I Wish Someone Had Told Me On My First Carnival Cruise.....

[nhsails]

I wish I had known that no matter what spa treatment you get, there is always a sales pitch at the end.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Simply tell them up front, no pitch

Dee

[Warm Breezes]

I couldn't either. Got so frustrated I quit trying.

 

I finally got in and got mine.

[nhsails]

I've come to the Carnival board to get some info on cruising on a Carnival ship since I'm thinking of booking my first Carnival cruise. After reading these tips, I only have one question: how do you purchase a FTTF pass and how much does it cost?

 

Also, two posters commented on bringing baggies to pack snacks and lunches to take on excursions. I'm surprised that no one pointed out to these posters that taking food off the ship that is not sealed (such as small boxes of cereal), and especially fruit, is prohibited.

You aren't, lots of bad advice in here. Sealed foods only,I e. Cereal

[Rhea98]

I finally got in and got mine.

Great. I've faced that same "block." Mine would always say something about not able to log me in even though I WAS logged in. I received an email last night that gave me direct access. Later, I tried again, and no go. The other night, I was lambasting their site with one of those pop-up surveys, and when I was finished, it all worked. Keep trying. I just checked and still available: $100 and $500. Try another browser or device. Clear browser cache although I don't think either worked for me. It just came back. See if this link works

http://rewards.aarp.org/mobile/svc?t=solrcatalog&category=Travel&clearFilters=Y

 

 

 

 

Nexus 9 on Tapatalk Pro

[Luckylibra]

Do you bring your good camera or just stick to your phone? We just take our cameras for photos.. not wanting to risk losing or damaging our expensive one and get just as good photos that you can share easily

 

Has anyone ever had problems with theft from your room? How careful are you about putting stuff in your safe (electronics, cameras, etc.)? Never had any issues, we keep our passports, excursion tickets and cash in the safe provided and don't bring jewelry or anything else to worry about. I have felt very safe and the staff is amazing

 

I bought the prepaid gratuities with my cruise. What gratuities are not covered by that? Just what you might want to tip as you go for room service. The drinks from the bar come with a 15% gratuity added to the bill already. If you want to tip your wait staff and steward additionally you would need to bring that as well.

 

Do you usually buy the drink packages? We're not big drinkers but definitely enjoy mixed drinks and an occasional beer. We have never purchased the drink packages but we are not big drinkers of anything but water.

 

I saw that bottled water isn't covered on the drink package. I also saw someone say they pre-ordered a case of bottled water at $2.49 per 12. Where do you do that? We're all big water drinkers. We do buy the 12 pack of 16 ounce bottles to have delivered to our room when we arrive. The first cruise we accidentally chose the larger bottles.. they are huge and impossibly bulky to carry on excursions or up to the sun decks so the second time we learned to do the smaller ones. There are just two of us and we put several in the fridge and restock as we go through the week and still had a couple left to take to the airport. You can find them listed on the carnival site under MANAGE - In room gifts and shopping - In stateroom beverages - 12 pack purified water for $4.50

 

We don't plan to do the Captain's table but are going to the steakhouse one night. What is the most casual you can get away with? I want to pack as light as possible. We haven't been to the steakhouse but we saw folks in the main dining room (MDR) on elegant night in sundresses, some with flip flops (which the dress code says are not allowed), shorts, pants.. some really dressed up and we enjoy taking a few extra dressy outfits to wear

 

We have port days every day but one. Do you always go ashore? Do you always book an excursion? What's your favorite excursion? We're late 40s but are taking two 13 y.o. boys with us. We like to relax. They like to play. We usually go ashore each time unless there was no excursion that sounded really good or we have been there before.. then it is nice to take advantage of the less crowded ship. We spend most of our time on the serenity deck, no one under 21 allowed

 

Have any of your kids been to the C Club (12-14 y.o.)? We're talking a couple of boys who love video games, Minecraft but also both play sports. Are they going to love it or hate it? No experience with this but have heard many parents say they love it

 

One of the boys has a severe (Epi-pen) peanut allergy. Would you feel safe with your kid going to the teen club with an allergy like that? In this day and age I think they probably get that a lot, so likely are prepared for it..

Mostly just relax and enjoy being unplugged from the real world, electronics and work.. soak up the sun and family time

[bUU]

And verizon wireless smart rewards

Sold out already.

 

What I see was available, though, were $100 and $500 gift cards at 10% discount. I know 10% is 10% but if you prepay gratuities, and prepay for excursion or do private excursions, and prepay for a beverage package, then I'm not really sure what good these cards are. Can someone illumine me?

 

(Actually: We probably won't get a beverage package, so from bottled water to Mai Tais, effectively these cards give us a 10% discount - yes? So for our use it would be a matter of figuring out how much money we'd spend on beverages, and on spa treatments, eh?)

[bobbismith]

Sold out already.

 

What I see was available, though, were $100 and $500 gift cards at 10% discount. I know 10% is 10% but if you prepay gratuities, and prepay for excursion or do private excursions, and prepay for a beverage package, then I'm not really sure what good these cards are. Can someone illumine me?

 

(Actually: We probably won't get a beverage package, so from bottled water to Mai Tais, effectively these cards give us a 10% discount - yes? So for our use it would be a matter of figuring out how much money we'd spend on beverages, and on spa treatments, eh?)

 

I pay for everything I can on the gift card. I, also, put cruise cash on my account for spending on the ship. Can we use cruise cash at the casino?

 

Bobbi

[bUU]

I pay for everything I can on the gift card. I, also, put cruise cash on my account for spending on the ship.

I suppose my question boils down to one that no one can really answer for me, but hopefully I can gain enough insights to answer for myself.

 

I just checked and our cruise ship account from a 7-night cruise back in 2008 was $602.74 and from a 3-night cruise in 2015 was $410.52. I need to see if I can remember all we bought, but that would seem to indicate that I should try to snag perhaps two $500 cards, except I think those bills might have included the cost of some excursions.

[grammybto7]

Any card should work in the slot to activate your lights. I would advise using something you can afford to lose as I've read reports of stewards taking them when they clean.

We were just on the Sensation in February....we didn't need any card for lights to work. We just flipped the switch when we came into the room...Things charged while we were gone with the lights off.:D

[nychad10]

I suppose my question boils down to one that no one can really answer for me, but hopefully I can gain enough insights to answer for myself.

 

I just checked and our cruise ship account from a 7-night cruise back in 2008 was $602.74 and from a 3-night cruise in 2015 was $410.52. I need to see if I can remember all we bought, but that would seem to indicate that I should try to snag perhaps two $500 cards, except I think those bills might have included the cost of some excursions.

 

 

Add whatever you paid for your cabin as well and then take 10% off that

[bUU]

I don't understand. We pay for our cabin in advance.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[nychad10]

I don't understand. We pay for our cabin in advance.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

 

 

If you buy your 10% off gift cards before you book your cruise or buy at least gift cards as you go (if you only pay a deposit) you can use them to pay towards the balance of your cruise. So if your cabin costs you $2,500 and you use gift cards you have saved $250 plus all the other stuff you mentioned in your post.

[Taylorcast]

I don't understand. We pay for our cabin in advance.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

You can use the gift cards to pay off the final balance of your cruise. So say you booked today, put down a deposit of $500 to hold the booking. The remainder of the cost due in June, July, whatever the final payment date is....can be paid with the gift cards at the time the final payment is due. (So can the deposit, if you have the cards at the time of booking)

 

So because you are buying the gift cards at a 10% discount, it is as if you are saving 10% on your final payment. A final payment of $2000 could only cost you $1800 if you had purchased $2000 in gift cards with the 10% discount.

[KevnSue]

Carnival cards are back on AARP rewards for good.

Link? I just scoured the site and could not locate

[Parrothead_82]

Have your children call you by your name instead of mom or dad when searching for you or 30 people will turn to see who is calling them.

 

Thank you for this advice! I am cruising with a teenager and younger child, never would have thought to teach them this! Safety first! It would honestly be smart for any parent to teach their kids to do this in a big crowd. "Mom" may get lost in all the voices, but your full name coming out of the mouth of your child would probably grab your attention!

 

 

Also...I see from your tag that you are a nurse. I am graduating nursing school in the fall. Nurses rock!!! ;)

[Rhea98]

Link? I just scoured the site and could not locate

It was (is) in post 329 but doesn't work now. It appeared to work for me but may have been my cache. Further, the cards became out of stock around the same time so the issue became moot.

 

Nexus 9 on Tapatalk Pro

[bobbismith]

Link? I just scoured the site and could not locate

 

Sign into Verizon, click Smart Rewards (red letters, by your points), then gift cards, then travel then Carnival. Good Luck

[crusinpsychRN]

Thank you for this advice! I am cruising with a teenager and younger child, never would have thought to teach them this! Safety first! It would honestly be smart for any parent to teach their kids to do this in a big crowd. "Mom" may get lost in all the voices, but your full name coming out of the mouth of your child would probably grab your attention!

 

 

Also...I see from your tag that you are a nurse. I am graduating nursing school in the fall. Nurses rock!!! ;)

 

I've been a nurse practitioner in psych for 38 years. What kind of nursing do you plan to do?

[simplyjustnoel]

For everyone who is having trouble getting the giftcards from Verizon or AARP, I found great luck from Allstate's Rewards program (and no, you don't need to be a member of their insurance to get the giftcards). I was able to get the giftcards same day and even have them emailed to me for immediate use! I used the giftcards to purchase the Cheers program.

[Athankfulheart]

I wish I had known that no matter what spa treatment you get, there is always a sales pitch at the end.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

This practice may be in the process of changing. I had a massage on the Freedom in Feb and did NOT get the pitch but rather was handed a small card with suggestions to consider. The therapist was very talkative but never tried to sell me a thing.

 

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[Athankfulheart]

The blankets you can borrow from the towel hut during Dive in Movies do not have to be returned right away. Hang onto a couple for the week and use them when you just want to feel cozy in your cabin, on serenity at night or early morning etc... then return them on the last night.

 

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[tvlworm]

For everyone who is having trouble getting the giftcards from Verizon or AARP, I found great luck from Allstate's Rewards program (and no, you don't need to be a member of their insurance to get the giftcards). I was able to get the giftcards same day and even have them emailed to me for immediate use! I used the giftcards to purchase the Cheers program.

 

 

Thanks--worked for me too!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[theabigator]

YIKES!!!!!!! So they don't have signs when you get off with buses to know where you are going? Our trip last year we only did one excursion and it was in Labadee Haiti which was so small there was no cars or buses. All was walking distance and you followed the signs. This time around, we have excursions at every stop, we have kids (didn't bring them last year), AND all excursions include a bus ride.......now I'm worried!

 

You can always talk to shore excursions once you get on board and they will tell you exactly what to do. A lot times they will either have signs pointing you the direction you need to go and tour representatives there, or they will have a common meeting place on the ship or there is almost always a shore ex representative off the ship in a bright orange uniform. If you have any doubts make sure to talk to them, that's one of the perks of booking a Carnival Shore Excursion and they are there for you! There is no reason to worry!

[Rhea98]

For everyone who is having trouble getting the giftcards from Verizon or AARP, I found great luck from Allstate's Rewards program (and no, you don't need to be a member of their insurance to get the giftcards). I was able to get the giftcards same day and even have them emailed to me for immediate use! I used the giftcards to purchase the Cheers program.

[emoji106] Works well. I used the Drivewise app to sign up, logged in at the rewards site online and automatically received 5000 points. I do not use Allstate for anything. I actually didn't make a purchase as I think I only need $100. My cruise is paid for already so extra is for daily gratuities and a coffee or drink each of 3 days.

 

Nexus 9 on Tapatalk Pro

[Mallutts]

That it was going to be the best thing ever and I'd be wanting to take a cruise or two every year forever!