Bostwick girl

When I turned Diamond last January, I was so excited! I knew how it was because we’ve traveled for a long time with our friends who are Diamond. Couldn’t wait to see that white card that said Diamond! First time I used it, I really don’t know what I expected, but it was just another card to the bar tender, no bells, whistles, or comments about being Diamond. A little disappointing, but that was of my own mind! Anyway, be sure to go to the Diamond event. As others have said, it depends on how many diamonds are on board as to what kind of event it is. Our last one in November there were only 16 Diamonds, so on last sea day had a cocktail party in the piano bar, plenty of drinks (of your choice) and some good appetizers. The captain did come as did all the senior officers. Most diamonds I have noticed do the longer cruises, so 4 or 5 days won’t have as many. Congratulations on becoming Diamond!

If I’m not mistaken, all you have to do in any cabin is ask your cabin attendant for a robe. At least that’s been my experience since they stopped keeping them in your closet.

The signs on 528 tell you which exit/ship. I think Mardi Gras is Exit B, Terminal 3. It’s a couple blocks to the parking garage, will be on the left. You’ll see the ship. Turn in to the garage and they’ll tell you what to do. After unloading, drive on up the ramp, pay to park, find a place to park and get on the elevator, I think to deck 2, walk over on crosswalk to terminal.

The reason they let carry off luggage people go first is to allow time for the checked luggage for #1 and #2 zones to be unloaded. The carry off people are called by muster station but somehow another seems like everyone is in the same muster station!

DH enjoys watching TicToc videos, he doesn’t post anything. Can anyone tell me which internet package would allow him to do this? Not sure the Value plan would be enough to support it, so am thinking the Premium plan. Just don’t want to buy more than needed. And before anyone says there’s so much to do on board, etc, he is 77 and uses a mobility scooter due to health issues. We’ve been on 41 cruises so been there, done that. He doesn’t get off the ship much these days and enjoys sitting on the balcony most of the time. I’d like to take advantage of the 10% off sale that ends today, so thank you for your responses!

My son just did a European cruise on her in October. Loved the ship, said the food was really good! Did the steakhouse two nights, said it was the best one they’ve ever had. Had no complaints at all. Crew was great!

Quick question before purchasing WiFi plans. Does the value plan allow you to look at ticktock? DH likes to look at the videos, but not sure any of the WiFi plans support it. Thanks for your help!

Funny, I’ve been on 41 cruises and have attended the P&D party with Platinum friends and then on my own merit and have never seen them collect the invitations. Always wondered why they didn’t just to keep up with how many attend.

You can’t apply them to your account until you’re on board. The lines are always long the first day, so just hold off till the next morning. You CAN use your gift cards to buy things precruise such as excursions, drink packages and things like that.

Yes, that’s your on board account. The gift cards can be applied to your account at Guest Services at any time.

Well, the 80 year old friend’s case was just about like a bad cold and he was over it in a couple of days. On the other hand, my DH has a pretty bad case, still going on 10 days now. Running high fever, coughing, nauseated off and on, extremely tired. His doctor says just rest, drink fluids and take Tylenol. He’s really just miserable, like a bad cold, made worse because he has kidney disease and can’t take anything but Tylenol which does nothing for him. And I really don’t care if I have to wear a mask or not, nor does it matter to me if you do or don’t. I’m just saying there’s been a lot more cases now that unvaxed and testing is no longer required. Didn’t want to start a big discussion, we’ve all been there, done that, just stating my opinion.

Yes we did mask in public areas, and off the ship in Aruba, Curaçao and Grand Turk. However my DH didn’t get off the ship in either of those places. Matter of fact, he stayed in the cabin sitting on the balcony most of the time.

Wouldn’t bother me one bit if they did reinstate mask and vaxed only policies! Our group of 6 got off Magic from an 8 day southern Caribbean cruise. All are vaxed and double boosted and are in the 60-80 age group. Despite stringent precautions, my DH and one other in our group got Covid, one tested positive Sunday and one Monday. No telling how many others got it.

For years we always tipped, but at the time no one in our group knew that gratuity was included so some very nice tips were given! Now that we know it’s included we only give additional if the service and food is really good. On the Magic last week, I believe we had the best service ever provided in any of the steakhouses. Our waiter was a very young looking young man, so happy and full of energy! I believe his name was Aleh. We all tipped extra!

Trying to figure out what Carnival ship it was. Which one(s) have the sliding doors? Also the woman is either extremely tall or the railing is a bit shorter than most balconies.

We were on Magic and while the storm didn’t impact our cruise (southern Caribbean), we did have to debark at a different terminal than we embarked due to electrical issues. What a huge cluster….. that was! Busses had to take you and your luggage to the embark terminal. Total chaos! Was ok I suppose if you had no special needs. We had 2 scooters in our group of 6, one can’t walk up steps to get in a bus, the other can but not easily. There was no accommodation for ADA compliance, no bus and no one knew what they were doing trying to load busses. After about 45 minutes of that, we finally had two get on a bus to the other terminal and get the cars and come pick us up. All in all, it took over 2 hours just for us to get out of the terminal and on the road home. We actually left at about the time we usually arrived home! I sure hope this never happens again! I think carnival could have done a better job by letting one or two groups go out and get to the busses before they released others. What really gets me now is that none of our group has received a survey! Guess they know what we’ll all say. Bad beginning at embark, raining like heck, then that happens at the end. Had a good cruise tho!

I read the announcement this evening about Norfolk so thought I’d check out the sailings. There was an 8 day to New England and Canada for mid October 2023 that looked great! Checked it out, everything was already sold out except interior to be assigned for 2700+! I assume either it was posted before today to book or it sold out really fast!

No, never looked at anything except passport and boarding pass. I had all the cards with me, but they didn’t ask. It’s not required anymore. By the way, one in our group tested positive when he got home today! Had been feeling a little like he had a cold, a bit of a cough so checked when home. Yes, he’s fully vaxed and boosted and in good health for an 80 year old! Hope none of the rest of us get it!

Just off Magic this morning, was in grand Turk Friday. We all took our cards but no one asked for anything.

On the 5 day cruise, prime rib is on the menu for formal night. Don’t remember the rest of the items. Be aware you can order a couple of steakhouse items in the MDR any night for a $20 upcharge. Also remember the steakhouse menu does not ever change, so you’ll not have a lot of variety if you eat in there every night. I think I could find a better way to spend my on board credit!

I would certainly try! Since they made them, they may still have the image. Worth a trip if you’re close or call their customer service.

No way would I EVER take an interior room, especially on Lido! Ocean view regardless of location.

Enjoy your well deserved cruise! Enjoying your pictures, we will be getting on this Saturday when you’re getting off! Excited to be back on her, we did a couple of cruises on her right after start up, then the last one was in January. Hope she fared well while in New York!

Yes it will! The ships on the East coast operate on Miami time. We will be with you on Saturday! Looking forward to it!

We always check our 1 piece of luggage so just have a small carryon and mobility scooter. The only problem I have with people carrying their own luggage off is that they don’t wait for their area to be called, they just go. They clog up the elevators with huge bags and you can’t get an elevator if you have a mobility scooter. Being Diamond, we usually are supposed to meet in the little lounge by the exit at say 7:30. We start trying to get an elevator around 7 and it usually takes 15 to 30 minutes to get one that has any room in it! Usually time we do make it to our waiting area, they’ve already called Diamonds and they’re getting off. I forget what ship it was, but one time there was a designated elevator for mobility scooters which worked out great. You might still have to wait a bit, but you knew you were moving soon. Still amazes me at how much luggage some people carry off. Once we did a b2b and had to wait in the lobby for everyone to debark. It was crazy! People carrying 2 of those huge suitcases, along with smaller ones for a 4 day cruise! Was a total zoo!