bar10der421

I would highly recommend motioineaze (sp), sea bands and ginger capsules. If you are going to use the patch please be very very careful and watch for side affects including but not limited to hallucinations, confusion, inability to sleep, unsteady on your feet and I could go on. My best friend and I traveled with another friend whose doctor prescribed the patch. We had no clue what was wrong (had never traveled with her and had no experience with the patch). We finally took her to the ship doctor and there in the waiting area was a sign saying the patch was not provided on the ship and it's use was not recommended. There were approximately 25 possible side effects listed and I believe my friend probably had 20 of them. I thought the nurse was going to cry when we told her and she removed the patch immediately. Security was notified and they disabled our balcony door and posted someone outside our cabin door all night. Yes, that is how bad it was. Once the patch was removed she improved dramatically and we all got a good night's sleep, but sadly had to disembark the next day.

I know there are many people who use the patch without problems, but for us what was supposed to be a fun girlfriends cruise turned into a nightmare.

We enjoyed the Elation. The crew was awesome, liked the decor and don't mind the layout of the ship. Only saw one show, the entertainers were great, much better than a few previous cruises.

Only complaint on the food is the corned beef at the deli and also found that on the Pride in October. Very fatty. Reuben's used to be my go to lunch but maybe not so much anymore. Enjoyed the pizza, much better than on the last several cruises. I did miss Guy's and the Blue Iguana.

I enjoy the pools more on the newer ships....where you have the shallow areas to sit in. With the older pools you are either in or out if that makes sense.

Disembarkation was the most organized I have ever experienced!!

We are looking at the Magic for our next cruise (have always liked sailing from Port Canaveral and enjoyed the Breeze a few cruises ago), but would definitely choose a Fantasy class again if the homeport and itinerary were right!

We put our luggage out the night before (had Zone 1 tags), met in the piano bar and were escorted off the ship at 8:50. We grabbed a town car ($35 plus tip for the three of us) and off we went. Had no problem making our 11:20 flight. It was the most organized disembarkation I have ever experienced.

My friend and I recently took another friend (age 76) on her first cruise. I can't begin to tell you how much we planned, looked forward to this vacation. Her doctor prescribed the patch, we had never used it and knew nothing about it. Our cruise was a nightmare.

On day two she began acting strangely (hallucinations, delusional, not able to sleep and m0re.) We had no clue what was wrong and just did our best to take of her. There were times she seemed okay, but then it got progressively worse. We finally took her to medical and in the waiting area there was a sign that said they did not carry the patch and did not recommend it's use. There were listed 27 possible side effects, our friend had exhibited many of them.

The nurse immediately removed the patch (I actually thought she was going to start crying when we told her our friend was using the patch). The doctor questioned the three of us, gave her an exam and said he was 99 percent sure the patch was the problem.

Security was called in. They disabled our balcony door so it could not be opened, they said we were free to move about the ship but needed to stay with her and recommended we avoid outside areas. They also posted someone outside our door all night in case our friend got up and we didn't hear her.

The next morning ( Debarkation day and after our first good night's sleep all week) she was like a new person, not 100 percent herself but getting there.

Please, please anyone reading this be very careful about using the patch.

We will be taking a taxi from the airport and sure don't plan on paying to be driven around until they will let us in to drop off luggage. One of us is a first time cruiser. I sure hope things go somewhat smoothly so her first impression of cruising is a good one!!

We are also on the January 23 sailing of the Elation and FINALLY got the email from Carnival today. Since John Heald posted the info about staggered check-in a week or two ago, I think Carnival is a little remiss about taking so long to inform us.

Two of us are platinum and we are in a suite so I know we will be able to enter the terminal earlier than our stated time (I was able to choose 1:00 as the earliest), but I am a little concerned about the late embarkation due to "loading of materials". Our flight arrives at 11:25 and I am sure many others are even earlier than that. Sure hope it isn't raining if we are standing outside!

We were on her the week after Thanksgiving. We had FTTF and were in our car by 815am for the early end.

Did you carry your own luggage or put it out the night before. We are three 60 something ladies and carrying our own luggage off of the ship would not work. We hope to make an 11:20 flight.

Our friends were scheduled to fly into FLL today on Southwest for their Vista cruise. They received an email on Thursday that flights could not be guaranteed today because of the impending ice storm. Southwest changed them to a flight yesterday and they will be boarding the ship today! Gotta love Southwest.

you will have to prepay it online. or you can wait till you board the ship and then use the obc

Just keep in mind that if you wait until you board the ship some of the more popular excursions may be sold out.

I book when I find the cruise I want to take and I am willing to pay the price at that time. I have then seen prices go up, stay the same and occasionally go down. We booked our upcoming Elation cruise in June and before final payment had 6 price drops for a total $210!! After that the price started going back up and then came back down...don't know the rhyme or reason. It has actually had another $10 drop since final payment, but I did not call my PVP since there are 3 of us in the cabin and that would only amount to $3.33 OBC for each of us. (although my husband did point out that it would be a soda for each of us :-)

Credit card, or room key. Kind of a PIA since I'd prefer to lock away said credit cards in the safe, and if you use the room key others in your room can't get into the safe if your out and about with your key. Wish the had the numeric combo ones.

An old gift card will work, or any card with a magnetic strip. When multiple people need access to the safe we just find a good hiding place in the cabin for the card.

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3180/~/staggered-check-in

 

If I hadn't gone to my roll call on social media I never would have known about this. It was hard to figure out how to pick a time. Called Carnival and the lady walked me through it. This was set in motion yesterday. No emails sent to anyone yet, she said corporate is closed and emails should go out Monday (if at all). What a royal screw up. People who completed boarding pass and docs before yesterday won't have this info on boarding pass. Expect a mess at the terminal.

Thank you for posting this link. It does not show Jacksonville as getting the staggered check-in which is maybe why I can't find it for my booking. I got the information that Jacksonville was included from John Heald's fb post. Is is possible that HE could have been wrong? Perish the thought!

It's up.... I just chose my time and reprinted boarding passes

Not up yet for my January 23 Elation cruise.

Also a great (i.e. uncrowded!) place for lunch on embarkation day because not everyone has found it yet.

Thanks everyone. I will keep checking.

So we did our online check-in and printed boarding passes two days ago, now John Heald posts on that other social media that staggered check in starts in Jacksonville on January 23, the day we sail. Carnival's website has not caught up yet as there is no where to choose a time. So I guess I keep checking back? Or will I maybe get an e-mail?

Deck two or three...No gangway to reach up to deck 7. The original gangway was built for the Holiday class and doesn't fit Fantasy class. The gangway you see in the picture was for Holiday class and not in use. the blue tunnels are where you board now.

 

 

EM

Thanks so much for the picture!

I am specifically asking about Elation in Jacksonville, but thinking that all Fantasy class ships would board on the same deck. It looks like the lobby, guest services area is on deck 7. Is that where we will board on will it be on one of the lower decks like 1 or A?

I see that Kevin Donohue will be the CD on our upcoming Elation cruise and hope that by now someone will have some info about him???

We were on the October 9 Pride sailing (to Canada I might add...so quit complaining about Freeport folks...just kidding) and asked one of the port officials about the gangway. He said probably 10 months from the original accident for repairs. I believe that was in the Spring but someone correct me if I am wrong. The boarding was not as bad as I was expecting and once you are on board you quickly forget about it! Of course with 700 or more cancellations our entire boarding process went very quickly!

nice gesture and you get an uncrowded ship

That is one part I am looking forward to. Go ahead and cancel folks...much less crowded buffet. And of course looking forward to just "bein on a ship"!! We have been to both ports twice, but will make the best of it.

We had an obstructed view balcony on Pride and I agree with all of the other posters. No problem with booking one again. We were in a suite several years ago and actually had the same lifeboat view when looking straight down and for a lot more money!

How do the tags work? How do you secure them to the suitcase? Do you do anything like laminate them? I am new to this and don't understand how these tags work. It would be great if I knew what I was doing when I go to print mine in a few weeks. Our cruise will be paid on Oct 7 and I was planning to print things then.

This is one of the few tasks I leave to my DH, but he also laminates them with packing tape (after folding them according to directions), then punches a hole in each end and secures them around the luggage handle with a zip-tie (I think that is what they are called). Just be sure to pack a small pair of scissors to cut them off.

Thanks for this! So ready to read more. Thirty-four days and counting until our next time on the Pride!!

HMM?? The halls were blocked (door closed?). We did utilize the stairs quite a bit during the trip as well!

Even though the doors are closed there is usually a sign that says FTTF and priority or VIP can go through