csm5986142

We are booked on a cruise for Thanksgiving and have gotten "upgrade offers" to go from a cove balcony to a balcony on a higher deck for $120. This is a terrible deal in our opinion. Back when we booked this cruise, we could have booked a balcony on a higher floor for $30 more, but we prefer cove balconies. According to Carnival (this is actually written on our offer) - "higher decks are always better". I disagree, I'd rather be closer to the water, but as a shareholder, I like this marketing strategy. 😄

Well we won't be doing that again - it was nothing but confusion. We arrived at the meeting location (specified on the website) at about 10:30 for our 11:00 shuttle. We started to get concerned when we could only find a large group of Princess cruisers along with their rep. Finally, I happened to see another passenger had a Carnival boarding pass, so we asked if they were looking for the carnival shuttle. It turned out there were 8 of us (4 couples) looking for the Carnival shuttle. Finally at 10:58 a Carnival rep approached us and told us we were in the wrong location (completely wrong terminal) and asked who told us to meet there, and we all replied, "your website". Then we found out my husband and I were not on the list for the shuttle. I showed him the screenshot confirmation from when I purchased the transportation, along with the charge to our credit card, so they agreed to let us on. He then took us on a 25 minute walk and train ride through JFK and out to a bus full of passengers who had been waiting for us. At 11:40 we finally departed JFK. It's ironic because in over 35 cruises we almost always do uber/lyft but I chose carnival transportation this time because I'm not familiar with JFK/New York at all, and I thought it would be easier. 😄 Lesson learned.

We purchased Carnival transportation from the airport to the ship. How do we know when/where to meet and details like that? I was expecting an email or details in our account, but we leave in a few days and haven't heard anything yet.

I'm in the minority here in that I love the Havana area on the Excel class ships. We typically sail at popular times when the ships are full (holidays, school breaks, etc.) and I love the fact you can count on being able to find plenty of lounge chairs in a calm, quiet environment with no children. Of course it varies by sailing, but in our case even when the ship was sold out, the Havana area was never crowded - we could go out anytime of the day and at least half the chairs would be available. Although the Havana Bar can certainly be loud, it never bothered us in the room. And again, loved the fact that (in our experience) there were no kids running up/down the halls and screaming - that bothers me more than club noise. And we never heard any theater noise (but we don't spend a lot of time in the cabin either). Regarding your question on the room size, it is my understanding that all of the interior rooms are the same size, however, there are a handful of square interior room in the Havana area and we prefer them over the traditional. Granted, if you want to get in some serious swimming, the pool is too small, and there are no hot tubs. Since we never use the pools/hot tubs on the ship, it's perfect for us.

We have done that in reverse - went from Port Canaveral to Port of Miami. We did the platinum priority debarkation, and were within the first 20 people off the ship. The complimentary rental car shuttle was waiting for us in the parking lot and we left as soon as we boarded. There was no wait at the rental car agency and we were quickly done with paperwork and on the road. Everything went so much more quickly/smoothly than I expected. The freeway traffic was absolutely insane - I can't believe how people drive on the freeways between Orlando and Miami (before that I thought California freeways were bad). 😄

We received the fanny pack 3 weeks ago on Luminosa.

We only had 2 formal nights on our 16 day Panama canal cruise last fall.

I agree, we cruise out of long beach at least once a year and Uber/Lyft has always been the lowest price for us (and we fly in and out of both LAX and LGB). The ride share lot is kind of a pain at LAX since you have to either walk or shuttle to it. If you don't have much luggage (we only travel with carry-ons) I honestly think it's easier to just walk (but I hate crowded shuttles).

We were moved (with no explanation as to why) from a square interior cabin for 2, to an interior cabin for 4 (even though there were just 2 of us). It was supposedly one category better, but we couldn't figure out how (and we prefer square to regular shape cabins). Not a big deal. It was the sold out (2nd sailing) of the Jubilee on New Year's Eve, so we were just happy to be on the ship. But it does happen.

We were on an Alaska cruise the first week of August last year and the weather was incredibly nice. We were wearing tank tops and shorts. However, it is so unpredictable that a cruise the following week had such bad weather/rain/flooding that excursions were canceled. You just never know. We are on luminosa now (we were in Juneau today) and it was cool but mild - we were more than comfortable in jeans and sweatshirts. It's predicted to be a high of 68 degrees tomorrow in Skagway.

Happened to us also, but it was easily resolved with a phone call to customer service. They immediately realized 2 vifp numbers needed to be merged and it was fixed. I feel bad for OP that this has been such a pain, as it sounded to me like it was a fairly common issue.

Yes, just go to guest services and they will give you an extra key card.

This was the deciding factor for us, we chose Panorama when we wanted an 8 day itenerary and Firenze when we wanted 5 days. Our Firenze cruise is not until February, but we have been Panorama several times and it's one of my favorite Carnival ships (out of 34 carnival cruises). It is one of the most clean, well-maintained ships I have been on. Last summer we were on Panorama and her Sister ship, Vista, within weeks of each other, and it was amazing what a difference good maintenance makes. Vista was in terrible shape by comparison.

I totally agree with you (and I know I'm in the minority here (liking the Havana area on the Excel class ships). We travel at popular times when the ship is fully booked (Christmas break, spring break, etc.) and I loved how calm and quiet the Havana area was when the rest of the ship was crazy busy. Not only are there no kids under 12, but I didn't see any teens either (it's too quiet and boring for them).😄 The loungers were never full (usually about 50%). I don't swim in any of the pools so the fact that many people don't like the pool area is a bonus for me! It all depends on what you like - I want a quiet place where I can rest, read, and relax w/no kids, and it was perfect for that. We also love the location on deck 8.

We were booked in one of those on the Jubilee and Carnival didn't even offer us an upgrade, they just took it away from us and sent us an email saying we'd been reassigned. 😒 We love the square rooms on the Excel class ships too!

You will have a great time - San Francisco is one of my favorite ports! We always check both SFO and OAK airports as they are almost the same driving time to the port, and for us OAK is so much simpler and has better nonstop flights for our area. We flew into OAK (loved the Uber pick up there, so easy and not chaotic and crowded at all like I expected) and out of SFO. We love to be able to walk to port the morning of our cruise, and that is very doable at this port. We stayed at the RIU Fisherman's Warf. We loved both the hotel and the location. The evening before our cruise we walked down the Fisherman's Warf/Cruise Terminal area for dinner and had a great time. The morning of our cruise I even had time to take a quick jog down to the port area before the rest of my family woke up and I felt perfectly safe (another thing I worried about after hearing stories about San Francisco). Sorry, back to your original question, we did not use cruise transportation on that trip, but we have in the past. It's very easy - no complaints. The only downside for us was having to sit and wait about 30 minutes for all the a passengers to arrive but we always allow plenty of time at the airport so not a big deal.

We have been on many Carnival cruises, but none where the ship is in the same port the entire cruise. We have an upcoming cruise booked where Venezia is in Bermuda for 3 days in a row. The way it is listed on the itenerary (pasted below) makes me think we can come and go from the ship anytime within that 3-day timeframe (but I could be wrong). I will call carnival to find out for sure, but I'm curious if others have had this experience, how it worked? Were there certain hours you could get on/off the ship? But more importantly, I'm curious what types of activities/excursions you planned? We really like "dayuse" golf and/or spa resorts, but I'm not finding any available. We've never been to Bermuda before and I'm having a hard time planning for the (nearly) 3 days we are there. I was surprised that there are very few Carnival sponsored excursions as well. I am also reading the Bermuda "port of call" board, but this situation is a bit unique - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The same thing just happened us. We did a 9 day NCL Mediterranean cruise (went over a few days early to spend some time in Barcelona, so gone 2 weeks total). We also caught covid (not a big deal it was my 4th time) but it was kind of sad to not be able to smell or taste for 3 days in Italy (when everyone was saying the food was amazing). On the trip home (12 hour flight & 2 3-hour flights), my ear hurt so badly I thought my eardrum might rupture. So I totally understand how you feel - there is no way I could do another international trip anytime soon. I would cancel. We are booked out of Barcelona again in the fall of 2025 and I will probably be excited by the time it rolls around, but right now, I don't even want to think about it. I'm exhausted, jet lagged, and still recovering from being sick.

The Mardi Gras is so much better than Vista (in every way I can think of) that I would agree (I wouldn't even care the itenerary).

Yes! We tested this out recently - my mom and I both got in line (me in the plat/diamond line and my mom in the regular line). She got through quicker. 😆 We were just trying to find something in lost and found so not a big deal, but thought it was funny.

Unfortunately I fell asleep. 🙂 I had tried again just after 11 pm and it still didn't work. I checked in when I woke up this morning at 6:15 am.

We've been on 35 cruises with Carnival and for as long as I can remember, I have been able to check in at exactly 9 pm (midnight Eastern) 16 days prior to embarkation (being platinum/diamond) but tonight, for the first time, it's not working for me. I'm getting the same error that was posted above. We are sailing out of Seattle, so I guess I'll try again at midnight here on the west coast (or just wait until tomorrow morning).

This is correct - and it's confusing the way Carnival lists it (I see why people think it's a Havana guarantee) but I've heard multiple stories of people who think they've booked a inside guarantee in the Havana area but ended up elsewhere. Several years ago I almost did the same thing on Panorama, but fortunately I ended up calling Carnival and got a really good representative who explained we would not end up in the Havana section if we booked it.

We have done 32 cruises with Carnival and in our experience, booking early has been better. We are already booked on the Mardi Gras TA October 2025.

Another vote for Celebration. We've really enjoyed both ships, but Celebration has more options (more "included in fare" dining venues, more comedy shows, center stage in addition to the standard theater, etc). I do like the Imax theater on Horizon though.