njoyndride

2 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

Wow, thanks for the love, Cruise Critic members!... Wait until we're actually on board the ship!

 

It's on baby!!!...

 

 

I was #200...I'm so proud!  😁

We were on Vista in May and the drinks on us everywhere started as soon as the casino opened. The free bottle of alcohol was delivered on day two.

We like port due to the smoking areas being on starboard on most ships.

My daughter is a vegetarian and they had no problem adjusting to her.  There wasn't a ton of options but totally adequate.  She ended up ordering a mushroom rissoto which was delightful.  They also brought her some roasted veggies on the side.

I'm waiting to hear as well and have contacted my PVP.  Hubby uses a portable concentrator and there was no notice while booking 3 weeks ago that this is a no go. He has clearance from his physician to travel.  Waiting until you check in is not ok.  

1 hour ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

We've been discussing the sell-off for a while (two months?) - that is not "news".

 

Even the recent increase to 18 from 15 (IIRC) is old news.

 

But yes, it makes sense that with fewer ships the demand for crew is reduced accordingly.

 

And the vast majority of reductions will be through non-renewal of contracts, vs just firing someone that is currently employed.  Those are folks that aren't always guaranteed a renewal anyway.

 

The senior officers are the ones losing a "permanent professional job" - hopefully they'll find somewhere to land.  Or maybe there will be shuffling of positions to minimize actual layoffs.

 

Oh, and while I honestly feel sorry for everyone not able to come back, the following bit from the article is just going a step too far:

 

"One crew member who contacted our office said “why didn’t Carnival notify me in April so I could find another job? It abandoned me and my family with two small kids without money.” "

 

Well, in April Carnival had no idea this was going to be as bad as it got.  No-one knew - though some "pessimists" were more correct than even they imagined, I suspect.  And if you sat around waiting to be called back without finding alternative employment in the meantime that was poor decision-making on your part.

 

Exactly.  One of our friends who is a head waiter and "career" Carnival crew has been on a tanker off of South America for the past two months.  Having 15+ years he'd likely be called back with one of the 1st groups but took his livelihood in his own hands.  He also has 2 children to feed.  He also can't wait to be called back and has faith that protocols, when followed, will make cruising viable again. 

I am from the July canceled batch and also bought cruise cash.  I went also went in to Cruise Manager and canceled manually.  I received the credit to my card in about 3 weeks.

We've used Chip and crew twice and they were wonderful.  I love their respect for the rays!

Hubby had spinal surgery a little over a year ago.  Every cruise I email special needs and let them know he needs special needs muster. Once on board I check with guest services to see where it's held.  2Shoes2Go is correct with the location on Glory.  The biggest thing for him, along with standing, is using stairs.  They excuse special needs first so that they can use the elevator before the crowds hit.  We usually go down when they summon the crew to ensure he has a chair.  They are very nice and do not ask any questions about your disability.  Have fun!

We have embarked from Port of Los Angeles, Galveston, Long Beach, San Francisco, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, New Orleans, Gulfport (when there was a power line hanging over the Mississippi) and San Juan.

New Orleans is my favorite followed by Ft. Lauderdale.  San Francisco was cool (homeport at the time) but only because we ran Bay to Breakers and then got on the ship...fun experience.  Our boarding picture was us with our race bibs  .

Loved the review, thanks for doing one.  How was disembarking?

We've taken an excursion three times prior to our upcoming cruise. There was a mix up due to weather the last time we were in GC and Sharon offered us a discount on our next booking. We will be there next week so I reached out to them the first of August, it took weeks for a reply. I never received a confirmation and have emailed her three times trying to get it. In the past they were very quick to reply and very professional. I don't know what is going on but they obviously don't want my business any longer. We are still on the fence about what to do.

Each cruise center has a number of wheelchairs for embarkation-disembarkation only. They aren't reserved, first come first served basis. We have sailed out of 6 different cruise centers. All had drop off points with benches near the front door.

Thanks for the info, as long as he has a place to chill until a wheelchair is available we are good to go.

Thank you kokopelli-az and Buckimion, I appreciate the quick response.

After hubby's recent spine surgery I have a question regarding embarkation with a wheelchair. He will be fine on the ship without one just needs extra help getting up the ramp. We are cruising out of New Orleans in a couple of weeks and I am wondering what the process is to obtain a wheelchair. We are platinum and I'm only mentioning because we go into a different door than general boarding.

I have notified special needs that he will require a wheelchair and received an email back but it was not Port specific. Are the wheelchairs available right inside of the door and if not is there a place to sit while we wait for one? What I really would like to hear is your experience with boarding earlier or boarding later. Are there more wheelchairs available earlier or later? I'm thinking earlier as they are just finishing with getting passengers off the ship but I'm not sure having never experienced it. Would love to hear your input on what you do to make boarding easier for hubby as well as not getting in the way of other passengers anxious to board.

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We had the 1st cove balcony on the starboard side and while I loved being close to the water the spray kept the balcony wet a good part of the time. My kids had the 3rd and 4th on the port side and had the same issue but somewhat lesser degree. The area was very quiet by the front elevators and we loved that. BUT the best thing was coming back onboard we just walked up one flight of stairs to our cabin, no jamming in the elevators with 15 sweaty strangers :). If I were to book another cove I'd try one 10 cabins back.

Yes, this is what I had planned on doing either way (early bird) but I was worried about checking in at the kiosk at the airport. Once I do that then where do we go with our luggage?? To the SW counter?? It seems like there is always a long line at the counter when we have walked by it at FLL after checking in at the curb. We plan on self assist to get off the ship early and Uber to FLL from POM..our flight is at 11:35 am on a Saturday. Thanks for the help with this....

Curbside can print your boarding passes for you when you check in.

Hi all,

 

Got an email today for a free balcony cabin (pay port charges and taxes)for a Premier Plus Cruise. There are 12 cruises to choose from from August to December 2018 and only 50 cabins per cruise available.

You get all the normal perks of Premier cruises but NO casino cash.

 

I booked the November 24th 8 day on Carnival Conquest out of FLL and it was just $250 total for the balcony for both of us. You can book more than 1 cruise with this offer if you want.

 

This offer is not listed on the VIPF offers on the website. As a added bonus I had a cruise booked already for this time frame booked with a norefundable deposit of $198 as a casino offer and the agent refunded me anyways her comment "You had no way to know you were getting this other great offer so why should we penalize you" why indeed :):)

Love that they waived the nonrefundable. I booked this yesterday under the same offer! Can't go wrong with a $250 balcony!!!:D :D

Yes we received two but both are Premiers (regular and getaway). Our other offers are all lower cabin rates plus casino cash.

Hi - Did you use the contact form on the Ocean Players website? I was told they were doing away with the regular email address I used to use.

The Captain said the river is being closed tomorrow at noon so perhaps the port itself will remain open for a bit.

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On the Dream right now in Cozumel. We are due to depart at 7 p.m. Looking at the path of Nate and considering the ship needs to go both up and down the river safely I'm thinking we are going to follow in behind it and may have a little bit of a late arrival in New Orleans. Purely speculation on my part just makes sense to me.

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Vista's YTD is different from the rest of the fleet. On the Breeze you'll just go up to the desk at the entrance to the restaurant.

We found Vista's process a bit of a pain. Also, ask for a table around the edges not in the middle on deck 3. In the very middle reminded me of being in a school cafeteria...loud and chaotic. It wasn't until we were seated around the outside on night 5 that we had a nice relaxed dinner. Have a great trip!

We were in 8475 a couple of years ago. I love being on the back but wish I'd figured out ahead of time there was no shade on this balcony. Deck 9 is the only deck with an overhang providing shade. At times it was just too hot to be out there...nights were awesome!

Anyone know if they have Ultimate Texas Holdem in the casino on the Vista or is it the WPT Heads Up poker which a lot of the ships are switching to??

Yes they do, UTH is hubs favorite game :-). They have 2 tables.