wannagonow123

Last year the Ultra was way different. Instead of spinning a wheel for you big prize, you were assigned a time, and you went to a lounge for drinks, and chose an envelope out of a barrel. Instead of hanging around the casino for 2 hours waiting for your namw to be called. Very low key. Took about 20 minutes tops. Prizes really lower quality. Yes, there were the iPhone and iPad, but gone was the TV's, and the specialty watches. ( They did have the Apple watches though). Most of the prizes were free play. I will say, it is difficult to earn your "tier points" when you get large amounts of free play. 

Drawings for Ultra players were really reduced, and gone are the Snowball raffles. Prizes for the games have been reduced. 

You will get your Diamond gift, a certificate for a free steakhouse dinner for that cruise, and one for a future cruise, plus a letter with your other bennies.

I got an e-mail from Princess this morning that had new guidelines for when they re-open. (Of course subject to change). Did not make reference to ages, however no passengers with chronic diseases will be allowed to board. (diabetes/ COPD).  Refund to be given if disclosed before boarding. If you lie and don't disclose and are caught, you will be put off at next port to fend for yourself to get home.

I tend to agree with you about my July cruise but I wanted something good to look forward to. With all the Gloom & Doom going on, we all need some sort of hope in our lives. It's different for every individual. Since this whole has erupted, I have had 3 cruises cancelled. (different cruise line). We drive for all sailings, hotels do not need to paid in advance, and we only pay port fees & taxes. Minimal cost for a little bit of hope. When/if cruises resume, I highly doubt cruises will resemble anything we are used to. I do not believe they will cram passengers in every nook & cranny like before. They may not even operate the Oasis class ships due to operation costs and staff required. I know there is a lot of dissention from crew members that are still  stuck on ships, and they may consider other options when they finally get off.

The whole thing is that everyone needs hope nowadays. I hope it sails, but am I gonna cry if it doesn't? Nope.

It did come from Club Royal. They have been sending them out all year. You pay port fees & taxes when you book. The restrictions are no holiday or peak sailings, which right now I don't think will be a problem. You also have the option to upgrade for a real reasonable price. Mike offer was for an ocean view on the Harmony. Booked it for July. The very next week my husband got the offer for an interior. I called and we were able to book the next week in the same room we already had for $200 extra. Now it's just a wait game as to if the ships sails, and what the CDC does with the "Fit to Sail" regulations. We are also booked for another one out on New Orleans in September. 

It is a legit offer. You do need to call the number on the card for booking, but they are really helpful. 

I am a Type 1 diabetic, and my husband, who is over 70, has COPD. These conditions will never go away, so FCC is usless to us. We have no children, so I could not "gift" my FCC to family members. I understand the reasoning of the policy (for now) but I cannot understand keeping my money. 

I know with CCL (Holland, Princess and Carnival), their cruise contract states that during embarkation, if a passenger fails to bring required documentation, not only will they be denied boarding, but no refund/FCC is due to customer. This includes changes made after final payment is made. Right now I have 3 RCI cruises booked for July and September, one on Holland in November, and Carnival in January. Every one was "special prices" so the cruise fare was paid in full. So if the "Fit to travel" rule stays in effect, basically I will lose everything except port fees and taxes. My only hope is that all these cruises get canceled. I am gonna develop ulcers worrying that I am going to lose all this money. I will give up cruising if I have to. (don't want to, but will). Just give me my money back.

FYI.. once you ask for a sharps container, it is noted on your record. When we cruised last January, with RCI, I did not request a sharps container, figuring I could just ask my cabin steward. Surprise, there was one in the room, and my steward said their records showed I needed one.

I agree with everyone about not so great casino offers from Carnival. I spend tons of money in the casino every time we cruise, and casino offers are not great to get me back. Many times my in laws travel with us. They do not gamble. Their room rate generally is comparable to our casino rate. They just don't get the free play. I will say I like Carnival. We are Diamond, so obvious we like the product. But with that being said, we also shop around and have gotten fabulous comeback rates and offers. Holland  America offered us a 14 day Caribbean in November for $500pp (interior) plus $125 freeplay pp. This was offered pre-Covid 19.

Royal Caribbean offers complimentary cruises for casino players. (we paid for our first 9 day cruise with them. We now have 76 cruise days, and have not paid for a stateroom since the first cruise). With hopes they will be sailing this summer, we have 3 complimentary cruises booked with them, all offered by casino royal. Carnival's offers come no where close. Yes, we still cruise with Carnival, but less and less. And FYI, we have never gambled more than $1,000 out of pocket for a 7 day cruise. Shop around and see what other cruiselines are offering. 

I do  not like them either, but they prevent people throwing paper towels in the toilets. Nothing worse than backed up toilets on a cruise ship.

Someone had the nerve to move my stuff from the lounge chair when I was getting a quick breakfast after checking for a spa appointment and dropping a few dollars at the casino.

I really don't believe the restrictions will stay. They will lose too many customers. I'm sorry, but if any cruise line or business restricts my patronage because I have type 1 diabetes, my dollars will go elsewhere.None of the other cruise lines implemented the stupid guidelines. 

I request a sharps container be available when I make my reservation, and get a confirmation from special needs department. That's how they know I have diabetes. 

A few months ago the casino had a special, were you could book select cruises, and get $500 per cabin OBC. The huge OBC was the reason we booked. Now of course, crap is not going down the toilet properly, and there is a distinct chance we will not be able to go on the cruise. (the good old pre-existing diabetes). Cruise is not until May 2020. At this point, I am going to wait for them to deny me boarding, either with my diabetes, or the cruise gets cancelled. 

Let's pretend that will all blow over and cruising will return to normal in the future. I know they are giving FCC or refunds. Anyone want to speculate if I rebook for a later date, if I can get the $500 OBC from the casino on a future sailing? Yes, I tried to call the casino, and the lines are down.

So how old is elderly?????? I cruise at the end of this month. I intend on bring 30 days of medications and plenty to read. Unless they cancel the cruise, or deny me boarding because I am old, I will be there. 

Go to your booking. Under the "Before you go" to do list, if there is an upgrade available, it will be there. I keep declining the upgrades, as the only thing we do is sleep and shower in our room, but I think people are cancelling plans due to Caronavirus. We were just offered an upgrade from an interior to an Oceanview for $11pp. 7 day cruise. Still thinking. 

What exactly can you use OBC for? I assume gratuities, drinks, Spa. Can it be used for steakhouse and/or specialty coffees? How about fun shop purchases such as liquor & smokes?

We were given a substantial amount for a 5 day cruise and want to make sure it all gets used.

Sorry. I really don't want to scan 171 pages for an answer to my question. If your bid is accepted, and they don't let you know until 6pm the day before sailing, how can you present an accurate boarding pass/ luggage tags? I will not have access to a printer. Scratch out the cabin # and tell the porter to give different tags?

We did it independently and had a blast. We are not spring chickens either, Yes, we came in last, but not by much. You get lunch at the end and everyone gets a participation prize. Make sure you have lots of fluids because it does get hot. Taxis were really easy. We did have to remind them about departure time.

On Carnival & Princess, we generally charge our onboard account to play the slots. I called HAL today to find out if there was a service fee for doing this (no charge for slot play on either lines we usually use for slots). I was told by the HAL rep that you can no longer charge funds, that you need to use cash, or cash funded accounts. 

Does anyone that plays in the casino know if this is now the case, or did I get a rep that did not know what he was talking about? Really don't want to carry that much cash.

Thanks. One other question. Do they still have Freestyle soda machines? That was actually my main question!

It has been a really long time since I have cruised on the Rhapsody, and have a few questions. Just a few simple ones.

I see there is not a Johnny Rockets on board. Besides Izumi, are there any specialty restaurants? Is the Park Café still open, or have they closed it?

There used to be a smoking area outside the casino (I think) on deck 5. Is that still open? 

Thank you in advance.

Departure time is 6:00pm for this sailing. My boarding pass says 5pm for final embarkation. We plan on getting on something like 3pm or so. 

This will be my 32nd cruise with Carnival. More with other lines. Yes, I can get on and my room is ready, so we don't have to haul my things around. When we board early, we eat, then head to the casino to smoke until muster. We vacate the tables in the Lido as soon as we are done so other people can eat. Not interested in hanging by the pool. Not interested in casino specials. We arrange for off ship massages for a way cheaper price. I don't drink , so Cheers sales pitch not for me. Art is also not my thing. Once muster is over, I am on vacation. 

We will not be arriving into Port Canaveral until the afternoon. We are driving, so we can come whenever. 

We are diamond, and we have decided to get on our Nov 2nd cruise late. No sense getting on and sit around for hours doing nothing. My question is, how will they scan our luggage. Final boarding is 5pm. we plan on boarding around 4pm. I know there will be no porter service, so we will just wheel our luggage on, but they will be full sized luggage. 

Most of the larger, newer ships give "Free play" or whatever you want to call it, and your smaller ships give cash. We have been both last year, and the size of the ship seemed to be the deciding factor. 

When playing slots, it really does not matter how much money you play, but how long your butt is in the seat playing. I have put $200 in a machine, played $.60- $2.00 per spin, and played the entire week on that $200, and got my 1,500 for free drinks within 2 days. Spend a lot of time in casino, and get $500 in Free play/cash every time. My husband puts the same $200 in, then more, and he gets $100 because he wont continue playing. 

One thing we do is use the free play first because you can't cash it in. Requires a little math, but say you sit at a dollar machine and you are going to play $1 a spin. Put $50 in, and spin 50 times. after the 50 spins, cash out. Everything you won will go into your "cash fund" that you can cash out and spend elsewhere. Pretend after 25 spins, you have only hit for $15 and you want to switch machines. $25 will go back to Free play, and the $15 you won will go to your cash amount. We do it this way so we can see exactly how much winnings we get off Carnivals money. 

One last note, when playing with Free play, you do not collect points towards free drinks, or if you are on a premier or ultra, you will not earn points towards drawings or slot tournaments. (You now need at least 100 points to be eligible for drawings).

It has been a few years since we have traveled with Royal Caribbean, and I just don't remember a few things. I'm sure I could spend hours looking through posts for answers, but I figure what the hey, I'm sure someone will respond and help. 

1- Every other time I have cruised with RC, I have had a "Boarding Pass" with both travelers name, and a "Sail and Sign" sheet that were individual. I got a notification today that my cruise documents were available, so I went in and printed  everything, and saw there was no boarding pass. Just the 2 sail & sign documents. I have looked everywhere. Has boarding passes been eliminated? If not, can someone maybe direct me in the correct direction?

2- We are at "nobody" status, so what is a good time to get to the port? We will be leaving on 7/27 out of Galveston.

3- Can we bring can sodas aboard as carry on?

I think that's it, and thanks in advance. 

They have Medicoolers for insulin. You can get one at Guest services. First come first served. They will charge your Sail & sign card $7 per day, but they reverse the charge when you return. Really compact. You could also get a collapsible igloo lunch pail and some zip lock baggies. You cabin steward will get you ice daily, and you just pour the water in the sink. I mostly use this option.