CGrey93

13 hours ago, iheartmarshall said:

I did this excursion pre-Covid so some things may have changed but here's what I remember from my experience.  I also did the South Beach/MIA dropoff tour this past June and it operated fairly similar as far as debarking/arriving at the airport. 

 

1 & 2. You'll be given your excursion tickets designating a time/place to meet to debark the ship (usually it's the theatre or lounge).  This should be around 7:30am and once cleared, they'll let you off the ship by your excursion group and direct you to which bus is yours.  You will have to take your luggage with you and they'll load it under the bus for the duration of the tour. 

 

3. Yes; you'll receive your tickets in advance that tell you when and where to meet in the morning as well as what to do with your luggage (although you'll keep it with you).  You may get those tickets at the beginning of your cruise with the rest of your excursion tickets (if purchased) or they may arrive in your cabin the day before you leave. 
 

4. No; it's a charter bus and they grouped luggage by airline so it's an easy on/off when they drop you at the appropriate terminal. 
 

5. Yes; they will ask you which airline you're flying out of and will drop as close to that terminal as they can.  I say as close to because there's only certain areas that the buses are allowed so you may be dropped on the ground level but have to go up one for the ticket area.  However, they will drop you at the appropriate airline terminal. 
 

6. On both of our post-MIA airport transfer excursions, we were at the airport by 1:00pm at the latest. 
 

7. I did this one in December and remember wearing leggings, a tank top, and a cardigan.  That was also my travel attire so I wanted to be comfortable but dress in layers in case I got cold on the plane.  I remember it working well for the excursion too. 
 

8. Use the bathroom before you board the bus!  Depending on the bus, you may or may not be allowed to use the restroom.  I remember on our Everglades tour, they would not let us use it and I had to pee SO bad that I was about to burst when we finally got to the tour location.  However on our South Beach one this past June, they were open but it was preferred only for number one or emergencies. 
 

9. Don't stress about arriving to the airport on time or catching your bus.  As long as you follow the excursion instructions they give you, you'll be fine and you'll make it to your terminal in plenty of time.  I'd also take a snack with you since it might be a while before you're able to each lunch. 
 

10. I'd say 2-3.  I recall our driver/tour guide tips being together ($10 - $20) but we also tipped the airboat driver. 

 

Wonderful information! Thank you so much! 

3 hours ago, NMCruiser55 said:

We've done this excursion and will be doing it the week before you.🙂
We left our luggage out and did not have any problem.
Unfortunately, I can't remember if there were multiple drop offs at the airport or what time we got there. We had no problems at the airport.
I wore a t-shirt and capris but that was in the fall. 

Hold the baby alligator! I think a donation is requested.
Don't know how helpful this is. I just remember the fun or really annoying parts of travel. 🙃

Thank you! This was very helpful! If you're not saying, "I remember that excursion! What a nightmare!" then we're all good. I appreciate the feedback. I'm not nervous about it, really. Worst case, they leave without us and we go to the airport on our own, check our luggage, and go do something on our own. I've just never done a post-cruise excursion, so I figured I'd get some info so I don't feel quite so lost.

15 minutes ago, jsglow said:

@CGrey93, as a fellow Sconnie I'll do my best to help you out as best as I can.  BTW, welcome to Cruise Critic.  While I've not done what you are describing, I can at least get the ball rolling as I have taken the Carnival airport bus, just never in Miami.  FYI, you'll probably get this thread moved over to the FLA departures board.  I'd recommend doing some reading there.  Here goes:

 

1) 8a isn't early. Fully 1/3 of the ship will be off by then.  If I'm exaggerating it's only slightly.

2) I'm fairly confident that you won't necessarily have to handle your own luggage but not 100% sure. A quick discussion with the Excursions Desk during the cruise will answer.  I suppose that's true of all your questions truthfully.

3) Can't help.

4) Never a problem that I've heard about.  Your suitcases will remain locked in the underbelly.

5) Can't help but anyone that's done ANY form of Carnival transport to MIA will be able to verify.

6) My guess is that they leave the Everglades at 11:30 and drive one hour back.  No worries.

7) I have been in the Everglades in January.  In FLA they panic when it gets below 70 and turn on the propane heaters! I believe I wore shorts and had a light Packers sweatshirt handy that day. 🟩🟨 Your issue is more about changing once back in MKE! (You know Mitchell Field does a winter coat check, right? Brilliant!) I was actually shocked at how few bugs there were.

8)9) There's alligators.  Don't pet them.

10) Nope.
 

LOL! You crack me up! I'm not afraid to pet alligators, I've raised 8 kids. Thanks for the help :-). We're actually flying into Green Bay, since we live in Kimberly. Driving to Milwaukee when it's 70 and sunny is already more stress than I need. Adding winter weather is too much. It's not the snow and ice I mind, it's the other drivers. I swear, every time it snows around here, I suddenly see a gazillion people who have seasonal amnesia and have completely forgotten that ice is slippery. Or on the other end of the spectrum, people who think one snow flake will cause their vehicles to careen over the side of a cliff if they drive in excess of 5 MPH. 

For anyone who has done this excursion post-cruise, I have some questions I'm hoping you can help with.

1. 8AM seems really early. I thought 8AM was when they STARTED debarkation. Was there any difficulty getting off the ship and to the excursion on time?

2. Can we put our luggage out the night before as usual, or will we need to take our own luggage off in order to make it to the bus?

3. Did Carnival provide excursion information the day before, as they do for other excursions? If so, were the instructions clear and helpful?

4. Did you have any concerns or problems with leaving your luggage on the bus?

5. When they drop you at MIA, are you able to request a specific entrance? I ask because MIA is huge! I know that we need to be at the South Terminal for our Delta Flight. We'll still have some hiking to do, but it would be nice to at least be at the correct Terminal.

6. The times listed are 8-11:30, but the excursion information says it is for people with flights after 3:30 PM. Our flight isn't until 6PM, so we should be more than fine. Do you recall what time they had you to the airport?

7. Lastly, has anyone done this excursion in the winter? I'm wondering about what to wear. It's Miami, but it's winter, and I know we'll be in the everglades for part of the time. Was it cool? Were there a ton of bugs? Shorts or jeans? Anything else you recommend?

8. Anything you wish you had known ahead of time?

9. Anything we should make sure we do or don't do?

10. Besides the shuttle driver, how many people might we need to tip? (I'd like to have cash ready).

Thank you so very much for any help you can provide!

24 minutes ago, amydresh said:

 

Wow!  I live in NE Wisconsin and i just got a Real ID this past summer.  Walked in and was out in about 20-30 minutes.  They don't allow license plate renewals there anymore though, you have to do that all online, so that definitely frees up the lines a little.

I'm NE Wisconsin as well. Appleton area. My husband took our son for his temps on Saturday. 30 minutes. I think they do a nice job. It used to be worse, but when they switched to different lines for different things and the whole number and letter system, it got so much better. I don't really know how it works, I just know that it does.

15 minutes ago, Thenagers said:

(sigh) thank you for the information. Carnival (whom I love), drives me crazy. I can literally go to 3 different places on their website right now where it says that Suite guests do not get that. I give up. As long as the Cheers! package still lets me order booze, I'm just gonna roll with it.

There are varying opinions on what is and isn't included for suites and FTTF (and Diamond and Platinum for that matter). Even Carnival's own site contradicts itself in more than a few places. Also, Carnival's website and shore excursion description say FTTF will have their rooms ready as soon as they board, while their brand ambassador, John Heald, just posted that they can't guarantee it (face palm). But the one thing that's universal (at least as far as I have ever seen across at least a dozen sites), is that suite guests do not have access to the dedicated service desk line/phone number. So, even though it's pricey if that's all you get, for me, it's worth it. I have seen some of those lines. If it saves me 30-60 minutes of vacation time, and a lot less stress, then I consider it money well spent.

4 hours ago, pinto18 said:

Not to make you grab more Xanax..( r maybe it will make you feel better) but in my experience the express luggage is useless. I honestly dont believe they look at the "priority" tags. We have had luggage come quickly , and sometimes take forever, sometimes one suitcase comes and hours later the other..

I was just joking about the Xanax, by the way. I realized after I posted that some folks might think I'm seriously that freaked out. I'm not. It's a minor annoyance, really. I am a nervous person, but not THAT nervous, LOL. I did see this, though. This is a picture of our boarding pass when we last cruised. We had a suite in that cruise too, and we bought FTTF for that trip as well, since we like the dedicated line at the service desk. I am showing you that, so you can see the FTTF logo. Next, here's a close-up of my current luggage tag. Does that look like the FTTF logo peaking out from behind the priority logo to you? It's only on the first tag, not on the others. 

2 hours ago, coops said:

Ours updated right away.

Yeah, I can't find anyone else having a problem. There definitely is something going on, though. If I click on shore excursions, and find it that way, it would let me add to cart and buy again, even though I already did. If I bring FTTF up under "categories", then it recognizes it as already bought and won't let me buy it again. Since I had $500 in credit, I played around about. I went back to shore excursions and bought it again. Luggage tags still didn't update. Then I refunded both FTTF purchases I had made, so it no longer showed at all. Still the same luggage tags (obviously, but I just checked anyway). Then, I went back in and brought it up under categories and purchased it again. Still no change. Also, it still does the same thing where I could buy it again under shore excursions, but not when I bring it up under categories. Anyways, it shows in booking and order details, I have the email confirmation, and all my cruise credits are exactly where they ought to be after all my fooling around. Obviously, I'm not going to mess with it anymore. I have almost two months until we cruise, so I'll just wait a bit and see if things work out on their own. When I do online check-in at the end of Dec. I'll be able to get boarding passes. As long as it shows on there as it should, I'm not gonna worry about it.

5 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Try a different computer where you never downloaded the luggage tags. It's possible your computer isn't refreshing the file and is loading the previously downloaded one.  Clearing the cache may not clear downloaded files, depending on settings. 

Great idea! I tried it on two different computers, and I also tried logging in with my husband's account. Still not there, but it was still a really good idea, and I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

33 minutes ago, notscb said:

 

You have two options here, really.

1) Continue to worry about it

2) Believe the Carnival rep, wait a day or two and let the system catch up to itself and see if what the Carnival rep said was true. You called the company responsible, you have to be okay with their answer.

 

FWIW, FTTF was available for about two hours today on my own cruise planner, and by this evening was completely sold out for a sailing in three weeks, aka a TON of people bought it today. The systems are slow, give it some time to catch up, and if it doesn't, call Carnival back next week.

Thank you. You're absolutely right. I love Carnival. I know not everyone does, but they have always done right by me. I can't say there haven't been a few bumps and even a couple issues that were bigger than bumps, but I NEVER have felt like they were trying to be unfair or trying to do anything sneaky. The funny thing is, as crazy as I get pre-cruise trying to work out every little detail, once my feet cross the threshold at the airport, my vacation has begun. From that moment until the trip ends, I just roll with it, no matter what "it" is.

Someone! Please ! Make me feel better. Being an incredibly nervous person, I am overreacting to what is probably a non-issue. If anyone else is experiencing the same issue, I would sure love to hear about it.

I bought FTTF this morning. All good. Got email receipt and it shows up in my order details. Swell! I go to print my updated luggage tags and . . . No FTTF Logo that is supposed to be there to ensure Priority Luggage. Okay . . .breathe. It just went live. Give it some time. Stop being such a freak! (Insert Nervous Chuckle). Post to my Facebook group. Another member says his luggage tags updated immediately. I clear cache and cookies and restart my computer. No change. 8 hours later, still no change. 8 hours is long enough, right? Call Carnival. I get through to a delightful lady who assures me it's still getting implemented and some people update immediately, but others don't. It will all work itself out. I feel better for about 5 minutes. What if she has no clue? What if she's just guessing? What if I'm the only one? 

So, anyone else buy FTTF and have luggage tags that have not yet updated? I'll be waiting anxiously for your replies assuring me I'm not alone. I'm just going to step away to grab a Xanax and a glass of wine. 

On a side note, I REALLY need a vacation. 57 days to go!

$1200 for Dream Studio photo package on Carnival. I won $1500 in the casino the first night of the cruise, so I scheduled a photo shoot. I didn't intend to get the large package, but my husband and I had never had photos done like that, so I went for it. I knew you could try to get the price down, but I don't feel comfortable doing that. It's just not me, but I have a lot of respect and admiration for people who are good at getting a deal. I loved the pictures so much. They used a little "photo magic" (that's what the photographer called it, anyway). It smoothed out some of my experience lines (wrinkles), but it didn't change me so much that I didn't look like me. I wouldn't do it again in the next 20 years, but it was worth every penny to me. We got the photo release and all the photos on a jump drive, so in addition to the beautiful album I got with the package, I came home and made an album of our trip on the Walmart site. That turned out so cool with our photos, the pro photos, and captions.

19 minutes ago, kalmich said:

My recent experience was you are supposed to only get one carton per person but no one checks.  (I'm also a rule follower so I only bought one.)  They give them to you upon purchase.  I paid $48 for a carton of Benson & Hedges; I'm sure Newports are the same or less.  I wasn't in the Caribbean so I don't know if the shops on shore carry them.

 

My trip was to Mexico and they didn't even have us do the customs forms.

Thank you. That's quite helpful.

The Customs site says that if you can verify American Goods Returning (AGR), they would not count towards your allowance of 200 per person. Hubby and I both smoke, so we're packing 1 carton each to take with us (more than we really need) and taping the receipt to the carton. We'd only be buying 3 cartons anyway, so if we are allowed to take them with us after purchase, we could share the 3rd carton and use it before ever leaving the ship. Then, we'd just have the one carton each we're allowed and whatever was left of what we brought with us, which we'd have receipts for and they would all have the American Tax Stamps on them to verify.

I'm sure they probably won't check, but I want to do things the right way, and it would drive me nuts to make a customs mistake, even accidentally.

I know, I sound like a bit of a lunatic, but any worries I can eliminate before we travel make the trip so much nicer.

Again, thank you.

Hello,

For my fellow smokers with recent experiences, I have a few questions about purchasing Duty Free cigarettes on board the ship.

1. US customs has information stating that the maximum number of cigarettes is 200 per person. When I read the information available on US customs website, I'm unclear if you can declare more than the 200 and pay the duty for the overage, or if they will simply confiscate anything over 200.

2. We'll be on Carnival Spirit. I know they hold alcohol until the end of the cruise, but are you allowed to take cigarettes at the time of purchase?

3. What was the onboard price of cigarettes (Newport), when you were last onboard and when was that?

4. Is it cheaper, more expensive, or about the same to purchase from Carnival or in one of the duty free shops in the Caribbean? 

For anyone who wants to offer ideas for "ways to get around customs", I appreciate you wanting to be helpful, but I am a rule-follower to the extreme. The guilt and stress would kill me if I even tried to bend the rules. I want to make sure I'm completely following all US customs rules and regulations 100%

Thank you so much for any assistance you can provide.

There are insulin coolers for travel available on Amazon. Many varieties and prices. The mini fridge in your cabin will work, once you get on board. 

God Bless the Queen, and God save the King. I'm American, but I have nothing but absolute respect for a woman who served her country with grace and dignity her entire life.

Hello! I love Carnival Spa massages, but I have a problem that I could use some advice and suggestions for. I have gotten massages before, so I know what to expect. On my last cruise, I had 3. On my upcoming cruise I have 2 booked and may add a 3rd. The ladies I've had have been wonderful, and I looked forward to getting to see them and getting to know them. Tips are automatically added, but I also give an envelope to the lady at each appointment to show my appreciation. The thing is . . .they have to try to sell you product. I get it. I know they have to try, but I feel SO uncomfortable saying no. It stresses me out waiting for the sales pitch and then telling them no thank you. It never ends there. They always try to give another nudge or ask questions to get you thinking about the benefits of the product. What do you do? How can I let them know up front that I don't want the products and I don't want to hear about them AT ALL? I don't know how to do it without saying it flat out when I first meet them, and I think we can all agree that's not the best way to start a conversation that will lead to a good experience for either of us. They don't know me, and it just seems really bitchy and aggressive, no matter how nicely it's worded. I appreciate any help or ideas. Let me just add, if you've found other places to get a massage cheaper/better, that's awesome! I really am delighted for you (no, really!), but I want to use the spa on the ship. For the folks who think I am paying for a service and I should just say it and not worry about their feelings because, "it's their job". Well, that's not me. It's fine if that's you. We're all different.

Thank you!

Alchemy Bar, Piano Bar, Guy's Burgers, Steakhouse.

And my Absolutely FAVORITE feature, the crew. We have SO much fun getting to know the people!! I am being totally serious. We may only get snippets, but where else can you get to interact with so many people from around the world? So, yeah. Cruise destinations are great and all, but I have way more fun and learn so much more onboard ship than off. Every single crew member has been so generous about sharing their culture, life experiences, and personal stories. I try very hard to be respectful and not the "pushy American", but it's never been an issue for me so far. If I ask a very basic question about where they're from, or share a little about myself, they have opened right up. Love, love, love the Carnival Crew!!

I've always wondered about the CHEERS! policy about shots. I have seen the information stating only one shot, but what about drinks that are made up of different types of alcohol, such as ; Long Island Iced Tea, Mai Tai, Negroni, Cosmopolitan? Are you not allowed to order those things with the CHEERS! package? I'm not really a big drinker, so it hasn't come up for me, but I am curious.

When we cruised in January 2020 (not the same ship), the common areas were SO cold. Now, that's cold for me but maybe not everyone. I am taking plenty of sweaters for my upcoming cruise in January 2023. Our room was pretty warm (74-76). We kept the drapes closed to limit heating from the sun. It wasn't so hot that we were miserable, just warm for sleeping. 

I would guess that the staff wasn't truly unconcerned by the comments about the heat. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that they make less of it because as soon as they agree or sympathize, 1000 people all demand compensation. Not everyone, of course, but you know people would line up if they thought they could get money out of an issue like that. 

I am sure it was unpleasant to be that warm. I wouldn't have enjoyed it either. Hopefully they get it resolved quickly. I'm sorry that you had that experience. Being physically uncomfortable for a whole trip definitely takes its toll.

On 3/8/2022 at 5:38 PM, SummerXU said:

How is everyone continuing to check their booking and see their cabin as TBA? My email said they would be closing my current booking while they work on the transfer, and sure enough, my original booking is no longer coming up in my account. In fact, I can’t access my VIFP account at all (past cruises, etc.) Every time I log in, it asks for my booking number (which of course is now invalid) and when I try to bypass that, it completely kicks me out. 
 

This is my first ship replacement so I’m interested to see how this all shakes out. 

I was never able to get in and see TBA, so I'm not sure how they were able to. My booking got switched over yesterday. I haven't gotten an email notice yet, but I can get online to see it. I still have a Grand Suite. Moved from starboard to port, but that doesn't matter in the least to me. I hope everyone gets switched over and is happy with their cabin assignments.

28 minutes ago, Indytraveler83 said:

I hope everyone on this thread reports back here once they've got their assignments and see how this is handled.  

 

I totally agree that you shouldn't be downgraded at the same rate you booked.  Honestly have no idea how this situation is handled.  Do they call people and try to figure something out?  Maybe offer a different room/rate or different sailing?

 

Your also assuming that your sailing was sold out.  If it wasn't, then the problem may not be as significant.

The last I looked (about a week before being notified of the ship change), both Captain's Suites were booked and 9 out of 10 of the Grand Suites. Very stressful. I completely understand why Carnival is doing what they're doing, but it is still upsetting. If I knew we had the option to change to a different cruise, get a refund, or were guaranteed a price adjustment and OBC, it would at least make me feel some sense of control. I don't want to get all nutty over something that may not even turn out to be an issue, but it is weighing on my mind. I have read where people have been changed with NO compensation at all, and that just doesn't sound right. Can you imagine paying an extra $3500 for a captain's suite and then getting bumped to a Grand suite and being told, tough luck? The price difference for a grand suite and ocean suite is not as dramatic. I think it was about $1000, but still, that's a big deal for us. In our case, the ship, the cabin, the VIP experience, are the point of the trip. I have 8 kids. 6 adopted from foster care. Getting away for a week and being pampered is what we look forward to most. 

I am nervous about the swap. I love the ship itself. I haven't sailed on Spirit, but I have sailed on Legend. The ship class is wonderful. My worry is what kind of cabin they will put us in. We had a Grand suite booked. Freedom had 10 Grand suites and 2 Captain's suites. Spirit has 0 Captain's suites and only 6 Grand suites. My math might not be stellar, but even I can figure out that there will be some unhappy campers. Can they really downgrade us and not, at the very least, compensate us for the price difference? I would be disappointed to go from my Grand suite to an Ocean suite, but life goes on. However, if they move us AND keep our money . . .then I would most definitely have a problem. Am I being unreasonable?