Carnival_Brides

How very unfortunate for these front-line associates to have to deal with this form of internal communication.

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Unfortunately, it happens to them quite often (VIFP updates, pulling out of Baltimore, rescheduling Triumph cruises, rescheduling Sunshine, etc.)

Just did a mock booking. The cruise from San Juan to NYC that leaves Nov. 1st is still available. Not sure if the info on this thread is accurate.

Given the number of people getting cancellation notices, I'd suspect that the information that posters have is correct.

I just did a search of CCL's site and while the couple San Juan 8 legs are still coming up, there isn't anything roundtrip from NYC after October. I was just looking at the rates for next Christmas two days ago--now there is nothing.

When you search by ship after October, the only things that come up for Splendor are the NYC-->San Juan and San Juan-->NYC cruises in the fall and January.

We cruised out of Baltimore in January and port security demanded to see/count the bottles and compare it to the number of adults we had. My younger sister who is 24 was asked for her ID since we had to have it readily available through the entire boarding process.

Best case you'll get away it with--worst case it'll end up in the naughty room for you to claim the last day.

My sister-in-law was pregnant when she cruised with us for our wedding. She wasn't pregnant when we booked her, but we marked it in the FunPass. CCL emailed her a letter to get signed by her OB and we faxed it back--pretty simple. She was pretty close to six months when we debarked, but it was enough that she was allowed to cruise. Oh--even though we faxed it and confirmed it's receipt the port agent still demanded (not asked for) the form when we went to check-in. We had it and all was good, but I'm not sure what would have happened without it.

Sorry you figured it out after final payment, but glad everything is well with your DIL!

Is there a specific reason you recommend buying insurance before booking the cruise?

 

Bill

I wasn't trying to say buy insurance before the cruise--

What I was trying to convey was if insurance is important to the OP to look around and make sure they can get the coverage they want before they book the cruise.

I was on the Fascination this week when the announcement was made. I asked Paul, the CD, what the announcement was....after the fact. He knew of no announcement being made and laughed when I mentioned speculation on this board was possible reduced rates for children. He said that would never happen.

It sucks when they make announcements when you're on a ship because the CD's and ship staff are sometimes the last to know. They did the VIFP change announcement while we were on our b2b last year and it was hard to get details and the staff knew very little.

I've been on the Pride four times in the winter months and the ship only returned on-time twice. Once we were a tiny bit late and the other time we were several hours late. Debark also tends to be a hot mess for some reason in this port with people jumping zones ahead of where they should be or everyone trying to self-assist all at once.

The cruise that just got back on the 8th was late due to undertows and then there was that foot of snow that got dumped in the area--they were still debarking around noon.

I would not chance a flight before noon, at least not in winter. We got married on the ship in January last year and made our wedding guests fly in the night before the ship left and out the day after--just in case.

Hooray for holiday cruises! My wife and I tend to book a few weeks out and they are definitely last minute with all the details we have to work out.

Assignments can happen at any point. We booked our honeymoon three weeks out and were assigned our cabin about ten days before the cruise. They can be anywhere on the ship within your category. We were expecting a 7A obstructed view balcony and got an aft-extended view.

I'm not sure about the insurance--we don't purchase it. If it's something you want, you should definitely shop around and make sure that you're covered--possibly before you book. You can always call CCL and they will put a 24-48 hour hold for you--this will guarantee your price and a cabin.

They are cutting back on this because too many people were taking advantage of it. Then going to guest services to get it changed to their own credit card.

They also introduced FTTF at around the time they closed the loophole. The idea was why let an uncontrollable number of people have something for free when they can charge and limit the people in the check-in/boarding area?

Galveston, Baltimore, New York, Charleston, and Boston have been vigilant in making sure only Plats, Diamonds and their minor guests are in the ViP boarding areas. I'm not sure about other ports.

We've done five cruises this year and haven't been asked for our card.

If they don't ask for a card at check-in and you're good to go, you can pull cash through your Sail and Sign in the Casino. It's not optimal, but it's something.

I've done six cruises since last year when the new party began and all 4 cruises where we had the party (2 were less than 5 days) they collected the "ticket". That would be Pride, Glory and Fantasy.

They did allow our niece to attend the party without a ticket because Camp Carnival was closed in order to prep for the kids dinner.

Although I'm sure driving and parking in NY will eat up those savings.

I posted on your thread on the Carnival boards and mentioned the parking situation. It is $280 for 8 days in New York ($35 a day) and $105 for 7 days at Baltimore ($15). When we were planning our wedding Baltimore won over NYC purely because of the cost of parking (we had three cars full of guests and luggage).

We did the Pride and thought it was great. We had a group of 15 ages 4-73. Our niece liked the waterslide and Camp Carnival and Grams liked that the ship was easy to get around-- especially since the dining room and theater were on opposite sides of the ship. I'm not sure Grams would have been comfortable on a larger ship with her mobility issues.

I stayed there a few years ago with some college friends. We had no issues with the hotel and our car was fine parked in their secure gated lot. It was close enough to the Inner Harbor that we could walk to dinner or do something downtown and didn't have to pay $$$$ for parking.

If I didn't live so close to the port now, I'd consider it again.

How true. You have to add the cost of air and perhaps a nights hotel and food which adds up. A couple of years ago Carnival Glory had several trips available out of Boston ,but it only lasted one year.

Actually--they were there for two years. Their product did not appeal to the New England homeport crowd and they were only there part-time in a crowded market (HAL, NCL, RCI among others). They had to discount their cruises to the point that they were giving them away--but I got 2 b2bs out of it.

Does this mean they will be changing the funny French toast to green eggs,and ham?

 

I can't tell if you're serious or being sarcastic:confused:

The Comedy brunch (with no comedy) and the Seuss breakfast are two different things. The Seuss breakfast will be held in a separate room or area of the ship, so I don't think the food will overlap.

Posted in wrong thread.

Royal Princess. It won't be in NYC full-time, but it'll be doing a few roundtrip itineraries and a bunch of European starting or ending in NYC.

That photo looks kind of cool. I got two questions, though:

 

1. Is the new kids' program on all ships now? I thought Seuss at Sea was piloted on Glory, along with the no tablecloths experiment. But the funnel in the background looks like it's on Splendor or a Dream class ship (short and wide, rather than the traditional upright shape found on older ships, including Glory).

 

2. Who's that yellow character? His name escapes me at the moment.

1) Seuss at Sea is being piloted (and was announced) on the Splendor. It will start on that ship in February.

Freedom will get Bookville in dry dock this spring and Vista will come out of Italy with Bookville included.

2) The yellow character is Sam from Green Eggs and Ham.

From what I've read there's a separate place for the Dr. Seuss breakfast, so no.

Mr. Heald confirmed that this morning on FB.

I don't think they liked having ports that once commanding premium fares shrink to the absurd prices they bottomed out at.

 

Solution? Increase demand by removing ships. Not sure if it will work, with 2 brand new ships sailing out of NY. With all the bells and whistles.

 

Time will tell.

Actually--there will be three. Princess, Norwegian, and RCI all have their newest ships leaving from the Big Apple.

Is Carnival shrinking?

 

We are both Platinum and LOVE Carnival but are discouraged since it looks like

1. Norfolk port is gone (we had a lovely cruise from there)

 

2. Baltimore port looks like it's gone after October.

 

3. I Love my Canada cruises.

 

 

Anyone know what's going on?

We have the same problem you do. We only hit Platinum in a very short time span because the Pride was in our backyard and New York/Boston was also a short MegaBus ride away.

Our now yearly family tradition is that we head for Canada every year the week that school let's out. We now make it a b2b because we enjoy the trip north so much. They pulled June's Canada sailing because it became the NKOTB charter to Bermuda and they aren't doing anymore 5 days until school is back in session in August. The Canada cruises worked for us because we weren't dealing with personal days (we all work in the public school system) or pulling kids out of school.

My wife and I seeing the writing on the wall just gave Charleston a try, but after our 9 hour drive turned into a 13 hour drive (thank you traffic in Baltimore, DC, and Richmond) and the ridiculous port set-up, we'd sooner pay $35 a day to park in NYC then leave from there again. Ship was nice though.

We keep hearing rumblings that the Carnival will make a return to Baltimore, but no one knows if it'll be full-time like it is now (we also really love winter cruising) or if it'll be part-time like Norfolk.

How up to date is Dr Seuss?

I think Dr. Seuss is timeless and rather up-to-date considering they keep making live action and animated movies based on his books.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

The Cat in the Hat (2003)

Horton Hears a Who (2008)

The Lorax (2012)

There's also a Dr. Seuss biopic in the works--starring Johnny Depp.

Weren't we told Carnival would never charge anything in the dining rooms?

True--but, I'm not sure this is mandatory. They obviously haven't laid everything out, but they still have to deal with the comedy brunch.

I wonder how they'll accommodate both on ships that have one MDR (Fantasy and Spirit class).

My family is very excited by the announcement. We cruise with a 5 year old emergent reader who has little interest in the Mouse. She will be super excited!

Also the Splendor has the retractable roof on the Lido deck. Pool and movies in colder weather. The Pride doesn't.

The Pride has the roof as PP have posted--it doesn't have the movie screen. This may not be a big loss to your group because the movies vary and a others have been complaining that they aren't showing kid-friendly movies on the Dive-In Theaters.

I'd do the Pride, but also because of the ease in getting in and out of the port. I've driven to the port in New York and it was an experience. Keep in mind while the Splendor is a day longer and a little bit less expensive it is also $35 a day ($280 for 8 days) to park one car at the port--in Baltimore it is on $15 per day ($105 for 7 days).

We got married on the Pride earlier this year with 15 guests (ages 5-73). It was great and everyone had a good time. There weren't many comments about the decor, although my brother was amused by Venus outside of the dining room. My niece loved Camp Carnival and the waterslide/pool. My grandmother also has mobility issues and the Pride was just the right size for her to be able to get around from the aft dining room to the forward theater--I probably wouldn't do a larger ship with her.

One of the ways we made it affordable was to go in January in order to take advantage of insanely low balcony prices. However, this may not work for you, since the Pride is leaving Baltimore in October 2014.