Rob-Bob

wow.  We are headed there in November.  I hope things get straightened out by then.

On 3/11/2024 at 10:52 AM, 340lwpD688 said:

I don't know if you considered doing a one-way car rental to and from the cruise. Avis and Enterprise have places that are walking distance from the terminal. (three blocks). I drop my wife and luggage off at the pier then drop the car and walk back.

Thanks for the suggestion.  I did consider it but decided I didn't want the work/hassle of renting the car.  We are driving 5.5 hours on the 4th and driving 1.5 hours into NYC on the 5th.  Hopefully it will go smooth and we prepaid the $315 for parking at the pier.

we were going to bring an ice pack if they had a freezer.  Alternative is to get ice for bags but thin ice pack is nice and handy.  Maybe the fridge turned as cold as possible may keep the pack cold enough?

nwcruiselover it sounds like maybe things were colder than 36 degrees.

Does the mini frig's in your room have a small freezer on top?

We sailed on the Divina in March 2016 when she was pretty new.  We loved the Divina and stayed in room 11224.  This is a big angled balcony.  We could have fit 15 people on it at one time. It was huge.

This was back when a balcony was a balcony and they were all the same price regardless of deck and size of balcony.  All the same price😀  The good old days!!

Bing pickleball gear😀

On 2/7/2024 at 3:47 PM, mrpayroll said:

Yes....Plenty

Are there free ones?

On 1/19/2024 at 3:41 PM, CarolRoy said:

Will be going to GT this April.

April 5 sailing?  We are on that one.

I think we will be renting a golf cart.

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

https://www.carnival.com/vifp/benefits

Thanks.  I do get a bottle of water and a drink on our last day😀

I am only lowly Gold so I guess I will forget about it.  Thanks everybody for the information.

I haven't sailed Carnival in many years.  Do they have a welcome back party (or something like that) for VIFP members?  Do they give you free drinks?  The last NCL cruise I went on they had one and not many people went, I think because many had the drink package.  They were giving you drinks as fast as you could take them off the trays.  I took the equivalence of 2 bottles of wine back to my state room (that is all I could carry).  Staff was trying to give me more as I was leaving the venue.

I am not getting the Cheers drink package on my CCL cruise and just thought this would be a way to get a few "free" drinks if they have such a gathering.

7 minutes ago, White123 said:

Would never cruise out of nyc again. Way too chaotic .

Not loving hearing this.  Heading there 4/5.  I am hoping for the best.

Any suggestions for making things less chaotic?  Best time to arrive?

6 minutes ago, nwcruiselover said:

You wouldn’t be able to sub 2 people in place of your in-laws.  One person on the original booking must remain on the booking.

Thanks for the info.  I wonder if one new person could be switched and the one name remaining could be a no show.  Hence 1 new person goes in place of the 2.  I hope none of this happens but I guess it is good to know if anything can be done.

19 hours ago, tweety33 said:

Thank you for the review, I enjoyed it. Can't wait for my April trip on Venezia.

On the 5th?  See you then!!!

1 minute ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You will have to let us know how it goes. A sailing on the Venezia in October has caught our eye and we are seriously considering it.

I will report back.  I can't promise a review like you do but who knows.  Maybe I will write something up.   NCL seems like our go to lately but have been on many different lines including 2 MSC sailings. We have a RCI cruise scheduled in Nov 24.

1 hour ago, awhitleycrew said:

we wound up paying $250 to change the name since it was past final payment and was a 7 day cruise.

So you can change names (people) for a $250 fee up until sailing?  I have a cruise paid in full for my in-laws and they could bail at anytime over health reasons.  No insurance but it would be nice to know if I could sub 2 people in at last moment if there is a problem with them going.

On 2/6/2024 at 2:48 PM, sammee said:

They got rid of that last year. If you look on the webpage and go to the May 4 sailing, it's 8 days and $360. I priced my 9 day cruise at 405 last week, so got a family member to drive us. And if you book in advance there's a $12 processing fee.

I switched up and booked the CCL Venezia out of Manhattan on 4/5/24.  We booked parking there for 10 days at the lot at the port.  They say $45 per day but they only charged us $315 (plus $9.95 fee) for the entire 10 day stay.  

I thought maybe they were doing the same thing in Brooklyn.

We got a ridiculously cheap price on this sailing so we switched it up from the Mereviglia on MSC.  If they were stopping at the private island we would have went MSC way.  The Venezia looks like a very nice ship.  Inside room all in for $1,300 for 2 people.  First time back on Carnival in 10+ years.

Just booked.  I hope we survive the drive into Manhattan and get to the parking lot okay.  It has been a while since I have driven into NYC.

Really cheap price for an inside.  Couldn't pass it up.  It has been 10 years since we have sailed Carnival.  Ship Looks great. 

Actually it looks like if you stay for longer than 7 days you get the 7 day rate.  $315 max.

You can make reservations and pay $315. That is better but still not cheap.

1 minute ago, JamieLogical said:

 

For parking near the cruise terminal, it's the terminal parking or bust. There aren't many other lots nearby, I did a LOT of research on parking and public transportation and there are no good options.

And it seems like parking is $45 per day even though I have seen other rates posted in places.  We are looking at an 11 day cruise in April which means 12 days parking or $540.  Ouch.  As much as the cruise price for 1 person😪

Airfare to Florida might be about the same.

Advice on parking at the Brooklyn Port, are their many choices or only the port parking lot?

Best wishes for your husband and your family.

2 hours ago, UKCatFan said:

I was able to add the senior discount and the resident state discount

Senior discount?  How do you get this?  How old do you need to be?

2 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

It continuously shuffles?   So every hand is basically a fresh deck?   
Well, that would mean no counting.  

 

I doubt he's 160 IQ.   But, he's pretty smart.  Many people do similar to card counting when playing card games.   They know what cards have been played and what cards are left.  In a card game there is more to remember since you have to pay attention to suits. That isn't me.   I can barely remember my own cards when playing poker.  

He said he's never lost money playing blackjack.   But he did say they made it very unpleasant when they accused him of counting, and took his winnings.  That was a while back.  
 

 

I do not believe he has never lost money in any session, if that is what he is saying.  Or is he referring to his lifetime play and he is ahead?

18 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

No one is stiffing anyone. Daily Gratuities are optional. AND there are items that have MANDATORY gratuity tacked on that promote better service.

 

Again, get upset at the cruise lines for their pay structure and not at the guests that paid the advertised fare. 

 

Let Royal add to fare price and let the market sort it all out. But we know that Royal will never do this

Interesting question: is it better to have a guest on board who removes the tips or have those guests not on board (do not cruise)?  Which is better for both/either the cruise line and crew members. I am not taking any side in the tipping debate, just wondering what the thoughts are?