Biffer1997

I’m so sorry for you guys; I hope the treatment is effective, and he will be better than ever! I recommend either buying a travel insurance policy that covers pre-existing conditions or cancel for any reason. It’ll cost you more but will provide you with the peace of mind you need. That way, if you’re desperate for a break, you can go, but if you need to stay back, you’ll be able to.

 

 

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I know with the insurance policy I buy, you only have the option to buy cancel for any reason 15 days or less after you put deposit down on a cruise. Not sure if all insurance companies do this, but I think it is common. Good luck to OP and best wishes for speedy recovery for her father.

We are starting to plan a graduation trip for next summer, and really want to do the Southern Caribbean route, but were bit put off by Fascination. I have sailed it twice and enjoyed it, but wanted more for this trip. Hearing it will be getting the upgrades helps, but not sure it will be enough. We enjoy the Dive in movies, and doubt this will be an option on Fascination.

Thinking of possibly taking this cruise next summer as graduation trip for a friend. Thanks for posting the dailies and the great review.

I tried to post some pictures but unfortunately I kept getting an error message :-( Any hints?

Was it still dark out? That's downright crazy.

yep...I suspect some may have slept out there-- at least those in the clam shells. Alot of the chairs just had towels on them which makes you think they did that the night before. After sunrise, they did start putting sticky notes with time the crew had stopped by and what time they would remove items (40 min later). Not sure if it was followed through, but did see alot of sticky notes.

I'm going on this exact cruise in 26 days!!! I can't wait. looking forward to seeing your pictures.

I hope to get pictures up this weekend and maybe at least pics of Funtimes if I don't scan them. You will love the ports...especially Grand Turk...I DID NOT want to leave there!

Getting up at 5:45 and 6:30 to get a Serenity Deck chair:eek: That's insane!!!

In all our cruises DH and I very rarely get a Serenity spot. I'm ok with that...usually it gets so hot! Hubby and I like to sleep till 8:00 and roll up on deck around 9:00.

I didn't get up purposely at that insane hour to get chair... I just happened to wake up and couldn't fall back asleep so I thought I'd see what I could get. The first day I didn't expect to see anyone that early so I was dismayed when I saw nothing available!

SillyShally---we had a few Esther cruisers our hallway and I loved watching the signs on the doors change each day. :hearteyes:

You got Tervis Tumblers?? Jealous!!

Just off Sunshine today and my gift was Tervis tumbler. I was impressed!

Activities: Skippy was huge fan of Dive in movies..he went to almost all of them. I went to four movies. We saw each of the 4 comedians at least once. They were all pretty good. Didn't have too much problem finding seats and only had to wait in the line a couple of times. The comedy show host, Jay from LA, has that "it" factor..I can see him moving up quickly. Only saw one production show...Epic Rock..on last nite and it was very good. Those two lounges are smaller than any ship I've been on.

Went to the VIFP party on last day. They had cans of beer and free drinks available. Skippy had no problems coming in with me..no one batted an eye. They had a few guessing games set up and gave plaques to winners. Also had a guest book to sign. It was nice. They had the lobby singers sing at beginning and end.

Played trivia one day and won coveted ship on a stick.

Excursions: I normally do alot of research before cruises and plan own excursions, but due to lack of time for planning, this time we did Carnivals excursions.

Curacao- did Highlights and beach tour. It was nice..about 4 hours long.

Aruba- we did Sailaway snorkel tour. It was by far my favorite tour...boarded catamaran and had two snorkeling stops. They served non alcoholic drinks before snorkeling stops then liquor flowed. We were dropped off at Pelican Nest for a nice lunch that was included and then lounged on beach.

Grand Turk- Skippy did segway tour and I did Top 10 ...they were both fine. If I go back I will most likely camp out at the free beach or pool.

Dining room: Had YTD. We only went twice for dinner and once for lunch. Wasn't overly impressed. First night was fine, but second night was horribly slow (got in at 5:15and left at 7pm without getting dessert). Went to lunch bc my VIFP drink coupon had to be used in the dining room during breakfast, lunch, or brunch. I was turned off by the waiter who didn't think he could get me a plate of french fries even though they were offered as a side to the Tex mex sandwich. :rolleyes: Honestly didn't notice lack of tablecloths.

Overall impressions: We had a fantastic time! Thought the decor of ship was definitely classier than other ships. Have never been to any of the ports so that was a plus. The ship takes some getting used to in terms of tight walkways and knowing where to enter areas, but get used to it eventually. If you want seat on Serenity, get there early! First sea day the upper deck was closed due to high winds and the 2nd day I woke up early and went up at 5:45am and there was no space available on the lower Serenity deck. No problem getting clam shell on upper deck though. On last sea day I got upper deck clam shell at 6:30am.

Sunshine isn't my favorite ship but I would sail on her again!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I'll attempt to post pictures (more of ports than ship) when get home.

Just off Sunshine and since we have hours till our flight, thought I'd post a mini review. Please feel free to ask questions. I did keep the weekly entertainment schedule and Funtimes. Not sure if/when I can scan them but I can answer questions.

Bit of background on us...traveled with my significant other (henceforth known as Skippy). It was my 10th Carnival cruise (reached platinum status)and his 5th.

Arrival/embark:

We arrived at Orlando airport about 12:30am on the 25th and by time we got bags and called for hotel shuttle (Quailty Inn Airport) and checked in, it was 2am. The hotel served our purposes just fine for the few hours we were there. We had pre arranged shuttle to Pt. Canaveral through Cortrans...I recommend them. It was $40 per person roundtrip..paid cash at pickup at hotel. Driver was there about 10am. Had few other stops to puck up people but arrived at checkin by around 11am. The agent had to check master list for our names bc it wasn't recognizing my boarding pass. Got it straightened out pretty fast and was sent to priority checkin mob scene. They took our name, had us find a seat (hard to do) and then called our name to come check in. Took photos for ship card (mine didn't register so I had to have it retaken when we went to ding card to get on ship...they now use tablets to "ding" you on and off..no more machines).

I think we were on ship between 1145 and noon. Headed to cabin.. deck 2, 2117..to drop carryons...steward (Tennyson) stopped us and said it was too early..said I was priority and showed him card...he apologized that we weren'ton his early check in list and to give him few min to do room. I asked if we could stuff stuff in closest..he said no problem and apologized again. We stowed stuff in closet and went off to get food.

Stopped at Guy's and Skippy got burger and I asked for bun with lettuce and pickle..no problem. Headed up to Serenity and got couple chairs by pool ( 1st and last time for that to happen. Eventually went down and got pasta dish from the pasta bar 1st trip of many there). Went to cabin about 2pm I guess...no luggage yet. Luggage didn't arrive until we were at dinner...latest I've ever gotten it. But it wasn't a problem.

Dowmloaded the Hub app before and must say it was a very helpful tool! Loved being able to look at activities for the whole week and favorite them. It also showed you if other people in your party were attending. It had open times for each day and could check account on it. Right before last port, shore excursions showed up as a beta test. It was a nice feature as well.

Going to go eat now....hope I remember I have to pay for food now! ;p Be back in few to post more.

9 cruises to date...1 missed port. St. Kitts on Carnival Liberty in April 2015 due to high winds. We docked in Dominca instead and it was wonderful. As soon as we pulled away from previous port (St. Lucia) they announced it, so I went to get in line at shore excursions desk (we had the sugar train booked..was looking forward to that). Within an hour or less they had refunded our money and I had booked an excursion in Dominca. Considering that is not a typical port, I thought they did a super job doing it so quickly and smoothly!

Subscribing...will be boarding Sunshine in less than 2 weeks :-)

LPut--when I went to Alaska on Legend this past June, there were no tender ports. Ship docks right next to pier and you walk off.

Bookmarking for our March Sunshine cruise to these ports.

found this review and subscribing for March

Is it like dinner in the dining room where you can order more than one appetizer, etc?

I reserved tickets for all my traveling companions (4 of us total) for next weeks Carnival Tracy Arm small boat excursion. I have emailed repeatedly to ask how the sail and sign accounts are billed when separate booking numbers are involved, but no one has responded:confused:

so I was hoping someone here might have similar situation and can help me out. Since I reserved the tickets, will all 4 be charged to my account or will they we spread out among both booking numbers? I gave them both booking numbers when I sent initial email.

TIA!

I reserved tickets for all my traveling companions (4 of us total) for next weeks Carnival Tracy Arm small boat excursion. I have emailed repeatedly to ask how the sail and sign accounts are billed when separate booking numbers are involved, but no one has responded:confused:

so I was hoping someone here might have similar situation and can help me out. Since I reserved the tickets, will all 4 be charged to my account or will they we spread out among both booking numbers? I gave them both booking numbers when I sent initial email.

TIA!

Couldn't you fly out of Dayton on Southwest since you are flying back into it? Allegiant does have a way to nickle and dime you to death. THey also fly out of Dayton but very limited options so probably won't work for you. edited..just saw you already booked flights. Enjoy your trip!

I had no idea how many people from Dayton were on CC :-)

Is there any way to get out to the gardens besides the ship tour? We have a group of 4 and trying to find less expensive alternative to ship tours.

thanks for quick response...I am meeting with my traveling party tomorrow so we will discuss options.

if you go to tripadvisor.com seattle forum on top right you will see cruises from Seattle and there is an entire section on choices from Seatac to get you downtown or to the pier.

Stila is the easiest since they are based at the airport and are authorized by the Port of Seattle. Fares are set at $45 downtown and they have all sizes of vehicles. Best part is they come to the door closest to you in baggage claim so you don't have to bring luggage over the skybridge into the parking garage to find a cab or shuttle. There are phones in Baggage claim, just call Ground Transportation.

Any chance STILA would do pick up from our hotel near the airport or do we need to take the airport shuttle over to airport on cruise departure day to catch a ride with them? Or is there another inexpensive option to get to pier day of cruise (we are flying in on Sun and will take light rail into city on Mon to sightsee--then we will go to port on Tues.) We will have 4 people so even a flat rate cab might be doable.

thanks for posting the links!

Do you recall how you reserved your double decker bus tour in Victoria? I think that sounds like a good idea but It's not offered on carnivals site yet, and when I searched other companies, none of them offer night tours or they are not on the night we port :-( maybe things will be updated as we get closer.