rucingok

We are just now booking for this summer and it is pretty well booked up for best cabins.  I like to pick my own cabin so I know exactly where I am, and that really only leaves deck 1 with availability.  I realize the deck above deck 1 houses the casino, music venues and dining.  Is there a noise problem on deck 1?  Is there a particular room you have had that you recommend or one to avoid?  We are open to inside or ocean view.  Thanks!  First time on HAL and to Alaska!

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I answered this very question only a couple of weeks ago with a comprehensive post. May I suggest researching back through older threads.

 

As Bruce mentioned, it is a very common discussion.

Heidi 13 I would love to read your comprehensive post, unfortunately I cannot find it!  Can you please post a link or point me to it's title,...  Thanks

I have not seen this particular question answered.  Both cruises are the 3 week of June.  We will stay 1-2 days pre and post cruise, either way.  Either start in Whittier or start in Vancouver.  

Question: Is embarkation or debarkation easier or harder in one port vs the other enough to make a difference??  IE if embarkation is a nightmare in Whittier, maybe we should start in Vancouver and debark in Whittier.  

Thanks!!

We do not want to be in a shared shuttle and are willing to pay for a private ride.  Are there taxis readily available?  

I believe our family of 5 adults wants to go to Paradise Cove or Taino Beach Resort for the day.  We prefer to be on our own schedule for the day and not ride in a shared shuttle.  Are there taxis at the port we can get?  Any idea of the price? Will it be any issue to get a taxi back whenever we are ready?  Thanks!!

We are considering doing the waterpark at Margaritaville, does it have wifi?  Seems pricy for what we want, so we are also considering the beach behind the Colonial Inn.  The best I can tell Margaritaville owns it and runs it as a lesser expensive no frills option. We are not drinkers. We are adults so we don't need the water park.  We are looking for a safe, quiet beach with chairs and umbrellas where we will not be hassled by salesman, homeless, drug users,  etc.  We would  pay for a nice clean place for the day if it had wifi.  Open to other options too.  Thanks!

How do you go about pre ordering beer for your room?  Thanks  Our sail is on  Sunshine Oct 29.

The ship is really easy to navigate.  I think everyone has to be present to be seated in MDR.  My hubby and I had our designated coffee spot in the am.  Since we were in separate cabins, we would meet up for coffee at a spot on Lido.  Same spot everyday.  We never knew if the other was up until we stepped out of the cabin.  We each had a cabin with a teen.  Put up do not disturb sign and head up.  If we saw DND sign up, we knew then other one was already up there.  Also Punchliner gets packed, maybe send someone down there early??

French door

Entertainment was what I would call cute, not Broadway for sure, but entertaining for the middle aged folks for about 30 min per night. We went to all 7:30 shows and then went to the PG comedian directly after at 8:30.  You had to high tail it down from the theater to the punchliner pretty quick to get a seat. Nothing that I would have paid $ for but a good way to wind down in the evening.   We did not go to piano bar any, but it was Pete.

Daft sailors was I guess the house band and they were really good.  Also some good violinist in the atrium.  Frankie was the CD.  he was entertaining.  Will be taking vacay in Jan -April I think he said but will be back after that.  

For excursions we were supposed to take a taxi to Paradise beach for the day in Cozumel.  We have been there before and love it.  Unfortunately it rained all day, so we hit the port shops just to get off the ship.  I was glad we did not have anything booked.  Heard several complaints from passengers that were forced to do their pre paid excursions in the rain. Belize was cave tubing with Vitalino's Company.  Roatan was Daniel Johnson monkey and sloth hangout and we also snorkeled with them.  We thought snorkeling was only average, much better in Cayman, Hawaii....after that we hit Mahogany beach for an hour.  If I had it to do over I would just do Monkey and sloth and then hand out at Mahogany beach.   GC was cancelled due to high winds, ship could not port.  We were planning on going to Stingray sandbar, which we have been to before and highly recommend.  

Our rooms were quiet for the most part.  One night I heard bass vibration half the night.  Not sure if it was coming form dance club, since that was along way away.  Only heard it one night.  Very convenient location, especially to MDR.  We had YTD one floor down.   No view, could basically see day light and water around lifeboat, if you ducked down and or looked to the side.  

Shampoo and body wash, no conditioner.  Theme night of 80's deck party but I really did not see anyone dressed.  We stayed on deck and listened to the band until about 10;30.  Lots of ugly Christmas sweaters though!!

I agree with the above poster, I would not call it a rust bucket.  Boats and hotels  get damaged and wear and tear pretty quickly, but nothing that caught my attention.  Few small rusty spots on the outside here and there and a few scuffed walls and corners in side but nothing that stood out and made me notice.

We did not have robes, but there was a note saying let room steward know if you wanted one.  We did not.

We did not do the chefs table.  Our arrival time was 12;00-12;30 and we arrived in that window .  Walked to the first set of ropes which was marked with the different arrival times.  Ours was empty so we  were called immediately to the area where they check your boarding pass.  There were people in the 12;30-1;00 line and 1:00-1:30 lines.  best I could tell they were taking people from those lines when the other lines were empty.  We did see a few being called while they were confirming our boarding pass. The embarkation was quick and easy and I swear less than 20 minutes.  Debarkation was about 20 minutes too.  No lines, no customs forms , just a verbal question if we had anything to declare. We did self debark and had early flights.  We met in the Phantom theater to be called about 8:45  The customs official did scrutinize our passports really close for some reason.

We just returned from a 7 day western on the Miracle.  Had bad weather, but every thing else was fine.  No issues, food was good, shows were "cute".  Ship was full but never felt crowded.  I'll be happy to answer any specific questions that I can.  We did not do cheers and we were in cabins 4190 and 4192

We will be sailing on the Miracle in December and it is our first time on Carnival and at port of Tampa.  We have previously been on RCCL.  We have 2 cabins so plan on taking 4 bottles of wine.  I would like to wrap it up in (maybe) our beach towels or something when putting it in our carry ons. I also have a wine carry-all I could use.  Should I pack one per person or can I pack 2 bottles together?  Do I just put it on the scanner or do I go to a separate table for inspection?  I just am wondering how all this works for ease of packing and ease of getting thru security.  On RCCL we left it in carryon, put in scanner and no one ever looked at it.  I don't mind inspection, as it will actually  be wine.   Thanks

We flew into SFB and did a one way rental each way. I do not remember the Co. or any details other than to say we had no issues and it worked out great!!

We are going on an excursion on Dec 21 from Carnival Miracle. We are going out with Captain Marvin for the 3rd time. We have done Stingray city/snorkel trip before without our kids. Now the kids are 13 and 16 and we were thinking of trying the excursion that includes starfish point. We have been happy with the previous tours and would gladly repeat , but thought we might try something different. Starfish point gets mixed reviews, any thoughts? thanks!!!

Cocoloco...that was exactly what I was thinking. It is a long drive

Carnival Magic on Dec 20, 8am-3pm. We want to see monkey and sloths and snorkel. I just found out that we could go to Daniel Johnson and then take a snorkel boat right from there. That seems like a great idea to cut down on car time, since West bay is in the opposite direction. I am sure it is more $ than shore snorkeling at WB, but that is not a problem to cut down on travel time. We are not worried about not being on an actual beach this day. Any thoughts? Thanks

Thanks #1 mom I was able to find it on google maps and that is what I was thinking. Does Rony's take you Boddens or should we just go thru Bodden?

We will be in Roatan in mid December on Carnival Miracle at Mahogany Bay, 8am-3pm. We definitely want to do a monkey and sloth excursion and snorkeling west bay (down by the wall??). We want to do a private tour, since we are a family of 4. Is Bodden's or Johnson's any closer to Mahogany Bay in order to minimize drive time. Both of those and Rony's look fine, just wondering about drive time. Any suggestions welcome... Thanks

We are going back to Paradise beach too!!!

How do you do find and claim these offers?

I am new to CL. I currently have signed up for prepaid grats(not yet paid anything but deposit though), but realized I am not likely to use all my OBC. Should I "un-prepay " in order for OBC to go towards grats? Whatever I owe after OBC is applied, will that automatically go on a credit card on file? Thanks!

Trip purchased via online TA if that matters

How do I chose a check in time? First time in Carnival will be in December. I will not have fttf. Thanks

I was interested in this feature also. I did some looking on the boards and seems like I saw a post saying how terrible it was and not even worth the $5. Seems like it was in a post talking about internet speeds.