Zarabear

Funny you should ask:

Items for In Port Use only: Snorkel gear, skateboards, fishing rods (packed), tennis rackets, kites (packed), roller blades/skates, metal detectors, Boogie Boards no more than 42 Inches in length and Drone Cameras. These items must be stored in stateroom.

xD

Aerial photography mostly. (And plain fun) It's his hobby, and he's gotten really great at it and loves to fly them.

klfrodo is correct, but they were on the prohibited items list (and are still listed) as not even being allowed on board. Only an idiot, and yes there are many, would attempt to fly a quad drone on a cruise ship. The wind, and speed of the boat is detrimental to any attempt to do so. xD That is why we were SO bummed at the new inclusion on that list, in the category of 'to be disposed with prior to boarding' not even confiscation with return at the end!

I am beyond thrilled with the response I received, and am so glad that it didn't fall on deaf ears. We have the printout of the email correspondence and look forward to boarding the Miracle this Saturday. :)

~Zara

Back in February, my husband took his drone quadcopter and FPV setup on our Mexican Riviera cruise on the Miracle.

To our dismay, as we began packing up for our trip this Saturday on the same ship to Hawaii, Drones were now on the prohibited item list! I contacted a cruise director on facebook who confirmed it, but decided in one last ditch effort that I would email a couple of higher up VPs that I had found on the boards. I received a wonderful reply back from Vicky:

I have spoken to our VP of Security Services and they will be removing “drones” from the prohibited items list. So the good news is you can bring your quadcopter on the ship but will have to safely store it in your stateroom until you debark to visit the islands. Thanks for understanding that it cannot be used while on the vessel.

 

We are looking forward to welcoming you and your husband on board and wish you a Fun and Memorable cruise!

 

Vicky

So now my husband is super excited he can take his setup and have a blast in Hawaii! Thought I'd share!

~Zara

Tuning in! We board on Saturday for our trip to Hawaii! Super excited! <3

~Zara

Unfortunately, they are now on the prohibited items list. :(

• Any Radio Controlled Flying Instruments (Drone Cameras, Flying Toys, etc.)

We cruised with my husband's drone back in February, and there were no issues. (Long Beach, Mexican Riviera Cruise) But just saw it added to prohibited when we were starting to pack for our trip to Hawaii. :(

Perfect, thanks so much!~ Going to accumulate some cruise cash in between now and October, and was hopeful for the confirmation :)

Isn't it true that you can apply cruise cash to your casino account and withdraw it that way? *curious*

Do a back-to-back Hawaii cruise! :eek:

 

Did you get the 15 day free too?

 

I am thrilled to get an 8 day free.

It's a bit convoluted, but we did get this 7 day Miracle, Mexican Riviera 'free'. My mom actually got the 'free' cruise, but I had an inside for $50 each, but we received that back in OBC.

So we had two inside cabins. I called back two days later, and through some weird twist of fate, was able to upgrade to two extended balconies for $50 per cabin! (Not per person!)

Then we took a small trip for Christmas, and I ended up with the next free cruise offer in my past guest specials. I looked and looked, and thought about it... for Vday, my husband said to go ahead and book the Halloween cruise to Hawaii! I could technically book one more, but there are the other expenses to take into account as well as vacation time to consider!

If we could swing the airfare back though, I'd book the free 23 day cruise to Tahiti for my son and I to go on a grand homeschool adventure!!

Maybe you have the casino offer? Everyone else who booked the one cruise received the "we want you back" offer.

Yes, this second free cruise offer is casino. The first came and we booked the Miracle, leaving Saturday. Then the 2nd free cruise offer came up- booked the 15 day to Hawaii, and pondering if I can swing a second booking! LoL

I guess mine is a different offer, because it says good up to two sailings. Once I booked the 15 day Hawaii, the option remains to book another free cruise. Very strange!

I only had one carnival cruise, 4 years ago when I received the first 'free cruise'. $100 inside cabin, credited back in OBC.

Then, surprisingly, I had the second casino offer in the VPIF section of carnival, good for up to two sailings! :) (This was after I had booked the upcoming Miracle trip, leaving next Saturday). I used it to book the Hawaii trip in Oct.

~Zara

My mom had a free cruise offer back in December, and I received basically a free one. ($100 for the inside, but credited back in OBC).

Then I received the book two free cruises offer in my VPIF offers on the site*. (Casino offer is indicated). Previously, our last sailing was in 2010 on the Splendor, one or two sailings before the disastrous fire that left the ship incapacitated.

Not to say there is any correlation, but those are the circumstances for us. My mom did not receive the second offer, and I was her guest on that first cruise.

*The offer states it is good for up to two sailings. I have booked one, and the offer is still available to book a second cruise. :)

Love reading the review so far! We were thinking of renting a room for the overnight at an all inclusive, but hadn't even thought of a day pass to one of them. Any tips on what to search to find the great deal at the Crown Paradise Club? (It looks fantastic and my son would love the water park!)

We leave next Saturday, and I really can't wait!

~Zara

We were able to get a 'free' cruise for Mexico, leaving on Feb 22nd.

Today when I checked carnival, I was able to put a courtesy hold on a 15 day hawaii trip, and the 23 day fiji trip (interior, $0 fare) for a total of THREE free cruises if I were to follow through with the booking. I'm floored!

The Fiji cruise is most likely definitely not in the plans, but we are seriously considering the Hawaii cruise in October. I'm so EXCITED! All of these were seen/found online using my past guest number.

~Zara

Cruise critic has blanked out the main part of the site name above. I'm not sure what 'clearing site' is?

Thank you for a great review! We are sailing out on the Miracle on Feb 22nd, and I'm really excited. :)

I'd love to have copies of the funtimes, you can mail me at: zara AT Misticpets DOT com :)

~Zara

I really adored the Splendor and that's the ONLY ship I've been on. LoL The decorations were pretty, the ship was spectacular and easy to navigate for a first time cruiser.

This was 4 years ago though, it was a couple weeks before the fire onboard that stranded some cruisers. (We got lucky!)

So happy for you! Friends were looking into booking on our sailing with us, but it would have been over $2k and out of their budget this close. (Darn!)

Talked my husband into going on his first cruise, so added him for just taxes!

Noticed a number, in the confirmation. It appears that the rate ($50 per person) was a Pack and Play Campaign rate. (Not casino) Regardless, I'm excited to be going on my second cruise. :)

~Zara

I just received the letter yesterday in the mail, but had already booked online! My mom had a completely free room, and I had the $50pp.

So we booked two rooms, upgraded to balcony after debating for a day and will be sailing off to the Mexican Riviera on Feb 22nd onboard the Miracle!!

I couldn't understand it either, we did some gambling, but seriously NOT much. And our last (and my only) Carnival Cruise was 4 years ago. We counted it as a heck of Christmas deal. :)

We will be on the Miracle, sailing out on Feb 22nd! :)

That was my concern at first to the previous poster, but my mom had the $0 inside cabin, and mine came up at $50, and in talking with the reps everything checked out. (We didn't receive anything in the mail, it was just when we were logged in and noticed the crazy prices.) As much as I am dying to know why, all that matters is that we are going!!!

We are going to enjoy our extended balconies on the Verandah deck and soak up every minute of fun we can! :D :D

Where we live in California, it's really rare to get down below 20 degrees. (-6 celsius) but we've been hitting that at night. So it is an unusual cold snap for us. I'm pretty sure we all understand that there are colder places in the world, but we did not choose to live there. ;)

And, as I said before, she has just flown back down to Northern California from Haines Alaska, where it does get much colder, which is why she was on the cruise site dreaming to begin with! Sorry you are 'stuck' on that one line, hopefully I shed some light. :p

I don't even know if they are casino rates? It's all VERY strange. My mom and I have both been on ONE carnival cruise, almost 4 years ago. (July 2010)

We didn't gamble that much, had fun visiting Mexico and while we wanted to cruise again, life kind of got in the way!

She was signed in, and had her VPIF number put in (This cruise puts us at a red star, 2nd cruise) and the rates were showing up at $0 for some of the sailing dates.

No one on Carnival has been able to tell me more than congrats, that's an incredible rate! LoL

Folks sometimes get a phone call or an email when it gets close to the cruise date with an offer for a better cabin.

 

Sometimes the deal is good, sometimes not worth the money they want,

Thanks for explaining! It was very odd when I called this morning. She took my number and called me back to let me know what it would be ($50 per room) She said it was a great rate, and it got us out of the inside cabin! :)

How does upselling work (or the fairy?) I'm reading more about it now, but when I called this morning to see what the price would be to go from an inside cabin to a balcony, she said the usual charge was $50 per cabin. Well, we jumped at that deal and got two extended balconies!

(Carnival Miracle, Feb 22nd sailing, 7 day cruise)

Are we missing out trying to upgrade ourselves like that?