kctwinmommy

Yep! I don't think we sent anything back, but we did ask for something else like 1 or 2 times. And again, we truly appreciate the work they are doing, the dining room staff was doing all they could, but it felt so rushed by them. Not that they rushed us at all, but they seemed to be scurrying way more than ever before.

Like others have mentioned, I would definitely look at doing at least a 7 or 8 day cruise. We just did a 5 day one and it reminded me again why we never do short cruises. It's potentially turned us off Carnival for awhile as well. But I'm not going to get into all of that in your post. Our on went on cruises when he was 13-15 and enjoyed his time on Carnival. And he always had plenty to eat. But, quality is way down, IMO right now on Carnival. When we came to the UK we also did an 8-day cruise because of the same reason. The cost of the flights over there, we wanted to make it worth our time. And like you, we then spent a week on land - quick overnight to the west coast for something hubby wanted to go to, then 4 days in London.

We had several problems with it as well the whole week. We were on the Freedom. It would constantly tell us we weren't connected. I didn't use it for much, just chatting mostly, but either way, it was definitely spotty.

Totally agreed! We were on the Pride last April and enjoyed several of our meals. This time, more misses than hits. I'll write my own review, but definitely some disappointment in this cruise for us.

We just sailed her last week, Freedom Rock band was in fact playing in the atrium in the evenings! They did a nice job.

The YTD is in the Chic Restaurant. It's on Deck 3, behind the lobby staircase. I only know because we accidentally tried going there for our first evening. LOL! And shows are all first come, first served. We didn't go to any of them because we saw them 7 months ago.

I was less than impressed with our filets that we had one night. We all ordered them, two were done correctly, the other two were not. Honestly, we did it because the menu selections that night were less than exciting, so we thought we'd try it. But for the price, which I know is still less than on land, it wasn't worth it. I'd rather take that money and put it towards a real steakhouse at home. It came with some mashed potatoes and I think a piece of broccoli.

Seems like that's what they're doing. I had to do the health assessment when we booked this 7 months ago. Then, they slowly started dropping things. And now, I know people don't have to do those even. But, having said that, I have just assumed that because we did the attestation form months ago, that's why we're not having to show proof. They even said that Verifly thing is no longer needed. So, yes, it's very possible that someone will lie about their status. However, it's also possible that Carnival then will do random checks. Or on future cruises, or people who have been booking since they dropped the requirement, must have proof for Grand Turk. In other words, if someone booked our cruise as a last minute deal like 3 weeks before we left, they may be asked to show proof there.

I can tell you they didn't on the Freedom last week. However, I'm also betting a majority of the people already did that health attestation months ago, because it was a more recent thing they dropped. So it is still possible that they had a majority of the people's statuses already confirmed from their booking documents.

Just to add in our most recent experience with Cocoa Beach Shuttle. We've been using them for about 17 years now! From our first time cruising out of PC in 2005 until this year. It doesn't mean we've used them a ton of times, but still, just to give some context. The first time, was a little shaky, but I think that's because we didn't realize the way they ran their shuttles. Either way, we used them again about 4 more times over the years, then again this last week. Now, I get it, everyone is saying they're short staffed, they're working in it, they're trying, etc... However, the trip back was the most disorganized thing ever! The signs coming out of the terminal aren't very clear on where shuttles pick up. We were told 3 different places. We had been trying to call CBS since we got off the ship at 8:30, and we finally got through to a person around 9:15. This is when she finally able to tell me the best place to wait. We ended up standing in the stripped crosswalk area in front of the terminal. The van came past us in front of the terminal, we ran over to check with him, but then they loop around to come on the other side where we had been standing. Turned out, there were I think 6-7 other groups also waiting for him, and he was just ONE van. While he was trying to confirm each of our reservations, another driver called me to say he had driven past but didn't see anyone! The different drivers were calling the guy we were standing with, because they didn't know where to pick up! And then some drivers were apparently only doing local drop offs. It was all sorts of confusion and quite frustrating. Even the drivers can't get through to the call center because everyone was calling. Everyone in our van said they got stuck in the call center loop, being sent to some woman's inbox, and another inbox that was full. So, they really, really need to work on the procedure for picking up at the port! It was the most disorganized mess I've ever seen! And prioritize things, who has what flight and what time, etc... I think we all sort of forced his hand to just take those of us standing there when we ALL said we were going to the airport, nobody was going to a local hotel. We will most likely try a different company the next time we cruise out of there.

We just went to GT last Wednesday. In the morning announcements, they told people to have their cards (or pics of it I think they said too, which is what we had). We walked off the ship with Carnival scanning or S&S cards. That was it... Nobody asked to see the cards/pics, nobody checked it, nothing. Now, the weird part, when we were getting back on board, they scanned the S&S cards of 2 women in front of us. Both of them it flagged and they were asked to show proof of vaccine. They both made a bit of a stink about it too. I mean, I get it, it was weird to ask coming BACK on board, there would be no point. But either way, who cares. So yes, I would still have the proof of it, as you never know what ONE person might ask for. But no, not a single person we saw or knew of was asked to show it when we got off the ship.

No insight, but it wasn't running when we were there on Wednesday this past week. So I'm guessing it's a long term issue.

Yep! That's why I thought it was weird! Although not sure the 2 women had to make such a big scene about it, which they did. I mean, I would have questioned it, as in "What's the point now!?" LOL! They were mad about it for some reason, then pretty sure they ended up forgetting a bag on the table there in a huff to leave. They had the pics of the cards, so it wasn't a big deal.

I'm sure the ocean one would be a little quieter. But they're not that far from the poolside ones, so you'll still hear it. It was definitely a bit louder at that cabana than in Grand Turk. We did a cabana in both places. We just wanted to relax and not do much at all this time. We actually enjoyed a lot of the music in GT, she was playing a lot of different tunes. She had some of the standard group dance songs (don't ask me the names, but we all know them. LOL!), then some country songs, and just a variety, which was much nice. In Amber Cove the played a lot more I guess "house" music is the best way to describe it. I do wish it wasn't quite as loud as it was, but it wasn't awful to us. We loved having the cabana there, could lock things up, had poolside chairs reserved for us, it was nice. However, I will say we were a little disappointed in the host later in the day. He would come around to check on things, separate from the waiter. And by afternoon we barely saw him. This is when there were more people coming around to hang out by the pool. Which you can totally do without renting things. But there was a group there who dumped their bags literally right next to our chairs, then were sitting around on the other cabana's reserved deck chairs. We would have liked it if they did check the wristbands that were required to be on that part of the deck. I certainly thing an ocean side cabana would have way less people to deal with. LOL!

Same! In Grand Turk on Wednesday on the Freedom. They didn't ask for anything as we left the ship. NOW - the weird thing is the 2 women in front of me, when they scanned their sail & sign cards, it flagged them and they were asked for proof of their vaccine. But it was on our way back onto the ship, which was certainly odd.

We did the Carnival excursion to Caye Caulker on our cruise last April and it was without a doubt our favorite excursion. Probably in our Top 3 for all our cruises across the board. I'm sure the independent companies run similar tours, I just know what ours was like. We had so much fun, it was my 2nd time snorkeling and I'm so glad I did it. I didn't go in when we moved over to the sharks though, just because I'd had enough. But my husband and son went in and loved it. The lunch at Caye Caulker was quite good, very organized too. In Mahogany Bay we did a nice catamaran snorkeling trip, which was before Belize and my first time snorkeling. We saw so much in the ocean, even swam with a turtle! It was fun. We went with the Jolly Roger company, but it was a Carnival excursion. The sharks that everyone got to swim with. I stayed on the boat to take some pics. My husband and son, with the sharks under them, although it's hard to see. The Lazy Lizard where we had lunch. Really nicely organized on the tour we did. Great photo op there too!

Thanks! We sail on her next week!

Wow! Hope it works in your favor! You tried to tell them, but sometimes they just don't understand how to fix it, and let it go. I'm sure they have plenty of errors that go the other way, so it balances out. And while not with Carnival, we had a similar situation with The Container Store. About 20 years ago, we did a 2nd floor addition with all new closets. We were doing the custom Elfa products for the kids closets, which meant having things pre-cut to specific dimensions. So we called in advance (we had 2 year old twins at the time, so didn't want to stand around waiting in the store), and placed our order for like $400 worth of pieces. We gave them our credit card and they charge it all. Once we got there, we had to still go through the checkout line, because we picked up a few small items. They then went through our phone-in order, checking over things, and confirming we had everything that we had charged. I still to this day, have no idea what they did, but for some reason, they issued a refund for the entire order! We noticed it on our credit card statement a month later, but when we reached out, they had no record of the refund on their end! So we did try, but they had no answer either. LOL!

We'll be there in 2 weeks, so I guess we'll find out. My thought, and I've voiced this a few times, but no real answers - Carnival probably has everyone's vaccine status already, since they only dropped this now and we sail in a few weeks. They could easily flag those who aren't in compliance with port specific requirements. But who knows!

Yes I then said I had a feeling I was thinking about Canada. 😉

It's crazy that they're still enforcing that. At least for commercial flights. Although for some reason, I thought they had dropped that. Maybe they were just talking about it. But let's be honest, we know there are people coming into the country that aren't vaxed. Oh, and maybe I was thinking of Canada. My husband and son do a big fishing trip up there, but haven't gone for 3 years now.

Some ports will still require it. So if you have, no big deal bringing it. We're doing the same, but we need to have it for Grand Turk.

Nope! But keep in mind, certain ports may require something.

Hahahaha!! Yes!! Someone commented, on another site, that they had to use VeriFly because there was NO WAY that Carnival would send them something that wasn't the best thing to use, or some other goofy reason. But I was happy to see the updated protocols. Of course, as someone pointed out in our group, we still have to make sure we're following any extra protocols for specific ports.

And I had to chuckle a bit. In our cruise group on another outside page, someone asked about it. Most people were all on board with it, which is fine. I'm not going to argue with people, it's not a big deal. But, one person commented that they downloaded it, because according to this person, "why would they send it to you if you don't need it." Well... let's be honest, Carnival sends me a lot of things that I don't need. LOL! I just don't get the amount of time some people have been spending trying to get it to work properly. I have zero problem printing my stuff, whatever is needed, then just handing my passport, paperwork, and move on at the port.