LakeMomNY

21 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

The OP was talking about just upgrading the meals, rather than taking free at sea plus. In that case it is cheaper to just purchase an extra 4 meal package than get two with the upgrade offer and two at full price.

 

As you took free at sea plus this doesn’t apply to you, as you can’t just drop the dining element of free at sea plus.

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You're good with your plan  

Thanks!

40 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes. You will get whatever you got with Free at Sea plus the two additional nights out with the upgrade. The upgrade is a very good deal if you just want 2 more nights out. If you want more than 2 additional dinners, there are other strategies. 

What is the best strategy if we want more than 2 extra?

We are new to NCL and just booked a club balcony 8 day on Getaway….we get two free at sea meals, upgraded to free at sea plus which gave us 2 more…and then added 2 more for $100ish.  Is there a better way to have done this?  Thanks!

8 hours ago, wardamnweagle said:

We did this last year. I got asked every single morning where someone could find them as I prepared mine and my wife’s coffee. We brought two boxes, one vanilla and one caramel. After day 1 I always brought extra in my pocket To lido and when approached I shared. I like to think I made a different person’s morning for 6 days straight. Good karma. 

And reading this just made my night. Good karma indeed. 

Definitely will be purchasing on our upcoming cruise..especially for the wife, because lately she's been outdrinking me!

 

Just wish I could prepay before boarding instead of using the same card as my s/s and getting a larger hold

If you are certain you will purchase Cheers, you could add Cruise Cash to your account to cover it. I would imagine this would eliminate the hold on your card.

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When was that cruise?

3/25/14

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On an 8 day Splendor out of NY...

I was offered an up-sell to a balcony from an inside which would have effectively made the fare $534pp.

I was also offered an extended aft (total fare + upgrade $559pp)

And Spa Balcony (total fare + upgrade $609pp)

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Don't know what the criteria is but as Diamonds with 37 cruises and 262 days we have never had an upgrade or even an upsell. I think most people never receive one. Good luck!

We have been on two and are booked for a third carnival cruise. We have received an upsell call for all three.

First was an OV guarantee to a balcony. I don't remember what they were asking, we declined.

Second we were booked for a verandah inside. I missed the call and it didn't occur to me to find the number to call back.

Today we received an offer to upgrade from a Lido inside to a Lido balcony. I had to speak to my husband in order to take it and when I called back 5 minutes later the 2 available balconies were gone. We were offered a spa balcony for more $$ but declined. I called back and asked if there we're any other offers he could make and he said that they generally only make offers on the same or higher deck, and they like to stay in the same area, but that if I was interested he had a balcony one deck down or and aft balcony two decks down. We took the aft balcony on the Verandah Deck, and are very, very happy!

I was on glory this past summer. The candy shop is cute.

It was expensive enough that I didn't buy anything, but not expensive enough to deter my 15 your old from buying a decent sized bag full!

I don't remember the pricing, but I say a little more than a mall candy store, a little less than Dylan's.

I've purchased only 1 photo from each cruise.

 

Wish they would do the same as Disney World, photographers all over the place but not "in your face", have loads of photos taken on the "photopass" or whatever it's called, then buy the whole lot on a CD or download from their web site at the end of the trip. I would certainly purchase this way if Carnival had the option, even though it would cost more than the one photo that I do buy on a cruise.

This is exactly what I was going to say.

For about $150 I can pre-purchase digital files of ALL photos taken on a family trip to Disney. Since the program started, we have done it on every trip. (Which is only two, but will on the next as well.

We never purchased a single Disney photograper photo on ANY previous trip.

If Carnival did this I would definitely buy in.

That being said, I HAVE purchased a couple to a few photos on each cruise we have taken. But never anywhere near $150 worth.

I did the Chef's Table with my 14 year old on Glory this summer. She loved it. Probably more that I did.

I plan to do it this month with my husband on Splendor, even though it will be the same menu.

It is a fun night if you enjoy good food, aren't a jaded "foodie" and have an open mind.

The "foodie" in me has some criticisms, but it was definitely a good experience at a good price.

I choose my cabins with some thought, but in most situations I would be happy to move a cabin or two to allow friends/family to have connecting cabins.

If I wasn't happy to do it, I would politely apologize and say no.

I don't think people should ever feel bad about asking others for such considerations, and, likewise, I don't think people should feel bad if they have reasons (whatever they may be) to choose to say no.

Someone I know had to ask me to watch her children after school recently. Our children are friends and they play at each of our homes with relative frequency. This woman works, and I stay home. Having her children over after school is exactly zero effort for me. They ride the bus to my home, keep my children entertained, and then their mother picks them up. The mom and I are on the border between acquaintances and friends. (I believe we would both like to move that line more solidly into friends.)

It was obvious that it was VERY difficult for her to ask me, but the truth was that I was THRILLED that she asked me, because it made me feel like I could ask her for help if I had an "emergency." I am relatively new to my community and it is a HUGE relief to feel like there is someone I can call and ask a favor of.

This makes me sad. There is a real lack of community in the current culture of the US, and I think that that we are all worse off for it.

But I wouldn't recommend doing that on a cruise ship! :eek:

Maybe this is what the drunken people who climb onto railings are trying to do!:p

I went on a mother/daughter cruise with my teen this past summer. She was a little older than your daughter, 14 almost 15.

We went to the club orientation the first night, and she always had girls to hang out with. It seems that they generally met up at the club, but then went ad did their own thing. Which seemed to involve a lot of pizza, ice cream, and "hanging out."

There were definitely teens with access to both pot and alcohol. There were also definitely teens who "hooked up." (Based on my daughter's reports.) I tell you this so that you are aware, and not caught off guard. My daughter had no problem having a good time without getting pulled into those activities, but they were there and easy enough to find.

My daughter and I are both "food people." We are at the steakhouse and also did the Chef's Table. She LOVED both. She was not the youngest at the Chef's Table. There was another young girl whom I believe was 12.

Bringing a friend would certainly be nice for your daughter, but I don't think it is needed for a good time. That being said, depending in how close you are to the family I don't think it would be rude to invite a friend (directly through the parent, without mentioning to child first) with the understanding that your daughter would love for "Sally" to join her on the trip, but while you cannot swing the additional cost, you would be happy to have her come, and that the dates are xx/xx-xx/xx and the costs would be x,y,z.

I have only been on two cruises. I did not experience seasickness on either one. One was quite rocky at times.

I AM prone to motion sickness in cars, and was quite seasick on a one day fishing boat trip I went on a few years back. (Jumping off the boat and swimming for a while was the recommended -- and effective -- cure.)

So glad it worked out for you in the end!

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Yes! I am so happy that they accommodated us. As you both said, they didn't have to.

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Carnival did right by us.

When I became aware if the situation I called Carnival. They provided an email address and instructed me to explain my situation and it would be reviewed.

10 days later I received a reply requesting documentation and instructing me that the review process would begin once I cancelled the cruise.

I replied a day or two later with the documentation and explained that I didn't wish to cancel (and risk losing my full payment) but wished to change my booking to a different date, and that if I was not able to do that I would take someone in my husband's place.

I waited another 10 (business) days.

I did not hear back.

On 11th or 12th day I called again. The woman I spoke to was very friendly, readily found my file. She indicated that they had not yet received any documentation. I told her I had emailed it, and she was able to locate it shortly.

She continued to be polite and friendly while she put me in hold several times (checking back in every few minutes to update me.) After spending about 25 minutes on the phone with me she indicated that she had put a note in the file, and that the woman with whom I had been emailing would contact me when a decision had been made. I was also told that she couldn't guarantee that a decision would be made before my original booking sailed (now just over a week out.)

I was frustrated and sad, but we didn't buy trip insurance, and Carnival was under no obligation to make any accommodation for us, so I was trying to make the best of it and get excited to cruise with my two young kids and without my husband rather than my husband without our two young kids.

Then, yesterday I got a call from FL.

She apologized for the mistake with the documentation and for the delay in getting in touch. If I still wanted to move to the other sailing they would accommodate the change, but I would have to pay the difference in the fare, which was going to be +$600. I thanked her and asked if I could have a day to discuss it with my husband. Our original fare was +/-$900. An extra $600 is a HUGE percentage of that!

After getting off the phone I hopped on the computer, found a fare that was +$100, confirmed that my family could watch my kiddos on the new date, and confirmed that my husband could take the new week off.

I called and left a voicemail for the woman who was handling my case.

She called back this morning. I told her about the fare I found. She looked it up, put me on hold briefly, came back and set everything up. I even kept my onboard credit from booking on a previous cruise.

Yes, it all took longer than it should have (a full month from when I first contacted them,) but the language in the contract is clear, and they were under no obligation whatsoever to accommodate the change at all.

I'm so very pleased that they did though!

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Wow! I have a home machine and would have such fun with some cruise embroidery files!

If anyone is up for sharing. My email is laylaw@gmail

Any format is ok, I can convert.

Thanks so much!

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And yes, I could have deposited $5. Or $0.

No minimum.

That being said, I figured the onboard account was the safest place for my cash, so I deposited all but what I needed for cash tipping and ports.

I used a cash account on my last cruise and it worked very, very easily and well.

I deposited the cash upon boarding the ship, I withdrew what was left the last evening.

Easy peasy, and no debit card hold worries.

Seeing that we only paid around $350 each for our upcoming 8 day, 25% is about $85. I don't think there is much I would cut to save $85.

I too would pay more to have the waitstaff NOT sing and dance in the MDR. SO tacky.

I'm fine with them closing the doors after 15 minutes.

IF they consistently open them on time. There was not a single night (that we ate in the MDR) my last cruise that the doors actually opened on time.

My daughter and I did the Chef's Table on Glory this summer. We really enjoyed it.

This cruise will just be my husband and I, so it will be his first time.

I guess I'll just have to guess which 2 nights to make Steakhouse reservations! I had hoped to spread out the "nicer" dinners.

Right, but I figured that they do it on the same night each cruise and someone who has done the 8 night Bahamas itinerary might know which night that was!

Also, if anyone knows which day menu 8 generally gets rotated in...

Thanks!