Sillyna511

Hi, I'm looking for input from anybody who has done a 7-day carnival cruise over a holiday. We'll be sailing the week of Christmas this year (Dec 21 - 28) and I have been told that the standard formal nights are always on the first full day on the ship, and the second-to-last full day on the ship - in my case, that would be Dec 22nd and Dec 26th. However, it seems odd that they wouldn't have formal night on Christmas Day.
 

Do they change the formal night schedule for holidays??

7 hours ago, Auralee said:

Photos purchased thru the app don’t qualify for the package - I am pretty sure I read that in the fine print FYI.(double check)

Yeah I’m aware the package deal is for prints, not digitals. 

23 hours ago, Sillyna511 said:

1. Does the canvas print have to be the same image as one of the 5 prints you choose? Or can it be a different photo, giving you 6 total shots?

 

Well I finally read the details a bit closer and saw that yes, the canvas will be of 1 of the 5 prints we choose. :) Sounds like that might make a great gift for grandparents... 😊

@Shaded Lady thank you! I didn't know that all the photos would be saved for us to search through. I suppose I would have known that if I'd planned on purchasing prints last time but it wasn't something I looked into. That's good to know!

Hi, I'm hoping to hear from people who have done the pre-cruise Pixels package for $99.98 that gets you 5 prints plus a canvas. 

I have a few questions about the logistics...

1. Does the canvas print have to be the same image as one of the 5 prints you choose? Or can it be a different photo, giving you 6 total shots?

2. Do they offer a way to save our various prints throughout the week, and then make our final selection of which ones to keep at the end? I've only done 1 carnival cruise, and we weren't planning to buy any photos but we'd go look just for fun. I recall that photos from the earlier days would get replaced with new prints. I would hate to pass on a earlier photo thinking it might not be a favorite, only to get to the end of the week and wish we'd chosen it. It would be stressful of having to decide on prints without having seen the photos not taken yet. 😃  If we can have any amount of our photos saved/held for us, and then on our final sea day look through the 20+ pictures of our family, and choose our top favorites to take home, and reject the rest - that would be ideal!

3. How is the canvas packaged? We'll have a flight back home and wouldn't want it to be damaged. 

4. And I suppose my last question - did you feel the package was worth getting? 

I really hope to be able to do this experience on our cruise with our kids (will be 8 & 9) in 2019. I would hate for it to be cancelled, it sounds like a wonderful experience + educational + a chance to help the local community. Plus, who doesn't love chocolate?!

Do it! I am at the realization that this Christmas might be the last one with my older son, or at least that we can plan on. He will be a junior in college, and while he can guarantee me that week, due to work and internships, he hasn't be able to guarantee me any summer weeks. It really does go too quickly!

I did it! We booked! Now to save, save, save, for the next 600 days! Haha. I can't wait!

Thanks for sharing! We are debating doing a Christmas 2019 cruise on the Conquest. We haven't 100% decided to pull the trigger on it yet, but I've got the booking sitting with a 48 hour hold right now LOL. I really really want to do a Christmas cruise with my kids while they're still young (they'd be 8 and 9 at the time of the cruise if we do it!) :)

Ok we ended up splurging and doing the Chef's Table... DO IT!! It was SOOO WORTH IT!! Everybody DO IT! :D They were even so accommodating to people with dietary restrictions. My husband doesn't eat any seafood, and he is allergic to tomatoes and we let them know and they made alternate versions of everything for him that didn't include any seafood or tomato.

I know I keep commenting on your review, and I hope that you don't think I am a nutjob stalker type person (I am not, usually, I promise!) but I would love to be on the same cruise as you and your dad sometime.

 

The one thing that I keep noticing is that there is NOTHING negative in your reviews. It poured down rain? Yeah, the rain was peaceful. Out of fridges? They kept the cooler full. You just do not complain. The positive outlook you keep no matter what is really awesome. Don't be freaked out if my mom and I show up on a roll call with you sometime. lol

 

Sherry

Agreed! So many reviewers seem to complain about every little thing. So refreshing to see you keep a positive attitude through it all! :)

OP: Please update us after you go. We are scheduled for a November sailing and reserved the Chefs Table as well.

 

 

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Well I think we've decided not to do it this time. We do want to take another cruise sometime, so we will keep it in mind to do next time! Maybe on a longer cruise where a break from the MDR will be more wanted, lol :)

We leave in 14 days on the Sensation, and I am considering doing the Chef's Table. It seems a bit expensive, but it will also seems that it will be a nice evening-long event.

Also, my husband doesn't eat seafood. Does anyone know the current menu? How much of the courses involves seafood that he wouldn't be partaking in?

Anybody done it on the Sensation recently and can weigh in how it was?

Just got the email from Carnival today. Our Oct 14th sailing (as well as the Oct 28th sailing) will not be going to Grand Turk as originally planned, but to Freeport Bahamas instead.

I am sad to be missing Grand Turk, but thats just a reason to cruise again in the future- I'll make it there someday!

We are cruising Oct 14th. It's a full month after the storm, so I'm not sure how affected the island will still be by the time we travel there. If they will still need help with anything by then, we'd love to help. Anybody know of certain items we could bring along that would be helpful?

I really enjoyed your review! I'll be sailing on the Sensation in 59 days (eek!) - not the same ship or even the same destinations, but your review got me very excited for my upcoming trip! I loved all your photos, and your family is adorable! :)

Hi, I'm planning to use a shuttle (QLS) from Port of Miami to FLL Airport. Our ship arrives back in port at 8am according to our itinerary. How much time should I allow for disembarkation, customs, etc? Would a 9am shuttle be too soon?

Thanks!

Ah. No, we don't have a PVP. We booked the cruise kinda through a travel agency, but not exactly. We were given a "free cruise" (we paid port fees & taxes) for attending 1 of those seminars where they try to sell you their travel product. :) We sat thru the presentation, declined their product, got our cruise voucher. Had to redeem it through them, and they got it booked. From there, I've managed the booking & purchased our excursions and such just on the carnival website. I guess if I just call Carnival customer service, I can talk to someone who will be able to tell me if we already paid gratuities or not? And can help me do that if we haven't?

Your PVP can help you prepay for your gratuities.

What's the PVP? :o So many acronyms on this site and I don't know what a lot of them stand for!

Thank you.

This is my first time cruising as an adult (aka the one doing the planning!)

I have a few further questions - I am thinking we should budget about $750 for spending during our 5-day cruise for 2 adults. Our excursions are paid for. We got Bottomless Bubbles. We are not big drinkers, so I'm estimating $30/per for each of us for drinks (specialty coffees, milkshakes, and prob 1 alcoholic per day) Then I am thinking $150 per port for food & souvenirs.

Is there anything I'm missing? Should that number be higher?

Also - I've seen talk of prepaid gratuities but I can't figure out how to actually purchase/pay for that? Was it something we had to do at the time of booking? I like the idea of having it all taken care of up front and not worrying about that being taken out of our expense account afterward.|

Thanks, experts! :D

What is the difference between getting Cruise Cash, or putting cash in our On-board Expense Account? Is one option better than another, and why?

Thanks!

No problem. Have a great cruise! I tried to copy and paste this but there are too many images for the administrator....GOOGLE is your best friend. Google "Zydecocruiser bar menu" and click on CCL 2017 menu with prices. For those undecided about purchasing Cheers, you can do the math and figure out if it's worth it for you. :wine-glass::cocktail::tropical-drink::beer-mug::bottle-pop::whiskey-glass: They have food porn too!

This is Perfect!!

I think we can easily budget for both of us to get 1 fancy coffee, 1 milkshake, and 1 alcoholic drink per day. And bring sodas & energy drinks with the 12 cans we're each allowed to bring on board. That should be about $20/pp - so only $200 for the week instead of $500+!

Someone responded about my question about bringing my own reusable water bottle by saying we can bring on cans of things and 1 wine but not bottles...but I would assume that means bottles of soda or other bottles of drink. I find it odd that they wouldn't allow you to bring a nice quality(empty) water bottle on board for use during the week? :/ Can anyone confirm that for me?

Or are there no drinking fountains or anything around the ship where I could even fill it? LOL

I drink water like crazy, all day long. I easily drink 12 cups - more if it's warm. So only having water during meals would be difficult for me. But if there aren't even drinking fountains there's no point having a water bottle with me. And I guess I'll have to budget to buy bottled water too.

Crusin Karen - Thank you, very helpful!

Thanks. I wasnt even thinking of bottled water... if we don't do bottled water, is it easy enough to get regular drinking water from anywhere for free? Are there drinking fountains if we bring our own water bottles? Do all of the restaurants provide a glass of water for free?

Hi, I'm brand new here, and without trying to read through the last 114 (!!) pages of responses, I'm hoping I can get some helpful info. :)

Hubby & I are going on our first cruise this fall. I'm trying to calculate if it would be worth it to get the Cheers program, but without knowing the typical price ranges of drinks on the ship that's a bit difficult!

We aren't huge drinkers. I may have 1 glass of wine or 1 cocktail per day. Hubby might have 2-3 alcoholic drinks per day.

But we like coffee, soda, milkshakes, etc.

Can anyone share what the prices are for those other drinks? If everything is twice as expensive as on land, then it *might* be worth it... but then again, both of us likely wouldn't have more than a few sodas, 1 specialty coffee or 1 milkshake each day.

Thanks in advance for all helpful replies! :D