groundloop

I'm cruising for the first time out of Baltimore and am trying to guestimate when we'll be passing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. 

Thoughts?

Thanks.

I see that on our upcoming cruise on Legend departure time is 5:00 PM (as opposed to the 4:00 PM I'm accustomed to at most other ports).  Can you still access cabins at 1:30?  (Instead of fighting the crowds we're going to arrive late this time).

On 7/3/2023 at 12:20 PM, Elaine5715 said:

Not all ships deliver, if any.  You usually have to go collect yourself.  

It depends on the cruise duration.  On 7 days and longer they deliver on the night before debarkation, on shorter cruises you have to make a trek to retrieve your goodies on debarkation morning. 

This must be a very recent change, I applied for OBC in April for back to back cruises and they were treated as two individual cruises as expected.  

I have to wonder if this is the result of a misunderstanding by someone in the office.  I'd consider complaining to John Heald.

Thanks for the input.  I went ahead and booked the aft balcony on deck 2.  I honestly would have preferred a higher deck, but the only other aft balcony cabins available are reserved for 3 or more guests..... I hate how Carnival does that.

But now I'm wondering if I screwed up, that cruise is going to be the week of President's Day.  As I understand it many school districts are out for that entire week.

On 6/19/2023 at 11:12 AM, Iamthesea said:

..... While there were multiple balcony staterooms available, we could not get a reservation for 2 persons in a balcony.  However, when I added the grandchildren, availability for 4 persons showed.  Doesn't make sense.  Why is that?

Carnival sets aside quite a number of cabins for 3 or more passengers, which obviously can limit the choices for a couple, I've been bitten in the butt by this several times.  I personally don't understand why they don't open up these cabins for couples once the similar cabins for two are all booked.

What MIGHT work is to book with a third name (it would have to be a real person so that you could put in their information at online check--in) and then just the two of you show up for the cruise.  The third person would be a no-show and you'd be refunded their taxes and port fees.  I've yet to try this, but  don't see why it wouldn't work.

Also, I was on Sunshine several months ago.  The ship seemed fine, the service and food were good and I have no complaints in that regard.  What I did notice though is that at times the ship felt quite crowded.  For instance the theatre is on the small side so you'd better show up early to get a decent seat.

2 hours ago, Detaximom22 said:

We stayed in 2499 on the June 15th sailing of the Venezia. The cabin was nice and the air conditioner worked well. There were two outlets and multiple USB plugs. The balcony was a good size with two chairs and a table.  There doesn't seem to be quite as much storage space as on other ships, but it was adequate.  Please let me know if you have any specific questions I may be able to answer. 

I was wondering about noise/vibration and any spray bothering you on the balcony.  I'd imagine you'd have mentioned any issues such as these, so it sounds like no problems with any of that.

From the deck plan it appears that these balconies are not bigger than a standard balcony, even though Carnival advertises them as "extended".  Any thoughts on that?

What did you think of being in an aft balcony so close to the water?

Normally we get balconies higher up, around deck 7 or so.  We've been in a cove balcony on deck 2 on Magic once and it was ok, didn't love it and didn't hate it.

I'm looking at an upcoming cruise on Venezia and wonder if anyone here has stayed in an aft balcony on deck 2 and if so what did you think of it?

2 hours ago, Cyn874 said:

 

 

Around 11:00-11:30 pm, the ship was rocking so hard that it was difficult to remain in a prone position on the bed without physically hanging on. In some cases, I heard people were sliding off the bed with their entire mattress onto the floor. The pitch/leaning of the ship was so steep that you had to climb your way to the bathroom by hanging onto the shelf in the cabin, and hang onto the edge of the sink to stay on the toilet. When I tried to call guest services and housekeeping about the broken glass in my room, the phone system was down. Silence from the bridge. 

 

Sometime after that (it's kind of a blur, but I think between maybe midnight and 2:00am) was when my ears started popping and things in my cabin started to fly off shelves and shatter, followed by the loudest boom/crash I've ever heard, that I thought was a life boat being torn loose and falling onto the decks below. I believe that was the sound of the wave hitting the side of the ship that caused balcony rooms all the way up to the 11th deck to blow open and flood, and the crew quarters below were destroyed. Silence from the bridge. 

 

I've been through a couple of fairly bad storms before. The worst one, we later found out, had us in about 20 foot seas for three or four hours.  From the description and photos I can say with certainty that you folks on Sunshine endured far worse.  

And I totally agree with your assessment that the situation was handled poorly.  I question the decision by the bridge crew to wade into that storm in the first place, as well as the lack of help from crew while passengers had to sleep in stairwells.  

7 minutes ago, TreyB said:

So you are saying your travel agent can book you the exact same VIFP rate and cabin category/deck/location with OBC from Carnival, and then they will give you extra OBC on top of that?

Yes, exactly.  The travel agent is sharing some of their commission in order to ensure customer loyalty.

15 minutes ago, TreyB said:

What is the difference between this with a TA and using the VIFP booking code on Carnival?  I always have an offer for OBC, I have $200 on Panorama for a seven day cruise in October. 

On Board Credit / Cruise Cash from my travel agent is always in addition to any OBC offers from Carnival.  

4 minutes ago, PROCRUISE said:

Now that pictures are appearing on the internet of flooded hallways, destroyed shopping areas and no word from the captain for 12 hrs, would indicate it was a little more than a slight bump in the night. CCL already offering FCC and refunds. Will await the law suits!

"Addressing the concerns, Carnival Cruise Line's Brand Ambassador, John Heald, reassured the public that the ship was never in danger during the storm. He emphasized that the captain made decisions prioritizing the safety of passengers and crew. In such weather conditions, where storms may span across large distances, avoiding them entirely becomes a challenging endeavor."

I generally like John, but in this case he's sounding like nothing more than a cheerleader, especially after seeing photos of the damage.  

18 minutes ago, Kuevan said:

mizLORInj - I used a travel agent as well and have an OBC for my upcoming cruise. The TA says the OBC has already been ordered - do you know where I can find this on the carnival website? Is there a way for me to verify that it's there before I sail? Thanks!

How it works with my travel agent (I'm guessing they're all similar, maybe I'm wrong) is that the travel agent on-board credit is given to me in the form of cruise cash.  I always have a note to this effect waiting in my mailbox when I get on the ship.  This won't show up on your booking information.

Also, their price is always the same as on Carnival's website.  I chose the cabin I want, chose the offer code I want to use, and then call my travel agent with that information.  They've been fairly generous with on-board credit and very responsive on the rare occasion I've had any questions or needed to make changes so they'll keep getting my business.

I wonder why the Captain made the decision to go into that storm instead of wait it out further away.  It's not like those conditions should have been a total surprise with currently available satellite weather technology.

On 5/11/2023 at 4:06 AM, Crew News said:

As a hobby photographer and since I shoot wildlife with my weatherproofed Olympus M1X and EM-1 MkIII, I cannot give you advice on Canon mirrorless accessories.

I'm also seriously considering ditching my Canon DSLRs and going to a Micro Four Thirds body.  It got to such a hassle dragging around my gear that I haven't taken it on a cruise since before Covid.

I'm leaning toward an OM-5, but the EM-1 Mkiii also looks interesting.  I don't shoot sports/action nearly as much as I used to, but it would be nice to be able to still do so from time to time.  (I'm looking at and ED 40-150 f4 pro and ED 12-45 f4 pro for lenses).

Thoughts?

15 hours ago, cruisecaptain16 said:

 

Advice, don’t take their first offer they have a lot of maneuvering once you get higher level management involved in your complaint.

My advice is to always look at a ship's deck plan before booking to make sure you're going to be happy with your cabin location (i.e. no noisy areas such as the galley etc. directly above or below).

On 5/14/2023 at 5:03 PM, evandbob said:

Pickleball is a major cause of senior folk getting injured, so hopefully medical help will be easily accessible to wherever the courts will be located on the ship.

From posts here concerning folks who have needed medical attention it sounds like Carnival is treating the medical facility as yet another revenue stream...... so having several dedicated pickeball courts could in fact be a money maker.  😁

One problem with the soda package for kids is that they tend to be ignored by bartenders.  My grandson  stood at the bar for 15 minutes waiting to get a soda, finally I walked up and was promptly waited on.

2 hours ago, FarmerNC said:

.... So if I just leave him on to be a no-show, I guess I will have to fill in his information anyway, right? Or at least someone's info...not necessarily his, since they won't actually be there?

That's my understanding.  But since guest 2 is TBA is there anyone else you could get to go?

I'd also suggest checking to see if the price has dropped since you booked (which I kind of doubt, but it never hurts to look).  If by some miracle it's dropped you could simply cancel, lose your deposit, and rebook at the lower rate.

8 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

I am sailing on the Pride in February 2024 to Panama. Is there a good place to sit on the ship and watch the locks?

I hope I get this correct, it's been awhile since I've been on one of the Spirit Class ships..... When we went through the Panama Canal on Pride you can go all the way forward on Lido deck and (if my memory is correct) there are some stairs off to the side where you can go down to a forward facing deck that gives you a great view as you go through the locks.  

It's also neat to go down to deck 3 where you'll be just about even with the side of the canal.

2 hours ago, FastShip24 said:

Not really.  Never waited more than ten minutes. Just check in on the app

They were talking about requesting the same server team every night....they very well could have a delay in getting a table in that situation. 

I've done that just one time, the hostess was annoyed that we were upsetting the apple cart but finally relented and the end result was that our requested server team had one extra table to take care of which slowed things down.  Since then when we do YTD we just go with the flow and take whichever table we're assigned, have never really had any problems.

We've used the laundromat on several Carnival ships and it's always been paid for with the Sign-and-Sail card.  We haven't used the laundry facilities on Dream but I see no reason why they wouldn't be the same as all the others.

Geez, yet another thread about Guy's fries/burgers (although I guess it's better than arguing about Covid).

26 minutes ago, BnDcruisers said:

I emailed the requested information, to shareholders@carnival.com, on May 4th, @9:30am ET and received a response on May 6th, @1:29pm ET, that the stockholder credit was applied to my account......

Yep, just send an email with your name, ship name, sail date, and booking number.  Attach a copy of your brokerage statement (or other proof of stock ownership) with account numbers and any other information you don't want to share blacked out.  Recently they've been getting back within a few days.