Clarasgrandma

We had room 4123 and it was quiet. We really enjoyed that room! Most rooms on the odd numbered side should be quieter than the even side.

I will be in this situation as well. I asked on the fb page for the cruise that sailed this past January during the marathon and was told as long as you go early, you should be ok….

We are already doing the 14 day plus the five day afterward. I don’t think the two day is a good value, and my husband doesn’t want to miss that many more days from work so we’re going to pass on booking that cruise. We will be leaving really early on the morning of the cruise to make it to the port in time. The people on the cruise during the marathon of 2023 said they left at around nine and were able to get to the port by 10 so I am feeling a little bit better about that. Enjoy your extra two days!

What did you decide to do, and how did it go? When did you board the ship? We will be in this same predicament next year and I’m trying to formulate a plan. Thanks for any info you may share.

We just went to Tropicante on Feb 2, 2023 and had a fabulous time. The service was wonderful. We paid four dollars per person for the taxi ride there and again back to the cruise port. We paid three dollars per person for a lounge chair. They had employees raking the seagrass off the beach which was nice. The water was beautiful and the perfect temperature for us. Our party ordered fish tacos, shrimp tacos, and the loaded nachos. Also an octopus appetizer that they said it was good. Everybody seemed pleased with their meals.

Look for the rooms that are lined up between two lifeboats. You can usually tell which ones they are by looking at the ship layout on the carnival.com site.

We've eaten at Fritanga for Nicaraguan food which was really good if you like trying different things. Also the Airport Cafe and Liquor store had good food. Both within walking distance from hotel. There is also a Subway very close by. We've gotten pop (yep, I'm from the Midwest) and snacks from the gas station nearby too. If you have extra time to kill, and enjoy walking, there is a nice walking park w/ path, near hotel heading towards Hialeah Goodwill. That GW sells sunscreen if that is something you need and it's cheaper than the gas station. There is an Italian restaurant along the way that sells ice cream too. It's called Paraiso Tropical. My husband likes the pinacoladas there. Just a few suggestions. Enjoy your cruise!

We’ve stayed at Days Inn Miami Airport North. This hotel has horrible reviews. We have stay there three times. They have several buildings on the property. If you book a room with two queen size beds, the rooms tend to be in better shape. The one time we had a room with two full size beds, it was in the same building that the check in desk is in, and the room was very rundown and dirty. The other two times, we were in other buildings and the rooms were good. There are plenty of restaurants within walking distance from this hotel, as well as a free shuttle from the airport. They do offer a free shuttle to the cruise port also. For a small fee, around $10/pp you can sign up to use their shuttle to get to airport after your cruise ends. We did this once and they were reliable. We’ve also stayed at the Candlewood Suites by the airport. Just beautiful and clean rooms with free airport shuttle to hotel. A few restaurants within walking distance although not as many as the Days Inn. No shuttle to the cruise port. My sister stayed at Comfort inn near the airport and had no complaints….

It depends on where you are flying from. Many people will say FLL is cheaper but for us, that has not been the case. If you are just flying in the night before your cruise, I would suggest a hotel by the MIami airport. Most will have free shuttle service from the airport to the hotel, and most will offer a cheap shuttle from hotel to the cruise port. Do some research to see which hotels have restaurants within walking distance. Several of them do. We usually take an Uber from the cruise port back to the airport for out return flight. If you fly into and/or stay in Fort Lauderdale, there is a tri-rail train that goes from that airport to Miami airport for just a few bucks per person, or you can Uber.

Yep! We’ve done that too when my husband had a better offer than me. Our PVP made the adjustment. I’ve also submitted a price adjustment online before and gotten it approved. I just write a note that I’m using code XXX from my husbands VIFP # and it’s been approved.

We had a similar situation on carnival back in January of 2020. They were kind enough to offer us a 50% future cruise credit. The airline also gave us a 100% credit. Hoping you get to take your cruise!

The library on the Freedom was also lacking books when we cruised earlier this year. We plan to take a few books to read and then donate on our next cruise.

I take EZE Wash sheets and cut them in half to use when washing items in the sink. Just a heads up, on one of our cruises, the bathroom sink drain plug didn’t have a very tight seal so the water slowly drained out. I remedied that by buying small drain plugs to bring along. Of course, I didn't need the extra plug on my next trip because the sink plug worked! I haven’t used the ship shampoo or body wash for washing clothes but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

If you have a future cruise booked, you could call and ask carnival to apply your credit amount to your balance…..I did that once when I got tired of waiting for my refund.

$2186 for 2 which includes gratuities. Panama Canal in a 4k room. This will be our first time in a 4k and our first Panama cruise this coming January. Looking forward to it. We are very frugal and usually do interiors unless we get a reasonable upsell offer.

We have taken a small insulated bag to use off the ship, to keep our water or soda cold while exploring or hanging out at the beach.

I will try again on my next cruise. So far I have been unsuccessful with this request.

If I order a second entree such as another lobster tail, I just want the tail! I wish there was a way to do this without getting all the sides that normally come with it. Same with other entrees…..I’m trying not to eat a lot of rice or pasta, or I may just not like the side so that gets wasted. I know it would be too time consuming for them to tweak every order. I do like the smaller portions on most of the meals which helps me eat less lol. The grilled shrimp entree only comes with 4 shrimp. Like, I want 8 shrimp but no rice! I do hate wasting food and I try to avoid it when I can, but sometimes it happens.

Only on sea days unfortunately. I’m not a breakfast person either but my husband is which is why I would get the granola but save it to eat later. They do serve it with milk, on the side so I tell them no milk as I prefer to eat it dry.

I bring baggies too, and take granola back to my room for snacking on later! It’s so good and IMO a healthier treat.

MDR - chicken tenders appetizer, teriyaki salmon, any Indian dish, grilled shrimp, strawberry soup, root vegetable pie MDR Breakfast - Broken Egg Sandwich, Indian meal, homemade granola Lido - There was a shrimp tostada type thing on our last cruise that had a slight spicy kick that was delicious! Deli - I just discovered the turkey sandwich that had the avocado on it, on our last cruise. It was sooooo tasty! I know it’s been changed on the current menu. Cake Buffet- CONFETTI cheesecake! Also the coconut tres leche, a dark chocolate cake and the marble cake.

You have to do a mock booking by entering in all the exact info as your current booking, as if you were booking a new cruise without finalizing the booking at the end of the process.

We turned platinum on the 3rd leg of a b2b2b and we were not given platinum cards at any point until we went to guest services on the first day of our third leg and finally convinced them that we were indeed platinum on that specific sailing. I think in our situation, their computer system hadn’t updated our cruise days quickly enough for them to make the change without us having to ask. You can always go to guest services and have your cards updated to platinum if need be. As mentioned previously, just have proof of days sailed in hand.

I usually book based on dates and price. Then I look to see what ports in order to narrow the search down if there is more than one option. If all is a tie, I may look at the ship but really the ship is at the very bottom of the list. I should have looked at the ship prior to booking the Pride for 2023 as I only found out afterward that the layout was different and I booked a room under the Red Frog night club! We’ve switched rooms now but probably wouldn’t have been ideal had I not looked.

I’ve yet to get this offer . Those who do get it, what specific Chase card do you have? Wondering if it’s offered on certain cards over others….