazing.  This memory has always stayed with me.

Another favorite was at HMC when we were going back to the ship.  I took a picture of our cruise ship surrounded by the some of the bluest water I have ever seen.  The weather was perfect with a blue sky and very few clouds. My favorite memories when cruising aren't things I've done, but places I have seen when focusing on nothing more than the beauty of it.

 

St. Thomas - Sounds like it was Magen’s Bay.   Absolutely breathtaking.   I can see it clearly in my mind 23 years later.  

2 hours ago, jmcancruise said:

My daughter is in labour and I don't know when I will be able to see them.  Right now I am waiting on my own testing results.  Don't believe I have it, but the two things have made for a not great day.  Another wonderful memory.  Standing at the top of El Morro in San Juan looking out over the crashing waves. It was so awesome, it almost took my breath away.

1st happy pushing to your daughter & congrats on the impending arrival of your grandchild & sending positive thoughts & prayers your way for a negative test.  
 

Our favorite cruise hands down was our 1st on the Sensation.  Eastern Caribbean out of Miami.  Favorite island to date, St. Thomas.   Celebrated my 30th birthday, 1st airplane flights for us both, met wonderful people we kept in touch with for many years following and were young enough that we could close the dance clubs down 😂💃🏼🕺🏻  

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

I have done my own bookings, used a PVP, and Travel agent.

 

A good PVP will be available to you 24/7. I had one that would answer a question on Saturday night. But I never got any better deals by using a PVP. I never got any upgrades or anything like that. 
 

I started using travel agents for times when carnival wasn’t offering OBC as to get OBC. I found they gave me more OBC than carnival did. Then last year they gave me OBC then when carnival offered OBC, they gave me that OBC as well. At that point I decided to book all of my cruises through the TA.

 

The only time we used a TA was our 1st cruise long ago in '97.  I don't recall & perhaps you can tell me, isn't there an additional fee for using a TA?  I'd be interested in looking into that option for extended or European sailings if they could get additional OBC but only if their fee wasn't too much.  I've heard TAs can be a great asset for extended travel arrangements.  

We were at sea one year ago today on the Horizon, Southern Caribbean.  Loved everything about that cruise - the ship, excursions, ports visited, people we met, and time spent with my hubby.  

36 minutes ago, RHilla619 said:

Wondering has anyone rebooked before being officially canceled, and had success calling in to get the OBC applied retroactively. Thinking I might be SOL, but may be worth a phone call. 

Yes.  We cancelled our 4/25 March 9th before things amped up & official email.   Rebooked for March 2021.  Our long time  PVP kept saying he was working on getting us our $600 OBC.  After a few emails & calls to him & what I felt was the runaround, I called carnival direct & within 30 min had the 600 OBC in our account.   Probably would have been a shorter time on the phone but I called in the afternoon.  If you want something done, gotta do it yourself 😉

Thanks everyone for your help.   Called RC & was able to get another price drop.  👏🏻

1 hour ago, FiredogCruiser said:

Wondering about a minimum 24 hour turn around to allow for better cleaning and prep between sailings.

I've wished for years they would do this.  We've boarded some ships and the cabins  were dusty dusty & the bathrooms (especially on older ships) - ugh.   They have enough time to do basic cleaning.  Not sure if a 24 hour turnaround would help in getting a little bit better cleaning but would be nice to find out.  
 

They will never get rid of buffets.  
 

Other than put more Purell stands out the only thing that will change are prices - they'll increase in booking cost, drinks, excursions, shops to recoup what they've lost.  

21 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Location and deck dont matter with rcl like some others. Your category is all the matters. 

Thank you  

When checking to see if a previously booked cabin has dropped in price, do you have to check on the same deck or can any deck price be checked & applied if lower as long as it's the same room type, location & category? 

At the top of Carnivals home page you'll see 3 lines next to the Carnival logo.  Click that & you'll see some options.  Click manage then my booking and you will need to log into your account.  From there you'll be able to manage your booking. 

1 hour ago, chefchick said:

I’m sorry if this has already been answered elsewhere...my 4/25 Panorama Cruise was canceled and I filled out the form for full refund days ago.  Like most of you I didn’t receive any sort of confirmation email, (just a quick confirmed notation message on screen).  I did take a screen shot of the form for “my records”.  My questions are: I know it says in the original cancelation email that pre paid beverage packages, excursions, etc will automatically be refunded, but they still show up on my planner and it looked like there was a option to “cancel” them. Do I need to do that?  Also, when I log on to Carnival.com my cruise planner/manager still states “ 15 days till your cruise” although it is obviously canceled and I have requested a refund.  Is that normal?  Are others like that as well?

That was the cruise we were booked on 😔. We cancelled 1st week of March & up until last week was still receiving "hey your cruise is coming up, wanna buy a drink package or excursion" email.  We had an excursion booked but received an email probably a day or 2 after canceling that the excursion had been cancelled & a refund would be issued (that took 2 weeks to get).  If memory serves I believe it took at least a day or 2 for the actual cruise to clear out of our planner.