mzloolue

Just be glad he didn't call it brilliant because somehow when that term is used it always ends up being something very bad for the majority of us cruisers!

True.

Amen on that, the rest is mainly fluff.

True...

How does one get a PVP and what do the letters mean?

 

 

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The last time I had to get a new pvp (previous pvp apparently was no longer a pvp) I called and asked to speak to a pvp.

I asked a question about booking an upcoming cruise and listened to the answer with three different people.

A real question that I already knew the answer to.

Then I said that I was still thinking and needed to talk to my travel companions and would call back later.

The first was impatient.

The second had a heavy accent that I had trouble understanding.

The third was patient and articulate, so I booked through her.

I want a pvp who I can communicate well with and who knows more about booking cruises than I do.

I do my own research and then call her.

Usually I could handle it all online myself, but I like talking to a familiar human being.

And on several occasions she has been extremely helpful.

Oh, like when I had to cancel at the last minute due to illness and she walked me through exactly what I needed to cancel and to file the insurance claim.

Yes, I could have done it by myself, but I was sick and it made it so much easier.

Plus, I like dealing with the same person and hearing a familiar voice.

No, we are not best friends, but through time and bits of conversation I have learned about her grandkids and dogs and various stuff.

We have been dealing with her for about 8 years.

She calls out of the blue once or maybe twice a year.

And she has been a pvp for a long time.

A good pvp is a definite plus.

Is he in Jacksonville for some other reason?

Isn't the bottled water less expensive if it is preordered?

John Heald is asking for opinions about the hot chocolate on his social media page. I am waiting for him to make an announcement in a few weeks about some brilliant upgrade to fancier sounding hot chocolate for a mere $5 per powdered pack.

Truthfully, that is probably coming.

It is kind of obvious, isn't it?

If you read lifestyle blogs, then you may have noticed this holiday season that hot coco bars were a trend.

My daughter even had one set up for her bonfire party this fall.

Special main dining room entrees for an additional charge.

Removal of some room service item and the additon of items available for an additonal fee.

Now some varieties of tea bags have been replaced with tea for a fee.

None of these things, so far, directly affect me, but more changes are coming.

I don't want any of those items enough to pull out my s&s card.

But it is obvious that they are going through every amenity line by line searching for ways to decrease costs and increase revenue.

With extra fees for tea bags in the main dining room then you know they have considered special iced teas for a fee.

Disney World did this about 15 years ago.

They actually priced themselves out of my economic reality and I have known that cruises would eventually be unaffordable to us.

Hopefully we can do a few more before it is over for us.

All we really want is a deck chair in the shade with a view of sea and a breeze.

Thank you.

I have been wanting to to try a cove balcony and now that Dream is in New Orleans it is time to start looking!

I have a PVP.

I do my own research and then I call her.

Her number is programmed into my phone.

I like being able to call someone and she knows who I am, you know?

At first she did not say a lot, but over time I have come to know her better. A real person and not just a voice on the phone.

She was very helpful when we had to cancel a cruise at the last minute.

Also, she calls me about once a year and I can handle that.

She also invited me to join her facebook page where she shares information that I might be interested in and posts cruise photos and such.

Which cove balcony rooms would you recommend and which are not so quiet?

Thanks in advance!

I bring my own tea anyway.

I like a cup after dinner, but it seems that the wait staff is so overworked that it takes forever to get a cup of tea there.

I have enjoyed going to tea time, but often it is hard to get a refill of hot water.

Apparently the water is dear...

I also like to order tea from room service. Especially on winter cruises.

We fly in and i don't want to carry tape and a stapler, its just one more thing to pack. The tag holders are convenient and cheap.

I have used the stapler at the hotel desk.

No problem.

I also have one of those little pencil bag tot staplers.

We just fold them up and put on two just in case, but so far none has been lost.

I also put an unfolded copy inside the bag.

Does anyone have pictures of this?

We have sailed from New Orleans many times and this has never haqppened.

It sounds terrifying.

Did they make any announcement?

We were on the Triumph last week, the best kept secret was during breakfast there was an omelet bar and small buffet set up in the Aft swimming pool area. Just opposite of the Pizza place. While the lines were very long in the main lido buffets, there were only a few people using the aft omelet and buffet area. We felt kind of guilty using it because we got our food right away and was sitting down enjoying our meal within minutes of arriving. Plus there are great tables along the aft window to look out over the water.

 

We did notice that they were setting up a lunch buffet also, but we chose other venues for lunch so we only used it for breakfast.

Thank you for this info!

I was on Triumph twice in 2011 when she was in New Orleans before.

I'm thrilled that she will be back in New Orleans soon!

So far, Triumph is my favorite...after 17 Carnival cruises.

Not too big and not too small.

They are fine.

Have fun!

I prefer last minute.

Like a month or less.

It's Friday now.

The cruises I have been watching actually went up last night.

Hmm...

Somehow not impressed, so far anyway.

I would get swelling too.

I stopped eating the soup, good but more salt than you might think.

Don't eat the sauce at the Mongolian Wok.

I drink water at all meals and chug a bottle a day too.

Diuretic pills help too.

I don't know why Carnival associates with companies that run shabby businesses, it only makes them look bad.

True.

Like the inch of fake gold and the fake watches?

Unfortunately, I have noticed that although Carnival gives a good boat ride for the money they have difficulty dealing with unscheduled happenings.

I expect that if there was an abandon ship that it would be chaotic.

And if I feel there is anything odd going on I am not going below decks.

Of all the suggestions so far I would be interested in the nightlight in the bathroom and the clock.

As for the hot cabins, I have had that twice.

Both times I called and nothing was done.

After that I resolved that if I had a hot cabin again I will not accept the within limits response.

If you have had a truly hot cabin, then you know what I am talking about.

Alas someone posted a picture of the stuff they use to make it. A few too many ingredients for me to enjoy.:(:(

True.

And all those chemicals...

That's so sad... ;-( I'm super disappointed

I know.

The Fun Farewell Party was my favorite thing and I really looked forward to it.

Do Journeys cruises have Fun Farewell?

But its a whole bottle of water:):)

Do you want whole water or skim water?

I was just talking to my sister while she was driving home after getting off Elation today.

This was her third cruise on Elation and she said that the food was not the same in both quality and preparation.

Meat tough; fish overcooked.

Longer lines too.

Said she asked if there were more hard boiled eggs and the guy said yeah, but did not replenish them. No lettuce one day on the salad bar.

Sounds like something is not right.

She has been on a bunch of cruises aside from the two previous on Elation, so I do believe that the food is off, at least on her cruise.

The farewell party was cancelled a few years ago. For those who don't know what this party was, it was a party at 5:00 on the final day, and free drinks were included. This was the replacement for the captain's cocktail party which preceded the first formal dinner. That captain's cocktail party was always very packed. So they replaced it with the farewell party to save on how much alcohol they had to give out. To make sure that attendance was cut down, they didn't advertise the farewell party, except for one line hidden in the Fun Times, with no description as to what it was. This limited participation, which is what they wanted. Then, they said they were cancelling it for lack of participation,:rolleyes: even though they wanted a lack of participation. It was replaced by the free drink coupon, which has since been cancelled, probably "due to lack of participation".

The drink coupon became a bottle of water.

And that is how a cocktail party became a drink of water.