sunsetsatsea

Hello, I am looking to book Alaska for June 2024.  I see Carnival has 3 cruises posted for that month so far.  Can anyone direct me where to find when the newest itineraries are released for booking?

I have stayed in room 7004 on both Radiance and Jewel and they are FO category, new 1K. I thought 7000 might be identical, but I was just looking at the Brilliance deck plan and 7000 is showing category H by the old categorization or 2M by the new deck plans. I'd be glad to share my pics of 7004 room on sister ships, but not sure it would help.

Great! Thanks for the responses!

My DH and I have passports. The last time we cruised was more than 2 years ago when our childen were 7 months. I believe that last time, all we needed was their birth certificate. At what age is photo id required? Do I still only need birth certificate? Thanks!

Upcoming scheduled cruises are both Carnival out of Florida, returning to same port in Florida

Becciboo,

Thanks for this picture! Itlooks like there is no need for me worry. Naturrally, I'd be wathing them closely anyway, I'm just a worry wart!

There are 4 Royal Family Suites on the back of Voyager Class ships. Two on deck 8 and two on deck 9 in the center of the ship.

That sounds like it would be pricey, but I'll check it out. Thanks for the tip!

Okay, thanks for the input! It looks amazing to be back there, plus eaiser to get to all the family frindly activities. Unforunately all the family rooms are all the way up front. Long hike for young ones!

I am looking at Adventure. It looks like the balcony railings are slanted,. I have young children and want to make sure that they would not be able to climb the railing. I would book deck 6 because of the deck space in case they climbed the railing, but those rooms only sleep 3, so I have to look at dek 10. Anyone have any input - could they climb it?

You're correct. The redemption rate $.01 per point against purchaes under $1500. Example: 5000 points = $50.00 redemption value when credited towards previous CCL purchases under $1500.00, or $75.00 redemption value against CCL purchases of $1500 or more. Also, keep in mind those CCL qualified purchaes remain on your account for 180 days.

 

Here's a scenario from our own recent activity.

 

We had about 73K points. Booked a 14-day Journeys cruise last December. Deposit was $1200.00 for 3 travelers. My intention was to apply 70K points as a statement credit for $700, leaving me $500 left on the bill to pay. But then I realized we still had several purchases from a previous cruise in July. Many of them were smaller amounts . . . well under the $1500 threshold. But there was also the final bill from the S&S account that will still within the 180 day eligibility. That bill was over $3400. So I applied the 70K points against that charge and received a statement credit of $1050 instead of $700. Net result: I only owed $150 for the $1200 deposit that was charged on my January statement.

 

So, yes is it definitely to your advantage to structure your purchases so that they are $1500 or more. For us, that means to avoid pre-purchasing things like excursions, gratuities, drink packages, or anything else that can be purchased on board and charged to the S&S account. We also charge casino activity to the S&S card. We keep cash usage to a minimum, reserving that to pay off the MasterCard when the bill comes to avoid interest.

 

Another thing to remember about FunPoints redemption: You can only redeem a minimum of 5000 points. In my example above, I mentioned we had 73K points, but I could only apply 70K because that left me with 3K points . . . which is below the minimum for redemption.

 

Hope this helps.

That was smart thinking to apply it to an oler, larger transaction! I received double pioints for charging the cruise to the card, I don't know if I will lose them because of the redemption. If not, then it is at least as good as the double points for purchases onboard. I like giving my money to the casino and have always brought cash, thinking that there would be transaction fees otherwise. Good to know that there is not so I can at least earn double points on that as well :D

I just looked and the calculator is still on the Barclaycard app.

 

 

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I never thought to look for an app! That would have saved me much frustration on calling in to customer service. Thanks for the tip! Wonder why they removed it from the browser version...

I'm posting this here for anybody else interested in calculating the Funpoints needed to pay for their cruise with the Carnival Mastercard, since the Funpoints calculator was removed form the website. The redemption rate is the same. The number of Funpoints needed (for cruise costs over $1500), can be calculated by dividing the cruise cost by .015. My most recent cruise was $2519.76, paid in full, and the Funpoints redemption was 167,985. Under $1500, I believe the rate is only .01, so it is better to upgrade your room or add prepaid grauities, whatever will get you over that magical threshold! Hope this helps!

If you do upgrade and pay more money for the balcony you should contact the company you bought your insurance from right away. The amount you need to insure will go up and the cost of the insurance might be more. And if you received a waiver of preconditions you will need to insure the increase in cost within the time frame set by the insurance company or loose that benefit.

Thanks! I didn't even think about that aspect of it!

Haha! Yes, I guess they would be. Seemed like we should be able to as we could cancel with no penalty (military rate) and just rebook. We did however already purchase $100 travel insurance through a 3rd party company, so not sure how that would work. I'm hoping the balcony rates come down. Our kids will be 3.5 so I know they are not going to be sleeping in the pullman beds. Would be much less crowded if we had the sofa bed!

We booked a spa inside for our family, would really rather have had spa oceanview, but sadly the Dream class only has accessible spa oceanview cabins. The balcony price was a significant increase. We paid in full for a Jan 2018 cruise. If the price of balcony drops, can we still pay the difference to upgrade, since we paid in full? I didn't think to ask before paying.

So, I have tried calling three times and oddly, no one seems to be able to tell me who my PVP is. I just keep getting transferred around and waiting on hold. I give up at this point. I did a google search and found a couple experienced PVPs that I can use, but feel bad if my assigned PVP is missing out after honoring my request to not call for a while. Thanks for the replies.

Hi, I'm very family with the ins and outs of boooking the different methods with Carnival, but unsure the best way with Royal Caribbean.

If I book throught the website, would I be able to later change categories online before final payment date or do I still need to call in?

Is there an assigned booking agent, like the PVP with Carnival, or do you just call in and book with the general customer service number? Does that person become your contact from that point on?

Thanks

I had a PVP assigned for quite some time, but have not booked a cruise that way yet. Then I had twins and we asked them to stop calling as we were taking break from cruising for a while. They were calling all the time. Now I'd like to know who my PVP is and I can't find it online and calling the general number at the top of the page didn't help either. He wanted to book my cruise, but I understand it is better to have your assigned PVP. Anyway I can figure this out? I have gone online and opted into every communication prefernce that I can find. Thanks!

Hi, it matters because I am redeeming points, not worried about earning points. The best rate comes with purchases over $1500. So my $2500 cruise should be covered with 167,00 cruise points, which I have. 2500/.015 = 167,000

If it posts as 2 transactions, it takes 200,000 points, which I don't have.

Thanks for responding! It is showing up today, but still was not for me or my brother as of last night.

I must tell the strange experience I had. I did call Carnival last night and the customer service rep said, yes it appears to be sold out. Then he says, oh I see a cabin here, do you want to book it for your brother, then he said later on that there were lots of cabins left. Felt a little like a high pressure car buying experience.

Hi,

If anyone has recently purchased a cruise that is far out from final payment date and paid in full, can you please tell me if it posted to your credit card account as a single charge, or as two seperate transactions - one for deposit, plus one for remainder?

I am using my carnival MC and booked through a travel agent, but the charge is posting as two seperate transactions, which is not going to maximize my points. I just hope this is not the norm for this scenario. Thanks!

Hi, we booked the Magic for Jan 27, 2018 - 7 day Eastern Caribbean yesterday. I try to go on the site today and I cannot find that sailing to obsess over my cabin selection! There were tons of cabins yesterday so I think it unlikley that it sold out overnight. Anyone with experience with this happening? Thanks!

Hi,

Want to know if anyone else has any recent experience with redeeming points towards a cruise with their Carnival MC. We have had this card for years and could use our calculator to see exactly how many points were needed. That feature is gone and I just called customer service and they couldn't tell me how many points I would need for my cruise. What use is a benefit that doesn't have a defined value that I plan on? So frustraing! I know that the best benefit used to come after $1500, is this still true? Not sure shy they would do away with this feature. I am planning on using a TA this time, as she is a friend of mine and they assured that I could redeem my points towards the cruise, no matter where it was booked, but concerned the redemption rate may not be the same. Anyone that can offer some insight, it is much appreciated! Thanks!

I have this card and have paid for three cruise fares fully with it. I know that spending more that $1500 for the cruise gets the best redemption rate. I am looking at booking another cruise now and am dismayed that I can no longer find the "how many points will I need to pay for my cruise button." I have looked all over the website. Does anyone have any experience with this? I have 2 kids now so I don't want to spend more that I have points for.

Thank you so much for all the responses! I can't believe so much time has passed by since I posted this :eek: Great idea Paul!

LissyTX,

What a fantastic review and your daughter is adorable! Great to note on the Ppffs, stroller cover, and PABA free sunscreen. I see the PNP is not nearly as big as I was thinking. I am sure that we will not have an issue fitting 2 of those in our room.

Reallyitsmema,

Great point about navigating the hallways with the stroller with housekeeping carts. It looks like we will have to take our tandem. The downside is that the kids will be sitting in their car seats. It is too bad as the car seats get so hot for them and we cannot lay them flat for a diaper change as LissyTX recommended. Great idea on having one of the other cabins reserve a PNP. Appreciate the link with cabin photos. Does look like the sofa will be large enough. Thanks!

CB at Sea,

Very true that main dining room will be easier. Doing a buffet with 2 babies on land isn't easy, at sea isn't going to be any easier. I am just concerned about disturbing other passengers.

Beshears,

No offense taken! I am 40, took us 9 years to get these babies. I started cruising young with my grandparents. Introduced DH to cruising and we did do 4 in one year, lol.