Schoifmom

I don't know what your timetable is like, but we always put our luggage out the night before and then stay on the ship as long as possible.  This makes getting an elevator easier.  Also, you might consider using forward or aft elevators and going to the appropriate debarkation floor, as the central elevators always seem to be the ones that are the busiest.  We did just debark off the Spirit and went down during early debarkation, though, and had no issues whatsoever.

20 hours ago, cruizinisthebest said:

They don't add them back on when they apply grats to everyone's account?

No.  Basically, removing prepaid grats is the same as removing the grats that are automatically applied to your S&S.  This is ONLY if you have the prepaids removed while on board.  If you remove them prior to sailing, then they will add the grats to your S&S account just like everyone else's.

The HUB is your best option for deck plans while you are on board.  

20 hours ago, ElCrapyTan said:

 

You can - it becomes refundable OBC.

^^^^ I came here to say this!

🤪😂😜

6 minutes ago, MadManOfBethesda said:

On a somewhat related note, I've come across a couple of other items that are new to us: 1) there are no cards to hang on your doorknob the night before when ordering room service for the following morning. You can call the night before (which we did) or use the app. We've used the cards on all of our previous cruises, including our most recent cruise on Pride two months ago. Interestingly, our room steward informed me that they haven't been available on Legend since before the pandemic.

If you've seen those recently, you shouldn't have.  They did away with those post pandemic and they are never coming back.  

3 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

Since you've already purchased wifi, then pretty much any texting service that operates over the internet will work. iMessage if you & the other person have iPhones. WhatsApps, facebook messenger, etc. You can even make voice calls on some of them. Just remember the wifi service isn't always the greatest at all times and you might be limited depending on which wifi package you purchased.

I completely understand that.  We are looking for a method of the hospital calling DH.  They are not going to be using any messaging apps.  I think that the method of simply turning off data and taking the hit for any phone calls received is likely the way to go.

I'm 99% positive I know the answer to this, but I wanted to see if anyone had any creative ideas.  DH's brother is critically ill and DH is his medical POA.  We leave for Alaska next week.  Is there a good way to receive phone calls on board?  I know that Carnival has disabled wifi calling and we don't want a huge Cellular at Sea bill for data (we have a wifi plan already purchased).  Any creative ideas out there?

ETA - We are on T-Mobile, if that matters to anyone.

On 8/9/2023 at 12:29 AM, Oldgoat61 said:

My wife and I always use carry on, no matter how long the cruise.  We were on the Dream last Oct. and we left our luggage in front of our cabin.  I had the same question before we sailed.  After we dropped our luggage off, we found out that Carnival will keep it in a safe spot for you, you don't have to lug it around.  All you have to do is ASK!

Yeah, you can do that.  You shouldn't do that.  Leaving your luggage at your room when you aren't entitled to that privilege is just slowing things down for everyone.  It's in the steward's way.  They have to take the time to put that "in a safe spot" for you.  Be more considerate, please.

It's back up now.

24 minutes ago, ladysail2 said:

I’ll wait for the FCC certificate, I’m sure it will spell out the official rules.  
Thanks!  😊

You don't get a certificate.  It just sits on your account.  You have 12 months to book, 24 months to sail.

18 hours ago, LovesAllTravel said:

Hi all, I'm sailing on a $100 pp casino offer in October. DH is the 2nd guest, he's now unable to go. Based on your experiences, should I: check him in as if he's going so the reservation doesn't get bumped? Or not check him in? Alert them at all that he's a no show until I show up at the port?

 

 

Don't, I repeat, don't (I can't stress this enough) say to anyone at any time that he is not coming.  If asked, simply state that he's coming later.  I have seen anecdotal evidence that doing so will cause them to cancel him at the port and you would then be subject to a single supplement added to your S&S.  Just keep the information to yourself.

On 8/6/2023 at 10:37 AM, latebloomer56 said:

This is all new to us. Only waited once in 20+ cruises on NCL, the doors were closed and we waited near by because it was close to the time we could enter. We will check the large suitcase with all our clothes but we will both have a carry on with the recommended fan, soda, wine (special type for sail away) and our machines, which we never put in checked bags.

So reading this I see it is suggested we find a seat and of course if it is at a food venue we wouldn't wait there after we are done. However we can sit in other areas (hopefully in the shade) for what could be a long wait. Our check out time in 11:00AM and the walk is 5-10 minutes from port. Will take check in between 11:30-12:30 if available, though if we find something to do will leave luggage at hotel and look at later times.

If I am reading this post correctly this should work.

You could also see if your hotel offers a late check-out.

On 8/6/2023 at 10:01 AM, AFS1970 said:

I am somewhat in doubt of the need for a carry on aboard a ship. On an airplane, this is for the few things that I might need on the flight, which for the most part is reading material and maybe a few snacks. As technology had made reading and other entertainment into smaller devices and the ship is full of snacks, I am not sure unless I was coming right from the airport that I would need to have a separate carry on when boarding a ship. If I do have one, it will be small and likely a backpack.

 

On a recent hotel trip I noticed a lot of people gathering in the lobby with a week's worth of luggage, some keeping hold of the wheeled carts that are in limited supply. Most sating areas had available seats that were blocked by piles of luggage. I can only imagine what it would have been like if others had wanted to sit down.

Good for you.  I'm assuming that you don't have any travel documents, medications, medical devices, a need to access sun screen, etc.

In Ketchikan, you can scooter over to the Lumberjack show and the arena is very scooter friendly.  

On 8/4/2023 at 4:06 PM, kokopelli-az said:

It depends on where you board.   Out of 49 cruises, we have only had the scooter available outside the terminal building twice.    It sure was nice!    All other times it's in our stateroom.   Scootaround will have instructions where your scooter can be picked up on the confirmation you get from them.

Our experience with this has been on only one cruise line and only POST-RESTART, but at multiple ports.  Again YMMV.

On 7/27/2023 at 10:38 PM, kokopelli-az said:

Maybe.   Our experience post-covid has been all over the board.   From the scooter being in the room when we got there to it not being delivered until later.   Hopefully your sister's will be in the room early.   Pre-covid the scooter was always in the room when we got there (and we always board early).  

 

I would confirm that with Scootaround.  On all of our cruises post-covid (on Carnival), DH has been able to pick his up before entering the port building and use it to board.

On 7/15/2023 at 3:25 PM, FastShip24 said:

Aren't the stations taller where you place the bottle under the spout without touching anything,?

These aren't the bottle filling stations that you are thinking of.  These have the push to dispense spout similar to what is pictured below.

On 7/13/2023 at 8:59 AM, Sailor00000 said:

Hi! We will be sailing on the Carnival Vista in two weeks. My son drinks lactose free milk. Do you know if they carry it? If not, do I need to call special services to attempt to bring it on? Thanks

I think we need to recognize the difference between lactose-free milk and alternative milks (coming from someone else who is lactose intolerant 🙂).  Carnival does not have lactose-free milk; however, they do offer alternative milks.  If he is set on lactose-free milk, he should buy the shelf-stable cartons and use those as his non-alcoholic beverage allowance.  He can carry on up to 12 (per person) of 12oz or less each as long as they are in cans or cartons (no bottles).  No pre-approval necessary unless he requires more than the allotted quantity.

2 hours ago, leen50 said:

Every port of departure is different, even if the rules are the same.

Milk would fall into the "non-alcoholic beverage" portion of the beverage policy, meaning that you can carry on up to 12 cans/cartons of 12oz or less per person.  I'm not sure where you were going with your comment about the difference in ports of departure.  

43 minutes ago, Terry in NJ said:

I'm new to the Carnival cheers package. Does Carnival offer sales on it, besides the 10% presale discount? Royal Caribbean sporadically offers sales on their beverage packages, like on Black Friday for example.  Thanks!

No.  I have seen a rare coupon code for Black Friday (I think), but never count on seeing one again.

That seems to be exactly how it was when I received an e-gift card as a refund from Carnival.

Yes, bottled water is included in your Cheers, which starts on day 2 from Galveston.  You can get an alcoholic drink and a bottle of water at the same time (no cooling off period) from the bars.  Your 15 drink per day limit is only for alcoholic drinks, so it does not apply to water.

You can use your gift cards to purchase Cheers online.  When you go to check out, simply enter your gift cards as the method of payment (you will likely have to toggle from credit card to gift card).  I believe that there is a limit of 5 gift cards to be entered for an online purchase.  You can also call the Fun Shops to order, but they used to not be able to take gift cards for purchases over the phone (I don't know if that has changed, as I've never done it).

On 6/23/2023 at 6:00 PM, Guindalf said:

We're headed to Alaska in early September and are flying in to Seattle from Atlanta the day before.

 

Looking at transfers from the hotel (Doubletree at SeaTac airport), I called Seattle Express to see what arrangements I needed to make for my mobility scooter. Imagine my shock when I found out that they wanted to charge me an extra $25 for the 45 minute trip from hotel to port! That makes a total of $75.

 

Insane. Since when when is it acceptable to charge extra for handicapped facilities? 

Interesting.  I just booked Seattle Express for my upcoming Alaskan. I did book online.  It asked if we were traveling with a scooter and, based on your experience, I clicked yes just to see what happened.  It then asked if the scooter was over 100 pounds.  If yes, there was an extra charge noted.  If no, then there was no extra charge.  So, they are not charging extra just to transport a scooter, they are charging extra for handling and overweight item.

My guess is that they weren't offered Cheers at that specific price, what they were offered was a promotional rate for the cabin which included Cheers and was $400 more than the rate that they were originally looking at.  We have taken advantage of one of those promotional rates in the past.  They aren't offered to everyone and they don't get repeated very often.