Carnival_Brides

I keep hoping they'll merge like RCI/Celebrity--even MSC will Loyalty Match and they're not under the Carnival Corp. umbrella.

oh and honestly, I would be very weary of looking into any tendering port, for example Grand Cayman. Any hint of bad weather and the ship will not anchor there.

I second this. Our last cruise (November) we couldn't dock at Grand Cayman and several ships couldn't make it into Cozumel. September is still hurricane season, so rain and storms are possible in every port.

If a legal ceremony is a must-have (you could get legally married before sailing and have a ceremony later in the cruise), than you should definitely research the ports and the "legality" of your marriage license in your home state. I know for Nassau (Bahamas) you have to be in Bahamian waters for 24 hours beforehand to get a legal license. You shouldn't have an issue with Key West as they don't have a waiting period for out of state residents and you can possibly apply by mail (I think licenses are good for 60 days). Plus, KW is gorgeous--it's one of my favorite ports.

We set our date based on the local school calendar, my wife's grad school schedule, and when the VIPs (parents and siblings) could get away. It was difficult at first, but it really narrowed down our options to a week in October or a week in January--January won because the rates were much lower.

This may differ from port-to-port. Our paperwork (and coordinators) said everyone (guests and couple) had to be in the terminal ready to board at 10:30--we put 10:00 on our invitations just in case.

This is our favorite cruise to do (I wish they offered more five days during the summer). I'd say if you're going in the fall you probably don't need a balcony unless you want one. It is quite cool and you may not use it as much as you would on a Caribbean cruise. On our last b2b, it was sleeting (in June/July!) one night at the Dive-In theater and they did have to use the horn every five minutes or so. Last time we booked 1As and 4As and ended up getting complimentary upgraded into balconies, but I wouldn't have paid for it.

You won't be able to see land unless you are coming and going from the ports. Otherwise, you are out to sea.

The longer walk is noticeable and also the availability of entertainment onboard. The Glory has been 2.0ed and the others may not have (I've honestly lost track at this point). There will be new food venues and bars, plus the larger ships can hold more Playlist Productions equipment, so there should be more shows available onboard. Those were the big differences that we noticed when we did the Fantasy two years ago after having done the Glory.

In my experience, I could barely fit my iPad Mini in the safe, let alone a full sized laptop. I don't think the onboard computers in the computer bar have SD readers. The Freedom (I assume that's what you're asking about) had older computers when we were on it in November.

Carnival should send a letter explaining how this works upon completion of your 24th cruise. You do not have to use it on the 25th cruise, but they can't give you credit until you've completed 24 in case there is a cancellation because stuff happens. I'm only on cruise #15, so I haven't taken advantage yet.

It's all about crowd control. They have a separate buffet line for the kids. I've seen it two ways--- either the kids get it themselves with supervision or the counsellors make platters and serve the kids family style. The only vegetables we've seen has been peas and carrots, usually untouched.

 

If you want your kids to eat elsewhere, then it's up to you.

This has more-or-less also been our experience. Since the kids are secluded from adult cruisers (usually in Fish n' Chips or a partitioned area of the Lido buffet), I doubt they'd be able to leave to go get food from the rest of the buffet. The kids seem to have a set menu and the food is brought out to them.

I tried Carnvial, but COULD NOT find two connecting balcony rooms during the dates we'd sail NEXT YEAR. (at least not on the ship we'd sail from). they don't have ANY balcony's or suites that hold five.

 

I got frustrated with my search, but I'm limited to which ports we'll leave from. And which lines, NCL and RCL aren't worth our time/money.

 

I'm not sure which ship you're trying to sail on, but on Carnival only ships built before 2000 have cabins that hold five, unless you book the family cabins on the Dream and Vista classes. Also, have you tried calling Carnival to see if they have connecting cabins open? A lot of the time they don't put those online you have to call to inquire. Don't know if it helps, but on the Spirit class (Pride, Spirit, Legend, Miracle) there are two sets a of cabins in the forward that connect--one is a an extended balcony and the connecting cabin is an interior.

When we originally planned our embarkation wedding (we changed it later) our plan was to just have them mark that they were or were not attending and made our guests aware that we'd need to collect that information later. We were only going to have a few non-sailing guests, so it wasn't a big deal to call 10 families to collect it. I didn't feel comfortable with them putting that much personal information on the card through the mail.

How much is parking at the port now?

$15 per day/$105 for a 7 day cruise.

I was just wondering if your wedding isn't on embarkation day, do you still get priority boarding?

Nope. Just for embarkation weddings.

We bought it our first few cruises as a fun memento. At the time we were told if anything happened (clasp broke, etc) we could bring it on our next cruise and they would fix it. Well it happened and on our next cruise we were given cards to send it to Miami for someone to fix. We immediately stopped purchasing it and I still have the baggy of broken chains in my jewelry box.

We have booked all but one cruise ourselves and received four upsell calls and one true upgrade. It was arranged on our way to the port and given thanks to our "loyalty" and a handy cancellation.

Thanks for your input! She doesn't really do video games so we'll see what other activities they have. It's good to know about the scavenger hunts! Are they on their own for these or supervised somewhat?

They are not. They are let loose on the ship with another camper or a small group. By giving them sign-out permission, they have it for the entire cruise, not just the scavenger hunt portions.

Your daughter will be in the Sharks group and they really only mingle with the younger kids for evening activities and dance parties. I know they do some activities, but that group has a lot of screen time. There are screens and gaming consoles built into their area because it is what the kids want.

You will also have to decide whether or not you are going to give her sign-out privileges because it is the only way to participate in the scavenger hunt. That might be a discussion best had before you get to orientation.

Depends on the season and the weather. On two of my Pride cruises we were late coming back in, but it was also the dead of winter and the seas had been pretty bad. Both times we got back in around 10:45 and cleared Customs just before noon. Last winter they started pushing back arrival time to 10am.

I have done 22 B2B cruises on Carnival, I have always waited until the last night of my 1st cruise and went around 9pm ish, and they just let me take it to me cabin to pack, (wink wink). never has been a issue. And then I have it for myself or friends who are coming to join me on my second week.

The policy just changed and this is no longer allowed. ALL alcohol has to be picked up the morning of debarkation.

I'm also curious to see how this works for those on b2b cruises. We did one a few years ago and picked up a bottle on the first leg for the second leg of the trip. Those were the days. :rolleyes:

Depending on the day the camp may be closed before dinner. On our past two cruises when the kids wanted to eat with camp we have taken them to the Lido deck buffet at 6:00 where they have a section blocked off and have their own selections available. They post the menu in the camp schedule. They feed the kids and then take them back to Camp area.

:)

This was our experience in November on the Freedom. Our niece loves to eat "at camp with the kids".

At one point there was rumblings here in Baltimore of moving the cruise port to the other side of the Key Bridge so bigger ships could sail from here. There is an abandoned steel mill area called Sparrows Point that could really use the revitalization. I don't know if there is still talk of that, but I think it's a great idea. Sailings from Baltimore always sail full, and you should see the prices on the RCCL Grandeur of the Seas. It's an old ship that doesn't look nice at all, and they are getting more for it than Oasis class ships. The Baltimore/DC market combined is like 3rd biggest in the country. It leads the country in median income. I'd venture to say it's probably within driving distance for 60 million people. The Pride is nice, but it would also be nice to get one of Carnival's newer ships. To me it would seem to be a better port than Galveston or New Orleans.

I love the idea of revitalizing the SP property, but there are currently two problems with the idea.

1) They could build the new terminal to solve the Key Bridge problem and there would still be the problem of clearance under the Route 50 Bay Bridge. Someone asked about a new ship in Baltimore at a CCL event Q&A and we were told that the largest ship in the fleet that can fit under those particular bridges are the Spirit-class ships. In essence they could build a brand new multi-million dollar facility, to accommodate the exact ships that currently embark at the port.

2) After Carnival unexpectedly pulled out and took $45 million in local cruise revenue with them, Baltimore and the State are less likely to invest that kind of money in that project right now. No one wants to be in Mobile's current position.

RCI says it counts and that is their current plan. It seems Breakaway also had a CTN planned and they are also doing something similar.

"Just got off the phone with the Executive Office in Miami who responded to an email I had sent to Michael Bayley's email. The cruise is going off as a 3 night cruise, it won't be extended. They have received approval to "stop by" Halifax sometime in the middle of the night to meet the foreign port requirement. So we are in fact heading north - in March - dress warm.

 

They said that the itinerary will not be changed to reflect Halifax so we won't see anything on our reservations etc. that indicate the change."

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46862114&postcount=409

http://www.cruisehive.com/no-more-cruises-to-nowhere-starting-from-2016/7115

We also had to call and get our refunds processed--I think they were hoping we'd rebook the longer cruises.

On a related note, I'm pretty sure the company that is still doing the "CTN" is getting away with it because they are cruising to Halifax, stopping long enough for it to count as a foreign port and high-tailing it back to NYC. I'm trying to find a primary source document to back that one up.

I love sailing out of Baltimore and down the Bay, but there is nothing like sailing in and out of NYC. We typically leave out of the NE and had planned to do the Vista (I really need to update my signature), but the itineraries no longer work. If they were to put a newer ship up here on a seven or eight day cruise, I'd book it in a second--I'm less apt to book the Splendor or Sunshine when the Pride is just 40 sweet minutes away.

We usually lose and regain service at the Bay Bridge and Tunnel around midnight.