donan54

A few years ago I was planning a short cruise from Jacksonville with my sister. She has a red card and I am platinum. We were on the phone checking out the cabins and her past guest rate was $50pp cheaper than mine. I had her screen shot the page and send it to me so I could verify that it wasn't a resident discount, etc. (we live in different states). Sure enough, the same cabin was $50pp cheaper than any rate I could get so we booked it under her name/rate. My sister proceeds to tell me in the weeks leading up to the cruise that she is getting calls from Carnival daily for paid upgrades-she got annoyed and stopped answering the calls.

 

Fast forward to the day of embarkation and my sister picks me up at the airport and tells me to listen to a voicemail from Carnival. They are offering a paid upgrade to a balcony cabin. I called them back just to hear the offer and it was more money than we wanted to spend so we declined the offer. We are in the security line and Carnival calls my sister's phone again. We did not answer it but check the voicemail and it is the same agent offering the cabin upgrade for FREE this time. We call the agent back and they communicate with guest services and we scored our free balcony cabin upgrade. I was very happy about this, don't get me wrong, but I was also a little resentful because I have never been offered anything like this for free. They figure I am a loyal customer and will keep coming back, so why bribe me with incentives and free upgrades.

 

After my very disappointing cruise on the Vista a few weeks ago, I vowed to not sail Carnival again and came home and cancelled my bookings. Now I am getting emails every few days for "special offers" and sales that I have never gotten before when I had future bookings. It will take a lot for me to ever set foot on a Carnival ship again!!

If you didn't like Vista, try a much more congenial ship class like Spirit; Legend, Miracle, Pride, etc. Love this class!

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For me, I agree that trying the other lines is a good thing. I also agree that sailing a line because of the loyalty status alone is a bit silly.

 

Although, everyone has different needs/wants. Some people have very basic needs. Some need to be dazzled all of the time. A loyalty status could be that icing on the cake for some.

We appreciate the diamond status we have with Carnival. No the perks are almost the same as platinum, but sitting with Capt of each ship has been some of the best memories we've had!

One of the best things any traveler can do is make friends with members of the crew. They will take care of you! No need for give- ahead tips or extra tips either. We are still in contact with crew members we sailed with since 1997, and the list is growing. We have little reunion parties when we meet up with them again. We've even had a maitre'd who came off another ship to meet us down on the sidewalk when our ship was in the same port! No one can give you more of an inside scoop like crew members!

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It was a casino offer, which I found to good to be true also. But I wasn't about to wait for them to pull it back if it was a mistake.

 

Editted: No, no comps other than the casino offer, and no certificates. We have had a couple of cruises where we missed a port and they gave us a 25% discount on future cruises, if that's what you mean.

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This is just a guess but I imagine Carnival tracks everything about you onboard. How much you gamble, how much you drink, how much you shop, how you tip, shore excursions, spa services etc. They then profile you as a customer, give you an internal rating and target market you. A long time cruiser who carries onboard drinks, has done all the excursions and doesn’t spend much is not as profitable as a red card cruiser who has a big onboard account at the end of the cruise.

 

I know the companies I have worked for know all these details of their customers.

 

 

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SOOOO frustrated with Carnival right now. I am ready to book a cruise. Credit card in hand. I have been platinum for several years. Surprisingly, I get very few email offers for deals, but a friend of mine, who cruised with me a few years back and had my email address on her booking, is getting them DAILY! Reduced prices, reduced deposits, upgrades, but NOTHING for my platinum status. I've watched CCL go cheap on a lot of things over the years, but you would think that they would want to keep their customers who have been loyal to them coming back. I even called to see if they had anything they can offer; I just got an apology...but no deals. Guess I will be booking an all-inclusive at a resort, instead of taking a cruise. :mad::mad:Anyone else encounter this issue?

Sometimes we do think about booking when they offer things like Reduced Deposits!

In my humble opinion, if you sit around & WAIT for offers, you are too late! The best rates are gone! There are so many ins & outs to these rates & from what I hear, people get screwed royally. If you have already booked & find a reduced rate for your cabin category, you have to be careful cause you can lose perks you got with the original booking; i.e. on board credits. The casino rates offered say they can save you up to $500? Trust me, hasn't happened yet! I save more money just by booking ahead, checking one other website that Cruise Critic won't let me mention here & watching the rates daily ( or at least weekly). As long as you book Early Saver, you can get your cruise rate reduced all the way up to 2 days prior to sailing! But NO cruise line will ever notify you that a price reduction has occurred. The onus is on you to check the rates yourself!

I also don't believe there are any "special" or frequent offerings based strictly on your loyalty status! Red card holders don't get any more emails than Diamond card holders! These cruise lines want MONEY regardless of how many times you've sailed! Go to their websites & check the parameters for your emails. They do send out offers based on the state you live in, where you generally like to cruise & what season you cruise. You should also be able to check the frequency of receiving emails. Generally, my inbox stays full!

Hope this helps! Happy sails!

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Hi

 

There are eight of us travelling together on a Celebrity Infinity Panama Canal cruise, arriving in San Diego early in October. We have booked an 11:50 am flight so, to be sure we can travel together and get to the airport with plenty of time for check in, we think it would be a good idea to use a shuttle service.

 

I have four quotes to transfer all 8 of us and up to 2 pieces of luggage each - Advanced Shuttle ($59), Prime Time Shuttle ($66), Go Airport Shuttle ($66) and Airport Shuttles ($291).

 

Does anyone have any information about these companies, e.g. reliability that they'll show up as planned, to help choose one?

 

Thanks for your help with this.

 

Bev

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I realize this is a really obscure question, but on the Allure where is mustard station G04 ? I am traveling with 90+ year old parents, and just wondering where the G04 station is on the ship ? (Fingers crossed that is the AquaTheater which is close to their cabin)

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Hello, I’m still fairly new to cruising ( been on p and o Britannia and royal Caribbean independence of the seas) and myself and my girlfriend booked a cruise on msc Preziosa (first time with msc) a few months back for May 2019 through cruise 1st - there was only a few cabin left to choose from - 3 to be exact - 2 of which were obstructed view and the one we chose - cabin 10192 which wasn’t an obstructed balcony - we specifically said no upgrades as we were happy with this room, we like slightly higher decks and towards mid ship - to our confusion we went online to our booking on msc today and for some reason, we have been moved to cabin 8128 - we don’t know why this has happened as we have done some digging and this being a lower deck, has the lifeboats on, it’s not classed as obstructed however is most definitely in the eyeline which we aren’t happy about - does anyone have any idea why this has been done? Or where we would start with having it changed?

Generally, balcony cabins on the life boat decks are Not priced as high as balconies with Unobstructed views. It should Say whether cabin 8128 has an obstructed view. If it does, you have a LEGITIMATE beef! You paid for a balcony on an unobstructed deck! If by chance cabin 8128 & cabin 10192 are in the same category & cabin 8128 doesn't say obstructed, well, you can still call MSC at Guest Resolutions, or whatever they call that dept & voice your dissatisfaction! Tell them you're an experienced cruiser trying MSC for the first time & if this is the way they're going to treat you, you won't bother with them again! Ask for a supervisor, don't deal with the first person who answers the phone! They are First Level people who can do little more than book you a cruise. What you need is probably a Third Level person. They might offer to change your cabin and/or give you on board credit!

Hope this helps! Good luck!

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Thanks!!

From reading the last few posts, now it seems people are replying to Me, as if I wrote the original statement! Amazing to me how little people read the posts fully on Cruise Critic!

Anyway, don't take all the blame! You didn't know! Just go forward, enjoy your cruise & learn from it. If you didn't get anything from Guest Resolutions, please let me know. We are diamond with Carnival, which means we get our own private vacation planner to book with. This is a subject I will bring up with them so they can learn too.

If I can assist you in any way with cruising, please feel free to contact me! We are currently booked for 8 cruises with Carnival.

Enjoy! Calm seas,

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I booked a balcony cabin at a rate where the cabin would be choosen for me. I have done this before on a ship without cove balconies. I asked the agent MULTIPLE times if I might get a cove. I had already checked and noticed all the coves were booked anyways and she assured me over and over that I would not be assigned a cove. Well guess what....COVE! I am frustrated and feel that since there are numerous balconies open they should be able to move me with out charging me. I may would have left my booking as is if I had known this was a possibility (I was booked on a another sailing). This was not my fault in my view as I was assured by their agent that a cove was not a possibility. I don't want to hear from people about how they love the coves I know some people feel that way but we wanted a regular balcony and I feel that I should have gotten one as this is what I was told. Is there someone else I can contact to ask about this. When I call their regular number I just get very unhelpful vacation planner.

As for future reservations, keep this in mind. NEVER trust what a regular Vacation Planner tells you! I say this as over the years, we have learned & discussed many, many things with people in the know of the cruising industry. It's not the agents' fault. They simply Don't Know. There is a formula used for assigning cabins when a Guaranteed Rate is offered. It's very complex. I can tell you that any comments, requests or promises made by the agent, ARE NOT taken into consideration! It is simply a matter of When you booked, How much you paid, Who you are (your sailing status with the cruise line), What cabins are available & Where those cabins are. A Cove cabin is generally considered an upgrade. Carnival probably thought they were being nice to you! Keep this in mind when talking to them.

Cruise lines offer Guarantees when their cabins being sold are scattered all over the ship. The idea is to try & sell the rest by offering a good rate so they can fling you wherever they have a "hole" so to speak. When a desireable cabin is opened up, they can either sell it at a higher rate OR offer an upgrade for a lesser amount to a loyal customer. The problem comes in when the cruise line's idea of a Desireable cabin & yours Differ! They think Mid Ship is most desireable. I Don't! They think a Cove balcony is most desireable. You Don't! I generally don't go for a Guarantee rate unless I really, really want to sail that cruise & I can live with wherever they put us. Sometimes we've been EXTREMELY disappointed. Sometimes we've been upgraded so extravagantly, we were in awe the whole cruise!

I agree, there's no point in everyone's chiming in & saying how much they Love the Cove cabins. It's not what YOU wanted & that's all there is to it.

Call Guest Resolutions & see what happens. If you happen to get a hold of Andrea, I know she can help you. Let me know what happens!

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I'm wondering that myself. There IS a thermal suite ( not a cabin) but can't find any info of what that entails. Would love to know if anyone can find out!

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can you clarify what you mean by the top 3 decks are being removed entirely? Based on deck plans, they're moving stuff around, but it looks like there are still cabins where there once were.

 

Our cabin on lido got reassigned and I'm not sure why since our original cabin appears to still be there.

 

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Our original assigned cabin was still there too, but WE got moved out! We fought to get it back. You should too!

Just FYI - we took the Destiny to Venice to become the Sunshine. We spent the 18 days getting the inside scoop of what they were going to do to the Destiny & saw the drawn out plans.

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Just received a call from Carnival Corporate regarding our FTTF for next year's cruise - they just wanted to confirm that we still wanted it, and re-booked it for us. Have a feeling this will happen to all current reservations - no need to rebook on your own :)

We did get our cabin back, but it took a few frantic phone calls.

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So no Serenity pool and waterfall like the Sunshine has. :(

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I assume you are on the 14 day Panama Canal Cruise on May 27. So are we. I think our cruise is the 6th cruise after the dry dock. Plus there will be the trip across the Atlantic back to Norfolk.

 

April 29 - 7 day Norfolk

May 6 - 6 day Norfolk

May 12 - 5 day Norfolk

May 17 - 5 day Norfolk

May 23 - 4 day NYC

May 27 - 14 day NYC

 

 

 

 

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Yes I corrected that about the shake out. Norfolk people will get to deal with that.

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Bail out now. Look up the teething issues for Sunshine when it started sailing out of drydock. It's the nature of dry dock. YOU'RE the shakedown cruise.

 

 

 

Good point; it's only "public" space if an event is hosted there. But remember, the addition of cabins is going to add at least 100 people per sailing. Open deck spaces, atrium, dining rooms, buffet, do not get any larger. And these are areas that are commonly tight on Carnival ships (well, don't really have an issue with MDR; but buffet layout is bad and atriums and pool deck space is tight)

 

Look, I get it, I understand, they are in business yada yada yada...but have cruised enough to know the sort of "baked in" infrastructure choices that can make a cruise more pleasant, or make it be like a cattle herd, and more people with a reduction in entertainment space and no gain in the most commonly used public spaces does not bode well. I know, don't book the ship, spend my money elsewhere, and I will. But as a matter of practice this just points how things are going...

I don't care for the Horizon. Never been on it, but it was designed exactly like the Vista, which we were on for 33 days. One of the most POORLY designed ships I've ever seen! Bathrooms were scarce & hard to find. Talk about common areas being too small! When they had trivia in one lounge, people were in the walkways, spilling outside - all with no seats! It never seemed to occur to them to change the venue! The Liquid Lounge was horrible during the day - morning show & other stuff - they only pulled out 2 rows of those awful metal chairs & you couldn't see over people's heads cause the Lounge is not tiered. If this is the same design they're doing the Panorama - forget it! No thanks!

We jumped on the Triumph/Sunrise for the itinerary & the price we got for the cabin we wound up with. I suspect we'll be long dead by the time they get around to RUINING every ship we've ever been on. This is not a Carnival thing. All the cruise lines will be doing the same thing sooner or later.

If you find patterns happening on a ship that you don't like - the time to gripe about it is NOW. Don't wait. Cruise lines are going to cut & scrape every little pleasantry until you can't take it anymore. Money talks! It also WALKS.

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Yikes! We were already booked on the Triumph for May 2019. We noticed immediately when our booking disappeared off carnival's website. When it was put back, they had taken us out of our handicapped cabin (we're both handicapped thank you) & put us in a regular cabin! It took quite a bit of talking & finagling to get it back!

All they've done is made the Triumph into another Sunshine. Top 3 decks removed & redesigned. Theater turned into that god awful Liquid Lounge. Steakhouse, Guy's Burgers, Seafood Shack & Pig & Anchor added. New decor throughout.

Our 14 day cruise will now be only the Second cruise for the Sunrise, after a short 4 day shake out. I hope it all goes well. It will be fun being on a like-new ship; new bedding & the like. But I sure don't appreciate Carnival moving us around & changing our cabin like that! Apparently the Diamond Dept was told to keep it a secret, cause we made 3 phone calls & were told admin was working on the problem & it would take till Tuesday. Seriously? I think they could have given people who were booking a heads up, cause we just booked this 7/23.

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Born in Florida, but left & returned 15yrs later. Lived in West Palm Beach & over 20 yrs wound up on 60+ cruises! But otherwise hated living there. No change of seasons, expensive home insurance, too many tourists. Now live in Raleigh area of North Carolina & love it!

We can get to Charleston, SC, Norfolk, VA, Baltimore, MD, & even NYC within a day's drive or flight. Only problem is; unless you take a longer cruise - the nearest destinations are Nassau, Freeport or Bermuda. But we have direct inexpensive flights daily to Miami, FLL & NYC. We even have directs to London & Paris daily. So we can go BE tourists when we want to.

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That sounds incredibly repetitive... You know there are other options for vacation besides cruising, right?

Sure the routes are repetitive. We go just for the boat rides! There are so many cruise lines (they are the same, but with little nuances that are different enough) to try & so many itineraries! We've been all over the world on cruises!

Resorts are expensive, captive & boring. Driving by car is monotonous & dangerous. Train hopping from town to town is tedious & expensive. Flying to a foreign country & touring is also tedious & expensive.

We once hopped on a cruise to Europe, one way, for $499 a person! 18 days on a cruise ship! 9 days at sea. Had a blast, relaxing, dining & dancing our way to Venice, Italy. Find me a vacation option like this & I'll eat my cruise t-shirt!

Give me a good cruise ship, a good crew, open water & fair skies any day of the week & I'm there! After 157 cruises, I consider it a way of life!

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We currently have 8 cruises booked on Carnival, thru November of 2019. Some are simply back to backs to make the cruises longer. This is the most we've ever had at one time, but if we don't have at least 3 going, we feel lost!

And dear hubby checks them every single day (sometimes several times a day) for price drops or other good deals. The next to nothing deposits they have going are making this way too easy!

We'll be doing the Panama canal in May 2019!

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Thank you. My assessment was just to inform cruisers what I witnessed on my recent cruise and be as realistic as possible. I also don't mean to downplay dress attire. Some posts regarding dress on cruises can be a little harsh to new cruisers so i wanted to be informative about what I saw on my cruise.

 

My first cruise was on the Empress back in 2002 and dress codes have changed from then. Back then I remember seeing dressier clothing on formal nights, more gowns and more men dressed in tuxedoes.

Cruise Critic should be an "instructional" & "suggestion" blog to assist first time cruisers OR provide Helpful ideas for cruisers of all ages.

I put my 2¢ in strictly to lament about old style cruising & the changes that have occurred over the years. Absolutely people can & Will wear what they want! With that being said however, I will say this:

I Absolutely Put My Foot Down & I Will Complain Loudly If Someone Wears A Bathrobe To Breakfast in the MDR!!!!

We saw this once with our own eyes. Luckily the Hostess scooted them out of the MDR Immediately! If you feel it's "your vacation" & you feel a bathrobe in the MDR is appropos attire, then expect to be ridiculed!

Basta!

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As a person that cruises a fair amount, I definitely think cruise attire in the MDR has become more casual both on formal nights and regular evenings. I do miss seeing the men in tuxedos and women in gowns. I personally adore dressing up. Its my princess moment to put on a luxurious gown and jewels. However, in many cases when I have brought up this topic with other cruisers they say the airlines luggage limitations and fees are the reason. Who can argue with that. I did a Bristish Isles cruise leaving out of Southampton and the vast majority of men wore a tuxedo or dress kilt and the women stunning evening attire. They said they were able to do this as no airlines were involved. So if you love to dress up, there's a cruise to consider. For those of you that make the effort to dress up especially on formal I applaud you! For those that don't I accept you and it certainly has no baring on the enjoyment of my cruise. Cruising is all about relaxing and accepting. I don't, however, think cut off shorts or tube tops should be allowed in the MDR imho.

 

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I go on RCI a lot, but I just got off the Carnival Vista. A lot of folks dressed up a lot but not tuxs. Did see many gowns tho.

 

Folks from Latino culture as well as the southern states do really like to dress up.

 

It was a fun cruise and lots of women with heels and fancy nails.

 

Then again on NCL it is expected to not dress up much. I think RCI cruisers are becoming more like NCL these days. And really most men hate tuxs and like being comfy in their clothes.

 

Also luggage fees makes one rethink how to pack as well.

Then the airlines started charging luggage fees & everything went berserk. Now - almost anything goes. Celebrity has gone so far as to call their previous formal nights "chique" or "chic" night, which just means "fashionable". Fashionable in this day & age can be interpreted so many ways! It boggles the mind!

We personally, have the old style of dress so ingrained in our minds that we follow the old rule of No Shorts after 5 PM! But we no longer pack the tux or the gown, unless we are celebrating a milestone anniversary, such as we did last year for our 40th anniversary. In stead, I usually wear a dressier blouse over black or white slacks & hubby wears the 3 button polo with black slacks & a sport coat. Yes, I will admit we look down our noses at those who wear dress shorts on "formal" night, but that's our old fart ideas, not yours. Formal nights in the MDR usually entail tablecloths & servers in formal wear, as well as the rest of the crew on the entire ship. Maybe it's just us, but being similiarly dressed simply enhances the evening! Try it, you Might just Like it!

Of course these are all just musings stating my humble opinions! Make what you will of it. Just enjoy your cruise!

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No one has mentioned my favorite, Cabo San Lucas, in the winter so one can see whales almost in your face. Venice is wonderful, also Dubrovnik was enchanting.

Dubrovnik is also beautiful, the castles & the wall take you back to another time.

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I'm looking into cruises for next year but I have absolutely NO IDEA where to go.. I've done Eastern, Western and Bermuda. However my boyfriend has never been on a cruise. What are the places that are a must see? What type of excursions did you do there?

Best excursion I ever took - Marseille, France. A tuk tuk tour throughout the entire city! So inexpensive, not much walking & absolute fun!

2nd best - river tubing over small rapids in Granada. For an old lady like me, it was the most adventurous I've ever done & it was a blast!

If you don't want to do Europe, try Alaska or Hawaii. But DO NOT fly to Hawaii & cruise from within. That cruise is horrible! Start from Los Angeles, San Diego or Frisco. Wonderful cruises!

Have fun picking! Better try a short one on your boyfriend, in case he doesn't like cruising. Yes there are people out there who hate cruising! It's a love or hate thing. [emoji6]

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