Linsuesue

Carnival picking your room is the least of your worries. We are at the mercy of the airlines. 2 years ago American cancelled our flight 12 hours before we were scheduled to leave. Even though we we were planning to arrive the day before the cruise left, it was a nerve wracking amount of chaos to book any flight to get us at or near Tampa. We finally landed at 4:00 am the morning of the cruise. Thnaks to the airline snafu, there was a group of 70+, out of Pennsylvania I think, that missed the ship. They caught up with us in Costa Rica. Nothing would make me fly in the day of the cruise-my blood pressure couldn’t take it!😀

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Yes...they offer a shuttle to the POM. You can only sign up for it I believe as you check in. They'll give you the times available...I think they were...10/11/12/1. We opted for the 11am and it was $14.00pp charged to our final hotel bill. It was quick and easy. Uber/Lyft may have been cheaper but this is what we decided to do last month Feb 23rd.

 

Breakfast was fine....We enjoyed this hotel and will be staying again in May.

Thank you so much for the quick response! I will be traveling with a group of 14 there next January. It is not easy to find a decently rated hotel with a free airport shuttle, free breakfast, nearby restaurants, and a bookable shuttle to get us to the pier that is very reasonably priced. I appreciate your input!!

4 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Yes, we have stayed here several times and enjoy the location.  Good Cuban food just across the street.   Also, on a couple of trips, we have gotten a nice made-to-order sandwich at Publix.  It all depends on how tired we are after flying in😉

Do they have a shuttle that can be arranged to take us to the cruiseport? If so, do you arrange it in advance, or set it up when you get to the hotel? How much is it? How was the breakfast?

Post away! We will be on her in September. 

On 2/8/2024 at 3:44 PM, Ferry_Watcher said:

The address zip code for Smith Cove is 98119.  Maybe try that and see if will be enough to book a parking spot. 

FYI, the on site parking at Pier 91 is quite large, so I wouldn't worry, but you do need reservations.

Someone in my group will be parking at that garage this July. When they get to the pier 91 should they drive through the drop off line so one of them can get the big bags to the porters from the curb and the other can circle back and park in the parking area? I just want to be able to tell them the most efficient way that they don’t have to drag their luggage too far. Do you know the current price for parking?

The Spirit class is our favorite class of ships! Last time I priced a Spirit vs the Luminosa cruise, the Luminosa was more expensive. The 4K Interior obstructed view are the best deals in the fleet. They are only slightly more than a typical inside cabin, have plenty of space, and floor to ceiling windows with plenty of natural light. The view is pretty well blocked by life boats, but you can still see a bit of water. The location is great too. One floor down and you are at the entrance to the dining room at the aft. Shopping, restaurants, casino, bars…are mostly on decks 2 and 3. Two bad things about the 4K category-it sells out quickly- and you will probably not see a price drop on those rooms. I am bringing a group of 30 on the Spirit this July. Many in the group are in the 4K cabins. That category was sold out 5 months before our sail date. Check out the Jungle on deck 3 for a very interesting fun place to sit with a great view. 

5 hours ago, rbelshaw said:

Fall of '23 there was a door from (possibly) the second floor of the shopping center into the mezzanine level of the hotel. Problem is, you need to have your key card to access it. My recollection is that the outside, street-level walk from the hotel to the shopping center entrance was short and easy- "around the corner" easy- even for a 70 year old guy with mobility issues.

We might have had to use a key card to access that door, but it has been so long ago that I honestly can’t remember that. I just remember that there were a few nice shops to see, some food variety in the food court upstairs, and the easy peasy access to the monorail on the top floor. 

On 3/10/2024 at 8:55 PM, jeromep said:

While I understand that you are asking about public transit, I used Google maps to determine travel times.  If you are moving from SeaTac to the hotel in light traffic, the travel time is not quite 20 minutes.  On the other hand if you use Link, you are looking at 45 minutes.  Plus Link can have some very sketchy characters on board, and isn't very clean.  I'd always do an Uber or Lyft to and from the airport over taking public transit.  Plus, when you get to Westlake you will be underground, and will have to pop up and, by my calculation, have to walk at least 2 blocks to the hotel.  If you Uber, you will be dropped at the door.  Downtown Seattle has a lot of "characters", more than I'm comfortable with anymore.

I fully understand what you are saying. We have been to Seattle 5 times from 2010-2022. It is sad to see the decline of a city that embraces tourism and art. It is shocking to see people set up camp in front of businesses and parks, needles everywhere, and people with drugs down by the waterfront. I might be rethinking our plan to save a buck on the Link and pay more for the security of an Uber. 

Just now, Elaine5715 said:

I used Harv and Marv for whale watching in Juneau.  6 person boat for pretty close to same price as the larger boats.  

We took that same tour many years ago and had a great time!

I am traveling with a group of 28 this July on the Spirit. I have checked the port schedules for how many ships will be at each place we stop. The ports are very full each day so I am telling my group that if they see an excursion they really want to try-they should book it. There is an extent to how many can fit on each whale watching boat, or kayak group, or helicopter and seaplane excursion. I would say book excursions that you really want to do as soon as you can. I love the Spirit and all of the Spirit class ships; you will have a wonderful cruise!

12 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Since I had the day off and am bored I decided to crunch some numbers to see if indeed booking NCL with the free at sea would have the price baked into the fare. Last time I did this comparison it did not add up to the price being baked into the fare but things might have changed since then. Will use Carnival for the comparison.

My cruise is on the NCL Jade in August. The most similar cruise I could find on Carnival for the same time frame was on the Legend. The one thing that I could not match on any Carnival ship was that the Jade had 4 port stops compared to the Legend only having 3. I won't even bother trying to estimate the cost savings of having an extra port. Both are 7 nights. Both are based on 2 people.

 

Legend base fare $689pp

Jade base fare $979pp

Right off the bat seeing this might stop someone from even considering booking NCL. But moving on...

 

All in fare for the Jade including the free at sea perks and gratuities, the port taxes and fees, and the regular daily gratuities comes to $3024. This includes a drink package, a specialty dining choice such as the steakhouse, $50 off one excursion per cabin not per person but not limited to just one excursion per port. Also 150 wifi minutes per person. 

 

All in for the Legend is $1863. This includes port taxes and fees and daily gratuities. Once again at this point someone might be turned off booking NCL. But if you look you will see there are some things missing from the Legend booking making it not comparable at all. Let's correct that.

 

To have a drink package on the Legend you will have to pay $993.

To eat at the steakhouse on the Legend you will have to pay $115.

If you take an excursion at each port on the Legend you will pay the 3x$50=$150 that is included on the Jade.

Also I didn't know how to value the free 150 minutes wifi pp on the Jade so I just went with a $50 pp value.

 

Once you add in the cost of perks of the free at sea to the Legend it is now comparable. So onto the grand totals.

Grand total on the Jade remains $3024.

Grand total on the Legend adding the value of the free at sea perks to make it comparable now totals $3221.

Yes arguments can be made that not everyone wants these perks so these numbers mean nothing to them. But this discussion for the last 2 days has been that the free at sea doesn't save you money, is not of value, is smoke and mirrors, is an advertising gimmick and is baked into NCL fares. Yes there were sub discussions but these were repeated and focused on the most.

 

Like Saint Greg posted early on it's no big deal if you aren't a fan of NCL or won't ever sail them but why try to deliberately paint them in a bad light and turn people off? I personally don't like RC but I never bash them. I just say I liked my RC cruises but I didn't love them. 

 

Oh one more point. For the pricing on the Jade I didn't add the $250 free money from using a cruise first certificate or the $195 off for using the veterans benefit bringing the total down to $2579.

Oh and best of all I used a My Vegas reward and also got another $1500 off taking my total way down to $1079😁🤑

 

 

 

 

There are differences in the drink packages that some might want to consider for value. While Carnival has a limit of 15 alcoholic drinks per day, NCL does not. The Carnival drink package includes specialty coffee. The NCL drink package does not include that and you would need to consider the price of the Starbucks package on NCL.

On 3/7/2024 at 4:30 PM, Daruma said:

 

Thank you... we'll finally be able to afford to eat meat again, lol. 

 

As I mentioned in my OP here... NCL proved to be way more expensive for a solo balcony cabin... so I cancelled it, and am now taking 2x Carnival cruises; 7 day with the exact same itinerary and in a balcony cabin and a 4 day, albeit interior cabin, excursions and desired add ons included and it's still several hundred dollars cheaper. 

 

I get and understand the differences... but decided that I'd rather ease my way into the cruise pool, and get TWO cruises... rather than jump in on just one more expensive cruise. 

I have sailed on  NCL and Carnival ships and prefer Carnival myself. If you really enjoy these cruises coming up and will be booking more, check out the 4K cabins on the Spirit class ships—Spirit, Miracle, Pride, and Legend. They are very cost effective spacious cabins and a very unique type of cabin. They are called an Inside Obstructed view, have floor to ceiling windows(that don’t open), and have the lifeboats directly outside of them. They are on deck 4 which we find a very convenient location. The price is just barely more than a typical inside cabin down on decks 1 and 2 yet is the size of a balcony cabin and has windows. There are a few of the 4K’s that have a bit of a better view than the side of a lifeboat. Check out 4K cabin 4122 on Youtube for an idea of the view. Happy sailing!

35 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

As a solo the cheapest room I can get on Carnuval this year to Alaska is 1,460. Not including drinks or internet or anything. 
 

The cheapest I can get on NCL is $742. That includes most drinks and two steakhouse dinners. That’s on a comparable ship the Jewel.

 

If you want to do just from Seattle. The cheapest I can get with NCL is on Bliss for $1,000 again that includes most drinks and two specialty dinners. And it’s on the superior ship with the better schedule.

Those are without using my 10% discount or cruise certificates. 

 

But doesn’t the Carnival fare include port charges and the NCL fare doesn’t? That would close the gap between the two cruislines. 

Many years ago we stayed at the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle. It seems like there was a pass through from the hotel lobby to the Westlake Center. We will be staying there in July and will be taking the Link Light Rail from the airport to the Westlake Center. Do you have to go outside of the Westlake Center to enter the Mayflower Hotel?

On 3/1/2024 at 7:31 AM, groundloop said:

 

NO, you can definitely bring both 12 packs on board with you at the start of the first cruise.  I just got off of a back to back and brought two per person on board at the start of the first cruise, all we had to do was explain to security that we were back to back.  

 

 

Did you also bring 2 bottles of wine per person too?

Seattle Express is very convenient and dependable. They also offer 2 and 3 hour tours of the city that you could take before they drop you off at the airport. 

17 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

I actually work at Pier 91, and I can comfortably say that Carnival hasn't participated in Port Valet the last 3 seasons. 

 

As for speaking to someone via phone about Carnival participating this year - last year CC posters, before the 2023 season even began, also reported that they were told that Carnival was part of the Port Valet program, and some even said that they were able to pre-register online, only to find out once the season started that Carnival actually declined to participate.   I believe what happened last year is that the online sign-up listed all the cruise ships in Seattle, but as the beginning of the 2023 season neared, Carnival officially announced that they were not participating, and at that point all the Carnival sailings were dropped from the online sign up.

 

Don't get me wrong, Port Valet is an amazing program, and I certainly hope that Carnival will be part of it this year, but if past performance is any indication, I am not optimistic that they will.  I would suggest having a Plan B in case Port Valet isn't available on your cruise.

  I hate to say it, but I so hope you are wrong!😃 I will be tracking the first ships to go out to Alaska like a hawk. Plan B is always to schlep our bags off on our own, but I hope we won’t have to do that. I appreciate your input, especially since you work at the port. Thank you! If you hear of any concrete decision about it-yay or nay-I would appreciate it if you would post back here. 

15 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Carnival has not participated in the Port Valet program since the pandemic - so not in 2021, '22 or '23.  I would not expect Carnival to begin participating this season, but keep checking the Port Valet website (Port of Seattle).  Miracles can happen. 

I have known of a couple of posters who have said that they used Seattle port valet in 2023. I just phoned the port in Seattle and was directed to the baggage command center. They just told me that they absolutely participate with Carnival and port valet service is available for my July cruise! They said that you can sign up in advance online, or just as easily sign up onboard ship. As long as your airline qualifies, your flight is the same day that the cruise returns, and your flight is after 12:00. 

Pre covid, we used Port Valet and absolutely loved it! After covid, we were the 2nd Carnival ship to go to Alaska, and there was no port valet. After that, I noticed port valet started up again, but depending on the cruise line, you could book it in advance online. For some reason that didn’t include Carnival, as I recall. You just had to sign up onboard like we did in the past. Now it looks like all cruise lines can book it in advance or you can sign up for it onboard. I will be traveling with a group of 26 this July. Having port valet would be a great benefit to us all. Has anybody used the Seattle port valet service for Carnival more recently, and did you need to sign up in advance?

How do you sign up for the Soul Play crafts classes? Do you have to sign up for the whole week as soon as you board the ship? Do they get booked up immediately?

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Download is half what it was on jubilee but still double what it used to be on ships. Upload is almost non-existent. You can still do it but instead of watching it upload like I did on jubilee, I start the upload and go about my business. It finishes later.

 

 

I thought all of the ships were switching to Starlink. Are the Spirit class ships the last ones, or is it taking a really long time to roll that out?

On 2/16/2024 at 12:36 PM, Tryingtocruise said:

So excited to see this.  We're on the Spirit for 15 days - only 3 port days - next spring (Panama Canal transit) and I'm a little concerned about how much the Spirit has to offer.  Looking forward to seeing your impressions. Have a safe trip!

We will be doing the reverse of your cruise in October of 2025. I hope you post some tips and thoughts of your cruise on the Spirit!

On 2/16/2024 at 9:38 AM, Jamman54 said:

We will be following along with you. As you know the Spirit Class is our favorite, and we've been on every one. Less bells and whistles, but still a great class of ships. We will be cruising to Hawaii from Seattle on the Spirit next year. Looking forward to your take on them. 

Spirit class is our favorite and we will be on that cruise with you and doing a b2b to the Panama Canal. The Spirit is a beautiful ship. and I look forward to every post on this thread. 

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

you can click on my MSC review in my signature to see more about the Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon.

I pulled it up for our date next January and it said sold out. I am wondering if there is a convention or something in town or they just have a limited number of rooms available to the hotel site I was searching on. I will try calling them directly next. Thanks for the info!

In January of 2023 on our way to Hawaii there was a medical emergency onboard. The ship had to turn back and get close enough to the California coast so that a helicopter could fly out to meet us. We missed a day in Hawaii due to how long it took us to backtrack. The patient made it to the hospital and got the heart operation he needed!