Vitality08

Almost forgot that the players club also sent cookies to my cabin for me and an invitation to the blackjack tournement. I was hoping to get a free cruise offer but no such luck.

 

I know some people get gifts during their next cruise based on casino play but does anyone know how soon you have to cruise to get them? I don't have a carnival cruise booked right now and unless I get a great last minute deal it probably won't be until February 2016 before I cruise with them again.

I'm sure there are some guidelines on who gets a drink card but I got on on my last cruise and I only bet the minimum or slightly above if I got on a winning streat. I did however spend a lot of time in the casino.

 

And many times, I didn't provide my card to get rated but I was very social with the dealers and the pit bosses which I think had something to do with it also.

I decided to just book with carnival since it's just me. Sounds like with 2 or more a taxi is a better deal.

 

 

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So excited that today is finally here! Woke up at 4 but that's partly because that's the time I wake up for work. Hope to break that habit this week.

 

 

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I'm 99% sure I'm going to book this cruise while sailing the Freedom this week. I'm going to postpone my Adventure of the Seas cruise. I don't want to cancel because I booked during a WOW sale and I don't want to lose my OBC. There's another thread going on about the 4k's on the Pride and that what i'm hoping to get. 15 days will be my longest cruise ever. I have I admit, I am a bit nervous about 3 sea days in a row. .

 

What do you do to fill the time?

 

 

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I booked it yesterday...seems to be booking quickly. I booked a 4K and none of my top 6 choices were available

 

 

What's the deposit amount?

Unfortunately the reduced deposit promo ended yesterday and was only valid for 2014 sailings.

 

The advantage of booking oboard is receiving $200 in OBC and you also get 2 Friends and Family vouchers for your friends/family who are booking this same cruise.

 

 

What would my deposit be on a cruise this long? $500?

This is definitely an interesting itinerary. I'm currently book on Adventure of the Seas for Feb 2015 but I may cancel that cruise and book this one. Guess I need to decide quick, because I sail out on the Carnival Freedom tomorrow so I could book on board and get the benefit of the reduced deposit (I think) and OBC. Hmmm, decisions decisions.

[quote name='boatclub1']I would never book a cruise or land vacation without insurance !! My friend just went to a wedding in a Bahamas, landed, went to dinner and got a call from family that her father-in-law had passed. She and her husband needed to get back to the states immediately. Thankfully she had "trip insurance" and with a few documents to show, her and her husbands 6 night trip was fully refunded !! This is why I would never travel without trip insurance.
L~NY[/QUOTE]

I think it all depends on what you are trying to cover. Unexpected flights to return home could be very expensive and I'd be very glad to have that covered. If a death occurred before I left and all I did was choose to skip the trip, I'm not incurring any additional expenses so insurance becomes less necessary if you can accept the loss.

My question is this: In the situation you described, did you have to front the money to return home and was later reimbursed upon presentation of the receipts and death notification or did they pay for your flights up front?

[quote name='shipshape sam']An interesting suggestion and my question would be what do they do with the questionnaire now that they ask at embarkation. When would they refuse passage? For sure, I think, they should provide a full refund/credit. I am sure though that it could be abused too.[/QUOTE]

I think all things run the risk of abuse. The scenario I imagined for this policy would be those who get sick within a day or two of sailing and contact the cruise company with medical documentation. From the sounds of things, it seems Noro Virus is not easily diagnosed and is usually based on the explanation of symptoms so I guess that could be easily feigned if someone was so inclined.

For those who arrive to the port and provide honest answers and are then denied boarding, I'm not sure. I'd be inclined to offer some sort of compensation for their honesty but on the flip side, I feel that by showing up, they've still put an untold number of passengers at risk which is what this policy would be designed to avoid.

I'm not sure this is feasible, I was just interested in opinions on the matter. I do think it could help cruise lines protect their bottom line. If you can get some sick individuals to voluntarily miss the cruise you may be able to avoid thousands in lost revenue not to mention what is being lost in the refunds and partial cruise credits.

Either way, it was good to have a discussion going on the issue.

Please note: carnival offers the discount for active duty and retired military. Unless your do retired after 4 years, you do not qualify for a military rate anyway. We see this all the time here at the base. People who think because they did one tour of 4 years they get the full benefits package of a retired 22 year vet.

 

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The main screen does say active or retired but if you read the full terms it includes much more than that. I did just under 5 with an honorable discharge and have gotten the military 2 times.

DH served for 4 years in the Army. We are sailing Splendor 2/21. I just checked the fare viewer and the military rate for our category is $80 less than what we paid ;):D so submitted the form for OBC. Is this all I have to do? Do I have to "prove" he was in the military? :confused: TIA for your help!

 

Did you originally book Early Saver? They will require some proof of service. I had to submit my DD214. It's on file now so I don't have to submit it each time I book using the rate.

Hi all!

 

I'm coming over from the Freedom 2/8 roll call to ask a B2B question - We are doing our first B2B...unfortunately, not both of them with all of you on Carnival - the first leg is on the Bahamas Celebration 2/6-2/8...right, never heard of it, I know - look at it as educating our friends. They booked this "free" cruise while we were trying to convince them to come on Carnival with us, and then having superior intelligence, we caved in and are going with them! But on the upside, they are then coming on the 2/8 Freedom with us.

 

We need some advice from experienced B2B cruisers: is there anywhere in/near Fort Lauderdale where you can have your purchases from the first cruise held while you go on the second one? Like souvenirs, alcohol and cigarettes? I'm not finding any useful info on internet searches and no relatives or friends in the area. We have a daughter getting married in September and would like to bring home our alcohol limit on both cruises to put a small dent in that budget. Being that we will be in USVI, the limit is 5L/pp...right?We're up for any helpful ideas!

 

Definitely a bit nippy here in Wisconsin and our guys are way past ready to leave...while we finish the planning and packing. We officially declared that the weather is BAD when the farmer who comes to dig you out with his tractor, and the snowplow both get stuck in your driveway!

 

I don't know of any place that would hold your items for you but maybe some of your 2d leg travel companions from the roll call will let you leave items in their car if they drove. Also, if you board sealed liquor, I believe Carnival will hold on to it for you and return it at the end of the cruise.

Good idea, but pretty sure there is not enough time :( I think people are to busy preparing right now !!!

 

Yeah, you're probably right. I'm doing a Super Bowl cruise for 2015 also (on RCCL AOS) so I'll definitely propose the idea much earlier.

Was just thinking it'd be fun to have a Football Squares Pool. Is anyone interested?

 

We're getting close to departure so I wish I would have thought of it earlier to have more time to prepare.

 

There'd be 100 squares that would need to be sold before kick off. Let me know if anyone is interested. Since it's short notice I was thinking each square would just be $1.

 

Let me know if there's any interest and then we can decide for sure.

 

Thinking the payout would be 20% of the pot for quarters 1-3 and 40% for the final quarter.

As I said, insurance makes sense for evacuations/ emergency travel.

 

It does not make sense for the cruise itself.

 

You fell right into the trap (even though I warned you in my post lol) of saying you would have "lost" the money without insurance.

 

As I said, you lose the money either way. It's not like you get your money back at the end of the cruise!

 

What you lose is the cruise, not the money.

 

Insurance is generally recommended for things that have to be replaced, likes cars, houses, etc. A cruise does not have to be replaced, one can go without.

 

My vacations are also thousands, but if I miss it, I'll just go next year. the money's gone either way. Of course I'd be happy to get the money back, but considering how much I have to pay upfront for insurance it's just not mathematically worth it.

 

But as you know this is a common discussion here on boards so I doubt anyone will change their minds. But to say you can't afford to cruise if you can't afford insurance is pretty close-minded. I can certainly afford insurance but choose to forgo it. IMHO if losing a few grand is a major financial disaster such that you have to buy insurance to prevent it, well then...

 

I tried to make this same point a few weeks ago on another thread. People thought I was crazy...lol. But I agree. If you have to miss a cruise, you don't really loose the money, you loose the experience. Glad at least one other person had that same thought.

I was reading a USA Today article about the Explorer returning home 2 days early because of the Noro Virus outbreak.

 

There was a quote from a tourism manager/instructor (or something) from Pace University stating that 1) people bring Noro Virus with them when they board (which we knew) and 2) If people don't have insurance but are feeling ill, they don't want to cancel and lose their money.

 

I know many here buy and insurance and don't think it's fair for people who "self insure" to get refunds but it got me to thinking:

 

Should cruise lines offer some sort of last minute cancellation option for those who develop gastro intestinal issues 1 or 2 days before a sailing? Not a cash refund but maybe a credit for a future cruise. I think a policy like this may help in the long run to keep cruises free of people who know they are ill but just don't want to lose their money.

 

What do you guys think? This wouldn't be designed to take the place of purchasing insurance but more so give the cruise line some peace of mind that sick individuals won't purposely join the cruise.

 

I think it'd be a decent option for some and I of course think they person requesting the cancellation and credit should have to send in medical documentation. I kind of view it as a reward for being honest and thinking of others.

I'd love to get an upgrade. I'm sailing in 9 days and I purchased a 4A (I think)...one of the single room with the porthole but it's just a twin (upper and lower). I got a great price but lately I've been thinking that I really don't want to sleep in a twin bed all week...lol. fingers crossed.

There was recently a reposted thread where two men were going to be delayed because of cancelled/delayed flights. According to his account, Carnival told him he had to bring something from the airline saying that the flight was delayed because of mechanical reasons. The impression I got from reading it was that if he had only "missed" his flight he would not be allowed to catch up to the ship.

 

For that reason, I'd say call Carnival first and make sure they will allow you to board once you get to the Bahamas. Also, keep names, ID #, and any other important identifying information for everyone you talk to.

 

Question: Did they offer you the option of having someone send fax a copy of the BC? I seem to remember people saying that's a viable option but your post doesn't seem to indicate if that was expressed to you so now I'm wondering if that's really an option or not.

 

Good luck!

I just returned to the US last month with honey from Ecuador. I didn't face any issues.

Me too!! Would love to cruise during superbowl..will definately look into that next year!

 

 

 

 

LMAO! Agree!

 

My birthday is always very close to Super Bowl Sunday so I'm trying to turn it into a tradition to cruise during this time even though I don't care about football at all...lol.

 

I had to skip last year in order to participate in a promotion process at work so this will be my second Super Bowl/birthday cruise and I'm already booked for 2015!

Just wondering if anyone thinks the Excursion Price Guarantee is in response to the family that was robbed recently? Basically a way to urge more people to book with them instead of possibly going off on their own or do you think the timing is coincidental?

Can't wait for you're review! Cruising on Freedom 2/2. Wish we could have gone after the drydock, but not worried. Give us good weather, booze and food and you can't ruin our vacation. :)

 

 

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I'm also on the 2/2 sailing. Can't wait!

I was looking at the one day CTN just for a quick getaway but the taxes and fees turned me off. The fees are higher for 1 day than for some 7 days. I just don't understand it.

I would think at the very least the 16 year old (minor child) would be able to check in with parents regardless of his point balance. Surely, they wouldn't expect parents to be separated from their minor children.