GTO-Girl

Hi Everyone, I have a cruise booked for next October with Carnival. I have changed to that cruise from one I had booked orginially.

 

I am pretty sure my TA already thinks I am crazy. She may be right. As mentioned in another thread, we have been thinking about changing to another itinerary.

 

Can I call Carnival and do this myself while still giving my TA the credit for it? It is transferring a reservation, not cancelling...so am I able?

 

I know must of you will say it is the TAs job but I would like to do it myself if at all possible.......(there is always the possibility she will have to do it again down the road) haha

Your TA "owns" your reservation, so Carnival cannot do anything for you. Any changes or questions of any kind will have to go through your TA.

Are nice shorts acceptable for men in MDR???

I have seen them most nights......."except" formal night.....

Guess we were just lucky......both cruises we have taken to the Bahamas in January we were in shorts as the temps were in the low to mid 80's. I know that can change quickly, but that nice warm sun sure did feel good!

Water temp was too cold for swimming but we didn't care. It was definately a nice break for the winter blues.....;)

Hello there,

 

First time cruiser here, booked on Carnival Miracle to Alaska for next summer. I have question on when to purchase insurance. My final payment date is Apr 3rd. The vacation planner on Carnival said that I can get my full deposit back before Apr 3rd, if I change my mind. When do I purchase my travel insurance, now or after Apr 3rd? We do not have any pre-existing conditions. Please advice.

 

Thanks,

Sona

We never purchase our trip insurance through the cruiseline because we find much better coverage at a better price through a third party. Most policies require that your purchase within 14 days of "booking" your cruise to cover any pre-existing conditions, but you can certainly purchase your policy much closer to your sail date if that's not a concern for you.

You might try pricing some at www.insuremytrip.com just to compare.

Hope this helps!

We sail Monday, a lot of folks are staying at Spring Hill Suites. We are coming from VA , so we usually stop in Brunswick Ga at a Hampton Inn, only 2 hrs to the port the next day

Hey luckymbt......have you ever stayed at the Hampton Inn in Fernandina Beach? Fernandina Beach/Amelia Island is like "old Florida" and the Hampton Inn in "downtown" Fernandina is very nice. You are steps away from the Amelia River, downtown shops and restaurants. We just love staying there and walking around in the evenings.

Just a suggetion if you ever want to try a different Hampton. From here you will be about 20 min from the Jax port.

Happy Sailing!!!

All booked on freedom of the seas next 6/22 for western Caribbean, celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary along with my 3 kids (23,21, 16). We are very excited but of course a bit nervous. We are mid ship deck 8. Appreciate any guidance anyone can offer

You picked a great ship for your first one!!! We will be sailing on her for the 3rd time in April and cannot wait!

We sail out of Port Canaveral a lot.......we drive because I won't fly......so we like that area as well.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!!!!

We will be cruising to St. Maarten' date=' what is the cheapest way for us to get to Maho Beach. Does the water taxi go anywhere near there, if so, how far of a walk is it? Any information will be helpful Thanks:)[/quote']

 

The water taxi does not go there and it's not located anywhere near enough to walk. The only way to get there is by taxi. If you are going to see the planes land keep in mind the big ones usually don't arrived until early afternoon. Traffic can sometimes be awful so make sure you leave early enough t allow for traffic.

 

We usually just book a tour through Bernard Tours and get some beach time, a little shopping at the French capitol Marigot and arrive at Maho to see the planes. Bernard and his staff keep up with traffic and will absolutely make sure you arrive back to the ship in plenty of time.

 

No worries with Bernard!!!!

A short 3 day cruise.....during Spring Break......yep it will be very "festive"......

Just know that going in...

As of Halloween the pool was NOT open just being formed. They said they hope to have it open for Xmas 2013.

We were just there a couple of weeks ago.....at the rate they were still moving dirt around I would be VERY surprised if the pool was ready by Christmas.

They also told us they didn't have bathrooms, that we would have to use the public ones in the building next door. Didn't bother us, but I was surprised an eating establishment wasn't required to have bathrooms.....LOL.....:p

Looking for a Park and Cruise type hotel in Jacksonville for January. I've seen a few, but I was wanting some advice on decent places to stay affordably. Thanks!

We have stayed twice now at the Hampton Inn-Jax Airport and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very clean and you are in walking distance to three restaurants, so no moving your car.

We didn't take advantage of their park/cruise as we like to park at the port, but I do know it was available.

Hope this helps!

We were there a couple of weeks ago and if what I was looking at from the ship was going to be the pool, it was no where near ready. They were still moving dirt around.

Hopefully what we were looking at directly behind Margaritaville wasn't the pool because it sure didn't look like one......:eek:

Also there were no bathrooms.......you had to go to the public ones in the building next door.......:o

we love the Radisson Resort at The Port...check them out.

They "live" in Orlando.....they are "sailing" from Ft Lauderdale.......;)

We were on this cruise too and it was our first time on the Allure........we LOVED it!!

Thanks for the good review....

We had a cove on our last Dream and it was not for us. If you do book one try to NOT be under the galley or you will hear noise all night long.

This was also the infamous cruise where we rode back in for 3 days with Super Storm Sandy so it was not a good time to be in a cove....:eek:

I know our experience was not the norm but we will stick to Lido or Panorama from now on.....

What is FTTF??:confused: I am pretty sure I am not priority since I have only cruised two times so far! so wondering how to skip the busy lines if possible!

FTTF gives your priority boarding (after Platinum, etc), your room will be ready as soon as you board (instead of the normal 1:30 time) and if you go to a port where you have to tender you are given priority boarding for that too.

It cost $50 per room (not per person)......but they only sell a limited number of these per cruise. I believe it is located under the excursion section of the website and they sell out quickly.

Hope this helps....

DH and I live in Orlando, so we always drive the morning/day of to our cruise, including previous cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale. Well this time, I am thinking of getting a hotel the night before our cruise, just so we're down there and can "start our vacation".

 

We've always parked at Park N Go down there, with no problems, fast service, etc. I am just worried about the safety of my car, if we stayed at a hotel and left it there (since it'd be free with a hotel stay). Or I could simply go park at Park N Go anyways the day of.....which would be approx $40.

 

What would you do?

On our last trip I had the same concerns and just decided to go with Park & Go since I was a little unsure about safety concerns in open hotels lots.

I'm sure a lot of people do it with no problems, but since we weren't familiar with the area we chose Park & Go and had a wonderful experience!

The only two ships I would risk it would be the Oasis or Allure due to their very early disembarkation process.

We carried our own luggage and walked off the Allure at 6:20am. Although we drove this time we could have easily made an early flight. We took the Park & Go shuttle and was in our car and on I-595 at 6:40am.....:D

Re: your #b.."you" will not have to show ID when arriving in a taxi. On our many trips through the PE gate by taxi or shuttle bus they have just been waved on through...We have never personally had to show ID.

This may or may not be true.......on both cruises out of Port Everglades we did have to show our ID's/Boarding Pass when going through the gate.....

I am one of those people who went to Junkanoo Beach, but will not go back. The day we were there the beach was dirty and there were some very shady people hanging around.......we too felt "watched". The bathrooms were flooded and just plain nasty.

The sidewalk to get there was very broken in places making it difficult for some of the handicap people to manuver.

If we ever go back to a beach in Nassau we will pay the $25pp and go to the Sheraton.

Only Nassau and Half Moon Cay. We have a cabana at HMC. Do cabana guests get head of the line tender at HMC?

Not sure but if you have FTTF you get priority tendering. Just go to Guest Services and they have someone walk you down & put you on a tender. :D

GTO Girl.... Thanks for the info on the Holiday Inn !!:D I'll check it out.:cool:

You're welcome......

I know you didn't want anything around the airport but the last two times we sailed from Jax we stayed at the Hampton Inn at the airport and it was very nice. It was in walking distance to several restaurants and they also have the park/cruise package. You would be less than 10 miles to the port.

Just....FYI.... :)

I am not aware of any lots near the port. The Holiday Inn Blount Island is within a mile of the port and they do offer a cruise/park.

To my knowledge most all lots are going to be around the airport.....

When you say Executive VIP...is it the Merritt Island location you are referring to?

 

Thank you!

Yes that is the correct one.......ask for Michael.....he's the owner

Just off the Allure and our server was Tyare from Jamacia......she was terrific! We sat in her area every night and she took great care of us.

Also no problem for us to get a table for two.......but we avoid most wait times because we like to eat so early......

We will be on the Oasis Western Caribbean next week. When it says we will arrive on Jamaica at 10:30am is that local time? Or ship time? If it is ship time does that mean of the port we left from, Fort Lauderdale?

Thank you

We just came off the Allure and there was an hour difference in Cozumel between ship time and local time.

Anyone who uses their cell phone as a clock might be waving from the dock as Coz is 1 hour "behind" ........:eek: