SeaMeCruisin

We were on the 12/31 departure sailing and had Havana rooms. An extra $50 in OBC is a joke! Our rate for the Havana rooms was nearly $1k more than a balcony room. We canceled and have booked the same sailing dates on the RC Symphony of the Seas. We have been loyal to Carnival for years and years and are high status VIFP, but we're just about over it with them. We also invest in Carnival but I'll probably pull our money out when the market swings back up a bit. Carnival's customer service has declined so much over the years - unfortunately a sign of a declining company in most cases.

So I have an issue that I'd much appreciate some guidance on... Booked a cruise for multiple couples. One booked directly with Carnival, three others through a travel agent. As it worked out, 3 couples were assigned Early Dining and one was assigned Your Time Dining (YTD) and waitlisted for Early Dining. The issue is, as you might imagine, we'd all like to be seated together in the dining room. I was told it's possible to have the bookings "linked" so that this could be accomodated, but since three of the bookings were arranged through a travel agent, the TA would have to request the change. Well, no one can get ahold of the TA. I think they may be out of business. They have completely gone dark, will not answer calls or emails-- and Carnival WILL NOT work around them.

The only thing I could think of for us to be able to sit together is to all move to YTD and go about it that way, but we'd want to eat around the same time each night, which I've been told is possible via YTD reservations. That said, I can't find any info on how to make these reservations with YTD, and although I've been on a few cruises, I have no experience with YTD.

And one more complication: the couple that booked separately from the rest has never been on a cruise and one of them just had a hip and knee replaced due to an accident, and will be using a scooter.

Can anyone help here or give us some ideas on how to dine together at one set time?

Any help much appreciated!

Thank you all so much! Just as I expected, but when I'm able to let my Grandfather read these responses, I'm sure he'll be much more at ease.

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Looking for answers from experience here, and would greatly appreciate any info shared!

My Grandparents are going on their first cruise with us for the New Year, they both have metal in their bodies from various procedures, and are worried it could complicate getting on the ship for them. My Grandfather said he called someone at Carnival and was told he'd need a note from a doctor about this to board, but I can't find a thing on Carnival's website or anywhere else online that references this in any way.

Can anyone with experience help here?

Thanks!

Have seen multiple stories on this, just wondering are there are any recent cruisers who know for sure: can a drone be taken on Carnival crises? Have heard no and have also heard they could be taken as long as they weren't used on the ship. Anyone know for sure?

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Hi all,

Looking for opinions here on the Olympus TG-4 / TG-5 vs. a Samsung Galaxy S7 "Smartphone."

I just got off a trip to Ireland and kinda wished I'd had a rugged point-and-shoot camera to take along with me on adventures as my Smartphone just isn't that good at taking pictures when moving or in low-light conditions... and even though it's supposed to be waterproof, I just think the added sense of security with a tough camera would be nice.

Thinking I may get one before my next scheduled cruise in December, but am not sure of the actual benefits vs my Galaxy S7. I have been looking into the Olympus TG Series, which just introduced the new TG-5. Anyone have any experience with the TG Series and care to share an opinion on what differences / advantages there may be with one?

Open to other camera suggestions also, but I do like the TG's ability to capture in RAW formats and its reputation for toughness.

Thanks!

I reached out to Vitalino with cavetubing.bz as I am planning to take a trip with them next week and he said there was no issue with any roads leading to the river. Although I still may not go since it looks like it will be pouring rain the day I'm there... :(

Well, I finally got it to work. I guess I spent $50 worth of time saving $15...

Won't work for me, unfortunately. Keeps making me log back into PayPal again and again, and will not stop that cycle. Maybe I tried jumping on the train too late...

Look below "Write Your Review" on this page.

Is anyone else having trouble with the "See Posts About:" Section on the Carnival Cruise Lines Board on this website? I was following a good post on the Conquest but can't get back to it now because none of the ship pages will load for me.

When I click on one, I just get: "boards.cruisecritic.com is currently unable to handle this request."

Are they working for everyone else, or is everyone having this problem too?

Thanks!

Having been on the "smaller" ships and a "mega-ship," I absolutely prefer the "smaller" ones. My last cruise was on Allure of the Seas, and there were just too many people on board. No matter what I did or went to, I always had to wait in a line, and sometimes didn't even get into whatever it was I was in line for, or get served before something closed. Thing is, even though the mega-ships are much larger, the event venues, bars, lounges, buffets, etc. are really no larger than on the more typical size ships, and that leads to overcrowding at those places on the ships. Also, on the mega-ships, you have to pre-register for a lot of the free events onboard, which takes away a lot of the appeal of cruising for me. I like to be able to come and go as I please on a cruise, not have to pre-plan every small detail because of crowd control or capacity issues. I could just vacation anywhere for that.