leaski

I think most people forget where this all came about. The perk of having your stateroom ready upon embarkation came about when FTTF rolled out. It is part of that program, but it was extended to Platinum and Diamond guests. In the beginning, not every ship offered FTTF, so it had been stated that ONLY if the ship had FTTF guests, could anybody go to their room prior to 1:30. This is why suite guests do not get this. Unless, of course, they are platinum, or diamond. Over time, it has morphed into a P & D perk, when in fact it is not. This is also why it is not listed on the perks for P & D guests.

Was on the Vista in early September and could not access our room until 1:30 even though we had selected early boarding and are platinum cardholders.

We were told that this past April. so we walked to the door, pulled it open, and walked to our room. Room steward greeted us, and introduced himself. We asked if it was Ok to be there, he said, "oh yes. Sure, sure!" All we needed to know. Dropped our stuff, and went back up on deck. Don't ask. You're allowed to, and you know it. So just do it, already. No need to beat this dead horse any deader!

It is, and always has been an FTTF perk. It has included Diamonds and Platinums, WHEN AVAILABLE. Meaning, if FTTF is not offered on a particular cruise, then D & P's do not get the perk. It has always been set up that way.

We have always arrived between 10 and 10:30. I like to get the process over with as soon as possible. I don't do well with crowds, so we buzz through early, find a seat and chill till boarding time. At that point we are able to get to Lido, eat and be out of there before the crowds dragging their luggage make their way up there.While people are still boarding, we are off exploring, and most times end up in the room to chill/nap till the muster. Generally, we have been up early and like to rejuvenate ourselves for the first evening on board.

We have been to the port of Norfolk a few times now. We have always parked at the parking garage right across from the terminal. Walked across the street to the terminal, dropped our bags with the attendants, and gone into the terminal. We've never had any problems with rudeness, or chaotic long lines. We generally go early, so maybe that has been why, but Norfolk is actually one of our favorite ports.

So sorry you missed the cruise! We missed the birth of our last grandchild because we were on a cruise. He was 3 weeks early, but her last one was early, so she was concerned, but told us to go anyway. I was a bit hesitant, but she's a big girl, plus she had her hubby by her side. They called us on the ship to tell us, so we went and had a drink to celebrate!:D

Does a drop in the taxes and port fees count for the ES guarantee? Mine has dropped $92. The cruise price has only dropped $40, and I have $50 OBC, so not worth it if it doesn't include the drop in taxes.

Just curios, but what exactly are Packing Cube Sets? :o

You are talking about a small subset of passengers that will cancel because they can't smoke. Besides, if they cancel, where are they going to book? HAL and NCL? Those are the only choices left. Society has moved away from tolerating the nuisance of cigarette smoke.

Only HAL now. NCL recently announced their new policy banning smoking on balconies.

When we choose to cruise, we need to consider both of our jobs and time constraints. Therefore we usually pick a time frame first, then look for something that fits within that time frame. We are people who do not sail for the ports, we sail just to be on a ship, so it does not matter to us which ship it is. Each time it has been Carnival that has offered the best deal, so it is what we have sailed. We are not opposed to another line, but we just have not found a better deal for the time frame, cabin type, cabin location combo we desire. I'm sure some day it will happen. I am sure there are better deals out there on other lines, but they just have not crossed our path yet.

We have enjoyed every cruise we have been on. The lido is loud, so we just don't hang out there. We have had no problem with the food, service, or cabins. On our Hawaii cruise we traveled with my Mom and sister. My Mom was not happy with a lot of the food choices in the MDR, however the rest of us had no problems. (For the record, my mom has traveled many lines, and has stated she likes Carnival food best) It's a personal choice. What works for some, does not work for all. I mostly try to ignore the bashing, but it's the age of the internet where people remove the filters on their mouths, and love to watch the resulting outcome. :(

We have done this twice, and received our luggage within the first 2 hours. The last cruise, we boarded, ate lunch, and went to the room, and 1 of 3 was already there. The other 2 showed up about an hour later. Still much faster than normal without Platinum/FTTF. I wish non-FTTF ships would at least do this for Platinum and up. :p

Lea :)

We were in 8457 (next door) on our cruise to Hawaii. The chair scraping was awful! Started EVERY morning about 5-ish. We are very tolerant people and rarely gripe about annoyances, but by the end of the first week we were so done with it. We would lay in bed making up scenarios of what we would like to go up and do to the people that were responsible. It became our morning dose of comic relief. :o We learned to take naps....every day! :D

As far as soot, we had none at all. It was a nice location, easy access to the lido for morning coffee. :D We also ate at the steakhouse, and absolutely loved it. We are boarding the pride on Sunday and will be making our steakhouse reservation as soon as possible.

I hope you have a wonderful cruise!!

We are pretty patient people ourselves. I would not have paid for this. We always arrived early at the port, so never had a problem with boarding. I avoid crowds as much as possible, so we wait till the first 'wave' has gotten off the ship in ports, and again, never had a problem. If we had an excursion we get our pass, or go when called, and it's been fine. I know a lot of people love this program, but I just don't think it would have been worth it for us.

I will add that the one thing we would have loved about this is that you can go to your room right away. We always bring carry-on luggage and have to wrangle it around while trying to get lunch. Kind of a pain, but we always managed.

I have a healthy immune system, and work at keeping it that way. I absolutely refuse to be paranoid about germs. They are everywhere! You cannot avoid them unless you live in a bubble, and last time I checked, you can't sail in a bubble. ;) I take my chances, and should I get sick, I will deal with it. 10 cruises and I have only been sick once. I must have been exposed prior to the cruise as it hit me the morning of the first sea day.

That being said, if you feel the need to use rubber gloves at the buffet, go for it. It won't affect my enjoyment one bit. :)

We buy several pictures on each cruise. I always get the embarkation and port photos. We also take advantage of the formal night photo ops, and only occasionally the casual ones offered throughout the cruise. The only dining room ones we have gotten were when we went on our family cruise, because there were 10 of us, and opportunities are rare for us to get together. That being said, I was wondering what everyone does with all their photos. Do you display them, put them in an album, stick them in a box, etc? I love my photos, and currently have a few hanging up, and the rest are in an album that sits in the living room, but I was wondering if anyone has any creative ideas I could 'borrow'. :D

I would gladly move up for free. We like being on the higher floors, but are not willing to pay extra for it. If it's offered at the same price, we would take it. :)

We have used it a few times, and been very pleased with the results. It's always come back folded nicely. :)

We got snorkels on Splendor last September for $5. They worked fine for us.

Good review!

 

Just curious why you wanted to share a king size bed with your son rather than having two separate beds. :confused:

Seriously? I would think that would not be your business to even ask. Wow!

We did that trip in mid September. It was definitely cooler, but all we needed were light jackets. It was also very foggy in both Halifax and St. John when we arrived, but it did not stay long. The days warmed up, but still needed long sleeves or the light jacket to be comfortable. We did enjoy ourselves, the people were some of the friendliest we have ever encountered on all of our cruise stops. I would like to take another one some day, but a 7 day that stops in New England also.

Very nice review so far! We will be sailing in a few weeks so I am just enjoying reading all the Pride reviews. It will be my 3rd time on her, but this time we chose to splurge and move up a few decks, and we will also be treating ourselves to the Behind the Fun tour this trip. Can't wait to board! :D

People rave on here about the aft cabins, so we booked one on our Splendor cruise last September. We were pretty disappointed. Some days it was so hot, with no breeze, we just couldn't sit out there. It was a nice view most of the time, but that was about it. We had no problems with soot, but people in one of the afts above us apparently thought it was funny to drop stuff on to our deck at night.:mad: We have decided they are just not for us. I wish you better luck on your aft! :D

We had a great PVP for many years, then she had a baby and left.:( We stuck with the person she had handling her clients while she was on maternity leave, then she left too. :(:(. Now we have a new guy, who is Ok so far. We will see how it goes, but I have no problem dropping, switching, or just doing with out a PVP at this point. ;)

I almost did that once, then I noticed the tax increase. :eek: Not such a good deal anymore. Sorry you didn't catch it, but i'm sure you won't make the same mistake again. Would have been nice if they had told you about it though. :(

In all our cruises, we stayed on the same time, except for when we went to Hawaii. :D