BrentD

Thanks. We do plan on doing that as well, as my wife got several hundred in gift cards for her birthday a couple weeks ago. I knew you could use those, and have also read not to use them to buy “cruise cash” if you aren’t sure you’ll spend all of it on your sailing.

See now you’re projecting your assumptions on me after I made a completely logical and reasonable rebuttal. I, too, wouldn’t put a debit card on my sail and sign just like I already said, and I certainly wouldn’t cruise if I couldn’t afford it. And as any logical person would (I hope), I would much rather pay my balance with money in hand (or bank) than on credit. Have a nice night!

Plenty of reasons. Maybe your paycheck is deposited while you’re on the cruise? Maybe something you’ve had for sale online finally went through? Maybe some other funds transfer you’ve been waiting on went through? Maybe you don’t want your debit card that’s tied directly to your bank account attached to an endlessly spendable sail and sign card? I can think of plenty of reasons. Just because it doesn’t make sense to one person doesn’t mean it’s not perfectly sensible to another. 😎

Thanks. That was only part of the question, though. If I want to pay it down with another card (debit, credit, etc…) that is NOT on file, can I do that as well?

It’s been 10 years since I last sailed Carnival, so my memory on some details is a little foggy. I know I put a card on file to attach to our sail and sign account. And I seem to recall I could “pay down” my balance with cash at any point during the cruise, be it from cash I didn’t spend in port or the endless pennies of casino winnings… lol But is it possible to pay down the balance while on the cruise with a debit card or other credit card as well? That’s the foggy part for me. I believe so, but just want some confirmation.

That’s because GoPort only offers parking for Carnival Mardi Gras at their facility near the port. I would recommend finding a cheaper hotel in Titusville or Melbourne and booking a parking/shuttle package through another provider, as the hotels that offer a package are very pricey. Though I’ve noticed that several don’t service Disney cruises. I couldn’t tell you why that is.

$118.03 and $99.73 respectively. GoPort is a flat $60. All prices include up to 4 shuttle passengers. I’ll take another 5-10 minutes of a shuttle ride for a $40-60 savings myself.

Yes! Our boys are 5 and start kindergarten in the fall (but let’s not talk about that for now… 😥). Occupational therapy has worked wonders and has him trying new things each week. And brother is sweet and helpful with him when he needs, too (but they are both very clearly brother-like in their fighting…lol). Both of them are super excited about our trip and have been constantly requesting more YouTube videos about “our ship”. They are going to flip when they see how big the things are in person. We are a little under a month out now and they request a countdown update from the app on a daily basis now. 🐖🪽

Had no idea about this! We have twin boys and are taking them on their first cruise aboard the Mardi Gras next month. One has some sensory issues, and while he is crushing it on coping with them lately, it’s always an uncertainty for us when it comes to something so new and overwhelming. So I’m glad I stumbled upon your comment!

Sounds like they need better signage for sure. Pretty sure it's a legal requirement for the elevator door frame to have the floor number shown (and also in braille), so if all else fails look there.

This isn’t a live cruise chronicle. The OP has been home. Perhaps the current cruise is returning late.

I would venture a guess that only smaller ships are printing photos out for you to look at and decide if you want them now. It was already incredibly wasteful on smaller ships, now think of that on a 5000+ passenger ship. Aside from being wasteful, it takes up a lot of real estate.

Just a followup for anyone reading this later. If you book a restaurant *prior to your cruise* where the kids eat free with your Family Harbor booking, you will still have to pay for the kids initially because their online booking system cannot adjust for the free kids due to FH booking. You can get a refund for the kids later.