TomCruise48

@Sealily22 Thank you for starting this thread.  We board the Oasis next week for a B2B, so we are following along closely.  You mentioned that this is your first cruise, but from your posts, you sound like a veteran cruiser.  Picking the Oasis for your first cruise will set the bar very high for any subsequent cruises.  Enjoy your cruise.

25 minutes ago, cookiersmom said:

Does each traveler need their own Navica account?   And can you have two on the same smartphone?

thx

Yes to both.

At least in non-Covid times, RCCL has fewer, but more spectacular, entertainment activities, such as Broadway productions, Ice Shows, Aqua Shows.  Carnival has more activities, especially more comedy shows.  On recent cruises, many of the RCCL shows have been cancelled.

When we first started cruising RCCL, we observed the crew and staff to be not as friendly as Carnival, but have not seen much difference on recent cruises.

Comparing newer ships on both lines, Carnival has more "free" food dining options.  Not so much the case with older ships.

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Guest Services might even pay for the call. 

As others have mentioned, there is no longer anyone onboard who can book a cruise for you.  I have had Guest Services call the Carnival 800 number for me in the past and hand me a portable phone to use to talk to them.  The newer ships, not the Pride, even have a private room connected to guest services with a phone that they will let you use.  With the long wait times to talk to a Carnival rep right now, I would not go that route.  Guest Services will probably place a call for you to your PVP if you want to go that route.

You can book a cruise using free access via Wi-Fi to Carnival.com.  I have booked cruises onboard before using the public computers without needing to purchase an internet plan.  If you are successful, make sure that Guest Services adds you to the B2B list so you will receive the B2B instructions and Covid testing.

Booked London round trip Fly2Fun this week for August 2022 B2B through our TA.

42 minutes ago, cruisegirl1976 said:

Oh ok.. did your order still show pending or did you get a tracking number? Mine is showing pending.

I received an email from eMed one day after I placed the order saying the order had shipped along with the Fedex tracking number.  All of the delay since Wednesday the 5th is attributable to Fedex.  As another poster mentioned, why charge for overnight, next day shipping when it takes Fedex 4 business days to deliver?

I also received an email from eMed shortly after placing the order that the order was approved.  Has your order been approved?

24 minutes ago, cruisegirl1976 said:

I ordered the 6 pack emed ones on Wednesday the 5th, shipping was $34.88, still haven’t received them.. anyone else have this issue?

Ordered mine on Tuesday the 4th.  eMed shipped on Wednesday the 5th.  They are now in a Fedex facility 15 miles away and should finally arrive by Monday the 10th. 

Lots of videos out there to show the test procedure.  Here is a link to one of them.  

6-pack from eMed costs $23.06 for Fedex next day air standard shipping, the only method offered.

1 hour ago, xmasteach said:

On Horizon…did stop at Antigua, but denied entry at St Kitts and Grand Turk, attempting to stop at Nassau tomorrow, but no OK yet….so this has been an 8 day cruise to Antigua.  Only 2 comedians…but Sean Finnirty…was all we needed…great shows.  No real complaints since we had already been to Saint Kitts and Grand Turk. 
did not venture to any very crowded areas, the upper decks were packed during our multiple sea days.

Thought the Horizon was in dry dock in Italy undergoing repairs on propulsion system.

8 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

RCCL SOTS had different protocols than Carnival.  Lots of Vaccinated people not wearing masks and mixing with unvaccinated.

 

We're boosted and tested negative and sailed on Mardi Gras last  month.   No cases reported on our cruise.   No need to let fear of unknown cancel your cruise.  Just follow the  rules and you'll be fine.

Not my experience from two RCCL cruises in October.  RCCL was 95% + vaxed.  Vaxed had wristbands to show that they were vaxed and unvaxed did not.  Unvaxed were separated in different levels of dining room and theater, and not allowed in certain venues.  4 max per elevator was generally followed.  Crew was good about reminding guests to wear masks in public areas, and would not let anyone into a mixed venue unless they were wearing a mask.  All and all, RCCL protocols were more strict than Carnival.

Have another RCCL cruise in February and a Carnival B2B in March.  I'm more concerned about the Carnival cruises since RCCL now requires masks indoors, while Carnival only recommends masks.

We had same problem on a RCCL cruise, so it is not just Carnival.  Lends more credence to materials being in storage past their shelf life.

Unlike other travel rewards programs, you do not lose your benefits if you don't cruise within a specified time. Carnival should be able to retrieve your history using your name and DOB. 

Your past cruises are likely tied to a past guest (VIFP) number different from what is shown on your login.  The VIFP numbers show on the Sail and Sign Cards from our most recent cruises and I assume that they were on your cards in 2014.  You can check to see if the VIFP number on one of your old Sail and Sign cards matches what is shown when you log into your account on Carnival.com. 

Worst case, you can submit a photocopy of your old Sail and Sign cards to reestablish your history.  If your past cruises were 7 days each, you are only a couple of cruises away from reaching Platinum.

5 minutes ago, TomCruise48 said:

The daily deal definitely said Carnival up until noon. At noon EST, I was ready to buy and the deal changed from Carnival to Celebrity.  If someone was not paying close attention, they may have purchased Celebrity GC's thinking that they were purchasing Carnival.

Screen shot up to noon today:

Screen shot changed at noon to Celebrity:

4 hours ago, Calnev1 said:

I'm not sure what is going on with the posters here.  These daily AARP deals are not live until noon Eastern time.  My AARP website indicates that is when these Carnival gift cards will go on sale several hours from now.  And you can only buy one of these super discounted $100 cards, so no reason to get over excited.

The daily deal definitely said Carnival up until noon. At noon EST, I was ready to buy and the deal changed from Carnival to Celebrity.  If someone was not paying close attention, they may have purchased Celebrity GC's thinking that they were purchasing Carnival.

This letter is poorly worded.  It could be interpreted multiple ways, none of which appear to be entirely correct:

1. Applies to only Platinum and Diamond guests who have booked a suite, but not other guests who have booked a suite and have not achieved Platinum level.

2.  Applies to all Platinum guests, but only Diamond guests who have booked a suite, which of course makes little sense but is the most literal interpretation of "Platinum and Diamond Suite Guests."

3.  Applies to Platinum guests, Diamond guests, and other guests who have booked a suite, but have not reached Platinum level.  This is more likely, but I don't believe that a guest who is not Platinum or Diamond will receive all of the Platinum and Diamond amenities by simply booking a suite, although they will receive some.

Carnival made this confusing by covering multiple topics in one letter and not making it clear what applies to suite guests only versus what applies to Platinum and Diamond regardless of the type of stateroom booked.

Extracted from FAQ section on Carnival's webpage:

Exemptions and other considerations

• .....power strips, multi plug box outlets/adaptors, and extension cords (without surge protectors) are allowed when used with proper caution.  However, if such devices are determined to pose a hazard, they will be removed and returned on debarkation morning.

We bring a corded multi-outlet adapter that contains both 120VAC outlets without surge protection and 2A. USB charging ports.  It has never been confiscated.  When we cruise on RCCL, this is not allowed.

2 hours ago, RoperDK said:

Are all of the other cruise lines doing the same thing?  I can't imagine someone on Princess accepting this as the new normal.  What about RCCL or NCL?  Those are comparable quality lines.          

Sailed on RCCL a couple of months ago.  They prefer that you view the menu on their app, but will happily bring you a paper copy if you request.

We usually fly in one day early.  We were delayed one day returning home from our most recent cruise with all of the SW cancellations.  DW thinks that we should fly out two days ahead of our next cruise, but the 48 hour before the cruise Covid testing makes that difficult.  We will probably use the Binax AG proctored home test early in the morning before the flight.  The about to kick in rule for private companies of 100 or more to test unvaccinated employees every week may make it difficult to procure home testing kits.

Her refund will likely be processed in a much more timely manner.  We recently cancelled a Carnival cruise and had our refund in one week.

Both of these should be what Carnival calls Journeys cruises.  These cruises have additional special activities.  We have done Hawaii twice on Carnival Journeys cruises.  For additional activities on sea days, Carnival brings on a naturalist who has presentations about Hawaiian history and culture, a guest lecturer who has lectures on 5 wide ranging topics, and a ballroom dance instructor.  They have a throwback sea day that revives activities from the past including the grand gala midnight buffet. They also bring on additional entertainers for evening shows such as vocalists, magicians, hypnotists, jugglers, as well as multiple comedians for the comedy club... Of course they also have their standard activities such as arts and crafts, trivia, bingo, karaoke, theme nights, etc., but unfortunately Covid has nixed the hairy chest competition!  We have sailed both RCCL and Carnival and found Carnival to have more activities versus RCCL.

Here is a link for more information about these cruises:  https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3936/~/carnival-journeys-cruises

Have booked Fly2Fun with TA multiple times. 

11 hours ago, tiger-91 said:

this year, on Symphony (can beer) and Allure (draught beer) my sheet said 50% off two beers. Both times I purchased, the bartender's cash register gave me 50% off one beer and full price for the other. I had to go to Guest Services with my letter and receipt to prove the bartender wrong and successfully got the proper credit.

Then a couple weeks later on my next three cruises on Mariner, the sheet said 50% off ONE beer. So I think they've changed it. The computers were correct but the printed onboard offers sheets were not. 

 

Had exact same issue on Odyssey last week.  This week the wording was changed to 2 coupons for 50% off .

Only 750 guests were onboard last week.  Only show that required reservations was the Book. 

On 9/30/2021 at 5:39 PM, ioksengorn said:

Hi I am going on the 9 off October 

any recommendations what to bring with us.

Do you wear masks all the time, it’s probably nice not crowded with 750 people 

Masks are not required outdoors and are optional for indoor venues designated as vaccinated only.

October 3 sailing estimated to have 1600 guests.