FruitStandaficionado

I guess I missed the point of your post.

It seems that some come to the board for validation. Some come to the board for information. Some come to the board to stir the pot. The results can end in misinformation and hurt feelings. So the point of this thread is to think about what I said so anyone who isn't aware of these variables will become aware of them and hopefully figure out what's best for them and not get hurt feelings in the process.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Realize that while many have good intentions posting responses on CC, everyone's answers are based on their own perception of their own personal experience. Just as one person can state they were on a specific cruise on a specific date and had a horrible experience, someone on the exact same cruise will have had the best experience. Some will also have an agenda, i.e. the thing you have a question on is wrong, or it is perfectly acceptable. Just remember that Carnival has the right to make exceptions or enforce policy as they see fit. Therefore while some may vehemently state something is not allowed, an exception may be made, or something isn't a problem, an example may be made. Your best source of information prior to cruising is the cruise line site itself, or customer service for the cruise line. Other than that, after cruising, you will have your own perception and personal experience to draw on.

That being said, if your worried about having your vacation interrupted by any carelessness on your part, don't travel with a warrant out on your arrest, attend the mustard drill, and make sure you keep your head about you on and off the ship while on vacation.

Pretty much common sense!

Oh, and don't let others on this board frighten you away from having a great cruise in your perception and your experience.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

I would venture to guess that any incendiary devices or other fire hazards that cause sparks would not be allowed on board.

You might want to put an emoticon after that statement if you're trying to make a joke. [emoji57]

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

Yuuup, and we saw it happen a few cruises ago out of JaxPort.

I call BS! You are making an assumption about something that you couldn't possibly be privy to.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

I've had a lot of positive things happen! On my honeymoon cruise a random passenger sent a bottle of champagne to our table. We've paid that forward many times over because it was such a nice feeling to receive as newly weds!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Positive things about Carnival is that it is a party ship. If you want to enter the ship with a beer in hand and have the ability to have your kids run around the ship at well, then it is the cruise for you. However, not for me.

Couldn't be positive [emoji90]

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

You go up higher on the scale, and the entitlement grows exponentially....Here is the dead giveaway when people want only what they want, not an equitable compromise....you ready...."I want to speak to your supervisor". When you hear that, the person complaining only wants what THEY want, they are not concerned with being fair

Nailed it!

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

And you did, hope you enjoyed listening to yourself. If you don't like to read 4 year old threads, just pass right on by them, there are a lot of others to read. Just don't jump on someone else for reading and responding to them.

I think some people get way too irritated by what others do on this board. Maybe they need a vacation! [emoji6]

(Or at least a vacation from reading the boards.)

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

Well I have cleaned quite a few tables on Lido for free. if Carnival wants to pay me for that now ,why not.

Lol, been there done that!

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

I know right? I don't get how this even happens!?!

It happens because posters are chastised about not searching the boards before asking a question or for starting a new thread when there has been a thread in the past about the topic.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

I have booked a cruise on the Carnival Splendor which is leaving from Ft. Lauderdale on 8/5/2017. I booked this cruise on 6/29/17. Yesterday we received a letter in the mail from Carnival detailing a deal for my husband since July is his birthday month. The letter said if a cruise was booked by 7/31/17, we could receive 20% Rates, up to $50 onboard cash, 50% off of the deposit and free upgrades. When I called today to ask about this, I was told that the booking window didn't start until 7/1/17, and our cruise was not included in this special deal, so there was nothing they could do for me. I asked if there were any other deals available, and was told no. I was also told that since my final payment date had passed, that there would be no price changes accepted on my cruise, and that if I tried to cancel and rebook with the promised discounts, I would have to pay $1200 in penalties. The person from the promotions department that I spoke with then informed me that I could not get a refund on my cruise at all since the final payment date had passed. (Which was the day I booked.) She said this was because I booked so late. When I called, I was not expecting to receive all of the promised discounts since my cruise was already booked, but thought there might be something they could do for me since we are VIFP members and had received this promotion. The back of the letter references things to do on my husband's special day, but the agent told me that all of the cruises that qualify for the program are further out than the dates we were looking for. Very dissatisfied. And this comes after having a bad experience with customer service on our last cruise. Not a Carnival fan right now.

My apologies for those posters who lack common curtesy. If you purchased the cruise using a credit card, I would contact the credit card company in regards to the issue. Many credit card companies offer "price protection" and you may be able to work it out with them. It is also my understanding that credit card companies have more loyalty to consumers than to merchants, and quite frequently allow customers to do charge backs, which is why so many retailers offer price reductions on purchases that go on sale within 2 weeks. As in all customer service rolls, it is the lowest level that is told that they are to convey it isn't possible and have little power to rectify the situation. Therefore, it is always best to request the issue be escalated to a higher tier of customer service. I'd ask to speak to the supervisor. Hope this helps you.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

Surely someone here has experience with this....my DH redeemed his CC points 3 weeks ago for our cruise this Saturday. It states we should receive these gift cards in the form of bar cash within 10 business days. I haven't received anything in the mail and it hasn't been applied to our booking. Does it come in the mail? He didn't ask many questions when he redeemed them.

Try printing the documents as it may be listed there and not on the site.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

I email, and typically have a response in 2 business days. Last month, it took almost 2 weeks, so I guess they were very busy.

 

 

 

Due to the way my statements are coming these days, my name is not showing on the same page as the CCL stock, so sent a screenshot of my account, and that worked fine.

 

 

 

The statement does have to be recent (1-2 months), or it will kick back.

 

 

 

Enjoy your OBC!

 

 

 

Wendy

I faxed mine, got an email confirmation a few hours later and the next day, I was able to print up the cruise documents and they showed the OBC. Very fast.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

Have to say I enjoy it, but when sailing with my almost 93 year old Dad, every night is somewhat formal. He does a tux or dinner jacket on Formal nights, but always has a jacket for all other nights. Gotta keep up with Dad!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

What a lovely photograph!

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

We also do not buy FTTF because we have our teenage kids in another cabin. If you did the luggage with FTTF, wouldn't that still leave the 13 and 15 year old alone to check in at the dock? Would just you and your husband go on the ship first?

Some people buy faster to the fun for some of the services, not just early boarding. I purchased FTTF for being able to go straight to my room when I board. They can still board with their children, or they can have the rooms arranged with one adult and one child each, allowing them to split their boarding.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

Because we have a 13 and 15 year old traveling with us, we booked two cabins and we were not able to get FTTF for one. I have already posted about this in another thread... ANYWAY. Is there any reason or rule that would prevent us from tagging all luggage to the same cabin that has FTTF so it will be available when we board ship. Since they don't have FTTF, we can just store everything in our cabin until their room is ready correct?

For what it's with, when packing for a trip and worrying about dealing with lost luggage, it is recommended to "cross" pack items of everyone's in multiple luggage so if luggage goes missing, it doesn't completely ruin your vacation. If your items are in all the luggage I see no issue with checking the luggage to one person. You are not scamming the system. Also remember that many folks on here like to shame people for asking valid questions so it's best to ignore them.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

I have a small pocket notebook that I keep track of expenses in and each category gets it's own page, so photos will be on one page along with what we budgeted for that, souvenirs on another, etc. At the end of each day I make a quick note of how much was spent in each category so we have a rough idea of what is left in each category's budget. It's become a travel journal for how much we spent on vacation.

There's an app for that! I downloaded a few so that I could keep up with my tab. But. . . I believe with the carnival app you can actually see your portfolio, so I'm not sure if I'll need the apps I downloaded. [emoji3]

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

In Jamaica, I toured a pineapple plantation that had exotic flavored pineapples - no walking involved as a bus took us to the plantation and while you were free to walk the plantation, i was only interested in the "lecture" portion and tasting the bizarre flavored pineapples (with the chocolate flavored one my favorite). I've hired a private tour that was just our group of 8 to do the sting ray city and snorkeling on grand cayman, and I've done the national park beach as well as a resort day pass on Cozumel. All had very little walking required.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Granted, I have not read the entire thread, so I apologize if this opinion has already been expressed - I believe carnival does not give a rats azz to whether those who book are new to cruising or have cruised 2 or more times. Sure, they hope to build brand loyalty but they own the majority of the brands. Like a hotel, they just want to fill cabins as the bread and butter revenue is cabin purchase. The booze, excursions, fine dining are extra revenue streams. I'm sure they keep close tabs on metrics but even if they found one group spending less than another, they would be more interested in figuring out how to get the group that spent less to spend more. They would not want to alienate either group.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

And just to be fair your husband does not have to buy the package either.

 

I keep telling people it is like when you purchase a bottle of water at the gas station. The price is 2 bottles for $2.00 or $1.50 each. You can't say I only need one bottle so just charge me a dollar. You make the choice as to what works best for you.

Yes, but no where does the package say two people get it for less than one. Only that both adults must get it. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a problem. Most people would gladly pay slightly more for one, but very few will pay double for one.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

ROFL!!!!! Lets teach people how to circumvent the Cheers rule too. Priceless.

You know, I don't get people like you. [emoji19]the rules are quite clear. The requirement for the Cheers program is that every adult in the cabin must purchase it. Every adult in the cabin did purchase it. The non-drinking spouse is not booked into the cabin. They are absolutely following the rules.

For some reason you don't get that many people actually don't drink. So why should a anyone who already has the added expense of needing two cabins and has no intention of imbibing have to pay for two cheers packages too when only one person can take advantage of it. So, do you think someone who pays the surcharge to travel solo should have to buy two Cheers programs because typically they get double that for rooms????? Or what if someone finds love on board and they ended cohabitation during the cruise, do you think that the one that is paying for their cabin but does not drink and did not get the Cheers package is cheating????

You just can't fix stupid. . .

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

I too have sailed costa many years ago and could not say what it is like today. However, the cruise I took seemed really no different than the NCL cruises I had taken before. Good food, good entertainment, good ports. The main thing we noticed was smaller ships.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Sounds like a scam.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I have noticed a huge decline in MDR attendance over the years.

I personally like to get dressed up for dinner, but I have a feeling most Carnival cruisers would rather keep things "casual".

Maybe they should allow us to choose a "formal" or "casual" dining room when we book the cruise.

I am curious what other cruisers think.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Sounds accommodating!

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014

Hello me and my husband will be going on our first cruise on a 7 day carnival breeze on Oct 22 ..to the western Caribbean... Will appreciate all the info

1. Cash or credit/debit on sign and sail account . is having cash a better option for everything.

2. Sea sick ! Not sure if we are going to find out I guess..

3. Were going to Mr sanchos in cozumel , is the Al worth it also has anyone had the massage on the beach ? Versus on the ship ...

4. Packing suggestions?

I just want to make sure our first time will be memoriable .. Being this is our first ...

 

 

Sent from my LGL83BL using Forums mobile app

1. This is subjective. My personal preference is credit card because it provides me protection and because I like the float.

2. Sea sickness on such a large ship can happen but is usually limited to rough seas. Rough seas can happen during storms or open ocean (sea days) but if it becomes a problem you can get Dramamine from the pursers desk.

3. Have enjoyed Mr Sanchos but arranged that independently, did not partake in any beach massages as I tend to prefer pricing at home to vacation pricing.

4. Pack what you want and need as you would for any vacation, but be sure to pack a power strip if you need to plug in more than one thing, and bring any thing you feel you can't get on the ship that you can't live without. My thing is flavored Creamer. Just saying.

NCL Sunward 1974

NCL Starward 1978

Costa Daphne 1982

Carnival Triumph 2001

Carnival Conquests 2005

Carnival Magic 2014