rolloman

3 hours ago, Gary Sheer said:

sent ours in for renewel and expected a long wait ,didn't pay anything extra and got them back in 4 weeks ,quite a surprise

WOW....who do you know?

37 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

You can’t renew a minor’s passport by mail, if under 16 it’s a 5 year passport and needs to be done in person. The first adult 10 year passport needs to be in person.

Exactly but like I said...you need to give a birth certificate and the expired passport or a child under 16. So the statement made by the poster was not exactly correct and that is why I corrected him.

9 hours ago, sailor05 said:

For renewals you need not send in the birth certificates.

Yes, you do need to send in a birth certificate with your expired passport if you are under age 16. 

I got the letter and have a 4.00 refund coming to me on Allure in January.

I have been cruising for over 30 years and the reality is back in the day Carnival was the biggest instigator of making fun of other lines. At sail away it was quite the thing on Carnival to float past Celebrity, Princess or Royal Caribbean ships with the Carnival cruise director leading chants from everyone on the pool deck to tell the other lines how lame they were. Nobody really said anything because back in the day it was all fun...fast forward to today...suddenly to do such thing triggers select individuals. Oddly, it seems the most triggered individuals come from the Carnival crowd. 

This is the world we live in now...literally everyone of all walks of life going out of their way to get butthurt/triggered. They then create names and label those who have "offended them" 

So let me get this straight...a person who says they do not like Carnival... that automatically makes them a snob? Ridiculous. Carnival is a deep discount cruise line. Let there be no doubt. However, while they are lacking in several areas, they are not bad in others. What I am concerned about lately is the lack of maintenance on Carnival. For example on a recent Freedom voyage, in the buffet area, the glass was busted and they replaced with plywood over it instead of glass.  Just this past Sunday I came off the Mardi Gras, it was filthy. Carpets literally smelled like stinky feet in certain venues (theater, limelight lounge) and were clearly soiled. The chairs in the casino a good portion of them were ripped and torn. Really sad for such a new ship. You won't find that on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. If they don't take the time or have the resources to fix the small stuff...it only makes sense they are failing in areas which are vital.  I have two more booked, both on the Vista, but after that...I am going to take a timeout and stick with Royal, Celebrity and Princess. I guess I will now be considered a snob!

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Even better than flares and smoke floats (though those raise visibility), is the ability to mark the ship's exact position at the time the overboard is reported, and then the ship can return to that exact spot and start the search from there.  This is done on the ship's electronic chart system, it has a special button just for this.

 

Again, you have to be virtually stopped to launch either a lifeboat or rescue boat, and you also need to be heading in the right direction to protect the boat being launched from wind and waves.  So, at that point, the azipods would turn the vessel in place (after launching the boat), but whether a ship has azipods or rudders, trying to make a turn of more than 1-2* of heading while at full speed will result in damage to the ship and injuries to the passengers from "turn induced heel".

As you know, typically, a call will go out to trailing ships in the vicinity to begin a search. There are a few documented cases where a trailing cruise ship launched a successful recovery. 

21 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Just for sake of discussion, which cruise line would you rate Carnivals food better than?  Inquiring minds want to know.  

MSC

54 minutes ago, cxr133 said:

quick question....  if one was to fall off and it was a witnessed event.

 

approx how long does it take to  1. either stop the ship and turn around   2. launch a rescue/crew vehicle.

 

my heart broke for that teenager who jumped on a dare but he was lost immediately?

Yeah, lost immediately, once you fall off a ship, you and the ship separate quickly due to current. It takes a today's cruise ship 10 nautical miles to do a complete turnaround. My heart does not break for any idiot who jumps off a cruise ship and if it is suicide it is a selfish way to go as you endanger many others lives who attempt to save the one you no longer want.  

20 hours ago, Purvis1231 said:

 Sure the water, drinks, and gifts are not delivered to cabins anymore but they are not hard to find.

Said the blind man to his one legged friend. 

Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln? 

On 6/10/2023 at 4:40 PM, Mum2Mercury said:

 

 

I've never seen a drug dog at the embarkation port.  Has anyone else?  

At Port Canaveral they now have passengers line up and the dogs check each person (on random sailings).

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Is that rust blistering on the little table or water? For such a new ship the tables shouldn't be rusting that quickly.

35 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

This  is  correct. We were told to park in T5, they shuttled us to T1 for boarding. At the end of the cruise the ship docked at T5.  We were on as well.

m
 

 

And what a strange cruise it was. I knew when it started out with the terminal change it was only going downhill from there. Missed port, medical evacs and not sure if you noticed, when we returned a firetruck and 3 ambulances showed up and... if that wasn't enough, one passenger earned the right to get off the ship first...albeit in handcuffs escorted by police. 

5 minutes ago, GTO-Girl said:

Mariner sails out of Terminal 5……

 Jeeesh...always someone looking to ruin one's credibility on this site. We sailed out of 1 and then returned to 5... (5/4/2023 sailing to be even more specific)

34 minutes ago, orville99 said:

No need. We have dear friends who work at that terminal that we talk with every time we sail out of there, and in addition to what we have seen with our own eyes, the announcements that we have heard with our own ears while waiting to re-board on TAD, and their conversations with us about how much it has changed and how they have to pace the flow of passengers onto the ship under their new management directives is convincing enough for me.

 

I can share with you a little crowd control trick they recently performed at PC T1 while boarding the Mariner. They shut down the TSA security check around 11:30 AM because they said upstairs was getting crowded and it is easier to keep everyone downstairs. This of course turned into a mini nightmare for those trying to get into the build and those stuck in the line. It was a good 30 minutes before they resumed. 

This past Sunday I went to Port Canaveral to pick up family who returned on the Wonder of the Seas. I was there around 9:00 A.M. and as to be expected it was pure chaos. There were tons of people arriving way too early to check in for the next voyage, people trying to find their way out of the port, RCCL employees trying to get to their work station to set up for the next voyage, delivery trucks bringing in supplies. So, you have to ask yourself...should I be in the way while this is taking place? The fact is, if you arrive before 10:30 AM you are in the way and creating a hazard. There is zero reason for you to be there. 

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

It may have been at one time, but gravity has brought a once Iconic brand to ground. While we still enjoy sailing Princess on occasion, it is nowhere near the quality experience that it used to be. And the fact that it sails all over the world is moot, since it will be doing exactly none of those itineraries out of PC, and every major cruise line sails all over the world. You just can't get there from PC.

Gravity? No, if anything the degradation you may have felt would be due to Princess becoming Carnivalized. Just curious are you a board member or similar with Carnival Corp? If not, your definitive statement Princess will never sail future non-Caribbean itineraries out of PC is unfounded, unsubstantiated and therefore simply nothing more than speculation on your part. 

The Veteran get together on cruises really never existed 10 years ago. Now it has become a "thing"....so where is the outrage on that huge gap? It seems some are more worried about photos... here is a novel idea...take your own photo. As for the get together. I will say some lines do it better than the others. I feel Royal kind of goes through the motions (so much so I don't even attend) and Carnival really goes all out. Let's be clear though, I don't go on a cruise for the purpose of a Vet get together with strangers. Especially those strangers who did not serve in the Navy or Department of the Navy...i.e.; Marines (sorry had to throw that in there... lol)

9 hours ago, orville99 said:

IMHO, the only thing Miami currently has going for it is the number of different cruise lines, demographic levels, and itineraries that it supports relative to PC. Adding Princess to PC may help a bit, but their PC itineraries are unimaginative at best and the reality is that Princess (since it was acquired by Carnival) is just another RCL/Carnival/MSC clone from an experience perspective. The only line out of PC that is showing any imagination right now is RCL with longer cruises sailing to Bermuda, the ABC islands and other ports that typically don't show up on PC itineraries. If PC really wants to keep its "title", it needs to attract more lines that elevate the cruise experience - not just replicate it, and show some imagination in where they sail. Celebrity would be a good start, and something like Silversea or Regent would be even better.

For starters PC just recently elevated to number 1 (it was a goal). The port is continuing to expand. New restaurants, terminals, aquarium are on the way. Unlike Miami you can actually walk to the beach or nearby restaurants. Ask any Floridian which Florida port they would prefer to drive to, and the response will overwhelmingly be PC. 

   The new ship builds are now coming to PC on a regular basis. These new builds are faster and more efficient which makes the Miami location a moot point. PC is one of the only ports with LNG, another huge plus. Multiple new hotels are being built in the general port area. Princess is an iconic line which sails around the world not just the Med or Caribbean. So, it is a BIG deal they will now sail out of PC.   I look for the new terminal on the south end to be assigned to Celebrity or similar.  Therefore, in reality there is little concern Miami will surpass PC anytime soon.  By the way, Carnival also sails from PC to every one of the locations you listed. 

Just did a drop off…no queue outside at 12:30. However, traffic is really heavy driving on 528 headed to the port  probably due to the rocket launch. 

Anyone know the reason Wonder of the Seas is delaying embarkation? Just received a notice to come one hour later than assigned check in time. If you are at the port now are things backed up? 

This is old news and has always been the rule since forever. Your post title is deceiving...

Kind of risky having those monkeys crawl all over you if you have no verification the animals have been vaccinated... for example ...rabies.