sc4125

I am also not sure how you can request a table for one with set time dining. I've been doing YTD for a long time now so I may not remember how it works with set time, but I don't remember ever having an option when choosing set time in the past. I normally sailed with other family members and I do know that when it was just a few of us (2 or 3), we were always assigned a table with others - typically those in the same age range. One of the reasons I love YTD because each time you use the ap to check in, it asks if you want to share a table or not.

As far as being far away from everything, a forward or aft cabin can be far away from things, depending on where you will be spending your time. We stayed in the Havana area on 8 two times - it is definitely the best for getting to most things without having to wait for an elevator, although on one of the trips it was super loud - . Also stayed in a regular balcony and in the extended balcony on deck 10 mid ship. I loved the extended balcony - luckily got the one that is the most extended if that makes sense. Huge balcony and view directly to the water. If you haven't been on the Mardi Gras, you will definitely get your steps in. Lots to see and do forward, aft and mid-ship, so I always get a lot of miles in every day.

I totally agree. As for crowd size, that was totally on me for not realizing it would be the week before Christmas. I love CCL (actually worked onboard back in the 80's) and am Diamond with them. I did not see this as an issue with the ship - I would have expected the same large crowds on any ship during that week. I have a back-to-back on Freedom in March and am totally looking forward to it. I certainly didn't have the same experience as the OP - I enjoyed the cruise but will remember to be more careful when booking near a holiday. Still not sure how that happened - hasn't ever happened in the past - just blaming it on old brain lol.

I feel for the OP and her family. That would certainly help ruin my vacation. I was on the 5 day Freedom the week before the OP. For whatever reason, I was not thinking about it being the week before Christmas when I booked it. It was super crowded with lots and lots of kids. We had 2 balcony cabins on the Lido deck and luckily never had an issue. No kids running up and down the hallways (most of the time this is a problem) and I didn't witness any unusually rowdy behavior from the teens onboard. Walking out to the Lido pool area was a bit of a mess trying to weave through people and I have never seen such lines at Guys Burgers - they literally went from Guys to the rum bar on one side and down to the taco place on the other. I simply went on off times and we also ate breakfast and dinner in the dining room. Like others, I have never personally witnessed a fight on any of the ships I've been on. Mind you, I'm not hanging out in the clubs either. Too old for that these days and spend the majority of the evenings in the casino. My pet peeve is people stopping in the middle of the walkways on Promenade and Lido to have a discussion. It drives me crazy that people do not have the common courtesy to have their discussions at the side of the walkway and not in the middle. They seem to have no concept that they are blocking others from walking through. As I said it was very crowded. It was our first time on the Freedom, though my sister and I are both Diamond so we've been on lots of Carnival cruises. I had no problem with the Freedom but had to talk my sister down from a low opinion simply based on the number of people onboard. I'm sure it was just as crowded on all the other ships during this week.

We will be getting on the Freedom tomorrow in Pt. Canaveral (I hope). Saw where several ships had to skip Bahamas yesterday but so far haven't heard anything about ships returning to Pt. Canaveral arriving late tomorrow. I live in central Florida between Tampa and Orlando and looking out my window, I'm actually seeing a tiny bit of sunshine. Forecast for Amber Cove on Wednesday looks crappy 50-70% chance of rain throughout the day but didn't plan on getting off ship anyway since I've been there numerous times. Hopefully seas won't be as high as they have been the last few days - I'm in a balcony on Lido, not the best place to be in high seas.

I tried checking in with the hostess rather than with the ap and was told that was no longer an option - you had to check in with the ap. Not sure how that works with people who don't have a smart phone. Perhaps that's the way to go if you want a booth - just say you don't have a smart phone. The only problem with that is having to go to the hostess for a table throughout the rest of the cruise. Seems like that would take a lot more time each night.

Not to hijack, but I became Diamond this year (2 cruises ago) and obviously don't know much about it. What is the Diamond Desk number and when would I be apt to call them?

I have done both in the past. You should be able to purchase both for a total of $1,000 per cabin. It will ask you which passenger to credit for each purchase. The only issue at all is that if the entire $500 is not used, it will not be refunded. I've never had an issue with Cruise Cash, because like you MIL's friend, I spend quite a bit of time in the casino. I purchased the $500 bar credit for my sister a few years ago, and though she drinks, she had not used it by the night before cruise ended (she got free drinks in the casino). She was able to use it for extra tip so she found her favorite bar waitress in the casino, ordered a drink and left her a tip of like $50 or so and it did come out of the Bar Credit.

Just off the Mardi Gras - wasn't open for breakfast.

It evidently is a little different depending on the ship (I say this because I got several different answers when I asked this question several months ago. Like you I normally have the same cabin on both legs, but had to switch on the last one. I asked my cabin steward - he said that he would move everything for me and I could leave some things on hangars. He had never heard of a luggage team from Guest Services. Later I heard that the new cabin steward moved everything so who knows. I wanted to give an extra tip for whoever it was so I ended up tipping both lol. I was allowed in the cabin right away to move my luggage and hang up my clothes. The steward was very nice and told me he would clean my cabin first thing and I would be able to have access by 10:00. It's a pain having to move, but it wasn't as bad as I though it would be. Just ask your cabin steward what you should do - he/she should be able to answer all your questions.

I've done a couple of B2B and in both cases we had to meet at a certain time (you'll get a letter in your cabin telling you when and where) and we were then escorted off the ship and taken to customs and then right back on board and they handed out the new S&S cards. I had the cabin steward exchange towels with me the night before and told him not to worry about cleaning my room at all on embarkation day so that I could go back to my cabin right away. I love back to backs - have another one booked for March.

Thanks for the info. We were booked on an Elite last December but had to cancel. Now that I think about it, I remember something about a spa credit if you didn't want an excursion. Maybe we'll see an excursion that really entices us - if not, nothing lost right? One of the ports is St. Thomas - my sister and I haven't been there in quite awhile and we both love it - I'm sure there will be something there we'd like to do.

I will be on the Mardi Gras next Saturday and I received an email going over Platinum/Diamond information. The email specifically says that you can drop your luggage off and then go to public area. I plan to bring it with me because I carry on my luggage (mid size) and carry on - so if I weren't able to drop it off, I would obviously leave the luggage with a porter. I would rather not check my luggage as we had a piece of luggage go "missing" on a previous 7 day cruise. It wasn't found until the day before we would be debarking in some cabin with 4 college girls and each thought it belonged to one of the others - even though they sent notices out 2-3 times asking passengers to check to see if they had it.

For anyone wanting to book a cruise with Elite offered today - you need to hurry. I wanted to book Mardi Gras 8 day for next August. I checked under my offers at 7:00 a.m. and there were about 8 extended balconies open on 10th deck, so I picked out the two cabins we wanted and waited for PVP to get to work. I always have all information ready for her - cabin numbers included. At just a few minutes after 9:00 I checked the cabin numbers before calling - and nope those 2 cabins were gone. Thankfully of the now 3 cabins left, 2 were next to each other. So, they are really going fast. This will be the first we were able to take advantage of Elite - the other offers didn't work out due to either dates or port of departure. Very excited to try one. I've heard that you can take an OBC in place of the excursions - anyone know if this is true? I have been on a whole bunch of cruises (Diamond on Carnival) so no longer interested in excursions.

If you are already past final payment, it may be easier to just have the person be a no-show. The taxes and port charges will be refunded, and you can keep your original cabin. If it's still before final date, it will depend on how early it is. If you look at your booking online, there a section at the bottom that says something like what will happen if I need to cancel this cruise. It will give you all the info you need as to what will be lost.

The sugar straws are just gross looking and from what I saw they would only give them out if you ordered a frozen drink. I take my own insulated cup with straw and pour my drink into it - no condensation dripping all over me and the drink stays colder longer. The only thing I have to worry about is leaving it behind when I go from slot machine to slot machine after a few drinks lol.

I get Elite offers but haven't been able to book one. Mind you, I spend a lot of time in the casino but I have never, ever loss anything close to high 4 figures on any of my 25 + cruises. I have had a couple of decent wins (nothing over $5000), and it seems that it was soon after one of those wins that I began receiving the Elite offers. It seems that once you're on the "list" you keep getting the offers as I have spent less money in the last few years since retiring. Hoping to take advantage of the offers coming out this week, and also hoping it's on ships sailing out of Tampa or Pt. Canaveral instead of Miami. All are in driving distance, but beyond Miami being a 3-4 hour drive, I also don't care for the port itself.

That's a good question. I'll be on the Mardi Gras with lots of food choices, so I'd be more interested in going to Rudi's rather than the Steakhouse. Guess I'll find out soon.

Thanks for the replies. So basically the "one-time" diamond gift is much like the same as the platinum lol. I have no idea why I got the robe, but I do love it - they are now nice and soft like the robes at a spa. The ones they use to have available in the cabins were not soft at all and not comfortable. I guess it's diamond because they deliver it to the cabin instead of having you go pick it up at Pixals (which I never remember to do).

I turned Diamond a few cruises ago. I just received an email from CCL saying they "were not able to deliver your first-time VIFP Diamond when you crossed the threshold." If I have an upcoming sailing they will deliver it to my cabin (I have 2 before the end of the year). Now my question - what the heck is this? I was on the Paradise in August and came back to my cabin to find one of their robes (which I love) laying on my bed with just a piece of paper with my name on it. Maybe that was the gift?? If so, I hope they forgot and I get another one on the Mardi Gras in 2 weeks. Anyone know what this is about?

I've been onboard a few times when there have been medical evacuations. Each time there are numerous people videoing the helicopter hovering over the ship, which is a pretty impressive sight. However, before the patient is brought out, they have cleared the Lido deck. The last time, I had gone to the cabin to pick something up and when I tried to get back to the Lido where my family was, they had security at the doors and wouldn't let anyone go out. This was before I even heard the helicopter or knew anything about the evacuation. And as someone said earlier, you cannot see the patient as they are covered up. I don't think most people are being disrespectful - they are just filming a really fascinating sight.

My sister always drinks BM on cruises and loves them, so on a recent Paradise cruise I decided to try one. OMG it was so hot and spicy that I could not drink it - you could see loads of black pepper floating in it. My sister wasn't with me this cruise, but in the past she would always ask for it to be a little spicy. This time the bartender told me they use a pre-mix (Filthy) and he couldn't adjust it. We will be back on the Paradise in less than two weeks, and my sister will be so disappointed - there is no way she will be able to drink something that HOT. We will have CHEERS, but I was thinking about bringing the small cans of Mr & Mrs. T's onboard and just ask for a shot (or two) of vodka and mix our own.

I just booked 2 cabins for next November. We are going to be in aft balcony cabins next to each other. The cabins look to be identical; however, one of the two required three passengers and they would not book it for two. My PVP thought there were only two people booking as they failed to see my 3 year old granddaughter would be with me and my daughter so all was well. So, even if you are over a year out, if the balcony you have booked required 3 passengers, they may not allow you to keep it once you move one of your sisters in law to another cabin.

I just turned Diamond on my cruise in February out of Tampa. Prior to that cruise, I always wanted to be one of the first ones onboard (lol). I'd pry open the closed hallway doors (once I became Platinum) and several times there was someone "guarding" the door so that I'd have to show my boarding pass, put the luggage in the cabin and try to get in and out without bothering the stewards. Since this was a B2B and I would be solo on first half, I decided to make things easier on my sister who would be driving me to the port (only 30 minute drive) and arrive at 1:30 so she wouldn't hit the Thursday morning traffic on the Interstate. I am now a convert to late arrival! It was fantastic - no lines at the Xray machine (only one family ahead of me), no lines at check in, onboard within minutes of arrival. Straight to cabin, dropped off luggage without having to use muscle to open hall door and picked up my S&S, went to check in at muster station, and best of all the Lido restaurant wasn't jammed packed with people and luggage. It was a much more relaxing start to vacation. I will be sailing next week out of Tampa again, and do not plan to arrive before 1:30.

I just turned Diamond and am happy to hear that there is now a brunch. Will I be allowed to bring a guest?