coldweather

Bumping to see if someone can answer this. Thanks.

Thank you. I did not know that having the cruise card was an option. I like the cruise card. It seems I only need the medallion if I want to order items to be brought to my location. Also, to automatically open my cabin door. Am I missing any other reason I would want the medallion? Does it come with a lanyard or some way to secure it?

Good Day. We have cruised most mainstream cruise lines and they all seem to handle their version of "anytime dining" in a different way. We are new to Princess and plan to eat in the main dining room or buffet. I see that I can make dinning reservations each day using the app. Question - Do I need to make reservations? Is it recommended to make reservations? Some lines (carnival) you simply request a table on your phone when you are ready to eat and they text back a table number. This is super easy with no lines and no crowding the hostess desk. Other lines (pre-pandemic) you could just walk up to the main dining room and get on the wait list. Sometimes they gave you a buzzer. We prefer to eat at a table for 2 and eat early. I am indifferent if we get the same wait staff each night. Do you recommend we make reservations or just "walk up" each night when we are ready to eat. Thanks. I did try to look for the answer to this question and did not find an answer.

Good Day. I have cruised for many years across multiple cruise lines. We are looking at a 5 day Liberty of the Seas cruise where we would book 3 adults into 1 cabin using a guarantee rate. My questions are to understand the Royal process for booking and possibly changing names/number of people in the cabin. Questions: 1. Can I price match a guarantee cabin until final payment? In other words, if I book a 3 person guarantee today and the price drops can I get the lower price until final payment? 2. What is the process/penalty if I need to switch my guarantee cabin from 2 adults to 3 adults? Do I get the updated pricing at the time of the change. (This would be prior to final payment.) Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.

I am sorry this has happened to you. Which sailing is this Bermuda cancelation apply to?

Thank you. I was concerned it would work the opposite. They would book me out of one of the remote airports or charge me a large difference to upgrade to the London based airports. This is very helpful. I appreciate your response.

Hello We are Americans new to P&O but not new to cruising. We are looking at a February 2024 7 day sailing on the P&O Azura from the Canary Islands. Flights are included in the price. As Americans we have to book through the approved P&O vendor serving the USA. The customer service person really doesn't know that much about how P&O works. They just book transactions. The customer service person informs me that I book my cruise with a non-refundable deposit and then I receive my flight information 72 hours later. The departure airport cannot be selected and will be assigned. Can someone please explain to me how this works in reality. We will be flying into one of the major London airports on our international flight a few days prior to the cruise. I don't mind traveling to the assigned airport but some of the airports are many hours from London. Also, what is the policy if the flight assigned is cancelled or does not arrive in time to get on the cruise. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Thank you!

Also chiming in here... San Juan is a great port for a cruise. I too wish Carnival would resume sailing from San Juan. The itineraries are very port intensive and you get to see some new and different ports. Many of the cruises now just seem to be recycling the same ports.

Thanks all. I confirm the process was easy. I clicked "Manage" to manage my flights. I selected the EXACT same flights and received the updated pricing. I received new booking numbers and I did have to re-select my seats.

I have a flight booked via EZ Air flexible including seat assignments. Payment is due November 1. I did a mock booking (not logged-in) for EZ Air and I see my exact flights are $300 cheaper. What is the best way to reprice my flights? I am hesitant to go into my account and cancel what I already have and rebook. Circumstances sometimes change. 🙂I called EZ Air but it seems they are not open on weekends. Suggestions are welcome? My goal is to keep the same flights and get the current lower price.

Thanks. How do you get to the port from the rental car return? Uber?

@artvlay Renting a car for Port Liberty is a new idea to me. Is Enterprise at the port? Or do you use a Bayonne or Newark location? For anyone else, what rental car companies are convenient to Port Liberty? I will be flying into Newark airport a few days ahead of the cruise and renting a car. Any suggestions? I was going to rent a car at Newark airport, return it there and then Uber to be port.

Carnival is definitely repeating too many of the same ports and it is time to add some new ones. I am not sure a 3 month world cruise is the place to start. I would like to see a South America route and more Southern Caribbean cruises.

The Carnival experience is very different on an 8 day cruise when school in in session vs a 3 or 4 day cruise when the kids are out of school or during college spring break. I love Carnival in January and February. I avoid Carnival in June, July and August.

Thanks for the honest feedback. Due to crowding, I just can't bring myself to go on the large, high-passenger ships for any cruise line.

Also, bring more prescrption meds than you expect to need. I was just on a cruise that was extended for 1 day due to Hurricane Ian. I was lucky to get a flight home within 2 days of my original planned return. I met people at the airport who were "stuck" trying to get home for 3 or 4 days. Although there is a pharmacy on land, don't count on drug refills aboard a ship. (You might get lucky but don't count on it.) Also, the earlier post about original packaging for any controlled substance seems like prudent advice. I also use "pill pouches" as an alternative to sandwich baggies. The size works better for me. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ezy-Dose-Disposable-Pill-Pouches-50-count/10318648

@MeganGC1983 I don't frequent the bars but I did look around a bit for Mr Chow. I did not find him and it slipped my mind. On the last day I was sitting by the aft pool chatting with a man from Florida. Out of the blue, the Florida man pointed to the bar across the pool (across from Pizza Pirate) and he said.... see that bartender over there? That's Mr Chow. He is a GREAT bar tender. So, I eventually did find Mr Chow. 🙂

We returned to Port Canaveral at 2pm on Saturday, 10/1. We were originally scheduled to return Friday, 9/30. The crew did an fantastic time keeping us out of harms way, feeding us and entertaining us. There were a few glitches with ending a cruise at 2pm. First, many people discovered their cruise card did not work on debarkation morning. My suspicion is that normally the cards stop working in the morning because you usually debark early in the morning not mid-afternoon. There was a line at guest services in the morning where guests were prevented from ordering coffee at the coffee bar. The 2nd glitch was debarking itself. ALL guests wanted to get off at the same time. Unlike a normal debarkation, some guests would leave early and others later spreading out the masses over a few hours. It was a huge jam up and no guests were following any kind of rules or order. We also disembarked at terminal #10 which is not normally used for Carnival. Our original terminal was already occupied by Mardi Gras. On Liberty, the next cruise was cancelled so no urgency to get to the port to load and unload passengers. Both Mardi Gras and Freedom were already docked and loading for the next cruise. Carnival provided shuttle buses to take passengers back to terminal #3 or your ride could have picked you up at #10. I had pre-booked the carnival shuttle to the MCO airport. It was very smooth. Got off the ship and was directed to the airport shuttle bus. We loaded and departed. Overall it was a great cruise and exactly what I expected based on my previous Carnival cruises.

Rained most of the day in Nassau. Capt announced and letter was delivered to the cabin that Port Canaveral is closed and we "may" be delayed in our return that is scheduled for Friday.

Boarded Port Canveral yesterday. I took the Carival bus transport from the Orlando Airport to the port. Easy peasy. 15 minutes from getting off the bus to onboard the ship. Most of that time was walking not waiting. We are almost to Nassau today, Princess Cay tomorrow, sea day on Thursday and return to Port Canaveral Friday. Upon embarkation we had a letter from the Captain in our cabin that they are monitoring Ian and no changes at this time. Staff and fellow passengers are friendly. I will try to answer questions. Let's hear them.

Thanks everyone. I now will book my excursions/extras. I appreciate the speedy replies.

Hello. There is a possibility I will have to cancel my cruise within a few days of sailing. I understand I lose my cruise fare (It was less than $300 including port taxes.) I do have travel insurance from my credit card that 'may' help me out with some coverage. A few questions: 1. Will my port taxes be refunded to me? 2. How will pre-paid excursion and wifi plans be handled? Will I get a refund? I would like to purchase my excursions and wifi plans but I don't want to take the chance of increasing my potential losses until closer to my sailing date. Is it possible to book the excursions and not pay for them ahead of time? Thanks!

I need a PVP today. Sounds like your recommend yours. May I have the name and extension?

I am looking for an easy way to determine cruises that have no single supplement. I know I can go on the website and change the passengers to "1." That gives me the price of 1 person in the cabin and 1 set of port fees. Other than changing the number of passengers from "2" to "1", is their an easier way? Thank you.

It is very free-ing to travel with carry on only for any trip. One tip is no (or limited) cotton clothing. Be willing to rinse/ hand wash items daily. Packing cubes are good. Compression sacks are a step up. (Not stuff sacks.... compression sacks.) Walmart usually carries these in the camping section. Be willing to wear the same clothes multiple times (rinsed or not) on the cruise. For me, this mostly impacts my decision about "elegant night." I won't have room for special clothing to wear for only a few hours on a cruise. I definitely will not have room for "dress shoes." One suggestion is to ask yourself for everything you pack..."Will I use this item multiple times?" If the answer is no then it should not go if you want to do carry-on only. Some folks will determine they like to have a lot of choices in clothing. That's great. That choice likely will prevent you from carry-on only. Grab the suitcase and fill it up.