Carnival Firenze itineraries- underwhelming.

[Wennfred]

Pretty good deal, not sure if this will be flagged  and deleted. Right off the Carnival site.

 

 

[n6uqqq]

1 minute ago, Wennfred said:

Pretty good deal, not sure if this will be flagged  and deleted. Right off the Carnival site.

 

 

There are definitely some good deals to be had on the FIrenze right now. Strike while the iron is hot momma always told me. 

[Wennfred]

3 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

There are definitely some good deals to be had on the FIrenze right now. Strike while the iron is hot momma always told me. 

Yeah I didn’t pull the trigger because I will already have sailed on her May 2nd. 

But for those prices you can book B2B on Firenze.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Wennfred

[warren buffet]

3 hours ago, Wennfred said:

I’ve cruise many times since 2009, in fact around 15 cruises since the restart. I will have go back an edit that signature. But to answer your question, If I can get on a ship out of San Diego, Long Beach or San Pedro then I am there. As much as I cruise I rather save on Airfare and Hotels.

 

Just off Diamond Princess in January out of San Diego 16 days around the Hawaiian islands and next week on Holland 14 day Panama cruise.

 

I post my reviews in the Roll Calls so that people that are sailing after can ask questions and also see menus and activities.

 

As far as the General Carnival board, I don’t post much there anymore unless there is something new or a change that someone is asking about.

Pre Covid I did lots of Hawaiian land trips as well.

 

 

 

interesting. i did the hawaii princess star with wife in 2017 and am doing it again on the emerald on june 1. yes. i like calif ports as well just to save on airfare and hotels. And the time to book and travel to the formers

[Wennfred]

20 minutes ago, warren buffet said:

interesting. i did the hawaii princess star with wife in 2017 and am doing it again on the emerald on june 1. yes. i like calif ports as well just to save on airfare and hotels. And the time to book and travel to the formers

Signature update: 34 including next week on Holland and more to come from the list I posted.  I was thinking about doing that Emerald Princess to Hawaii also on June 1st.

 

[warren buffet]

3 hours ago, Wennfred said:

Signature update: 34 including next week on Holland and more to come from the list I posted.  I was thinking about doing that Emerald Princess to Hawaii also on June 1st.

june 1 emerald sailing. when I paid on march 5, the prices were very good. if you have 3 people there are only oceanview and above available. I think their are still insides for 2 people available.  I suspect the prices are just as good or better still.  it should be fun. there are people in 30 cabins totaling about 70 people already talking about it on the roll call. i assume a lot more people join the roll call on most sailings about a month or so before the sailing?

3 hours ago, Wennfred said:

 

[warren buffet]

3 hours ago, Wennfred said:

Signature update: 34 including next week on Holland and more to come from the list I posted.  I was thinking about doing that Emerald Princess to Hawaii also on June 1st.

 

 

2 hours ago, warren buffet said:

june 1 emerald sailing. when I paid on march 5, the prices were very good. if you have 3 people there are only oceanview and above available. I think their are still insides for 2 people available.  I suspect the prices are just as good or better still.  it should be fun. there are people in 30 cabins totaling about 70 people already talking about it on the roll call. i assume a lot more people join the roll call on most sailings about a month or so before the sailing?

 

3 hours ago, Wennfred said:

Signature update: 34 including next week on Holland and more to come from the list I posted.  I was thinking about doing that Emerald Princess to Hawaii also on June 1st.

 

we were on the navagator of the seas in early aug 2022 as well.  loved the ice show

[Wennfred]

Awesome! I will take a look at that, unfortunately I cruise solo so I would pay double occupancy. The good thing is that I get around 250.00 OBC for the Shares and also 250.00 military OBC as well. That would be cool.  It gets expensive to cruise alone.

The mistake I made on Diamond Princess is that I didn’t not play in the casino and I hear now that Princess has the best casino deal. One guy I follow on YouTube is cruising this whole year none stop and he just booked 10 zero fare cruises on Princess where only pays for port charges & taxes and gratuity only. It comes out to $50.00 per day.  
 

I’ve only got a free bingo deal offer on Carnival. So next time I will drop some coins in the machine at the casino and hope for some free deals.

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Wennfred

[sjlogghe]

On 3/26/2023 at 6:41 AM, nycruise1 said:

You should be able to make it up in hotel savings.  Miami/Fort Lauderdale hotels have gone up alot but Houston still is low.  We stayed near the airport and took an Uber the next morning.  Was about $75 each way from IAH and Hobby is lower if its flights work for you.  Galveston hotels are much higher.

Where did Uber drop you off at the port? I've read that they aren't able to drop you off in the terminal, but Lyft can. I will be going from IAH to Galveston this Sunday. Lyft is $32 more for a scheduled ride right now, I'm trying to decide if that is worth it to be dropped off at the terminal. If Uber would only be a block or two walk, then yes, we can handle that. But if it's more than that, with luggage and such, I'm thinking it might be worth the extra money. 

Thanks for any info you can give me! 

[jsglow]

9 hours ago, sjlogghe said:

Where did Uber drop you off at the port? I've read that they aren't able to drop you off in the terminal, but Lyft can. I will be going from IAH to Galveston this Sunday. Lyft is $32 more for a scheduled ride right now, I'm trying to decide if that is worth it to be dropped off at the terminal. If Uber would only be a block or two walk, then yes, we can handle that. But if it's more than that, with luggage and such, I'm thinking it might be worth the extra money. 

Thanks for any info you can give me! 

From IAH?  You want to do one of the shuttle services.  There are 2 or 3 big ones.  Head over to the Gulf Coast Departures section on CC.  10 minutes of research will get you some great, reasonably priced options.  Book online.

[sjlogghe]

1 hour ago, jsglow said:

From IAH?  You want to do one of the shuttle services.  There are 2 or 3 big ones.  Head over to the Gulf Coast Departures section on CC.  10 minutes of research will get you some great, reasonably priced options.  Book online.

Been there, done that. I’ve spent lots of time looking at shuttles, car services, trying to book online, multiple times. None of the shuttles have availability for that morning, and haven’t for weeks. And I’m not willing to pay the $200-250 one way for 2 people that the car services are asking. Royal won’t let me book their shuttle because I’m not flying in the same day, and the royal shuttle on disembarkation day is wait listed.  I tried the salt water moms people through fb, they were booked over a month ago. Believe me - I’ve spent WAY more than 10 minutes doing research on this, and not just last minute either!! It’s been very frustrating to say the least, and will probably prevent me from cruising out of Galveston again. 
 

So if anyone is able to answer my original question about where Uber drops off, I’d greatly appreciate it!! 😊

[nycruise1]

On 3/29/2023 at 3:05 AM, sjlogghe said:

Where did Uber drop you off at the port? I've read that they aren't able to drop you off in the terminal, but Lyft can. I will be going from IAH to Galveston this Sunday. Lyft is $32 more for a scheduled ride right now, I'm trying to decide if that is worth it to be dropped off at the terminal. If Uber would only be a block or two walk, then yes, we can handle that. But if it's more than that, with luggage and such, I'm thinking it might be worth the extra money. 

Thanks for any info you can give me! 

I was not aware of this and I do not remember this being an issue.  We were let off right in front of where they pull into the parking lot so it was a short walk.  Do you self-embark?  That would be a bigger walk then the walk from the Uber dropoff to the door leading into the terminal.

[jsglow]

On 3/29/2023 at 10:57 AM, sjlogghe said:

Been there, done that. I’ve spent lots of time looking at shuttles, car services, trying to book online, multiple times. None of the shuttles have availability for that morning, and haven’t for weeks. And I’m not willing to pay the $200-250 one way for 2 people that the car services are asking. Royal won’t let me book their shuttle because I’m not flying in the same day, and the royal shuttle on disembarkation day is wait listed.  I tried the salt water moms people through fb, they were booked over a month ago. Believe me - I’ve spent WAY more than 10 minutes doing research on this, and not just last minute either!! It’s been very frustrating to say the least, and will probably prevent me from cruising out of Galveston again. 
 

So if anyone is able to answer my original question about where Uber drops off, I’d greatly appreciate it!! 😊

That may be true and the issue as you are only a few days out.  We've always booked either Galveston Limo or Galveston Express at least a couple months in advance.  Oh, and we always fly into Hobby. Best of luck with your arrangements.

[Jeafl]

On 3/28/2023 at 3:44 PM, FastShip24 said:

My wife and I just had this discussion.  We literally sat on the balcony a total of 1.5 hours for 7 days

That sounds like us.  We just didn't use it enough to warrant the extra expense.  We now tend to book the deluxe ocean view with the 2 bathrooms which saves us a lot of money.

[Illbcruzn4life]

3 hours ago, Jeafl said:

That sounds like us.  We just didn't use it enough to warrant the extra expense.  We now tend to book the deluxe ocean view with the 2 bathrooms which saves us a lot of money.

What ships are they on?

[jsglow]

12 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

What ships are they on?

Certainly on all the Dream and Vista class.  Not sure about Excel.  Nothing older than that.

[CruizinSusan70]

23 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

What ships are they on?

 

8 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Certainly on all the Dream and Vista class.  Not sure about Excel.  Nothing older than that.

There's six of them on deck 4 on the Excel Class ships.  FP category located within the Family Harbour section.

[Jeafl]

9 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

What ships are they on?

We stayed in them on the Panorama twice.   We also have one booked on  the Firenze next year.

[gkbiiii]

Why can't they do Grand Journey cruises through Central America like HAL?

[gkbiiii]

HAL offers these ports (Panama Canal & Central America: 

Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica Acajutla, El Salvador Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala Huatulco, Mexico Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Acapulco , Mexico Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

[gkbiiii]

Why not the Ultimate Grand Journey: Firenze World Cruise!

[CruizinSusan70]

9 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

Why not the Ultimate Grand Journey: Firenze World Cruise!

Will never happen.  There are other divisions within the Carnival Corporation that will do world cruises.  Never has been and never will be in the marketing scheme for Carnival Cruise Line.

[gkbiiii]

2 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Will never happen.  There are other divisions within the Carnival Corporation that will do world cruises.  Never has been and never will be in the marketing scheme for Carnival Cruise Line.

Well their direct competitor, Royal Caribbean has just done this and the Carnival crowd does not really fit in, on Seabourn, Princess, Holland, P&O, or Cunard!  But there are many, with money, would would gladly pay for a World Cruise, with now much upgraded International Flagship Vessels.

[warren buffet]

Just now, gkbiiii said:

Well their direct competitor, Royal Caribbean has just done this and the Carnival crowd does not really fit in, on Seabourn, Princess, Holland, P&O, or Cunard!  But there are many, with money, would would gladly pay for a World Cruise, with now much upgraded International Flagship Vessels.

I think there is a fairly common cultural pheonoma of people starting their under 40 cruising with carnival and then when they get older (and have some more money and vacation time) change to Princess or Holland America even if they like the carnival corp's policies and the running of ships over other brands. Of course many other people also do carnival or royal when younger and then when older move to one of the other slightly more upscale carnival brands or celebrity or now virgin as a choice.  carnival's last 2 or 3 new ships have been pretty fancy and the fare on those ships reflects that. so the brand image is now blurring

[Squirreladd]

2 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

Well their direct competitor, Royal Caribbean has just done this and the Carnival crowd does not really fit in, on Seabourn, Princess, Holland, P&O, or Cunard!  But there are many, with money, would would gladly pay for a World Cruise, with now much upgraded International Flagship Vessels.

That is a complete waste of that ship. The ship was designed with families in mind. (water park, club O2, Extra berths, Ropes course, etc.)  Families with school age children unless extremely wealthy cannot take world cruises. Taking 1-3 months off from work and school is not possible for most working age families who would be the ones taking advantage of those water parks and camp ocean perks. This leaves only one segment for a mainstream cruise. Retired people are the only people with the time to do this, So use a smaller HAL or Princess ship.