First time Carnival questions

[Reost]

Hello,

 

I'll have my first cruise with Carnival (and, in fact, first cruise in 20 years) after a month. I have some "newbie questions". If you don't know the answer to every one of them, please answer just the ones you know.

 

1.There is "on-line check in" on Carnival website. Is it required, and if not, what advantages does it give?

 

2.Through "Early Savers" (and subsequent repricing) I have received relatively significant on-board credit. I wonder, if I pre-book my tours (though the Carnival website), could that use on-board credit, or is on-board credit only for the tours booked while on-board?

 

3.I plan to arrive to the ship late. How many things are actually sold-out by the time (i.e. if the answer to the 2nd question is that I need to spend on-board credit while on-board, is it likely that I'd still find the tours available)?

 

4.As I am not an American and my country doesn't use dollars, can there be any trouble, e.g. additional charges or bad conversion rates? Should I e.g. try to get a dollar credit card or know any other alternatives?

 

5.Is a credit card needed at all, since the cruise is pre-paid and I have enough on-board credit for my cruise (i.e. I likely won't spend more than the on-board credit)?

 

6.What are the actual times before leaving each port that you must come back to the port / ship (the embarkation day and the remaining days, if different)? Not that I am planning to come at the last minute, but for a better time planning, I am interested in the true "final time" beyond which the person would not be allowed in (rather than a recommended time).

 

 

7.What are the seating arrangements in the main dining hall? If we are a group of 4, would we sit at a separate table, or are all the tables larger than 4 people?

[nychad10]

1. Yes it saves a lot of time at the check in counter

2. I think you have to book on board to use your OBC.

3. A fair amount. If you have something in mind and can pay for it before the cruise I would do it.

4.

5. No just choose the cash option when/if you do the check in online.

6. We are always back on board within 30 minutes before we have to. But we enjoy watching the pier runners...

7. If your a group of 4 you should be seated together. If not on the 1st night let the hostess know that you want to be seated together. They will make it happen

[Monalis]

Agree with the above, with the addition that you need to be on-board at least 2 hours before sailing on embarkation day.

 

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[mistycruiser]

1. The online check in is where you will get your boarding passes and luggage tags. You will print these out after you've completed the online check in. In some ports you can't get access to the terminal without having the boarding passes. Also that is where you will input passport information, travel information and where you set up your onboard account. As someone else mentioned you could set up the account as a cash account since you've indicated having OBC. I'm assuming that the 4 of you are sharing one cabin so you would be sharing 1 booking number. If you have 2 or more cabins you will have separate booking numbers for each cabin and would need to complete the online check in for each booking number.

 

2. Yes, onboard credit can only be used on board, not before. I don't know if you prepaid the gratuities or not but they are approximately $13.50 pp per day so if not prepaid they will be posted to your onboard account so that may use some of your OBC.

 

3. If you're interested in a specific excursion that might sell out then I would prebook them prior to arriving so that you don't miss out on the excursion if it sells out but that does mean that you pay it at that time rather than paying once on the ship.

 

4. You indicate that you plan to arrive to the ship late. I'm assuming you mean for the initial embarkation. The ship has to turn in the manifest to CPB I believe within 1 1/2 hours prior to sailing so you don't want to be so late that you are denied boarding. Most times the ship sails around 4 pm and so I wouldn't want to be any later than 1:30-2 pm or so. If you get there earlier they'll be serving lunch on the Lido and you can familiarize yourself with the ship. In the ports back on board is usually 30 minutes before sail away at a docked port but more like 3/4 or 1 hour ahead of time at a tender port.

 

5. The ship currency will be in USD. Whether you'll need a Credit Card or not is up to you. Do you have a credit card that doesn't charge a Foreign Exchange rate? If so, you could bring that as a backup and add to your account on the ship if you need to.

 

6. Re: dining. If you are all in the same cabin you will be at the same table if you've selected either the early or late dining. It may be private with just the 4 of you or you could be part of a larger table with others. On your S&S card it will list your dining time and table number. If you are on ATD each night when you go to the MDR they will ask if you wish to be seated alone or with others. If you are in separate cabins you need to contact Carnival or your TA to have your booking numbers linked so that you can be together at dinner.

[Reost]

Thank your for your answers.

 

The cruise is Carnival Fascination and it leaves San Juan at 22:00 (10PM), and the online check-in lets me choose check-in time until 20:00 (8PM) so I assume then this is the final time as it is also the 2 hours before leaving the port.

 

As I have never been to Puerto Rico (and living far away, maybe I will never come back again), I want to spend more time there (renting a car and venturing further out) and instead explore the ship during the sea day.

 

Likewise, as every island I'll visit will be new to me (I never been to the Caribbean), I plan to mainly spend my time on sights and other experiences particular to that island. We are planning to rent a car where possible (for 4 people it is likely economical) although in some cases excursions also seem an interesting alternative, e.g. the 6 hour St. Lucia excursion which covers the entire island.

 

So, as I understand, if 30 min. is the latest time to be at ship at non-tendered ports (i.e. all of the ports during my cruise), I should aim at 45-60 min. to be on the safe side.

 

Likewise, in the mornings I'd plan leaving the ship as early as possible, which I assume means eating breakfast at the time dining hall opens and then going to disembark.

 

I'll use OBC and cash then for my on-board account then rather than credit card (those are much less popular in our country than in the USA).

 

We don't share a cabin but both are on a single booking already.

 

If you think something on my ideas seems not to work out for some reason, please tell.

[Banditswife]

The on line check in does save a lot of time. I think you will have to have a certain amount of cash to secure your sign and sail card, I'm not sure how much that is. For your onboard spending- gratuities, any alcoholic beverages or soft drinks, gambling in the casino, shore excursions- these are some examples of what you will use your onboard credit or sign & sail card for. As for breakfast before disembarking the ship on a port day- room service is available 24 hours a day. You can fill out a card the evening before & hang it on your door- it will be delivered to your stateroom at your designated time. We usually give the delivery person a few dollars for this service. Also, I think the lido buffet opens at 6AM, so you can get a bite to eat before leaving the ship on port days.

 

Have a great time.

[Reost]

Thank you,

 

Online check-in requires me to chose time. Do I understand correctly that I could board later than the time I choose, but not earlier?

 

I am now thinking about boarding at 6PM (for 10PM departure, 8PM latest boarding time) but I could not tell exactly right now as it may depend on traffic, etc. So should I chose e.g. 4PM then and arriving 5PM, 6PM or 7PM would be ok, or could there be any drawbacks?

 

Also, are these boarding times good in terms of queues? Is it so that queues only take place in the first few hours after boarding opening, or also later?

[lizardhowson]

You can check-in anytime after the time you select, but not before.

You might consider picking an earlier check-in time (in case your drive around time is shorter than expected) since you can check-in anytime after the time you select.

[bnorris10]

So, as I understand, if 30 min. is the latest time to be at ship at non-tendered ports (i.e. all of the ports during my cruise), I should aim at 45-60 min. to be on the safe side.

 

they will tell you what time to be back on board in the funtimes

 

If you are venturing to far from the port keep in mind for emergencies - I mean what if your car breaks down - When we venture out further away we headback 2 hours before and explore around the port if we get back early

[Sixtytwo]

On your dining question, if your friends are booked under a different booking number, it would be good for you to "link" your bookings to ensure you have the same table in the dining room. Having said that, if you are going to be doing Your Time Dining, then no worry, just show up together and request a table for 4 (or however many are in the two cabins). Have a great cruise!!