dohboy43

I'm looking to book a free 4-day Bahamas cruise with my worldpoints and I had a few questions. 1. Do I have to pay the port taxes/fees? 2. Will I get all the Free at Sea offers (specialty dining, $50 shore ex, drinks package, internet, etc...)? 3. For balcony at 110k points, can I choose an aft balcony room?

Just got off the Jewel last week. Rooms are renovated - having more storage and USB outlets was nice.

Just got off the Jewel this week - I thought I would miss the afternoon turndown but it really wasn't a big difference. It was hot in Panama so we showered twice some days, but we just requested extra towels on the first day and our steward always kept 4 in the room. The daily got left outside our door around 6 everyday, and the stewards were available for requests til their shift ended at 7. All the staff seemed much happier than during the two covid-era cruises I was on.

I thought Carnival was already the Spirit Airlines of the seas?

My wife and I are going on a cruise with my parents (their first time), and we booked separately. Will we be able to make dining reservations at specialty restaurants for all 4 of us together, and will there be any issues if my parents don't have the beverage package but we do (they don't drink so they opted not to get it)?

Yes, that's correct. I've booked a cabana on GSC twice and both times was able to board the first tender to the island. They also take you to the cabana area on golf carts so you don't have to walk, since it's a hike from the tender dropoff.

You can fit a lot, just roll everything into tight cylinders and stuff them in. I'd say at least 4-5 days of clothes could fit in one bag - including undergarments, socks, shorts and tees. If you have platinum latitudes you get a free bag per cruise. Gold gets one bag at 50% off. And if you're staying in a club balcony room you get a free bag. Plus they do the fixed price deal a few days into longer cruises. And honestly the "regular" prices are not that high, especially if you have some on board credits to burn. It's definitely worth it.

Preorder proctored tests from a site like eMed. We did that for a recent Europe cruise. They're expensive, but your insurer will reimburse you for them. Very easy to take the test over your phone and have a result in 15 min, and it connects to the Navica app that makes it easy to show at the airport. We did ours from a hotel room after we got off the ship, since we were spending an extra day in Italy post-cruise before flying home to the US.

Just off the Star...a few times in Italy on excursions we were required to wear KN95s, but onboard and in most ports mask wearing was not enforced at all. I believe Italy also dropped its mask mandate on May 1. The crew did wear them at all times.

It's mostly the bathroom, but there is a foot or so difference in how deep the cabin is on most ships too (in the sofa half) - and it makes more of a difference than you'd think. Was just on the Star in a club balcony, and in that case the balcony itself was actually deeper too.