rufflesmom

To get back on the ship all you need is the sign and sail card.

To get back on the pier you usually need a photo ID. Local port authorities determine what you need to get on the pier, not Carnival. Every cruise I have been on they have repeatedly said to take a photo ID off the ship with you. As DoctorDi said, it can be difficult without proper ID.

We just returned home from Miracle on Saturday. She is still my favorite ship. I love her size and Serenity has a pool. (Sadly, there was a group we called "The Drunkards" who ruined the Serenity of the place by doing cannonballs and belly flops in the pool. It didn't ruin our cruise at all, though.)

 

We went to Cabo for two days and Puerto Vallarta for one. Let me know if you have any questions.

We willl be on the Miracle in September. I will miss the Guys Burgers but I will survive. And the Dive In Theater, I really enjoyed watching movies in the evening. We usually leave out of Galveston but DH wanted to try something different this time. At least I will be on a cruise instead of at work. DH will miss the Blue Iguana - he liked getting breakfast burritos on our cruise last year. Anything we shouldn't miss on the ship? We have excursions booked already.

We tried to make a payment Friday night and the website would not us make a partial payment either. I think the website was not working right, because that is how we always pay for our cruise. We book online ourselves and make regular payments so we do know what we are doing.

I haven't been to the Build A Bear in a few years but it was in the childrens area, held more than one day. Just look in the FunTimes. And you could buy just an outfit at that time.

Check with the hotel in Ft Lauderdale. We stayed in one that had shuttle service to the port of Miami. It wasn't too expensive $10-15 each. We bought Carnival transfers to get back to the airport.

Yes they do want you out of the cabins. They ALL need to be cleaned for the people coming onboard for the next week. And they need to get breakfast cleaned up so they can start preparing for lunch. I have left out of Galveston many timesAnd it isn't Carnival's fault people don't listen to the announcements. The fault lies with the cruisers, all thinking they have to get off first. I actually think they have made improvements in Galveston. Last year when we got off the Breeze they have some of the elevators blocked off and some hallways. It seemed really organized as well. And just an FYI, traveling with a passport reduces the amount of time it takes to get thru customs once you are in the terminal.

I bought cruise cash for my cruise last year with my sisters and niece. It was on my account from day 1 as a credit. As long as the credit was on the account no harm done.

I was curious about that myself last year when I went with my sisters and niece. When I ordered only 1 on the website it automatically added the other 3. I could not order Cheers for only 1 person. Ended up not buying it at all.

Last year in October I put $200 cash on account at check-in. I set up the account at online check-in with a credit card. When I put the cash on at check-in at the ship, the lady inadvertently changed my account to cash. Check-in is hectic and they do feel somewhat rushed, trying to get 3,000 + people checked in. Mistakes happen. I found out when the $200 was used up they cut off my charging privileges. I know people will say "oh they don't do that" but they did it to me. I had to go to guest services to find out why I couldn't buy something at one of the shops after my card was declined. When I found out what happened I then had to go to the cabin and get my credit card and go back to guest services. I was not a happy camper. If you have set up your onboard account with a credit card, just wait until the line is short at guest services to have the gift card applied. I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER again put cash on at check-in.

Our last cruise was in 2015. We bought cruise cash ahead of time. When we got to our cabin there were notices that our cruise cash had been credited to our sign and sail card. And it was, no problem at all.

All she has to do is apply the gift cards to her onboard account. Then she can use them just as though she had put cash on the account.

You don't have to have priority boarding and it does show up way earlier than 3-4 months out. We booked today for September and it was already there. We are both gold and we did not buy FTTF. For my last cruise (Sept 2016 out of Galveston) I picked my check-in time very early in the year. And yes, they were enforcing the times too. We saw people turned away. We had to show our boarding pass with our check-in time before we could get into the terminal.

I have followed some of the advice to get past the passport issue, but I still see no indication of a check-in time selection, so it seems either it isn't "open" yet, or it isn't offered until after you've paid in full.

When you go to the online check-in there will be a box on the left side of the screen. That is where you pick a check-in time. And you don't have to actually to the check-in process to pick a time. We booked this morning and I did this just a few minutes ago.

We just booked today and got a 50% deposit. We did get a past guest rate but I have been getting e-mails from Carnival pretty much every other day with sales, most of which are either $50 deposits or 50% deposits. It might be because of past guest though.

I was on the Breeze in Oct last year. I initially set up my account with a credit card. At check in I put some cash on it. They inadvertently changed my account to cash. When the cash ran out my charging privileges were suspended. My S & S card would not work anywhere. I did not get any notice that I needed to put more money on it. I didn't even know it had been changed. I went to guest services to find out why my card wouldn't work. That is when I found out it had been changed to cash.

My experience with putting money on account at check-in was not good. I set up at online check-in with a credit card. As my traveling companions all put money on their account at check-in at the port, I did so too. Apparently no problem. With that cash, plus cruise cash I had purchased and onboard check-in thought I was set. However, when that money was used up my card was deactivated. I had to go to guest services, only to find out that I had a balance that had to be taken care of before I could use my card. I was told they had no record of a credit card. My account was changed to a cash account when I added money at check-in. Never again, I will always do that at guest services now. I think maybe there is so much going on during check-in at the port there are too many distractions.

You won't be paying $50 per day, it would be $100 per day, if you purchase prior to cruise. I think you would have a hard time finding wines for $50 per glass. That is not to say that Cheers wouldn't be a good deal.

We like to get to the port early rather than later. I don't mind waiting in lines. for me it is part of the cruise experience. We usually leave out of Galveston cause I have sisters in the area. We are there a few days before cruise to visit. This cruise we will be staying with sister who lives 30 minutes from the port. We got early check-in time because every week she has had to watch the ships leave without her. She is anxious to get on. (She works on Galveston island and sees the ships in port all the time). And she is my ride to the ship so I go when she does.

What I saw said specifically that all people in the cabin had to check in together. I even printed it out because each person has a separate boarding pass and potentially different times. We have 4 ladies from 3 different states and we want to check in together. We will arrive at the port together. It puzzled me because I always thought you could check in at different times.

I just checked online. They have changed the wording. It now says just that you are selecting the time for everyone in the cabin.

Does that still apply to the ports with staggered check-in? I am sailing out of Galveston next month. When I did online check-in and selected the check-in time it specifically stated that ALL people in the cabin had to check in at the same time.

I have seen it on the Lido deck every cruise. Don't k ow about the dining room though.

We have purchased cruise cash one time, on our last cruise. Only $200 cause our gratuities were prepaid. We also booked our excursions ahead of time. We knew we would spend that amount and that left very little to go on the credit card. I am booked on a cruise with sister's for Oct. I bought $100 in cruise cash for this cruise. Since there 4 women going from 3 different states we won't book excursions until we get on the ship. For us it is a budgeting issue. It works for us, might not work for others.

When it is just me and DH there are plenty of hangars. When I went with my sisters there were 3 women in a cabin. We brought a dozen extra hangars. In October I cruise with my sisters and niece, 4 women in a cabin. We are bringing extra hangars cause there is just no way there will be enough. We just buy the cheap plastic ones and they work fine.

We always buy travel insurance. And not just for a possible cancellation. Quite a few years ago my sister was on a cruise with about 10 other couples. One of the women had to get off the ship in Nassau, Bahamas, to go to the hospital. She was having a gallbladder attack and had to have emergency surgery. The hospital would not touch her until the bill was paid in full. You are totally at their mercy. All the couples were at the hospital giving credit card info to the hospital until they were able to get it paid. THAT is why we always buy travel insurance. I just turned 60 and DH just turned 61. Any health issue is possible and with insurance at least we can be reimbursed. Insurance might not help at the immediate moment but knowing reimbursement will be coming sure takes a lot of worries away.

I asked one time about security and was told they are TSA employees, just like at the airports. I asked one of the security people that question.