samiam0403

Wow... As a Platinum Carnival Cruiser as well as a ~10k+ point player, I think I may seriously have to consider switching lines or not playing on the cruises and saving my play for land based casinos. This was interesting to hear. I already get discounts/free Norweigan offers through Caesars Entertainment, but I have been resistant to change. I think its time to "jump".... Thanks for your post.

You're welcome - glad I could help. :) It's funny, I was a little leery about changing as well, but am so happy I did. It's not just the casino perks - although those are nice - it reminded me a little of what Carnival used to be like when I first started cruising, but better! And once I realized that NCL's mini-suites are often the same price as Carnival's standard balconies, I was sold. Of course, I haven't actually sailed in a mini-suite or standard balcony on NCL yet, but from popping my head in a few cabins as we debarked the ship, they looked quite nice. :) You should give it a shot! Get to know the casino host on your sailing, and as long as you're playing a fair amount, they should take great care of you. We got cash off our final bill, at least 2 bottles of wine and dinner for my birthday at the Teppanyaki restaurant. But then again, our casino host on the Sun was fantastic - they can't all be like that. Or can they...:D

I also got tired of the decreasing perks from Carnival Player's Club (my gambling budget has increased over the years, but my offers went from 'free suite for 7 nights' to '$100 casino cash' to nothing after my last ~10,000 point cruise), so I made the switch to Norwegian. Just finished my first cruise with them a few weeks ago and am 100% converted. I e-mailed CAS (Norwegian's casino dept) to see about maybe getting a 5-10% discount on my next cruise even though I'm a newbie who is still in the first tier of their system - I was pleasantly shocked when they called me back that day and offered me a comped ocean view (which I'm upgrading to a suite for about $600pp). Carnival who? :D

How many points did you have at the end of your cruise? One of my family members had 6000 on a 4 day cruise on the inspiration. Hit every dollar machine in the casino.

I just cruised on a quickie 3 day cruise on the Inspiration in December for Carnival cruise #17. 9000 plus points. Got a bottle of wine from the casino host and nothing that was promised from the players club. Got the mailer a few days ago for the 'premier casino cruises' with the 25% off 6 specific cruises and $400 casino cash. Way too little, way too late. I'm booking my 40th birthday cruise soon with NCL - better casino benefits, cheaper cruises, and am already looking at $500+ OBC for the 10 day cruise I'm booking. Once Ocean Players Club became Carnival Players Club, the good offers disappeared. I went from 'free 7 night cruise in a suite' offers to $100 casino cash and some other stuff that I never did get. Ah well. Time to move on and see what else is out there.

Vidimom - I hope you get your goodies! Please come back and let us know if you did. I know Marty promised me (via e-mail) at least $100 casino cash, fruit basket, bottle of wine, bottles of water and a photo coupon on my last cruise and I got zilch. I replied to her 'how was your cruise?' e-mail telling her that the ship had no record of anything from the Players' Club, and I haven't heard anything in response. Waited a month for a response, then e-mailed her (and all of the other CPC folks) again asking what happened, and still haven't gotten a reply. Really not trying to be snotty, but after earning over 9,000 points on a 3 day cruise, I would think they'd want to keep me. Guess not. After 17 Carnival cruises, I am finally doing what I never thought I'd do and moving on to NCL. Rumor has it they treat their casino players a lot better, and their cruises have been cheaper lately anyway. Don't get me wrong, I had an absolute blast on my cruise, but with all the changes on Carnival recently, it's time to see what NCL is like.

Mahya - exactly! I'm probably the only person who can say getting sent to Afghanistan likely saved my life. :D And I'm still in - probably won't have to go again since I need rather frequent checkups for the next 5 years. I miss deploying a little bit (have done about 15 or so and the extra money for cruises comes in handy!), but I wasn't all that jazzed about AFG, so I'm ok with it. :)

Lois - Thanks! Should be both fun and relaxing. No better vacation for me than looking at the sea by day and living it up when the sun goes down. :)

And thanks GTVCRUISER! Happy sailing to you as well.

Hi all! Well, after years of wanting to do it, I am finally booked on my first solo cruise leaving in 9 days. Yay! :)

I'm 39 and newly married - cruised a LOT with my ex, a few times with family, then divorced and cruised with my new husband. Solo cruising is just one of those things that I have always wanted to do, and my new hubby is the first person to 'get it.' After almost 20 years in the military, I've traveled the world by myself but found myself needing a break. You see, I was supposed to head off to Afghanistan this spring, but my pre-deployment medical tests had some abnormalities that turned out to be cancer. So after spending the summer and fall having treatment and finally being given the all-clear, I decided that this would NOT be the year that I got cancer AND didn't cruise. So I'm off on a quickie 3 night cruise out of LA next weekend. And I cannot wait. :D I have a feeling already that this may become a habit.

I always tip the drink servers an extra dollar or so on comped drinks - when the casino host used to buy them, and now that Carnival has the Drinks On Us program. As someone said earlier, good karma, and the drink service was magically faster...:D

you must wear closed toed shoes asa well. they sent a woman back to her cabin to change. they would not let her go otherwise.

Yep. Definitely need closed-toe shoes - I learned the hard way on the Legend a few years ago. :( I was so excited about the tour and was told when I showed up for it that I needed them. Unfortunately, I didn't have any on the ship. This was back when it was a new thing and there wasn't a lot of info on it. Maybe I'll get around to the tour on my next cruise...

I was on back 2 back cruises on the Carnival Dream in March. I just emailed the players club to see if I would get anything on my next cruise and they said that I qualified for $100 cash and a discounted cruise. Anyone have any experience with this? Will the rate be better than early saver?

Meatloafsfan - I received an offer in the mail from Carnival's Players Club about a month ago for $100 casino cash and up to 25% off a cruise. I'd been eyeballing a cruise in October, and ES rates weren't bad, but were staying the same for the last 2 months. I figured what the heck, and called today to see if that sailing qualified and what the discounted rate was. I think it worked out to 21% off the normal rate, and about $80 less than ES. She also told me if I needed to make changes (IE add another pax - I'm doing my first solo this time), that there wouldn't be a change fee, just the addition of 2nd pax taxes and fees ($52). So that's an added benefit over ES rates. So if you've got a cruise you're thinking of, give them a call and see - hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised like me! Oh, and yes - I booked the cruise and sent an e-mail to OPC. :D Am hoping to get another premium bon voyage package in addition to the free money and discount. Fingers crossed!:)

Samantha' date='

No, you are not crazy. I think most of us consider the 1A pictures show two "twin" beds, not "bunk" beds. When sailing as a solo, you have your Steward just leave the top one up against the wall or ceiling.

 

When I think of bunk beds, I think of where two twin beds are one piece of furniture with one on top of the other such as those in a child's room or those I slept in at Girl Scout Camp.

 

I sincerely hope this clears up the situation!

Kat [img']http://skins.*****/skins/mailskins/em/110105/110105_emYA42_prv.gif[/img]

Thanks much for the info. I guess in the photos it looked like a bunk bed to me, but I guess it was just the ladder and different bedding they show - almost like wool military blankets it looks like. :confused: I know they use the fluffy white blankets on twins so it kind of threw me.

Anyway, DH and I booked a 1A on the Holiday (U217) for the last ever sailing next November. We figured we could do the upper and lower for the price - especially considering the cabin has the picture window!

Thanks everyone for the help - apologies for my thick skull and not getting the upper/lower vs bunk beds thing right off the bat...:o

Thanks all for the help, but there IS a difference between bunk beds, and an upper and lower. Bunk beds are what is shown on the basic 1A pictures, and an upper and lower has a normal Carnival lower bed and an upper that folds out of the wall. Maybe I'm crazy, but I consider those 2 different things. :)

If you go to Carnival's website and click on "Funships" at the top, it will take you to links for each ship. From there, you can see the deck plan, which will tell you whether the cabin has a window, porthole, bunk beds, etc.

Oh, trust me, I'm a pro on the Carnival website (and most other cruise-related sites), but Carnival doesn't differentiate between bunk beds and upper/lower. That's what I was looking for. But thanks for the assist! :)

Does anyone know which aft 1A cabins on the Holiday (Carnival) have windows? And if they are bunk beds or separate twin beds? Help please?

I think I have 99% of the songs listed already, but here are some more on my cruise playlist:

Cupid Shuffle - Cupid (I know, dumb, but they play it on EVERY cruise and at EVERY Margaritaville, so it reminds me of cruising...)

All I Want To Do - Sugarland (watch the video)

Bartender Song - Rehab

The Boys of Summer - The Ataris

Caribbean Party - Morgan Heritage

Come Fly With Me - Michael Buble (for the plane ride...)

I've Been In Mexico - Blaine Larson

Laid Back 'n Low Key (Cay) - Alan Jackson

Me Love - Sean Kingston

Mexicali Blues - Greatful Dead

Operation: Working Vacation - Sugarland

Pour Me A Vacation - The Great Divide

Soak Up The Sun - Sheryl Crow

This Summer - Squeeze

Samian - why does it say Cool Cruiser under our names?? I am rather new to the boards.

Thanks.

The title under your name is indicative of how many posts you've made on the boards. Kind of like an experience level...I don't know the cut-offs, but Cool Cruisers means we haven't posted a ton...Hope this helps a little!

And here I thought it was just me! I also puff up on a cruise, and came up with what I thought was an ingenious solution. :D I took a bottle of Midol along and took 1 or 2 each morning. It helps with a) bloating, b) aches and pains and c) has caffeine to help with being tired. Perfect solution for me! Also works really well for those early morning shore excursions after a few too many boat drinks. :D Don't know why I never thought of it before, but it worked like a champ on our cruise this month. 15 days on the Imagination and no puffiness! (As a disclaimer, if you're taking any other medication check with your doctor...)