5 hours ago, alleghator said:

My young adult children will be in a separate cabin on our next sailing. Our Boarding Passes indicate they are at a different muster station from my husband and I. While, this won't bother me for the drill, in an actual emergency, I would want to be with them. Can muster stations be changed? How would I go about trying to do this?

Here's is your biggest obstacle, they are young adults. The cruise line will give priority to cabins with older teens (under 18), young children (and spouse), and those traveling with (documented) disabled family members assigned to other muster stations.

This is a scenario where a good PVP or travel professional could of helped you avoid at booking. 

4 hours ago, alleghator said:

Thank you! I was concerned when I scrolled down to the "Purchased Services" page and it only showed the excursion and cabana rental, but not the shipboard things I'd prepaid for.

If you did not opt-in for notification on your cruise documents during the online FunSHop purchase process, items and packages from there will not show up on your paid invoices as Carnival still assumes these are gifts, even if it is the passenger buying for themselves.

Self-assist in NYC can be a long process as it is popular. We have seen where the first deck of self-assist are not yet called but priority lounge and low zone number relaxed debarkation has started already.  In fact we have seen where the crew has turned away people from waiting in the main theater for earlier than decks being called self-assist dismissal, being told they need to wait on the Lido for their deck to be called. 

Before we had priority status we commonly left at last call for relaxed disembarkation so during our waits we would hear the whole litany of decks and zones being called. Last call for self-assist will come about during relaxed disembarkation. This could wind-up being right when you want to leave but then again it could come much earlier than you want. The only problem here is now you have the 2 different types of groups trying to get off the ship at the same time which causes congestion on the sometimes as long as 3 story gangway and longer lines for processing at customs. 

Since this a large multi-level terminal with customs processing in a different area that is walled off the one used for incoming passengers there is no "push" for the customs clerks to clear the hall by a certain time, but the porters on the other hand do want to get to the incoming passengers. So what happens is about 9/9:30am about half of the porters go to the incoming concourse to collect new passenger bags, and the porter line at customs is the most expeditious way to get repatriated. 

As long as the cruise line opts in and pays for the temporary gambling license per voyage a ship's casino can be open from 9pm-5am while docked in Bermuda. The better question is will the Pride's casino be open during those entire permitted time. The most honest answer is NO, unless it is also a Casino Premier (or better cruise) and casino demand causes it to be. It is more likely that the casino will open at 9pm but close it's tables by 1-2am as players dwindle with slots and video poker following about 30 minutes later.

Jellyfish blooms can happen whenever but the warmer the water the more likely is is to occur. Most jellyfish species do not have  strong mobility and wind-up going with the current so though it can be happen in "cloudy" or debris filled water it is just as common in clear water.

When we were last in CocoCay over a decade ago in August there was one heck of a bloom, and it happened in crystal conditions. It was so bad that all in water excursions and water equipment rentals were canceled, as well as the in ocean inflatable park closed. Instead personnel manned the equipment rental and excursion check-in huts with many, many gallon jugs of white vinegar. Being from a shore area ourselves we knew enough to avoid even the surf, but many did wade in to the ankles getting stung, vinegar is another home remedy to take away the stinging sensation that remains. Powdered meat tenderizer and wet (black or orange pekoe) tea bags also work. 

All I can say is sorry this happened to you. But have you considered that  the target of the thief, if it wasn't a case of "luggage confusion", was actually your expensive suitcase? 

Personally we use luggage that is mid-priced, yet durable (our last set of bags lasted 10 years of cruising and other vacations). But as you said what's inside can be more valuable to you than a thief realizes. Over our 24 cruises I have pulled together what I feel is the ultimate cruise wardrobe and would be emotionally devastated if this clothing was lost to me. So what I have done is purchased an app based RFID chip locators that is linked to my smart phone. So far I've only had to use it once, when a bag of ours wound up in section 10 instead of 01, but it worked perfectly. 

8 hours ago, jen2010ss said:

Thanks for the replies! I have a couple of gift cards that I got at a discounted price and wanted to use them but if I don't use the money up I didn't want it refunded by gift card because we don't sail that often. 

Carnival GCs can also be used pre-cruise. They are good to pay off or be a deposit for any booking, used for purchases from the online FunShops (including internet and beverage packages) or excursions or spa treatment appointments your Manage my Booking. You can also use them to prepay the daily auto-gratuities. If the GC is a greater amount than the pre-cruise purchase the remaining balance stays on the card for future transactions including use as a funding source for your S&S account.

A good PVP or travel agency can help you sort out how to get the best deal. They may inform you that each person that has an offer based of VIFP level or because of their state of residency be place as the primary passenger in a cabin even if their plan is to sleep elsewhere. Room only key cards are always available to make the sleeping arrangement switch easier. (This is also an acceptable strategy if only 1 adult in a cabin wants Cheers, either book them with kids as the other occupants or with another in your group that wants Cheers.) 

If you will be booking 8 more cabins you may want to contact Carnival's Group Travel coordinators, as there are special perks when you book through them, like a free (based on the average per person booking price) berth for every 8 cabins with 16 passengers in them or 3rd -5th passenger per cabin at a reduced price over the standard price regardless of VIFP level related or location special pricing.

For open seating they ask you cabin number for 2 reasons. 1 is to print out a cheat sheet with your names and any special occasions or likes dislikes noted by the wait staff. The second being so they know which service staff waited on you. When you have set time dining it is known whom is on your waitstaff and they have their own "crib" notes for each table.

The cheat sheet which I have seen many times might include info on allergies, special occasions to be celebrated that day, or notes on dietary restrictions or special menu requests. If these are not communicated during the booking process and included in the special notes section of your confirmation, you can at anytime the dining room is open talk to the maitre'D or host(ess) staff to have them included. Knowing my DH I regularly tell them on embarkation day to serve him a scoop of whatever sherbert they have that night between the starters and main course (my little secret w/ the serving staff). 

The second is to track which service team should receive a portion of that days auto-gratuities for that meal's dining. When you don't attend a meal in the MDR or at a specialty restaurant it is assumed you are eating at a self service venue and allot that meal's portion of the auto-grats to the buffett service group's tip pool.

Here are the bar prices that I remember from our cruise in Sept 2018, bar pricing is the same fleetwide for ships sailing out of a USA homeport. Not sure if there was an increase on any of these this spring (the usual timing for Carnival's price changes), but the norm increase is anywhere from $0.10-$0.50. 

$8.25 for Icy Inventions and Frozen Favorites 

$5.25 for virgin/non-alcoholic frozen drinks, slushies, and milkshakes

$5.00 for a large bottle of San Pellegrino sparkling water

$2.95 -$3.95 for specialty coffees, premium hot chocolate, and Art of Tea flavors

$0.50 per flavor shot to any coffee bar selection 

$1.95 for a 12oz can of soda, 10oz juice, or 0.5L bottled water

An 18% auto-gratuity will be added to the total of all beverage purchases.

Available for free 24/7 at the self service beverage stations on the Lido deck 24/7 of the cruise: regular and decaf coffee; Lipton's regular, decaf, and green tea bags; hot chocolate; and filtered tap water. Also available on the Lido deck from 6-10am apple and orange juice from concentrate, from 10am-late unsweetened ice tea, lemonade (very sweet) and a 10% juice "cocktail" that is very like Capri Sun passion fruit. Milk is placed out in school sized cartons during major meal times, and at other times can be requested to be retrieved from any counter buffet person. Milk choices include reduced fat, no fat, and reduced fat chocolate. Glasses of soy or almond milk can also be requested at any time.

Available for free at all restaurants during operational hours iced filtered tap water, iced tea, milk, milk alternatives (soy almond), unsweetened ice tea, coffee (reg & decaf) and hot Lipton tea bags. Additionally available during breakfast and brunch hours only orange, apple, pineapple, grapefruit, and prune juices.

From 6am-10pm room service will also deliver to your cabin free of menu charge any of the self service drinks, but a tip to the delivery person is the expected norm. After 10pm there is a delivery surcharge (and I believe  they now require a food order after that hour), and at all times other bottled or canned drinks will be at bar menu prices.

Needing the unlimited public transportation pass really depends on where and how you plan to tour the island or attend activities. If just going to a single area each day then you are better off buying ferry tokens or a ticket book. Ferry tokens bought through the transport center/ info building in the Dockyard are $4 a piece. This gets you 1 way on the ferry to either Hamilton or St George The ticket books allow for transport by either ferry or bus and prices vary by the number of tickets (the more you buy the larger the discount over single fares). Each fare ticket is good for 1 way on a ferry or for up to 14 zones by bus. If you need to transfer to another bus in Hamilton to continue further east a second ticket is needed, no transfers.

On the other hand an unlimited pass runs about $19 for a 1 day, $32 for a 2 day, and $44 for the 3 day. The pass is good till midnight of each day purchased for after activation. Activation is usually by the ferry crew or bus driver hole punching for the first date on the card you use it. This way is great if you plan on visiting multiple areas during a single day. This is what we do on day 1 (but most of our cruises have had us in by 8 or 9am) we buy the 2 day pass then head over to St George by ferry for a carriage ride and some shopping, then head over by bus  to the Swizzle Inn for lunch, and continue on to Hamilton for more shopping. Depending on how much we buy we will either take the Hamilton ferry back to the ship or head over to the botanical gardens then head back to the ship. The next day we usually start with a stop at Horseshoe Bay beach or the public beach by the Reefs Resort. Then we head into Hamilton for the Maritime museum and lunch there, or to transfer to a bus heading out to the caves (& a second days lunch at the Swizzle) or aquarium/zoo after eating in Hamilton, afterwards it's back to the ship. Since most of our departures are on a Sat or Sun at least 1 of our port nights is a Wed and on that day we get back to the ship to enjoy a quick dinner to be able to head back over to Hamilton for the Harbor Night street party which starts about 7pm. We usually stay there until 9pm (last ferry on that night is usually 10pm). For our last day we usually do the Dockyard sights or (private) excursions that leave from there. Sometimes we decide to head over to Seaglass beach so we will just buy 2 bus tickets a piece, since the ship leaves sometime between 1-4pm.

In March the Escape Room was closed for the entire duration of our 12 night cruise on the Anthem.

8 hours ago, basictek said:

I bought an excursion with another cruise line, then saw it sell out, and disappear from the list, only to see it reappear later at a different time slot. So there ended up being two excursions at different times. I noticed because I would have booked the later one if it had been available originally, it wasn't a big enough deal for me to cancel and re-book. So depending on the type of excursion that's a possibility too.  

You do realize many cruise lines will allow you to "exchange" your tour tickets on board for the same tour different time with just a simple phone call or visit to the excursion desk. 

This is a personal opinion, but with sound logic behind it. In part some of the reason you hear more  about seasickness on cruises out of the New Jersey, Baltimore, or Boston cruise terminals is because these cruises tend have more sea days traveling at a higher rate. Once the ship is traveling over a certain rate, not sure what it is, the stabilizers can not be deployed.  So the navigation crew plays a balancing game of is it better to have some passengers complain about a rough transit for a few hours to a day or have most of the passengers complain that docking was delayed to go slower.

I travel on several different lines mot often out of the NYC metro area and tend to follow many of the boards here. It does seem regardless of departure port be it one from FL, Charleston, or any of the previously mentioned port any ship going to Bermuda on any date can be subject to more aggressive seas. Because of the distance that Bermuda lies from the US coast, a good 700-900 miles, any departure port needs 30 hours or more of traveling at 19-23 knots at least. While cruises out of FL ports to the Bahamas and other near US islands if the ship traveled that fast would arrive at those ports in 6-12 hours.

Show times depend on the ship but either way they do revolve around the timing of the traditional set time dining. Some ships the set up is as you described like with a 7/7:30pm for the early show and 8:30/9pm for the late, but on a few others the show schedule is for after each dinnertime, like the first show is 7:45/8pm and the second at 9:45/10pm (the Pride does this). This is for the Playlist and general production variety shows  that usually last about 45 minutes.

On nights with a family friendly show (Hasbro or like a magician) and an adult only act or competition (like Love and Marriage or a specialty rate R fly-on act)  the show times will be adjusted to accommodate the core audience's popular dining time or in the case of some little kid friendly shows be done a seaday matinee.  COmedy show times are total different  Carnival has their own comedy club on each ship (even the older ones). Common times for the comedy are usually the PG ones are about 7:30 (act #1) and 8:30 (act #2) and the R rated versions at 10pm and 11pm. On the next night the 2 comedians switch flip-flop which time they perform.

We prefer ATD and know enough to get to the dining room about 2 hours prior to a show we want to see in case there is a wait for tables.Personally my DH likes to see the main theater show first then eat then head to the comedy. But when we travel with mom it's eat first then catch the various shows.

1 minute ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

You can exchange an unused cup.  The straw cups were not wrapped like the older cup version.

Good to know.

Just today I was looking over excursions for 1 of our upcoming cruises and poof in the hour between when I saw (and place it in my cart) an excursion in Boston my mother would like and when I saw her it disappeared and I won't be surprised if tomorrow it's available once again online. Royal's Cruise Planner is full of IT issues, so I would check online right up to the cut off point whenever the thought strikes me.

I believe if you pre-order you get whichever cup they pick as it is waiting in your cabin. Not 100% sure it can be exchanged, even if still wrapped, if the "table" selling the packages is offering a choice.

Having a suite will help you get off when you want but it does not impact how you wish to split up your cabin or booking to disembark with. The option is open to all adults regardless of cabin category or loyalty status. 

The only problem I could foresee is with the CBP customs clerks doing the repatriation. Though the family is traveling together you may just want to have in your back pocket the a minor's travel consent letter. This way if they question why dad is not there at disembarkation, no explanation needed just produce the form signed by him that he acknowledges the differing travel plans and is OK with them.

Someone correct me if this has changed, but the airline must accommodate you at no charge to a flight time of your choice or offer a refund if they change your flight time more than 90 minutes after you have a confirmed ticket purchase. 

To me this is an instance that is no fault of your own and not fair to add the stress of doing self-assist debarkation unless you had already planned to, especially since you have no assurances from the cruise line that there will not be any docking or customs processing delays.

I agree with not-enough-cruising. If the as described excursion through the cruise line is not to your liking, confusing, or lacking features you want then you should book direct with the venue. In the case with BLI there are a minimum of 4 ferries daily going from the check-in terminal on Paradise Island usually at 8am, 10am, 1pm, and 3 pm local time. During high season, basically any week or longer school break period, additional ferries are scheduled.  

When you book direct you do need to grab a taxi about 1 hour prior to your ticketed ferry time, so you can do your in person check-in at least 30 minutes prior to the start of boarding for your ride over to BLI. When you book generally you are picking your inbound ferry time not always your mammal experience time. (When we did this a second check-in at the animal compound was where we were assigned our swim group time and number. Multiple "lagoons" are available to be used for all of their various levels of animal encounters at any given time frame.) Return ferries are at 9am, 11am, 2pm and 4:30pm local time and unless the ferry is also dropping off at the cruise docks you will need transport back to the terminal in Nassau.Transport from the cruise terminal to ferry terminal water taxi fare should not exceed $7  per person each way, but a land taxi option is also available at $5pp each way (and that includes a tip).

The convenience you pay for by going through the cruise line is to have a semi private (with other passengers from other ships) outgoing ferry from the cruise dock area bypassing the need to go to the ferry terminal. But the return ferries tend to be mixed doing drop offs at both the cruise terminal and the ferry terminal. The other thing to note is if your ship does not share or adjust to local time your excursion times are listed based on ship's time. In return you get a guaranteed return on time or hold the ship clause but only if you remain with your ship's tour group during the loosely planned schedule of activities or places on the island they will visit. The other trade off for the convenience is the ship's excursion groups tend to be bigger sometimes diluting the individual time spent interacting with the animals. 

This is just my opinion. Not worth the order price much less the added delivery/restock fee, but a promise (especially to a child) is a promise.

If leaving from Port Canaveral or Tampa you might be better off detouring to Universal's CityWalk paying for parking or Uber and shopping for the Seuss related items there. Then go to a local grocery store and get the sodas, gummies (available in any shape but a funnel), cookies, and the other candies for a 1/5-1/4 of that price. And a dollar store for the cabin decor (which if you don't have a suite) tends to get tiresome to dodge and duck under after a day or 2.

You would need to carry the cans of soda on board as with you, for some an inconvenience, but Carnival charges $10 for a 6 pack where most stores this time of year are selling 12 packs at 3 for $10. And may want the cabin decor in the carry-on also so you can decorate before the child enters it, but all of the other items in you post can go in check luggage..

40 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Being that these are 2 person cabins and under 18 can't use the spa, the odds of kids are slim to none.

The Sensation does not even have a Spa Deck much less one with cabins on it. On the Conquest all of the Spa Deck balcony cabins are quads with a king (or 2 twin XLs), an upper pullman, and sofa bed, and a few are even connected cabins. So why wouldn't a family that wants the top view not book there? Additional your info about under 18 being excluded from the spa, salon, and gym is incorrect. See highlighted section of the Carnival FAQs below:

6 hours ago, coevan said:

as per the Carnival website: Guest are required to provide us with check-in information by completing their Online Check-in and selecting their Arrival Appointment, within 90 days of the departure and no later than midnight (eastern time) prior to the sailing date

Trust me the key words here are NO LATER THAN. At 11:59:59pm eastern the night before everything is available to fill out, edit, or print, but once the clock ticks over to midnight on the east coast the system will not let you do anymore not even print the boarding pass or luggage tags  

12 hours ago, livingthedream1 said:

I had called our PVP a while back when she was not yet 21 she was 20 her boyfriend was turning 21 and she wanted to book a cruise for this occasion he said she had to be 21 or married to go alone so low and behold we had to go to.  I did look up Carnivals policy and it states under 21 would not be permitted to board. Only Carnival though other cruise lines she would of been fine.

Here's the official age restrictions on booking, it does mention the ability to embark is dependent on that the guardian must also be on board but does not forbid them boarding separately. Also pay attention to the last section in the On Board Restrictions as it gives the 19 year old generalized permission to debark with the younger child unless revoked by the guardian  through the security dept, ...