Gold Mine Gal

We will overnight in Maui and wanting to rent a car. Does anyone know how much parking is available at the pier and what the charges might be? Would love to keep the car for two days but if parking is tight, may return car early. Thanks for any information.

A "must-do" would be to see Sylvia at the Violins bar and have her make you a special martini!! She is so much fun and we dubbed her the "Martini Queen" as she knows how to make over 30-40 different martinis. I loved her special lemon and also her creme brulee ones. Tell her hello from the Colorado cowboy.:D

Thanks for all your responses. I had already contacted my Carnival agent, and he said that as far as he knows Carnival always stays on port embarkation time and "he didn't know why this would be any different." That means we will get to different islands by 4 and 5 am. This just sounds crazy to me. And then we leave the ports by 1 and 2 pm? I'm just wondering if Carnival does something different with the Hawaiian ports. And I definitely can't book private excursions without knowing the actual docking/tendering time. I'm hoping someone will respond that took the Carnival Hawaiian cruise.

Not true. Check your cruise itinerary, the ship will be docked from 8:00AM Weds, Sept 24 thru 10:00PM Thurs, Sept 25 (overnight stop). On to Honolulu 8:00AM-11:00PM, etc. All local Hawaii times. Hope this helps.

Hope someone can help, as I'm getting very confused as I plan for our Carnival Miracle - Vancouver to Hawaii to Long Beach - cruise September. Any input will be much appreciated!

cwb348, come over and join the Carnival Miracle roll call. This will be a fun cruise.:)

Eliminate all the brochures and magazines they deliver every day. On our last 4 day cruise I had a stack 2" high! Why can't they just put it on TV. Eliminate the papers and bring back good bands.:D

Will be on this cruise also. Elegant night is Tues. after a fun day in Catalina. Third time we have done this cruise, a nice get away from cold weather!!:D

What date is your cruise? My office overlooks the terminal, I'll be sure to wave you off :)

Off to Hawaii, Sept 18, 2014. I'll be waving back! Happy holidays to you and yours.:)

Thanks for all the replies. We have decided to book in Richmond and catch a taxi to the pier. Trying to manage 2 suitcases plus a carryone, plus soda, handbag, Yike!! Never had to pack for a 16-day cruise so should be an adventure. Thank goodness for Platinum free laundry!!:D

I will be on the Inspiration Dec 9-13. If you don't get someone to pick one up for you before then, I'll take a look and see if I can find one for you. oralias at comcast dot net.:)

Thanks so much Spacemansspiff33!! As we get into Vancouver and settled into hotel by mid-afternoon, don't think we will have much time to sightsee anyway... so saving a bit on a room and taxi will get me a double helping of the DOD..haha

We really like the Inspiration. She is just the right size and getting around is easy. This December will be our third time on the 4-day Baja and are hoping the band we like will still be playing. Can't remember their name but they were good. Ship a little dated but think she just got update 1.0 so will be spruced up for us.

Thanks again for your help.:)

Flying in the night before, would it be more cost effective if we found a hotel at the airport or Richmond and then take a taxi to the cruise terminal . . . OR taxi directly to a downtown hotel with a shuttle to the terminal? Looking at prices of hotels, it seems you get a little better hotel deal further out, but then the taxi might cost more. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.:)

I am curious about this as well. We have 5 rooms booked on the Breeze in May 2014. 4 were booked on our last cruise at a discounted rate and each have $225 OBC. The 5th room is at ES with no OBC. The rates for the 4 rooms are lower now but I was told we would lose all of our OBC.

You need to figure if losing your OBC would be worth it or not. For example you booked a room for $300 with $50 OBC, then the rate went down to $250, you would lose your original credit but gain it back as a refund to your balance or if no balance as OBC. Say the rate is now $200 you would lose your $50 but gain $100.

On the other hand if the new rate is $275, you would lose your original $50 but gain $25 so you would be better off keeping the original OBC, Hope this makes sense.:)

Go on a newer nicer ship and you can book on board. Inspiration leaves alot to be desired.

Thanks for all the replies. Booked our Hawaii cruise on the Miracle then after the cruise friends wanted to do the 4-day Inspiration. Wish I had known about it when we were on the Miracle. What a bummer they don't offer the credit anymore with a phone call...guess I'll just have to be happy with the stockholder OBC.:D

We want to book a future cruise while on a cruise for the credit. The Inspiration does not have a future cruise desk. I think I remember reading you can call Carnival within a time limit and they will help you get the credit. Does anyone know if this is a fact. Thanks.:)

I already miss the Miracle too! :D But we will be back on her September 2014! :)

Cool Breeze Cruiser, we were on the Miracle a couple of weeks after you and we will be back for the Hawaii Sept 2014 cruise also. We loved the ship and I am enjoying your review, aaahh, the memories. Missing her too!:)

That was my thought about Daniel's dress too....."why does she have two large tumors on her hips?" :rolleyes:

LOL - my friend thought she had two blowfish attacking her hips...:eek:

Things we never do:

pool

hot tub

steak house

water slide

Things we always do:

attend the sail away party with a rum and coke

take a tour at every port

watch the ocean and hope to see anything that flies or swims

casino

slot tournament

attend tea

We always try to dance the "YMCA" at least once on every cruise. Don't know why, it has become tradition. Once we couldn't find any band to play the song but they played it in the MDR and our record stands perfect.