Brooke71991

25 minutes ago, Cariot said:

Same here! I noticed the price was the same for what I paid for an inside cabin. I called up my TA and she was kind enough to contact NCL and switched my inside to a balcony for $100 more. $50 isn't bad for the both of us. I'm just now wondering where we'll end up on the ship since I've always sailed in the center of the ship, no experience in another location and how rocky it will be.

I am slightly worried about the same thing. The room they gave me from the ov rate was not a good room so I think any balcony just about would be better for me. I have always been on the second floor on carnival ships. Hopefully my room wont sway too much. 

I sail out from Miami on the 22nd and I originally booked OV sail away. I put in a bid for a balcony in hopes of eventually getting a balcony. I have been watching the cruise and my bid was $125 pp for a balcony. Today the price for a balcony sail away dropped to just $20 pp more than what I had paid. I called and got it swapped and am so excited! This is my first time with NCL and my first time on a balcony. 

Iirc, you are better off with the keeping the giftcard and just adding it to your account. Cruise cash is a use it or lose it thing.

I changed my cruise date under early saver. You will lose 50$ per person as an administrative fee. The rest of your deposit will be given as a future cruise credit. It is much easier if you already know what cruise you want to swap to. I lost the 100$ but got it back by checking fares often. One of the perks of early saver.

Enjoying your review so far!! Thanks for posting! I will be on her for 14 days next year. Glad for the warning about the black pearl so that I know now and not then!

I have did the atlantis excursion before. I really enjoyed it. While I admit I wished it had been a bit cheaper, I really enjoyed the water slides and the lazy river. I did not have issues with tubes like many people had. I grabbed a tube in the morning and rode the lazy river several times and loved it. I then rode all the rides that required a tube. Then I gave my tube away and ate a quick lunch. I went on all the slides that did not require a tube at that point. Then I went through the hotel, which has a gorgeous casino and atrium. Then we looked at the marine habitat. I did not go to the beach part of it. The excursion feels short simply because there was so much to do. But I printed out a layout of the park before ever going and had everything already planned and stuck to it. That allowed me to get the most out of it. I probably would not do it a second time purely because I hate the sun and I spent a lot of time in the sun while there. Some of the lines were quite long, but I never spent more than 30-40 minutes in line for any one slide.

How is the alcohol lol? Going on her for 14 days with cheers. :)

Here you go

 

We arrived in Long Beach after an uneventful drive from The Phoenix area on May 28 and checked into the Hotel Maya. I had found a few different Carnival Corporate codes, p41 didn't work but 0560018220 did and got a great rate which included parking for the cruise.

 

 

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Thank you! And I live on the east coast, so will not need parking lol. But I am staying there for my cruise next year and would love a good rate. :)

I have used it several times now and didn't have to provide anything additional at check in, just the usual license and cc.

I did not know there is a code. Where would one find this code and use it?

I've been on 2 Journeys cruises, one a 14 day on the Pride and one 11 day on the Vista. I can attest to what the previous poster has said that there will be up to over 1/3 of the passengers at the Platinum + level making for a priority nightmare. The first Journeys had 924 platinum+ and another 200-300 special invite & suite priority passengers on a ship that has a double occupancy of 2,680. While the Vista Journeys cruise, a ship with a base capacity of 3,934, had nearly 1,400 platinum + passengers and perhaps another 600 or so special invite and suite passengers that were also granted priority.

You may even find, once at the terminal, that the check-in appointment time you pick has less general boarding passengers than those in the priority line, since priority can ignore whatever time is picked and tend to show up early. You may want to aim to pick a check-in time between 12:30 and 1:30 that way less time is spent waiting for cabins to open.

This is what I plan to do. I do not have to check out of my hotel until noon. I plan to pick a check in time after that, so that I can spend as little time as possible hauling around luggage. I suspect by the time I get checked in and on board, it will be very close to my room being opened. I tend to have lunch before I board even, just to avoid the madhouse dash of having that first lunch on board that everyone seems to do. I am grabbing a drink and retreating to my room until muster. Good luck on your cruise and hope you have an awesome time!!

I spend the sea days eating lol!!! Breastfast (room service), brunch (mdr), lunch (mdr or lido), early dinner (mdr), late dinner (lido), comedy show, and midnight snack (varies). I go to an occasional show or activity as well lol. I always plan excursions for the entirety of my port days, so my sea days are recovery days usually. I love just being able to relax a bit.

If you are fit and like to hike (and will be there before 4.30 pm) you might hike up the viewpoint at Diamond Head:

http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/parks/oahu/diamond-head-state-monument/

I absolutely love to hike. I will definitely look into this. Thanks for the tip!

Looking forward to your review. I cruise to hawaii next year. I have a question, is the Molokini excursion available for Maui on your cruise? I noticed it as a new excursion under Maui, but it is not yet available for my cruise. Enjoy your cruise!!!

I recommend trying the bar and grill on the beach at royal Hawaiian and enjoy the sunset before heading back to ship. Drinks are expensive as the four of us ran up a 150 bar tab

 

 

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That sounds interesting. I might have to try that.

I will keep these in mind. Thanks! The bishop museum closes at 5 and the Loloni palace closes at 4. I would not really get to experience those after 3pm, although they do both look very interesting.

I will be docked in Honolulu from 9am til 11pm. I am going to be at pearl harbor until 3pm, but I am unsure as to what to do after that time. Some people have suggested Germaine's Luau, but I am already doing a Luau in Maui the previous day. I just am unsure of what else there is to do that late. Thank in advance!

I ordered 2 $100 ecards through AARP this morning. I have yet to receive an email with them. I usually get them through Verizon and receive them immediately. Is this the norm with AARP?

 

 

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No. Check your junk mail maybe. I got mine within a minute or two each time I have ordered them. Hopefully they will show for you.

I am looking for a decent camera that you can use underwater as well as for regular pics. I'm looking to spend less than $100. My husband will be the one doing the underwater pics so if it's easy to use then that's a plus.

 

 

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I do not know about finding one under 100$, but if you up your budget just a bit there is the fujifilm finepix xp120 or the Nikon coolpic w100. Those are likely about as cheap as you can get and still get somewhat decent pics.

Oh! So you can just hang onto the e mail of the Gift Cards for as long as you like and just apply them on Carnival's website whenever you're ready to use them? I didn't know that, but wanted to make sure those e cards worked so I went straight to Carnival to apply them because i've read stories of e mail cards not working. Though I know AARP is very reputable, I didn't want to take chances.

 

I would've got the Cheers package anyway so this just saves $20 bucks off it.

 

Does anyone know if you can you pre pay your gratuities and buy Cruise Cash with these gift cards too? If so, i'll get another $100 one and use $52 for the gratuities and the rest for the Cruise Cash.

Yes to both, although I think the cruise cash would be in specific intervals although I have never bought it, so I am not honestly sure. I just know you can use the gift cards for funshop purchases, so there should be no issues. The prepaid gratuities just add to your cruise balance, so you would pay those the same way you pay for your cruise. Whatever you do not use, you can add the day you embark at GS.

I just bought two as well. Saving up for my cruise late next year since they have no expiration.

I know there are hundreds of Sign and Sale questions, but cannot find an answer to this. If I already purchased the Cheers package, pre-paid gratuities, and purchasing excursions off site, do I need to put money onto my Sign & Sale card? What other purchases could I be paying for?

You will still be paying tax likely on some of the cheers drinks and I used my S&S to tip bc no way am I carrying around a bunch of $1 bills at all times. Also, it might be good to at least put a small amount in the off hand chance you decide to buy something on the ship. I particularly bought drinks in souvenir cups because the monkey coconut cups were too cute to pass up and cheers does not cover them. If nothing else, fund it with cash and then cash out at end of cruise.

I am going to Hawaii next year. On your excursions page, do they have the snorkle trip available in Maui? I have not seen it pop up for ours, so curious if it is showing for other Hawaiian cruises. Also, you will have 2 formal nights.

Harvey may be a cat 4 when it hits texas late friday to early saturday. They really are waiting for the last second to decide.

Carnival has a lot of comedy shows but Princess production shows put Carnival to shame.

 

Carnival will have a naturalist on board who will give daily lectures about the wildlife and culture of Hawaii.

Oohh, did not know this. I would love to go to these. Something to look forward to on my Hawaiian cruise.

Ok - Thank you so much for the information. I would eat steak and chicken but no fish. I think I will stick to the steakhouse.

This is part of why I have passed on Chef's table. I do not eat lamb, venison, veal, duck, or seafood (except shrimp and lobster). I feel like I would be rude to just skip a course because of this, so I only do steakhouse.