bob7judy

What would be an appropriate tip if you ask to be transported onto the cruise ship in a wheelchair?

What options are available other than buffet?

We got off the Freedom yesterday. They still took pictures and gave us our cards at check-in

They do play Trivial Pursuit on the Freedom which was fun.

One thing I forgot to mention was that on elegant night, there were very few jackets on the men. Mostly just nice shirts and some with jeans. The women were more dressed up than the men. But we did see one person on each of the nights denied entry. On the second one they sent a guy to change while they allowed his wife in a long sleeve flannel shirt. I thought he would have to change his t-shirt but he changed his pants and returned in the same non-collared shirt.

Your comments about your cabin steward are disturbing. Did you request twice daily service or speak to him again after not receiving evening service?

We did not request twice a day as we were ok with fresh towels in the evening, but we did have to request them when needed after the first two days.

Where is this listed? I see the $5 a day, but not the week. How does this work? I just d/l the Hub. Thanks!

The chat feature on the hub app is $5 for the whole cruise purchased separately for each phone.

We just returned today from the Freedom. Our room steward, Joachim, told us he would be cleaning our room in the AM. Others in our group, he gave a choice and they chose AM and PM. They also received towel animals each day. We got one on each of the last three days. The first two days he changed towels in the evening but after that he put the Fun Times in the mailbox. We only saw him one time after the first day as we were walking down the hall. He did call us by name. The $16/day for internet is not worth it. I waited 33 minutes before I gave up trying to download my email. Also, the $5 to stay in contact with others in party does not work if the parties don't read their messages. LOL The cruise director was funny the two times we encountered him and all of his crew were very good and friendly. The Lip Sync Finals was a real fun show. The waiters did not sing and dance every night. I think 4 of the 7 nights.

A couple who sat down next to us in the MDR right after the past guest party had brought several bottles of free beer from the party in the ladies' purse. They didn't realize that the caps had been loosened. She spent the whole time we were eating trying to dry out everything in her purse.

Hi all,

 

I hope someone can give me some advice. My TA bigbox will not take my amex. I even escalated it to a supervisor who said absolutely not. Is there any way around this? They said I can't pay HAL directly since I booked with them, which I can understand, but I keep thinking there must be a work around on this. The only idea I have is buying gift cards with the amex, but does a carnival card work towards payment? The TA supervisor was very unhelpful with ideas, which I can also understand due to the company cutting ties with

amex. Thoughts?

You cannot use Carnival gift cards to make payments to Holland America. I know, I tried.

I had the same problem last year but my PVP said to send it with a note that I couldn't get the info. She said they would have to call and verify it with Carnival anyway. No problem. This was with Carnival's insurance. Got a full refund.

I thought the Hub chat function was $5 for the cruise not each day.

On our last cruise, after the party where free drinks are available, a couple had taken several bottles of beer to the MDR in the ladies purse. They didn't realize that the caps had been loosened. She spent the entire dining time trying to dry out the items in her purse plus what had spilled down her skirt. Not on the ship but watching pier runners, we saw a guy jokingly trying to push his female companion into the water. She grabbed onto him and they both went into the water, along with his camera and her shopping bags. The pilot boat was near and tossed them rings so they could get over to the stairs.

Would like to follow this thread.

I just looked at my balance and realized something was wrong. I checked the total available on the last two $500 cards I had applied and they still showed $500 balance so I re-entered them and they subtracted the $1000 from my balance. Be sure that yours are showing up correctly.

Do you get any charges from your phone carrier when you use the HUB app to message family on cruise with you?

In the past you were able to use a gift card after final payment and have them refund your payment to your credit card. I'm hoping they will still do that.

Don't think you can do this. I asked and the future cruise specialist said the deposit for the future cruise gets charged directly to the credit card they have for your account, but not to your S&S account. I have gotten many AARP gift cards with the 10% off but am figuring how many more to get if I can only pay off the cruise with them but not the deposit.

 

(I know I can redeem gc through the casino but dont want to have that much cash with me, leaving the ship, traveling through the airport.)

You can call anytime before final payment and have the deposit refunded to your credit card by giving them your gift card numbers.

Thanks all the replies. After we pay off the balance, we still have 3 $100 cards for our S&S account. Do you apply these after we board and how do you do that? Like I said, we've never used these before.

Remember you can use them to pay off your deposit and have the charges refunded to your credit card as long as you do it before the final payment date.

Just got off the phone with my TA and he confirmed that my GC could not be applied to my account as it is paid in full, etc. I can use it once I arrive which I will for my gratuities and other stuff.

 

However, I did use one toward my air through Carnival which was quite helpful. And it was still after I made final cruise payment.

 

Will be interesting to see how this process works of taking it onboard with me as I will likely not be purchasing any excursions or other via the website but will use for gratuities and casino.

I was able to use my gift card for my deposit and have the amount refunded to my credit card. My cruise was paid in full. The only stipulation I know of is it has to be before the final payment date. If you are not past that date, I would give the TA another call and have him try it.

For the one that shows they paid $75 in paypal but their emails show they paid $60, that's normal when you pay with a coupon. If you go into paypal and click on the transaction details you will see they took $60 out of your account and applied $15 via the coupon for a total of $75. It shows the same thing when you use the Ebay seller coupons to buy shipping supplies. It's a bit confusing at first but you get use to it.

 

Wish I had seen this yesterday. I just paid $150 on my cruise last night and $200 the day before darn it. That's what I get for not looking here first I guess :mad:

You can apply gift cards and have charges refunded to your credit card until final payment date.

So am I to understand that the $245 deposit I have already paid can be refunded and paid by GC? That's super cool! I assume that means any payments already made cannot be refunded the same way? That's too bad any chance at a cheaper trip is always worth it. :D

Yes you can use the gift card for the deposit and have it refunded to your credit card. I would think that you could do the same with any charges you had paid. I had paid all of my additional charges plus gratuities with the gift cards so I didn't ask about having other charges refunded.

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has experience with these cards. Are you able to make payments to a S&S card with these? Or make payments to an existing cruise? I have tried to read the fine print online but I am just afraid that it will say one thing but really be another. Thank you in advance.

You can also use them to cover your deposit even if you originally charged it to a credit card. I received a $500 card today and called and they refunded the deposit to my credit card and applied the gift card for the deposit. They cruise was already paid in full. She did make a comment that sounds like you can do this up until final payment date.

Just sent in a price protection form and was approved within five minutes. Got $40 OBC.

How long do these take to arrive on average? My final payment is Mondah and I'm thinking it may be too late.

I think I remember someone using them retroactively to cover the deposit they had already paid.