bandjwayne

48 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I'll prepurchase some items, but won't be cheap with gratuities and pay whatever the prevailing rate is and then some.

I agree 100% with this.  While we all want the best deal to be had......if not for the hard work of all the men and women who take care of us all, the cruise would not be the same!  I will gladly pay more per day for gratuity's.  

19 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

We use EZ-Air and have never tried the airport parking. I have Mayo discount and we never call ahead. Have never been turned away. We once returned after a blizzard and they made sure everyone’s cars started and were shoveled out. Terminal 2 does look easier to park at.

It was spring break a few years ago, normally we would just use ez air, but I was not going to risk it. With the airport parking you can check online to see how full they are. We normally don't go around spring break so parking is normally not an issue.  The last time at EZ air we came back to over 1ft of snow.  They did make sure our car started.  The other positive about the airport is no snow on your car!!! Another bonus to airport parking is when you get back, no need to wait for the shuttle. Both have been fine, but as we get older and have the kids more with us, the airport is a better option for us.

19 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

Hey, Rochester here too. I practically have travel time to MSP down to a science depending on whether it includes parking or not. That only adds 5 minutes usually. I set the alarms but rarely need them I am so excited to be going somewhere.. 

Sorry I got sidetracked here answering the third Medicare scam call today.

Yeah, I only need the one alarm to get up.  The other one's are for everyone else 🙂  Question for you, do you park at the airport or a park and fly?  We used to do the later (EZ-Air) but one trip when we call they said "we may have a spot"......I went right to the airport and parked.  Now that is all we do as we typically fly Southwest or Sun Country and that terminal is so easy to park at.  Great to see other SE MN people like to cruise also!  

On 3/25/2022 at 12:08 PM, HolySpearit said:

Do you set 3 alarms too when you have to be at the airport early, or are you normal? 

Being from Rochester and flying from MSP.....I have about 4 set. 1) get up 2) reminder to get up 3) car is leaving 4) if we don't leave now we will be late for sure.  Our times are typically 3am, 3:05am, 3:20am and 3:30am!  I always thought this was normal for most people.

17 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Fuel costs also already affect cruisers, many of us drive to the ports and with gas prices (costs me $100 to fill up my tank) and port parking being expensive, it already adds hundreds to a cruise vacation. In fact, I'll probably be staying local all summer and skipping San Diego too this year, since everything has gotten more expensive and the hotels and accommodations options are again gouging, restaurants raising prices and attractions/activities raising prices. It'll be the summer of staycation for a lot of folks.   

While it is not good for all with gas prices, if you drive a long ways, it could really add up. We have to fly, so I am hoping flight prices don’t go up to much. 

Do you mean the Family Harbor Lounge area?  We had a cove balcony room directly across from the lounge.  Noise from the lounge wasn't a problem, but I'm a light sleeper and kept be awoken by banging from the gallery above.  My husband & kids didn't wake up, but I'll never have a room under the gallery again.

11 hours ago, brewwhat said:

Call me an old fuddy duddy, but I look forward to elegant nights. It's a good reason to dress up that doesn't involve a wedding or a funeral. 

Mr. Fuddy Duddy....I was always the same way.  I NEVER get dressed up that much as I don't need to for work or anything else.  But as we fly in and the price of baggage I have stopped. It is just to much luggage for us with 2 boys and myself needing suits.  As I get older, I will probably go back to bringing my suite as I think I do look good in it.

We stayed in the Family Harbor area on the Vista in 2017 and my 2 boys were your kids age at that time...so definitely my experience is older, but might still be helpful.  They had 2-3 Playstation 4 counsels and they really enjoyed the racing game that was available on it.  This worked out great when it was time to get ready for dinner, etc.  The boys would get ready first, then go play while we got ready.  There were also some board games, etc., but the video games were by far the most popular activity in the room.  The breakfast food was pretty standard.  I think there was an ice cream machine.  One of my kids favorite activities was getting pizza at midnight with just their dad...no mom as I was often in bed.  This has become a great bonding experience that they still look forward to on any cruise we go on.

Being from Minnesota, our kids go in the pools no matter what.  We cruise in Jan-Feb normally so anything is warmer than what we have at home.  Most kids will swim in the pools anyway, so I would pack 2 for each kid. 1 to wear while the other dries.....cold wet swimsuits are the worst!.  And if they get cold, hop in the hot tub for a sec to warm up.

We will typically find a bar/bartender that we really enjoy in the beginning of our trip and tip them $10 or $20.  That way we don't have to carry cash with us for every drink.  We will tend to head to that bar once we find out the schedule. We will tip every few day.  Not only do we enjoy getting to know a few bartenders, they know and recognize you as well.  Most days, when Marshall (our favorite Bartender) would even see us walk towards the bar he would start to make our drink of choice!  It was ready when we sat down, and we were greeted by name.  That was our favorite part of our last cruise, getting to know the man behind the bar. It was so amazing hearing his story and his plans for when he is done. 

We always cruise in the winter time. We live in MN and like to escape the cold.  I would do as others have suggested, leave as soon as you can. Take your time, if you go at a time that has the least amount of drivers ( 10pm - 5 am ) then you only really need to worry about the road and not others.  My family likes to get up at 2am so we can drive the hour to the airport for our 6 or 7 am flight the day before our cruise.  This is our tradition and the kids love it. BUT we also do it so if a snow or ice storm hits us, we have plenty of time to fly out if there are any delays. 

6 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Cheers is on sale occasionally.  The next date is February 30, then April 31, then June 31, then September 31 and finally November 31. 😉

That is great to hear. I will be getting it anyway, but if I can save a few bucks that is even better!

Thank you for that info.

Wow...That is a long time.  I think that this i not a good sign. So many people are trying to cancel.  I just hope my cruise in 23' goes as planned.

1 hour ago, NanoGirl21 said:

 

No, the price will be the same with 10% off before boarding. The only way it is discounted is if Cheers is included in your booking promo.

Thank you, I will just wait until closer to our cruise to purchase it.

I looked and could not find it.  Does the drink packages ever go on sale?  I see it says 10% off if you buy it before you board.  I am just wondering if the price ever goes up or down before the cruise?  Right now it is $5.95/$51.95 for the packages.  When we booked, they told us we might as well wait until closer to the the sale date before we buy it.  I agree, but to me it would make more sense to buy it early at a cheaper rate.  

Thanks

On 1/20/2022 at 4:13 PM, famof4togo said:

Clear tape over luggage tags is a good idea.

We got some luggage tag holders. we just never had packaging tape at home when we needed it.

I typically have my card in my pocket in either my swimming suit or shorts.  My cell phone lives in the room safe from first room entry until breakfast on last day.  My wife just carries her phone with her in the bag she brings to the pool. I can't stand the lanyard around my neck for some reason that is why it is in my pocket. Mostly they zip up, but not always. So far never have lost my room card!

1 hour ago, kdr69 said:

i think i only saw two offers for 25 dollar cruise over a three week period last year.  Since then all of my offers have been standard offers that just keep getting rolled over to a new expiry date.  I would be really interested to know how many people actually have these offers still coming in and if they are the "predominant pricing" out there or if its just being interpreted by those that do have them that its what Carnival is giving everyone.  

I would like to also see how many have decided to cancel their upcoming cruises.  We just booked on Monday the 17th for Feb 23.  We did not have any deals other than they typical one seen on tv/internet.  As of right now, we are going to keep our cruise booked.....fingers crossed.

13 minutes ago, bucfan2 said:

You can only speak for yourself, yet you point out 1/2/3 about others?  Can't have it both ways....which is it?

 

We've been on 5 cruises since the restart (4 w/ masks, 1 w/o).  I don't believe we're 'mistakenly part of the majority' at all.  We're done until these draconian protocols are gone. And the ridiculously low occupancy #'s show that other vacations are much more attractive than cruising right now.  The general public sure isn't putting up w/ jumping thru all these hoops to go cruising.

^This right here!  Well Stated.

5 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Grousers gonna grouse. Carnival knows what they are doing. Armchair admirals can move to the back of the bus/ship.

I really think you are missing the point.  In NO WAY do I want Carnival to fail......this is our vacation of choice.  I just am wanting to see vast improvement in people going on cruises than what I am reading.  The report you are talking about was before they made the announcement last week.  They do not know how everyone booked will react.  I am booked, and am NOT going to cancel because it is too early for me to do that and by next Feb it will be totally different than today.  I can appreciate your positive attitude, but I don't think we will ever know how many people have decided not to go because of the protocols in place.  

5 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

I guess we are just rejecting reality...lol. 😁

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CCL/financials/

Right!!! Plus the earnings forecast was BEFORE they sent out the letter to everyone about the protocols being extended.  But I guess we are still wrong, lets just give up 😅

20 minutes ago, bucfan2 said:

A very simple, useless answer...and repeated over and over to allow for deflection.  Not sure how someone can even dream in their own mind that cruise lines are 'doing fine'.

That is so true. 

We love cruising, and it is hard to look at what is going on and think they are "doing fine"  A quick google search gave me all I needed to know (Q4)

Revenue-   1.9B 

Cost of Revenue-  4.65B

Net income -  -2.75B yes negative

While these numbers are up from Q3, it for sure is not sustainable for the future. 

3 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

 

Me too, I have 2 cruises booked between now and the end of April, so I got about 12 of the emails 😄

I'm really interested to see how the $10 covid tests (at the port) go.  At first, I was really excited but then I realized I don't want to fly across the country just to test and be denied boarding (I'd rather know test results before I leave).  And then it made me wonder if a lot more people will resume cruising if the test requirement is made easier?  I've gotten spoiled by half empty ships!🙂  

VeriFLY seems way overdue, so happy to see that too.

Overall good news.

While it would be nice to have half empty ships, the cruise lines probably can’t sustain with half empty ships. Then they have to raise prices, keeping more people away. We are booked in February of 23.  While I still want to go, I agree with getting to Florida and finding out someone in our group is positive. I think they are in a lose lose situation and hopefully they can stay afloat (no pun intended)

Thanks for the wonderful post!  I snorkeled here last month and afterward wish I had brought a better camera because views were SO amazing!

Here's a snippet from a review I posted here a few weeks ago from our early Feb. visit to Roatan.  The zip line was way up in the hills & we'd do both again.  We hired a driver/guide from Rony's tour.

*We first drove to the zip line place we had previously chosen, Extreme Pirate of the Caribbean Zip Line.  No one else was there when we arrived so it was quick & easy.  It was very fun and we felt safe with a guide going before us, one after us, and even our guide Will joined us.  After zip lining we went to AJ’s monkeys & sloths.  Please note that this was a different place then what we had selected on-line, but it was close and Will thought that there would be less of a wait here.  It cost $15/person and we did have a little wait, but there was a cool breeze, plenty of seating areas, and we got to interact/hold guinea pigs, sloths, monkeys, and parrots.