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sc4125

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  • Location
    lakeland florida
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    carnival
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    caribbean

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  1. I am also not sure how you can request a table for one with set time dining. I've been doing YTD for a long time now so I may not remember how it works with set time, but I don't remember ever having an option when choosing set time in the past. I normally sailed with other family members and I do know that when it was just a few of us (2 or 3), we were always assigned a table with others - typically those in the same age range. One of the reasons I love YTD because each time you use the ap to check in, it asks if you want to share a table or not.
  2. As far as being far away from everything, a forward or aft cabin can be far away from things, depending on where you will be spending your time. We stayed in the Havana area on 8 two times - it is definitely the best for getting to most things without having to wait for an elevator, although on one of the trips it was super loud - . Also stayed in a regular balcony and in the extended balcony on deck 10 mid ship. I loved the extended balcony - luckily got the one that is the most extended if that makes sense. Huge balcony and view directly to the water. If you haven't been on the Mardi Gras, you will definitely get your steps in. Lots to see and do forward, aft and mid-ship, so I always get a lot of miles in every day.
  3. I totally agree. As for crowd size, that was totally on me for not realizing it would be the week before Christmas. I love CCL (actually worked onboard back in the 80's) and am Diamond with them. I did not see this as an issue with the ship - I would have expected the same large crowds on any ship during that week. I have a back-to-back on Freedom in March and am totally looking forward to it. I certainly didn't have the same experience as the OP - I enjoyed the cruise but will remember to be more careful when booking near a holiday. Still not sure how that happened - hasn't ever happened in the past - just blaming it on old brain lol.
  4. I feel for the OP and her family. That would certainly help ruin my vacation. I was on the 5 day Freedom the week before the OP. For whatever reason, I was not thinking about it being the week before Christmas when I booked it. It was super crowded with lots and lots of kids. We had 2 balcony cabins on the Lido deck and luckily never had an issue. No kids running up and down the hallways (most of the time this is a problem) and I didn't witness any unusually rowdy behavior from the teens onboard. Walking out to the Lido pool area was a bit of a mess trying to weave through people and I have never seen such lines at Guys Burgers - they literally went from Guys to the rum bar on one side and down to the taco place on the other. I simply went on off times and we also ate breakfast and dinner in the dining room. Like others, I have never personally witnessed a fight on any of the ships I've been on. Mind you, I'm not hanging out in the clubs either. Too old for that these days and spend the majority of the evenings in the casino. My pet peeve is people stopping in the middle of the walkways on Promenade and Lido to have a discussion. It drives me crazy that people do not have the common courtesy to have their discussions at the side of the walkway and not in the middle. They seem to have no concept that they are blocking others from walking through. As I said it was very crowded. It was our first time on the Freedom, though my sister and I are both Diamond so we've been on lots of Carnival cruises. I had no problem with the Freedom but had to talk my sister down from a low opinion simply based on the number of people onboard. I'm sure it was just as crowded on all the other ships during this week.
  5. We will be getting on the Freedom tomorrow in Pt. Canaveral (I hope). Saw where several ships had to skip Bahamas yesterday but so far haven't heard anything about ships returning to Pt. Canaveral arriving late tomorrow. I live in central Florida between Tampa and Orlando and looking out my window, I'm actually seeing a tiny bit of sunshine. Forecast for Amber Cove on Wednesday looks crappy 50-70% chance of rain throughout the day but didn't plan on getting off ship anyway since I've been there numerous times. Hopefully seas won't be as high as they have been the last few days - I'm in a balcony on Lido, not the best place to be in high seas.
  6. I tried checking in with the hostess rather than with the ap and was told that was no longer an option - you had to check in with the ap. Not sure how that works with people who don't have a smart phone. Perhaps that's the way to go if you want a booth - just say you don't have a smart phone. The only problem with that is having to go to the hostess for a table throughout the rest of the cruise. Seems like that would take a lot more time each night.
  7. Not to hijack, but I became Diamond this year (2 cruises ago) and obviously don't know much about it. What is the Diamond Desk number and when would I be apt to call them?
  8. I have done both in the past. You should be able to purchase both for a total of $1,000 per cabin. It will ask you which passenger to credit for each purchase. The only issue at all is that if the entire $500 is not used, it will not be refunded. I've never had an issue with Cruise Cash, because like you MIL's friend, I spend quite a bit of time in the casino. I purchased the $500 bar credit for my sister a few years ago, and though she drinks, she had not used it by the night before cruise ended (she got free drinks in the casino). She was able to use it for extra tip so she found her favorite bar waitress in the casino, ordered a drink and left her a tip of like $50 or so and it did come out of the Bar Credit.
  9. It evidently is a little different depending on the ship (I say this because I got several different answers when I asked this question several months ago. Like you I normally have the same cabin on both legs, but had to switch on the last one. I asked my cabin steward - he said that he would move everything for me and I could leave some things on hangars. He had never heard of a luggage team from Guest Services. Later I heard that the new cabin steward moved everything so who knows. I wanted to give an extra tip for whoever it was so I ended up tipping both lol. I was allowed in the cabin right away to move my luggage and hang up my clothes. The steward was very nice and told me he would clean my cabin first thing and I would be able to have access by 10:00. It's a pain having to move, but it wasn't as bad as I though it would be. Just ask your cabin steward what you should do - he/she should be able to answer all your questions.
  10. I've done a couple of B2B and in both cases we had to meet at a certain time (you'll get a letter in your cabin telling you when and where) and we were then escorted off the ship and taken to customs and then right back on board and they handed out the new S&S cards. I had the cabin steward exchange towels with me the night before and told him not to worry about cleaning my room at all on embarkation day so that I could go back to my cabin right away. I love back to backs - have another one booked for March.
  11. Thanks for the info. We were booked on an Elite last December but had to cancel. Now that I think about it, I remember something about a spa credit if you didn't want an excursion. Maybe we'll see an excursion that really entices us - if not, nothing lost right? One of the ports is St. Thomas - my sister and I haven't been there in quite awhile and we both love it - I'm sure there will be something there we'd like to do.
  12. I will be on the Mardi Gras next Saturday and I received an email going over Platinum/Diamond information. The email specifically says that you can drop your luggage off and then go to public area. I plan to bring it with me because I carry on my luggage (mid size) and carry on - so if I weren't able to drop it off, I would obviously leave the luggage with a porter. I would rather not check my luggage as we had a piece of luggage go "missing" on a previous 7 day cruise. It wasn't found until the day before we would be debarking in some cabin with 4 college girls and each thought it belonged to one of the others - even though they sent notices out 2-3 times asking passengers to check to see if they had it.
  13. For anyone wanting to book a cruise with Elite offered today - you need to hurry. I wanted to book Mardi Gras 8 day for next August. I checked under my offers at 7:00 a.m. and there were about 8 extended balconies open on 10th deck, so I picked out the two cabins we wanted and waited for PVP to get to work. I always have all information ready for her - cabin numbers included. At just a few minutes after 9:00 I checked the cabin numbers before calling - and nope those 2 cabins were gone. Thankfully of the now 3 cabins left, 2 were next to each other. So, they are really going fast. This will be the first we were able to take advantage of Elite - the other offers didn't work out due to either dates or port of departure. Very excited to try one. I've heard that you can take an OBC in place of the excursions - anyone know if this is true? I have been on a whole bunch of cruises (Diamond on Carnival) so no longer interested in excursions.
  14. If you are already past final payment, it may be easier to just have the person be a no-show. The taxes and port charges will be refunded, and you can keep your original cabin. If it's still before final date, it will depend on how early it is. If you look at your booking online, there a section at the bottom that says something like what will happen if I need to cancel this cruise. It will give you all the info you need as to what will be lost.
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