Out to sea!

Except the context in which it was stated that it is legal to bring back $100 of Cuban cigars from Cuba was in contrast to bringing back "Cuban" cigars on a regular cruise that did not visit Cuba.

 

I was pointing out that difference, as you now are, so thanks for agreeing with me.

Yes, I agree that an authorized traveler to Cuba is allowed to bring back Cuban cigars. The problem is that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. :rolleyes:

I think you missed my point.

 

Its not fair to penalise travellers that want to bring alcohol back home from their embarkation port after the cruise. These are often cruisers that wouldn't dream of smuggling but simply like specialist beverages from ports.

 

For example, I may want to purchase a small bottle of Catalan fruit Brandy to take home before I get on the Vista in Barcelona next year. Because of this new rule that is now not possible.

 

I personally have no problems with people bringing alcohol on board when ship drinks can be a little limited...especially after taking 2 european cruises where I obviously brought on drinks and no-one batted an eyelid. I actually had a large bottle of Kumquat liqueur in carrier bag on my recent Equinox cruise...the scanner people actually laughed at its lurid orange colour and let me on with it.

No, I completely understand your point but I also understand there is no way for Carnival to determine who is smuggling and who is bringing alcohol enroute to the next point and therefore have made a one size fits all policy which I agree with. Since you know Carnival has this policy they are not penalizing you. If someone doesn't like Carnival's policies they should find a cruise line whose policies they can abide by instead of violating Carnival's.

Personally, I do have a problem with people who can't abide by the rules because as a rule of thumb, those same people don't abide by laws either and therefore are a safety hazard to all those around them.

Actually its one bottle of wine not two and one bottle fits easily in a small satchel, purse, or backpack.

It's one bottle of wine per person ages 21 and over and my wife doesn't cruise without me so for us it's always two bottles of wine. ;)

I think they should make it even more clear and place the red non-smoking signs on the right side of the bar and the green smoking signs on the left side of the bar.

 

To me it doesn't make sense to only tell someone where they can smoke without making it equally clear where they can't. Each of the machines in the casino have red or green labels on them.

 

Maybe they are trying to appear more accommodating to the smokers.

The smoking half of the bar is closest to the casino and the non-smoking half is next to the corridor that passes through the ship so there is less smoke in the corridor.

As far as I'm concerned, the entire casino bar is for the smokers. They may only be sitting at half of the bar but their smoke affects the air in the entire bar area.

 

 

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I don't believe anyone is forcing you to sit at the other half of the bar though I could be wrong about that.

This is ridiculous...destroying sealed wine/spirits because they cannot be bothered to keep it below decks for the cruise?

Actually what is ridiculous is people that can't follow the rules they voluntarily agreed to follow and bring it on ship to begin with. If it were me in charge of security on a Carnival ship, I'd call the smugglers down to the naughty room so they could see me personally break their bottle of booty in front of them. :)

So those who said it's now legal to bring back a cigar or two up to $100 worth from Cuba answered correctly.

That would be the correct answer for a different situation (cruise to Cuba and back). Since that is not the case, that is the incorrect answer for the situation put forth by the OP.

From what I'm reading the trade embargo still has to lifted by Congress even though we have re-established diplomatic relations. Also, many Cuban cigars are being grown and processed in many other countries by family members who have fled Cuba so typical Cuban brands are no longer "Cuban via Cuba". It should be interesting to see how all the trademarks and brands are handled once the embargo is lifted and if pure Cuban Cigars will ever re-establish themselves.

 

And yes you may be able to find a good real Cuban at one of your ports of call if they are doing business with Cuba. I totally agree with the other poster who said just to buy a few and claim ignorance if stopped by customs...the worst that could happen would be that they would be confiscated. And I'm the last one to blast anyone's integrity over a few cigars.

Assuming the trade embargo is lifted. Personally, I'm hoping that the next President closes the embassy back up and thumbs his nose at Castro.

Well you are wrong here... It is a perfectly valid thought that since we are resuming normal relations with Cuba that 1 cigar brought home is fine

"Are resuming" is a far cry from "have resumed". The embassy has nothing to do with trade restrictions imposed by Congress. If there were any changes in trade restrictions I'm fairly sure it would be all over the news. Also, it has also been illegal to bring supposed Cuban cigars from anywhere other than Cuba (as the OP was thinking about) so what part of my statement is wrong? (answer: nothing....try again) :rolleyes:

I bet most Americans ....well those that know the embassy has reopened anyway....would now think its ok to visit there and bring cigars back

Most Americans haven't got a clue about what the laws are and a good portion couldn't care less about the laws as long as they can get away with what they want to do.

But since its still difficult to go there it is reasonable to think a Cuban cigar purchased in another port is ok to bring home.

That has been illegal since 1963.

The cigar is nothing btw....have you noticed how many 30/40/50/60 year olds still talk and text while driving? How many surf the web at red lights?

Refer back to my second answer.

That is lack of integrity....not to mention dangerous and illegal in most places.

I agree

A Cuban cigar is a joke and hurts no one....lung cancer notwithstanding but that's not the issue here.

You may consider it a joke but purchasing Cuban cigars provides money to a Communist regime so they can carry on with their evil(?) ways.

Btw ...a 90 yo would full well understand how insignificant bringing 1 Cuban cigar into the country is in the scheme of life....and would either said..." You should have just said you didn't realize"

1 or 1,000, still a violation of law.

I think a big reason why they discourage people carrying on their own bags is that it can really slow down the flow for embarkation. I'd just be ready for them to be insistent on taking your bags, be sure you can handle your bags without assistance, and be mindful of what is packed when you go through security. Otherwise, enjoy FTTF! :)

If they took all of your bags you couldn't bring your two bottles of wine on. :rolleyes:

ES and Reduced deposits are two different animals. First, no, you cannot switch from ES to Past Guest and start using the Past Guest rules. You can cancel you cruise (if before final payment) and pay a $50 penalty per passenger and then use the rest of the funds from your deposit and book a new cruise. The deposit amount will depend on what the current promotions are.

If that's the reason then just do it. I have brought back several from cruises and land trips to Caribbean, Canada and Europe. I know some Customs agents and unless you have 1000 of them nothing is really going to happen except they get taken away. I would claim "I thought we could now" and act ignorant.

This

 

 

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It's interesting to see how little integrity is left in the world these days. :(

OP, simply tell your father "I wish I could have brought you a Cuban cigar but it's still illegal to do so.". I'm sure he'll understand.

Are they still calling people to the naughty room these days? They are destroying any alcoholic beverage found in checked luggage now. We received a letter in our stateroom saying they destroyed our wine which we forgot to remove from the plastic bins in our suitcase before we boarded. This was two weeks ago. We never got called to the naughty room. Just the letter.

 

Trust me, we'll never make that mistake again.

 

We begged guest services and security to please not destroy it and let us have it back on the last night as it was very pricey wine. They stated the new policy was to destroy any alcohol found in checked bags, as was written in our letter.

 

That was a very expensive mistake :(

Great policy. Might slow down people's desire to break the rules. Best not to smuggle so as to not have to worry about getting called to the "naughty room".

You can also request songs. I was on the Sunshine sitting behind the DJ in the smoking area and requested a couple of Zac Brown Band songs which he happily played. :)

It's about a 20-25 minute boat ride to shore. The wait for a tender will be a little longer than one for say Grand Caymen due to the length of the ride but not much longer. A lot will depend more on weather and waves than the length of the line trying to go ashore.

Not on the Social Media plan as I understand it.

 

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Thanks for the info.

Another question. Did you request your cabin (the one prior to upsell) or was it just what CCL said was available.

 

NEVER received an offer for an upgrade or upsell.

I've had an upsell in both cases. One was a GTY upgrade and one was a picked cabin upgrade.

Can you use wifi telephone apps with this package (not FB)?

For the last 8 years I have booked directly with Carnival and all of my upgrades have been directly with them.

If you book with a TA, any upgrades must be done through them. Carnival will not talk to you directly if you book through a TA.

I disagree. One NEVER gives up control of your booking. It's your money, your booking. You can change anything you want, or not, as you see fit. No one can change your booking parameters without your permission.

 

On our 30 plus cruises, most of which were through through a TA, we never had one issue of losing control. We do our own research then call our TA and tell them to book X at Y price, in cabin Z.

That is incorrect. YOU cannot change anything when booking through a TA. You can ask your TA to change things or contact Carnival for you but you have absolutely given up the ability to negotiate yourself with Carnival.

FTTF does not allow you to board early, this is a common mis-statement.

 

It simply allows you to board quicker once you arrive at the terminal.

Actually, it does allow you to board earlier than non-FTTF/Platinum/Diamond cruisers. I believe this is what the poster was alluding to.

I think it's awful they charge you to board early!

If you think that's all there is to it then you are sadly misinformed.

Unlike you, I think it's great that people have the option to use FTTF if they want (when they can get a slot).

Yes! A good TA will do just that because it keeps you as a repeat customer.

 

I love it when I open my e-mail and find that I have a new confirmation due to a price drop. On my Princess booking for Jan 2015 she saved me $1200 with 3 different price drops and she got me OBC with one of them. On my Carnival Freedom booking coming up she saved me $200 and got me upgraded to a suite.

 

Lots of TA's work from home these days and they work all kinds of crazy hours and weekends too. Mine is often sending out e-mails at 9 or 10 pm and works most weekends. Even if not working she checks her e-mail constantly and always gets back to us right away. She takes her laptop on vacation and has actually booked a cruise for us while she was cruising because the promo would have expired before she got back.

 

We stopped booking ES because of the restrictions. We always book a past guest rate and our agent will modify the rate code whenever they come out with a senior, resident rate or other promo that we are eligible for.

 

She knew we wanted to book a cruise for Jan 2017 but the only rate was an ES or Fun Select or full tariff and we didn't want that. Lo and behold I got a confirmation from her last weekend. She watched it and as soon as a Past Guest rate became available she grabbed the Spa Suite we wanted. I have no doubt that if the price goes down we will get a price drop. She has our authority to cancel and get the deposit refunded and rebook and pay another deposit, if that is what it takes.

 

As for price drops - she registers all her clients cruises on a site that keeps track of cruise prices and gets alerts on price changes. If Carnival ES she fills out the form electronically. If booked on another rate she will modify the booking. Her service keeps us coming back and we have been booking 3-4 cruises + all inclusive resorts with her for 20 years now.

 

If there is ever an issue not only will the TA be there for us, but her District Sales Managers from all the cruise lines will be available too. In fact once her HAL DSM asked what it would take to get us to book HAL instead of Princess and she gave her a long laundry list including a certain price for a suite, OBC, onboard discounts and lo and behold the DSM gave it to us!

 

You just have not found the right agent! You could start looking for a CLIA Master or Elite Cruise Counsellor. Not only do they have to take the coursework, but they have to sail multiple cruises of different lengths on different cruise lines so they know what they are talking about.

For each good one there are 25 bad or indifferent ones. I have no need to waste my time trying to find the "right one" as I myself am the "right one". I don't need to pay someone else to do what I can do for myself.

They are the most over-hyped burger in the world. Bring an empty bottle and you will have grease for a year to bring home.

It is against US Customs regulations to bring non-factory sealed food products off of the ship. :rolleyes:

lettuce tomato and onion and remove onion ring so it doesnt get soggy and pickles on the side.

As an FYI, you can ask for the O ring on the side if you want. You can also ask for a non-Ringer burger and ask for an O ring (though they will usually just give you one).