dsfitz

When I get these they are typically for within a week so you definitely have to be ready to go at the last minute.

Definitely think YTD is the way to go on Mardi Gras   we normally prefer the early seating but on Mardi Gras the MDR was not good.  Very slow service and cold food   as others have said with YTD you can try the other restaurants which were much better

I think this is only on excel ships   I did have one on mardi gras  I have never seen it at the alchemy bar

The device has the pictures of all the people assigned to that table   there was someone who said they were switched to a different table but the device didn't have them seated there so it didn't work

I think it's like the same thing you probably have at home   frankly we thought our local Japanese steakhouse is better   it was a one and done for us 

1 hour ago, Jayhoaps said:

Interesting, so you just order through the tablet? Just to clarify, no waiter to take orders?

No the waiter takes the order using the device   sorry I wasn't clear about that   same waiter setup as before   the waiters have the devices to submit the orders electronically 

Yes they do   it looks like an iphone

Just had our first meal in the MDR.   New to us anyway is they use electronic ordering instead of paper   drinks came in 5 minutes, appetizers right after that    entrees came in 15 minutes    fastest we've ever seen   food was hot and very good 

The only negative for us was the main dining room   service very slow and food cold by the time we got it    so we ate in the other restaurants

Some also think that the 15 drink limit is all drinks (soda, coffee, etc.).  It is not - it is only alcoholic drinks.  You can have all the soda, coffee, milkshakes, etc. you want.

My last offer my agent told me that the offer I had was good for 2 separate bookings - so it never hurts to ask.

On 3/3/2022 at 12:28 PM, CT Sean said:

 

 60% of residents voted for the cruise ship ban and anyone that qualifies as a snowbird would not be eligible to vote in Monroe county since a snowbird, by definition, has a primary address somewhere else. 

 

Do you honestly believe that person gave an unbiased opinion shared by the majority of Key West residents?

No, I don't think it was unbiased.

He did mention, as the poster mentioned below, that a lot of the "snowbirds" claim Florida residency by living there 6 months plus 1 day to avoid taxes up north - so they could vote.

According to this individual, turnout was very low - so hard to say about the majority.

If you own a business, you want customers.  If you are just retired, you want as few as people as possible.

There are 1727 passengers on the conquest on our current 4 night cruise   with a nominal capacity of 2980 that's 58%   it certainly feels pretty uncrowded   that number came from guest services so I think it's accurate

I was on the Carnival Conquest today   we docked at key west without incident   on the contrary, there were large banners everywhere welcoming cruise ships and cruisers.  There were key west "ambassadors" everywhere in bright orange shirts welcoming cruise ship passengers   I spoke to one of them who was of the opinion that this whole controversy was started by wealthy snowbirds "who want to turn key west into Martha's vineyard"   I did not see anyone protesting at all

Nope no thermal spa on the legend   there are steam rooms and saunas in the men's and women's locker rooms though

Carnival's At The Pier Testing at Miami for the Carnival Conquest - Here's How it Works

I haven't seen a post that describes the process in any detail so here goes.

When you arrive, you simply tell them that you have an appointment to get your COVID Test when you check in inside.  (Although I think you are supposed to have an appointment - it appeared that even if you did not, you could still get a test.   I would recommend making an appointment though).  They do have a list of appointments and will check you off.  After your passport and vaccination card are checked - then someone will escort you upstairs to where they are doing the testing.   You check in again, and you are given a plastic bag with your test inside it.    You then proceed to an area where there are a few testers present.  When one is available, they administer the test, and then tell you to go sit down and wait until you receive a text or an email with your results.

Here's where it got interesting for me.  The advertised time to receive the results is 15-20 minutes - and that appeared to be the case for most people.  However, after 45 minutes and no text - I went up to a woman that was sitting at a table near where the tests were being administered (she occasionally shouted out people's names - that was how I knew to talk to her) and inquired.  She looked me up on her computer and said nope - your results aren't in yet.   So I waited another 30 minutes and then walked up and asked her again.   This time she found that my test was indeed negative - and stamped my boarding pass as such.

You then walk out to another desk where a person checks your test results - either looking at the text on your phone or viewing the stamp on the boarding pass - which was actually a reasonably common thing - so perhaps their computer-text interface frequently has problems.  Once you are through with that - you then proceed to the "main" check-in desks and proceed normally after that.

As I'm writing this it's been 3 hours since the test and I still never got a text.  Maybe I didn't enter my phone number correctly?

This was quite popular and there were lots of people getting tested - other than the hiccup I had with getting my text it seemed like an orderly and well-organized process.  If anyone tested positive - I sure didn't notice it.  That of course is the risk, you wait until the very last minute to get your test and then if you are positive, you can't go.  But it all worked out for me.

22 hours ago, hapytobehr said:

In addition to what firefly said:

 

You can call for your strawberries and Laundry is still available as usual.

 

I did not attend the party on our cruise but i heard that some may or may not have hors d'oeuvres.

Yes when we had the party on the Legend in late January, it was drinks only, no hors d'oeuvres.

They have closed it on the Legend when it cruises out of Baltimore in the winter and it's cold

I have also received emails when I have already completed this.   If you already did it, I think you are OK.

I am doing the same thing you are - except on the CONQUEST out of Miami on 2/28.  Yes - I got the same generic email.   I am traveling for work the week before so this is great for me.  But I have not seen any posts from anyone who has actually gotten this test - so like you, I am hoping to see a post soon.

When did you find out?  I am CONQUEST on 2/28 and Key West is one of the ports.  Have not received any communications from Carnival that we aren't going there.

We were on the 1/23 sailing and had a cabana so we had the ticket for that  so we did have priority   the tenders were very large (they weren't the ships lifeboats) and they probably held 200 people each so I don't think you will have difficulty getting off pretty early

On 2/14/2022 at 1:51 AM, Pellaz said:

Got my heads-up email about our upcoming cruise departing Thursday, but there was no mention of any $10 at-port COVID testing at PortMiami.  

Pellaz-

I believe this is only for the CONQUEST - at least that's what the email I got said.  Looks like you are on the SUNRISE.

On 2/14/2022 at 1:51 AM, Pellaz said:

 

when we cruised from Baltimore on 1/23, I had platinum with my son but my daughter didn't.  We all arrived at my time and all of us were on the ship 10 minutes after we walked in the door.   There was no sitting and waiting for numbers to be called.  They didn't appear to even look at the times.   But, this may have been because our cruise wasn't very full.  Probably can't count on this.

I am doing the same thing!  I got an offer for a 4 day cruise on Conquest for $50 (plus tax) in a balcony cabin so I am doing the solo thing for the first time.  I don't normally do these short cruises but I am in Florida for business the previous week so I figured why not.

I am signed up for the COVID test at the pier.  I have not seen any posts about this so I am not sure if they have started doing it yet.  But I got an email about it so I signed up.