beckymomof2

In the past when we were on Carnival they gave us a phone so they could call if the kids wanted to be picked up from camp. Now our kids are much older (8 and 10). Do they still give phones out? We will be on the Freedom.

We will have an interior room on Carnival Freedom for four people. I can't really picture what the layout could be. If you have a king bed, then the other two must be bunks. Is the king on one side and the bunks are on the other side or how does it work?

I used the gift card site to get egift cards. Printed them and took on the ship with me. Entered them into the kiosk to credit my sign & sail account. Amount not used was mailed to me in the form of a plastic gift card a week after sailing. Very easy to use. I actually got a "bonus" when I bought them ($50 extra card with purchase) on the carnivalgiftcards site.

A $50 bonus... wow... how much did you have to buy to get that? Like $1000 in gift cards or something?

You always stay on ship time. :)

I know you always stay on ship time, but I'm trying to figure out what time it will be in Cozumel compared to ship time, so we can make our dolphin excursion. I'd like to book it at a time that will work. :confused:

I think there are two options

1) http://www.carnivalgiftcards.com

or

2) cruise cash

From my understanding the cruise cash gets applied to your on board account and if for some reason you didn't make the cruise, it's not refundable as it goes specifically to that booking. So has anyone used the gift card website? I think it makes more sense because if you didn't go on the cruise, you could use it later.

I just want to make sure I understand it correctly before I start purchasing.

Thanks

Just curious, where are you doing the Dolphin Swim? We just got back from Cozumel on the Carnival Victory, we went to Dolphinaris. Cozumel was actually 2 hours behind EST, it was confusing as hell because I was expecting it to be only an hour difference. We got to Dolphinaris about 3 hours before our scheduled time and they accommodated us. If you have any questions about it let me know. We booked on our own and saved a ton of money off the Carnival excursion price.

It's at Chankanaab Park, so a different place than you went. We went in the past and really liked it.

Not sure what you are asking, will you be able to make it to the excursion, or will you be able to make it back to the ship if you go on the excursion..

 

Cozumel is in the Eastern Time zone, and Galveston (ship time) is in the Central time zone. Cozumel does not observe DST, so if it is 8 AM CDT ship time when you get to port, it will be 8:00 AM EST in Cozumel.

Does the ship stay on Galveston time the entire time? Past cruises I have been on they change an hour one way or the other a couple times.

We will be on Carnival Freedom stopping in Cozumel on 5/21/15 (ship times 8 AM to 4 PM?

I'm trying to figure out if I could make a dolphin swim at 10 AM.

Another recommendation for Ronystours.com. He is a great guy and sooo friendly. His business is smaller than Victor's - Rony will personally meet you. He offers a private freestyle tour that is perfect. We have used him at least 5 times or more. It's great to be able to have a plan, but deviate from it at any time you choose.

 

We have been to both monkey parks with Rony. The one place, they are in a large cage you enter. The other - they just run wild all over the place. There are also other animals at each park. At the one with the cage, you will have a young guide to take you to see each animal - they keep you moving - with a brief visit at each. The other park, you can just wander around and look at all the animals and watch the monkey play all around you. You can stay there as long as you like. There is also a butterfly enclosure there.

 

Either way, Rony will make sure you have a memorable day!

I'm confused. Does Rony's tour or Bodden's tour have the monkeys in cages?

Questions about this. If someone has been on this tour, can you tell me how it works as far as the travel goes?

We will be on Carnival Freedom and I would like to take the family to see monkeys without having it cost $50+ per person.

If you use Victor Bodden, do you take a taxi to a location? Or is a taxi part of the tour? If so how long of a ride? I am nervous to do a non-Carnival excursion that requires a very long ride.

For example, I AM WILLING to take a taxi on Cozumel to the Chankanaab park, but I AM NOT willing to go on the cave tubing in Belize on a separate tour because you are on a bus going out in the middle of nowhere on a several hour drive. I hope that makes sense.

Another question for you all...

If my dad buys a $500 Carnival Gift Card (not the carnival cash but an actual gift card), can he split the money between two different cabins?

He wants to use it to pay gratuities for both of our cabins.

I bought the cruise cash for our upcoming cruise and I thought that if we didn't use all of it on the last night we could cash it out in the casino. Am I wrong?

 

Thanks!!

Don't panic. Someone on here will know for sure, but I think you are right. I think it's just something people don't often know about unless they frequent these chat boards.

Last cruise I called in and purchased on board credit a couple different times. I hear that now they have changed it to gift cards (called cruise cash or something like that). Is this the only form/option?

I don't have a problem with buying the gift cards, I just wasn't sure if there was other options.

Anyone have the Capers for the Freedom 7 day cruise to Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel?

Thanks

I ended up with Holiday Inn Express & Suites Houston Space Ctr - Clear Lake for $96.15 with the deal yesterday that Hotwire had going. That included tax, free parking for the night and free breakfast in the morning. So I'm happy with that. I just wanted a hotel that wasn't sketchy.

We'll stay there the night before the cruise, get up in the morning, eat breakfast and then make our way to the parking area before the cruise. I'm not really worried about the timing because we should have plenty of time that morning/afternoon.

Thanks for the help everyone.

double the time frame to an hour to port. even on Sundays the highway is busy. we left Spring( SiL lives there)a suburb of Houston and it took us about 90 minutes to get to the island.

Wow ok... good to know. I think we'll still stay that distance but I'll plan for the extra time.

We will be driving in, so staying a distance from the port isn't a big deal. I'm planning to use hotwire and pick a hotel in the NASA area for the night before.

I figured the next morning we can drive (about half hour) to the parking garage area and then to the port.

Does anyone see any problems with this?

You can go on the dolphin discovery site to see all pricing for each type of swim (which since you have little ones, you will only be able to do the encounter). I believe it's all the same price whether adult or child.

 

 

***EDIT, I just did a mock booking and it told me the above information when I put in child...same price. But now I see that it says children 5 and under to call for pricing. ***

I believe if you click on "sales" you will see where it says kids under 10 are free with a paying adult. But you have to call to get that price. 1-866-393-5158.

My husband and I did the dolphin swim a few years ago, but now we are going on a cruise with my parents and our kids. I don't know if much has changed. I want to book the excursion directly rather than going through Carnival. Does anyone remember about how much a cab ride is?

Also has anyone had trouble lately with going on your own? When we went you weren't technically supposed to book on your own because they have a contract with Carnival. When we arrived they asked which ship we were on and I told them. They put us with that group.

I just want to be sure if I book on our own, they won't turn us away when we arrive.

Also I noticed online it says it comes with a buffet lunch. I don't remember that before. Anyone know if they really do? Seems like a good deal if they really offer a buffet.

We have always flown to our ports because we used to live in Alaska but now have moved to the lower 48.

Where do you park and what is the cost when leaving out of Galveston?

Thanks

Are there any alcohol free cruises?

It is basically a chemical that is banned in the US but used as a additive in Mexico. Cumarin is found in things like cigarette tobacco and has a similarity to an ingredient in rat poison. Here is a definition from wiki

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coumarin

 

Make sure you check the bottle and it says "contains no coumarin".

Does it actually have to say "contains no coumarin" or can it just not list that as an ingriedient?

I don't know anything about the game but I have played that quarter game where the thing slides back and forth and quarters fall out. Other than that I don't gamble. However, I did see Carnival employee rearranging things in the machine so that the next time when people played not as much would fall out. I think they did this when hardly anyone would be in the casino.

I know it's all speculation, but I wouldn't be suprised if they took an ipad out. But if those of us that play still play, Carnival still makes money and it is their right to mess with the machine. Not exactly what we want to hear about, but there isn't anything illegal about it.

I found one at Sportsmans Warehouse. It is Lewis N Clark and is called a WaterSeals pouch. Looks like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Lewis-N-Clark-Waterproof-Purpose/dp/B0010XW3U6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342386527&sr=8-3&keywords=lewis+n+clark+waterseals

Not sure if it's that exact size.

Thanks for everyone's help. Something someone said reminded me about Sportmans Warehouse so that pointed me in the right direction. Now I got something that I could actually see in person instead of guessing about online.

Thank you.

Funny thing, I'm so used to having to order everything I forgot we have a Sportman's Warehouse here. I might as well drive over and see what they have. Then I won't have to browse the internet if there is anything good over there.

I still can't get over that my husband was going to stick it in his pocket. I'm sure he would have used a ziplock or something but he didn't say that at first.