webzila

If you look at Carnival price up front vs others without actually doing a mock booking it may seem like a lot more because doesn't Carnival always show the full price including taxes?

Taxes in Alaska are much much higher than other places.

We just booked an Alaska cruise and our taxes were about $200 per person

I loved the system on Royal Caribbean. You just use a tablet, scan your card, the pictures find you and you buy the ones you want and they will print after you order.

Maybe some people like it but I don't want to browse all the pictures on the walls just to find ours. Also, don't they waste resources? Worker hours and paper?

We brought some cheap wine with us on the last cruise. It had a twist top so we opened it ourselves. On the last day we still had about half of it (not huge wine drinkers) so we took it to the MDR and they wanted to charge us $15

So per their policy it says $15 per 750 ml bottle.

Our bottle was more like 325 ml on the last day - I wonder if we could have asked them to cut the fee in half :D

In reality, Verizon is not even the one selling the reward based items.

If you read the terms of service, the whole rewards things is operated by the 'Program Manager' which is Destination Rewards, Inc

I am sure either one is not purposely trying to 'screw' anyone by making the Carnival gift cards un-available.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/smart-rewards-legal/

Has anyone tried booking a cruise through the Verizon rewards site?

Since they are out of gift cards I helped my parents book a whole cruise through them applying reward points. It came out to be $15 less per person than the same exact thing on Carnival site.

The amount is not huge but anything counts..

Thanks. That's good info.

I checked and Ramada is partnered with the express shuttle and also have a free shuttle from the airport -- $65 sure beats $350 for one night.

Thanks for the response. The part about SeaTec airport hotels was my next question. There are a bunch of cheap Inn's around the airport for example Days Inn (19015 Intl Blvd S) or Ramada Limited (13900 International Blvd)

Approx how much would it cost to go there from the airport and then from the Inn to the port?

I can't tell if these places offer the express shuttle you mentioned.

I am looking for some cheap hotels / motels near the Bell St. cruise terminal in Seattle. We just need to spend 1 night there before the cruise so I am looking for the cheapest place to stay in the area.

Any suggestions would be appreciated because I am not familiar with the Seattle area and the cruise port at all there.

Last week, we got off the ship at 7:50 and were in our car by 8 AM.

No pushing, no lines, etc...and we are not platinum...

You need WiFi to sync with the phone? I don't know about fitbit but I thought that it syncs via bluetooth to the phone. Then to sync up with their servers you need internet. Thats how it is with Withings which is a similar device

There are a couple of basics that I never would have thought of until I read posts on this site.

 

Food in MDR is included in the cruise fare with no extra charge.

 

Room service is free - just tip the delivery person.

 

Turn your phone off or at least put it in airplane mode. Calls are very expensive and people tend to blame Carnival but it is not their fault.

 

Anyone can order from the kid's menu in the dining room. The banana splits are good.

 

All Carnival recommended shops in the ports pay Carnival a fee every time a ship comes in. Maybe you could do better elsewhere.

 

The inch of gold is not gold. It is a cheap coating. It would be good for kids. If you buy, just be aware of that.

 

If you see a cheaper price for liquor in the ports than on the ship, try to get a picture of the price and Carnival will match it. I say "try" because lots of shop employees will stop you.

 

There is tea time on every sea day on every ship. Everyone should try it at least once.

 

Lots of places on the ship, especially the Promenade, are cold. So even if you're going somewhere hot, bring a sweater.

 

Don't use your phone as a clock. You will stay on ship time and the phone may change to the local time. Make sure you know what time your excursions end, especially if they're on your own, so you can make it back to the ship on time.

 

I should have put this first. Talk with the ship staff. The waiters and room stewards especially want to talk about their home and families. It is very interesting and you could learn something.

 

It is room steward and not room stewart.

 

The most important thing to bring on board is a good attitude. Nothing in this life is perfect and something may not go as planned on the cruise. You're on the ship for a week, or whatever, and are not buying it. Make the best of the situation. If something more serious does come up, go to Guest Services and try to resolve it and don't complain about it here after the cruise.

 

Have fun!

We always use our phones as clocks. Just disable the option to use network time and it wont switch. I guess thats a tip :)

I think it depends. For example this upcoming Saturday Feb 14 it will be at terminal 2 and Freedom will be at terminal 1

What about the shore excursions? Any insight into what you were able to do with a toddler? (I'll also have an infant so I'm sure we'll be further limited). I saw a glass bottom boat on one of the ports so I'm thinking that's easy enough to do with a kid. May just be beach time the other port days but it'd be good to hear about experiences and beach recommendations.

Last trip to Cozumel with our then 2 yr old we went to Playa Mia. We went on our own, no ship excursion. It was much cheaper and faster since we did not have to wait for others. We got to the beach before most other excursions going there and left on our own whenever our kid got tired.

Going there and back we got a taxi van and were able to put the unfolded stroller right in the back.

1. You don't have to register for all days right away but dropping off without reservation depends on their availability since they have a limit as to how many kids they can watch. Also, there is a limit to how many hours you can reserve up front on the first day.

2. Stroller is fine as long as its not huge. We had one and so did a lot of others

3. Borrowing toys is free

4. There are no DVD players in rooms. We brought a portable DVD player.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

Pretty sure it's all been covered in the existing threads about these cards

 

Thing with cruise cash is it is non-refundable. Why use a gift card to buy cash that you have to use. The gift card doesn't expire and if you don't use it all, you get to keep it for the next cruise.

 

I just can't see any reason to purchase cruise cash.

 

But if you really want cruise cash you can purchase that with your Verizon rewards, just like you can the eGift card. No need to buy the ecard and then use it to buy cruise cash. Maybe I'm missing something. :confused:

If you know that you will spend money on board and you know that you will meet or exceed the amount of cruise cash that you are purchasing then what is wrong with buying it?

Now if there was no 10% off then yes, buying a gift card just to get cruise cash would not make sense but since VZW is selling these at 10% off then it makes perfect sense to me. If you know for sure that you will spend $300 then buy 3 x $100 gift cards and buy $300 worth of cruise cash for $270 saving $30

Good thing the OP is just posting an opinion. Everyone has one.

Personally I like RCCL ships and program better but that is my opinion and doesnt mean that I don't like Carnival. I will cruise on anything :)

I wonder if the nursery changed their hours. We dropped off our kid there daily between 5:30 and 6 pm and there were already kids there.

I can confirm the closure from 12 - 2 on sea days only but during that time you can go and use the nursery for free play.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

I am going on Carnival cruise to Progresso and Cozumel between Christmas and NY's. I HAVE HEARD SOME DISTURBING STORIES ABOUT THIS SHIP. tell:) ME WHAT TO EXPECT!

What disturbing stories did you hear?

We have been on the Triumph twice since the last dry dock and no problems.

I'm with you. Worse port ever. If i want to see a "border town" I'll just drive down to South Texas and cross over. If I want to see murky brownish-blueish water I just drive 50 miles to Galveston.

 

The best thing about Progresso was leaving.

Border town? What does Progresso / Merida border?

I am guessing you have never even been to a border town...

Worst port I have ever visited. The town is squalor. I cannot understand why a cruise ship would stop at Progreso.

I am used to the locals pimping what they are selling in the ports, but, the locals at this port take it to a higher level of rudeness and disrespect.

People just don't understand...

Progresso is just a small port and is more like a village. The stop is more about surrounding area. A lot of history, Mayan ruins and Merida. Have you been to Merida? Great city, lots of things to see...

I don't like touristy places so I think this stop is awesome.

Been to both. I would have to say that Chichen Itza has the best ruins I have seen at all sites we have been to. Tulum is not bad either but the ruins are not as great but there is an awesome beach.

I am just curious about the different ways that luggage may get lost at a cruise terminal other than possibly being delivered to the wrong room.

Are there cases where they simply leave a bag in the terminal and not load it on a ship at all? I would imagine that there should be some safety checks in place to make it impossible to completely loose a piece of luggage in a contained area.

Umm...I just throw the pills I need in a zip lock bag. No bottle or label.

Never had any issues on a cruise or airport (carry on)

Based on my experience, TA's perks are based on the total cost of the cruise and the line you are traveling on and from what I have seen most don't like to deal with Carnival or offer anything.

My parents just booked a 7 day Carnival cruise and chose to use a TA and only got $25 OBC.

Costco travel doesn't even offer anything for Carnival.

I always just book Carnival direct.

Now for other lines it may make a difference. Our last cruise on RCCL the TA was able to give us an extra $250 OBC that I would not have received if booking directly.

Why are the cove balcony rooms the cheapest out of all balcony categories?

To me it seems like the cove balcony is better than the ones higher up.