mare2657

On 1/31/2023 at 8:22 PM, trans man said:

We're flying Delta out of Orlando to LAX and then connecting to Sydney, again on Delta.  Then from Sydney to Brisbane on Quantas.  A long slog but worth it.

We locked out.   Orlando to SFO.  2 hours layover then 13 hours to Brisbane.   Flights are both Delta. 

Transman and RCBmom - my stepdaughter and I will be flying to Brisbane from central Florida (we are in Lake County - literal center of the state 🙂 ).   If I may ask, what are your flight arrangements?  I'm late to the party and need to book very soon, if not yesterday.

Mary

On 11/29/2022 at 9:19 PM, baloothecat said:

Hi Everyone-

We just booked this cruise this past weekend. Cancelled our 14day LA-Alaska cruise on the Miracle in order to take advantage of a great offer. We are Stephanie and Lance from Redondo  Beach, Calif. super excited to visit Tahiti again. We were there Oct 2021.
Any avid snorkelers out there?

Anyone know which bay we dock in Moorea?

I’m looking to book a snorkel excursion with a local company in Moorea. . I’ll post what I find out if there’s interest.

Stephanie

Hi, Stephanie!!!!  

This is so exciting that we will indeed cruise together!  Absolutely, Cheri and I are interested in joining you for Moorea snorkeling.

So much to plan and prepare and so little time since I just booked this yesterday!!!!

Mary

From what I see on the Carnival Help page, yes, there is no additional charge to use the steam rooms or the saunas:

I live in Central Florida and am sailing sat on the valor at worst the storm will be in Florida Monday or Tuesday on next week at worst its a missed port or change to the Western

Lovetocruise - I'm on that sailing and live in central Florida (Umatilla), too. Are you on the rollcall for that cruise and/or the BOOK place site Carnival Valor 8/29/2015? I'm also wondering if they might just reverse the order of our ports and go around Jamaica. Time will tell.

Mary

Providing room & board for someone to do 7 treatments a week doesn't sound like a profitable endeavor for the cruise line, either.

On a past cruise I befriended a homesick Spa "girl" and learned that the spa employees are generally NOT employed by the cruise company. Rather, nearly all work for the same company that is completely separate from the cruise line.

LOVE the Rootbeer to make rootbeer floats idea. Why haven't I thought of that?

Carnival cruisers: Love banana splits? In the MDR, banana splits are on the children's menu! :p

I am a bit - ok, a lot :rolleyes: - obsessive/compulsive and cannot stand clutter in the cabin. Throwing our non-hanging clothing onto the shelves in the closet makes me cringe. Dollar General to the rescue. I've purchased several of the fabric "drawers." They cost less than $5 each for the larger square/cube ones and @ $3 for the rectangular ones, weigh practically nothing, and fold completely flat. When we get our luggage in the cabin, I open our "drawers" and put things away. The smaller rectangular ones are great for corraling bedside items, too.

We've also started leaving things on hangers when we pack. Makes unpacking a breeze. When shopping, I ask to keep the store hangers and put the black ones away for cruising. Even the Hubs likes this one. :o

Nice review! Thank you. I just booked us on the July 25 sailing on the Valor and have been digging here and on FB for current pics and info. Not easy to find and thankful to have found your review. Love and appreciate the pics.

We will leave from Port Canaveral and go to Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk.

CAN'T WAIT!

...and looking forward to the rest of yourreview!

Run in the opposite direction from the Sunshine. We did the 11-day repo on the Sunshine. Loved the cruise...hated, did I put HATED?, the ship.

Broken up.

Crowded.

Understaffed.

TINY public areas.

DREAM, is, well - a Dream!

Mary

does anyone know the round about going prices for the colorful Junco Baskets, the 1 barrel rum , the wooden homemade bowls ??? :)

Roatan - the wooden bowl was $20 on up. Very nice. Also bought wood nativity set...gorgeous and very unique.

Belize - we purchased Belize Humane Society t-shirts (they were either $10 or $20) that are adorable AND the proceeds support a worthy cause. The woman manning the table was American. Might not be a bargain, but it wasn't kitch. The able was on the way to the restroom from the tender pier.

Roatan - we circled the shopping area several times and finally settled on Christian t-shirts sold at a booth that supported an orphanage and went to another booth to purchase a gorgeous, hand-carved and very unique wood nativity set.

Costa Maya - I didn't like it so I didn't purchase anything there.

Hot off the John Heald posting early this morning:

Hello John – Is there a new Chef’s Table menu coming anytime soon. Enquiring minds want to know before or cruise on Carnival Elation in October.

John says:

Hello Denise Gregerson,

There is one coming but it won’t be here until the end of the year or perhaps even beyond I am afraid. I hope you have a brilliant cruise and enjoy the table again so please let me know if there is anything I can do for you. Best wishes.

John

Thank you, everyone, for your hint, tips, experiences, suggestions, pictures, and posts. We sail in just 56 days and I just finished reading all 50 pages. WOW! Just heightens my excitement.

I have found, however, that every single cruise/roll call has those who cheer and those who jeer.

We've also found that every single cruise is exactly what WE make of it...and we are choosing to make this one DREAM of a vacation!:D

You can see the Scenic Ocean View online, but not the Scenic GRAND Ocean View. The Grands are the 2 on the end, that are bigger than the Scenic Ocean View. The pictures pisted by the OP are of the Grand. Serene56 posted a picture in this thread showing a cabin with the blinds pulled down. That is the regular Scenic Ocean View. These have 1 large window instead of 2, and are smaller than the Grands. Those are the ones you are seeing online. There is no dropdown for the Grands online, that I have seen.

Hmmm. I've seen it - just had to find a cruise where it wasn't booked. It is included in the options online. Again, just have to find cruise where one of the 2 are not already booked. We will be in one of the Scenic GRAND Ocea View staterooms on Glory Nov 17....

Awesome!! Yes of coarse I have no problem with you coming to check out the room!

I'm so happy that you got this cabin for your Glory sailing!

 

I can't wait 10 more days!!

 

 

Melissa

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THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I'll be the strawberry-blonde with neon bandaid on the bridge of my nose (cancer removed just one month ago...gotta' protect the pale, healing skin :o). Can't wait to meet you - and see your stateroom :D...

I found that by changing the YOUR RATE fields I could see more "available" staterooms/cabins.

For example:

Nov 17 Ocean View on Glory

Fun Select, 3-day Sale Past Guest, Early Saver, and Military I could see the Scenic Ocean View

Same cruise but with the 3-day Sale from $X it showed Scenic Ocean View as unavailable.

From what I have found these cabins are available on:

Valor

Glory

Conquest

Breeze

Sunshine - coming

We are in 9201 Nov 17 on the Glory! SO excited!:D

Im in 9201 on the Conquest in 13 more days!! Then 9200 on the Valor next Super Bowl! So excited!

 

 

Melissa

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Melissa, Congratulations on 9201! I completely lucked out and secretly booked 9201 on the Glory for Nov 17 and I can't wait to surprise my husband. Why mention this? BECAUSE WE'LL BE ON THE CONQUEST WITH YOU!:D And I am hoping to politely ask if you will let me knock on your door during boarding timeso I can show the spectacular stateroom to my husband and then tell him about the Nov cruise. (I do understand if you say no...:()

THANK YOU, DECEMBER LFK-ers!!! As of this morning I had all but convinced myself that our group would NOT continue with the LFK plan. (Had a little cancer-thingy removed from the bridge of my nose at 7:45 a.m. today :eek: and was convinced that the previous cautionary posts and the cancer-thingy were God's signs.) These December reviews re-lit my excitement candle and my Dermatologist said I can go in the sun - just apply SPF 50 before and every 30 minutes. LFK - here we come!!! (I honestly believe it is the closest I'll ever come to experiencing Bali:p)

Mary

No complaints from us. My son and I visited LFK last Wednesday with the $88 package. We had a really good time. We did show our email, but not a problem. The island is really beautiful and we had no problem getting our two drinks...Son had rum runners and I had a Pina Colada and a Miami Vice. We purchased a couple of other drinks during the day too. Staff just kept a tab running that we took care of prior to leaving. There were only about 30 people on the island with us and plenty of beach chairs. There is an area to snorkel right from the beach and people were doing that. Also kids were having a great time riding around on kayaks and playing in the sand. We didn't do any add on activities so I can't comment on them. We parked our butts in floating lounge chairs after a really delicious lunch and just enjoyed the water. My son thought the lunch was better food than anything we got on the cruise ship. Yes, the zoo is only a few monkeys and some birds, but we still enjoyed looking around. I guess for us, a day of relaxing without 4,000 of our friends from the cruise ship and enjoying the hospitality of a really nice couple on their private island was well worth what we paid. My son (25) commented that we really met some great people who made us feel very welcome. I could'nt agree more.

Thrilled to read your comments. When I first read about LFK on Trip Advisor, I was firm in that our group of 4 HAD to go there! Then I read the comments from November and early December and started to have misgivings. I'm back to excited - from photos it looks like I imagine Bali...

Tips werent included as far as i know - we tipped the guy that showed us around the island, took care of us and we tipped our driver

 

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Jules,

Thank you for responding. I thought it rather odd that tipping wasn't mentioned in ANY posts on this thread - which, by the way, I love!

Not to sound as though I've just stumbled into civilization after a lifetime alone on a deserted mountaintop, but ...

What would be stand tipping for this sort of activity/excursion? I know I sound dense, or as another put it BLONDE :eek: bahaha...but we've never done excursions on any of our previous 5 cruises. (Husband says he's not paying good money to get off of a ship he paid to vacation on....this time, I'm rebelling and plan to see/experience the various places...)

Thanks!

Mary

I am so excited! First, this place looks absolutely AMAZING! Second, this place looks absolutely AMAZING! (I know...repeated :rolleyes:)

I just read through the entire thread and didn't see anything about tips. Are tips included for all of the staff - including the driver? :cool:

Thanks...