Davey Wavey

Extra tips for the room steward or waiters, souvenirs, pictures, stuff you forgot to pack (razors, toothbrush, batteries, suntan lotion, etc.), maybe some for-pay coffee or dessert one night, spa treatments...casino?? Really nothing you NEED to buy if you plan.

Might be your guess, but the OP didn't say that

You are right. I assumed it was the same Infinity Travel fake check offer that I have received and my coworkers attended and purchased and countless other posts on this board have asked about. Might be something different...

That's why I ALWAYS read the small print in the rules before calling them, so I too, am educated.

I agree but I don't remember seeing in the small print that changing to a different rate code would remove any benefits from the existing booking. I know that's how it works and actually warn people about it when I can, but I just don't remember ever actually reading it anywhere. I'm going to go see if I can find it on Carnival's promo page.

Edit: I've been checking the promo legal terms here but cannot find where it says switching to a different promo will remove existing benefits. Somewhere I learned it was how things work, but I don't remember where I learned that.

Don't see any harm in going if you go in thinking that you might not be getting what it appears.

Oh there is harm. The use high pressure sales that rope in some very reluctant people. It's almost like a brainwash cult. But let me say again, this is NOT a timeshare presentation. It has nothing to do with timeshare ownership or rentals. It is a multi-level marketing travel club that, for a big fee, offers their members travel discounts.

I don't know why everyone thinks it's a scam. I had a friend a few years ago that got his vacation flights to Florida paid for every year by going to a time share presentation.

This has NOTHING to do with a resort stay. This ISN'T a timeshare presentation. By law, timeshares HAVE to tell you it's a timeshare presentation. This is a presentation for a multi-level marketing "travel club." They require you to pay an upfront membership fee, usually about $600, then a monthly fee, usually $99, to have access to their discount travel offers. You can avoid the monthly fee by recruiting others to the club.

I have three co-workers who went through the presentation and no one can tell them it's a scam no matter how much you can demonstrate their discounts are the same price available to everyone else. The free flights and cruises are REAL and they have no "blackout" dates exactly. For the free stuff, they offer you pre-selected cruises on pre-selected dates. There is always SOMETHING available on every day of the year, but it may not be where you want to go. For example, if you pick July 4th, the only thing available might be a 7 day Bahamas cruise on RCI from New York. So, technically that date isn't blacked out.

Technically, it isn't a "scam" but I can pretty much guarantee you won't like it (unless you like selling multi-level marketing stuff to your friends and family) and it won't save you any money.

There really is NO advantage in booking a year out

...for you. The cabins that we like (3 person balcony with 2 person connected balcony) are gone early. Anything less than a year out and we have to settle for some other less desirable option. Also, my wife's job requires vacations of more than 7 days be scheduled at the beginning of the year for the entire year. It is so rare that I could wait even 6 months out to schedule a cruise. Land vacations are different. I usually do those 90 days out.

Actually it is between the merchant provider and the bank. Usually the merchant provider takes the longest time and there is nothing you can do go speed it up.

Incorrect. The merchant submits the final charge and their part in the hold is over. The merchant usually submits the final charge immediately since that is when they actually get money from the bank. I have never seen a merchant hold onto credit card requests never never, which is the only thing that would allow the merchant to prolong the hold. Once the bank receives the final charge, it is up to the bank to release the hold.

So, to the OP, look at your statement online and see if the final charge has come through (some require the charge to not be PENDING). Either way if it shows up on your statement, ask your bank to remove the hold.

Depends on your ship. We have always hung around until the very latest "get off now or we throw you off" announcement...right before they come through banging the washpans with wooden spoons to flush even the hardiest cruisers from the ship. For the big ship (Dream) that was 11:15. For the smaller ships it was 10:30. Then it was another 30-45 mins in the customs line.

See if your hotel has a free shuttle to the port and maybe jump on it to drop your stuff off at the hotel and then go out until your room is ready. Maybe even look into renting a car for the day and take the free shuttle to pick the car up. The rental and gas should still be less than using a car service or taxis, of course, only if you care to drive.

I think the unlimited packages were trials and no longer available. I'm still trying to find out for sure myself. I am waiting on response from Carnival customer service on their forum.

So I work with a lady that does Carnival cruises every 6 months!! She says they have a formal night? Does anyone know about this and does every Carnival Ship offer this? :)

On 7 night cruises, there are 2. The first is the first sea day and the second is usually the 2nd night from the end, but I have seen it be 1 day earlier if there is a late port night). I haven't seen it be on the last night even if that is a sea day.

The elegant night is just in the main dining room. The lido buffet and venues are still regular casual. Although I have seen people say that it is optional even in the main dining room, I personally have seen people in regular cruise clothes leave for being uncomfortably under dressed (depends on your if you care about the stares, etc., I guess). I have only seen 1 time when the staff asked someone to leave, but he was in flip flops/swimtrunks/unbuttoned flower print shirt. But plenty of people take it as an opportunity to get all dressed up like the prom and get nice pictures taken.

I buy a prepaid cruise that has regular monthly (no interest) payments spread out over 24 months (or the remainder if I want to use it earlier). Once paid, I have 3 years to pick a cruise. For shorter notice, I go through a TA and pay just the deposit and then a lump sum at 90 days before cruise date. This upcoming "free" casino cruise I paid the tax and tips when booking.

I tell people to do early dining if you have younguns in the Club O2 and Circle C. The clubs are open all day but they have a major scheduled event everyday at 8:00 or 8:15. My kids liked that major event even if they did nothing else in the club. Late dining at 8:15 will interfere with it if you like to have dinner with the kids, like we do.

Put it in your checked luggage but don't lock it. If they see something to confiscate, they will cut your lock. They put a note in your luggage that says they removed something (it doesn't say exactly what) and that it can be picked up at some location (for us it was one of the dance clubs...all the contraband was spread out on the floor with your cabin number) on the last night (so you have opportunity to pack it back in your checked luggage). Don't wait until embarkation day to get it unless you want to carry it with you.

Anyone else ever left anything that was important to them on a cruise? Was it ever returned?....or still lost at sea:(

I left money in the casino, but they gave me a "free" cabin in exchange. :D

Yep - 3%.

One small perk of going on a premier casino cruise is they waive the fees for chip purchases on sign and sail. That was the only cruise where I didn't get travelers checks for my gambling money. Carried minimal cash and got cash daily from the casino the night before for the next day's excursions expenses. Just put it on the sign and sail linked to my rewards visa and paid it off after the cruise.

Why would she get a free cruise for her being irresponsible?

Comps for playing so much. I got a free cabin for playing much less.

I do the same thing...why do you even care what someone else does. I'll bet you have a fit if someone carries 11 items thru the 10 or less lane

THIS!^^ Everyone should just do what they want. It's VACATION time...leave the rules behind!

If people would spend less time worrying about kids running and roaming the ship, chair hogs, using tongs at the buffet, shorts/swimsuits in the dining rooms, loud noise in the halls at night, people cutting in line, kids in the hot tubs, sneaking forbidden items, smoking in non-smoking areas, etc...there is endless whining on every forum...cruises would be MUCH happier places!

Rules are just for slackers who get caught.;)

I saw a lady in her 70's playing roulette just keep charging her S&S account and playing $50 chips. By my count after she had lost almost $5000 the host came and said her DEBIT CARD was rejected for hitting the daily maximum. The woman just started crying and said, "What have I done? I can't believe you guys let me spend my life savings like that without stopping me. How will I pay my rent? etc..." Sad stuff but hopefully she got a free cruise outta it or something.

I get free travelers checks from my credit union, but would still rather pay for them than carry a bunch of cash. I would carry a few hundred at most split between me and DW, but any more than that is in travelers checks kept in the safe. At worst, I can do the casino slot machine trick and charge money to my account then cash out. There is no fee charged when doing that. It looks like a regular purchase so incurs no cash advance or ATM fee.

I don't worry about getting robbed, but cash can get lost and that would majorly suck.

There was an outdoor market in St. Thomas with a few. It was on a corner where all the tours seem to drop people off for shopping. I think it was about 2 blocks from the bamboo sheets place (Cariloha?) across the street from the bay.

The player rankings and rewards are a big mystery. I will be first to say that anyone playing for rewards from WHEREVER they play is probably going to be unhappy. I will give my exact numbers and rewards from my S&S account, but following it exactly probably won't get you the same rewards. I had never gambled until my third cruise. I play only roulette on the 7-to-1 or 5-to-1 lanes that cover 1/3 of the board. I didn't even know about the players club.

Cruise 3: Took $100 cash, playing minimum $5 spins a few hours per sea day, finished the week with $139.

Cruise 4: Had received a mailer a few months prior for $75 in fun chips to be used on any future cruise. Those chips were gone in 10 minutes. Took $500 travelers checks, playing usually $25 spins a few hours every day, finished with $235. The pit boss after the second day offered me a drink a few times. Third day on arrival to the casino received a free drinks card. Received choc strawberries and bottle of wine one day. On the last day of the cruise, received a letter in the mailbox that said I had already book a future cruise and should call within 7 days to see comps on next cruise. Got home and had a premier cruise letter already in the mail. Changed my rate code on that existing sailing and got about $300 off existing rate and $500 casino cash.

Cruise 5 (premier cruise): On arrival to casino, received free drinks card and 5! $100 bills counted out in my hand. Two bottles of wine, strawberries, desserts, cooler, beach towels, etc...premier cruise stuff. Had a $1000 gambling budget in travelers checks. Playing $44 minimum spins for a few hours everyday, ran out of the $500 by day 6. I remember at one point having $1300 from their initial $500. Finished with $700.

Cruise 6 (upcoming): Received a mailer from the players club for a free cabin. I have no plans to play anything in the casino as of now. I had fun gambling, but part of the fun was doing it only once per year. I feel gambled out after having taken 2 cruise so close together and another one coming so soon.

I have lost a total of about $560 of my money in their casino as my entertainment. I have no idea how many points that was per cruise. I would have done that with or without comps. I guess some can feel I was paying for my comps and free cabin. Certainly, I wouldn't be going on this upcoming cruise if it weren't for the free cabin offer. But they feel like nice gifts to me for doing what I would normally do. Funny thing is, I don't drink. I use my free drink card to sometimes get other people at the table drinks.

Looking at Cruise TT, there will be 3 ships in Cozumel on May 27th with almost 10,000 passengers. Wonder how crowded the beach resorts will be? Navigator of the Seas, Carnival Legend, and Carnival Triumph are all scheduled to be there. Of course, that's much better than May 29th, when over 16000 cruise passengers will be in port. 2 CCL, 2 RCL, and a Princess.

We had 8 ships in Cozumel on our last cruise and it still didn't feel overcrowded. Then there were 6 in Belize with the long tender rides they handled wonderfully. That's how I got started with cruising, was looking for a vacation that was good at handling the crowds during crowded vacation time (hint: Disney World ain one of em).

I have heard people checking lost and found once more before leaving and cashing travelers checks.

I have gone when a charge for unreturned equipment appeared on the final bill...TV and kiosk didn't help with that, but I went early when there was no line.

What does it call these casino offers? Do you have a rate code? I have had 2 premier offers already this year with rate codes like PCx, so they are really looking for players.

Match play can be used on the roulette table only on outside bets (black/red, even/odd, hi/lo).