Badfinger

1 hour ago, Angua said:

They will sell weekly passes, but take the tour before you decide to buy it.  

There is NO thelasso pool on the Vista class ships, just a teeny shallow hot tub that is in the center of the room with the heated tile seats.  It's not relaxing at all.  

If you are more interested in the steam rooms it could be ok for you, but if you wanted the big Dream class thelasso pool you will not get it on the horizon. You will be better off in the hot tubs in the Havana area.

Yeah just going by the pictures, that hot tub in the spa is a joke...and a horrible location.  

I am all about the Dream class because of the Cloud 9 Spa with that big T-Pool.  If a ship does not have that setup, I am not sailing.  Passed up a pretty good deal on a 7-day on the Vista for a 5-day on the Breeze for this reason!  

If you are on the port side of the ship on Deck 12 of the Breeze or Magic, easy to get early access.  Just go into the fitness center "to look around".  Open the mirrored door by the free weights and there you go....

On 5/21/2022 at 8:43 AM, lanabanana78 said:

It has sadly been a very long time since I've been on a cruise and the last time we took one my kids were too little to enjoy kids activities. I'm very excited that at 8 and 10 they'll be able to do the kids club!  But what changes can I expect since 2014? I know the chocolate melting cake hasn't changed!!! 😉

I find the chocolate melting cake changes from cruise to cruise and night to night.  Sometimes too sloppy, other times not sloppy enough.  Rare is it "just perfect" by my standards!  Our last cruise it was really sloppy, and by that I mean 99% of the contents were basically liquid.  Second night the same.  Stopped ordering it after that!

I have emailed them in the past about our table in the MDR.  May as well have sent the email to Santa Claus.  I know others have reported success in the past. 

So glad I read this.   Our plan was to go to the Walgreens some 5 blocks away....

I would just all arrive together at 11:00.  What are they going to do...tell your husband he missed his check-in window so no cruise for him?  Happens all the time...delayed flights, traffic jams, ships returning late, etc.

Glad to here Cucina is still open for lunch as we are sailing the Breeze in June.

It has been our tradition to select 1200-1230 check-in and immediately head to Cucina for a somewhat peaceful and definitely relaxed and uncrowded lunch, bypassing the gastric mob scene on display in the Lido.  

On 5/11/2022 at 6:12 PM, Calnev1 said:

I do not think the kiosks are set up to dispense cash.  Has anyone else done this?

Well all I can tell all of you is that this OBC was from an Early Saver price protection on The Magic.  I went to the Kiosk and there there was an option to cash it out (may have been worded differently).  I did it via two transactions.  First was for $1000 and went back the next day for the remaining $400 after realizing I was better off to have all our cruise charges go on our credit card.  I think I could have taken it all in a single transaction if I wanted to.

All but our first cruise we have stayed in Spa cabins.  Many times there have been Spa coupons left in our cabin.  25% off, $50 credit toward any service, etc.  Also, if you listen to the announcements carefully, sometimes they will offer discount to the first 5 or 10 who sign up for certain service.  Got a really great deal on a  massage via an announcement made while we were walking back from our 6pm dining a few cruises ago.

Why people choose to do the Casino 2-step is beyond me.  Just go to the Kiosk and get your OBC in cash right there.  I did this with $1400 OBC a few years back.   And yeah do this so your gratuities, etc. are charged to your credit card earning you more of the rewards your credit card offers.   

Do the cruise.  Next year (or month, or whenever), do Rome.

I have to ask, even though you booked a Casino rate, and you stated they expectation is you will gamble, is there some rule that you have to gamble?   I have never been offered a Casino rate so I have no knowledge of the rules.

5 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

I was on the Panorama a few months ago. I don't remember any restaurant open until 3AM. I also had a couple`s thermal spa pass and was never ever offered complimentary scrubs. Either you heard wrong or a worker, maybe new, made an error. Why not just enjoy the the Thermal Spa for what is important and not try to show them that you're willing to throw away a week of relaxation in there over a scrub that others were never offered..... makes me wonder. You're being petty in my opinion. 

I have stayed in Cloud 9 Spa Cabins many times on the Magic and Breeze.  They will give you one free scrub when you first check in at the Spa Desk for the first time.  We have never taken one.

On 5/5/2022 at 3:27 PM, tallnthensome said:

Is anyone booking more Carnival cruises than usual for the future out of fear of rising cruising costs instead of simply a desired cruise? I started booking cruises for 2023 a bit back and even one on the Jubilee for August 2024 a month ago. Normally I book for desire and destination but have been booking any great deals I can because of price thinking that cruising costs will continue to rise very quickly and may price many out. Anyone approaching their bookings this way or are you approaching your cruises for 2023 and 2024 in your usual manner with prices down the road not being a concern? 

Are you not concerned with big time cutbacks by Carnival to compensate for inflation?  Sure you got a cheap price, and obviously many others have as well, but come 2023, I could see a cruise where more things will have an uncharge.  Want bacon?  $5.  No free lunch at the Italian restaurant.  Reduced hours in the Spa, higher bingo prices, much higher alcohol prices,  and perhaps strategically cancelled ports (read the fine print)  in order to allow the ships to sail at reduced speeds to reduce fuel consumption.    Sure it might be cheaper to book now...but you might end up getting what you paid for!

A couple cruises ago, my wife carried on a 4" paring knife.  They found it and my wife told them she uses it to cut up fruit from the buffet (apples, etc).  They gave it back right then and there without question.  So it goes...

Why does it seem, actually why is it, that every forum dedicated to a particular topic or subject (such as this board, an investing forum or even a golf forum) has those that just feel the need to publish their personal manifesto as THEE definitive manifesto of all time for others to read, applaud and endorse?  I did not read beyond the first couple sentences as I know the where it was going.  SMH....

Usually available for "breakfast" on port days only.  Sea days would be the

"brunch".

5 hours ago, melz1010 said:

I agree with the other posters. You want to do 2 to a room. Honestly 2 adults and 2 kids in a room is a lot. The most I would ever do is 3 to a room and even that's pushing it. 

Our first cruise we had our two kids who were 11 and 13 in a balcony cabin for a 5-day.  It worked ok.  The next year we did the same on a 7-day.  Mistake and never again!  Our next cruise it was actually cheaper to book 2 into a balcony and 2 into the interior right across the hall vs the price of 4 in a balcony.

Another first world problem.  I hope you survive this atrocity.

Wow..you still get a newspaper?   

I did a search on this…promise.  Looking to book a cruise on either the Dream or Breeze in May or June and just wondering if Carnival is now booking to capacity on these ships?  Thanks.

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

It should follow to the new card.

This!

This is one of those times that IMO your intervention would not help at all...but could possibly screw something up by getting humans involved in an otherwise automatic seamless transaction.

23 hours ago, ratbward said:

I did the DocGo rapid antigen testing at The Port of Galveston on Sunday 11.14.21 with a 10:00am appointment that I had selected online  with DocGo in advance. My Carnival Dream boarding time was 10:30-11:30am. I was at the Port at 9:45am. After speaking with no less than four Carnival employees about my appointment time and where I should go for testing, a supervisor told me to get in the boarding line, and that the testing appointment times were irrelevant. Once in the terminal, the first review is for the Covid vaccination documentation and included confirming my boarding pass and government ID which was my passport. When that was approved, I was escorted by a DocGo employee thru security, then upstairs to the DocGo area. My Covid docs, boarding pass, and passport were reviewed again before I went to the line for the 3rd review of documents where they prepared the testing docs authorization, and I was allowed into the testing area. A woman inserted a Q-tip into each nostril and made five shallow rotations. The same Q-tip was used for both nostrils. I was then told to be seated in the waiting area because the results would take approximately 15 minutes. I was notified via text that my testing was complete. I opened my DocGo entry pass on the DocGo website, showed it to the Carnival rep on my cell phone and was allowed to proceed back into the Carnival boarding area.

 

Please consider that if you opt for the port testing, you must keep all of your luggage with you and carry onto the ship.

 

The lack of information, especially at the port, was very annoying. They have been testing the unvaxxed passengers with exemptions for months. During that trial period, with a limited number of tests being performed, they should have been able to make changes to their communications to clarify the process and their delivery of that information.

 

Good luck!

What is the charge for this?

$0 and $0.

On 11/23/2021 at 11:40 AM, bernardch said:

I have one of the Carnival "Sailabration" cruises booked for March.  Now that the March protocols are out we decided that we don't want to put up with the BS of the pre-cruise testing, masks, etc., and want to cancel.  Is there a way to cancel and not lose my deposit/be able to apply to a future cruise?

 

Our last cruise was March 2020, just before the shutdown.  I want to cruise again, but am not willing to put up with the BS.  If the protocols become permanent, so be it. . .we'll find other vacation opportunities.

 

CB

 

 

We sailed on the Breeze in October.  Yeah the testing was a minor inconvenience for us, and the mask deal was not appreciated but was tolerable.  BUT...the tradeoff was sailing on a ship with only 2600 people vs about 4200 pre-pandemic more than made up for it.  Once we got through security the first day, the longest line I every waited in was 3-deep at the Mongolian Wok on a Seaday at 12:30.   It was nice!