JerseyGirlJen

8 hours ago, evandbob said:

We moved from Westchester, NY to Ft Myers in southwest Florida about 3 years.  It's mostly tropical weather, e.g. last February we had 85 to 95 degree temps and this month it's been mainly 80 -85.  You would think we found a permanent "vacation" year round home

 

I had planned to sit on some beautiful beaches like Lovers Key or Barefoot and wallow in sunshine and fishing opportunities.  However, red tide has poisoned many of the beaches here with an 18 month spell right after we moved here.  Manatees, sea turtles, dolphins, and even a whale shark, not to mention TONS of dead fish washed up on all the beaches and waves sent the toxins into the beach side air.

 

The recent spate of toxic red tide has lasted about 6 months and seemed to be abating.  However, today's local paper has a story about Terns and other sea birds being poisoned by it and showing neurological damage.

 

Ironic that the Hudson River in Sleepy Hollow where we used to live is cleaner and safer than the Gulf waters here in SWFL.  My permanent vacation home is yet to be found.

I can appreciate where you're coming from.  That's a completely backwards situation.  I hope the sea life and beaches will recover.

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

DH and I are planning a similar trip to Ft Lauderdale as well in a couple weeks.  The hotel we stay at is a few blocks away from the beach and looks kinda like a cruise ship with it's art deco design.  Looking forward to warm, balmy breezes!😎

I hope you have a great time!  I'll be at Hilton Marina.  So looking forward to just chill-axing at the pool and just enjoying life.

1 hour ago, drakes2 said:

I stayed at the Hilton Marina once think it was 2016 but was not as nice in big need of a renovation although pool area was good. Carpet in front entrance dirty and shabby looking. Renaissance on the other hand is always nice with beautiful pool area and lots of restaurants and shopping close by. Can be expensive depending on time of year.  I think I took an uber to the port for around $7.00. 

As I stated, the Marina just went through a heavy renovation last year, it's in great shape now.

As others have stated 17th Street is a great location with walking distance to stores, restaurants, etc.  

I also vote for Hilton Marina, but have stayed at the Embassy Suites as well.  Hilton is recently renovated, ES is worn, but has a nice pool area and includes a free hot breakfast.  I choose Hilton if I had a choice between the two.  It's a great location right on the intracoastal, beautiful pool, and literally right next to the cruise port.  

There is also a Renaissance, Hyatt Place, and a Holiday Inn Express in that area too.  

I just recently booked a long weekend in Ft. Lauderdale, which is coming up in a couple weeks.  Flying...have a big credit from United so I'm putting some of it to use.  Sort of doing the "pre-cruise" part of the vacation, without the cruise.  Nice pool, cocktails, Kindle, sunblock.  Just need a few days away.  

I typically travel to northern New England for my other vacations, and spend time in the woods in the summer and on the mountains skiing in the winter.

11 hours ago, maynovmom said:

I have an April 2022 8 day cruise booked with an FCC from April 2020. I honestly feel now I won’t even be sailing then. Like another said I won’t want to cruise with masks and covid rules although I am a true believer in social distancing and masks day to day. When I switched my cruise like many others I had faith this was going to be resolved by 2022. Now I am not convinced and feel I’ll end up losing the FCC due to Carnival going under or not wanting to vacation at sea masked and with thousands of people onboard. It’s a shame. I’ve loved the 18 cruises I’ve taken. 

Same here.  I don't want to spend my vacation that way.  I booked my February 2022 in the summer of 2020 on a FCC, and I thought "it's a year and a half away, a lot will change".  Now, I think "not so much".  

Its disappointing because I'm finally at a point when I am able to cruise every year, sometimes twice a year, and now...this.  😭

On 2/9/2021 at 4:55 AM, ScratchTheRat said:

Okay let's do a new question.... What is the ONE thing you love most about Carnival specifically?

I like that it's not "snooty" and the crowd is a lot of fun and very friendly.  People are always chatting each other up and making new friends all the time. 

Even 2023 cruises have a check in date of 10 days out.  We'll see how it all plays out.

I have an 8 day booked next February, and I think if it does go it'll be one of the first ones out of the gate.  I hate to say it, but I do hope it gets cancelled because I don't imagine it being a fun time with masks, restrictions, etc.  If it doesn't get cancelled I will take a chance and bump it out as far as the calendar allows.

try logging out and then logging back in

17 hours ago, jsglow said:

We're generally itinerary folks as it pertains to Carnival.  That said, right now they could sail pretty much anywhere and we'd be happy! Well, maybe not New Jersey!  🤪

This cracked me up!  🤣I don't blame you, Ive been plotting my escape for a looooong, long time!  I will say we do have awesome pizza and great bagels in northern NJ.  

On 2/9/2021 at 8:31 AM, stellarose said:

I have heard about possible reservations for pools etc, but nothing concrete.  now things change daily.  we all have to wait and see.  

Oh wow I missed that one. You're right, it changes so often we'll just have to see what the final outcome is.  

I book with close to an equal balance of both ship and itinerary.  However, all things equal I'd choose ship because weather or other issues could always prevent you from going to a certain port.  Itinerary is certainly important, but I also enjoy exploring a new ship, and if you're not thrilled with the ports you can spend more time on board doing activities and enjoying while everyone else is in port.  If you cruise enough eventually you're going to duplicate ports.  You can always do different excursions in each port than you did the time before.  

5 hours ago, baldilocks said:

We did the 12 meter yacht experience in Cozumel and loved it. My wife got to be the start time keeper. I got to be lazy passenger....much older guy with a lot of youngsters. They got the 'hard' work...and you do work. We won our race by about 1-2 meters over the Canadian boat. Our captain said we won it by doing one of the some of best tacts he has ever seen of an amateur  crew...and he meant it. We did have a number of the crew who were experienced sailors. 

Thank you!  Unfortunately the cruise was cancelled, but when I can get a cruise going to St. Maarten again I'm still really interested in doing it, it looks so fun!

My February 2022 cruise was rebooked from my cancelled Sunrise 2021.  I chose February 2022 because, as of this past summer, I thought "its a year and a half away a lot can change". Now that it's only 1 year away I'm hoping its cancelled because, it it goes, I don't anticipate it will be a fun time with all the restrictions.  If it's not cancelled I will wait until close to final payment is due and then rebook out as far out as possible.  

In the meantime I recently took a chance on a low deposit and booked NOLA in January 2023.  2 years away...keeping fingers crossed.

I took my first NOLA cruise on the 3 years ago and have been looking forward to going back as soon as I left.  It was my first time there and I really enjoyed it.  There's so much to do...last time I only had 1 day prior to the cruise but next time I'm flying on Thursday to have full days on Fri/Sat.  Cruising down the Miss is really a near experience.

On 2/12/2020 at 9:09 AM, dthogue said:

do you think  could make an 11:30 flight ok?

 

I had an 11:25 flight and was off the ship at 8:30, and through security at the airport by 9:20....there was literally no one in line but me, of course that was a lucky break but even if there was a line I was still there 2 hours early.  

January 2023

14 hours ago, MikeandLinda2010 said:

I am ready to cancel our cruise in January now.  This sounds like a miserable vacation.  My husband wants to wait until we have to before our final payment.  

Same.  I'm set to go next February, I'm waiting until final payment is near and then either cancelling or pushing it out as far as the dates on the calendar go.  Bring on 2024.  I can see that balcony cabins are going to be very popular.

6 hours ago, ScratchTheRat said:

Today's question: What is most important to you when booking a cruise?

 

• The Dates
• The Itinerary
• The Ship
• The Price
• Other (Please Specify!)

Dates

Ship

Price

Itinerary

Embarkation port

Chocolate melting cake and burritos from Blue Iguana, and Serenity Deck.  I miss waking up at 3am (smiling of course) to catch a very early morning flight to my embarkation port a day or two before we embark.....and all that cruise countdown excitement as it gets from triple digits, to double, and then a week or so away.  I took a chance the other day and booked with $100 deposit on the Glory for January 2023....a girls gotta dream, and I have been looking forward to going out of NOLA again since I debarked in 2018 🛳️☀️🌴

My card was cancelled long before my cruise got cancelled, and eventually my card was purged in the banks system.  Carnival did refund, but it went into a "cloud" somewhere.  The investigation team at the bank was able to eventually find it and I did get the money, but it took a few months.  I had made many smaller payments with that card so tell your bank if it's one large payment totaling $X or if it's many payments of, lets say, $50, so then they can find it easier.

Hilton Marina does have a shuttle to the port.  The water taxi stops right at the hotel, the stop is under the bridge.  Coconuts is a good choice for dinner if you're going to take the water taxi.  Plenty of restaurants within walking distance on 17th St.  

A word of advice from someone who did what you're thinking of doing....I bought $25 and $50 increments of cruise cash (and also made small payments on my cruise for almost 2 years before it was cancelled), and it was a HUGE PITA 🤯 for me to track all those small payments from 2018-2020 to make sure I got the proper refund.  

Did I get refunded?  Yes.  But what would I do different next time?  I would put all those small payments aside in an envelope, separate savings account, etc. and when final payment comes due I'm paying in full.

Also...my December 2020 cruise was booked in the fall of 2018.  The Visa attached to my Carnival account from 2018-2019 got compromised and was cancelled.  When Carnival went to refund me it was quite a project for my bank to find the "missing" $900+ refund Carnival sent because by July of 2020 that compromised Visa was purged in the system and the money was hanging in a cloud somewhere.  The bank had to go back and find all those small payments to total out the $900 and actually credit my account.  Lesson learned.

Probably 1.5 hrs is my max, even then I'd probably drive down he night before and stay closer to the port.  Anything to extend the vacation!  Plus, you just never know when there's going to be an incident that completely shuts down interstates or other major roads.