CruisinRach

I do love drinking on carnival and always take full advantage of Cheers. I have sailed while pregnant and was worried for a minute how different it may be, but still managed to enjoy and have an amazing time without the alcohol. My husband says it was 1 of his favorite trips and I agree. Just being at sea is the experience.

Morning -  cold brew coffee, mocha chocolate getaway, maybe a tomato juice & vodka w/olives 1 morning 

afternoon - Coors light 

pre-dinner - chocolate martini

after dinner - belvedere w/ seltzer water & lemon

lots of seltzer water w/ lemon sprinkled in

After watching below deck I cracked and tried an espresso martini, it was very tasty

rum punch and local beer on island days

$999

We’ve been bringing the summer 3d lite with us, folds up nicely and fits in the corner. Reclines, has shade and storage, while also being lightweight. It goes on sale, we were able to get our 2nd one for only $70 about 2 yrs ago.  Started using it at 6 months, our eldest just became too tall for it right before she turned 5, she is very tall for her age, but it is good for up to 50lbs I think. Plus there’s a cupholder for parents that attaches on the side!
 

https://www.amazon.com/Summer-3Dlite-Convenience-Stroller-Matte/dp/B07NMYWL63/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3BRR70QKO9O7O&keywords=summer%2Binfant%2Bstroller&qid=1706240011&sprefix=Summer%2Binfant%2Bstroller%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-4&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0&th=1

My kids 2 and 4 love the led drawing pads…

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07THCFJMZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

also, magic ink books

my daughter loves princess matching, we stick the

tiles/ cards in a ziplock bag

I was just wondering if anyone has rented a villa recently on HMC. We had rented 1 a few years back and loved it and all the amenities when it was only 500. I recall there being a private bathroom in it. I noticed it no longer includes that in the description and was just wondering if that is still there or if it was taken away along with the AC. We’re traveling with another couple and we all have small children, so a bathroom in it would be a huge perk. Just trying to decide if it is still worth the splurge. Thanks so much in advance for any info 😃

We’re using it on an upcoming cruise; I picked the room that I wanted and included all 4 people in it, put a courtesy hold on it and then called the diamond line. They zeroed out the fare of 3rd and 4th guests and I paid my deposit on the call and made it official. Shows up in my booking info with their fare as 0, we still have to pay the taxes/gratuities on them. But the way I did it, I never paid out of pocket for them at all. Hope this helps 😃

Does anyone know what is the earliest arrival appt that you can select for Venezia? Also, about what time they actually start boarding. 

I don’t have a pic in an ov room, but here it is in a balcony room on the Legend. I’m pretty sure the room layouts are similar…

Princess Cay and Amber Cove drop off was pretty much when we arrived in the morning, but you had to pick them up before lunch by 11:45. Since we didn’t get into Grand Turk until 11 they had the drop off that day start after lunch at 1 and pick up before dinner by 5. Yeah, they don’t feed the under 2s at all which makes sense. There was a fee for port days for the under 2s, but the 1 day in amber cove when we tried leaving him just to stay onboard and hang by serenity he wasn’t having it. They called us after about 40 mins that he wouldn’t stop crying (17 months) so we picked him up and they told us they weren’t going to charge us since he wasn’t there that long, so I’m not sure how much it was supposed to be. Looking at the schedule for my daughters age group the 2 - 5, they did feed them only on port days not on sea days though. Closed sea days 12 - 2 and 5 - 7. We sail again from Baltimore on Saturday, so I’ll update with new schedules if anything is different.

Pre-Covid in 2019 I remember the morning time on some sea days ran for 2 hrs.     8 -10, instead of just the 8-9 for the under 2s. There was an option to stay and play with them for free or you could drop and leave for those 2 hrs and be charged, which our 6 month old allowed us to take advantage of. In August they didn’t offer the morning drop and pay, luckily our kids slept till about 8 most days so we weren’t able to make that 8-9 under 2 window. 

Here’s the schedule from the August 20th sailing on the Legend…

I don’t have the regular kids menu, but I have the kids menu from the steakhouse from oct 2021, not the best pic. The starters are Mac n cheese or shrimp cocktail.

1 hour ago, ultrafighter said:

Did you book that once on board?  My 3 year old would have loved that, but I assumed it wasn't an option since all the stuff online before the cruise was for adults (or a select couple of services listed for older teens).

I did book it once we were onboard. They didn’t do like a full manicure just really a clip, file and paint, which was perfect for her. They discounted the price of a regular mani for her. They were so nice to her, she loved it. Can’t tell but she’s smiling under that mask!

I guess the activities available really depend on the class of ship, but we did a spirit class with our daughter on her 3rd birthday in October. She loved the splash area, also she liked to hang out in the bench/ foot soaking area of the regular pool and we had fun trying mini golf. I took her to have her nails painted at the spa. We also brought coloring books, a matching game, books, a small new toy, also downloaded movies from disney+ for offline viewing she liked to watch 1 when our 6 month old was napping. She enjoyed hanging out with us on the balcony, looking for fish and dolphins. She likes going out to eat so she enjoyed meals in the dining room and 1 in the steakhouse. She also liked dancing to the live music, she really likes guitars. We took walks and people watched. By time you throw in the heat of the Caribbean and a beach day she was pretty zonked. There’s also an arcade, but we didn’t go in there so I’m not really sure how age appropriate the games are. We’re going again in august and I think we’ll try taking her to 1 of the shows this time since she’s been taking dance classes and so I think she’ll enjoy seeing that. The bigger ships definitely have more options, but even on the smaller ones she really had a wonderful time and can’t wait to go again. 

My 3 year old daughter tested positive and was asymptomatic on our October trip on the rapid test the day before debark she was required to take since she cannot be vaccinated yet. My hub, my daughter and I were then given pcrs to confirm. We were negative, she was still positive. They did not pcr test our son who was 6 months at the time. We were moved to new cabins in the quarantine section. We were escorted there by some officers, security and workers in hazmat suits spraying something behind us. They were trying to contain our footprint I guess since they were shutting fire doors around us to lessen the area we were in. We were confined to our cabins, they did give us 2 so we could keep the baby away from her so he wouldn’t get sick, so that was very nice. They gave us free internet and room service, we could even order off the main dining room menus. Our food was brought to us in cardboard containers with wooden disposable utensils. With a big paper mat covering the tray labeled biohazard. 

Luckily, we had driven to Baltimore from NJ so we were able to drive ourselves home. I’m not sure if they would let you go to the airport, I’m guessing not. They did notify the CDC, as someone from there called us when we were still onboard. Carnival also confirmed with us we had our car and that we were driving home to the address on record, we were told not to make any stops. We were escorted off the ship by an officer and some workers in hazmat suits with a luggage cart last after everyone else was already off. We exited via the loading area of the ship on the bottom level. Another worker in hazmat suit followed behind us spraying steam or a disinfectant I’m not quite sure what it was. They shut down all work on the pier forklifts loading stuff, etc. while we waited on it to meet a custom officer, who was very concerned and wanted to make sure we didn’t want to take our daughter to the hospital. She had no symptoms, so obviously we weren’t going to do that. They did not want my daughter in the terminal building, they had a port agent escort my husband to his vehicle and had him drive it up to meet us on the pier. 
 

This was back in October, so things may have changed. Pretty sure they’re still going to quarantine you on the ship though. If our daughter wasn’t required to be tested that day before debark, we wouldn’t have known she had it she had 0 symptoms. 

 

1 hour ago, Jedijohn said:

My wife and I tested positive on 5/16 for our 5/21 sailing. So far our taxes, port fees, excursions and other funshop purchases have all been refunded.  We haven't heard anything on the FCC (not even an automated response) for the remainder and are ready to re-book for the fall. Does anyone know how long usually takes? Can we put a deposit down now, and apply the FCC once it is available?

We tested positive 4/29 for a 5/1 cruise, we sent the email requesting fcc along with the positive results on 4/29. We received the automated response the same day. In the meantime I put a deposit on an August cruise. I called 5/19 to follow up since final payment on the new sailing was due 5/22. The customer rep was able to see it available then, but I didn’t receive the official email about it until 5/20. She did fill out the form to have it applied for me. Also, she moved the final payment out a week since she said it could take up to 5 business days for it to be applied. As of today, it still hasn’t been applied but I’m sure it will be shortly.

Maybe double check the email address you sent it to, since you didn’t get an automated response. We were told to send it to reviews@carnival.com

Hope this helps. 

We tested positive on our pre-cruise test for a May 1 sailing. When I called to cancel on April 29, the agent said he could move the cruise ticket funds to another sailing right then if I had one in mind. I knew we were going to rebook, but at that point I hadn’t made a definite decision yet. So instead,  I had to send an email to reviews@carnival.com with my booking info and attach a copy of the positive lab report requesting a fcc. I sent that on the 29th and haven’t heard anything back yet besides the automatic reply saying they received my request and that there are busier than normal and responses will take longer than usual. The port taxes and all the pre-cruise purchases, spa, cheers, steakhouse were refunded to the cc within a few days. I ended up booking for august a few days later and tried calling on the 12th to see if I could use the fcc, but she told me they didn’t process it yet. Basically, now I have to wait for that department to review and process it and she did tell me they only work m-f so don’t expect a response on the weekends. 
 

So you don’t have to rebook immediately, but as I have now learned the process definitely goes faster if you have something booked to move it to immediately. Now  it’s just a waiting game, I’m not really concerned about it it’ll get done eventually. We put deposits on 3 other cruises as well, so if it doesn’t come in time to use for the august sailing it’s not the end of the world. 
 

hope this helps

No it is not free. I can’t remember the exact price from my October trip, but I want to say about $3 for wash, 1.50 for dry. Not sure about the soap, I brought my own. It all goes right on you sail n sign. 

FYI, for anyone with little ones I just noticed that the fee for 2-4 yr olds has been lowered…
 

As part of the health screening process, unvaccinated guests (age 2 and older) must also take an antigen test at embarkation. On cruises longer than 4 days, guests will be tested again within 24 hours of debarkation. All guests traveling on back to back cruises will need to be tested in between voyages. Irrespective of voyage length, testing and reporting charges of US$60 per person for children age 2-4, and US$150 per person for guests age 5 and older, will be assessed on the guest’s onboard Sail & Sign account.

There’s also one on deck 5 aft.

Also, the morning before debark you will bring the child for another rapid test. We had to go to the lounge that hosts punchliner at an assigned time. 1 parent goes with the child, this was a nose swab as well. 

The separation in the paragraphs threw me off, thanks all!
 

Thanks so much, I finally got through to carnival on the phone and it was confirmed he’s exempt from testing. This is the email I got that made me question myself, just in case anyone else gets it….

We are looking forward to welcoming you aboard for your cruise. 

As we previously communicated, all unvaccinated guests who have been pre-approved for a vaccine exemption must show the negative results of a PCR COVID-19 test, taken between 72 and 24 hours prior to embarkation.

Additionally, in accordance with the CDC’s guidance, unvaccinated guests must take an antigen test at embarkation. The test will be administered by a medical company contracted by Carnival and applies to all unvaccinated guests two years of age and older. 

I was just wondering if anyone here has sailed with a child under 2 since the restart. We received an exemption approval for him and I was fairly confident that I understood the requirements pretty well, but now I’m having my doubts. I was under the impression that under 2 ‘s were exempt from all testing, including the pcr test done 72 hrs prior. I know he definitely doesn’t have to do the antigen onboard, I was just looking to confirm whether or not the pcr test was needed. I just received a follow up email and the way they formatted it has me unsure now. Anyone who has sailed with an under 2 and could clarify this for me would be greatly appreciated.

I just got my hub 2 book r 1st b2b! I couldn't get the same room, but who cares! I'm on the boat! Woot! 22 days! Just wanted 2 share my excitement with peps that would understand have a great night!!!!