LouisianaCruiser4200

US Citizens don't need to complete a customs for unless they purchased over $800 worth of merchandise. The customs officer will ask you verbally if you made any purchases or if you have anything to declare.

Galveston has also stopped with the paperwork. Our customs agent actually never said a word to us. Looked at the passports, handed them back, and motioned to the door lol

Did you guys see HMC being added as a stop on an 8 day from Nola and Galveston?

We bought the middle package on our Valor cruise in November. It was pretty much worthless. The Wifi was off more than it was working. When it did work it was super slow.

 

Thankfully, both ports were in Mexico and on my T-Mobile plan I get unlimited talk, text and up to 5GB high speed data in Mexico. I just took care of everything in the ports.

 

We are flying down to Cozumel next month for a week and I will sit on the beach and use my phone as if I am at home and not get charged a penny more. We both have T Mobile, so we will get double the high speed data.

Thanks for the feedback! We have Verizon so I get 1/2 GB a day in Mexico for no extra charge (which I’ll take advantage of). Sounds like I’m going with the social plan just to be able to iMessage and get on twitter

I had the premium package this past September. A little limited but at least you’re connected. RCCL is way better or it was on the Allure.

I’m leaning toward the social media package since it’s onky a 5 day

Sailing on the Valor next month and wanted to hear some reviews of the WiFi. It seems like the WiFi performance varies wildly from ship to ship so wanted some feedback from someone who’s used it on Valor

The "worst" excursion for us was Cinque Terre. It was clear the tour said it was strenuous, but that didn't deter a few people that clearly decided to book it anyway. It involved buses, rail and a boat and a lot of walking. The scenery was breathtaking, but it was so much waiting for some to catch up. If you go, just DIY all you need really is a train schedule. We actually skipped one village. There were a lot of people that complained, Carnival did refund 50% of the cost.:o

It sounds mean in a way, BUT there are way too many people taking tours they simply should not be taking. We went to stingray city in Grand Cayman last week. Of course, you had to get on and off a boat in the sea which is not easy. There were multiple extremely overweight people who had trouble getting on and off. One lady (who was well in excess of 350lbs) pulled the tour guide into the water as she was trying to help her out.

Cozumel by Land and Sea. It was basically a way to sell things to tourists. First chocolate and then tequila. Constant reminders to tip. I was hoping for a bit more local information, but the bus zipped through the streets and there was very little history. The guy at the tequila place actually stood by the tip jar as we left to remind us repeatedly of how many kids had had to take care of. We did buy a bottle of tequlia and learned when we got home that we paid more than we were quoted. That was our fault for not working out the exchange rate ourselves I suppose.

 

Then a ride on a semisub which was horrible. There were few fish, only one side of the boat had anything to look at during any one time and the seasickness I experienced was terrible. This part of the tour lasted probably 60 minutes at least and maybe 10 of that was actually viewing fish which were just the same one type over and over. I could not wait to get off that boat, it was the absolute low point of the entire cruise.

 

I get that tourism is a main source of income and of course they want people to purchase items while in port, but this just felt like a blatant cash grab.

They must’ve changed this up since you took it (after some good feedback) tipping-the only time tips were mentioned is at the very end. The tour guide pointed out the driver and guide did not share tips.

At the tequileria, they never mentioned tips.

At the chocolate factory, they had lots of informational pieces and only at the end said you could buy chocolate.

Thankfully for us, the semi sub tour wasn’t full so we all got to sit on one side and see the reef, plus they fed the fish so there were fish aplenty

Our worst excursion was in Cozumel where we visited a tequila company and bought $300 worth. Then the cruise line confiscated it and we couldn't drink any till we got home.

 

 

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We did this tour and loved it. Not sure why you were mad they took the tequila? They don’t let you bring on alcohol anytime

I would think that there will be more coming out as they assign ships, especially the Panorama

 

 

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Probably so

Looking ahead to 2019-2020, Carnival has added some varied sailings from NOLA and Galveston.

NOLA:

8 day - Key West, Nassau, Freeport, and Half Moon Cay in May 2019

14 day Journeys - Montego Bay, Aruba, Bonaire, Cartagena, Panama Canal, Limon in February 2020

Galveston:

9 day Journeys - Panama Canal, Limon, Cozumel in February 2019

So - I'm going on my first Carnival cruise in January. I've only ever cruised on RCL.

 

I'm guessing that it's okay to wear shorts and T-Shirts in the MDR - especially on Formal night. I've heard Carnival is more lax about that stuff.

 

I usually share a drink package with a friend in another cabin. You know - to save money.

 

I like to head to the pool, drop my stuff and then go to the casino for a bit. My stuff will be safe for a couple of hours, right?

 

and lastly,

 

It's okay for me to smoke on my balcony, right?

 

(Nothing about this is serious.)

 

This thread has been extremely helpful. Thanks to everyone!

Took me a second to realize you weren’t serious and I was worried for your safety 😂

Yeah...somethings not right... A day and a half to get to Mobile?? I guess its possible they could work on her the next 24 hours.... But best case.... looking at a late Monday arrival back in NOLA

Their 5 day cruise is looking like a 4 day cruise

Maybe Carnival trying to fatten up their revenue since its last day of month??

Or pay for that Triumph repair

Of course NCL is only there during the winter. I don't know when Royal is going to be there but it's not like they're sending a ship that will entice anyone to sail with them.

My point being these ships will require one of the two berths

Thanks for the information! We've never cruised where the S/S cards were placed in our mailbox. Do we need to go there 1st so that we can start charging drinks to our acct?

 

Also thanks for the info about boarding times. We have a noon ck in time. Although I'd love to be on the ship ASAP, I think we'll have a leisurely morning and explore the area before heading to the terminal. Staying on the island the night before we cruise.

 

As far as checking carry-on items, we had similar experience this summer in Mobile. Seemed over the top to take out each can of soda, luckily we had packing tape with us or it would've been a mess for our teens that were bringing on their sodas.

Gone out of Galveston once, Mobile twice. Our experience was Galveston was WAY stricter. Mobile was a breeze, they didn’t really check anything. I had my bottle of wine wrapped in newspaper and they didn’t even look to make sure it was wine

I believe that NO will get one of the Vista class ships in 2019/2020. Yes the Glory/Valor give them more Pax then Dream/Triumph but if they are so happy with NO and Galveston I would be surprised if they don't bring a Dream/Vista class ship back that at some point in the near future. Probably explains why some of the itineraries end in early 2019. Would be nice if NO could support a 3rd ship like Galveston. It can be done with only 1 docking point if one did 6/8 rotation or 8/8/5.

 

something to chew on. :cool:

Not so fast, don’t forget the other cruise lines than use NOLA (Norwegian and eventually Royal)

Dear Carnival,

 

Please send the Sunshine to replace the Freedom in Galveston.

 

Thank you...

 

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Eww no no

There are no 7day cruises out of New Orleans after the Dream leaves. Only 4 and 5 day cruises through the end of the year in 2019.

They just haven’t added the Glory’s 7 day sailings

I do think Carnival has plans they aren't releasing yet, i.e. putting one of the newer ships in NOLA.

Will the bottles be labeled complimentary? Don't want to get charged for taking the wrong bottle

 

 

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One label says nothing and the other has a price on it. It’s clear if one you’ll get charged. And whoever said drink from the tap wasn’t on the same ships I’ve been on, the tap water wasn’t very good

I bet they’re recogzing the increasing competition in NOLA and they don’t want to sail a ship not at capacity.

Purely speculative but I think Carnival may be setting up the possibility of a third ship in NOLA.

Besides GS can I load cash other ways? What are they ?

If the kiosk will let you, loading via kiosk saves you trouble. Make sure to keep your receipt and check your account to make sure it posted. Sometimes their systems are wonky

You’re probably right, but since it’s under 45 minutes from my front door, a guy can dream!

 

Problem with Brownsville is that there’s this pesky thing called the Mexican border that cuts off 1/2 of the cruising radius for the American market. Folks from San Antonio, Austin and Corpus might appreciate a different departure port, but that experiment already failed miserably with Bayport. One thing Brownsville does have going for it is it’s super easy to get out of, shorter pilot, less fog than Galveston or Bayport.

 

But if it was even remotely practical at this time, I’m guessing someone would have tried it after Harvey. It would have been a helluva lot closer than Miami, much closer than Mobile and on par with NOLa - and the 3 airports in easy driving distance could easily have handled air passengers.

 

 

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Ultimately, I think if Carnival keeps adding ships and doesn't sell any, they'll just add more ships to the current ports. Four ships in Galveston (one or two doing 8 day / 6 day sailings with new itineraries, one doing standard 7, one doing the 4 / 5), three ships in NOLA, two in Mobile (new infrastructure would be necessary for this though)

Of course, you have to use AT&T or one of its worldwide partner networks to get any AT&T advertised international roaming rates - free or otherwise (e.g., in many Pacific countries, that would be Vodaphone). AT&T states this in all of their web and other resources, including an online search feature -country by country.

When traveling abroad and wanting to use specific partner networks, always turn your phone's network setting to "manual" and then choose the partner network for that location to assure you're getting the deal to which you agreed.

Remember: if that network name on your screen 's top bar doesn't look familiar, you need to make sure it's a partner to AT&T (or whatever service you regularly use.

 

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This is very good advice. Didn't even think about turning the network setting to manual