Drazil65

We cruised Valor a few years ago (pre covid) and it was fine, not our fav but not the worst ship by far. About 5 or 6 years ago we cruised around Fathers Day and DS and I gave DH a day to Chichén Itzá excursion. He is a enthusiastic photographer and something he wanted to do for a while. He still talks about that trip and loved it. I do recall him saying the bus ride was long but the pictures he took were amazing and he said the experience as a whole was worth every minute of it.

Hi and welcome to CCL, you may want to (if not already done) go to the FAQs on Carnival website to get a general idea of what to expect and what you can and cannot do. Then perhaps do a search on these forums for newbie posts asking for information and the dozens of answers. Then if you have any additional questions you can narrow it down to apply directly to you. Also, reading through the 100s of ship reviews (can choose your ship) CCL cruisers have posted here is fun and gives you a great idea how things go and manage expectations. May be a good idea to have a look at your ships deck plan to get an idea where everything is in comparison to your cabin and the like. Have a blast on your cruise!

We have done in the past (more so as DS was growing up and his looks changed over time) but not lately as we cruise often and we dont always do the dress up and eat in the MDR thing. If you all are going to be dressed up anyway then why not? Who knows when you could all look so good together again.

I love the quarter push game BUT we did not see any in the casino this past December and I was a little disappointed (for a minute). DS wanted to check out the arcade so we stopped in one evening before dinner and discovered the quarter push machines in the arcade! Played a couple games at the time but never went back to play again as was not interested in being in the arcade with that many kids for any length of time. So in the long run although not too happy the machines were located in the arcade, it did save me some money I guess cuz I never played again. Now, the slot machines are a different story, had no issues finding them over and over!

This is why you have a travel agent, you shouldn't need to be wasting your time with this kind of stuff. She should have all the group booking stuff and be able to arrange it. Actually would be surprised since a TA booked it as a group thing that CCL would even speak with you or let you arrange anything concerning the whole group. The TA is getting a commission for this right?

the private oasis at $2,000 is sold out, so people don't seem to mind paying the price. With the private oasis villa, its larger and can accommodate more people so the price is split between groups/families etc. The villa was always the one that seem to make more sense for a larger group of people even at the price point. We have had the HMC villa/cabanas several times over the years but not since restart. At this point with 2 cruises later this year, dont see us spending that kind money for a few hours on a beach (and still need to use the public restroom). If people are willing to pay then why wouldn't CCL do it? We would rather spend the money to get better cabin for the 7 days onboard the ship, to each their own.

We have used it in past (before platinum) to self debark earlier as we typically drive to port and wanted to get on road asap. This and the VIP guest line (just in case) were probably the most worth for us back in the day.

It will be crowded but I would say don't skip FQ fest. I second this statement, so much fun and some of the best food around...dont skip if you can even go for a bit

If you like to eat later in the evening anyway, then the timing will not be any different for you with the specially restaurants mentioned above. Just make your reservations after 730 when it becomes available to you.

Fire hazard is most often mentioned but can you just imagine the amount of complaints about the coffee maker not working properly or not cleaned properly (cuz housekeeping doesn't have enough to do), people mad cuz the coffee did not get replaced, people mad cuz they dont have their favorite flavor, then people wanting real cream and pink sugar packets or powder cream and raw sugar...I am a huge morning coffee drinker BUT I do not blame them at all...yikes!!!

We are waiting to see the Europe itinerary for 2025 as well, we will be doing a land trip to London end of next month for 10 days and are currently in process of booking a land trip for Greece in 2024. We are tentatively thinking a cruise trip somewhere in Europe (?) and hope the schedule is interesting (not England or Greece routes) for 2025.

I think you answered your own question. You know what you spend and how you like to spend it, its a question only you can determine.

If you all want to enter together then everyone can just wait together and enter with the people that have the latest time.

I could probably find something memorable for each and every cruise we have been on over the last 20 years for sure. I can remember the first cruise we took DS on when he was barely a toddler and became hooked even at that very young age and still gets that look of excitement as we arrive in port for each cruise currently (going into his junior year of college and on to law school 😁). Of course, a very memorable cruise was the first one we were able to take after restart when we finally felt a little bit back to normal just getting on a cruise ship again even under not so normal circumstances.

My last e-gift card excursion we cancelled was right before we cruised this past December and we received the refund, on a physical card about mid January. It was about 3.5 weeks from cancellation for the card to be received. I did call CCL in early January and they were able to tell me it would be coming in the mail (FedEx I think) but was not sent out yet. It was another week before I actually received it.

First thing, I am sorry you had to go through this and there are some lessons in this case for sure. I also book all our travel (cruise, domestic and all aspects out of country), been doing it for well over 20 years and have learned a lot so I really only trust myself to get it right (at least I have only myself to blame). That being said, I have used gift cards many times along the way for cruising. Anytime there has been a change of plans or needed to cancel something originating with a gift card, they always put the refund on another gift card and mail it out to me. I have always dealt directly with CCL as I did not use a third party (like a TA) to book my cruise. I have heard from many people that if you use a TA or PVP then that is who needs to make the calls etc. It is possible that maybe the TA should have been involved and made the calls to get the refund from the beginning? Especially if the TA applied the gift cards incorrectly or not according to your instructions. Hopefully they will get it figured out soon.

there are only 16 seats available in the entire restaurant - eight at each table. OP...this seating arrangement is pretty typical for this specialty restaurant and you will want to make reservations asap for this. Not sure how many seats you need but this restaurant fills up pretty quickly on most ships.

Back in the day obesity was a rarity, not a norm. I cant say the foods I grew up with were exactly healthy (frying things was real as well as using lots of butter!) BUT we also played outside...hey...there's a new concept, cut back on the screen time!

They can do a lot on board but obviously will only do what is necessary to get a patient to the nearest facility in a true emergency situation. In an emergency the most important thing would be to get to the nearest hospital for care. I will venture to guess (hope) you have travel insurance with primary medical care (so the hospital is paid up front) and medical evacuation as you will not want to deal with insurance/money issues in the moment (possibly in a foreign country) should something happen. Whether or not you have pre existing conditions covered is another story but you would still want the medical evacuation portion under these circumstances I would guess. Good luck and hopefully all will go well and you will have a great cruise.

Nobody really knows yet, as the ship hasn't finished her remodel yet. This...but if you want to know about the other ships you mentioned there are plenty of postings to describe those areas for you to search to get answers for those ships.

DH and DS will order a steak from the upcharge menu in MDR and whatever else they want from the regular MDR menu. I dont eat steak but it always looks good and both DH and DS say it is worth it. They absolutely do the 2 lobster tails and order a steak from upcharge menu to get a nice surf and turf meal in MDR on elegant night.

Carnival kitchen sells out very quickly so if you do cancel your spots be aware that they may be gone. Just to be safe maybe try to do a mock booking for same number of spots you actually need and see if they are available before you cancel anything.

paying more money for a better "quality" of people is fine but unless your sailing alone nothing is guarantied where humans are concerned and the higher the price the shorter the fuse for some. LOL...yes, because people with more money never act up or act entitled. People are people no matter where you go and sometimes appearances are very deceiving. Cant always judge on the optics. There are plenty of cruise lines out there so have your pick and move on (funny how many of the CCL complainers keep coming back to the Carnival forum just to continue to complain, love the attention I guess) as you are responsible for your own happiness.

There’s no incentives for me to get me back on Carnival with their loyalty clubs. That is what is so great about having choices, the ability to make them according to YOUR wants and needs. Looks like you have done that so you must be very happy and have obviously moved on. Happy cruising!!!

If you have a good promo or just love the idea of platinum at the beginning of that extra long cruise you have coming up, then do it! You obviously enjoy cruising as you are about to level up so why not do a quick hitter if its in your budget, take a long weekend cruise and gain that 1 point as a bonus. I know many cruisers that have done the bridge cruise just to gain an extra point or two and only you can decide if it is truly worth it at this point. Good problems to have 🙂.