ski_mom

Good to know - thank you!

Good question - the issue is that I have some $100 visa gift cards that I'd love to mostly drain on buying some $100 gift cards if I can. Our Princess cruise is this month, but Carnival cruises aren't until later. I'd like to still get all of the $500 princess that I can, but it just hit me that I can just buy the Princess first and then use my $100 visa cards on Carnival after purchasing princess. Not sure why I didn't think of that sooner! Thanks for the mind jolt!

Question on the limits - I see Carnival is limit of 25 per month. We have 2 Carnival booked alon with 1 Princess. Princess has a limit of 5 per month. Are those separate limits? If I start with buying 5 Carnival, will it then not allow we to purchase any Princess? Or, I could buy all 25 Carnival and all 5 Princess in the same month?

@KmomChicago thanks so much for the great live review. Thanks for all of the personal responses and recommendations! This is the first live review that I've followed along with as it was happening and it was so fun!

That's how mine shows up too. I have had offers for $8 back when you spend $12 on AARP - it didn't work on buying the gift cards. Not sure if that's the same offer you have, but that's my experience with it.

Makes sense. My mom is kind of in between - in that she's not really feeble, but definitely not spry either lol. i look at her and my MIL (who is now 84) and my mom gets around much better, but definitely tires out easily even though she still wants to go and just go slowly.

Not that it's my business, but curious why your mom no longer cruises? My mom just turned 80. Last summer she took us all (my sister's family and my family) on an Alaskan cruise. She typically cruises with my family on our summer cruise. This year, she is not. We booked late and when we booked there weren't any handicapped rooms available. She uses a scooter now when she cruises and the rooms are just too hard to get into when you have a regular room. I feel bad that she's not going with us because she loves to go and I am just afraid every year that she misses will be closer to her not being able to go again.

I also really like Chicago! We are from downstate Illinois (about 45 minutes north of St Louis), so I associate more with STL than Chicago, but almost every year when our kids were little we took the train to Chicago between Christmas and New Years with my mom and my sister's family. It started as a trip to visit The American Girl store, but enjoyed the entire area. Such good memories! Our daughters are now 25 & 26, so our American Girl days are over, but they were sure fun!

I'm going to check out some of his reviews - thanks for mentioning him! Interestingly enough (or maybe not), I'm also an accountant who likes to get the best bang for her buck! I wish I could do reviews like you two, but I just don't have the gift of words like others do. I love to read along though, so thanks for all you do! Edited to add - thanks for all of the recommendations - I love reading trip reviews while waiting for my next cruise!

Looking forward to following along. We did our first Alaskan cruise last summer on Princess with my family, my sister's family and my mom. We had such a great trip! Hope yours is excellent too!

Thank you - they actually were full. He said that they have a school group that day that is taking up most of their resources. I'll try another one. Thanks again!

Thank you both. I will give them a try!

We are doing a Memorial Day cruise out of Port Canaveral. Due to work schedules, we cannot fly in until the morning of the cruise (I know, bad idea, but no other options other than not going). Our flight is direct and lands at 8:45. I researched and found the threads showing all of the shuttle options, but I just wondered if we'd be better off booking one of the shuttle services or just getting an Uber/Lyft?

We decided to book a Memorial Day Weekend cruise, so I paid it off with this offer on 4/5. The credit posted on 4/11. I have the offer on DH's card too, but the only thing I have to use them for would be drink package / wifi. Has anyone used it on those type charges and still received the credit?

When we've had a remaining credit balance, I've received an email with a new gift card of the balance. I believe if it's under $10, they donate it to St Jude.

I've used the gift cards on Carnival many times and have always had luck adding them at the kiosks. We are going on Princess this summer and I was able to pay for our entire cruise with gift cards from aarp to save 8% - does anyone know if they have kiosks on Princess too? It just makes it so easy to add them to your account. Thanks!

I see AARP sells Princess cards as well (they just have an 8% discount though) - can they be used basically like the Carnival - to pay on your booking, while on board, etc?

Have you checked if they might still be on your gift card? If not, I don't know if there's a number to call and see if they can track when that funds on that card were used?

Thank you!!

Thank you!

How many days prior to sailing do you have to purchase the Cheers package to get the discount for purchasing before boarding? If cruise leaves on a Saturday, can you log in on Friday still and purchase, or is that too late and you'll have to purchase on board? Thanks!

Thanks so much! Those all sound great!

We're staying at the Atwell Suites on Friday night prior to our Saturday cruise. Any recommendations for a sports bar and grill type restaurant in the area? We'd love to watch the first game of the World Series while we eat if possible. Thanks!

We're big Cardinals fans, so DH often has on at least a Cards hat - definitely a good conversation starter! I will admit, they are a bit hard to watch this year, but we keep putting ourselves through it! That is so neat that you ran into someone from your hometown!

Oh, no - many pronounce it with the "s" at the end lol!