cruisinpips

I can attest to no vibe passes available after boarding. Last year we sailed Escape, and originally our daughter and a friend were going was going. The original friend ending up not going and we changed her reservation to someone else, but since she cancelled, they cancelled the vibe passes we had for our daughters room. they did not tell us this, so we found out about a month later when the refund showed up on the credit card. There were none online by that time. Our friends also decided to book late, and the agent was adamant that he would have no problem getting the passes once onboard. I told him that based on what I had read that it likely would not happen. It DID NOT HAPPEN, for them, or our daughter and her friend. Thankfully, it really didn't appeal to our 21 YO daughter, so they had fun regardless. Our other friends however were mad the entire cruise. 

 The lady at GS said they never had them onboard anymore. We were put on a waitlist, but never heard from them.

Moral of the story, BOOK ONLINE!!

We just booked ours for a Joy NYE cruise in 2025. 

14 hours ago, deelightfull said:

Our West Coast ships right now (Feb 2024) are the Panorama, Radiance, and Miracle.  Of those three, only the Panorama has a Havana area. The Radiance and The Miracle are too old for such fancy areas. 

 

In a couple of months we're going to lose the Miracle (😭) and gain the Firenze. (🤞 It will also be awesome.)  On the Firenze, the specialty area with the Private pool is called Terrazza instead of Havana.  I haven't seen pictures, but hopefully it will be as cool as the Havana on the Panorama.

 

On either the Panorama or the Firenze, once you click on interior or balcony you can see Havana or Terrazza as an option for type of interior or type of balcony room.  I just looked for random dates this summer and this fall.  For most of them they have both balcony and interior rooms of all classes available.  I saw Terrazza/Havana balcony rooms for all the dates I happened to search.  One of the days had Terrazza interiors sold out, but for the rest, Havana/Terrazza interiors were available too.

 

Good luck!

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but the Firenze Terrazza area does not have a pool like Havana. It only has two hot tubs. 

From the web….

Carnival Jubilee debuted with a Texas-sized splash just before Christmas at the Port of Galveston, but the ship hasn't been officially named yet. 

That will change Feb. 24, when Carnival Cruise Line's third Excel-class vessel is 

scheduled to be named at the Port of Galveston. 

The festivities will take place at Terminal 25, Carnival Jubilee's year-round home.

We have been Platinum for many cruises, 23 total for me and 24 for the wife. We have never claimed the free drink. I cannot remember ever going to sea day brunch either. We have always bought the drink package since it was introduced, so 1 free drink doesn’t interest us. I imagine Carnival has realized that most people are like us, and never use that perk. I think they should offer a % discount on the drink package based on Platinum and Diamond status, but that’s my two cents….

Leaving on my 24th Carnival cruise in 23 days, I have never once used this “perk”, as a matter of fact I have never been to brunch now that I think about it. Really pretty useless to most I would say. I doubt if there is a 25% redemtion rate on these, so I am sure thats why Carnival sticks with it….

Just returned home from the grocery store… prices are through the roof for most anything you buy…@jxtgreek does your local grocery store email you, or call you, or let you know they are raising prices… I think not. The water is still cheaper than most lines. 

You are above Ocean Plaza, could be noisy during Karaoke and evening bands playing….

In response to the OP, I certainly hope Carnival never copies anything from Disney!!! We went on one Disney cruise based on all the recommendations that it was the best cruise ever… we have never returned and never will. Maybe Disneyphiles love that stuff, but we hated the entire experience especially the dining.

They can have our “loyalty status” we dont need it. 

We have 35+ cruises completed, we have done many, many private charters. I cannot say that we have ever been given this set of conditions. I can also say we have never missed Aruba for any reason. Still, I would be very leary of anyone who has that type of rules for refunds…..

It was Vangie and Pia in September, if still them, please tell them we say hi, and miss them!! 

@jimbo5544 we were on Horizon in Havana in September, our favorite ship by far, been on her 5 times. Who are the current Havana bartenders? 

I cannot recall a cruise that we did not recieve a post cruise survey. Both cruises this year we got the email. Not sure what the process is for Carnival, but we always get them. They definitely use those surveys to reward employees you mention, I always friend the great employees on FB and have recieved feedback from the crew that they appreciate the mentioning of them. 

We were on Horizon last week. Jijis for lunch is always our go to on the first day. To say the least, we were all disappointed and went to Pig and Anchor for BBQ afterwards. They now have pre-made bowls that are bland and lacking any meat. I selected the beef bowl, and if there was 1 oz of beef in it, I would be surprised. Same with shrimp and chicken. It was not good! And that reminds me I forgot to put that on my survey yesterday😡

We have been in Havana many times, love it. Experience has been spotty, sometimes pool and spas are open, other times they are roped off, depends on cleaning cycles maybe? We get on Horizon Saturday so I will try to report our experience 

Not your specific room, but same type just one deck up….

😂🤣

35+ cruises, never played trivia once.. funny to see how serious some people take a crappy piece of plastic dipped in gold paint….for real…???

Update...just off Escape yesterday. We got on early, no Vibe passes available, wait list only. The lady at GS said later in the week that no one got them from the waitlist, although my wife talked to a lady who said they received them after boarding. Go figure.... they DO NOT hold any passes back according to GS, when they are sold out online, they are gone! Vibe staff were wonderful, had a great time and met some great people! 

I cannot answer specifically about increases, I can see from the answers here and prior discussions, that prices seem to be somewhat fluid. We are on Escape in two weeks and ours were $229. This will be our first time with them, so I am not sure what the costs have been in the past. 

Ours did the same on my work computer, not a MacBook. Wife was able to save as a PDF on her work computer and print them that way, I couldn’t even do that on my work computer. It’s a weird thing, not sure what happening. Yet another NCL website glitch. 

The list isn’t even considered if Mike Pack isn’t included. We never consider a CD when cruising, but Mike was BY FAR the best I’ve seen on 30+ cruises. Noonan is another amongst the top 5. Both were promoted to higher level positions, and for great reason. Dr. E was irritating, but lively. Other than on Carnival cruises, I could not name one CD. 

@bassmaster150, just noticed that Vista is just now pulling into Galveston, what was the reason given for the late arrival, I see Dream is there and has been for a while. 

12 hours ago, justafem said:

And I so agree.  I will not cruise with a line that doesn't allow smoking in the casino.  

 

13% of the US smokes.  25% of the world smokes.  And we spend money in the casino.  Lots of it.  Which is why we get free cruises, free drinks, free specialty dining, free spa treatments, free transfers, free excursions, etc.  And of course, free casino cash. 

 

I'll bet well over 25% of the pax on a cruise never step foot in the casino. 

Think about what you just said, none of that is actually free, you just pay in a different place than most do. 
Vegas and other gambling joints weren’t built with their money, they were built with gamblers money! 

@devinelaw, thanks for the response. Hope you have a blast on the rest of your cruise! Also, Happy Anniversary! 

A few questions.

 Is it “normal” for rooms not to be ready until after 4pm?  If anyone else has recent experience we would be interested to hear. Was there any explanation? What is the norm on NCL, we are on Escape in April, (2nd time) our most recent cruises have been on Carnival and rooms are ready by 1:30. 
 We also have purchased Vibe passes and would like to enjoy on embarkation day, any advice/experience would be great. What is the process for identifying those with Vibe passes currently? Are they on your cards?
 We have a couple in our group that do not have Vibe passes, but they were told they will be selling them onboard, but on Cruisecritic and FB the consensus is they are only online now and the phone reps are wrong…can you confirm? 
 What is the process for getting your cards, at check in, or in your room? How do you use the drink package upon embarkation? 
Thanks for your review and information. 
 

We are on the Escape in April, 4 couples with 4 reservations. 3 couples have booked Vibe passes 

already online. The 4th couple booked and Vibe passes show sold out. The NCL rep says they only sell 25% online and upon checking in, you can book passes. Can anyone confirm this, or are they blowing smoke? We all want to be able to hang out together but the 4th couple is worried. Any recent information is appreciated.