beckzay

Did you book a shared shuttle or private service with Cortrans?

 

Last time I checked the shared shuttles start their first run back to Orlando at 8:15am then 9am and so on. It appears the longest you will wait is 45 minutes should you just miss one.

 

A very likely scenario is finding yourself at the airport by 9am with many hours to kill before your flight!

 

Have you considered a rental car instead to explore instead of airport waiting?

I priced it out, it's cheaper for the 6 of us to use the shuttle rather than rent a minivan both ways. Also, we have family that live in Florida who we don't see much and they are meeting us at the airport to do lunch. Id rather be early than stressed out ;)

We've booked Cortrans shuttle service to and from port canaveral. When we disembark it says to go through customs and then call for a shuttle. Does anyone have any experience on how long this takes usually? We have to be at the airport for a 2:45 flight and I'm worried the shuttle won't arrive quickly.

What has your experience been with them and picking up at the port? Thanks!

Does anyone know how much it is to parasail in Freeport recently, without pre-booking something? I know I can pre-book it for $79 pp but I didn't really want to pre-book it. I kind of want to wait and see what the weather is and how we feel but only if the price is close to that $79. Thanks!

Our last port is Freeport on our upcoming cruise and I haven't planned any shore excursions. I think I'm just going to wait and see what happens...like if we miss the private island, or it rains, etc. If it rains on our private island day we'll want to do a beach day, or if we have a beautiful day at the private island we'll want to do an excursion like snorkeling. So, my question is:

What beaches in Freeport offer things like somewhere to eat, a bar, water sports, parasailing, jet skis, water trampoline, etc.?

What are the names of some beaches there that I can research to see what will work best for us?

Thank you!

KingsQueen, did you ever find a spot to jet ski? I'm thinking of doing the same thing...

HMC is simply an "extension" of the ship....consider it a "sea day" on land!

Although not really...Cheers and Bottomless Bubbles don't work there ;)

Awesome job at keeping it a secret! It's hard, and gets harder as it gets closer. I booked a surprise cruise for my husband about a year and a half ago and we're 28 days from sailing and he STILL has no idea. 18 days until I tell him! (His birthday)

Can you bring cans of beverages off of the ship onto HMC? Or bottles of water?

oops, it is? Now I feel dumb.:o I don't drink it. My adult daughter drinks it and she was wondering. Thank you!

I know you can bring on one bottle of wine per person, but what about champagne? Is that allowed?

The key message is that you are "price matching". That doesn't mean that you are switching from ES to that new fare you are just "matching it" as long as you qualify for the new rate. For example the resident fare that you mentioned as long as it's the same cabin classification and not a guarantee.

Thank you! This clarifies things!

Yes, your Early Saver rate becomes whatever the resident rate is. And this carries on past final payment date until 2 days before you sail. You can claim any rate drop in any category (except guarantee) up until then. The other caveat is that it must be in the same cabin class as your original booking.

Oh, ok! So because I originally booked early saver I essentially have "early saver" the whole time? As long as I'm still booked in the same stateroom class I originally booked in? Thanks, this is very helpful :)

You can match to any rate you are qualified for. It does not have to be another ES rate. Just make sure it's not a guarantee cabin.

What happens if I find a rate lower, I switch and now it's not an early saver rate. Lets say it's now a resident rate for example. So, now I'm book on a resident rate and what if the price drops now? Can I get an adjustment on the resident rate?

I know price drop questions are asked here a lot but I just can't seem to find a clear answer. Can anyone clarify for me...I'm booked Early Saver right now. Final payment isn't until next week. I know that If I see a fare that is lower I can get a price adjustment in the form of on board credit. However, if that lower price is NOT an early saver rate (but still a rate that I am able to choose my cabin) am I still able to get another price adjustment later if the price drops again?

Actually they just say Redemption Center on them as a return address:

 

Thank you! This helps a lot!

Perfect! Thank you! Mine just shipped today and I ordered on Jan 9th. I was hoping they didn't come UPS because then my husband would wonder what it was (this cruise is a surprise for him).

Can anyone tell me how these are shipped? UPS, fedex or post office?

Just get a state I.D. Takes like 3 weeks and no worries then ........

Yes, we're going to do that instead. Even though she will probably have her license by then.

You can find your ways around telling your husband what the passport is for. Just be creative.

No, not really, lol. We don't travel much. This is the first time 2 of my 3 children are going out of the country and they are 23 and 16 :)

Why wouldn't you get her a passport?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Because she's 15 right now and in order to get a passport for someone under 16 BOTH parents need to be there when she applies for one. Thats not possible because this is a surprise cruise for my husband and he will wonder why she's getting a passport :) If we wait until she's 16 (when only one parent needs to be there) it probably won't arrive in time unless we expedite it...which is costly.

I'll probably just get her a state issued non-driver ID to be safe.

Middle names or initials do not print on boarding passes only first and last (so even if you put it in it does not print) so go ahead and include it but you will only get the first and last.

 

All of our passports have our middle names or initials on them and it has never caused an issue with Carnival (my drivers license has my middle initial and my passport has full middle name). We have used passports to cruise for the last 15 years and never once has anyone asked about our middle names.

Ok, thank you! I'm probably just over thinking all of this :)

Sorry, I don't travel much and I'm trying to make sure my whole family has all their documentation right for our flights and cruise.

Do names have to match EXACTLY for travel? For example, if my passport has my middle name, does my air and cruise documents have to have my middle name too? Or vice versa...if my passport has only first and last do my air/cruise documents have to be just first and last too?

Thanks, I don't want any surprises with denied boarding :)

My daughter will be 16 when we cruise in April and may or may not have her Drivers License by then. Carnival says a school photo ID along with a birth certificate will be ok to travel with. Has anyone used a high school photo ID without any problems? I'm just trying to decide if I should go get her a non-driver ID before we sail.

I normally have more SW points than I can use on leisure flights, so using some SW points toward cruising is a win-win for me-free flights and cruise dollars to boot. Life is good for me in spite of the usual nay-sayers. :-)

I agree. We already booked our flights for our cruise and we don't travel that much so my points were put to good use for the moment. Otherwise they would have just been sitting there....now I'm paying $400 less for my cruise because of the points :)

THANK YOU!!!!

I had no idea this existed and you just saved me $400!