rocketship

Everybody, thank you for the responses. I appreciate the insight and this is exactly why I wanted to reach out to this community. I believe personally we will be good to but the wifey is much more cautious. Going to take it way this week, make sure it recovery still goes well and then hopefully hop on a plane on Saturday!!!!

thanks again everyone. 

3 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

I had Hemorrhoid surgery scheduled for one of our previous cruises. Needless to say, I canceled the surgery and went on the cruise. Thank God for Hemorrhoid cream. As for yo , I wouldn't cruise, to risky.

😲 

The pain I was in this weekend, would have caused us to cancel the cruise. The surgery has already happened and I am in recovery now, so im not asking about putting it off to cruise. Just want tohear if anyone else has experienced something like this. 

10 minutes ago, pengu1n said:

What's your doctor say?

 

Both the surgeon and the head doctor at the hospital said that the recovery is super quick and I should be good to go. However, “should be” and hearing some real world experience are two different things. Just not sure what to expect. If I had to go today, it would be a no go, but since we have a few more days, I’m hopeful. 

Hello and thanks for taking the time to stop by. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I found myself in the hospital this weekend. Ultimately, I had

my gallbladder removed yesterday. We are scheduled to head out on the Carnival Magic this coming up Sunday, giving me just one week of recovery. 
 

Does anyone have experience with gallbladder surgery recovery? Do you think a cruise would be doable one week later? It was a laparoscopic surgery if that matters. Thanks. 

Just off the Magic today and they did priority debarkation for both platinum and diamond. 

1 hour ago, Babr said:

Travel insurance will reimburse non-refundable fees if you cancel for a covered reason. The Cancel for Any Reason part of the Carnival policy ought to give you FCC unless they have rules against it for non-refundable fares. I don’t know about that because the CFAR provision is not part of the insurance coverage, rather it is a benefit offered by the cruise line.

 

Traveling with insurance might be a good idea anyway these days.

Thanks for the response. We have never used travel insurance before but this is definitely a trip we would buy it. 
 

I am more worried about if carnival cancels the cruise. These rates are so cheap and with them making the fares “non-refundable” it has me paranoid they might foresee a future shutdown. We wouldn’t cancel on our end. 

Hello! We are entertaining the idea of going on a cruise in October. Many of these low low rates we are seeing have "Non-refundable cruise fare" listed on the rate.  I cannot seem to find out information about this. I understand that they will not refund it if something happens, however, will they apply the money you paid to a future cruise? Or do you just completely lose the money?

Thanks for your help!

On 7/15/2021 at 10:43 AM, kdr69 said:

So you have had Cheers and gone over the 15 drink limit by purchasing drinks before you have reached the program limit? How many drinks over the 15 drink limit did you go then out of curiosity's sake?

My crew and I have done it many times. We have probably went to 20-25.  If you are nice to your bartenders, tip them appropriately, they will totally allow you to "buy for a friend."  Obviously haven't been on since pandemic, but that was absolutely the case as of October 2019.

Hello!  We have been going to the Caymans for years and have ALWAYS enjoyed the Royal Palms Beach Club.  We love their swimup bar and poolside DJ... Havent been there in about 6 months, but last time we were there, the DJ told us he is now super limited on music he can play and the most recent pictures I have seen do not show the DJ there during the day.  So this is a two part question...

A. Does Royal Palms Beach Club still have a poolside DJ during the day?

B. Are there any other places like Royal Palms that do something similar?  

Thanks!

Does anyone else read these and hope to not see any of their stories?  haha

Hello!  We have visited the Caymans so many times and have fallen in love with Royal Palms Beach Club there.  On our summer trip, our cruise stops do not hit the Caymans, but we hit Nassau twice.  (Back to back)   Here is what we love about Royal Palms...

- Adult only pool, with poolside cabanas

- DJ at the pool

Can anyone think of a spot in Nassau like that?  Thanks!

I know alot of people on here have negative comments about cruise cash "dont let carnival hold your money" "just stash extra away" "shouldnt be cruising if you live paycheck to paycheck" etc. I think its all about preference.

Here is the reality. Your $500 isnt going to earn much in any sort of savings account you have for a couple of months. Maybe a dollar? Cruise cash allows you to budget for a cruise, while "paying as you go" so the hit isnt as significant at the end.

I do not live paycheck to paycheck and I use cruise cash. Why? Because I know I will spend $500 on a cruise no problem. What I do is when I get a paycheck, I put in $100. I do this 5 times. Seeing $100 come out of my account isnt a big deal at all. I wont miss $100. However, at the end of the cruise, seeing $500 come out of my account is a little noticeable.

I think this scales with anyone honestly. In my method, for 10 weeks, I put back $100 every other week and that is no big deal. Depending on your situation, someone could do that with lets say $25 every other pay check. If $500 is alot of money to that pereson, then in less than a year, you have put back $500 for your vacation, without really hurting your day to day life.

But, there will always be the people who think they know your money situation better than you do.

Maybe they misunderstood... I'd just not mention Cheers at all, buy the round on your account for all but your own drink, then after that is completed, get your own drink on Cheers.

 

Maybe that will get around it?

If you look at my post history, we always buy Cheers and often time get to our 15 drink limit. I can confirm that there are a few servers on the boat who do not understand the "buying for a group" thing. Its usually cleared up pretty easily if you just grab another server or bartender, as most people know it, but I have definitely encountered it a time or two.

Some bartenders are picky about it for sure, but not all of them. The key is to not ask to "buy one for yourself." You need to walk up and be buying for a friend. Most of the time they wont care and not ask. If they do ask, you can point in a general direction and say he is over there. If they continue pushing, just say he was just here, but your not sure where he went or you are meeting him in the comedy club or whatever. I have been flat turned down once. I have been sold probably 100 times though. It really helps if you go to someone who remembers you and you tip a dollar or so a drink.

Take a cab. They will put you in a shared taxi van with others going to Atlantis. It costs $4 a person (plus tip).

Will they just drop you off at the front near the casino? Do people with passes get priority to the casino? Thanks!

Are you looking during the week of March 12 and March 18th? That's my wife's spring break(shes a teacher) and for that one week only, prices are almost double what the week before and week after are in some cases. Sucks for us, but we live by the school calendar.

Wrong, wrong wrong wrong wrong.

Just got off a cruise in October. Hit my 15 numerous days. (Not a brag, just a fact) In each of these instances, at number 14, I was allowed to buy a "drink for a friend" and kept drinking no problem. On a few days, I bought several buckets while sitting at 14 drinks(not just for me, but for the group.) Never once got shut off.

I have been shut off before, but my wife and I were both already at our 15 and tried to just buy more after that. The machine literally would not let them ring a drink in. It gave a similar screen that it would if we were under 21. The bartender showed me. I have been on cruises before though, that if you hit 15, you can still buy. This decision seems to be a "your mileage may vary" situation, as I have experienced both. Maybe its up to the individual ship's food and beverage director?

Does anyone know if I can upgrade to the cheers package on my last day at sea?

 

 

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Nope, have to do it on the first day..

I believe everyone has a 15 drink limit, Cheers program or no. At least, that is what one of the bartenders told me.

This is completely incorrect. If you dont buy cheers, there is no cap on the amount you can buy.

Honestly, there isnt a cap even if you have cheers, as long as you are buying drinks for "friends." Getting to your 12th drink? Buy a bucket for the "group." They still take 1 of those beers from your drink total, but you now have a bucket. The key to working cheers is make friends with the bartender/server. I still tip $1 per drink on cheers and it goes a LONG way with them. If you are trying to do this with a bartender you havent seen before, you might get questioned. If its someone that you have been served by before and they like you, there will be no questions asked at all.

Source: Ive used cheers many many times.

With a little help ,being hit by a foreign object " Chair " a person could easily jump in a upper motion projecting themselves over the rail.

Just going to chime in with another vote for you sound ridiculous. You are trying so awfully hard to make your point that you are actually convincing people against your point.

There are pictures from a few years ago of Richard Sherman, the pro-bowl cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks on a Carnival cruise.

My tips and to clear up somethings:

-Most bartenders(not all) will not open the drink if you ask to leave unopened. As others have stated, we have used this as the end of the night to gather 4-5 unused drinks and take back to the cabin. We have taken these off at most ports and drank on the beach there. I suggest a small cooler.

-If you think you are getting close to your 15 mark, be sure to ask! Some bartenders/servers will give you the heads up when you are close, but not all of them, so you have to ask. They will tell you when you ask. Caught my wife and I by surprise one night as we had always been told when we were getting and then we were shut down at 11pm and could not buy any.

-Once you get to 12/13 and you know you are going to keep partying, start buying buckets. You have to say you are buying it for the group or for friends and they will take 1 of the drinks out of your pool of 15, but atleast you have a bucket full.

-We tip $1 per drink. I know gratuity is included in the package, but it goes into a pool and then split up. This allows our server to know that we appreciate them. This also leads to better service. On the above tip, if you have a bartender/server who you have treated nice and tipped, they will not even ask if you are buying the bucket for someone and just charge you, sometimes without taking a drink off! It really goes a long way.

-In my experience, you can take somebody elses card up to the bar to use it, if 1 of these 2 things are true. That person is within eye sight of the server or if you have tipped/became acquainted with the server and they are familiar/like you. I cant stress enough that by tipping a little extra and being nice to the servers goes a loooooong way.

Source: I have always purchased Cheers.

My crew getting on the Magic on 10-8-16! haha

I havent cruised on the Magic, but cruised on her sister the Dream. She is a big boat and so many things to do. You will love it.

Once you reach that platinum/diamond tier they throw a couple of perks your way (some here call it entitlements), and they don't always have to recognize those perks - like priority debarkation. As more people reach that tier of platinum there's more and more people at embarkation which causes congestion. So, maybe to keep it so uncrowded what if they did away with platinum embarkation and give it only to diamond. It's always more taking than it is giving.

 

/just a thought

I dont know about most people who are platinum, but I can tell you that the single reason I wanted to become platinum was for the Priority statuses. I could care less what my card color is, I wanted to be able to skip long lines. When I first started cruising Carnival, it was all about the low price point to get on the ship. Now that I am older, more financially stable and platinum status, Carnival is always my first choice to try and take a vacation away. If they take priority away from Platinum, I will still consider Carnival, but they wont be my only choice at that point.

At the end of the day, taking priority embarkation/debarkation away from current Platinum members, will put a nasty taste in a very loyal fan base. If there is a such a problem at embarkation or debarkation and they are worrying about it growing, then I would add a level in between Platinum and Diamond and grandfather current platinum guests to that level.

Another option would be if current embarkation starts at lets say 11:00am, make it so that from only 11:00 am to 12:00pm, platinum/diamond guests board with priority, then move directly into your standard staggered times.

If you are just there for a "meal" and to shovel food into your mouth, then sure, you wouldn't understand it. Others are there for a "dining experience", which includes the atmosphere.

This logic just blows me away. Its the equivalent of me going to the beach and looking for that "beach experience." In my mind, the "beach experience" is one that involves petite women in bikinis and men with 6 pack abs. I guess if you have a beer gut or wear a one piece, then sure, you wouldn't understand.

If you have a meal "ruined" or take the time to "police" what people are wearing in the MDR, you should really have some deep thoughts on why things that other people do stress you out. That is not very positive and only serves to do more harm to your emotional state, than anything else.

Also, to the crowd of "Carnival has rules in place, they should enforce them." Do you follow the speed limit to the absolute letter of the law? Even if you do, when you see someone pass by you who is doing more than you are right at the speed limit, do you call the police on those people? Speeding is a much more serious and potentially life changing situation, than wearing flip flops to dinner. Why not worry about the things that can actually harm you or your family, rather than what someone else is wearing? And trust me, I speed more than I should, so I am not advocating that, I am making a simple point that we all break or bend rules, why would you prioritize something trivial over something life threatening? Seems like you just want to judge.