S.S.Oceanlover

I hope the OP comes back and gives us more info. I am thinking of reasons a person would cancel and keep the $400 and it would be pretty bad.

Bill

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Are we going to go down this road again?[emoji849]

Bill

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I have never heard the term side by side cruises ever mentioned anywhere but here on Cruise Critic.

According to Cruise Critic it's still called back to back no matter if it's the same ship or 2 different ships.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2327

Bill

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OK thanks for the replies.

Not to keen on going back to the old way of cruising and sharing a table at dinner.(introvert)

On the sailing I was looking at the aurea experience was only available with a balcony which is $950pp more than the inside cabin I was looking at.

Oh well maybe another time.

Thanks again

Bill

That would be Aurea if i'm not mistaken

Do they have any tables for 2 in the traditional DINING rooms?

Bill

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what category would i need to book to be able to get anytime dining?

Bella, Fantastica, or Aurea?

TIA

Bill

Maybe for the OP and others it's simply easier to get to Norfolk versus Baltimore. And your example citing a difference of $150 is not that big of a deal - especially when there is travel costs involved. I think it's great Carnival gives people alot of options of places to sail out of even if all of the ports don't operate year round.

 

Baltimore has one ship. At least when they do sail out of Norfolk there's some variety.

Bill

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Has anyone ever used Caribbean Day Pass or Shore Excursioneer website for Aruba's all inclusive Barcelo (formerly Occidental ) Grand Resort?

 

 

I have never booked this way. Any thoughts?

We did this last October. Nice resort, good drinks and decent spread of food.

It's a little bit more money but resort for a day dot com has the Riu which I believe is the next hotel down the beach for $130pp.

My buddy and I walked down and walked through some of the place which was very impressive and hopped in their pool to cool off.

If we go back to Aruba again we will book Riu. No complaints about Barcelo though. We had a great time.

Bill

With Carnival's Early Saver, you can get price drops up to two days before cruising. If Royal offered that feature with its nonrefundable option, I could see the value. Right now, it is all in Royal's favor.

And if you book past guest rates that are fully refundable but don't get the price drops after final payment date it is only $20 more pp than the early saver rate.

Bill

We were seriously looking at a New England cruise in November 2019, until I found out about the non refundable deposits. Sorry Royal you are not the only line running this itinerary. We will book with someone else.

I don't see any cruise lines doing Canada/New England cruises in November 2019.:confused:

Bill

Maybe the reward is that you don't have to see CATS.;p

Now that would be a true prize. ;p

Bill

The objects still exist, and Guest Services will give you a list, but I don't think you get anything for finding them.

I thought you got to see Cats for free.:confused:

Bill

Except for that little thing at the theater, I'm sure Abe would be pleased to know that you'd vote for him again.

If he was around today and became president #46 I would hope the first thing he would do is to do away with the need to use a photo ID to buy groceries.

I find that quite burdensome.

Bill

I was just about to post a similar reply! We are actually very considerate neighbours. We're conscious of how much noise we make and never sit out late on a balcony chatting in case we disturb people, and we never chairhog, but we've paid good money for a nice holiday and it's our choice on how we make use of the facilities in our cabin.

Maybe you are just unaware of the repercussions from leaving the door open.

This was posted from chengp75 who is a chief engineer on cruise ships.

"Unlike HVAC in your home or a hotel, which rely on the fact that the structure leaks air to provide fresh air to the rooms, a ship has to ensure that fresh air is introduced to all spaces to keep air quality up. The basics of HVAC design says that 20% of a cabin's volume must be replenished every hour, and 80% can be recirculated, so there are two A/C systems in your cabin.

The 20% replenishment is done by the bathroom exhaust vent taking air from the cabin, and passing that air through a heat exchanger to start cooling outside fresh air coming into the ship. Large fans pull outside air into the ship, through this heat exchanger, then through a large chiller to bring the temperature and humidity down to acceptable levels, and then this fan is ducted to supply all the cabins on a given deck, on one side of the ship, and in a given fire zone, so probably 30-40 cabins for each air handler. As in my earlier post that was quoted several pages above, this air is sent into the cabin to maintain a slight positive pressure, so that if there is smoke in the passageway, the pressure in your cabin keeps it from coming in under the door.

Now, the cabin thermostat controls the recirculation of the air in your cabin. There will be an individual fan and chiller unit for your cabin. The fan will run all the time, and the thermostat will control whether the chilled water from the engine room enters the individual cabin chiller to cool the air or not.

So, what happens when you open the balcony door? First off, on nearly all ships, a switch will turn off the recirculation A/C system, but the fresh air supply of cool air will continue. Now, since the pressure balance of your cabin is based on the size of the bathroom exhaust vent, and the space under the cabin door to determine how much volume of air is needed to maintain the positive pressure, when you open a vastly larger opening (the door), the supply air duct cannot keep up, and the pressure in this cabin drops. The supply air for all cabins then takes the path of least resistance, and tends to go to the cabin with no back pressure. Therefore, that cabin gets more fresh, cool air, while the rest of the cabins on that air handler get less. Yes, your cabin feels cool, but the other cabins get hotter.

How can you tell this is so? Open your balcony door, then open your cabin door to the passageway, and see if any paper in your cabin remains after the wind tunnel takes it out the balcony door. Or, walk down the passageway, and listen for the "whistling" sound of air screaming under the cabin doors of those cabins where the balcony door is open. That's how I find the culprits."

Enjoy your upcoming cruise.[emoji4]

Bill

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Well sleeping in a small room with doors closed makes for an uncomfortable cabin for us :rolleyes:

Thanks for the reply. Glad to know it's all about your comfort. Don't worry about any of your neighbors.

Bill

Because they want to mess up the A/C for nearby staterooms.:rolleyes:

That's why I asked. I would hate to be a neighbor to someone with their balcony door open all night so they could hear the ocean while I try to sleep in an uncomfortable cabin.:(

Unfortunately it's happened in the past and it wasn't pleasurable.

Bill

For a change we booked a CP balcony on the Symphony in June. Did not like it all. No privacy - we could see into the cabins opposite and I assume they could see into ours. No nets on the balcony meant that we had to always keep the full drapes closed when relaxing in the cabin or staying aware of what others could see. Luckily our settee was nearest the balcony rather than the bed, but cabins opposite had the bed nearest the balcony and we saw some very unintentional unpleasant sights! Also, we were on deck 14 and had to keep the balcony door closed all night as we'd be woken many times by revellers in the hot tubs and on the pool deck above and opposite drinking, talking, shouting and laughing.

Why would you need your balcony door opened at night?

Bill

John Heald said FTTF should be back on your account within 2 weeks.

He also said the ship wasn't going to be renamed so take it for what it's worth.

Bill

very cool OP. Thanks for the tip.

That's great for using on the ship and even better for posting when you get home.

Bill

prices seem a tad steep for a new old ship on a 5 day, not so great itinerary.

For May 12, 2019 prices are IS-$709, OS-$819, BLC-1029

Horizon which is a new, new ship with a much better itinerary for 6 days is cheaper.

Also for May 12, 2019 prices are IS-$$559, OS-$719, BLC-$814.

No question the ship will sell out as everybody will want to be on the ship for the curiousity of what it now looks like, close to home port, etc.

I was curious too but not at that price.

Happy cruising :)

Bill

Frustrating. It sounds like you are upset to be in this predicament as anyone would be. Son getting a job without leniency for his booked family vacay is disappointing.

 

Sounds like the cruise line wants to make an income of 3 persons in a room that occomadtes 3 persons.

 

 

I think they are trying to meet you in the middle by offering you a super low cancellation and moving your guests to a 2 person room. Seems like they will lose your son’s cruise cost but are willing to eat it. Sounds fair.

 

 

Perhaps if it’s that important to have the two rooms together, you may just want to cover the cost of your sons ticket.

 

 

It’s an unfortunate unforeseen. Each side of the situation should be prepared to give and take a little. Sounds like Carnival is giving and taking a little.

 

 

On your end, how will sons new job be effecting your vacay plans? Do you have travel insurance? What are they recommending?

Where is Carnival trying to meet them in the middle?

They are going by their rules, nothing more, nothing less.

Bill

I asked John Heald on June 25 if the Triumph was going to be renamed, and he replied that it wasn’t, but that it would have an “exciting dry dock” and news on it would come soon. I guess that news will be early next week.

 

 

Sent from my eye phone using a three legged yak FFS

Maybe he misunderstood your question.

One things for sure when the exciting dry dock news comes out most will be dancing down 5th Ave.:)

Bill

Do they still have formal nights on Carnival Magic or any Carnival ship for that matter? How formal is it? Suit and tie? Tux? Can we get away with just collared shirt and long pants for guys. Ladies a long skirt?

formal nights are now called elegant nights and what you described for men, long pants and collared shirts are more the norm for elegant nights.

Ladies don't need to get that dressed up either. Sun dresses, capris, etc.

Bill

We had a party of 11 on Oasis in April and never had to wait more than 5-10 minutes.

On the first night the maitre'd told us to come every night around the same time and we would have no problem.

Bill

Is there a shuttle to the port from Budget? How long is the wait for that if there is?

 

Thanks!

There are also numerous other rental car companies at the port

Bill

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