klfhngr

On 11/5/2021 at 8:17 PM, NW Native1 said:

I didn't even have to ask to get my free drink. The bartender at Pig & Anchor applied the credit without even asking!

That's where I got my freebies, but I had to ask. They never mentioned it, but when I did, he said, yup, it's in the system!

On 11/5/2021 at 3:13 PM, BasicSailor said:

And now there's an upcharge on Martinis and some of their other drinks offered. The free drink options are there just less of a choice to choose from. Brings new meaning to the word free.

Very true! One of our drinks had a 'premium' spirit, but our bartender was slick and put in the system that we used top shelf, lol. So there was no upcharge!

On last night, don't forget to get your freebie. If you don't ask, they won't tell 😉

Wife and I got a Kentucky Mule and Bloody Mary on last night, I almost forgot about it. Not sure how I remembered, lol, but when I asked the bartender, he said, oh yea, it's in the system!

Off the Panorama last week, was told no! Only on some ships.

Pass me the tissue, Tito.

Just got of last week. No FTTF. I was originally on Lido but changed to deck 8, premium balcony. Wish we would've kept lido! It's close to where we usually hung out. Don't get me wrong, deck 8 aft was nice also, close to other stuff. But we prefer the pool.

On 10/23/2021 at 5:19 PM, Saint Greg said:

I mean this is pretty empty.

 

 

 

 

that is not

 

 

 

Funny, you captured my wife and friends! Great pix!

On 10/25/2021 at 11:00 AM, Saint Greg said:

Lol, I'm in this photo also!

Just off Panorama, smoke all over the casino!!

We just got off of the Panorama on Saturday. Almost all of the employees that we asked said that they were unaware of a propulsion issue! They also stated that if there was an issue, that they would've been told about it! 

Go figure! I'm wondering if they used this as an excuse to modify the itinerary? It really sucks to go to Cabo for such a short period of time, nothing is open at 6:30 AM!!!

On 10/31/2021 at 8:12 PM, Christina808 said:

Hi, I’m curious to hear what the mask culture is like on Carnival from anyone who has sailed since the august 2021 changes were made. I’m sailing on a Dec 26 sailing on Horizon.   I have read the mask policy but am wondering how strictly masks are enforced, especially when just roaming the ship indoors.  
 

For example, is it like being on a plane where if someone sees that your nose is not covered, they are immediately going to say something?

 

(not trying to start any kind of discussion on covid, masks, safety, protection, personal freedoms, etc. just curious about the actual process right now.)

 

thanks!
 

 

On 10/31/2021 at 8:12 PM, Christina808 said:

Hi, I’m curious to hear what the mask culture is like on Carnival from anyone who has sailed since the august 2021 changes were made. I’m sailing on a Dec 26 sailing on Horizon.   I have read the mask policy but am wondering how strictly masks are enforced, especially when just roaming the ship indoors.  
 

For example, is it like being on a plane where if someone sees that your nose is not covered, they are immediately going to say something?

 

(not trying to start any kind of discussion on covid, masks, safety, protection, personal freedoms, etc. just curious about the actual process right now.)

 

thanks!
 

 

We just got off of the Panorama on Saturday. The majority of passengers wore masks, a few didn't. I didn't hear of any 'haters' making a big deal. All of the workers wore masks. On most occasions, if I forgot to put on my mask, the only time I really heard a worker tell me to put it on was when I walked into the Lido Buffet.

Just got back, no one seems to know anything about the 'propulsion' issue! Most said that if there was an issue, they'd know about it! So I think the 'issue' is BS!

57 minutes ago, JGB said:

Thank you for your assessment.

We are on a December sailing 2 days in Cabo and 1 in Ensenada. I could do without that last port but I may use that time for the Sky Ride Ropes course etc

Did you avail your self of any of those?

JGB

You're welcome!

My wife and her friend did both, I think I was too heavy, lol! They loved both, said ropes was scary a little bit. Ride not scary.

We're in our 50's and traveled with 2 other couples. One couple were newbies, other couple has about 5 cruises under their belt and we have about 20.

Embarkation: We were part of group A5. We arrived at port at about 11:30. Parked our vehicles, checked our luggage in. Did the whole process in about 30 minutes! It was quick and great!!!! No complaints! Got our 4 bottles of wine onboard, they never checked nor asked. Newbies were expecting the worse in regards to getting on,due to some reviews, but they were amazed at how fast we got on. Once on board, the staff was amazing! They were all so happy to see us!

Cabin: We upgraded for 200 more to the premium balcony 8470. The layout is sort of a pain in the butt, the long hallway feels cramped. But the views and the size of the balcony is awesome!!! We were able to entertain all 6 of us with no problem! Could've fit about 4 more easily! Wife did NOT like the room, I was ok with it. If we travel alone, we'll get the regular balcony, if in a group, we'll book this one again.

Ship: The ship looks great!! Still looks new, super clean! Easy to navigate! Staff throughout the ship was super friendly! We hung out by the pool. At first it seems small, but for now, with limited capacity, it seems to work. Not sure what's going to happen once it's at 100%!!! Enjoyed not having a large crowd!!! No lines for anything! Food, drinks, shows, etc., walk right in!! Pizza had a line late night, but that's normal!

Food: I know this is subjective, so this is my opinion. We attempted to try different stuff, but it's hard to do that with so many options.

The Steakhouse was ok. Food was good, somewhat salty. Service was ok, but nothing outstanding! Our group felt the same way.

Gigi's: Have to admit, this was our favorite! The soups, the different dishes, etc.!! At first, we didn't think that it would be enough food, we were wrong!!! The chef's know how much to make for a small group! Some in our group thought that some of the dishes were salty, we didn't notice that here.

BBQ: It was ok. The fact that knowing that this is an option is great! If you like BBQ, I think you'll enjoy.

Deli: We had it on last day and wish we made more visits! Sandwiches were great! 

Pizza: It was hit and miss, but how can you go wrong with pizza?! The service was the part that was lacking.

Lido Buffet: It was also ok, but still many options. Food wasn't terrible, so not sure what some people are complaining about. 

Dining Room: We enjoyed most meals! The lobster was pretty good, we had too many tails to count! The steak that's offered every night is not good at all, stay away from it if you can!  Yes, dishes are MUCH smaller than before, but you can order more or get a soup and salad, and I guarantee that you'll be filled!

Piano bar was fun. The Havana Club was awesome! The vibe, the band, etc.! We got to talk and enjoy interacting with the band while they played, lol!! Chino on percussion killed it! The brewery on board was probably our favorite hangout! Good beers and really good drinks!!! Should've spent more time here! Alchemy Bar was ok. I heard great things about it, but it was ok. Atrium bar is a cool place to hangout. The 3 violin players were awesome!!! I heard that they played Metallica, so I yelled it out. One of the players told me that they played 3 of their songs then proceeded to play one! They later played a Nirvana song! Great players!!!

Puerto Vallarta: We hired a driver for $30 pp, I negotiated after walking out of all the madness. He had an agenda, but I told him that I've been here many times and that we had our own list. He said ok. We asked to have breakfast where the locals go. He took us to a place by the church, it was great! We ate and drank some great food, chilaquiles, tacos, beans, etc. Our bill was $9!!! We then went to the Malecon, shopping, beer run. We then headed to the jungle to El Eden. Hung out there and had some drinks. Be careful, a little kid got bit by a leach! We then did a tequila tasting, it was great info but the tequilas were not that great. We then headed back and asked for a good dinner place where the locals go. He took us to a really nice restaurant. We had ceviche, huge shrimps, drinks, etc. Our bill was $30! Our friend had a huge snapper, he said it was great! We then headed back to the ship and hung out by the ship to have a few drinks. We must've been the last ones on the ship. Back in the day, this area was hopping, this time, there was no one hanging out!

Mazatlan: We went to Lety's on Stone Island. It was ok, not as good as that last few times. We had some shrimp, drinks, shots, coke, etc. Bill was about $40. Be careful here too. Carlos said I want to give you a free shot. So he gave one to me and to a friend. He then charged me 12 bucks! He then proceeds to say, oh, those double shots that I gave you. So one is free and the other is the regular fee!! What a crock and a crook! I was pissed off and told him! As we were leaving, he approached me and apologized and gave me a free one. We then headed to the golden zone, papa's and beer, drank at a place next door then headed back to ship. The small tour only costs us $3 pp. 

Cabo: I was just there in July, so we had an agenda based on the limited time that we had there. We walked the Marina, then walked out and shopped. We then did a tequila tasting, it was a cool hangout spot and we purchased some tequila. We then went to Los Paisas tacos, which were the bomb! We then hopped on a van and headed back to the ship. 

Props to the following:

Our waiter Putra and his helper Alfred! Putra was amazing! The kindest and friendliest waiter that we've had in years!! He made sure that we were happy with our food and amount of food that we ate, lol!!! If we told him that we wanted to see a show later, he had our meals brought out super fast!! He really enjoyed talking about life in general, his family, home, etc. I feel so bad for them at how hard they work. 

Omer at the brewery was awesome!!! We got to know a lot about him and him about us!! The service he provided was awesome! Vitali, Nikolai and Bro were also awesome, these guys work hard to make us happy!!!

Our cabin steward Eric was awesome! Our room was kept tidy, he was very friendly and enjoyed talking!!!! Sometimes we had to run so that he wouldn't engage us (if we were running late). I feel as though they miss people, miss having true conversations, having friends, etc. So when we could, we'd talk for about 5-10 minutes just to spend some time with him.

The bad: Not really too much. By the pool, they try to push the 4 beers really, really hard! Be careful, this is why: First stop after get on the ship at Red Frog, I ordered 1 Bloody Mary and 1 IPA. The girl asked if I wanted the 4 beer special. I kindly said no, I'll just take 1 and 1. The other bartender made the Bloody Mary, he then started pouring 1 beer, 2 beers. I said, wait, I only wanted 1! She turns around and said, sir, you said 4! I said NO, I never said 4, I told you no!!! The other bartender tells here to cancel my order. 30 minutes later I'm in my cabin and notice a $46 charge and a $14 charge. I'm thinking, what did I get so far? So I headed to Guest Services. To make a long story short, one charge was for 1 Bloody Mary and 4 beers! The other charge was for 1 Bloody Mary and 1 beer! She charged me for both! I explained what happened to the Guest Service person, and he noticed that I was upset. He said that he didn't understand why she did this but that he would be emailing her manager. Anyhow, be careful and look at your charges!

All in all, everyone onboard was kind! The guest on board were all great, seems like everyone wants to get back to normalcy. Many wore masks, there was a small minority that didn't. Also, I noticed many people not washing their hands when exiting the bathroom!! That was gross!!! On some occasions, I'd say 'forgot to do something!' None came back, lol! 

We'd go back on the Panorama in a heart beat! We selected to be last off the ship and were off at about 1030. Debarkation was a BREEZE!!!! No lines, nothing! No customs was the best part!!! Just showed our face and walked straight out!

Another great cruise under our belt! BTW, the newbies are hooked on cruising, lol!!

Feel free to ask any questions, I'm sure I left some stuff out!

On 10/28/2021 at 2:10 PM, Organized Chaos said:

 

Did you create your account from the website (as in, on a computer) or from the Allstate mobile app? For non-customers, the account has to be created from the mobile app first.

 

As far as I know, non-customers are still allowed to be Rewards members. The rep. that told you they haven't been allowed for the last few years is definitely wrong. The problem is, I'm pretty sure their regular customer service is separate from their Rewards customer service, and one side doesn't know much about the other.

 

If you're interested in trying again, you'll likely have to call and have them delete your existing account first, but that should be the only call you have to make. From that point, don't let them do anything else. Install the Allstate mobile app on your phone and go from there.

 

Here are the instructions to create an account from the mobile app, but be warned, I haven't gone through the process for quite some time. I don't use the app, so I deleted it. So this may not be exact, but should be close. After installing, accept their terms of service. Click on Create an Account under the orange Log In button. On the next screen, non-customers need to choose Drivewise Only (No Allstate policy). <---- That part is key. If asked, you have to turn on location tracking through your phone's GPS. The app won't function without it, which is a big reason why I don't use it. You'll probably have to agree to another terms of service. Then fill out your information (name, address, etc.). From there, I can't remember where it takes you, but it should be self-explanatory from that point.

 

Once the account is created, you technically don't have to use the app anymore. You can enter codes and buy gift cards from the Rewards website. Use this URL as a non-customer: https://myaccountrwd.allstate.com/anon/account/login?campaign=145

 

Hope that helps if you'd like to try again.

 

hello, thanks for your help. I created on app first. Allstate agents have already deleted my accounts and started over. nothing works. I'm good and back from my cruise, lol. thanks for the offer!

Do you on which night the theme parties were on?

11 hours ago, n6uqqq said:

No problem. You are not the first person to have great difficulties with Allstate rewards and surely not the last! 

The fourth person I spoke to deleted all my accounts so that they could start from scratch. We went thru the whole drill and nothing. Was then sent to the DriveWise 'expert'. After a few minutes, she seemed frustrated and said, 'you can't do it because you're not an AllState customer'! I told her, 'then why didn't your other 4 reps state that? Do they not know?' She said that they stopped doing this for non-members a couple of years ago. Go figure, I don't think they even know! That's why I gave up!

Cruise is on Saturday. Have a Kaiser test on Thurs, then a backup on Friday at CVS. If that fails, the back alley it is ;O

3 hours ago, n6uqqq said:

Per the Allstate website you don't need to have insurance through them to join drivewise. It is a great program but is very quirky with signing up and logging in can be troublesome occasionally. The main thing I heard people have trouble with is you have to create your rewards account through the app first. If you try and set it up not using the app such as a laptop it will not work. People with this problem had to call Allstate and have the rep delete the account entirely and then re do it through the mobile app. 

i called and spoke to 5 different people! The last 2 were specifically DriveWise tech support. IDK what else to try. Not worth my 5 hours or so that I invested to get it going. Thanks for the heads up though!

19 hours ago, klfhngr said:

Not to hijack, but can you get tonic water with Bubbles?

Found the answer on an external website:

Soda choices on the Carnival drink menu for 2020 include Pepsi products, Tonic Water, and Club Soda. Similarly, for juices, cruisers have the option of Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, Tomato Juice, Pineapple Juice, and Grapefruit Juice.

I created an account, downloaded the app, but drivewise doesn't show up. I called AllState, spoke to 5 different reps in 2 days to troubleshoot the problem. The last rep confirmed that you now have to be an AllState customer to get drivewise and that I cannot get it. Not sure how true this is, but I was never able to view/get the drivewise app. I gave up.

Not to hijack, but can you get tonic water with Bubbles?

2 hours ago, nlktx49 said:

My husband and I leave on the Vista Saturday for our first cruise since January 2020, so excited! We have a Cove Balcony room, which we've never had before. Can those of you who have had them tell me about them, good and/or bad? Probably overthinking this - as usual - but I like to know what to expect.

I asked the same question a couple of9

 months ago, I got many replies. You might want to do a search.

Does anyone know which days the parties are held on? I already know the formals, but newbies in our group are asking for the specific days. I can't find anything here on CC. Thanks all!

And, last question for today, lol: Does the Panorama dock straight in in PV, or does it back up?