Help! Have never cruised Carnival - some info needed.

[USA41018]

Booked on Elation 5/23/04. Does Carnival have drink cards both soda and alcoholic? How much? Are there hair dryers in the cabin? Read that there was coin-operated laundry? True? Are beach towels provided at ports? Free beverages - iced tea, lemonaide - what is available free? Do they search carry-on for alcohol? We prefer a certain brand. Can gratuities be charged to seapass? How much are typical cocktails? Sodas? Waterslide? I'm sure all of these topics have been discussed to death in other threads, but it takes a long time to find everything. Thanks for any help.

NCL Magesty 6/00
Explorer of the Seas 6/01
Voyager of the Seas 6/03

[USA41018]

Just want to see if my clock works.

NCL Magesty 6/00
Explorer of the Seas 6/01
Voyager of the Seas 6/03Elation 5/23/04
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2004;5;23;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0600

[JohnnyO]

They have soda cards and drink coupons(alcoholic)....don't know the exact price but close to $20 for soda card or "sticker"...and the drink coupons don't really save you much unless you drink alot of "Foo-Foo" drinks...

Hair dryers in cabin and coin operated laundry....yes

Anybody else have some answers??


JohnnyO

[bethee]

They do have drink cards good for 4 drinks I think. Soda cards are for the entire cruise. Lemonade, ice tea and coffee and I think fruit punch available all day. Not sure of the prices of the drinks.....just pay when the card comes in. You can charge the tips on your card. In fact most of the ships are now putting them on your card at the beginning of the cruise. Tips for the drinks are included in the price. I do not bring alcohol with me but many of the others on this board do and have no problems. You can bring a couple of bottles of wine but do not forget your corkscrew though or you have to pay a corkage fee.

[spartanfan]

Hello. I will do my best to answer some of your questions. We went on our first cruise last month via the Carnival Destiny. It was a wonderful experience!
Carnival does have non-alcoholic drink cards. We ended up not buying them because we don't drink that much pop. It seems to me that they were in the $25-30 range. We were able to get all the water, lemonade and fruit punch we wanted. At meals coffee, tea, milk, and juice were not extra. My son and husband bought probably 2-3 pops each, not making it worth it for the price of a drink card. They did not search our checked luggage for alcohol. They did provide beach towels on the deck and in your room. You definitely could take them off the ship. You had to return the same number you had checked out to your room. The waterslide was free.
I'm sure others can answer these questions more completely. Have a great time!
Rose

[cruzenbabe]

In answer to your questions.
No, Carnival does not have drink cards.
Yes, there are hair dryers in the cabin.
Yes, they have laundry rooms on the ship. Bring a roll of quarters.
Towel situation is the same like RCCL. Towels will be provided in the cabin just make sure you bring it back from the ports or you will be charged.
I have been on the Imagination and the Spirit and lemonade, iced tea and punch was free in the buffet area.
Never tried to smuggle booze so don't no about that one.
Yes, gratuities is automatically charged to Seapass. You can remove them if you like.
The average foo foo drinks were 3.95 without a Souvenir glass or 6.95 in a Souvenir glass. They also had a drink of the day which was 2.95.
Don't know how much sodas cost.
Slide was open at certain times of the day on our cruise. It really depends on the weather.
Hoped I helped, Any other questions just ask away. I hope you enjoy your first Carnival Cruise.

[tradogna]

I can answer a few of your questions, I been on the Elation 3 times.Yes there is a soda card for around $22.00 dollars, no alcoholic cards.I think the cocktails are around $3.75 or $4.75 cant remember for shore, but they do have daily specials. Yes there are hair dryers in te room. Yes they have a coin operated laundry with ironing board and iron. There are towels rovided at ports, but if you loss them they charge you I think $20.00 a towel. I usually bring my own from KMART.There are free drinks like ice ea, coffee etc. Hope this helps. One more thing we have are gratuities charged to are charge card. Teresa

[waterbound]

There are many posts regarding smuggling on alcohol.... there are many who are against it and many who are for it.. if you want to bring alcohol on, I would suggest not putting it in your carryon.. as there is a chance of it getting taken up.. we didnt bring any alcohol this past cruise, but in past we have brought a small amount with us and no I didnt feel bad or guilty, we spend quite a bit on alcohol as I only drink the foo foo drinks.. and yes there is a waterslide..

Pride- 07/06/02
Jubilee- 02/22/03
Conquest- 10/19/03

4/15-- Holiday--Surprise cruise for my boyfriend!
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5/15-- M&M at Rawlings All American Grille
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03/13/2005- Conquest with the kidshttp://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2005;3;13;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0600
http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/baby21.gif http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/beerchug.gif

[Cotton]

Hi USA. There are a lot of complimentary beverages on Carnival ships. Lemonade, iced tea, hot tea, coffee, fruit punch, juice, and hot chocolate - on Lido Deck as well as from room service. Also, in the dining room, you can order after dinner capuccino at no charge.

Other things complimentary - 24-hour pizzeria and soft-serve ice cream on Lido Deck. Room service is also available 24 hours a day, and of course, there is no charge, but you should tip a buck or two, depending on the size of your order.

Tips are automatically added to your Sign & Sail account. You may leave them as is, or adjust them.

Welcome to Carnival! You'll probably love it as much as we do. Any other questions, ask away! http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Festivale 1987
Carnivale 1988
Mardi Gras 1989
Pacific Princess 1990
Norway 1994
Holiday 2001
Holiday 2002
Holiday 2003

[hbutton]

Carnival does have drink card at just under $20. good for 4 drinks including tip. I know because I ordedred 7 for my upcoming cruise on May 1, 2004. Yes they do have soft drink cards I never bought one so price is ?????.
Have a great cruise.

[USA41018]

New question - In past have been able to order shore excursions on line with RCCL. How do you order shore excursions with Carnival? Do you have to wait until you are onboard or can you access this info and order online? I have seen the shore excursions online but don't know how to book them. We are shore excursion cruisers.

NCL Magesty 6/00
Explorer of the Seas 6/01
Voyager of the Seas 6/03Elation 5/23/04
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2004;5;23;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0600

[Duluthian]

USA> Carnival does not have pre-ordering of shore tours. The shore tours can be purchased at the "tour talk", from the tour desk at certain times, or from the purser's desk anytime. If purchased from "tour talk" or tour desk the tickets are placed in your room. If purchased from the purser's desk, you take the tickets with you. Others have posted selection of shore tours or you can go to Carnival's web site and see the selection of shore tours. I'm not much for tours, so can't give you much more info.

Pam

Valor 12/19/2004 Inaugural cruise
Fantasy 12/12/2004
Elation 5/23/2004
Fascination 1/19/2004
Inspiration 2/9/2003
Spirit 4/4/2002
Sensation 8/27/2000, 10/23/2004 Saints & Sinners
Independence 4/1/2000
Imagination 9/16/1999, 9/20/1999, 11/25/1999
Paradise 1/10/1999, 9/23/2001, 9/30/2001, 10/3/2002
Carla C 1/22/1983

[InMN253]

Once you're on board, you should also be able to order shore tours using "funvision" from the TV in your room.

[GinaDucey]

While at port - most of the time there is a Carnival rep or two with refreshments set up on a table. As you are leaving to explore a port there will also be a little stand set up where you can purchase bottled water to take with you.

I would not purchase drinks in the special Carnival glasses from the servers just walking around with them - by the time they get to you they seem a bit melted. The drink of the day is a really good value. I really do not think that Carnival charges any more for their drinks than land based establishments.

On Lido deck in the casual area you can always find ice tea, coffee, water, and lemonade available. Yes the ice cream soft serve and pizza are also there! Yum Yum!!!!

Ditto on others input! Have a great time!

Carnival
Fantasy 11/91, Ecstasy 1/98, Fascination 11/99, Paradise 2/00, Imagination 4/02, Ecstasy 5/03, Paradise 10/03

Royal Caribbean
Sovereign of the Seas 4/04

[RWolver672]

Here are the drink prices as posted on this board: (Look for the posting by jedgar) Drink Prices (http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=969097554&m=309106931&r=255102341#255102341)

The cost of the soda card depends on the length of the cruise and if you are an adult or a child. It's a good value if you drink a lot of soda as a bottle of coke is $2.50 at the bars.

You will be given a new beach towel every day to replace your dirty ones from the day before. They are $22 to replace so guard them carefully.

You can sneak liquor onboard in your checked luggage but not your carry-on. They will confiscate it when it goes through the x-ray machine.

You can call Carnival and they will send by either fax or e-mail, a detail listing of all the shore excursions with prices for your particular cruise. You will have to wait until you board to book them though. On the Victory, we filled out the form and dropped it in the box at the shore exvursion desk. The day before each port, they had sheets laid out for the excursions that were available at the next stop. You just filled them out and picked the tickets up later when someone was at the desk.

Dick
"To Sea or Not To Sea"
~~^~~Sea Ya!~~^~~
Destiny 02-28-99
Victory 02-24-01
Conquest 02-09-03