trulytracy

Okay, the weirdest thing just happened!

We awoke to the Captain announcing the ship turnaround and the evacuation. We discuss for a bit and then I get up to go to the bathroom. I walk into the open closet area which is where the bathroom door is and the light automatically goes on, and there in front of the bathroom door is....a sea bird!

Yes, we had been sleeping with our balcony door partly open. We know you aren't supposed to. But yesterday we were talking to some people and they said how their room is so creaky at night, but opening the door a bit equalizes the pressure a bit and makes it less creaky, so we did it, too. Plus, we like the sound of the ocean. Back to the main story.

So I gasp! My gasp makes the bird jump a bit and I back away and say something like, "Oh, my god!" and my husband goes, "What? WHAT?" and I just tell him to look. He tells me later he expected to see an overflowing toilet. The funny thing is that last night when we chose to leave the door open, my husband said, "A seagull will probably fly in," and I said, "Yeah, right. There's seagulls all the way out here. Sure."

As we discussed what to do, the poor scared bird went into the closet way into the back between my backpack and the shelf cabinet, so I got a towel, herded it out a bit, and then wrapped the towel around his (or her) body and took him out onto the balcony and closed the door. But then it seemed to be desperately trying to get back in...running along the glass door and sort of gently pecking at the glass. We were watching this wondering what was going on, when it slipped under the balcony divider to our neighbor's balcony and hasn't been seen again. I wondered if I should have given it some fresh water. It was a matter of maybe 1 minute between the time we put the bird outside and it disappearing, so we didn't have time to make a scientific decision.

It wasn't a white seagull. It was a brown pattern with a long pointy beak with black spots on it, and pink webbed feet. Duck-sized. I'm worried for it now.

17 hours ago, gsmith2424 said:

Has anyone else noticed a credit for Port Fees/Taxes on your folio for this cruise? We got one for almost $20 and have no idea why. Wanted to see if anyone else has seen this and if so they know the reason.

We are onboard and we have that credit. Don’t know what it is for. 

On 4/21/2023 at 3:16 PM, RivieraRampage86 said:

Good afternoon all, I completed the status match form on April 19 in the PM. Woke up the next morning to an email confirming my Hilton Honors Diamond status matched to Voyager's Club Diamond status.

The process was quick and easy.

I did the same thing a couple of months ago and got the email, no problem. The problem is when I go to add it to my 2 existing reservations. On the website, I go to the MSC Voyagers Club tab, click the toggle that says, "Are you an existing MSC Voyager Club Member?" enter my number from the email, and it says "There is an error in your MSC Voyagers Club Number." I've tried entering it every which way and it won't take. Has anyone else experienced this and have a fix?

Here's a problem with the Cunard website that, I bet, I am one of very few who have discovered it. But it is annoying!

I want to check my booking. I enter my booking number, my first name, my last name. And then I get to my birthday. I select February. Next I go to the date....pull down and it goes 1 through 28. No 29. My birthday is February 29. Then I go to the year and select my year of birth. Then I go back to the date and a 29 has magically appeared. Why??? If I were born on April 12, I would be allowed to choose April 13 by mistake. Why are us leap-year babies being persecuted??!!  😉

1 hour ago, Hogladyrider said:

Gonna be hard to reach that 15 count!

No way she can do it.

Greatly enjoying this review and feeling inspired to try all the drinks. We get on the Liberty when Megan gets off. This is getting me excited!

Hilarious. I got one, too, for September. But I never received an email telling me about our ship change from the Horizon to Liberty for our cruise leaving this Sunday. Carnival's email system needs work.

17 minutes ago, abby1257 said:

Well....I saw on the news a couple of days ago, the covid numbers have increased 950% ALONE IN FLORIDA in just 1 week....so higher now....SO.. my guess (and only my guess) is that I won't have to cancel my March cruise....it will be cancelled for me.....and then to be followed by my Alaska cruise in May.....happy cruising

I would keep an open mind on that. Omicron seems to hit a country hard with a big wave that then subsides kind of quickly....maybe 6 weeks? March may be back to case levels more similar to November.

Not trivia! They must be really short-staffed if they have to cancel something as simple as that.

We booked an inside cabin with the free drink package on the Horizon in January. A few weeks ago we were randomly upgraded to an oceanview with 2 bathrooms. Then we got moved to the Liberty with room TBA. Just last night I noticed we were assigned a balcony on 6.  I’m thrilled!

3 hours ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

I agree that customers will adjust if they have to.  We’ve seen examples all over that went non-smoking.  But to say they are making money unless casino is entirely empty is like saying McDonald’s can make money selling one cheeseburger.  All businesses rely on volumes of customers.  It takes a lot of volume just to break even before making money.  And if the profits decline in the casinos they will just make up the money elsewhere with higher drink prices, more pay dining venues, higher spa packages, and even higher fares. The revenue and profits will to come from somewhere. 

I am a non-smoker who would love to try out the casino if it didn't stink in there. This is my chance. There must be more like me.

My $200 (and Cheers package) is showing for the 1/16 cruise but we don't have a room assigned yet.

11 hours ago, RhinoMomIL said:

Thank you! Can you buy refreshments at all? 

2 hours ago, thewynn said:

From what I've seen on YouTube videos it costs $75 for 2 chairs and umbrella. I've not been there, I just have been researching for our upcoming trip.

There were no refreshments right by us, but a short walk gets you to the resort. As for the cost of the chairs, on our cruise there was an excursion that was $68 (I think) per COUPLE to get two chairs, an umbrella, and a welcome drink. I also saw someone post that they didn't buy the excursion, went to the resort, plopped down in chairs and paid nothing. We didn't need chairs and had brought our own water, so we didn't investigate further.

2 hours ago, RhinoMomIL said:

Is there a place to rent a couple of chairs with an umbrella?

The public beach is basically a continuation of the resort beach. On the day we were there, there were about a million empty chairs with umbrellas but not knowing the situation, we didn't take any. I would guess that if you wanted to rent chairs you definitely could and they might even be free.

20 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Do what?

Put an unvaxxed passenger at a group table.

7 hours ago, nlktx49 said:

I think the woman was trying to be funny in a very inappropriate way. Carnival is not giving any exemptions for people who are not vaccinated, either for medical or "religious" reasons, only a very few children who are too young to be vaccinated. When I asked John Heald about the social distancing rule for unvaccinated passengers, how were we to know who was unvaccinated, he replied, oh, we know who's unvaccinated. I took that to mean no one. Have you heard of anyone unvaccinated who was given an exemption by Carnival to cruise? Certainly no one on CC has posted about it. All I hear are the unvaccinated who are irate because they aren't allowed on a ship. Now I wait for the replies wanting me to provide a genuine, certified, notarized letter from Carnival management validating my reply. If the OP had really thought this woman was telling the truth, don't you think she would have reported her to officials on the ship?

She wasn't being funny. She was a young woman--about 24--traveling with her grandmother. This was our 2nd or 3rd dinner with them and our first stop at a port. They asked us what we had done and then we asked them and they said they had stayed on the ship. Then the grandma leaned over and indicated her granddaughter and said, "She's not vaccinated and can't leave the ship."  I said something like, "Oh! You got an exemption?" and that's when the granddaughter made her comment. The grandmother seemed annoyed that her granddaughter wasn't vaccinated. And at this point we had learned enough about the granddaughter's general outlook on life that it made sense.

We were assigned to a group table on our September cruise and were dismayed to find out that one of the women at our table was unvaxxed and on the ship using a "religious exemption" (she put the words in air quotes as she told us and laughed.)  We didn't go back after that. I was surprised that Carnival would do that.

We rode the free shuttle to the public beach and just spread out our towels on the sand. We spent a lovely 3 hours or so floating in the clear water with a nice sandy bottom. If you love the beach, this is a nice simple stop.

Yes! And the drinks you want.

I have a Cheers-included rate leaving Saturday on the Horizon. Yesterday I was on the phone for 3 hours and 20 minutes trying to go from an inside cabin to a balcony. Balconies are currently priced lower than what I paid for the interior. They wouldn't do it without me losing Cheers and adding it manually was going to cost me $500 more than what I had paid.

It's frustrating because people are sailing for next to nothing. I guess this is a case where ignorance would be bliss. In any case, we will still have a great time.

In the booking email you received, scroll down to the "Itemized Charges". At the bottom of that box it should say, "Cheers is included in your offer."

Please keep the posts coming! Very enjoyable.

I sighed and opened this thread to hear another barrage of complaints and was very pleasantly surprised! Such a fun read!

We had this booked for our upcoming cruise but ultimately decided to cancel it. I just think it is way overpriced for what you get and compared to other cabanas. They don't look private at all. They do seem to provide some shade if you sit inside, but not complete shade. I SCOURED the internet looking for info on these cabanas and all I found at one point was another visual of them which only seemed to confirm that they are pictured accurately and there isn't any hidden features to it.

I'm someone who will happily spend money for next to nothing, but even I couldn't drop $400 on this. We got better cabanas on our other two stops (for less money) and will do something else on Bimini. However, if you go for it, please enjoy and post pictures!

29 minutes ago, vintagegarage said:

If you haven't been following the trip reports form Carnival Magic, August 7, 2021, today we were in Bimini.  The last page in the Roll Call topic has three dozen photos from Bimini today and information about Bimini.  Please have a look at:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2785688-carnival-magic-august-7-2021

 

Page 2 has some information about embarkation and the first sea day.  Page 3 covers Half Moon Cay, Nassau, and then Bimini at the end.

Thanks so much for this! Your photos were great. My daughter and I would like to steal your idea and walk in your footsteps. Did you get off the ship and start walking from there or did you get a start on a tram? Also, it looked like you were walking on a path that was a bit away from the beach. Would it be possible to cover the same distance walking along the water or is it private property? About how long did your walk take? 

I appreciate your time if you get a chance to answer, but in any case, you've inspired us!

For our September 12 Horizon sailing, the excursions dribbled out over time. Currently, we have 44 showing for Amber Cove, 2 for Bimini, and none for Half Moon Cay.

Thanks so much for posting all of these great pics! It's giving me a great thread to focus on while I wait for our September Horizon cruise.