cherbear4000

I think renting a car is your best bet.

I know Carnival has always returned confiscated unopened bottles of alcohol in the past. Are they now keeping it?

Our PVP is no longer with Carnival so for this last cruise we used a random customer service rep. We were booking 7 cabins for 20 guests. When we received the email confirmations we noticed many errors. We were booked early saver despite saying we did not want early saver, the VIFP numbers weren't entered on any of the children despite them being past guests. Some of the cabins were in the wrong location and had the wrong guests in the cabins.

I called a PVP someone recommended the next day. Not only did she correct all of the errors, but she saved us $6,500 in the process. We will always use a PVP from now on.

Both times we were running late, it was with ship sponsored excursions. Coming back from an excursion in Belize, we were an hour and a half late. We were 20 minutes late from an excursion in Grand Turk. Both times the ship was there waiting. All of the private excursions we have taken have made it back in plenty of time. I always use a ship sponsored excursions if I want to do something that is far from the ship. I do take private ones or go off on my own if I am staying nearby and I make sure we will be back in plenty of time to allow for unexpected delays.

My sister, her husband and their older kids were on a ship sponsored excursion while her younger kids stayed on the ship. At departure time, I hear her name being paged. I went to guest services to inquire and they were paging her since she hadn't picked her kids up from camp. I explained she was on a ship sponsored tour and asked if it was running late. They checked and excursion was running late by an hour. Camp Carnival kept her kids at no charge until she got back. She did ask what would have happened to the kids had she of been late because of her own fault or missed the ship entirely. Camp Carnival would have taken care of the kids 24/7 until she returned and she would have been charged hourly or anyone that was listed as being authorized to pick her kids up from camp (which myself and some other family members on board were) could have taken the kids.

I booked 7 cabins today. Five of them qualified for the pack n play offer. We had no idea what it was or that we qualified. The PVP told us.

I just wanted to give a follow up. So we were booked early saver despite specifically requesting not to. Also, my mom did not book with a PVP since her PVP left Carnival. Instead she booked with a customer service rep. I ended up finding a new PVP and she and her supervisor not only rebooked us using a different rate without penalty, she told us that some of the cabins qualified for a pack and play promotion saving us $6500. The just reiterates the need to use PVPs.

My sister and her husband both qualified for some special pack and play promotion where they got a cruise for basically nothing. Since only one person that qualified had to be in a cabin for the promotion, we booked my sister and I in one room, and our husbands in another. Once on board we want to switch so my husband and I are together and they are together. I know we can go to guest services, but how does that work? Do they just switch the keys or do they switch the names? Will the cabin stewards know we switched? My husband is concerned about gratuities going to the right person. We always keep our full auto gratuities, but I am not sure that my sister always does.

How can I tell if we have early saver? My mom just booked our family cruise with a PVP. I know for a fact she did not want early saver since we are not 100% sure about this cruise and she wanted the freedom to cancel without penalty. I was looking over my confirmation emails and at the bottom there are 2 notes. One is about linking the reservations for dining, the other says the following listed below. Also if I look at the booking online, it says we would lose the deposit if we cancel. How can I tell if we are early saver without calling the PVP? (She is going out of town.) Can we switch from early saver to another rate if it was booked in error? I am thinking the PVP booked early saver without discussing it with my mom.

"A $50 fee per guest will be assessed for ship/sail date changes made prior to final payment date. Cancellations prior to final payment due date will receive a future cruise credit in the amount of the deposit less a $50 pp service fee. The future cruise credit must be used for bookings in USD currency within 24 months from the date of cancellation. If you find a lower cruise rate, based on the total cabin occupancy& not from the booked ancillary services, such as air, transfers, prepaid gratuities, or Taxes/Fees/Port Expenses contact your Travel Agent or http://www.Carnival.com. Price protection doesn’t apply to group rates, membership programs, charters, select promotional fares, travel agent rebates, or other travel agent promotions not offered by Carnival to the general public."

Do the gratuities get charged to the parent's account?

I am getting so sick of the old menus. Carnival has had the same ones for years. I know every menu before I see it. We were actually going to book another cruise line this year just for new food, so I am looking forward to the new menus.

I prefer to book directly with Carnival. If you book through a TA, then everything has to be done through the TA. This includes payments, upgrades, even asking questions. I like managing everything myself and dealing with Carnival directly. It is really easy to log into your account on Carnival's website and make payments.

I have been cruising Carnival regularly since 1999. I have also sailed other lines. The quality of the MDR/buffet food on Carnival seems to go down every year. I even contracted Salmonella poisoning on the Dream in 2012. (Because some people like to argue with me about that, I am 100% certain I contracted it on the cruise ship. I starting getting ill the last day of a 7 day cruise and I did not eat anything off the ship the entire cruise). I have yet to starve on a Carnival cruise. As long as the ship has a Guy's, I will be fine.

We were given 1 bottle for 4 people (2 separate cabins). We ordered the red wine and it was so gross none of us could finish a glass. I love red wine and normally drink cheap $5/bottle wine, but this one was horrible.

The future cruise credit is linked to the credit card used not the person. If you used your card then all the future credits would be yours to use within 24 months of cancellation. You cannot use them on your current though it has to be one in the future.

What if someone no longer has the same credit card that they used to book their cruise?

A friend of mine booked a cruise for her and her husband using early saver. She had to cancel because they decided to get divorced. She was told the $200 pp future cruise credit was in her name and that she could use the $400 to book another cruise with her and someone else.

I was looking at the 3 day Valor Bahamas cruise over Thanksgiving since it is Thursday-Sunday and I wouldn't have to take off work. Has anyone done a similar cruise? I am curious if it is extremely crowded and overrun with children.

Once you are on board, Carnival does not care who sleeps where. As others have mentioned, just go to guest services for an extra room key. That way your wife will have one for your cabin. As for the S&S, each person should be able to use their own credit card, so it shouldn't matter that you are switching rooms.

I was told carnival room steward hand deliveries it to you. Knocks on your room door in morning and gives to you

 

Is this true???

I have never had it happen either. I have always either had it slipped under my door or in the mail slot outside the door. They deliver them too early in the morning to be waking everyone up with a knock. On one cruise, I didn't get it at all. I had to go to the kiosk and print it out before disembarking.

My husband and I are also in our mid 30s with no children. We are looking to take our first Disney cruise this fall when all the schools are back in session. From what I have researched, there is a lot of things for adults on a Disney cruise.

Does anyone know the schedule of when the new menus will be introduced to each ship? We are actually looking at sailing another cruise line this summer because we can not stand to sail with the same Carnival menus that have been on the ships for years.

Board with your wife and just tell them you are all together. They won't split you guys up.

I do not like the aft facing balconies for 2 reasons.

1) They are unbearably hot. There is no shade and no breeze.

2) There is no privacy. People above you can look down into your balcony. The dividers next to you are slanted so you can easily look into the balcony next to you.

That's not true at all and we've never had to pay for extra people. We are only two people and have booked cabins that had a higher occupancy level. We just booked a cruise last night and it has an occupancy level of four and we had no problem. It just came up as available to book so we did. I don't even pay attention to the official occupancy level. The only time it would make a difference was if I actually had 3 or 4 people then you have to have a cabin that would accommodate that many. I just pick cabins based on location and don't bother with the rest.

Just because you were able to book a 4 person cabin for 2 people doesn't mean I am lying. Be prepared for Carnival to move you if they need that 4 person cabin.

I called 2 different PVPs and they both said the same thing about not being able to book 3 people in a 4 person. I then went online and tried booking the cabins. The 4 person cabins weren't even showing up when I tried booking for 3 people.

We were looking to book a cruise in the summer where 3 and 4 person cabins are at a premium, so that may have had something to do Carnival not letting us book 3 people in a 4 person cabin without paying extra.

My family does an annual cruise that I was in charge of booking. My sister and her husband have 5 young children. They need 3 and 4 person cabins side by side. The cruise we were looking at booking had two 4 person cabins side by side, but not 3 and 4 person cabins. I was told if we wanted to book the two 4 person cabins for only 7 people, we would have to pay for 8 people.

I always tip room service in cash. I didn't have time to go to the bank before last cruise so I had to take all $20 bills from the ATM with me. I was able to go to the cashier in the casino and get change.

I can't speak for sneaking alcohol in wine bottles, but in Miami, they took my wine out of my carry on and inspected it. It was really wine, but they really did examine it thoroughly. The next cruise a couple of months later, they didn't even take it out of the carry on. I guess it just depends on the person working.