goldesq

I just called upsell for my MX gty on Brreakaway and asked about moving from that to a M6, larger balcony mini suite. They said that they dont move within one category and all they had available for me was a Havana Courtyard at 750 PP. :0 No thanks.

She did mentioned to have my TA contact them but most likely the price to change would be the current price difference. :(

What would actually happen if they cancel our cruise or if we get onboard and there are lots of problems/stuff not working or open?

If they cancel, you get reimbursed by Carnival.

If there are problems onboard/stuff not working, I am quite sure you would get some OBC or some small credit for a future cruise. They could also just claim that you took a chance taking the Inaugural and not credit you with anything but somehow I dont think that would make for good PR.

Common sense.

I started to get concerned when I saw my May 14th, 2016 date no longer available to book. I guess it could be sold out over 2 months in advanced we'll just have to wait and see...

I have the plan where 4 nights of specialty dining is included.

1) is Ocean Blue included as an option?

2) Can I eat there all 4 nights?

What are everyone's thoughts/ recommendations for the fish on NCL? Any not to miss dishes (that are not fried)?

Us too. I really think it is because JH is on the one before and the one after so October first isn't selling as well. I am ok with that. Price drops make me happy dance. :)

Do you really think people seek out/research whether JH is booked on certain cruises and book accordingly? Personally, I just think it is a random thing that people book certain dates (unless its a holiday or school break) causing prices to fluctuate.

We're booked on the Inaugural Cruise and it has mysteriously disappeared again from the Carnival.com. Last time this happened was about 3 weeks ago and the rumor mill was spinning the story that the cruise was sold-out. Well, that was true as when it came back online, there were lots of rooms available.

 

But now, with it being gone, the rumor mill is at it again!! Now they are speculating if the ship will be ready on May 1st!! Yikes!!!

I am on the ship on the 14th of May and the ship is sold out. I was also told by my PVP that your cruise was sold out as well. John Heald said the ship is on time for its build. Sea trials are starting later this month.

Izmir is currently in the center of the refugee-crisis of Europe. A lot of refugees try to reach Greece from Izmir and surroundings. The Vista will literally sail alongside dinghies filled with refugees when it's navigating into Izmir. Media here in Holland are reporting refugees with their life-jackets on in the centre of Izmir.

 

Doesn't seem like a place where you want to take a cruiseship carrying 4000 passengers. Seems akward for both the passengers and the refugees themselves.

 

Strange Carnival doesn't seem to take any action in this matter with the first cruises coming up.

Most will be taking tours and going on buses to locations. There wont be much interaction with refugees unless you choose to interact with them. Moreover, they arent unsafe. They left a situation that was unsafe.

There are lots of stories sadly of Syrian refugees selling fake life jackets to their fellow Syrians. Real life jackets, that is, once that actually float, are tremendously expensive and once bought, no one lets them out of their sight. That is why they are always carrying or wearing them. The better ones are hard to come by according to the media.

Although it, the refugees and the situation in general, might be 'hard' to look at (akward is not the word I would use considering for them, its life or death), its not unsafe and if Carnival truly felt it would be, they will not stop there. There are 2 months before the cruise. They have a lot of time to make final decisions.

Like others have said I guess it can be a hit or miss.

I for one was told at guest services that I had cruise cash it was NOT refundable.

So it seems some people do get lucky.

 

I always buy a couple hundred in cruise cash.

Then I use gift cards to fund the rest as needed.

Carnival always debts the non refundable money first so I never have any

left. I never have to worry about losing any money

If I ever did have any left I would cash it out through the casino.

 

I'm sorry that you had this runaround but cruise cash is very easy to use

especially if you do it on line.

Thanks again. Carnival gift cards are not an option as I rarely cruise on Carnival. (This cruise I did not even pay for). I suppose I can bring my stack of generic 'gift' cards with me and pay for any S&S balance I have with Carnival on the last night. Problem solved.

Short and funny but weird story...last cruise, the casino closed down early due to a malfunction of some sort. LOADS of angry passengers. I bet some wanted to 'cash out'.

OMG I am so sorry...I am getting my cruises confused. Isnt that a good thing?! Carnival has the 5 minute waiting period and 15 drink cap per day. NCL has a one drink per transaction rule and no cap per day and no waiting period.

Rules:

Carnival Cheers:

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1106/~/cheers!-beverage-program

NCL UBP:

https://www.ncl.com/terms/ultimate-beverage-package

Again, I am sorry.

Thank you so much everyone.

Essentially, Carnival doesnt always follow their own rules and buyer beware.

No more cruise cash for me. I dont want to lose it.

I think the lesson learned is to always ask for a receipt.

 

We ALWAYS purchase Cruise Cash and have always had great experience with it. If you bought $100, I believe it's very hard not to spend that entire amount so non-refundable is a moot point.

We get the maximum of $500 and have always been able to get a refund IF any of it was left.

Have a great cruise.

Do you get the refund via the casino, front desk or a check by mail? Everyone here is claiming the Cruise Cash is not refundable.

I even just checked the Carnival website and it states that Cruise Cash is non-transferable and non-refundable. Per the website, "Cruise Cash provides an immediate credit to a guest's Sail & Sign account. This credit is good for any charge made to their account including taxes and gratuity charges. Cruise Cash is valid for a single voyage and cannot be transferred to future bookings. Cruise Cash is non-refundable and any unused credits will be forfeited."

We buy it every cruise, and if you do it "on line", they give an imediate conformation to print, also they send you an email within like 1 minute, ( you can print it as well), also they give an option send like wife or hubby an email shows you sent them a gift ....

The biggest thing i like is when we plan a cruise, in my email i start a new folder, and everything they send me, every purchase we make through fun shops, i put in that older and if there was discrepancy i can get in email and show them pretty easy .. but, there was never a problem so far :)

Ironic. I do the same exact thing for my trips...creating a folder. Unfortunately, I never received an email after my phone purchase with Carnival.

2 Lessons learned.

1) Do not buy myself Cruise Cash prior to the cruise (I never did learn about it being refundable or not).

2) Always request a receipt and an order number when buying Cruise Cash (although I wont do that again).

I called Carnival and they had no record of my purchase so I called the credit card I used. It says debit card. The rep says that it should be run as a credit card. The rep also said that Carnival too the funds on 2/21.

I called Carnival back. The first rep explained that she could not see if I had any OBC or cruise cash and I needed to verify same with the Bon Voyage Dept. (That is not what happened or what I was told earlier this morning).

I spoke with the Bon Voyage Dept. The rep initially said I had no Cruise Cash. My heart sunk. I told her I confirmed that money was removed from my CC to pay for Cruise Cash and I could prove it (via a CC statement). I asked her how she would like me to confirm it with her. She asked that I check my emails and spam folder for my purchase receipt (which I was never sent and I am 100% sure of it).

She then asked for the last 4 digits of my CC. I gave her the information (she claimed that without that information, she couldnt tell me any more information). It was only then that she stated 'Oh, yes...." cruise cash was purchased by me but placed on my mother's account (my mom is on the sailing with me). I said I did not ask for that to be done and requested that it be corrected. Initially, the rep hesitated and said it didnt matter whose name it was posted under. I insisted.

Of course, I asked for a receipt to be emailed to me and wrote my order number down.

Fun times. All in all, an hour wasted but lesson learned.

As a PS, I dont quite know why but all three reps I spoke with were on the snarky side. It was like they were doing me a favor by checking this info. One even kept trying to talk over me and cut me off multiple times when she misunderstood what I was asking. Maybe they werent thrilled about being up this early. It slightly ticked me off though.

***I still dont understand how I can put money on my account and get whatever I dont use back at the end. The reps kept using the term Cruise Cash. All I wanted initially was ,money on my account that I could get back if not spent. From now on, I wont even bother for Carnival.

Well with UBP, you can just order one of each, one at a time. If you don't like it, just get something else.

 

Reminds me of one other limitation on Carnival's Drink Package (per my daughter), you cannot get another drink until at least 20 mins have elapsed since you last got a drink. I don't know if NCL has any such limit. If anyone does know, please chime in.

 

Also, if anyone knows about when leaving port, (particularly Tampa), does the no tax kick in once the ship is underway (all lines cast off, as it should count), or does it not take effect until you sail past some given point?

NCL is 5 minutes between drinks and 15 max. Some servers might not ring the drink through thus some can get over the 15 max.

At least you kept the card.

 

I love that though, we have no record of your ever calling. I work in the IT department for Americas Best Loved Candle company (that should be a dead give away, if you've ever looked at the label on one of our jars), supporting all our local campus users, and our stores throughout the world, and we keep very detailed logs of EVERY call that comes in or out. Of course, we have the few that never log anything, and then we look like the bad guys when taking the follow up calls. So, that really errks me, when that is used as an excuse lol.

I am so happy I kept it but he told me to, so I did. Also, I spent a long time on the phone with that guy because I asked a few questions about the ship. It was not a short phone call. I still remember his voice because he was a very sweet man. The call today was over 25 minutes and I told her to log the call after she told me that they had no record of my purchase.

I think the lesson learned is to always ask for a receipt.

 

We ALWAYS purchase Cruise Cash and have always had great experience with it. If you bought $100, I believe it's very hard not to spend that entire amount so non-refundable is a moot point.

We get the maximum of $500 and have always been able to get a refund IF any of it was left.

Have a great cruise.

The $100 was just going to be the beginning. I have now a stack of other cards I was going to add to my account this weekend and I posted this message before calling Carnival again to add them.

My cruise wont have much charges on the sign and sail card because its port intensive (Mediterranean) with only one sea day. I pre-purchased all my excursions and have all my tips paid for as well. All tours come back pretty late so my days on the ship are quite limited, as in breakfast (maybe) and a late dinner (if at all). I dont gamble and I wont have that much time to drink on the ship nor will I drink much anyway on the ship since I need to be up super early for all my tours. My drinking will probably be off the ship during the day. :)

Thus, I cant see much spending going on during the time I am on the ship.

I sure am glad I called Carnival. After 20 minutes on hold with a rather snippy rep., she returns to tell me I have no money on my account. She advised me to recheck the balance on the card I used to see if there is a balance. She also advised me there is no record of my call to Carnival buying the credit for my account. Then she informed me that you cannot buy credit for an account with a gift card. Mind you, on the front of the 'card', it does say debit card. (The card is given to me from a company that I do outside work form. This is how they pay their consultants). Add that to the fact that the Carnival rep I spoke with a month ago informed me that my $100 did process through. (I asked initially if he should run $99 because the card's value was $100 and sometimes a small amount extra is taken as a hold). He said he would try $100 first and it worked. He told me to keep the card because if I did not use everything in my Carnival account, the remaining money from the $100 would go back to that card.

I learned my lesson. Get a receipt and dont pre-purchase onboard credit.

Now, I have to contact the customer service number of the other card and check my balance. Unfortunately, that card is sitting in my passport wallet (thank goodness I kept it) at my parents house and because its 630 am, I cant call yet to ask them to give me the phone number and card number. argggghhhh.

The saga continues.

I don't know the name for what I bought, I just know that I did buy it. :) I'm calling Carnival now and will report back.

In my experience, it is totally refundable. If u don't use it either cash it at casino or get a cheque. I think the previous poster meant the non refundable credits such as obc you get for a perk. If u have some non refundable credits, they use those first, then use ur refundable ones and what u don't use u get back!

OK, I am now totally confused as I stated in my original post, this was money I placed on my own account; it was not from someone else (like or Carnival) and being placed on my account.

I totally understand that I would not get back OBC gifted to me via my TA or via some other source (even Carnival). However, I am talking about my own money being placed on my account prior to the cruise by me.

I assumed (and thought I read when I booked the cruise originally but now cannot find) that I would get any $$$ amounts not used on the cruise back via a check mailed to me or automatically placed back on the cc I used to buy it when the cruise ended. (I do know the trick to cash out at the casino but I rarely do that unless I actually need the cash immediately).

I guess for peace of mind, I will contact Carnival.

Thanks though for trying to clear it up. I really do appreciate it.

Thats odd. They told me it was refundable when I called to place it on my account. They said to keep the CC you use (since I used a gift debit card) because any money I did not use would be refunded to that card that I originally used. I have put that card in my Passport holder for this reason. Maybe I wont buy anymore. I just have a few debit gift cards for $100 that I saved to buy myself OBC for this cruise as a gift (for myself). Maybe I need to call and ask again but I am certain I asked the first time.

It will not show up anywhere

I have never had a issue but i do bring my receipt

just to be safe.

When buying obc it's kind of like a gift so they don't show it

Somebody else might have bought it and it would be a surprise

when you got it, that why it doesn't show up on your booking.

just like a bottle of wine or a cake will not show up.

I hope this makes since.

Thank you! Yes, it makes sense except they surely can match the buyers name on the card with the room registration to see it isnt a gift. They could always ask if its a gift as well.

I have no receipt since I called and bought it via phone. I guess I will just wait and see. I still have the CC I paid for it on so thats proof enough.

I have a cruise in May and I just ordered some OBC for my room. Where on my reservation online can I view that it was posted? I don't see it listed anywhere. I do see the excursions I booked but not the OBC I bought. (This is NOT credit from my TA...this is money I paid from my CC to be placed on my onboard account).

Thanks.

Can iMessage from apple or Facetime be used on the $5 day plan or any of the plans for that matter?

All of you complaining about tipping the hard working bartenders and servers working nonstop to serve you the free drinks that NCL is giving you ought to settle down. Glad I tip extra to make up for you all.

Seriously, I have to say it ... get off your high horse. No one is complaining about the tips. The OP just asked a question. Second, NCL isnt giving us anything for free. We are paying for it some way or another. YOU need to settle down.

Right that's how it used to be. Now Verizon has a contract/roaming agreement with the cell/satellite operator Cellular at Sea to provide cell phone service on the ship. The same is true for for other cruise lines like Royal Caribbean, I believe AT&T also does the same. They negotiate a flat or bulk rate (not sure which one) with the provider and there's no extra charges to the customer other than overages if you exceed your plan. I've used the service 5 times and only been charged the $40 flat rate. When you call Verizon they'll ask you for the ship name and sail date to confirm the service is offered on that cruise line. After purchasing the plan you'll receive an e-mail from Verizon stating your plan details and the ship name and sail date.

WOW! Thats amazing. I wish I knew about this. I do not think my past cruises used Cellular at Sea so maybe thats why I didnt know. Maybe I never asked...who knows? Anyway, I have an upcoming Vista cruise and Verizon said the plan they have on the ship is 100 or 250 minutes....although you can use the minutes off the ship it doesnt seem cost effective to use it on land. I am not sure. I have to check more into all the plans. There are so many.

I think its great that Verizon finally has some cost effective plans for traveling on land and sea abroad. Thanks for telling me!