jtdlmc

Can anyone tell me where the designated smoking areas are on the Epic? I am thinking of booking soon but would like to get a cabin as convenient as possible for DH to get to a smoking area. I have searched this board and have read about a couple of spots. On RCI they have one side of all outside decks that are smoking areas. Is it like that on NCL or are there only these few small spots?

So how do you all know she was browsing in shops paying no attention to the time? Funny how there can be no other circumstances that led to her being so late.

HI, I just tried emailing the matre'd on the Magic I used mamaitred@carnival.com . It came back saying not found at carnival.com. Any ideas?

 

Thanks!!

As per an above post, the letters for Magic would be mc.

Does Carnival ever offer reduced deposits on fares other than Early Saver?

Recently off Freedom of the Seas and totally agree that the fun factor just wasn't there. The whole family felt that way. One poster mentioned more partiers make up the demographics on Carnival, but I can honestly say I saw more obviously drunk people on My FOS cruise (which was not during any spring break) then I have on all my Carnival cruises combined. Gosh there were 3 middle-aged people at our muster station drill who were so drunk at 4 p.m., that I was surprised they allowed them to remain and disrupt the entire thing. It bothers me that Carnival alone has this reputation and yet I saw more drunks on my RCI cruise. Carnival is the fun ship but from what I saw there are just as many drunks on any other cruise line.

I found the food on Carnival much better in the buffet and about the same in the MDR. But the layout of the buffet on RCI is much more efficient with stations rather than long lines.

We didn't go to many shows on either line, but I love figure skating so really enjoyed the ice show on FOS.

Loved the Promenade on FOS.

I found debarkation much faster and smoother on Carnival by a long shot.

Although we may some day cruise on Royal in the future, it will not be our first choice.

I agree with Clarea, RCL cruise docs are basically for information only, no reason at all to print unless you have transfers/OBC as Clarea mentioned. We cruised RCL last month, only printed the page with our OBC just in case. There is nothing on those pages that anyone will ask to see.

Twice a year, once in May, once in September, Carnival offers an itinerary that contains BOTH Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Bay. Did the May 2015 on Legend and I highly recommend.

This itinerary would be awesome. Since my original post I have been looking at HAL as they have the same itinerary RT from Vancouver which is a requirement for us (prime opportunity to visit family in Vancouver whom we very seldom see). I don't see this itinerary on Carnival's website for 2017, where does it originate and end?

Is there a certain month that this ships are more likely or less likely to be able to get into Tracy Arm?

Considering Princess for an Alaskan cruise as Carnival doesn't have the exact itinerary we are looking for. We just got off an RCI cruise and found we really didn't like it as much as Carnival. The fun-factor ambiance just wasn't there and the people just didn't seem as friendly/upbeat as on Carnival (staff included). I guess Princess is a little more, not sure of the word to use so I will use "stuffier" then Carnival and RCI, but is there a huge difference with an Alaskan itinerary? Since there are so few per year, I would think it would be a mix of demographics? We aren't hard-core partiers but we do like friendly people. I guess what it comes down to, and I know this is very subjective, but will someone who loves Carnival and the atmosphere on Carnival ships, like Princess?

Princess for Alaska 2018 isn't out yet . Planned date for 2018 Alaska is around mid April 2016. Only some Australian cruises are out at this time.

Oh yeah, I got my 2018 and 2017 cruise plans mixed up. Alaska is 2017, of which Carnival does not have any Vancouver to Vancouver itineraries (which is what I want) but Princess and NCL do.

I'm also looking at a 2018 Alaska cruise. I really wanted to go with Carnival but NCL and Princess already have their 2018 itineraries out, so I sure hope those of you who predict April are correct, otherwise I will have to consider booking one of the others as I really don't want to wait until Fall to do so :(

I have found the ES rate and resident rate are the same price. At least when I have looked. So I've booked ES to get the reduced deposit.

I noticed that as well but my vacation time isn't set in stone yet so I can't really book ES.

We never went near the "other market" when we were there a few weeks ago because I had read about the aggressiveness of the salespeople on this board before we went. There were some guys standing at the end of a path calling us to go up there one time when we passed and I assumed that was the other market. We did go in the building and had no issues at all with anyone. Even when we were looking at their goods, nobody pestered us in anyway.

The $49 deposit is only on the Early Saver rate. Do they ever offer it on other special rates (resident rates for example)?

We had 7408 on the Freedom (corner aft) booked for two people just this past February. I had to call to get it though as it wouldn't let me book only two online. Afterwards I saw posts on here saying that two wouldn't be allowed and that we could possibly be moved so I talked to a TA who coincidentally had the same cabin on the other side of the ship 7708 on the same sailing as us booked for two people as well. We ended up adding a third person after we had it booked for several months but this TA mentioned he has had that cabin several times booked for two with no issues.

Yup, totally subjective but for my family getting off our first RCI cruise a few weeks ago after only 2 Carnival cruises we all definitely vote for Carnival. RCIs FOS buffet is set up better in a bunch of stations virtually eliminating lines but we found not a lot of variety, all the stations were triplicates and desserts were very few. The MDR on RCI may have a bit better quality but less options. Guy's Burgers (included) beats Johnny Rockets (extra cost) by a long shot. RCI FOS (and I think most of their ships?) has a couple of places in the Promenade that were pretty good for snacks - pizza and salads at Sorrentos and sandwiches and pastries at Cafe Promenade which is open almost 24 hours and was quite good.

I usually booked 14-16 months out. I'm also looking at 2018 cruises now :) My son has never had issues with school after missing a week but this year in grade 9 he had a bit more difficulty so now we are also looking at a March break cruise. We are also in Ontario and know when March break is that far in advance. Other years I have noticed a huge difference in March compared to Feb and April but looking at 2018 all the weeks are priced pretty much the same give or take a few dollars. I'm waiting for a reduced deposit sale and then I think I will book as I don't want to fork out $1000 US two years in advance - the Canadian Resident rate is also really good right now.

Not having sailed Carnival, can you give examples of what you mean by "fun factor?" I've heard this phrase a lot connected to Carnival and always wondered what they do that is more 'fun' . I know it varies from person to person (for example, my idea of fun is a fruity drink, a lounge chair in the sun someplace peaceful, and no one asking me if I can drive them somewhere.....), but was always curious about just what that means. Thanks!

It is difficult to explain really - more of an ambiance thing I guess. Just a more fun overall feeling from everyone on board, even the staff seemed to be more upbeat and fun on Carnival. There was the odd RCI staff member who was upbeat, clowning around and fun, but not many at all - more serious, get the job done types.

My idea of fun is the same as yours :) but on FOS the lounge chairs are pushed right tight together - I mean you had to pull the chair way out, go to the end by the rail and then pull it back in and climb up! If you pulled them apart by a foot on each side so you could get in and out easily, an attendant came by and pushed them all in tight again. It was a bit ridiculous so we never really did sit up on the upper deck on a lounge chair the entire cruise other than at embarkation as the loungers weren't set out yet so we dragged one off the pile and put it where we wanted.

One thing that "fun factor" doesn't mean to me is "drunken party ship" - I found quite the opposite actually! Many more drunks on this RCI cruise than all our Carnival cruises put together and it wasn't young people - older middle age and up people :eek:

We just got back from our first Royal Caribbean Cruise. My whole family ranging from age mid 50s to 14 agreed that we found the "fun factor" missing, other than ship specific amenities, that was the biggest difference we noticed. Since you like balconies, one nice thing about RCI is that they don't charge extra for corner aft balconies, on the Freedom Class anyway, which are huge. That's what we had, there were 2 lounge chairs, 2 regular chairs, a small table and tons of room. My daughter had a regular balcony and I didn't notice that it was any smaller than our Carnival balconies but our regular balcony staterooms were noticeably smaller than Carnival.

The one drink I see mentioned quite frequently on questions like this is BBC Bailey's Banana Colada which is no longer available on Freedom of the Seas - at least it wasn't last month. I asked at several bars and they told me they no longer carry the banana puree that is needed to make it. Guess they can't throw a banana in the blender :p

Oh ok, I thought Fathom was already sailing there???

But regardless, JH had alluded to possible "dancing of the ships" in response to a question someone had asked him about an upcoming cruise, so I will rephrase my question and leave out the Cuba reference.

If for any reason a ship moves homeport after it had sailings scheduled, what are the consequences for someone who was booked on it?

I assume with the news that Carnival will be sailing to Cuba, there could possibly be some shifting around of ships and changed schedules. Just curious as to what would happen to someone who was booked on a cruise well in advance (like 2018) and that particular ship was moved to a different homeport? Would your reservation be cancelled or would you be given a similar room on the replacement ship at the same price you initially paid?

Someone complained a few months ago to John Heald about Fascination going to San Juan and he replied that he would have news soon regarding Fascination. Maybe it will be the addition of Guy's since Inspiration just got it???? We can only hope :) I really want to cruise out of San Juan for that itinerary but am patiently waiting for NCL to release their 2018 schedule because I really don't know if I will book on Fascination. If there was a Guy's that would make it much more enticing.

I switched to a travel organizer since all the stuff tends to fall out of the pockets when it's folded to put in the suitcase or take out of the suitcase to hand. The travel organizer is zippered.

I pack our stuff in a toiletry bag and transfer it into the shoe organizer after hanging it.

Is it only Early Saver rates that have a penalty for cancelling, all other rates are totally refundable prior to final payment, correct?