More Questions from a Carnival Newbie

[Scottee25]

So I just booked my first ever Carnival cruise this morning online and I came up with a few more questions I am hoping you can all answer. Still hoping I can keep this cruise a suprise for my wife's 40th birthday in October 2012. Sometimes it is just easier to ask here than it is to call since at work everyone can hear my conversation, and at home, my wife may end up overhearing me. If need be, I guess I will have to find a time to call if there is anything you guys feel I would be better dealing directly with Carnival.

 

1) Has anyone used the spa on Freedom? What services (facial and massage) have you typically seen offered in the spa? Did you usually book while onboard or ahead of time? One thing I would like to get for my wife while we are onboard is a massage or other spa treatment. Carnival's website seems to behave a bit strangely when I look up spa treatments for the various days on board. For instance, if I pick a day and specify "Massage Therapies" for the prefered type and leave Preferred Time as "Any Time" I would expect to see ALL of the massage therapies available on that day. However, this is not always the case. 2 days of the cruise there is a couples hot stone massage that appears when I select a Preferred Time of "Evening" but doesn't show up if I select "Any Time". Perhaps "Any Time" doesn't mean what I think it does? I was assuming it would give me all the various services available on that specified day. Am I mistaken? Now my wife was never that big on massages, she really did enjoy the couples massage we had on our last cruise. I think some of her past massages may have been a bit too rough for her likes and she prefers something a bit gentlier. I am just curious if the massage and facial services offered in the spa would be something she would like? The only 2 massage services I see for individuals is an aroma stone therapy and a bamboo massage. It seems to me that the bamboo massage may be a bit rough? Any feedback you guys can give me on this would be appreciate. Really trying to determine what she may like and if I should book ahead of time or wait until we get on the ship? Is there anyway to possibly get a "gift certificate" that she could use for say a massage and a facial?

 

2) Under the guest details for our cruise, I see there is a field for both of us labeled "Special Occasion". If I click to modify this for my wife and click "Birthday" what does that get me (or her for that matter), if anything? I see you can buy a birthday cake online, but is that something that gets delivered to your stateroom? Or does it get brought out for dessert at dinner? Never celebrated a birthday onboard a ship so I really don't know what is available to us. Is arranging for a cake to be brought out at dinner something I can do by calling into Carnival or would I have to try to arrange that once I am on the ship? I would prefer to try to get all of this taken care of before we get on the ship for obvious reasons. I see the cakes they do sell are kind of big (serves 6 or more people depending on the cake). Do they have anything available that would be better suited for the 2 of us? Is there anything else you have heard of Carnival doing for people's birthdays that may not be listed on their website?

 

3) Another thing I noticed under guest details was for "Medical Advisories". I am a Type I Diabetic and on all of my past RCCL cruises, I would ask my stateroom attendant to please bring me a Sharps container when they had a moment. It was never anything I ever requested beforehand. I see that "Sharps Container" is something they do list under the "Medical Advisories" section. If I check it, will they really have a Sharps container waiting in my room upon checkin? Or would I still need to ask my stateroom attendant? Also, I am assuming they would want to know if I am a diabetic in the event I had a medical emergency onboard? Anyone have an experience with this that can offer some information?

 

4) Is it possible to request a table for 2 for dinner? I have chosen the 8:15PM dinner time. On our last cruise we actually requested to be seated at a large table but were actually placed at a table for 2. I know this is what my wife prefers so I would like to see about requesting a table for 2. Is this something that can be requested beforehand with Carnival, and if so, would I need to call them to make this request? I am unable to find anything in my reservation that allows me to request a table size.

 

Thanks for any information you guys can provide!

[mindymp]

first off congrats! you are really on top of things for next october! lol

ok -

#1 - when you get on board, that first day they usually have a tour of the spa available, you should be able to get a schedule then. I personally would wait until on board to schedule a massage so you can actually talk to one of the therapists who would specialize in the type of massage you think she would like. Most likely the same therapists won't be there in 17 months.

#2 - Not sure about this. They have a Formalities shop where you can buy special things. You can also arrange to have something delivered to your room. Call your Personal Vacation Planner with Carnival to figure this out or the 1800 number.

#3 - tell them you are diabetic in the medical advisories section and again, call your PVP.

#4 - yes. when you get on board go directly to the head hostess of your dining room and request a table for 2 :)

Happy cruising, and no stressing :)

[Scottee25]

How does one get a Personal Vacation Planner? Through the 800 number? I actually made my reservation online. It can be a bit difficult at times to get on the phone due to work or at home due to my wife. What can the Personal Vacation Planner do for me?

[bguppies]

1) Wait until you get onboard to see what is available at the spa.

(was looking online for our upcoming Legend cruise and what is listed online is probably 20% of what is available onboard.)

Plus they also run various specials from day to day that will be in your Fun Times when you get back to your cabin after dinner each night.

 

Usually the best deals are on port days for those who stay onboard.

 

2) You can either order the cakes online or at the candy shop (I forget the exact name of the shop, formalities maybe?) onboard.

The cake will be delivered to your table during desert, whatever night you need it. (I would speak to your waiter the night before to ensure that they got your order correct. Our group had a cruise last year with a 21st birthday, a 40th birthday and a 25th anniversary in 4 days. The birthday cakes came right on time, but we forgot to check on the anniversary cake and they had to find it after we reminded them at dinner)

 

What you see online is pretty much what you get for the various occasions.

I don't remember anything extra available once you are onboard.

 

3)Can't help with the sharps container question.

I'm sure someone will know exactly for you.

 

4)If you want to ensure a table for two, I would try switching your dinner to Anytime Dining.

The majority of tables in that section of the dining room are set up for couples or tables for four.

 

I know you can REQUEST a table for two from the maitre'd once onboard, but it is just that, a request.

 

You would be almost guaranteed a table for two every night with anytime dining. (we loved it once we finally got it a couple of cruises ago and we will never go back to early or late seatings.)

 

Keep the questions coming.

There is always multiple people in here who have experienced almost anything you can throw out there.

 

Bill

[bguppies]

How does one get a Personal Vacation Planner? Through the 800 number? I actually made my reservation online. It can be a bit difficult at times to get on the phone due to work or at home due to my wife. What can the Personal Vacation Planner do for me?

 

Ours handles alot of the little details of our cruises.

 

When we call to book, he already knows we prefer the Empress deck aft, to pre-pay our gratuities, anytime dining, etc. etc..

 

Makes suggestions, knowing our cruise preferences, of various cabins we might be interested in. (special balconies, quirky cabins, etc.)

 

Bill

[bubbadog]

THEY have an onboard floral shop,Where you can get flowers,and have them delivered to room,all shops will open about 30 minutes after you sail,and then you can get stuff flowers, candy, chocolates,stuffed animal,Wait till you are onboard to do massage stuff,THE warm rock massage is a good one,and the info above is very good too,BEST of luck my friend,have a great time;):p

[firefly333]

You cannot request table size on Carnival, not like you can on RCL for instance. Its not a field on the booking form. Some people said they get their agent to write a note on the booking .. I know my bookings have so many notes, no one would see them.

 

the special occassion field seems to have errors associated with it, Id leave it blank as it usually just messes up your booking, forget why, and tell your server before her birthday and he will arrange to sing to her with other waiters and bring a pice of cake with a candle in it.

 

Some things like this are best left until you board imo.

 

I think a PVP is great, mine knows what I like too. I have been known to have "issues" and things just come up, can you book with a welcome back discount and a FCC, yes, no, opps. I booked a OV knowing it would be a balcony and she fought for me not to get moved but lost that one .. but when things come up, and if you book enough, things will come up, you have someone in your corner.

[12bflying]

unofficialcarnivalwiki dot com

[flounder315]

on the carnival website, you can order a dozen red roses and they will be in your cabin when you arrive, also order happy birthday room decorations and chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne. the cake is an 8" round cake, take a gallon zip lock baggie and put the left over cake in to enjoy later.

[JChurchill471]

1) Wait until you get onboard to see what is available at the spa.

(was looking online for our upcoming Legend cruise and what is listed online is probably 20% of what is available onboard.)

Plus they also run various specials from day to day that will be in your Fun Times when you get back to your cabin after dinner each night.

 

Usually the best deals are on port days for those who stay onboard.

 

2) You can either order the cakes online or at the candy shop (I forget the exact name of the shop, formalities maybe?) onboard.

The cake will be delivered to your table during desert, whatever night you need it. (I would speak to your waiter the night before to ensure that they got your order correct. Our group had a cruise last year with a 21st birthday, a 40th birthday and a 25th anniversary in 4 days. The birthday cakes came right on time, but we forgot to check on the anniversary cake and they had to find it after we reminded them at dinner)

 

What you see online is pretty much what you get for the various occasions.

I don't remember anything extra available once you are onboard.

 

3)Can't help with the sharps container question.

I'm sure someone will know exactly for you.

 

4)If you want to ensure a table for two, I would try switching your dinner to Anytime Dining.

The majority of tables in that section of the dining room are set up for couples or tables for four.

 

I know you can REQUEST a table for two from the maitre'd once onboard, but it is just that, a request.

 

You would be almost guaranteed a table for two every night with anytime dining. (we loved it once we finally got it a couple of cruises ago and we will never go back to early or late seatings.)

 

Keep the questions coming.

There is always multiple people in here who have experienced almost anything you can throw out there.

 

Bill

 

Thank you so much bguppies for taking the time to provide us newbies so much information!:)

[JChurchill471]

You cannot request table size on Carnival, not like you can on RCL for instance. Its not a field on the booking form. Some people said they get their agent to write a note on the booking .. I know my bookings have so many notes, no one would see them.

 

the special occassion field seems to have errors associated with it, Id leave it blank as it usually just messes up your booking, forget why, and tell your server before her birthday and he will arrange to sing to her with other waiters and bring a pice of cake with a candle in it.

 

Some things like this are best left until you board imo.

 

I think a PVP is great, mine knows what I like too. I have been known to have "issues" and things just come up, can you book with a welcome back discount and a FCC, yes, no, opps. I booked a OV knowing it would be a balcony and she fought for me not to get moved but lost that one .. but when things come up, and if you book enough, things will come up, you have someone in your corner.

 

...And my BF and I have always found firefly333 to be a great source of information--even before we finally joined CC and began posting. So thanks to firefly333 also!:)

[bguppies]

Thank you so much bguppies for taking the time to provide us newbies so much information!:)

 

Always a pleasure.

 

Just trying to pay it back from the wonderful people on these boards who helped us out when we began cruising.

 

Bill

[Elsisi]

I am a Type 2 diabetic and asked for a sharps container when I booked my last cruise. It wasn't in the room when we arrived, but I asked the steward about it when he came to introduce himself and he went and got one straight away! No problem! :)

[bguppies]

1) Has anyone used the spa on Freedom? What services (facial and massage) have you typically seen offered in the spa? Did you usually book while onboard or ahead of time? One thing I would like to get for my wife while we are onboard is a massage or other spa treatment. Carnival's website seems to behave a bit strangely when I look up spa treatments for the various days on board. For instance, if I pick a day and specify "Massage Therapies" for the prefered type and leave Preferred Time as "Any Time" I would expect to see ALL of the massage therapies available on that day. However, this is not always the case. 2 days of the cruise there is a couples hot stone massage that appears when I select a Preferred Time of "Evening" but doesn't show up if I select "Any Time". Perhaps "Any Time" doesn't mean what I think it does? I was assuming it would give me all the various services available on that specified day. Am I mistaken? Now my wife was never that big on massages, she really did enjoy the couples massage we had on our last cruise. I think some of her past massages may have been a bit too rough for her likes and she prefers something a bit gentlier. I am just curious if the massage and facial services offered in the spa would be something she would like? The only 2 massage services I see for individuals is an aroma stone therapy and a bamboo massage. It seems to me that the bamboo massage may be a bit rough? Any feedback you guys can give me on this would be appreciate. Really trying to determine what she may like and if I should book ahead of time or wait until we get on the ship? Is there anyway to possibly get a "gift certificate" that she could use for say a massage and a facial?

 

 

Just found out my Wife's best friend brought her the ads and Fun Times from the Legend's June 5th sailing so here you go....

 

 

Elemis Oxydermy Facial - 50 minutes $169

 

La Therapie Hydralift Facial - 50 minutes $119

 

Absolute Spa Ritual (head to toe) 100 minutes $265

 

Aroma Stone Massage - 75 minutes $195

 

Couples Aroma Stones - 50 minutes $330

 

Thai Poultice Massage - 75 minutes $195

 

Bamboo Massage - 50 minutes $159/75 minutes $199

 

Swedish Massage - 50 minutes $119/75 minutes $165

 

Couples Swedish Massage - 50 minutes $269

 

Deep Tissue Massage - 50 minutes $129/75 minutes $195

 

Just to give you some ideas of pricing...

 

Sorry, but she did not save any of the sale ads they insert in your Fun Times nightly.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Bill