deetrayn

Since I've only sailed out of Galveston one time, I'm not sure if it's an accurate observation. When I'm looking at cruises, they seem to be much higher than NOLA and almost more than Florida. The last time I cruised out of there it was 2011. Unfortunately, unless we take a 2 day drive, we are limited to either port.

I'd say supply and demand. Also, the ships sailing out of Galveston are newer than the ones there when you last sailed. With the Vista moving there next year, I doubt the prices will be going down.

I loved the Sunshine! The only thing I will do different if I sail on her again is not stay on deck 11 or 12. We had a spa balcony on deck 12, and there are only two elevators that get to those decks, and they were very slow.

I've had knee surgery, and still have a problem going up & down stairs, so I had long waits getting to & from my room. Other than that, all was good!

Dee

I wasn't disappointed at all. I went on a B2B on RCCL Jewel of the Seas, and enjoyed it very much. A few months later, I was back on Carnival and had another great time. :)

I love the Alchemy Bar! I try to book cruises that have them because it's pretty much my favorite place to order drinks on the ship. :):)

105 days until the Conquest!

I was on the Freedom 9/10/16 - 9/17/16 and the Meet & Mingle never took place. It was not listed in the Funtimes, and there were no invitations sent to anyone's cabin. And, if one had been scheduled for the last day of the cruise like yours was, I would not have attended. That clearly shows non-interest on Carnival's part. The purpose is to meet people you are cruising with, not meet them when the cruise is just about over. Smh :(

I don't plan on signing up for any future CC Meet & Mingle's.

I would in a heartbeat. I did a B2B on the Breeze last year, and had the same interior cabin for 14 days. :):):)

For me, it would depend on the cruise and who I'm traveling with. I purchased FTTF for my cruise last week on the Freedom. I got it before the price went up, and I might not have gotten it if I had waited. I am so glad I had it for this cruise though. It was my first time sailing out of Galveston, and the worst experience I've ever had at a cruise port.

We had 10:00am check in, arrived shortly after that time. There was no one to direct or help us with our luggage when we got off of the shuttle. We walked around, got in line and were finally told where to go to take our luggage to be checked in. By this time, we were hot/sweaty, knees hurting and did not want to lose our place in line, so we took everything with us to check in.

After going through the check in area, one of the security guards tried to take my friend's bottle of wine. She said it looked open, but the seal was still on it. She then opened it, took it to another security person and said the bottle was open. Well it was at that point because she is the one who opened. After going on with them about it, a supervisor came, sniffed the contents and gave the bottle back to my friend. Smh.

The good thing that came of this was that FTTF saved us from having to lug everything around the ship since our cabins were ready as soon as we got onboard, and we did not have to wait for any luggage to be delivered, since we carried everything with us on the ship. I will not plan any more cruises out of Galveston though.

There definitely is a disconnect somewhere between CC and Carnival. I was on the Freedom Sept 10th sailing, we had more than enough people sign up for the Meet & Mingle. We signed up with our names and cabin numbers so that invitations could be sent. Well, there was nothing in the Funtimes and no invitations sent to the cabins.

We did have a pre-cruise meet & greet in Galveston on the evening before the cruise, and one set up by another group. Nothing for CC though. I think CC should stop having people sign up for Meet & Mingles until this glitch is fixed.

I've only done one B2B and was lucky enough to keep the same cabin BUT, there must have been some type of problem because it did not go smoothly.

 

We had to meet at 8:00 in one the library - several people were doing B2B - some with several children. So, we waited and waited and waited - the kids were out of control - playing board games all over the place and being really loud (blame the parents). Anyway, we sat there until 9:30 with a staff member coming in every 15 - 20 minutes saying we're almost ready..... Finally we were escorted off the ship, through customs & back on.

 

I loved the B2B and would love to do another - At that time the Breeze did a 6 day to Key West & Cozumel (I think) followed by an 8 day Eastern, then an 8 day Southern. There were 2 families that were doing a B2B2B - would have loved that.

The next time you do a B2B, wait until later to show up at the waiting area for the B2B passengers. They will not be ready until everyone else has disembarked the ship. I ate breakfast and hung out on the lido deck until they called for the last passengers to disembark. Then, I headed to the B2B waiting area. I still had to wait there about 20 minutes, but that's better than an hour or more.

Dee

Hi

So I've seen several posts about b2b cruises and had a couple of questions about it.

Do you have to disembark the ship and then get back on? And do you get to keep the same stateroom?

And is it usually the same ports again? Or do they change? Cuz if everything is the same as the week before does it not get boring?

Sorry for the "newbie" questions. I've only been on 2 cruises (3rd ones coming up [emoji322])

 

 

 

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Sorry if this has already been answered. I did a B2B last year on the Breeze. They had all the passengers doing a B2B gather in an area on the ship until all the guest leaving were disembarked. Then they took us off the ship, walked us through customs, then to the terminal where we received our new sign & sail cards. We returned to the ship before the new passengers started boarding.

As far as the ports, it depends on which ship you're on. If you want to have different ports on your 2nd cruise leg, you must book a ship that has an alternating schedule. My B2B was first a 6-day to Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel, followed by an 8-day to Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao and Aruba.

I had the same stateroom for both sailings. If you want the same cabin for both sailings, make sure you check to make sure it is available for both cruise dates your looking at before you book. Enjoy!!! :)

Dee

I'm also single digit dancing!! :D :D

It's getting closer! 31 days!! I can't wait!!

Wow! I hope you got some enjoyment during your vacation. This is one of the reasons I do not cruise during the summer months.

Yes, my aunt and uncle get them all the time. As soon as she receives a free cruise offer, she'll call me or other family members to find out which next cruise we are booked on, and then she books it (providing it's within the time frame the offer is for) using said offer and goes with us.

The rest of us pay regular cruise fares, but we're also not in the casino spending money like my aunt and uncle do. Sometimes they go without us. They are going on the Sunshine next week on a 13 day journey cruise, and only had to pay the taxes and port fees. I'm jealous and wish I was going. Lol

I've been on both ships and would sail on either one of them again.

Booked my 2017 cruises this week. And this is the first time I've had four cruises booked, I love it!! :D:D

We will find out if they are worth it when we sail in September. My family has been booked since last summer and we've got 9200 and 9201. I can't wait!!!

Wow,

I hope everything works well when I go next year in Oct. I've been looking forward to sailing on the Triumph.

I did a b2b on the Breeze in September. I had two bottles of wine in my bag, showed the person my boarding passing for both cruises and he let me take them. I was traveling with a friend who only cruised for the first leg of my b2b and he had his own bottle of wine, so we boarded with 3 bottles.

That's great! Now I just need the Fall 2017 schedule to come out because I don't cruise during the summer months. Lol

Come on September and October 2017 schedules!!! Lol

I sailed on the Sunshine in Sept 2014, and I had a great time. And I would sail on the Sunshine again, I just would choose a different cabin location. The cabin itself was nice, and everything was in good condition, just the location was not as good for me.

We had a spa balcony on deck 12. There are only two elevators that service decks 11 & 12, and the wait can be rather long. I've had knee surgery, otherwise I would have taken the stairs, but doing so would have caused too much pain.

I would go on the Sunshine again without hesitation!!

After dinner we headed back to the room with the littlest little and the older kids checked out the ship and other entertainment. I was shocked when my 6th Grader said she ran into a girl from their school who is in 7th Grade with my step-son. They were in the cabin next door to the boys and when she saw Ethan, she was like, "Oh Great!" I'm guessing she was not excited to see that particular classmate. :eek: Anyway, there were quite a few people from Chattanooga that we ran into during the cruise. My son wore his #noogastrong shirt one day and people from the area were coming up to him.

 

I'm enjoying your review, the Fascination was my first cruise and I loved it. I use to live in Nashville and we had similar run-ins with people on cruises. My ex and I were cruising together, he is a school teacher and we saw one of his students on the Fascination during fall break. I have also ran into one of my daughter's former teachers on not one, but two different cruises. Lol

Was sooo looking forward to a day at HMC. Ugghhh... I purposely booked this cruise so I could go here. Even purchased the cabana. Go to Carnival website to check my booking and purchase FTTF & boom HMC is gone and replaced by Nassau. Weird thing is I don't cruise until DEC 2016! That's a looong time in advance to already reroute a cruise. Called Carnival & of course I got a " We are so sorry ma'am. We will of course be refunding your score excursion of cabana rental". Blah blah blah. I did ask why it would have already been changed so far in advance & the woman said there was just a generic statement in there something about the port. I appreciated her help but booooo. Guess that just means Ill have to book yet another cruise to HMC. Poor me ;)

I'm sorry to hear that. I would be bummed too! We were suppose to go to HMC on my first cruise, but due to weather, they sent us to Freeport instead. I was disappointed. Still have not gotten to HMC yet, but hope to someday.

The most I have ordered is 3, and I ask not to have any sides brought with the additional ones. I also don't care how it looks to anyone else. They should be minding their own business, not watching or caring about what is being eaten at my table. :D:D:D