Halfpint012

We have either done early saver or the guarantee if we booked just 2 or so months in advance. We have never gotten money back with early saver bc we book it for our fall break cruise. The entire state of TN also books for the same week & it always ends up sold out. We buy insurance as well but the chance of us canceling our fall break cruise is slim to none.

For us it's worth it simply for early disembarking. We have a 10 hour drive & want off as early as possible. It seems like we are always on a floor that goes last.

I do get insurance & through a company other than the cruise line. It gives me the peace of mind I need. I have not had to use it yet but if I ever do, it'll be worth it.

St Thomas has one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen! We went to Sapphire Beach

We always buy shirts on the ship as souvenirs. They go on sale at the end of the cruise. I think we spend about $40 on that.

We plan extra for tipping our wait staff too (pew hen we find one we like we request them for the rest of the cruise).

Can you tell me Bout your experience? I've booked the dolphin swim for October.

I am doing the dolphin swim in October. I was curious about it as well. Ratings are good on trip adviser & carnival excursions.

We plan on doing the dolphin swim at Ocean World on our honeymoon cruise in October. Has anyone done this? Would you recommend? What do we need to know about Ocean World?

 

PS I got on ocean world's website & it costs more to purchase through them than to purchase through carnival. I thought that was kind of strange.

So our cruise in October is our honeymoon. How we let them know if we have already booked?

1. Stay up late (I see every sunrise- usually on serenity deck by myself so I'm tired by 10)

2. Reach my 15 limit with cheers

3. Watch a movie on the lido deck

 

These were things we we're just discussing doing on our cruise in 2 weeks

If you pay the extra $20 in the main dining room is it still all you can eat? Is there a menu for the upgrade?

 

The meat selection is not all you can eat- you just get the one. But because you are in the mdr you can still order all the appetizers, sides, & dessert that you want from the mdr menu.

The one time I did guarantee I got it a month before the cruise & was very happy with the room assignment!

I do a lot of research on each port before I book an excursion. If it's a beach port then you can usually enjoy the day there for little cost. I've booked cruise excursions and non cruise excursions. It just depends on the place and what I read from other cruisers. I try to only pay for one excursion each cruise & have enjoyed my time even without all the excursions!

Where did you find the MDR menu? That would be fun to look at!

 

http://www.zydecocruiser.net/menus/7dy_mdr_dinner.html

We've done the carnival excursion, St. John's trunk bay snorkel trip twice. Bought the excursion for two other family's when they finally booked a cruise and I will do it again. Great beach, water. Nice little park.

 

We have no interest in snorkeling but would like to go to a beach on St. John. Is this a good excursion for that? Is there food on the boat/beach or just drinks?

I'm doing steakhouse for the first time this October. I found a link with the mdr menus and chose the day that the mdr looked. Least appealing. It is $35 pp for steakhouse. We have done the $20 upgrade in the mdr for a steakhouse selection before so we are interested to see how the steakhouse experience compares to that. We have never done chefs table & probably won't because the end I've seen doesn't look appetizing to me (this is not the case for most people from what I've seen on here).

If I put a 24 hour courtesy hold on a cabin on the carnival website & then call my PVP & pay the deposit on the phone with them do they get the credit? I already have a booking number so I wasn't sure but I hope so!

I can't comment on the difference but you aren't seeing them by the site isn't working properly. Several people have commented on this this morning.

49! & it can't get here soon enough

It's working perfectly for me???

I agree with the pop up hamper. I also use packing cubes. We put them in the closets/drawers and felt 10x more organized than when we didn't have them!

The melting cake is amazing! I crave it when I'm not cruising!!!! Crab cakes & escargot are really good too. I'm really picky and there was only one night I couldn't find anything I liked. Most nights I'm asking for seconds (or 3rds).

Coming. On here to do the same. I got 7! Cheers. Program on my October cruise is paid for!!!!

A waterline broke in the hall above our room on our last cruise. We got 50% off that cruise & 20% off our next plus 2 bottles of wine. We did not have to complain. It affected all but one day of our cruise The entire hall was compensated

We do cheers and it most definitely pays for itself. We always buy it on day 2 to save a little (I usually have 3-4 drinks by noon, mostly mimosas, and I couldn't do that on the first day) Not sure where people are getting they still charge you for day 1 if you purchase on day 2. I've gone out of Jacksonville & port canaveral and wasn't charged for the first day at either place.