Linda the Book Lover

18 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I think they do care.  If you managed a restaurant, you would want servers running back and forth from other restaurants bringing food into yours?  I think not.  It causes delays, longer wait times for other customers let alone working already over worked butlers to the brink.  I am not being argumentative but that is not a perk assigned anywhere from the Haven page.  Many years ago people would write here how they would get specialty dining appetizers for free in the Haven restaurant.  NCL stopped doing that several years ago.  If you want a specialty dining appetizer you must go to that restaurant and pay.   If you have been sailing NCL for over 10 years, you have seen the changes. The Haven restaurant is for guests of the Haven to eat. It is not an extension of your cabin to get food deliveries.  Having said that, you could score a ship where they may try and make it happen but its definitely not encouraged.  In 2010 on Epic when NCL had lobster night, it was an offering since the Haven did not have lobster on the menu.  But that again was the old NCL.

I agree with you on I never saw this mentioned. There have been a few changes but I have found those working in the Haven to be accommodating but then again we never ask for much. We sailed on POA in the suites (no Haven there) and we asked for our usual warm chocolate chip cookies. Our Butler God bless him brought enough for the three of us (my DD and DGD and myself) after I explained it was something Grandpa looked forward to each night when the two of us sailed and my granddaughter wanted to tell him she had them too when she got home. It will be interesting to see in 2023 if the Haven has changed when we sail the Escape. 

So I wonder why hasn't the PVSA act gone away like other things which have been added and subtracted.  

Excited to no longer have to add getting tested to my pre-cruise list! Thank you Carnival Corporation.

WillCruiseForMoney,

Wow I came upon this when I was just sitting and reading to give myself a break from "reading a book" (I know I am still reading..LOL) and boy am I impressed! Thank you so much for putting this together!

1 minute ago, canes20 said:

With testing no longer going to be free, I can see the lines dropping the testing requirement. Covid is not going to go away and will be here. Just keep the vaccination requirement and let the testing go away.

I would love the no testing! As soon as there is a third booster I am running to get the latest one. Sure you can still get whatever you are getting vaccinated for but at least it will not be as bad. 

We have been on three cruises in less than a year and each one we have gone and gotten tested. One time the place closed down to testing so off I went in search of another testing facility. It is true many are tired of this procedure but I feel it will sadly remine at least a few months more.

Great news for myself, daughter and granddaughter our bid for SJ cabin on Pride of America was accepted. We bid $600/$1200 total. We originally booked B1 an aft facing cabin. We are going to love the extra space. We sail on Sunday, June 18th.  

3 hours ago, Mrsmeliger said:

Just an update:

My husband and I were in a club balcony suite.

I bid on five haven categories for the 7 day Bliss cruise ranging from 750 pp to 1030 for the spa haven suite.  

All bids were rejected.

Received the rejections the day before.

 

Hope this helps everyone.  

 

Best of luck to you all!

 

Unfortunately, we were not able to accept your offer to upgrade to The Haven Spa Suite with Balcony (H9) for your cruise below. 

Sail Date	Ship	Offer per guest
May 28, 2022	Norwegian Bliss	$1,030 USD per person (only the first and second guest will be charged)

Thanks it does help and I appreciate you sharing. It is interesting to see what others have bid. I do think the winning bid amount also has to do with the amount of people who are bidding as well as price. Maybe next time.

1 hour ago, swehrheim said:

Yes I know it was but part of our fare was to have 2 free specialty dining and we already have prepaid gratuities for that which are more than 50.00. When RC changed our room with prior notification they comped us 150.00 ob credit.

We paid $39.60 for the dinner service charge for the "2 free specialty meals" and they gave us $50. Not a refund of what we paid so basically we received $10.50. Since there is three of us, and I still have two platinum dinners and will make reservations to enjoy one night at each of the specialty dining venues in Cagney's and Jefferson's Bistro and use the 2 free for the third person each time. We enjoyed POA before and Cadillac Diner was a favorite.

On 6/3/2022 at 7:08 AM, BigRedFan said:

We cruised Hawaii way back in 2004 on the Wind.  At that time they did the full group of the Islands and then sailed 2 full days down to Kiribati which was an interesting port stop and then 2 full days back to Hawaii.  It was one of our best cruises ever.  They should bring that itinerary back and bypass the US crew requirement.

We loved the Wind and sailed her twice, before and after stretch. One time was Hawaii and it was a wonderful time. I was sorry she no longer sails.

Glad to hear the Steakhouse wa great. We ate at the Steakhouse on the Miracle which was excellent and the Radiance which was a huge miss. They had to send for another chef because Bless the one trying to do the steaks it was a catastrophe. We were told the chef was very new. Of course we will eat at the Steakhouse once again! Carnival always does it best at least in my opinion to ensure you have a great time. 

We sailed on the Miracle last November and the Radiance in March so we are really looking forward to our sailings this year on the Panorama. I agree I so love the new muster, so easy and quick as well. We do not sail the first time on the Panorama until July so I am hoping more food options will be available. Did your parents and husband enjoy the sky ride? 

54 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

We had the last cabin on 7 starboard (7453) before the Havana area, an extended balcony L room, that backs up against the staircase I believe you're talking about, but it was marked "crew only". It was frustrating because I had planned to use that as well and all indications/maps showed it as accessible but it was not. The folks in the Havana cabins that were further back also had to use the hallways to the main aft stairs/elevators so I don't think there was another way even though is shows on the map like any other stairwell. I also had no lounger on the balcony, it was replaced with an adjustable "sun chair". I requested a lounger and it was shot down. Hopefully, you get a lounger or two. Have a great cruise!        

I think you are right the staff stairs may be the stairs direct to the Havana area. I will definitely ask for a lounger, as I have been known to ask even on a small balconies. 😃

21 minutes ago, callmehalia said:

5 bids on various categories, and only heard the morning of the cruise at around 2am that they were all turned down.

Sorry

Counting down the days and wondered if anyone has stayed in this cabin. I heard there is a back staircase from Deck 7 to the Havana area.  Thanks for your help.

4 hours ago, NoahtheRed said:

Same deal here. We sail out on Sunday. Only difference is there appears to be 1 or 2 haven cabins left still....and I've got a pretty solid bid...so we'll see what happens. 

Now that we're inside the 2 day window though, the chances of last minute cancellations has gone up as people get their pre-cruise covid tests. Also, the weather in Florida seems to be throwing off air travel all the way to the Rockies right now, so weather related cancellations might be on the menu as well.

Let us know when we check in if you get the surprise of a new cabin. 

9 hours ago, steamboats said:

We´ve been on the May 14th cruise. There were no reservations for Skyline available. We had to go, get a paiger and wait. Longest wait was 40 min. You might better get a drink ahead as the closest bar is the John Adams Café.

 

We boarded late due to a pre cruise tour. We almost missed the safety drill. So past 5 pm it was not easy to get a reservation. We were lucky and got one for Jefferson´s Bistro the same day. But most times which were availble were 8 pm or later.

 

So better get you reservations done as soon as possible.

 

steamboats

We are going to try and get the reservations as soon as we board. Once they are taken care of we will grab a bite to eat while we wait for the cabin to be ready. Since we sailed on her and would have enjoyed pool/ocean days at the hotel pre-cruise we can stand in line before doing anything else.

2 minutes ago, markkw07 said:

We did not make a reservation for skyline until the night we actually went, which was later in 

the cruise. We only ate in Skyline 1 time.  I would definitely ask them at the specialty dinning reservations if you would be able to do that. I don't see why not? 

Huge thanks once again!

16 minutes ago, travel_gal123 said:

What time did your edocs say or what time did you get there?

Do you think if I went they would allow me to sign up for my group(Several are going to Pearl Harbor). As a platinum member, I think I am supposed to have a conceirge that helps with dining and shows, etc. 

I am also platinum but I personally have not had good luck with the concierge service except of course in the Haven.  I am going to take Markkw07’s advice.

26 minutes ago, markkw07 said:

Hello,

 

I just sailed on POA, April 30- May 7, we had the same constraints with the restaurants. We booked 

AS SOON AS we stepped on board. They were doing the reservations at the East Meets West Restaurant on Deck 5 across from Guest Services. We were able to get our desired dining times, however we were in Group A to board the ship. As the day went on, I would think prime dining times

would be getting taken. So, best advice, book ASAP once you get on board. As you already know, Cagney's and Jefferson's Bistro are the only restaurants available. 

 

Thanks! We will do exactly this. Could you also book Skyline as well?

I received the email this morning advising our restaurant reservations are canceled and we need to rebook on the ship. Will we get the same days and times, most likely not but we will survive. This will be our second time on POA and my granddaughter is so excited to sail on her once again. We recently laughed and talked about the pretzel rolls and the Cadillac Diner we will enjoy. I guess we may enjoy them more this trip. We actually booked two ship excursions this time around instead of the private ones from last time, which is also something else to look forward to this upcoming trip. The ship's restaurant issue is a non-issue for us as between pre and post time spent at the Hale Koa and 12 days in Hawaii - for us it doesn't get better than this. I am curious from those who recently sailed if earlier times for restaurants were harder to get once you booked onboard?

1 hour ago, Kanga777 said:

It is actually "processing" is what you want to see.  Hopefully the "pending" will move to "processing"... Hope I didn't steer you wrong!

 

Whew! Thanks for the information. Both of my bids say pending so I will wait for the processing word since it will be another 20 days until we sail. It is early yet but this is my first time bidding. 

On 5/20/2022 at 10:20 PM, CloverCricket said:

I was awarded a Penthouse with Large Balcony from a regular balcony stateroom. Received the email while on our flight to Honolulu for the Cruisetour portion of our Hawaiian cruise. My bid was classified as “poor” so pretty surprised I got it.

I bid for this cabin as well. I am hoping my "poor bid" actually gets a win. 

5 minutes ago, WanderlustJourney said:

 

I am considering doing a live review, this will depend on time, etc 🙂

I will be filming my experience for my YouTube channel and in a proper blog post on my website with menus, photos, etc.

As we are getting closer I would like to read an update since we have not sailed POA for a couple of years. 

55 minutes ago, MacII said:

We have only booked NCL excursions (and a slew of them). I'm wondering if it's easy to do it on your own or if you are just more savvy than the average bear...

The last time in Hawaii pre-COVID, we booked all of our excursions through local channels and also from recommendations from others doing the same,.We had a great time! We only had one huge miss on a day tour through Viator and they took care of it to our satisfaction. We loved the small groups of 6-8 people. On Maui we walked to the bus station and took the bus to the aquarium for a behind the scenes tour (traveling with my granddaughter but I think I loved it more). We found locals to be very friendly and happy to give us directions. We also book local companies on other cruises as well though the last three post-COVID restrictions in back to sailing, we booked through the ship except Catalina.