my kids mama

2 minutes ago, funfunfuncruzininthesun said:

i

f my husband and i both gamble will they combine the points? 

No, they won't.  You could always call the casino and see if they would give each of you money to play with.  

18 minutes ago, SarahJeanneSays said:

I booked a 3 day in December on the Inspiration on a casino promotion.  I've never gambled on a cruise so not sure why it showed up in my offers but whatever.

It includes $50 to play in the casino with and Drinks on Us while playing.  Is there penny slots in the casino or should I except my $50 to be gone quick?  How does the Drinks on Us work?

There are penny slots but they can take your money just as fast depending upon if you get lucky or not.  You are supposed to be actively playing in order to get a drink.  I could totally see a bar tender getting you a drink if you were watching someone else play though since he/she will see your DOU card connected to your sign and sail card.  Just make sure to tip them and they will keep the drinks flowing while you are in the casino.  The DOU benefits do not work at the casino bar though, only in the actual casino.  Have fun. on the Inspiration.  I have been on her twice and I am going on her sister the Sensation next week.  She is an older, smaller ship but I like her.  

Thanks everyone.  

Carnival has a couple of options, but I am sure there are others.  What would you do if you had a 5 pm departure out of Fort Lauderdale.  Love the beach and Cuban culture, if that helps.  Just not sure who to book through.  Must include transportation to FLL airport around 3 pm. Really not wanting to do a tour that drops you off at 1pm.  Would rather spend the time having fun than sitting at the airport. We do have FTTF if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance!

I just called carnival to ask about this exact subject.  I have the DOU card for me and my husband, but we always get cheers.  When I asked them if we could perhaps get something else instead, they told me to wait until I get on board and ask the host.  

On 8/25/2019 at 6:54 PM, spotte said:

Do you happen to have any of the Fun Times?  I am sailing on her in a couple of weeks.

 

Me too.  We will be on the October 12th sailing.  How about you?

Alchemy bar is absolutely the best reason to get the cheers package.  Don't tell anyone though.  Let's keep it on the down low. It's getting too crowded in there. 😂😂

If you are flying, there are rules.  Your batteries must be kept in your carry on.  Not allowed in checked luggage.  Otherwise, my advise is to bring more juice than you think you might need and do yourself a favor and buy an extra complete e-cig.  In case you lose it or drop it and the glass breaks.  I speak from experience when your vape no longer works when you are on an island that has never heard of them.  You are surrounded by cigarettes but no vapes.  Just buy one and it can be your next vape when you need one down the line.  Trust me on this one!  I was such a biotch to my husband when it broke and there was no chance of me replacing it.  I was lucky enough to meet a lady who had a disposable one that she gave me.  It pretty much saved our vacation.  

On 9/1/2019 at 6:21 PM, jimbo5544 said:

What is the draw to Ensenada?

I have done that cruise twice.  I get that it's no frills.  I had really great street tacos in Ensenada. I had a bonus on the 2nd time, I won $4800 in the casino.  I am probably a little biased, just a little bit.  I am cruising on her sister ship, the Sensation in October.  I know what to expect as far as the ship.  We have two ports that are new to us, I am a happy cruiser. Sorry you didn't 't have a great experience. 

We pretty much always get the cheers program. We have an upcoming 5 day cruise and the DOU cards for me and my husband.  He doesn't gamble at all and the rule is that you are supposed to be gambling to get an included drink.  I think you could be standing behind someone that is gambling and get one but not at the casino bar.  My husband won't stay in there long enough to get a drink because the smoke bothers him too much.  We will go ahead and get the cheers package.  We really take advantage of the water and specialty coffees at breakfast.  The only time that I don't think it paid off for us was on a 10 day med cruise.  We had 8 ports in 10 days and we were gone all day.  If I did that one again, I would just pay as I go.  On a 5 day, we will come out ahead having cheers. I also love the Alchemy bar and love to see what varieties of wine they might have at the MDR at dinner.  You can also go to the bar at the steakhouse and they have a very nice selection of wines there.  

On 8/19/2019 at 2:37 PM, bury me at sea said:

If you do a mock booking for ocean view cabins on your sailing you can see some of the unsold cabins.  If you are relatively close to sailing, I imagine you will be placed in one of those.

 

I know nothing about casino offers.  Perhaps someone else will tell you the casino holds certain cabins that are never offered to the public, in which case a mock booking wouldn't help you.

 

 

The ocean views I have stayed in had what I would call picture windows.  Definitely not port holes.

That is good advice.  Thanks you!

11 hours ago, spotte said:

Which sailing are you on?  We received a similar offer in June.  We are sailing next month.  Can't wait.

 

We are sailing out of Miami on October 12th.  It's just a 5 day but it's ports we have never been to.  Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman.  For the price we paid, I am thrilled!  Where are you going? 

14 hours ago, simplelife said:

If you have guaranteed Ocean View, you will not get a Porthole. PT's are classified as Interior,

Awesome!  Thank you!

2 hours ago, Joe817 said:

For $447.00 total, for both of you. That's $44.70/day. Wow. How can you go wrong on doing that? Or am I missing something?

No, you are right.  Plus they are giving us $400 back in money to gamble with and OBC.  To upgrade to a balcony would have been an extra $1100 or something like that.  We decided not to upgrade.  We do love spending time on our balconies, but for this price, I guess we can manage with an ocean view.  Haha, just kidding!  I just wonder how they decide where to put people????

Received an offer for a great deal from the casino.  5 day out of Miami on the Sensation for a grand total of $447 for Hubby and myself.   They are giving me $200 to play in the casino and my husband and I each will be receiving $100 OBC.  It's a guaranteed ocean view but we don't get to know the cabin number until right before we sail.  Anyone know how they decide where they put you?  I am guessing platinum would be first, which we are not.  We are gold.  My husband is more worried than I am as we have gotten spoiled with balcony cabins.  We looked at upgrading to a balcony but it was cost prohibitive since there aren't very many on the sensation.  I am hoping it will be an actual big window and not a porthole.  For those of you that have taken advantage of offers like this, what was your experience?

Ok, so we decided to do a beach day as we have done a similar stingray excursion in Belize.  A beautiful beach is my happy place so now we just have to decide which beach to go to.  Would probably like to do some close to shore snorkeling.  Cemetery beach looks beautiful but has no services.  

13 hours ago, pooksma said:

Grand Cayman is one of my fav stops. I LOVE the beach there and am quite content to go to the beach and not do excursions. It really depends on what you want to do. We usually do a walk around for a bit after the beach. Last trip we returned to Royal Palms and spent a beautiful day just walking the beach, people watching and soaking up the sun.

 

Do what makes you happy and enjoy!

Do you mean a beach close to the ship and you just walk there?  

On 8/9/2019 at 6:58 AM, tattoos said:

We had a totally different experience at Calico Jacks.

 

We have been to Grand Cayman a few times and booked an excursion to Stingray City three times and two of those times, there were so many boats with hundreds of people in the water, it was not enjoyable.  The rays were swimming from one group to another, sucking up the squid and moving on.  We went three times because we were traveling with different people who had never been there.  The first time was enjoyable, after that it was been there, done that.

 

The last time we visited Grand Cayman, we were the only ship there and took a shared bus to Calico Jacks on 7 Mile Beach.  We were one of the first groups to arrive and rented chairs at the water line and a floating mat.  I filled my insulated bottle with rum and coke before I left the ship so I didn't have to spend money on alcoholic beverages.  We shared fish sandwiches and french fries (very good) and we also brought snacks with us.  The water was beautiful, the sand was soft, we swam, walked the beach, snorkeled, and just relaxed.  Most of the people there were from the ship and we took turns watching our gear with friends we made sitting next to us so my family could all go in the water together.  The workers at Calico Jacks were very accommodating.  We loved it there and wouldn't hesitate to go back.  

Thank you.  That sounds like a great day!

On 8/9/2019 at 5:03 AM, FTLCruiseGal said:

How many ships are in port the same day as you?  I was just in Cayman and asked the taxi driver to take us to a nice, uncrowned beach.  He took us to called Public Beach as Calico Jacks is there and you can rent chairs and such.  Beach was so crowded, we couldn’t get a chair.  The chairs that were next to Calico Jack’s that we’re “for rent” were reserved and roped off.  There is a hotel next to the beach, but their chairs are private and they do not rent them out.  Area is under construction to add some vendor booths and such.  The people were rude — not the locals, fellow cruisers from other ships.  Maybe it was because it was hot and crowded, but it just wasn’t pleasant.  

 

If there are more than two ships in port that day, I would definitely avoid Public Beach.  

Thank you.  I believe its 2 ships.  We will be on the Carnival Sensation but the Disney Fantasy will also be there.   A possible total of 6,364 people. 

2 minutes ago, Amadawn1 said:

We were lucky that day.  Sometimes it gets windy there, so they have to use alternate snorkeling sites.  They took us to a fantastic reef where we saw many fish, stingrays and coral.  It was also fun to watch people diving below us. (Not that brave myself).  the guides know all the stingrays by name, believe it or not.  They are not in captivity, though.  They come to Stingray Sandbar on their own because each company is allowed to bring a certain amount of squid to feed them.  They will allow you to feed them the squid, too.  Scared my DH to death, because the stingray sucked the squid AND his finger into it's mouth.  It was too funny.  But anyways, the water is fantastic and the experience is like no other.  The sandbar is only in about 4 feet of water (wind currents may affect the calm of the water, though)  Hope you get a chance to enjoy!

Ok you convinced me.  Definitely going to do this.  Since it's October, I know Mother Nature might not be kind, but you never know. 

7 minutes ago, Amadawn1 said:

Definitely recommend Stingray City.  On our last trip we used Captain Marvin's.  Much better than the ship's Stingray City excursion.  My second time and I can't wait to do it again.  It was paired with snorkeling, and the snorkeling was fantastic, too.  You can't go wrong.  The private excursions have way fewer people, so you get a much better up close and personal with the stingrays.  Best excursion ever for me.

Thank you Amadawn!  The water is my happy place and just looking at your picture made me feel happy!  I loved the excursion we did in Belize that was similar.  Did you snorkel on a reef?  Was it colorful and "fishy"?

12 minutes ago, Tampa Bay Irish said:

7 mile beach in Grand Cayman is a nice Caribbean beach. Not a lot to it. Typically not crowded. Somewhat featureless. I think you can do better in Grand Cayman. Book a private excursion to Stingray City (that will typically be paired with a snorkel trip as well), go to Hell (rock formation) or the Turtle Farm. Don’t take the ship excursion to Stingray City unless you like overpaying and really like crowds. Go with a private vendor. There are several good ones. Occasionally the reef and Stingray City are “closed.” If that happens you always have 7 Mile Beach as a backup plan. And don’t be afraid of the stingrays. They are like puppies. 

Thanks Tampa

I am Irish too!  I like stingrays.  I agree they are like puppies if they are getting fed.  We will probably book one excursion with carnival as we have some OBC to use.  Maybe we can use that to book Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios.  Are the local companies pretty good about getting you back in time?  I always take that into account when it's a tender port. I would assume they would be as it's their livelihood.  

Doing a small 5 day getaway on the Sensation in October.  Just booked recently to get away from work for a few days.  I have been on the sister ship and I know what to expect there.  I was excited that this cruise had 2 ports that we haven't been to yet.  Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios.  In Ocho Rios we will probably do Dunn's River Falls since we have never been.  Might look at Dunn's River/beach tour. Now to decide what to do in Grand Cayman.  I hear the ray tour and/or ray snorkeling tours are great. We did something similar in Belize on another cruise and we loved it!   I also just LOVE the beach!  A crowded touristy beach where the chairs all lined up and I am afraid to leave my stuff, not so much.  I live in Denver and want to take every opportunity to see and experience the beach any chance I get.  Is 7 mile beach really worth it or not? I did some reading but I am still undecided.  I would appriciate any advice that you have.  Thanks in advance. 

I have had several casino offers over the years.  The best one was a 10 day med cruise for $271 in port fees and taxes.  We ended up upgrading to a balcony when the fairy called us a few days before, I think that was about $1000 more but we decided it was worth it. I have learned the hard way that if you think about it for too long, the offer is gone.  Someone was asking how much money you need to spend to get the offers.  I really don't know what is typical, but here is what happened to me.  On our first cruise, I spent about $1000 in the casino.  My husband was so mad!  I don't blame him.  On the last day of the cruise, the cruise director told everyone to close out our casino accounts so I went in to do that.  I had about $24 in credits.  I decided to play them and I won $2500.  My husband forgave me a little bit after that.  Ever since then, carnival has sent me offers for a free interior or discounts with casino money.  We are going for a short 5 day just to get away from work for a bit in October.  The cost for both of us is $447 for an ocean view.  They are giving me $200 to play with and are also giving us $100 OBC each.  They are basically giving us back the price minus $47.  We will have the DOU card but we still probably order cheers anyway.  We like the Alchemy bar.  I hope that helps. 

I don't know the amount but I do know that you can play slots and get it.  I get it as a promotion often but I don't do table games at all.  I stick with slots in various denominations. 

It wasn't my first cruise but it was my first time cruising the Med.  Do not ever decide to go on the Atkins diet while taking pain pills from a ruptured disk and then sit on a plane for 15 hours flying to Barcelona and not drinking enough water.  I ended up having to go to some scary ER place to get an enema.  Even my husband was using hand sanitizer there and he usually makes fun of me for using it.  On the bright side, I think I lost a few pounds.  Probably the only cruise I ever took where I weighed the same at the beginning and the end of the cruise.