JillK

I understand completely where you're coming from and do the same. For my cruise on the Epic, I paid the final payment months before it was due as the exchange was good and I was concerned about it going lower.

It's amazing how the currency can greatly impact the overall cost of the cruise.

I remember in 2003 booking a 7 night on Royal Caribbean, inside guarantee cabin for $364 USD per person. I thought it was a steal and booked it. At the time, the exchange was the worst it's been in my adult lifetime (around 0.63). We ended up spending around $1000 Cdn after exchange.

Conversely, when our dollar was up to $1.07 in 2007, I put a deposit on a cruise that Carnival ended up cancelled so the ship could go to dry dock. We ended up getting back more than we paid since the dollar was so strong.

As we're sailing in less than a month, I've been watching the exchange closely for a few months, deciding what I might want to charge ahead of time (Bon Voyage, paying tips, etc) and it's been staying around the 0.95-0.96 mark, which is pretty good compared to 2003!

Happy sailing!

Jill

My hubby and I took our daughters (then 6 and 8) on a cruise out of Miami on the Epic last December. When we were booking our air using points, we came up with the idea of flying into MCO, spending a day at Magic Kingdom and then driving to Miami for the cruise.

We spent two nights at a Disney property, then made the drive to Fort Lauderdale to stay overnight pre-cruise and then a quick skip to Miami the next morning to board the ship.

We had an amazing trip. The girls didn't even mind the drive, which if I remember correctly was about 3 hours or so. We just made sure that they had plenty to keep them busy... books, colouring, etc.

Since bus transportation inside WDW is included when staying on site, we simply picked up a rental onsite at WDW the day before our cruise and returned it to MIA the next morning, taking the rental company's free shuttle to the port. It worked perfectly.

I would imagine that you would be able to rent a car at MCO and return as we did at MIA and shuttle it to the port. We booked our car through National, but as they own Alamo, you can also do the same with them. I would double check that they still have the free shuttle from MIA to POM beforehand, however.

As others have mentioned there is a fee to pay for the interstate but looking at your savings on the flight, not a big deal.

I think the price difference, but perhaps more importantly the direct flight, offsets the inconvenience of the drive. I know with my kids, I'd rather have the time in the car than have to de-plane, wait around, re-plane, etc.

Either way, enjoy your cruise!

Hi shez947.

I'll be going on the Glory in early December.

We are booked as anytime dining - I haven't been on Carnival since they've introduced it but my understanding is one dining room is anytime while the other is traditional?

In any case, if I'm in the right dining room, I'll see what I can do about locating the staff members you've mentioned. I'd be more than happy to get some pics for you and and send once I'm back.

Jill

Hi Davey-D-99.

We have the exact same flight change for our return from Miami to Toronto in December.

We also booked through Air Miles and I did contact them about possibly changing our departure flight the day before the cruise which was moved from 9:15 am to 8:05 am to see if we could get on a later flight (we're leaving our 4 kids at home with Grandma & Grandpa who have to travel from out of town to babysit and we are an hour out of Pearson).

The agent I spoke with advised that unless the flight time change is more than 4 hours, we would have to pay a cancellation/change fee to change flights. If memory serves me, the fee was something like $250 a ticket - so definitely not worth it. If the flight time was more than 4 hours, Air Canada would offer a change to either later or earlier in the day (or even the night before in our case).

As FYI on a similar experience with Aeroplan last year - we were flying to Orlando, connecting in Newark and back to Toronto direct out of Miami. I wasn't able to pull up my reservation about a month before our trip so called them.

Our connecting flight out of Newark had been changed by 25 minutes but meant we would miss it and nothing else worked with the original flight out of Toronto. The agent changed the departure flight to a direct flight, and also moved my return flight from late afternoon to the 1:20 departure out of Miami. Both changes at no charge.

We were off the ship by 8 am and at the airport within 35-40 minutes. There was a bit of a wait to go through the Air Canada counter but security moved quickly. We had plenty of time pre-flight. We did however choose to self debark our bags.

I have no doubt that we will have plenty of time to make the 12:20 flight - a change we're happy about because the minute we're off the ship, we'll want to get back to our kids!

I'll post back after we cruise to let you know.

Jill

I am not trying to be nasty but any TA that would charge $25 to check on a price adjustment for any reason should be dropped. I have had 3 price adjustments and a reinstatement of a dropped OBC all handled by my TA and there was absolutely no charge. By the way, my TA advised that the adjustment would be made by Carnival and no further action was required. They inquired while doing the other price adjustments.

Hi ya.

No worries - you're not coming off as nasty at all. I booked with a large internet based agency and changes for booking the rate I did (the TA's, not Carnival) come with a $25 charge. Chance I took when I booked.

As for price drops, we haven't had any as it's stayed steady or increased but we're booked under a resident rate and I'm not sure if we would qualify for any decreases, especially now that I've done final payment.

But certainly, after reading many posters talk about the rate drops they've gotten, it's lead me to think that as long as I know what ship/itinerary I want, I'd probably be better off booking directly through Carnival.

Thanks for confirming what I've suspected regarding the change to taxes/fees. It's not much $$ back in my case, but I'll take it!

Best,

Jill

Hi there.

I noticed a few weeks back that my taxes & fees have dropped by $17. Not a large amount, but enough to do something else onboard with.

I posted at the time inquiring how this is adjusted and then read in my cruise documents that clearly states that taxes and fees can change and that Carnival reserves the right to collect more for an increase and refund by OBC if they go down.

I also took the additional step of inquiring from my TA how this would be refunded to see if he echoed this statement but he told me that he would charge me a $25 "change fee" to call Carnival and have them make the change so needless to say, I've left it alone.

My expectation is that we'll see it refunded as OBC in our account once we're aboard per richfret.

Not a definitive answer but hope that helps and happy cruising!

Hi there.

It looks as though you're leaning toward keeping your Glory booking, but I thought I would add a few comments on the Epic as we cruised her last December and as my most recent cruise, she's fresh in my mind.

Hubby and I are currently booked to go on Glory this coming December and are really excited to be back on Carnival after a decade trying different lines.

Hubby and I took our two daughters (6 & 8) on the Epic last December as my parents had gifted us a Future Cruise Certificate with NCL. We had an amazing time and that cruise would tie the Emerald Princess as my favourite cruise experience.

The entertainment on Epic is top notch - Blue Man Group, Second City, Fat Cats Jazz, bowling, even the Legends show was all enjoyed by our entire group. Hubby and I loved the waterslides even though our daughters were too intimidated to even try them. Lots to do on the ship, you'd have to work at it to be bored.

The Garden Cafe had the best buffet I have ever experienced on any of my previous cruises. The set up allows traffic to flow very easily and the variety is amazing. We never had something we didn't like, but we aren't overly picky and frankly, as a mom of four, I'm just happy when I don't have to cook and clean!

We also highly recommend Le Bistro and the Cirque show and dinner if you don't mind spending the extra money (not sure on current prices as I believe they went up in 2013). The food at Le Bistro was outstanding and worth every extra penny and while the food at the Cirque show is very good, you're really paying for the fabulous and hilarious show.

The cabin layout is unconventional (we had a B6 - large balcony cabin) and I do prefer a traditional layout but it was comfortable - if not a little tight - for the week even with four of us.

You're obviously making an excellent choice with your Glory booking but if you'd like to try the Epic, and cruise with your friends, you might want to make the change. If you're overly concerned that you won't be happy with your cabin placement - and that's a deal breaker for you - then stick to your current booking. Either way you're on a cruise so you can't really go wrong can you?

Enjoy!