Boof80

Soft drinks come in actual cans. $2.75. if you get it this way they give you glass with ice & a can. if you get BB(bottomless Bubbles) it's $7.95 per day. You will get soft drink poured into glass of ice.. I usually get it as it's straight from a can & normally drink 3 litres a day. :=(..

Cocktails are about $10.95 to $11.95 on average (two or three shots in these).. this is of course in Aussie dollars. which is quite cheap compared to the other major line, that charges the same but in US Dollars..

As OzKiwijj said about your cheeses & nuts.

The magnet idea is great. Also there a lot of hanging spaces around the cabins TRIM (cornershers) to hang via coat hangers..

I have done Trans-Pacific in 2015.the best cruise i have ever been on. You will absouletly love Moorea & Bora Bora. i went from Sydney & the cruise kept on getting better & better as we went.

Happy cruising..

Hunter69- what was the immigration process like at Honolulu? The only information I can find has been all complaints about how long it took, like 4 hours! We have an evening flight (to the main land) so we won't miss our flight but were hoping to enjoy the day on Oahu.

Thank you everyone who replied and sorry for the delay in replying. That is the funny thing about cruises, you have to work to pay for them if you aren't retired! So I got sidetracked with getting as many work jobs done before floating off!

I will be ditching the tape and taking magnets instead. This has been a good thing as the fridge needed a long overdue magnet clean up.

We are doing the re-positioning cruise and I have tried searching but can not find the information I am looking for so thought I would ask you knowledgeable lot! We have trouble calling carnival due to our work schedules.

What is the cost for the following drinks:

- a soft drink (trying to weight up if the package is worth it for someone that will only have a soft drink at lunch/dinner)?

- cocktails (just the average $x to $y type advice)?

- soda water and how is that served (bottle/can/glass)?

Am I allowed to bring (insert item here) on-board?

- cheese? We have a few members of our group celebrating milestones and want to have a little balcony party with some nibbles and yes I know cheese is available from the buffet and can be ordered through room service/gift shop but we have done this before on carnival and were less than impressed by the quality. We were hoping to BYO our favourites instead (yes we are cheese snobs and also want to include vegan cheeses).

- nuts/seeds? One of our group is vegan and the offers re food are just adequate especially from the buffet so they just want to bring some protein along to go with their rabbit food.

- crackers/chips? One of our group is a type 1 diabetic and wants to have some items on hand for shore excursions and in case their blood sugar drops between feeding times!

-tape? to temporarily hang decorations in cabins.

Thank you for your help.

We were able to book on the US site (Australian here) and it was the main reason why we booked with carnival as most of the other lines would not let us. I really hope carnival hasn't followed suit because we get ripped off down here as far as cruise prices go.

Damn I got a chest infection that lasted 3 months from my work place. Guess I should just give up work? I also got Chicken Pox off my nephew....guess I better not have kids.

You are assuming that everyone who smokes would book a balcony cabin and spend the majority of their time there (on the balcony). I doubt that's the case. I'm sure there are plenty of smokers who won't (or can't) pay extra for a balcony, and the ones who do get balconies are still venturing out of their cabins during the day.

And it is totally discounting all the non-smokers who used to avoid paying extra for a balcony in case they were smoked off it. I doubt the smoking on balconies ban will affect carnivals bottom line at all.

I think the biggest issue is that there is a general lack of independent research into e-cigs. Most of the research to date has been funded by either the manufacturers or opponents. They used to say that research showed that cigarettes were perfectly safe.

I think until further reputable independent research has been carried out (there are currently 245 independent research projects being conducted) it pays to be cautious.

I also do not think that e-cig users should be put with the cigarette/cigar smokers. That is just silly. But defined areas for the use for e-cigs should be enforced until the research is clear either way. I am sure that e-cig users would feel pretty bad if further research finds that it is harmful to others. So we should just air on the side of caution for now because we can.

Has any company ever given an actual valid reason why we pay more?

The only reason I booked our upcoming cruise with Carnival is because they were the only ones willing to work with us. I flat out refused to over pay and as such won't use those companies.

I can understand higher fees for cruises leaving from Aussie port since they are using Aussie suppliers to supply the ship and probably have a fair few Australian staff @ higher cost than those from developing countries. But for cruises leaving from other countries (like the USA) it is just plain price gauging.

Thanks everyone for your info :)

 

So I ended up booking on 7 because I hadn't seen any responses yet... Completely my fault, I waited too long to make the post and then I was pressed to make a decision...

 

I booked 7440 which is the aft wrap and then 7434 which is the balcony right next to it...

 

I've been assured the divider between 7440 and 7434 do open and I saw a video on YouTube with someone who booked both rooms and had it open...

 

Heres my concern.. from the YouTube video, the balcony looks VERY narrow.. all the sun beds are sideways and it just looks long but tight....

 

This is the video:

 

Am I being worried over nothing?

These are two of the 3 rooms we have booked in Sept. Not sure when you are sailing but I am happy to post some pictures when I get back or check anything for you if you like

We have the aft, the aft wrap and the bowling alley stateroom next to it booked (so the whole corner of the ship) on Deck 7 in Sept.

I was told that the divider between the aft and the wrap can't be opened due to the door position. When the divider is opened the door to one of the cabins can't be accessed apparently. The divider between the wrap and the bowling alley can be opened and results in a extra big balcony.

So how come some platinum's always complaining about FTTF where people pay to access these extra services but they are allowed to have 5 non-paying customers access this service? Shouldn't they be equally as outraged as they are about FTTF?

OP did you stay on the ship the whole cruise? Because if you didn't and actually got off in a port you could have contracted a virus/flu/plague from anywhere. Bit unfair to play the blame game without knowing exactly what you had and definitive proof of where you got it.

OP I would caution you to thoroughly read the insurance terms and conditions and not to rely on the word of a sales rep. My wife was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer after we booked our cruise. Luckily we had taken out the insurance prior to the diagnosis so we are covered. We did have to provide documentation from her doctors to verify that the diagnosis had occurred after we had purchased travel insurance. If her cancer had been diagnosed before purchasing the policy then she would not have been covered for anything they could tie to the cancer.

I would double check that what you were told was correct. Because the diagnosis date matters in the insurance world.

Is it better to book Spa services (massages) online before sailing or are there specials to take advantage of when on-board?

Thanks

I was under the impression that with YTD you could opt to sit on your own or with other people. So wouldn't YTD work for both parties in this case?

Some ports won't allow laundry to be done while docked. If the doors are open you can use the laundryroom.

 

The first few days the machines won't be as busy as later on in the cruise. The irons will be in the afternoons of the Cruise Elegant nights.

Thank you. I guess it will be first thing after sail away!

When is the best time to do washing? Day and time would be good to know. Our cruise will be the start of week 3 away for us and we will be running out of clothes by then. Would the first day be the best? or the first sea day (day 2)? We are on a 7 day cruise on the Glory. We also have FTTF so I am not adverse to popping a load on as soon as we board. Thanks in advance.

As long as you are in good health a diabetic can do just about anything that a non-diabetic can. My wife, who is type 1, goes scuba diving, sky diving, zip lining, rock climbing and the list goes on. Some excusions may need a medical form completed by your doctor (scuba for example) so as long as you meet the standards for doing the activity then it should not be a problem.

The key is to be aware of possible affects on your disease of any activity you undertake. For example you wouldn't go for a run without first checking your BSL and making sure you had something on you in case of a hypo etc. The same thing applies for other activities. Assess the risks and make your decision based on you and your control.

We still have over 190 days to go :(

Can't wait for all the reviews and pics in the meantime.

For excursions. It seems like people seem to know which tour operators that the cruise lines use. Do they know this for sure,if they do ,then how do they know. Is it just a guess or do they know.That is what I was asking.Sorry, I didn't make myself clear.

Well I found a few just by emailing them for quotes. As soon as they knew what ship I was on they directed me to book with the cruiseline.

With anytime dining they will ask at the hostess desk whether you want to sit with just your party or with others. Just let them know you want to sit with just your party.

Cool thanks for the info.

What about anytime dining? Do they still sit you with strangers or just your group? We will be a party of 5 adults and we really do not want to sit with strangers. Mostly because 4 out of the 5 us work in community focused government jobs where we spend each and every work day making small talk to strangers as part of our work. When we go on holiday we like to get away from that.

So do I ask for another vacation planner?........I almost argued with her that I was pretty sure these were crew stairs.....I asked:

 

Are they open to the public?

ANYONE can use them?

Not just for crew?

All passengers can access them?

 

YES, Yes, YES, Yes........she did not hesitate and I did not misunderstand.

When I asked a carnival representative (via email) about the aft stairwell I was assured that it was for staff only. We have booked the rooms surrounding it for our group.

Thank you I will look that up maybe they have an e-version of it we can download to our tablets since we all have them :).

 

My nephew Easton still goes thru highes and lowes and that is our concern. We just want him to have a good time being a kid.

 

Easton and the rest of the family are still learning.

 

Thank you for the suggestions they are appreciated.

My wife has had T1 for 34 years and whne I asked her to read this thread and offer suggestions she said that if he is newly diagnosed and still coming to grips with food and diabetes and having lows then you should look at getting a glucagen injection kit to take with you.

She did an NCL cruise a few years ago and unfortunately had a hypo due to a very active day just as the ship was leaving port. The seas were extremely rough and having a hypo at that exact time caused her to get motion sickness which interferred with bringing her BSL up the usual way. If it wasn't for the glucagen injection it would have ended in either the ship going back to port or a medi-rescue.

Also as other have mentioned do not forget to factor in things like time changes, heat and humidity, increased activity, late nights. All these things can affect BSL's.

She also suggests that your nephew and his parents mess around with different foods so they can visually get to recognise what a portion of that food looks like (1 cup of cooked peas, 1 cup of cooked carrot, 1 cup of rice etc). This will really help when eating out and on the cruise.

Unfortunately I think the cruiseline wont be much help with the carb counts because items are not a uniformed sized and some dishes are mass prepared and served so it would be hard to be exact about what is in the actual scoop of food that your nephew recieves.

She also encouraged me to tell you to chill out a bit. Vacations should be fun and I am sure that your nephew has had a rough year coming to terms with this new way of life and being different. He will feel the stress that this is causing the whole family (parents, aunt) and it will be affecting him and his BSL's. Maybe it would also be a good time to let him have more control over his disease. Let him judge how many carbs is in something and only guide him if he is off base.

Let me start that I understand that other people feel differently about animal issues and this isn't a debate about that but more about our personal comfort level.

All the photos/videos we have seen have people handling the animals and often not so very nicely just for a photo op. We are really against this type of behaviour and really think that these mass tours of people displaying this type of behaviour will really ruin the experience for us. The joke is that even the so-called ecological tours display photos of this behaviour.

Are there any tours that actually respect the animals? Or are they all about photo ops for tourists? Happy to pay for private tours and would really love to see these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat away from the crowds wanting their photos.