notscb

On 12/19/2023 at 7:44 PM, auntmeg said:

or embarking on adventures in other destinations around the world,

We all need to hope that they never start any sort of Great Lakes or St. Lawrence Seaway cruising, for all of our sakes.

A lot of this has to do with self-control, IMHO.

Although you're on vacation, try to eat the things you would normally eat and increase the amount of water you're taking in. If you're flying to the port- you should start drinking more water the day before you fly and continue throughout your vacation. No matter what you do, increasing water intake is a good thing.

As a last resort, increase fiber intake (veggies!) and consider adding a supplement like metamucil (which is just psyllium husk).

2 hours ago, Frank12 said:

Port Canaveral is so much better, easier, less stressful than Miami.

That's a string of words I haven't seen very often.

5 hours ago, Calgon1 said:

Hopefully, when they rebuild her, they’ll make her tall enough for larger ships to clear at high tide

Not to belabor the point (it's been made in several other threads), the Key bridge was just one of three that ships need to clear to get out of Baltimore. The next bridge out is 186' clearance, so  no chance that we'll be seeing bigger cruise ships anytime soon.

Plus, you have to consider road grade and engineering guidelines set by the DOT. To raise a bridge by that much, you'd have road grading issues with the existing structure (the undamaged portion of road that still exists on both sides of the span).

As another commenter mentioned, make sure your family actually has Enhanced licenses which are different from REAL ID and only issued by select (border) states. Most folks in the U.S. don't have an enhanced license but might have a REAL ID at this point. 

This topic at Carnival will be most helpful. Follow Carnival's guidelines and you'll have a great time!

22 hours ago, mz-s said:

The fiberglass skin isn't the funnel, I doubt it contributes to the structural integrity of the funnel. It's just branding.

Right...I'm asking about everything inside of it and what is done with it.

4 hours ago, Riles34 said:

I don't think they will fit under the bridge to get to NYC, but that would be awesome!

I really hope they consider showing off in NYC with an Excel ship. Royal has had an Oasis class parked in Jersey every summer doing Canada routes, and MSC has the Meraviglia in Brookyln. Carnival needs another actual Carnival brand option in NYC, IMHO.

Similar to others, my first cruise was on Carnival when I had graduated high school and I vividly remember that experience and keep coming back because of it. Nothing will ever beat coming into NY harbor on the Triumph at 6:00am and passing by the Statue of Liberty to end out my first trip. I also fondly remember being able to walk around the top decks at night and be completely alone on this floating city full of people. Also, my first slot pull at 18 was on that trip- I definitely didn't win anything and just wanted to pull the lever as many times as it would let me.

44 minutes ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

Pretty sure it was reported that the captain turned the ship into more rain to help put it out faster.

I had heard that as well.

I'm more asking about the condition and integrity of the ship- both portions of the funnel are used for exhaust and various functions. If one side is compromised, how does engineering on the ship handle that to keep the vessel moving?

I'm wondering how they were able to keep going in a situation like this- @chengkp75 if you wouldn't mind imparting some wisdom here. Do they divert all of the exhaust/emissions to the other side or would the fire not have affected the piping in the area of the fire?

We might need more details to be helpful, but generally yes.

Each itinerary has it's own rates, offers, etc. Depending on what you initially booked, you'll be on the hook for any fare difference and potentially cancellation penalty if Carnival chooses to consider it that way.

Sounds like y'all had a great time. How did you find the condition of the ship and the overall size? I'm hoping to get a chance to go on the Elation while she's still in service to experience small(er) ship cruising.

I've only seen Pizza open late night, and sometimes the Sandwich shop.

I wish they would have done some sort of late night Breakfast or some sort of buffet style on my cruise with two sea days. Would have been something different to do.

Tonight I was listening to a podcast and the hosts were talking about cruise lines. One of them mentioned that the Carnival Dream used to be based out of New Orleans, which got me wondering about what other (large and small) ships have had their homes moved after a long stint at a specific home port?

Also, which ships would you like to see relocated (from and to) to and what type of itinerary would you want to Carnival sail?

For me, I really enjoyed the Dream and would love to see it based in NYC. I'm a tad disappointed Carnival is doing "Carnival Italian style" out of NYC for branding reasons (among other things). I'd love to see some Carnival journeys out of NYC- up to Montreal or down to PR. 

If you've got one night and are a bit adventurous, you should shuttle in from Hobby (there are a lot of good options for this- we used Galveston Limo) and stay near the tourist area on the island. It's super walkable, has great food and things to do and experience to start your vacation.

That way, too, you're also close to the port (the port area is two blocks from the touristy downtown area) for the next day whenever you decide to go over.

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Carnival-Legend-551

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:3349/mmsi:311001094/imo:9224726/vessel:CARNIVAL_LEGEND

Seems like six hours ago she was underway according to the data I can find- that's not to say she didn't have some sort of temporary outage. I looked on twitter, too, to see if anyone had posted and didn't find anything.

5 hours ago, john91498 said:

Lol, some people are so full of themselves that they don't realize that no one cares what they think...😝🤪😂

That's a weird way to contribute to an online discussion board where we all post what we think 🤔

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

 If I am sailing Carnival why do I care what RCCL does.

My point isn't about you sailing Carnival. It's about literally everyone else and the happenings around the port and the business sense it would make.

Not to mention, RCL paraded their biggest, newest ship into Miami just this year, Carnival needs to do something to counter that.

34 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

As Carnival's HQ is Miami, I think they are quite familiar with the port and their business.

I'm sure they are 🙂 

On 3/6/2024 at 9:15 PM, BlerkOne said:

It would be smarter not to follow Royal.

Why not?

Royal now has Oasis, Freedom and Icon classes going out of Miami. Celebrity (RCL Group) has their Edge Class ships out of Miami. Virgin has their newest ships out of Miami. All of their competitors have stepped up their product offerings out of Miami.

It'd make a whole lot of sense to compete in the visual sense to the thousands of people going out of Miami who might look at the older carnival ships passing by and make a judgement about Carnival before considering their newest product. Miami is where cruise ships go to be shown off, Carnival would do well to follow.

8 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I see no reason for doubling up a current homeport with 2 excel class

RCL is doing this very same thing at Miami- it'd be smart for Carnival to do it as well. Miami is clearly a cash cow for the cruise industry, and its on trend to put the best, flashiest and newest ships there for everyone to see and enjoy. I'd be surprised if Carnival didn't end up with two or more Excel ships there.

2 hours ago, First Aider said:

if you make a mistake by removing my husband from the ship                          

This is the most unhinged thing I've seen on this website, ever, and I need to know everything about it.

If your husband "found out" enough to get kicked off the ship, he doesn't deserve anything back. Full stop.

Depends on which order the last cruise went on. If they did Mazatlan/PV last, they might be in at 9am. If they did Cabo last, they might be in a bit early.

If you do arrive early and get off the ship, I'd recommend getting an uber XL or above- a lot of drivers know that folks need transportation from the port and aren't willing to accept standard Uber rides. Shuttle services also might monitor for the arrival time if you find the right one.

18 hours ago, pcur said:

I'm a solo cruiser now,

I'm surprised that you're not considering leaving Royal.

I'm often a solo cruiser and found a post-covid 4 night cruise on Freedom for $326 for an oceanview room at the front of the ship. Fast forward to the exact same cruise a year later and its nearly $750.

Royal isn't trying to cater to the solo cruise market, and there's a certain weekend cruiser who built his channel on Royal as a solo cruiser who also has had to change his model because RCL has been getting so expensive for solo cruisers.

I've been cruising on Carnival since my first Royal cruise- and even though I still try to go for Royal and price it out, they just aren't doing enough to earn my business over their competitors (price wise).

I'll not repeat what others have said, but instead focus on what to do once you arrive.

LGA is nice in that there's a free bus service that'll connect you to the subway system (which is always best IMHO) to get you anywhere you might want to go. I'd suggest riding the subway in to midtown and staying somewhere close by whatever sights you might want to see and then the day-of taking an uber to the terminal.

JFK has the airtran, but the ride is longer and costs money. The downside as well is that it transfers at Jamaica Station which is a longer ride inbound as well.

Alternatively, you could always book a nearby hotel with airport shuttle. From there, day of, uber/lyft/taxi to the cruise terminal.