A few questions

My husband and I will be setting out on our first cruise September 1st. I have done a ton of reading through a lot of these boards which has been very helpful. One thing that I have at least relaxed on is how much to pack and worry about clothes.

However, there are a few questions I have not been able to find an answer to as of yet.

1. We are sailing on the Carnival Freedom. I chose the option of having the cruise line pick our cabin as supposedly there was a money saver to it. Do you know at what point I will know which cabin we will have?

2. Check In - I know Carnival allows on-line check in so how early can you "check-in"? Maybe once I check in I will know our cabin number?

3. For those of you have chosen the "anytime" dining do you like it better than the scheduled time? We chose "anytime" as wanted to the flexibility. Also with this option do you always have a different waiter?

4. All the shows. I have read that the shows fill up fast. What are some tips to ensure we are able to get in?

5. As this is going to be a 5 night cruise if there is to be a formal night how do we know what night it will be on?

Thank you in advance for answering these questions. :D

1. Cabin can be assigned as late as the day you sail. If that late, the porters will have a list. Get the cabin number from one of them and put it on the luggage tags.

2. Online checkin is probably available now.

3. It really is personal preference. Most likely you will have a different waiter each evening.

Come on over to the Carnival board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215

where you will find all the Carnival info you will ever need.

You will get a fun times paper every afternoon that list everything coming up the next day. It will tell you everything you need to know to make your plans

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Formal night is usually the second night on the ship. I say usually. Enjoy!

The shows are scheduled around the 2 traditional dining times....Main/early seating goes to the after-dinner show. Late seating goes BEFORE dinner...Anytime diners will choose which show to go to, and plan their dinner time accordingly. There is room for everyone, so no worries about that. You will want to get to the theater early to get the better seats.

As far as letting the cruiseline assign your cabin, it's cheaper to do it that way, IF you don't care where they place you. If you have a specific area of the ship you want to be in, then it's best to book a specific cabin.

"Elegant" night (Carnival no longer does "formal") will usually be on night 2.

My husband and I will be setting out on our first cruise September 1st. I have done a ton of reading through a lot of these boards which has been very helpful. One thing that I have at least relaxed on is how much to pack and worry about clothes.

 

However, there are a few questions I have not been able to find an answer to as of yet.

 

1. We are sailing on the Carnival Freedom. I chose the option of having the cruise line pick our cabin as supposedly there was a money saver to it. Do you know at what point I will know which cabin we will have?

 

2. Check In - I know Carnival allows on-line check in so how early can you "check-in"? Maybe once I check in I will know our cabin number?

 

3. For those of you have chosen the "anytime" dining do you like it better than the scheduled time? We chose "anytime" as wanted to the flexibility. Also with this option do you always have a different waiter?

 

4. All the shows. I have read that the shows fill up fast. What are some tips to ensure we are able to get in?

 

5. As this is going to be a 5 night cruise if there is to be a formal night how do we know what night it will be on?

 

Thank you in advance for answering these questions. :D

I can at least answer questions #3 and #4 for you. We opted for anytime dining on our last cruise. We typically arrived at the MDR at about the same time each evening, between 6:00 - 6:15. Although we weren't always seated at the same table, it was always in the same section and we always had the same wait staff (without requesting it). You can request to be seated in the same area and have the same wait staff, provided there is a table available. As for getting seats at a show in the theater, people usually start showing up about 30 - 45 minutes ahead of time. For the comedy club (which is a smaller venue), I would recommend getting there at least 45 minutes ahead.

My answers are in red:

My husband and I will be setting out on our first cruise September 1st. I have done a ton of reading through a lot of these boards which has been very helpful. One thing that I have at least relaxed on is how much to pack and worry about clothes.

 

However, there are a few questions I have not been able to find an answer to as of yet.

 

1. We are sailing on the Carnival Freedom. I chose the option of having the cruise line pick our cabin as supposedly there was a money saver to it. Do you know at what point I will know which cabin we will have? You need to do the online check in, go to Carnivals page and set up your account, add your cruise and then you can do the check in. For us it was available as early as we made the full payment. After register, you will see which cabin you have if it has been assigned yet.

 

2. Check In - I know Carnival allows on-line check in so how early can you "check-in"? Maybe once I check in I will know our cabin number? See above

 

3. For those of you have chosen the "anytime" dining do you like it better than the scheduled time? We chose "anytime" as wanted to the flexibility. Also with this option do you always have a different waiter? I prefer the late seating of traditional dining but a lot of people love it. You can request the same waiter, but you will probably have a longer wait. Your time is like going out to eat at your favorite restaurant.

 

4. All the shows. I have read that the shows fill up fast. What are some tips to ensure we are able to get in? just get there early, they will have 2 shows, the later one is usually less packed than the early one.

 

5. As this is going to be a 5 night cruise if there is to be a formal night how do we know what night it will be on? There will be 1 "elegant" night and it is usually the 2nd night.

 

Thank you in advance for answering these questions. :D

We have done both assigned and anytime dining.

I like the anytime much better. Personal preference.

Seems like the last cruise that the evening meal was the same wait staff and same table each night.

They anticipated our preferences after the first night.

I don't remember having to wait to be seated more than a few minutes one night.

Enjoy your cruise.

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