Keys2Heaven

3 minutes ago, ScottsSweetie said:

So, it would appear that we have some answers now, courtesy of Parodeejay who were on the Mardi Gras inaugural sailing. I'll link the video below, but here are some points of interest from their video:

 

They were moved from their Spa Interior to an Oceanview room and were told that the new room had special air filtration and uv lighting.

 

They were initially told that only the positive person would be moved and the other one would stay in their room; however, since it was the last night of the cruise they allowed both to move.

 

They placed a table outside their door to receive room service (they moved after dinner so only received breakfast on disembark morning). 

 

They proactively contacted the off-site parking location, Go Port, and told them of their situation. Go Port advised that they would send a private car (driven by the President of the company).

 

They were last off and required to use a crew elevator and exit on deck 3 which is crew exit. They departed at 10:00 and as they were video taping when they got off the ship, he said "we are now free to do as we please". I assume they had advised Carnival of the plans they had already made re: transportation.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ez4XmobeWc

 

They followed up in their livestream last night that there were approx 14 other people who were last off with them, due to Covid. Jay suspected that most were family traveling with those who tested positive and guessed that there might have been about 4 others who tested positive, aside from Dee.

8 minutes ago, crooooze said:

Nah, This was closed out last year. The cruise would have sailed in Sept 2020. Have two bookings now, with one leaving in several weeks. No other issues. Just not getting the max rewards from my CC.

o.k. yes, if you dispute a charge with Carnival, they will flag the card as no longer being acceptable.

On 8/14/2021 at 9:29 PM, BrooklynMarc2018 said:

I was having a nice time by myself on Mardi Gras and after a day of boarding and enjoying the ship, I got cut off from their small sized drinks at the piano bar.  If you ask to buy a drink, they so you can’t.  I’m not some crazy person.  I’m just enjoying being back in the ocean! 🙂 Guest relations said if I didn’t buy the package you could have another drink.  Not a matter of intoxication.  You just shouldn’t have bought the drink package. If I didn’t buy the drink package, I could buy more drinks. Makes sense.  🤪🤷‍♂️👀🙃

If you got cut off at the piano bar, then I suspect you had your share of drinks during the day! 🙂

Just now, crooooze said:

The CC bank said the temporary credit would be reversed once Carnival’s refund went through.

I bet Carnival's accounting department doesn't see it that way. More than likely they show a negative balance for your booking. You need to talk to Angela Ross in accounting.

On 8/14/2021 at 4:19 PM, 4hunters said:

I guess folks aren’t reading my explanation correctly or maybe I wasn’t clear.
 

I made another reservation and successfully paid in full using another credit card. Cruise looked like it was a go until about 3 business days later when my cruise was cancelled due to being on the Do Not Sail list.

 

So, those of you who recommend using a different credit card, this is incorrect and will not help in the long run. Just pay Carnival what you owe and they (accounting department)  will remove you from the Do Not Sail list.  

Yes, accounting checks bookings against their lists.

On 8/14/2021 at 7:49 AM, crooooze said:

Not sure if anyone experienced this....

Last year when it was taking forever to get refunds, I went the route of contacting my credit card to dispute the charge.

Everything worked out and I ended up getting my refund.

 

Fast forward a year, and I’m booking new reservations - Now Carnival is refusing to accept that credit card.

They said it is part of their “Fraud prevention”... I say it is spite.

Very annoying because that card gives me the most reward value.

If you were issued a refund twice, disputed charge and then a refund from Carnival, you will have a negative balance on the booking ID that you disputed. You will need to contact the accounting department @ Carnival and have them send you the balance you owe. You will then need to settle the debt using Western Union or Money Gram in order to have the restriction lifted against the card in question and regain the ability to sail.

On 8/7/2021 at 5:31 PM, landsear said:

I haven't been on the ship yet, but just based off of the Youtube videos so far, it's drastically smaller than Horizon/Vista/Panorama. What's the rationale?

We sailed on the Vista back in 2017. There were many people who were upset that they couldn't use that external part of the ship during the day. So, when I saw how they made that space available to everyone on the Mardi Gras, I figured that design was born from those complaints.

1 hour ago, surfjock27 said:

The 18% gratuity is already on the slip that you will have to sign. I always tip an extra $1.00 per drink because they are very hard workers. 
 

You can tip the extra on the slip by writing it in and it is added to your S&S card, or you can give cash. I prefer to give cash because several bartenders have told us in the past that cash tips go directly to them and they have to split the tips left on the card. 

I agree. We always bring a stack of $1's to give the bartenders.

17 hours ago, adjjb12 said:

Kyle Pallo has one up now 

 

Never heard of this guy, but he was generating a ton of viewers. Only thing that irked me is he kept saying the wrong names (e.g. Big Chicken was Shaq' Place and Street Eats was Truck Eats). I guess he doesn't cruise Carnival much.  LOL

On 7/31/2021 at 6:25 PM, keels81 said:

ParoDeeJay, Kyle Pallo, JoJo's World, AK Adventures and Life With Favor are all on the ship (that I know of), but I don't think they're live now. They'll have videos in their YouTube archives though.

I don't believe Favor is on this sailing. She was filming as part of the media event the day before.

Cruise ship. Novelty ride. Vacation.

$15

Enough said.

From Carnival's website:

Will guests automatically receive recognition/benefits?

VIFP Club members will automatically move from one level to the next level based on their VIFP Points and will receive the benefits of their level on each sailing.  

Guests graduating into a new level during a cruise will receive the benefits of the new level they are graduating into from the beginning of the cruise (e.g. those graduating to Gold on the 3rd day of a 5-day cruise will receive Gold benefits for the entire duration of their cruise). Please note that ‘debarkation day’ is not considered a ‘cruise day’, therefore, points are not earned for that day.

Was there ever any doubt?

On 7/4/2021 at 1:46 PM, crzndeb said:

They post Youtube vlogs, and did a live video from the Vista yesterday. Don’t think they are on Cruise Critic, but I could be wrong. She did mention FB a few times (which I don’t do).

Favor and Robert

Speaking of a jigsaw puzzle....look at how many sections are sitting in the yard just waiting to be stacked!

Also, the FERU is on it's way from the port to the shipyard today. She'll be looking like a cruise ship soon!

3 hours ago, sailingships said:

Thank you. Im on the TA in November 2022

We are as well!

Here are a couple of pics of Celebration's FERU (Floating Engine Room Unit) arriving in Turku yesterday. They should move this to the yard this weekend.

It's a start.

The FERU will be at the port in about an hour. From there it will make it's way to the shipyard! Hopefully we can see a keel laying ceremony late July or early August. There are A LOT of block (ship modules) laying around, ready to be put into place.

I believe the FERU is on its way to Meyer Turku as we speak. Something rather large that requires 2 tugs is making its way there and should arrive at the port of Turku Tuesday evening.

Well, I honestly didn't see that one coming. Good news and I look forward to cruising resume full swing by September!

43 minutes ago, bamaone said:

We should all try to "skirt" laws. Just imagine if we could get around every law we deemed unnecessary. I'd start with taxes. I hate giving up half my paychecks.

Do you drive? Probably skirt or blatantly ignore the law every day. 😁

8 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

You know CDC is going to have RCL under a microscope now.

Huh? 

From Carnival's site regarding their bottomless bubbles package:

• Pepsi
• Diet Pepsi
• Pepsi Zero Sugar
• Caffeine Free Pepsi
• Diet Pepsi Caffeine Free
• Sierra Mist
• Sierra Mist Zero Sugar
• Mug Root Beer
• Mountain Dew
• Diet Mountain Dew
• Bubly Lime Sparkling Water
• Bubly Grapefruit Sparkling Water
• Bubly Orange Sparkling Water

There really aren't any from what I can see. I've been following a few folks who post on IG or FB with construction photos from time to time. Apparently, Disney's Wish got special treatment, because there were all kinds of cams for that ship during construction. Maybe being Mardi Gras' sister ship just isn't that exciting, lol!

Current status: A bunch of blocks/modules sitting in Meyer Turku shipyard. The FERU (floating engine room unit is being built by Neptun Werft in Rostock, Germany) and is expected to arrive at Meyer most likely next month. Then the keel is laid (coin ceremony) and they will start stacking.