Vitality08

Hello!

It's been a while since I cruised.

Is it still necessary to call for any casino offers?

I have $50 in "fun chips" for my upcoming cruise because I booked a casino rate. any chance I can get more if I call?

Sorry if this is a crazy question but are these two one in the same?

I'm looking at a cruise on Carnival Paradise which leaves from Tampa. I'm pricing flights and there's a great price into MCO. I found a shuttle for $20 from MCO to Port Canaveral, but I can't find anything to confirm that these locations are the same.

Please help.

Thanks.

As long as you are booking a refundable fare they should still honour the terms of your open booking.

 

If you are now trying to book a non refundable deposit (lower fare) then you will be required to pay the full deposit.

Thanks. I ended up on the phone for an hour and half with the agent. he didn't know anything. he kept putting me on hold to talk to his supervisor. he never even told me I could use it for a refundable option. He probably didn't know. He didn't know much of anything. I was going to do a back to back but only did one cruise because of the fiasco with the open booking. I'm so disappointed with the service I received. I may call the C&A number tomorrow.

ok, can you tell me how it works??? the guy I have on the phone doesn't seem knowledgeable about anything.

I'm on hold right now. he said he's talking to someone else to get my booking "straight".

Has the policy changed for open bookings?

I wanted to use it as my deposit but the agent is saying I still have to make full deposit.

It's been over 2 years since I booked a RC cruise. Has this policy changed in the last two years?

Thanks.

Got off Allure this past Sunday. They cut prime rib out of the menu and now it's a 1/4 inch thick tough and chewy steak instead.

 

They did serve lobster ? Probably because they don't have a dedicated seafood restaurant yet !

 

The last cruise we went on with Royal was in 2014 on Enchantment and that was a horror story. Never even used the future cruise certificate that was good till 2015. Allure is a nice ship, but Royal is pushing all the specialty restaurants now instead.

 

This may have been my last cruise with Royal.

I had "prime rib" on the Anthem last week. If that's what you missed on your cruise, you weren't missing anything.

In case anyone else was wondering, it's a week. I called and they processed the transfer over the phone but said don't always count on an exception being made.

I leave October 20 on the Anthem of the Seas. My CC statement just closed yesterday and I now have enough points for $50 more in OBC.

Do you think they can get it processed by Thursday to have the OBC show up?

Does anyone know how many days prior is the cut off?

Thanks

Yes, that is how it is done. "50% off what you paid for your current cruise as a credit toward a future cruise." This does commonly trip people up.

So if you got an extremely great deal on your current cruise, the future discount can be close to non-existent? That would suck.

I'm so upset with myself. I've been meaning to prepay my lower gratuities before the deadline but completely forgot. I remembered this morning only to find out that last night at midnight was the deadline for the lower gratuities.

This was the second increase in gratuities since I booked and I missed both.

What makes me even more mad at myself if that I discovered today that I didn't even have to actually pay for the gratuities, I just had to add it to the booking.

Does he plan on asking for leave without pay? Does he think that's an option?

Many employers understand that people had lives prior to accepting a job and are sometimes willing to work with new employees. He should mention it when he accepts the position.

My cabin mate and I are both gold. Should we both have a bottle of water waiting in the room?

The reason I ask is because on a recent cruise there was only one bottle of water in the cabin. I thought that was because I was gold and my mother was red. After arriving home I realized that reds should get a bottle of water also.

So now I'm not sure if it was an oversight that we didn't each get a water or if it's only one per room regardless of the VIFP level of the occupants.

Thanks.

On my Glory cruise last month Let It Ride and 3 Card Poker had a $5 minimum bet. On blackjack the minimum was $6.

This was also true last month on the Ecstasy.

I've got a couple of questions about setting up a sail and sign account with Carnival:

 

1. If I want to setup my account with cash instead of a credit card, can I deposit the cash at embarkation? I read somewhere that you have to go to guest services to setup an account, but I don't want to create a delay for my fellow cruisers by having to stand in a long line once on-board.

 

So, can you just open your account with cash as part of the check in process?

 

2. I also thought about using a prepaid visa to open my account. (I don't want to use my normal credit or debit card because I heard it can take a long time for the holds they put on your card to drop off).

 

Anyway, it seems based on the Carnival website that prepaid cards are ok. However, others have said that these types of cards are sometimes not accepted. I have heard that your name must appear on the card, and this isn't always the case with a prepaid card. Also, I heard that prepaid cards may not allow holds, and if that is the case they will not work for setting up a sail and sign account.

 

Does anyone have any experience with using a prepaid visa for their sail and sign account? If so, where did you buy your card that worked?

 

Thanks!

Some of the ports have kiosks in the check in area where you can load cash. I'm not sure if the clerks can take cash or not. Either way, you will be allowed to make purchases up to a certain amount before you are required to deposit cash. So you can go to guest services at your leisure. Also, there are kiosks around the ship where you can also add cash to your account and there are rarely lines at those machines.

I don't have any experience with the prepaid debit cards.

I've had a few 1A rooms all the way forward. The good news is that you won't need to set the telephone wake up alarm as the sound of the thrusters will do that just as well.

If you are prone to sea sickness, being so far forward can be a problem. If you like the rocking, then it's a plus.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

I've had 1A's before. One cruise, yes I was awaken because of the thrusters or whatever it was. This room is a 4A. I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll need to get up early on port days anyway so I'm okay with that.

My room was assigned today, 26 days out from sailing.

We booked an interior guarantee and saved about $70 each. I don't really have a preference on room location but my friend was hoping for deck six mid. We got Riviera allllllll they way to the front. It's room 1203 on the Victory.

Does anyone have any experience with this room or one near it? I've sailed forward before but not this far forward.

This was my second time doing a guarantee. First time was a balcony guarantee and I was happy with assignment. This time I'm neutral. I'm more mad at myself because when we first looked at this cruise it was $199 pp and we got to pick our own room. By the time we booked it was $309 pp. When the sail popped up we switched to guarantee and paid $229 pp. We should have just booked when we first thought about it.

Oh well. Still happy to be cruising in 26 days.

On my Ecstasy cruise last week they were selling poncho's for $3. It was raining in Cozumel and they were selling them right where you leave the ship.

A friend and I are booked on the Victory in October. We originally booked on deck 6 but there was a 12 hour sale for guarantee cabins. The savings was so much we decided it was worth giving up our cabin. I actually don't care where we are but my friend doesn't want deck 1 or 2.

I'm checking what's available and there's only 1 room on deck 1 and 2 on deck two. So to me it looks like we have a good chance of being assigned something higher.

Is that a good assumption or is it just so random that there's no way to tell?

my question is this: am I able to use those visa/mastercard giftcards to put on my sign and sail account? my hubby gets them instead of cash for part of his bonus from work and we have over 1000 dollars in them right now

I think I've read no but I can't say for sure where. You may be able to use the gift cards to purchase cruise cash or a carnival gift card and that would be a way to use the gift cards for your on board account in a round about way.

According to Alison Green who writes for US News and World Report in the Money section. No federal or state law requires you to be given vacation time and your employer can revoke its approval at any time since no law prevents your employer from changing their minds at any point even if nonrefundable deposits have been made.

 

That was written in July 2013 so I would still check with the state employment agency in your state to be sure and talk with both your new boss and HR if it is a corporation. Because what is legal and what is right is often two different things.

There may not be state law but there is generally company policy that covers this. OP said boss, not owner, so I imagine there's somewhere to turn for the company policy.

I've seen the equipment for sale on the Valor. The mask and mouth part. It was at the excursion desk. I remember noticing it because I purchased and brought my own so I was a bit upset when I saw I could have purchased it on the ship.

Just to update since I was the OP on this thread...I took my DD214 to the pier but was never asked for it.

I still haven't gotten the designation card from the DMV but one day I will make my way there.

Is it true that if you don't give a nice sized tip to the folks handling your luggage when you arrive at the cruise terminal, that your bags will either not make it on the ship or that they will take longer than usual to get to your cabins?

 

I've heard that you have to give GOOD tips... I had to save for a very long time to be able to afford this trip, do I now have to use a good chunk of our spending money to ensure that we actual have our luggage on the cruise?

I think it's true. I didn't tip the bag handler in Baltimore and it was after 10 that night when I got my bag. The RC tag had been ripped off. My own personal tag remained so they were able to finally match my cabin with the bag by my name.

When I was dropped off in Baltimore, I was unfamiliar with the set up. I wasn't prepared with a tip in my hand because I didn't realize our vehicle would be met by a porter. I was in rush to get out and get out of the way that I didn't tip the handler. After going to the line, I turned back and looked, and my bag still hadn't been loaded into the cart. Even at that moment, I thought it was odd that it took so long for my bag to be loaded but I didn't think anything of it until my bag happened to have a missing tag.

The only noise or vibration I noticed when I was forward in a porthole was when docking and leaving. I guess it was the anchor going down and up.

If there was other noise I didn't notice because I'm barely in my room when I cruise.

Would you guys purchase either if your room has not been assigned?

I know it's possible not to get a room assignment until check in so I'm wondering if I should skip ordering anything unless I get my room assigned before the day we embark.

Is their sophisticated enough to match my order with the room once its assigned or will my order and luggage get lost in the shuffle.