Carnival Secrets they usually don't tell you about #2

[dec2007w3boys]

That is a good idea.

 

Of course you can just walk past that table and go straight to the elevator until they catch you.

 

That's what we do. Oops, did I just type that?

[jerseyjjs]

Don't know if this is still viable or not, but, thanks to Cruise Critic's advice, at the Miami terminal, VIP placards are/were velcroed to random seats throughout the terminal. I snagged 2 of them and me, my g/f and another couple we met were among the first 10 people to board.

[MSRussell]

Good idea about snapping a picture of the Fun Times.

As for the travel coffee cup, I bring mine with me, and at the end of the day, smells kind of off.

So last time I brought a cheapo bottle brush, and put some dish soap in a small travel shampoo container (well cleaned out, of course), and every night was able to easily clean my travel cup. Squeaky clean!

Melanie

[bluekrush]

[*]Search CC for shore excursion discount codes if you want book them in advance...I have saved 10-20%, still not as cheap as booking it independently yourself but you will always be refunding if ports change/get cancelled and you are guaranteed the ship will not will not leave without you

[*]Take advantage of the Future Cruise Certificates..an easy way to double you money!

 

where exactly are the discount codes? And what are future cruise certificates?

[bluekrush]

Yes

 

That's so strange. I can't imagine walking into a spa and just start using their shower.

[TrinaLC]

Don't know if this is still viable or not, but, thanks to Cruise Critic's advice, at the Miami terminal, VIP placards are/were velcroed to random seats throughout the terminal. I snagged 2 of them and me, my g/f and another couple we met were among the first 10 people to board.

 

I'm not sure I understand this one ??

[Ducktape003]

That's so strange. I can't imagine walking into a spa and just start using their shower.

 

The showers are the first thing you walk into when going to the gym. No one would ever know that your going in just for the showers. They can be considered an amenity, like the steam room, sauna, etc.

 

If it makes you feel better. Walk on the treadmill for 5 mins. Then go shower.

[momof4boys]

where exactly are the discount codes? There are two codes floating around now that are used to get 10% off when you book a CCL excursion on line. When you go to manage my cruise, and you click on an excursion, all the people linked to you will come up. You click the box of the people's names you want the excursion for. Then under the name is a message about codes. Put the code in then click submit and it will take the percent off. If the first one doesn't work...try the other code. I got 10% off all our excursions and saved a ton of money. The codes are BGT002 and BGD001. And what are future cruise certificates?

You puchase a certificate for a cruise in the future --within 2 years I believe--for $100 each. When you book the $100 is take from the cost of the cruise plus you get $100 on board credit. Edited July 6, 2012 by momof4boys

[Lisah101]

So the showers are actually shared between the gym and the spa? If they gym is free, then I wouldn't feel so bad about using the showers since they are part of the gym as well!

[sweetcurves]

Yes the gym equipment is free. I think it's classes that you have to pay for. I will probably shower in the spa at least once as I hate how hot little bathrooms get/make your cabin.

[APDMOM]

Favorite things I have learned...

 

You can board much earlier than your ticket time states. We get to the port around 10:30 or 11 a.m.

 

Cappuccino is FREE after dinner in the MDR. (at least at the time of this posting) :D

 

[APDMOM]

Another one I just kearned on our last cruise...

 

The cooking demonstration in the steakhouse is free and includes delicious samples. Show up early to avoid disappointment :) On our cruise we even got a free sample of the steakhouse Tiramisu. YUM!

[edmusic]

Here's another way to do it - not sure if CCL does this (RCCL does) but on the last 2 cruises we were on, every day they changed a sign in the floor (really articulate, aren't I?) - it was like a stone inlaid in the elevator - that had the day of the week on it. So, we'd take a pic of that. :D

 

Do they change it on every floor?

[SASA13]

Thank you for restarting a new thread. The old was was too long and out dated.

 

The thread evolved from "Carnival Secrets" to alos include tips and ideas from seasoned cruisers. I found those actually more helpful than the "Carnival Secrets"

 

Heres one i started doing on my last cruise. With Digital cameras, we all end up taking hundreds of pictures. My problem was that after the cruise when I got home, I would go through my pics and have a hard time remembering where a pic was taken, when, and what it was!

 

So now each morning, before I leave the cabin, I take a picture of the front page of the Fun Times. It has the date and port of call on it. I now know that every pic taken after that one is in sucn and such port and taken on such and such date. Makes organizing our photo albums much easier.

 

OMG THIS IS FANTATIC. Thank you very much, you have solved one of my biggest problems :)

[SmogMonster]

Thank you for restarting a new thread. The old was was too long and out dated.

 

The thread evolved from "Carnival Secrets" to alos include tips and ideas from seasoned cruisers. I found those actually more helpful than the "Carnival Secrets"

 

Heres one i started doing on my last cruise. With Digital cameras, we all end up taking hundreds of pictures. My problem was that after the cruise when I got home, I would go through my pics and have a hard time remembering where a pic was taken, when, and what it was!

 

So now each morning, before I leave the cabin, I take a picture of the front page of the Fun Times. It has the date and port of call on it. I now know that every pic taken after that one is in sucn and such port and taken on such and such date. Makes organizing our photo albums much easier.

 

OMG THIS IS FANTATIC. Thank you very much, you have solved one of my biggest problems :)

 

You are welcome. Glad I could contribute something.

[adschmad]

Around the 3rd or 4th day there will be a Laundry Special: 1 bag of laundry washed and folded for $15. They only charge you for the bag of dirty laundry, not for how many bags it comes to the room in when clean. If you roll your dirty laundry individually tight, you can get quite a bit in that 1 paper bag. In my case, my laundry went away in one, very full paper bag; it returned clean and folded in 3 bags. The charge was still $15.

[love2relax]

Do they change it on every floor?

 

I have only seen this on some RCCL ships. The original poster meant that all of the elevators have an insert in the carpet that is changed every day that shows the day of the week. I once heard a Cruise Director make a joke that every day of the week the carpet insert has the day of the week. He asked the audience, "Do you know what it says on the last day?" and everyone responded, "Sunday!" (since that was the last day of our particular cruise)...but he replied that on the last day, it says "Get off the ship!" I thought that was priceless.

 

So as not to get too far off topic, you can also order garlic bread at the pizza place on Carnival ships. You have to wait for about ten minutes, but it is SO good!

Edited July 6, 2012 by love2relax

[edmusic]

I have only seen this on some RCCL ships. The original poster meant that all of the elevators have an insert in the carpet that is changed every day that shows the day of the week. I once heard a Cruise Director make a joke that every day of the week the carpet insert has the day of the week. He asked the audience, "Do you know what it says on the last day?" and everyone responded, "Sunday!" (since that was the last day of our particular cruise)...but he replied that on the last day, it says "Get off the ship!" I thought that was priceless.

 

No one's gotten my tongue-in-cheek joke yet!

[dljones]

No one's gotten my tongue-in-cheek joke yet!

 

Yes, we got it! :eek:

[Quilting_Cruiser]

:D

You puchase a certificate for a cruise in the future --within 2 years I believe--for $100 each. When you book the $100 is take from the cost of the cruise plus you get $100 on board credit.

 

 

You must book the cruise within two years of purchasing the FCC, but you have three years to sail.

[bluekrush]

The showers are the first thing you walk into when going to the gym. No one would ever know that your going in just for the showers. They can be considered an amenity, like the steam room, sauna, etc.

 

If it makes you feel better. Walk on the treadmill for 5 mins. Then go shower.

 

Oh I see. Like gym showers. Ok

[bluekrush]

Another one I just kearned on our last cruise...

 

The cooking demonstration in the steakhouse is free and includes delicious samples. Show up early to avoid disappointment :) On our cruise we even got a free sample of the steakhouse Tiramisu. YUM!

 

Is that an event listed in the fun times?

[bluekrush]

Around the 3rd or 4th day there will be a Laundry Special: 1 bag of laundry washed and folded for $15. They only charge you for the bag of dirty laundry, not for how many bags it comes to the room in when clean. If you roll your dirty laundry individually tight, you can get quite a bit in that 1 paper bag. In my case, my laundry went away in one, very full paper bag; it returned clean and folded in 3 bags. The charge was still $15.

 

It's 15$ during the special? How much is it normally and is the special listed in the fun times or somewhere else? I went on one carnival cruise and didnt even know they did laundry.

[APDMOM]

Is that an event listed in the fun times?

 

Yes. The cooking demo is usually on a sea day around noon :)

Edited July 7, 2012 by APDMOM
Clarify & edit time

[carbreylynn]

Also make sure the date is set up correctly. All of the photos from our last cruise are a day ahead. :confused:

 

In a similar vein - and not just for cruising, might I add - take a clear picture of your name, address and phone number, and leave that as a photo on your camera. That way, if you lose it, your contact information will be right there on the camera, and with any luck it will make it easier to get your camera back. (If you switch memory cards, make sure you do it on each card.)

 

Leap year!!