TennesseeTater

I had similar concerns before my cruise on the Fantasy earlier this month. The last cruise we had done was on the Breeze. While the 2.0 features are nice, if I can book a ship that has them I will, but it doesn't make or break the trip. The cruise on the Fantasy was one of the nicest most relaxing cruises I have done in a while. I love all the different classes of ships and the simplicity of the Fantasy class is something you just don't see anymore.

You are only charged taxes on the drinks you buy in U.S. waters . You don't pay taxes on the cheers program when you buy it.

I got off the Fantasy this past Sunday and most of the crew told us the Fantasy had been sold. One bartender told us there are no crew scheduled at all on the ship for late next year.

7 days!

UBP, booked the Getaway for my wife and my 10 year anniversary.

Great start Jimbo, looking forward to the rest

Welcome back! I'm looking forward to another great review.

Too many people are playing "Monday morning quarterback" telling the OP what they should have done.

Regardless of whether taking the item home was right the act is done. OP contact Carnival, tell them you found an item in your cabin from the previous cruise and would like to return it. Surely they can check their system to see who was in your cabin. Obviously they wouldn't give out contact information for the previous guests but I bet somebody from Carnival can attempt to contact them.

If the indentions of the OP were to just have "finders keepers" or to steal why even bring it up on a message board? If the intentions were not good wouldn't one just keep it to themselves?

I agree that the one out of San Juan is definitely on my bucket list.

This past January I sailed the Breeze to Grand Turk, La Romana DR, Aruba and Curacao and that was my favorite cruise so far. I loved Aruba and Curacao.

Why would Carnival want to give free cruises to those of us who cruise often? They are already getting our money no matter what. They know that the G/P/D pax will continue to book regardless of incentives. They know they no longer have to earn out business.

Nailed it.

If you want one of these deals, stop booking a cruise with Carnival and see if one shows up. I currently have three cruises booked with Carnival so I don't expect to receive any offers any time soon. I take that back, I did receive a platinum offer for a 2 day cruise out of California, but that's more of a joke than an offer. The fact that some people get offers does not upset me at all. Good for them. Enjoy your cruises.

I just booked a porthole cabin on the Breeze for Sept 12, 2015. I'm very nervous about being so far forward! Did anyone have issues with sea-sickness?

:confused::confused::confused:

I have stayed in a port hole cabin on the Breeze, and on other ships. I've never been sea sick, but I've never thought the motion was any worse up front in a port hole than any other area of the ship. If you are nervous take some medicine with you just in case.

Haven't you ever heard the story of why John Heald stopped drinking? He mentioned he had a few too many one night and, I can't remember what it was, but some situation happened where he had to go to the bridge to make announcements over the PA. He said he could barely make his announcements and after that day he swore to never drink again.

I assume, like most things, it was more common years ago but with today's restrictions and regulations it would be very unwise for CD to be intoxicated while onboard.

Great review as always. Thank you for taking the time to do it!

Charleston use to handle bigger ships. The triumph, glory, and i believe maybe liberty. Did seasonal cruises from there. Charleston also acts as a port of call for larger ships then the fantasy.

Correct, but those were seasonal. I would think that before Charleston hosts a bigger year round ship that they would have to upgrade their terminal.

With the process now of waiting in the "orange cone grand prix" and having to shuttle to the terminal that works "OK' for a ship the size of the Fantasy. I would imagine it would be even more hectic if you added several hundred more passengers.

I could be, and probably am, wrong though. I'm from Charleston, born and raised. My family is still there and I go there often. I would love for Charleston to be able to offer a bigger ship with a nicer cruise terminal.

I found this. This is one point of emphasis that I think they were upgrading.

Charleston Harbor

Coordinating Agency: US Army Corps of Engineers

Target date for completing all Federal permit and review decisions: September 2015

Under its planning modernization process, the Army Corps is implementing an aggressive planning schedule for the Charleston Harbor Feasibility Study that will examine the benefits and costs of deepening the Federal navigation channel for Charleston Harbor from its existing depth of 45 feet to a maximum of 50 feet to accommodate larger cargo vessels and other ships, ultimately facilitating a more efficient movement of goods. The study is expected to be complete within 3 years – much earlier than the over 10 year average.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/19/we-can-t-wait-obama-administration-announces-5-major-port-projects-be-ex

Might be silly question but if they do it for container ships why couldnt cruise ships take advantage?

If I remember the article correctly, I did read is some time ago, they want to upgrade to be able to offload and load the new mega container ships. Upgrades would be to those large cranes that offload and load containers.

The harbor itself is deep enough for large ships as it stands. The container ships don't use the same dock as the Cruise Ships.

The cruise terminal in Charleston is a bit small and it barely works right now for the Fantasy. I believe Charleston has approved a new cruise terminal but there is a very very small group of people in Charleston fighting the city because they think that cruise ships take away from the historic charm of the city.

I would be surprised if a bigger ship came to Charleston before the city is able to build a new terminal, and that would take a couple years one would think.

I do know that at one point they were discussing expanding the port to accommodate larger ships. My daughter lived in Charleston and she was keeping me informed because she knows we like to cruise.

 

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They were/are talking about expanding the port for larger ships but it's not for cruise ships, it's for larger container ships.

I should stay out of this. :(

 

 

 

But let the rampant speculation continue! :p

I wish I had.

:d:d:d

Just curious. I wonder what your screename was before you "just signed up"

For the record John Heald just said on Facebook that all rumors about the Victory Leaving Miami are false. I know not everybody on here believes him but I do.

I understand it was a different scenario, but is references last minute cancellations. If you recall correctly, the April 2 cruise on the Fantasy is to be canceled, as per what karm and Stormin' Norman have been sharing. The Sunshine and Legend examples still play a significant role in this entire scenario because of such. Also, the Carnival Legend's sailings weren't canceled because of a dry dock mishap.

I just don't this happening but that's the beauty of having an opinion, you don't have to agree with it.

I wouldn't mind if it was though, like I said I would benefit from the switch.

I was aware of that. However, that's a different situation. The Sunshine was not ready to sail. End of story. That is an entirely different situation than just switching two ships.

And not so if you were on the Splendor being switched to the Miracle.

 

When the Triumph and Ecstasy swapped, what happened to those with balconies on the Triumph?

You seem to be the one with the answers. So please, tell me what happened? Were the passengers given more than 5 months?

I didn't know the Carnival Splendor and the Carnival Miracle were comparable ships, nor the Carnival Dream and the Carnival Destiny/Sunshine.

Perhaps not, but all those ships contain large number of balcony cabins. So if you were on the Dream and were switched to the Sunshine or if you were on the Miracle and switched to the Splendor most likely you would still have a balcony cabin. Not so with the Fantasy and the Victory.

Here's what I don't understand, assuming all this speculation is true. You know the old "it must be true because it's on the Internet" The original thread, that was deleted, stated the swap would occur in April 2015. That's 5 months from now. Imagine if you booked a balcony cabin on the Victory and then all of a sudden you get a notice from Carnival saying you have now been switched to the Fantasy. No balcony for you. Normally when Carnival makes these types of switches it's for a comparable ship. For instance I originally booked the Liberty for October 2015 and Carnival announced they were switching the Liberty and the Valor. That's the same class of ships. I just don't see them switching those two ships, at least not 5 months from now. I imagine many many people would cancel if downgraded from the Victory to the Fantasy.

Personally, I'd love for it to be true since I sail on the Fantasy on April 7th.