lovelights

1 minute ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Several people have said now that the Carnival cards are only available to AARP members, we no longer need the points to buy them. I was able to view them yesterday, but never paid attention to whether or not we needed points.

 

Evidently, some who already bought some yesterday (or maybe this morning?) got gift cards without PIN's. That could be why they were pulled from the site.

Maybe that's what happened. They pulled them until they get the kinks out. Wonder what will happen to the gift cards that the people got without pin numbers? I didn't know my pin number until it arrived in the mail, the last time I purchased them under the old rewards.

5 hours ago, RumpunchGirl said:

Same here. I've been a member for several years and have purchased many gift Carnival Gift cards. Maybe I don't have enough new point to use towards them and that's why they don't show up. Kind of strange!

That's what I was thinking too. I don't have quite enough to purchase one of the gift cards, so I was thinking that it might be reason I can't see them. I was just hoping to find them, before I got more points, so I'd at least know I had a goal to shoot for something. lol

On 9/24/2019 at 11:06 AM, 4133raw said:

I just logged on, earned 5000 points, then looked at the gift cards. There are 2 Carnival cards. $100 for $90 and $500 foe $448 but now you have to be a member to get them:(

How to you get to the option to purchase them? I've been all over the website and can't find them. I even looked through every single gift card available, and still can't locate them. 😞

Just watched a video this morning, giving the news that Armonia is coming to Tampa in November of 2020. We already have a 4 day cruise booked out of Ft. Lauderdale for November 2020, but I wanted to see if they have 2021 bookings for Armonia available, and they do.

We were getting ready to book Meraviglia just to be able to experience MSC's new private island, but really didn't want to do another 7 day on MSC for now, since we had a good experience on Divina, but a bad experience on Seaside.

So, when I found a 4 day on Armonia out of Tampa (which is only a 1 hour drive from us), it works out great. Going to Key West, and the new private island, out of a port that is close to home, on a ship that we've never been on, is the perfect opportunity.

Looks like Tampa is going to be full of ships in 2020. Not 100% sure, but looks like Celebrity Constellation, HAL Veendam, Norwegian Jade, are alsol coming to Tampa in November of 2020. Carnival Legend, Carnival Paradise, Rhapsody of the Seas, and Brilliance of the Seas is going to already be there, so it looks like cruise-filled days for Tampa. 🙂

5 hours ago, Nymich said:

I already cancelled one MSC trip because the island was not done. I had to learn the island was going to be delayed on the internet and not from MSC.   I may cancel the next one as well.   MSC has not done a very good job communicating all this to people who bought cruises intending to be visiting Ocean Cay.   JMO but it is what it is.   

We booked Seaside back when it first came to Miami, believing that we were going to make it to the private island, and it wasn't even built by then. Then a hurricane came and destroyed most of the islands on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary, and we ended up going on a Western Caribbean itinerary.  We didn't go to one place that we were suppose to, but we still had fun. I'm not booking my next MSC, until I actually see a ship go to the island, so I'm waiting until November to book.

On 3/23/2019 at 7:57 PM, dacsmom said:

AARP Rewards for Good. Anyone can buy these.  They can add up to a nice discount.

As of July 25th, AARP stopped giving reward points, due to them beginning a new point system in the near future. You can use the points you have, to purchase the Carnival gift cards if you have at least 1,000 points to get the $100 gift card, or 5,000 points to get the $500 gift card. Anything left over on your points, can not be carried over to their new point system when it comes available. I hope when the new rewards become available, that the Carnival gift cards are still available.

I just got off the phone with Carnival. They let me take my deposit and apply it to my balance on my 2019 Conquest cruise, so I thought that was a nice gesture. That's what I was planning on doing with the refund anyways, since I haven't found another cruise to replace the Cuba one that I wanted to go on as of yet. I was on the phone on hold the first time I called for about 20 minutes. I hung up, and called back about 30 minutes later, and was on hold for about 10 minutes, so that wasn't too bad at all.

1 minute ago, Sean_B said:

I think you're confusing a TA giving up some of their commission to give you OBC as a sales incentive (which is what they're doing), with a good faith gesture by Carnival over something in which they have zero control (missing the port).

 

If you don't like it, take their offer to cancel with a full refund and be done with it. Seems fairly simple.

Yep, I agree. It's very simple. Have a wonderful day.

2 minutes ago, Sean_B said:

All the passengers are missing the same port so you all get the same compensation. No reasonable, competent person thinks that just because you have a higher category of cabin that you should get more compensation. That's ridiculous.

So, you're saying that if you were to purchase a cruise through a travel agent, that it's not fair that they would give a $50 OBC to those that book an inside room or oceanview, and then give $100 OBC to those that book a balcony or suite at double and triple the price? That would be ridiculous for them to offer that? Ridiculous would be paying $1,700 to go to the Bahamas or Cozumel on a 5 day cruise with the $100 per person OBC being a drop in the hat. You can get a balcony room for 2 people on a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean for less than that. It's not about being ridiculous, it's about being sensible with your money when it comes to your vacation.

23 minutes ago, Sean_B said:

 

It's based on the port being missed, not cabin category; nor should it be based on cabin category! Do you think suite or balcony guests are more important than inside cabin guests if they're all missing the same port?? Jesus, some people will complain about anything.

So, obviously you think that people that purchased inside rooms are more important, to the point that they deserve the same onboard credit as someone that purchased a suite. $100 OBC isn't crap, when you take into consideration that our rates were based  with including medical insurance that we no longer need. Port fees were much, much higher, than a regular cruise to the Caribbean. Carnival is making money off of these OBCs, compared to what is being offered as a substitute. You obviously didn't have a cruise booked to Cuba, or if you did, you got a cheap inside room, and will enjoy your $100 per person OBC.  Oh, and also love how you used the name of "Jesus" in your ridiculous response.

3 hours ago, Sean_B said:

$100/person is pretty fair IMO, but I can see why some would be upset in missing the key port as the reason for them probably picking that itinerary.

IMO it might be fair for those that booked an inside room, however, to compensate an OBC to be the same for those that paid for an inside room, compared to those that paid for a suite or a balcony room, is not fair at all. They should have tiered the OBC based on what type of room you paid for.

1 minute ago, beerman2 said:

Wow, it's gone from a Cruise forum to a Political forum. Well played everyone. Obviously most must not have heard that age old saying "Never discuss politics or religion" with others.

I was thinking the same thing.... WTH happened to this post? It's gotten so it has absolutely nothing to do what the original poster posted. This thread might as well be shut down now. It's useless.

1 minute ago, oneputt18 said:

From the ABC News article I posted at the beginning of the thread

 

"For Americans who have already booked a flight or hotel or made another "travel-related transaction," they will be "grandfathered" in, according to the Treasury Department. "

Well tell that to Royal Caribbean that just announced that their cruise for June 5th and June 6th, will no longer be going to Cuba.

13 minutes ago, MarilynR26 said:

I'm supposed to be sailing to Cuba that day too. I have zero interest in going to Nassau or anywhere else...even the stop in Key West is a throwaway for me since I've been there tons of times already. 

 

I'm watching this closely to see what happens. Hopefully we are still able to go - there are conflicting stories all over the place 😞

If they swap Cuba for Nassau I will really be upset, because our itinerary already has Nassau on it. I would never have paid a prime price for a 5 day cruise that only goes to Nassau, because you can get those for cheap prices all day long. If they don't let me move my non-refundable deposit over to another Carnival cruise, then they can keep it, and I'll find another cruise line to book my next cruise vacation on.

7 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

That is exactly the situation we are in.  I am tolerating Nassau because it was the only itinerary that worked for the dates/ship that we wanted.  If the itinerary will be only the Bahamas, we will take the $198 loss on the deposit rather than waste that much time and money on a Bahamas cruise.  We paid a premium to go to Cuba, would never pay that much for just the Bahamas.  I used two Amex offers on this cruise (spend $500, get a $100 statement credit), so we wouldn’t really be out of pocket on the $198 deposit loss, but I would much prefer to have the full amount transferred to another cruise.  I have already been researching other cruises to substitute, so I don’t have to make a quick decision when the time comes.

I agree with you 100%. My thoughts exactly. I'll give up the deposit (since it was non-refundable), and go on another cruise, however, if Carnival doesn't allow me to use that deposit on another Carnival cruise, the cruise we switch it out for, won't be Carnival. Some people are saying "they can change the ports, and there's nothing you can do about it." Well, I understand that if it's the weather, and they're swapping Mexico for Grand Turk, or something like that, but our cruise is almost 1 year out, and has nothing to do with the weather. That would be like saying that if you book a Panama Canal cruise, but when you get on the ship, you find out that you're going to St. Thomas instead, then oh well, there is nothing you can do about it? That would be BS.

3 hours ago, oneputt18 said:

It does say paid travel is grandfathered in, but if the cruise is not full, will the cruise line still sail? 

Have to wait till it all shakes out. 

I have not seen in any news article anywhere, where it says anything about "grandfathered in". It goes into affect tomorrow (June 5th).... period. No cruise company is going to send out a ship half-full anyways. The ships to Cuba for next year, or even months from now, are probably not fully booked anyways, and I doubt that the cruise lines are going to send ships somewhere that are partially filled.

6 hours ago, Kingkonig said:

If I’m not mistaken, they change itinerary.  The cruise will be similar, but outside of “cancel for any reason” travel insurance, the only refund you’ll get is from Havana’s port fees

That would be so unfair, since Cuba cruises cost much more than a regular cruise to Key West and Nassau or Nassau and Mexico. We could have saved hundreds of dollars if we would have just picked another cruise that didn't go to Cuba. Wonder what people would think, if they booked a Panama Canal cruise, and then found out they were going to Cozumel and Honduras? This is the same situation.

6 hours ago, cruisekitty22 said:

That is to bad but I would like to see NCL ships got to Key West instead of Cuba.

If you paid extra to go to Cuba, you might not think so. Now, if they want to give me my money back, and offer me to book a cruise to Key West, I'm sure the rates would be much less than what I paid. And for the person that mentioned substituting Nassau.... our ship already had Nassau on the itinerary.

One news article stated that maybe they'll just replace Cuba with a day at Sea. 😮

I looked at my husband and said, "Seriously? We could possibly be going on a 5 day cruise just to go to Nassau for one day, and all the remainder of the days will be circling around in the Atlantic?" I would have never booked this cruise, and paid the extra money for a Cuba sailing, if it wasn't going to Cuba. I know it's not Carnival's fault, but I'm in hopes that they'll offer us to use the money we paid, to book a different Carnival cruise.

31 minutes ago, beacha said:

Sure hope this is true for your cruise.

Sorry, I believe you have read it wrong. Carnival isn't going to take half-full ships to Cuba, and that's what would happen, even if they continued to go, but wasn't allowed to book anyone else on the ship, due to the new travel rule.

The news is indicating that as of June 5th, no ships will be going into Cuba. Should be interesting to see how the cruise lines are going to handle this, since the majority of the people only paid the extra money to go on the cruises because they were suppose to be going to Cuba.

2 minutes ago, Cousin Eddie said:

I believe the poster was referring to a call from their PVP.

In this case those working with proactive PVPs were indeed special as they were able to get booked several hours before any emails were sent and before either the website or phone agents could book. I was disappointed by this, but harbor no ill will towards anyone able to take advantage. I too received my email... about twenty minutes after I had booked through the website shortly before midnight. Interestingly the price when I clicked through the link in the email was $20 per person higher than what I had already booked moments earlier.

It's going to be interesting to see how these prices might change between now and the time the ship sails. It's nice to be able to see the layout of the ship now though.

15 hours ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

I was given the same call, was told its hush hush right now only for special members.

This is a joke, right? I mean you're just kidding? Do you really feel that much more special than anyone else?

Everyone that signed up on the Carnival website to get an email when the ship was ready to book, should have received their email last night. I received mine, but decided to wait until the ship is actually up and running before I book. I seen what happened to the Celebrity Edge. Everyone wanted to be on that ship and paid high prices, and now it's coming back with not so good feedback. Mardi Gras ship is smaller than Oasis, and holds like 1,000 more people.  Hope everyone that is booked though, have a wonderful time.

Has the itinerary been leaked out yet? I'm curious as to if it's going to be 4 day, 5 day, or 7 day cruises, and something is telling me that it's going to Nassau, and I promised myself that I would not book a cruise that goes back to Nassau, after being there 8 times now. Is it going to alternate from a western Caribbean to an eastern Caribbean, like most 7 day cruises? Does anyone have a clue?

4 minutes ago, canadian-nurse said:

Thank you for your review!!! I have one question for you. Do you know which terminal the NS was docked in at Port Everglades? I am asking because we have a big lifted pick up truck that needs surface parking or at least 7’3” clearance in a parking garage. 

We parked a Midport Garage. NS, I believe, was at terminal 26. It's easy to get to. You just go straight, after you get through the security gate. It was really tight inside the garage. You can't get to the surface parking at the top (Level 6 or 7), unless you drive through the inside of the entire parking garage. We got there around noon, and had to park at the very top level. We could see our vehicle from our balcony.

We were driving a Terazza, which is long, but not tall, and it felt like we were going to hit the top. I don't remember what the clearance was.

Here's some  photos of the BB King's Blues Club.