me-shel

Is it ok to book a room for two teens if both are under age 25?

Absolutely, it's what we've always done with our girls. You can't do it online, but you can call customer service and they'll book them for you. How close their room has to be depends on their ages. From Carnival:

Where minor guests can be booked in relation to relative or guardian:

• Guests 12 and younger
  If the relative or guardian insists on booking separate staterooms, minors must either be directly across the hall or next door. Guests 12 and under may not be assigned to a balcony stateroom without a relative or guardian (25 years of age or older).
  
• Guests 13 - 17 years of age
  Can be booked up to 3 staterooms away from a relative or guardian (25 years of age or older).
  
• Guests 18 – 20 years of age
  Do not have any restrictions and may book whatever location they prefer.
  

Their own marketing (below)? Ugly tracksuits and dancing in dad shorts. The whole 'fun for all' thing creates a non-judgemental appeal in my opinion... but anyone who is any kind of 'snob' much less a 'cruise snob' doesn't want something that's accessible, they want something that screams exclusivity.

I also don't believe it has to do with how much money someone has - it has to do with worrying too much about how much money other people think you have. You can have all the money in the world and not have one care about being 'judged' for being on a line/ship that you enjoy. Or spend way more than you afford to try to make an impression that no one else really cares about.

You'll be guaranteed 4 seat belts with an UberX - but not necessarily "ample" room. UberXL is a good suggestion if you don't want things to be tight, and you can do a fare estimate before you make the request.

We'd planned to call an Uber but ended up grabbing a taxi and it was about $34 from LGB to the port.

We've been on Freedom, and we've been on Fascination's sister ships so we feel like we know what we're "losing" as far as the ship is concerned. We had a unanimous family vote for the Fascination this time around. And sailing out of San Juan, we're getting a 6th island on our itinerary!

Sting rays in GC were one of my all time favorites, too!! We don't sail until October, but some of the things people in our group are planning include: snorkeling with turtles in Barbados, full day catamaran to Nevis, zip lining, scuba diving, snorkeling, seeing the Pitons. My youngest found helicopter rides in St. Maarten that she's pushing for.

FWIW: We sailed out of Galveston on the Conquest and I wouldn't sail from there again unless everything else about the cruise was absolutely perfect. For us, flying in we were still too far from the port and trying to manage ground transporation was too much of a hassle. I don't even include Galveston in my searches any more when there are so many ports so much closer to big airports.

We had FTTF so I can't tell you what time the cabins opened across the board, but I can tell you that even with FTTF one of our suitcases didn't arrive until after dinner (we had 3 out of 4 quickly). If my suitcase had something I knew I wanted early, I'd keep it with me. Or maybe pack anyone's 'urgent' stuff in one suitcase and check the rest.

Have fun!

I've tried to ask him questions about what he'd prefer in a theoretical fashion, since I'd like this to be a surprise, but I haven't been too successful.

My tip: Don't ever tell him about the itinerary you DIDN'T choose - he'll never know what he's missing!

Our next cruise is ALL about the ports. We narrowed down some options and took a big family vote:

• Do you want the fancier ship with port option 1?
  
• Or do you want the older, smaller ship with port option 2?
  

It was a unanimous vote for the ports.

If I'm in a lounge having a beer and listening to music, I can't tell the difference between a Fantasy Class ship and a larger one.

 

Having dinner in the MDR, I can't tell the difference between a Fantasy Class ship and a larger one.

 

If I grab something from the buffet and sit at an outside table at the back od Lido and have lunch while looking at the wake, I can't tell the difference between a Fantasy Class ship and a larger one.

 

If I'm losing at trivia, losing money in the casino or watching the Marriage show in the main theatre, I can't tell the difference between a Fantasy Class ship and a larger one.

 

The bottom line is to me, the difference is mainly some amenities a larger ship may have that the smaller or older one doesn't, but there is still plenty there to keep me from missing them.

 

But that's just me.

That's just me, too! :)

Something like this?

https://www.carnival.com/BookingEngine/FareViewer/

Can someone help me understand this? I use fare viewer for our cruise, and it gives our category as being $300 less than what we paid ($1717 vs. $2050), but if I look it up as a new booking, it's $30 more than what we paid.

 

Is this a drop?

The fare viewer shows only the base rate WITHOUT the taxes and port fees. If you look at your booking, make sure you're looking at just the line that says "Cruise Rate" and not the "Total Charges" that you paid.

I got really excited one day when I forgot that little twist - thought I was getting a great fare drop until I remembered to ignore the taxes & port fees. It was fun for a minute...

Hi there

 

Yes, it easy and convenient and will usually be waiting for you upon arrival. You might have to ask for a bucket of ice. If your cabin steward is still very busy and you don't want to wait, you can go to any bar and ask for a bucket of ice.

 

hope this helps

have a great cruise

We had beverages waiting in our room when we boarded and called our steward for ice. He was, indeed, still very busy and asked us to call room service just that once. Room service delivered us a bucket of ice pretty quickly. Good to know we can get it from the bar if we're in a hurry, too.

Day 3: Day at Sea Continued

 

So here are the correct Fun Times for the day:

Thank you for taking the time to include these! I'm not normally one that wants/needs to dissect the daily schedule before we arrive (trying to force myself to be more spontaneous), but these have really helped me answer some question for the newbies traveling with us.

On with the adventure....

I didn't find them, are they sold out already?

I still see them, both $100 and $500.

Depending on where you are, the cost will be more than the $105 stated above. I have no idea if the actual passport offices charge a fee on top of that, but we have no office near us, so must use our circuit court clerk's office. Both parents must appear, with the child, and they added on a $25-35 processing fee for each passport.

Good point - the $105 was based on the standard $80 charge from the State Department, plus $25 execution fee paid to the facility where we would get them. Expedited processing and/or delivery would cost more. Photos could be an extra charge as well.

Wow, thank you!! I'd just checked earlier this morning and they weren't there. Who knows when I would've gone back to check again... Going to make my purchase right now. :)

Passports for kids are good for 5 years, and a regular book should total $105 each.

Will they be doing additional international travel in the next 5 years?

In case of extreme emergency, flying them home from one of your ports would be a problem. Are you comfortable with that (small) risk?

Is the $210 going to be a significant financial burden on you?

Personally I'd get passports just for peace of mind, but given that they won't be necessary for this trip those would be my considerations.

I'm loving your review, even if we have 10+ months before we're there ourselves. Can't wait to see what's coming next.

Let me know if you need some hot sauce....

As Northwesterners, they're our preferred airline. Woudn't hesitate to book with them - especially if they have the best price.

We'll be in almost to the same ports - swap out Dominica for St. Kitts - and I've been looking for the same thing. I'm the only diver, and hope not to be completely separated from my family. The closest match I've been seeing is the shore dive from Coki in St. Thomas, where they could hang out at the beach and snorkel. See here.

We've tried the combo with me diving and my husband snorkeling and would agree it ends up being a compromised experience for both of us.

I've been certified for 12 years and have yet to dive in the Caribbean so I'll ditch them if I have to... I'm not missing out this time! But if we can find an arrangement that keeps us (almost) together that'd be great.

My 25th day was the very LAST day of our last cruise, and I got my lovely Gold card when we checked in. Enjoy! :)

True, that is the easiest, but OP mentioned that they were trying to be budget-friendly. IMO, the Fun Shops sodas are expensive.

Holy smokes - I hadn't priced them out before! $10 for a six pack? In the 'grand scheme of things' I get this is a small price in the overall vacation budget, but I think I'd really need the convenience to be swayed. Might as well get Bottomless Bubbles at that point.

Can the cases be in one carry-on or does each person in a group have to carry a case separately? My husband and I plan to use one carry-on next cruise.

We've taken ours all together in one bag since we were walking together. Nobody cared.

We haven't sailed her, but our group has an aft on the Fascination (same class) so you got me curious. It looks like it's just empty/unused deck space that wraps around to the side balconies. Upper would be the lower level of the aft balconies.

On our last cruise we were:

All booked in a single cabin (FTTF is priced per cabin)

Flying in same-day and getting to port very early

Using a tender at port

Flying home early

** It was definitely worth it. Additionally used dedicated FTTF Guest Services phone number after continually getting a busy signal on the regular GS line.

On our next cruise we will:

Be booked in 4 separate cabins

Fly in at least a day early

Have no tender ports

Likely fly out later in the day

** It's not worth it for me on this one, we won't be purchasing this time.

We'd do Southern again any day (7 & 8) - not to mention it's an extra day. Flights may not be a consideration for you, but for us they are and FLL is nice and close to the port. Looking at this list, I can see why you're conflicted. I'd be happy to be booked on any one of them.

And can I just say: I am SO HAPPY to see that I'm not the only one that builds lists like this to compare!! Spreadsheet soul mate... ;)

We're also helping some newbies and it was important to be clear about beverage allocations: 1 bottle of wine pp, 12 cans/cartons of non-alcoholic drinks pp, and that they must all be carry on - not checked luggage. Our friends didn't know any of this.

We really liked the HUB app as a modern version of highlighting activites in the Fun Times - download it before you go. Without paying for internet or messaging, you can see all the activities for the day and *star* ones that interest you. The ones you've selected will pop up reminders on your phone that the activity/show is starting soon. I'm really bad about forgetting all the great plans I made for the day until it's too late, so this really helped.

This was an absolute family favorite:

http://supcuracao.com/cat/guided_tours/page.php?page_id=2

Downwind, first time on a SUP for all of us.