1313steve

Although I've only been on the Glory, I also found it to be "like Vegas". The only problem was it reminded me of Vegas from the 70's or 80's. The Frontier and the Stardust come to mind.

I like the "new" Vegas.. Aria, Cosmopolitan, etc. But furniture and interior design opinions are just that, opinions. No design is right or wrong, and if you happen to not like a design or overall style (ala Farcus), there are plenty of other options out there!

How about something like this:

That makes perfect sense! If you're flying to port, just throw a luggage tag on it at the airport and check it as baggage! LOL:D

I just did our on-line check in for our BTB cruise. It gave me no option to print out our luggage tags, they said they would be mailed. This was only offered to US and Canadian passengers. I am glad they did because our colored printer is not working.

 

My question is how long does it take before we receive the tags in the mail? We are about 35 days out before we leave for Sydney.

10 days according to their website.

I couldnt believe the price of their wine. U can get same stuff local for a lot less. I go to my local vineyard.

 

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I don't think their prices are out of line compared to a land based restaurant. Three to four times the cost of what you would be in your local store or vineyard is pretty typical markup in the restaurant business.

If it was a charge for actually opening the wine, it would be called an un-corkage charge!!! :D

We did it on the Glory in October. It was informative, but I don't think it was worth $95. I'd say it's a $40 value. $95 is a pretty typical price for a decent shore excursion (snorkeling/catamaran trip, etc.) and the behind the scenes delivers much less value in my opinion.

The quality of customer service is almost always directly related to the price being paid by the consumer, but customers seem to often forget that. Celebrity's prices are low (or at least in line with the other mass market lines) and they are offering promotions that signifcantly affect (reduce) their bottom line. Promo's like 123GO impact revenue signifcantly.

Costs have to be reduced accordingly and often times customer service is where it is most noticable. Reducing or failing to add staff because of lower revenue results in worse customer service. It's simple economics.

Compare Walmart to Nordstroms. Walmart is cheap, has bare bones stores, and has generally poor service (long lines, little help on the sales floor). Nordstoms has beautiful stores, amazing services, great products, but is more expensive. Expecting Nordstrom like service at a Walmart price is unreasonable.

Expecting service levels to be high on Celebrity when they are selling at a Carnival price is also unreasonable. I'm not saying I like it, but it's economic fact. I'd much rather have the actual cruise experience be great, but have to wait forever on the phone.That's a better alternative then having my phone call answered immediately, but having worse food, lesser ships, etc. etc.

I haven't been on Reflection, but on Equinox, Eclipse and Silhouette the cabins on Deck 6 forward up to 6121 portside and 6120 starboard extend further out than the rest of the 2Bs further back. This is the forward hump. Cabins 6121 and 6120 specifically are great cabins because all the rest of the cabins behind them step back in and so your balcony has an even greater view.

Thanks for the info! Does this mean the balconies on this forward hump are larger (deeper) than a standard "non-hump" balcony?

We're booked in 6119 on an upcoming Reflections cruise. It looks like that cabin along with the other most forward cabins along the side of deck 6 all have an extra overhang, compared with the rest of the ship. Does anybody know why and does that change the size of the balcony?

I'm guessing it's just to compensate for the narrowing width of the ship that far forward, but I'd be curious to know if anybody has any other thoughts.

I can't believe this would work out well at all! If the OP is "showing" at all then the check-in people will want to see the documentation required in their policy. Some things can't be hidden. I also don't recall if there is a question about this in any of the pre-cruise paperwork (either advance or at the dock) but if there is then I don't believe it would be proper to supply a false answer.

I wasn't suggesting anyone provide a false answer. I'm guessing the OP would be showing, but if she really must cruise that week, I'd push back on the doctor to write the proper documentation to avoid any issues. Again, due dates are estimates, in my eyes changing the estimate by a day does nothing that would effect anybody's health!

But I do agree with other posters that changing the cruise by a week or so would be a good idea. If the OP is worried about it, that's reason enough to change!

Unless I'm misreading your post, it sounds like you want to get off the ship when you are 23 weeks and 6 days pregnant instead of getting off when you are 24 weeks and 0 days pregnant.

I can't imagine that one day makes a difference in the health and/or development of the baby. Heck, most of the time the due date (and the conception date) are just an educated guess anyway.

Sail as planned and enjoy it!! :)

If you have a room where the couch converts to a bed, you can just sleep there!

Sooo...

 

1) What is the advantage of switching to a travel agent after booking direct with Carnival?

 

2) HOW do you switch to a travel Agent?

 

HLR

In my case, it was a matter of not knowing who my travel agent was going to be at the time I wanted to book (to take advantage of a sale), Travel agents have more flexibility and can often offer OBC or other perks that the cruise lines can't.

I didn't end up switching, so I can't say for sure how to do it, but I'd imagine you'd just give the agent your booking ID and they would handle it.

Thanks to everyone for their info. We booked our next cruise on the Celebrity Reflection. Actually found a better deal than we could on Carnival!

I've had the same frustrations, but if you use Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer it works much, much better.

That's becoming true of more and more websites!

Why go through that nonsense. Just have the Specific Travel agent book the cruise for you . They can get the same deposit and cabin as the PVP... Then when you get the voucher... use it to pay off the cruise.

 

Carnival's PVPs and their online booking engine and any travel company have the same pricing..

Good plan, but I don't know who the travel agent is yet! I can't ask my company because I'm not supposed to know I'm getting this award! :D

I got a call from a PVP today and they seemed to have a good deal on the cruise we want and the cabin we want, plus they are having a $50 deposit sale, etc.

I'll be receiving an award from my company in a few days that is a travel voucher, which I can use for any type of trip, but is through a specific travel agency.

My question is can I book it today with Carnival to get the price and cabin I want, pay the minimal $50 deposit, then switch it to the travel agent later and use the voucher towards final payment????????

Op, did you use a debit card? This happened to me and like happy says, they were pending charges. Depending on your bank, it may take a few days for the charges to drop.

This doesn't just happen on debit cards. Happens on credit cards, too. I've been on longer trips (not cruises) where the temporary authorizations from hotels, rental car, etc. etc.. have totalled thousand of dollars, which can cause a problem if you don't have enough available credit on the card.

I can't imagine I'd ever use cash, but for those who do, I have a question..............

Let's say you put $100 on your S&S card when you board. As you go through the day, you spend $50, but then you decide to buy a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff in the shops. Since you don't have that much balance on your S&S card, do they decline the transaction???????

Probably because they want to save you from yucky wine. ;)

That would have been my reaction, too. However, let me ask the OP (and others)......... is there ANY box wine that is decent? Frankly, I've never tried it and I'm curious.

As a point of reference, we don't drink expensive wines, typically staying in the $20-$30 a bottle range (store prices, not restaurant prices!!).

Thanks in advance for the info!!!!!!

It's interesting to read of the lengths people go to "protect" their luggage tags. Lots of OCD and paranoia evidenced in this thread! :D

I do just what it says to do on the tag. Tri-fold them and staple them. That's all you need to do. If you're taping them up or putting them in a tag holder, you're just eliminating your own worries.

Just about all of the cruise lines do it this way and if there was an issue, they wouldn't. Tri-folded paper is very strong and they work fine! No need to waste the extra effort or money!

Sherry-

I just read this review of dining on the Liberty. Not sure if this is the same Kutut, but maybe it is and you can track down some pictures!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1978613

........Can't see why they are needed. I would rather something pertaining to my s&s account or otherwise be slipped under the door anyway.

I agree, I can't understand the purpose of them either. Slide the paperwork under the door!

I also own a tux and really enjoyed wearing it for formal nights in the past. But it's pretty clear those days are behind us now, so on my last cruise in October, I simply wore a suit and tie. My lady wore a long dress, but it wasn't what I would call a formal gown.

Nonetheless, we were still some of the most dressed up people on the cruise, which I had no problem with. :D

The invention of "Casual Friday" in the workplace seems to have been the start of the downgrading of wardrobes everywhere. I'm always amazed at what some people will wear out of the house.

Simple solution... leave passports in the room safe and carry photocopies of passports with you. Should cover most situations, albeit I'm sure someone can think of a situation where it'd be better to have the physical passports with you.

Yep. That's an easy solution and exactly what we do, too! :)