maryred

We are planning to go on a journey cruise next year. My husband has somewhat of a mobility issue and I would hope we can try to begin our boarding procress as soon as we arrive without having to wait & wait. Do passengers truly have to stick to their exact appointment time or are those times more like “suggested” boarding times like they, in truth, turn out to be on some other lines? I sure hope so.

Some will do an ad hoc type of priority processing and/or have a separate HC boarding of the ship, within your arrival appointment time. Others just allow those with oblivious physical mobility handicaps (using a wheel chair or scooter) to enter the terminal as soon as they arrive, but still have the disabled person board with the general masses based on their boarding pass type, priority vs general.

To further complicate things, in some cases the terminal will separate those with mobility issues that can board under their own violation or with only members of their family/group helping them, from those requesting crew assistance.

OVERALL the best thing to do is read reviews of how a specific departure port handles HC passengers. In many cases the terminal is handling many different cruise lines, using the same port personnel. So it doesn't matter if the overview/review is written by someone traveling on a different ship or cruise line.

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Dang, it's changed since the last time I bought a bucket. :(

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I do realize but I rather spend my time on the ship than exploring the area. We already did that the day before. By 12pm, the majority of the time, boarding has already started.

So with that knowledge in advance would you recommend them "exploring" the cruise terminal waiting area or spending an extra hour or 2 at the hotel's pool, a minor attraction, or a local restaurant.

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The prices I posted are from the online FunShops and DO NOT include the 15% auto-gratuity or restocking fee (nor does it included embarkation state's sales tax).

So the fairest comparison (on the 5 bottle rate) pictured would be using the straight menu price. But unfortunately I have not seen a verifiable recent price list of the MDR wine menu.

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Actually the taxed charge in FL on a soda bought on board is $0.12 or less per can/glass.

Once out past the states claimed water rights (about 3 miles for FL) no taxed is charged on any beverage.

Other departure ports like NOLA and Baltimore the taxation is longer because those ships need to clear much more interior waters before approaching those State's ocean boundary.

Carnival does not offer any beer deals like that. You can preorder a 4 pack with a cooler but it will be full price. If you get a bucket of 4 beers at a bar, they will take $2 off the total cost. I only drink beer and am very happy with Cheers.

This is the correct description of the discount Carnival offers at it's bars when you order a bucket of beer. Canned/bottled beers range in price from $4.75 for a 12oz can of Bud Lite to $7.95 for a Fosters 25oz oil can. The bulk of 16oz bottles are either $6.25 and $6.50, and you can mix and match beers plus some other varieties of bottled beverages including like hard lemonade and hard ciders.

So in theory you can buy a bucket for as little as $19/bud lite bucket and as much as $29.80/ Fosters bucket. Do take that discount plus the limit of 15 alcoholic drinks/person when calculating if Cheers is of any benefit to your cabin. Also to mention is under Cheers the beer is generally served to opened.

... Hotel checkout time for most hotels is 11:00. I rather check out and go directly to the pier, get on the boat and start my vacation. ....

You do know that check-out just means you need to vacate your hotel room and close out your on property account. Many hotels will allow you to allow you to store your luggage (at no fee) at the guest services desk, coat room, or manager's office if you want to use the on property included amenities, grab a late morning meal, or explore the surrounding area after check-out time till their normal check-in time. (Kind of the same thing that they allow if you show up before their published check-in time.)

Also the the arrival appointment time is not your boarding time. Even those with the highest priority check-in can find themselves waiting an hour possibly 2 in the terminal after checking in when they choose to arrive prior to Customs clearing the ship for boarding.

Our normal (soft-side) cooler is taller by 3 inches than what is allowed, but until on board it is collapsed and packed in our checked luggage.

There is also the onboard movie channels and pay per view like option. The movie channels run a single movie each day, one a child appropriate the other usually a PG-13 drama, romance, or action genre. These are on a 2 hour loop starting at midnight, many times these will be movies that are or have been shown on the big screen up on the Lido deck recently (just not the same night). The pay per view option is more of adult subject matter, and will be listed on the final S&S account statement.

Just a heads up many times, except for cruise line generated content, channels will go offline, as the ship moves out of 1 satellite's service zone before reaching another. This can also affect the TVs in the sports bar.

Just to give you a word of caution regarding how they do the laundry for the wash-n-fold service. First off they transfer the clothing to a mesh bags to keep your entire initial bagged items together, loading the machines with multiple mesh bags from several cabins/passengers. They use very hot water, with industrial detergent (no fabric softener that I've noticed), and then it is dried in large industrial tumble dryers at high temperatures.

So do not send anything new that has not had a few washings at home to release any over dye. Do not send anything that you can't afford a little shrinkage on. Since they only look to match the items count and types (shirt, pants, etc), they are not looking to correct stains or if a piece can even be laundried, you still need to pre-treat and verify care labels that the pieces can be washed on hot and tumbled dry on high.

Do use your various bags to color sort as best you can. Do sent the bags out as soon as you feel a bag is full enough, with 6 bags you can send one out daily on a week long cruise, no need to wait till a bag is completely full. Do not expect same or even next day delivery, as turnaround time is affected by the number of passengers using the service. (Use tends to be greater on Journey and one off special itinerary cruises as these attract more Platinum+ passengers.) Do inform your steward that you have laundry to be picked up as soon as you are ready to release a bag or 2, especially if you picked afternoon/evening cleaning service.

Though I can not speak specifically to your itinerary, I have noticed a general trend that the first set of arrival appointments are around 6 hours prior to & the last scheduled ones being 2 hours before the scheduled sail away. Availability of arrival appointments during check-in for Diamond Platinum, Suites, and FttF passengers are no different than those offered to passengers doing general boarding. Boarding usually starts 5 hours prior and closing out at 90 minutes to sail away.

The best way to be sure if you were able to get the earliest arrive appointment isto compare notes with others on your roll call here and at other cruising social sites.

Te better question here is... If I hold out on this current "sale" hoping for a better one to come along, what happens if this package doesn't go on "sale" again before I board?

Simply put buy the package if it is something you know you want during your cruise. If the price goes down before boarding, just cancel the previous purchase and immediately repurchase it. If it goes down again just repeat. I believe you can continue to do this until 48 hours before boarding.

Just don't use OBC to pay for the package as refunds are made back to the original form of payment and can take 7-14 days to be reported to the that original source to be processed. If you have already paid for it using OBC call Royal to have them handle the price reduction over the phone.

I am wondering about FTTF also. Does anyone know the earliest time you can pick to check in without FTTF? Wondering the earliest someone without FTTF can check in and what time they ususally wind up on board. Thanks in advance!

Not only does arrival appointment times vary from port to port it can vary sailing to sailing. Many times both the terminal and the cruise line will start later if a particular itinerary is leaving later than the normal 4pm.

Also don't confuse your arrival appointment with being your boarding time. Boarding will occur after all previous passengers have left, the USGC (or other local maritime authority) does any inspections or tests it wants/required to do, and Customs gives clearance. Sometimes boarding is further delayed because other government agencies like the USDA or CDC do "surprise" inspections as well. So those with an early arival appointment might find themselves waiting and hour or 2 before being allowed to board Once boarding begins here's the order they handle any oncoming passengers in.

- Back 2 Back passengers

- Wedding Parties

- Diamond, Platinum, and Suites

- Special invitee passengers (like premier casino passengers)

- FttF passengers

- Zone or general boarding passengers

Once boarding begins priority ticketed passengers, when finished with check-in join the next available group boarding. Once the general/zone waiting area is more or less empty then the check-in clerks direct all passengers to the gangway as they finish.

"OBC vs cruise cash" is a bit of a misnomer for a title.

Cruise cash is non-refundable onboard credit. The difference being instead of being awarded by the cruise line as a booking or stock bonus or from being diligent about watching for price drops, someone needs to purchase cruise cash. Be it either with available credit/balance from a credit/debit card, or by redeeming points that otherwise could of redeemed as cash back or a statement credit.

...

ETA: I wish there were nice beaches near the port terminal, so we wouldn't have to take a taxi.

And what are your plans to store the car seat while on the beach between taxi rides?

It's not like the lockers that are sometimes available to store beach bags would be big enough for a car seat.

You can also check-out FAA approved infant harnesses. You should be able to attach them if your taxi has seat belts.

Thank you, JaxsMama! I was hoping to do this. Just didn't know if there would be an issue. I'll tag it and leave it with the porters since this has worked for you.

Like I said this might not be a good idea. DO search for videos and blog reviews concerning cruise port/terminal baggage handling (it's not like how an airport handles luggage). The carts used and how the porters hand off to the stevedores the baggage once out of your sight is a bit rough. Hidden damage to your car seat might be more dangerous for your child than not using one at all.

If worried about a child's safety in a foreign country's vehicle it is always better to advance reserve a transport that will have a correctly install a car seat that does match the tie downs present in the vehicle.

More info would be appreciated. Like...

How many are you being financially responsible for, like a spouse or SO and are there young kids or teens involved?

What cruise itinerary?

What do you think your family/group wants to do while in port?

Do you plan on having any soda or adult beverages other than what you can board with?

Are your auto-gratuities prepaid?

Are you flying or driving to your embarkation port?

If flying how are getting to the cruise terminal from the airport and returning after the cruise?

If driving do you plan to park on site at the terminal, off-site parking garage, or have a hotel's "Park, Stay, Cruise" package?

Also define souvenir. For me, at this point, my idea of a personal take-home from port is a sterling silver or white gold charm or a handmade tea set. While DH is collecting hand-painted lighthouses representative of the region either as figurines or canvas art. Not exactly always inexpensive items depending on which island or port of call. For souvenir gifts we gravitate toward local spice blends and rubs, as well as essential oils and wax melts made near the port.

I seemed to only remember Pellegrino as being the only bottled water in the MDR and specialty restaurants. The large bottled waters were at the specialty coffee bar.

We've tried to play every cruise that I've been on since 2016. But once we miss a scheduled clue reveal due to conflicts with other activities or port times we tend to give up.

The kick off event is a nice cute skit that takes about 25-30 minutes and you think it would be the same format for the rest of the clues but it's not.

What they will do is a small 5 minute story featuring 2 of the "characters" to reveal what weapon and location it wasn't. The bad part is they do this either during the "warm-up" to or in the middle of another activity, like bingo, The FunFinds shopping talk, or the CD's morning show. Even on a 2 week long Journeys cruise once a reveal is done they don't repeat it nor recap it, not even on the rerun of the CD's morning show where a set of clues is revealed on the ship's TV channel (they edit it out).

For the amount of effort needed to attend all the clue reveals the prize is a pittance. For the winning cabin the adult's get to split a bottle of the "Chateau du DoDo" house champagne, a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, while the kids can fight over a ship on a stick, a winner's ribbon, and who has first pick off of the Hasbro.com gift card. The only part of the prize pack with real worth, the $100+ Hasbro gc, can also be won by being the big winner at the Hasbro Game show (usually done twice on a 6+ day cruise). That takes only a 30-45 minutes and even if not participating in it is fun to watch.

It's just easier for the cruise line to make the upgrade (upsell) offers first to those that booked directly through them or their personal planner/consultants. Mostly because the original booking is a direct contract between the cruise line and the customer.

Add in a travel agent/agency or reservation consolidator as having to be the middleman, it just makes for a possible tangle of phone calls before the passenger is informed of any upgrade. Because in these cases the passenger's primary contract is with that company they made their booking through pursuant to the separate contract the travel company has made with the cruise line regarding commissionable payment for taking the booking.

(yn)Tell your subconscious to tone it down.

Have a nice glass of wine :wine-glass:, a Xanax ;p, or at least a cup of camomile tea :hot-beverage: before bed each night the rest of the month before your trip.

Looking to cruise to Bermuda in late May or early June next year on either Anthem (out of NJ, big ship) or Grandeur out of Baltimore (medium size ship).

 

We really don't care about the fancy bells and whistles of the Anthem.

 

What we care about is fewer teenagers. Decent food and a relaxing ship. Good shows. Never been on Royal however we liked a Princess cruise when the school was still on so not that many teenagers.

IS what you will get from either port and ship (relatively to ship size) in May.

BUT as most of the regional colleges let out mid May or have graduations in early May you might not avoid the newly minted young adults cruising as a celebration, especially on a 5 day trip. Some NE departure cruises in May resemble Spring Break.

If you want to explore your departure port the better thing to do is find out what time your departure port allows you to drop off your checked luggage (do not enter the terminal), regardless of your chosen arrival appointment time. Have your carry-on down to a single backpack or messenger bag that's easy to handle while sightseeing and a solid plan on transport to where you want to go and how much time it takes to get there do whatever, and return to port in time to be checked-in and board.

Just wondering if anyone gets back off the ship to explore a little after embarkation and if so the process for getting back onboard. Thanks for any input!

At the average continental US ports this is difficult to do. Usually it's after 11:30am by the time you board, and cabins are not ready until 1:30pm or later for non-priority passenger (and in some ports to get your S&S card out of the mailbox) to drop off your carry-ons. That leaves very little time to get off the ship and be back on board for the 3/3:15pm muster call for the common 4pm sail away.

In fact many embarkation ports will not let you back inside the terminal building at less than 90 minutes prior to sail away, some ports even state on their website a 2 hour cut off before locking their doors.

The Pride just had her FunShip 2.0 upgrade multi-week drydock in 2014. So a 10 day to 2 week refresh and refurbish dry dock is common every 3 years and very possible for the dates mentioned.

This type of drydock rarely involves major construction teams nor does it add any new features that require major rearrangements. It always involves a deep cleaning/sanitizing of the passenger areas of the ship, as well as marine engineering, electrical, and plumbing maintenance that can't be done while the ship is in water. Usually they will also do carpeting replacement, floor resurfacing, painting, new upholstery, rail and wall repairs, as needed. Sometimes they will switch out furniture or rearrange bolted down items like Lido deck tables or the casino game area layout.

Could there be construction still going on for its first few sailings afterwards, of course there can. But with this type of general maintenance drydock it is less like and only would happen if the contractors are behind schedule going into the Pride's dock time already. The most worrisome part, and only if someone has a respiratory sensitivity, would be lingering VOCs from carpet glue, paints, plumbers flush, and oils used during the required work.

When you purchase Carnival excursions using the Barclays card, you get both a statement credit of 10% and the double points. Remember it must be for a booking you are named on and done through Carnival's website.

So if say an excursion is $50/ adult, for a couple the charge shown on the payment page would be $100. The $100 charge will show on your credit card bill, then a $10 credit to the account, plus your 200 points. That means if the excursion tickets are the only thing on the statement all that is owed to Barclay is $90.

I do think the smallest amount to redeem is 1000 FunPoints is for a $10 cruise cash photo credit. 3300 points is the least expensive non-Carnival gift cards and 5000 the least amount to redeem against any Carnival purchase in the last 180 days.

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