amcankid

1 hour ago, TNcruising02 said:

I really like the idea of non smoking casinos.  I like to play the slot machines from time to time, but really dislike my clothing smelling like smoke or me breathing in someone else's smoke.

I think the banning of smoking in public buildings, restaurants, public areas etc. was the beginning of the “I have my rights” movement. And just like mask wearing which is not so much to protect yourself as it is to protect others, or vaccinations which are to protect not only yourself but others by disrupting the chain the virus needs to mutate, 

smokers “rights” never take in consideration what smoking in enclosed areas does to everyone else.

There’s nothing worse than putting on fresh laundered clothes only to have them stink with the putrid stale smell of smoke, let alone what it does to our health. Our “rights” as Americans can only go as far as when they don’t trample the rights of most everyone else.

On 7/15/2021 at 8:10 AM, ShaniBell said:

At exactly 9:01 PM AZ time last night I was able to check us (Rob, me and the kid) in since we are booked in one of those dandy Excel suites that we paid far too much money for but I don't care 😉  I managed to get a 10:30 check in time but that will likely change for a couple of reasons:

 

1.  I don't know yet what check in time my cousins got
2.  I cannot check mom in yet as her room is not a suite and not eligible for check in until 7/17 so I have no idea what time her slot will be although and while I'm hoping we can take her with the other five of us with priority boarding I'm not going to hold my breath and I'm not going to make an elderly woman wait alone at the terminal while we go on board and start testing the Cheers package out
3.  We are staying at the Hyatt at MCO which is 45 minutes from the port and NO ONE I am travelling with is a morning person.  So arriving at the port by 10:30 is going to be one heck of a stretch.

Checking in at 12:01 Eastern time is great advice. I’ll tell my daughter and her boyfriend for their August cruise and definitely my wife and myself will do the same for our October Mardi Gras cruise.

As far as your Mom, in today’s world she’s still middle aged, but, playing up her elderly age as all the rest of you are ready to board should be enough to instill some common sense into the desk employees. It’s not like her boarding with you is gonna make a difference to anyone else.  It would be different if she had the early check in and was trying to bring the group with her. But one additional person who is part of your group? Only the insensitive would have a problem with that.

3 hours ago, seaman11 said:

wow , this what im afraid of . maybe ill print that page out as proof , i dont want to be turned way after all this time for a computer glitch 

I truly don’t believe Carnival is looking for excuses to deny vaccinated passengers to board. Quite the opposite. I think they’re gonna do everything they can to make your experience a positive one. No doubt there are glitches that are causing delays, but in the end, they will do whatever it takes to get you on board.(As long as you’re following all the requirements in good faith).

5 hours ago, bobbismith said:

If kids can go to school, let them cruise!

You’re missing the point.
Yes, open the schools unless the Delta variant really does start hitting the younger age groups. Right now though, any adult who wants to be vaccinated can be vaccinated so the argument that kids would be potential silent spreaders is moot.

Cruise ships however are a whole different animal. 
An outbreak in a school or a neighborhood can be contained. Nothing other than maybe a school or a school district being closed for a few weeks would be the result of an outbreak.

A serious outbreak on a ship has the potential of shutting down the entire industry!!

And potentially bankrupting some of the cruise lines. And potentially even ending cruising as we know it.

Sorry, I love kids, and I think the excitement they bring on a cruise ship is contagious.

Unfortunately Covid is much more contagious and it would be devastating to the cruise industry if something were to happen.

The kids have the rest of their long lives to cruise. They can wait a few more months!!

11 hours ago, SonoranDevil said:

Hi amcankid!   We will surely check, though gauging from early reports of Vista and Horizon cruisers, it doesn't appear the Hub app will have that capability.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

6 hours ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

We have a November cruise booked and if we haven't heard anything by our final payment date we will cancel. We have five adults and two cabins, but one person won't be vaccinated. If he is going to be treated like third-class steerage then we won't be going. 

Can certainly understand your concerns but keeping the big picture in perspective, it’s not a matter of him being treated like third-class steerage, it’s a matter of an entire industry doing all they can to survive.

On land I could give a rats ass who is or isn’t vaccinated. I have full faith in the vaccines.

But out at sea, on what the critics of the cruise industry call floating Petri dishes, it is vital for them to do all they can to make sure an outbreak of more than 10 or so people never occurs, and extremely vital that nobody dies either on the cruise or shortly thereafter.

Sorry for the inconvenience it may cause you, but just as the government won’t force anyone to take the jab, nobody is forcing him not to either. It’s his decision, but like all decisions, he has to live with the limitations any business might impose, and the rest of you unfortunately will have to live with his decision also.

1 hour ago, Joe817 said:

No, No. They are like miniature cabbages or lettuces'. One chomp and they are gone. Especially good with lots of butter & a little bit of garlic. Good with beef. But what doesn't go good with beef?  

My sister. A vegetarian since 1967

Other than that, gotta agree with you

I also am looking forward to reading about your trip as it develops. 
In regards to your uncertainty about it being a little less port intensive than you’re used to, if you’re nursing a bad back that might be a good thing. More reason to just enjoy the ship, your cabin and the motion of the ocean ( which has a whole different meaning than it did in our younger days lol).

Let me be the first of quite a few to ask a favor.

My daughter and her boyfriend will be on the August14th cruise. They (like her mom and I) have the $600 obc. 
They also have the Cheers package (the ever elusive RU1 code) for free.

So using the obc for booze and specialty drinks is not needed.

She has two excursions prepaid but is thinking of canceling them and use the obc instead.

If you could let us know if the Carnival Hub app. will let you book the excursions through your phone instead of having to stand in a

long, long line at the desk I would appreciate it.

8 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

"Here, have a taste, Vincent".    😉

It’s okay. I don’t have cooties 

2 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

But Oasis is still 25% larger than Mardi Gras.

Where the Oasis really makes a difference in size comparison is width.

184 ft. Wide compared to Mardi Gras’ 135 ft.

That’s as wide as going from the 50 yard line to the back of the end zone!!

On 7/4/2021 at 12:50 AM, caugh51654 said:

Heck yeah to that!  And make the Cheers package work on HMC! 

Home run!!!

I would do a yearly cruise for that itinerary if Cheers was working on HMC!!

How can any of us know?

Nobody’s been on Mardi Gras yet!

10 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

HMC for us would be a SEA DAY (we love sea days). The only downside is that many things  are closed on the ship during (actual) port days.

 

Full disclaimer -- almost every Caribbean port is now what we'd call a SEA DAY! We're pretty much excursioned out. 

 

How about a seven night CTN (cruise to nowhere)? !!! All ship shops and restaurants are open - with no early port days (and announcements) to awaken you --- it's all about the SHIP !! 😄 

 

Tom

That’s a great idea! 
Maybe take each of the larger ships and once every couple of months for each of them have an “It’s all about the ship” voyage.

And have top notch comedians and entertainers on those voyages.

I know one thing. I’d definitely purchase the Cheers package for that.

And it would be the longest relaxing do what I want when I want no guilt week of my life!!!!

John Heald!! Are you listening???

15 hours ago, pogoism9 said:

 

So what you are saying is, this will be the greatest cruise ever. HMC is god tier

Honestly, forget those Bermuda cruises where you stay for three days and your ship is basically your hotel.

Do that at HMC!!!

With tenders going back and forth 24/7.

And remodel the Cabanas so those willing to pay (no doubt big bucks) a chance to sleep overnight in them.

There is no place in the world that has the hour glass sand like HMC!!

We never have had a cabin above the piano bar, but honestly if I liked the cabin and the deck I wouldn’t let that be a deal breaker.

You might hear some muffled sounds through the floor, but it’s not the same as having a few hundred folks directly below you. At any given time it’s usually 30 to 50 max. 
 

18 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

As late as 1991 we would have friends come aboard Carnival Jubilee in San Pedro to see us off. They would tour the ship, see our cabin and then we'd go to Lido for a burger before the all ashore going ashore announcement was made and they would head for the gangway and go ashore.

Those were the good old days. Pre-911

I worked for many many years for one of the biggest liquor suppliers of cruise ships on the West Coast.

Back in the eighties and nineties all paperwork and money transactions were done on the ships. And after completion, the Captain or whoever had the authority to complete all the customs paperwork and  (duty and tax free liquor) and financial transactions would always offer a drink and then offer me lunch on the ship. I would literally have free reign to tour the ship and then go to either the passengers buffet or the crews buffet if the passengers buffet wasn’t serving food at the moment.

Saw many a beautiful ship for free ( well actually, got paid to see many a beautiful ship. Lol)

1 hour ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Not only that, according to QANON Daily the gubment chip implanted with the vaccination jab coordinates with the facial recognition AI so they can track you with a photo image for all their nefarious deeds!

I just know that after my injections, if I hear the word Gates, I first get paralyzed, and then according to what others have told me, I start mumbling yes sir, must do as Bill says!!

I’m not sure if I’ve been programmed to eventually follow out some orders or something. It’s like constant trial runs to make sure what ever the chip I was injected with is still working until the big order comes down!

Why? Why did I agree to get the “.jab”???

3 hours ago, bdever said:

The two passengers who tested positive on the Millennium were removed from there stateroom $$$ and placed in an isolation room on deck 2 for the remainder of the cruise.

Dang, that sounds like out of a horror movie.

We’re they ever seen or heard from again? Lol

Goof information. Thanks 

What if you test positive at some point during a cruise? Will you be quarantined to your room and then taken off the ship at the next port? 
And if so, who’s paying the cost of getting home?

We’re fully vaxxed, but there’s always the chance that you could still test positive.

And especially now if the ruling from the federal judge means there will be more than 5% unvaccinated on the ship thus increasing the odds of some kind of outbreak.

I’m not sure if travel insurance will cover any Covid related expenses.

So will the cruise lines, in the sake of getting their ships sailing, work that into their operating budget? And if not, and we can’t get travel insurance to cover the possibility of being removed from the ship, then that means we’re financially rolling the dice if we set sail.

Definitely something to consider.

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

My finger wouldnt copy down far enough on the page but I did copy rcl policy out of Galveston.  Over age 12 must be vaccinated. 

 

Also note cruises out of florida ..unvaccinated must cover expenses on their own dime which are being finalised. Rcl .. 

 

_____

 

Royal Vaccine Policy Summarized: HERE

 

The vaccine policies, which are in line with local regulations, are currently the following: 

• Cruises from Seattle: Guests who are 16 years of age or older must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and those 12 or older as of Aug. 1
• Cruises from Florida: It is strongly recommended that guests set sail fully vaccinated, if they are eligible. Those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols at their own expense. These expenses are still being finalized. Based on our guest survey’s, we expect 90% of all our guests to be fully vaccinated
• Cruises from Texas: Guests who are 12 years of age or older must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19

That’s the answer then. Let the unvaccinated come. 
Oh, one small detail. The company we contracted with to perform the Covid tests charge 1,500 per test. And you’ll need to be tested before boarding and also when disembarking and re-embarking at each stop.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Welcome aboard.

8 hours ago, K_e_short said:

Thank you for all those responses. I am always impressed with the knowledgable answers in here.

 

Weather is colder.. good to know. I'm in Ottawa and it sometimes gets to -22 F in the winter. so anything warmer then that is worth it 🙂

 

I have been following Disneyland and opening in California.

 

The comment about how it's the 8th ship to start is a valid point. Hopefully they will solve any issues before they get to the Panaroma.

 

In regards to it be right before Christmas my mom would be very upset if we were not home for Christmas which is why we aren't picking a "Christmas" cruise.

 

School is over on the 17th, so the plan would be to fly out and cruise the 18th to 24th. fly home and be home for Christmas.

 

So based on all that feedback I think I've made a good choice with that cruise as I get a good deal, it's an awesome ship, and might be a bit quieter 🙂

 

Oh and I'll be suntanning by the waterpark during the day, casino at night 🙂

 

 

And based on planning for when school gets out, nice vacation after, and still getting home for Christmas, I think you’ve made a wise choice.

And yes, the weather will be unpredictable temperature wise. It could easily get into the upper 80’s on shore, or drop all the way down to 65 or so. But compared to -22? You’re gonna be frying your tush off!  Lol

You should toss the doubts and look forward to the fun!!

6 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

How the hell did schools become "s hooks"?

Wait. I just spent 10 minutes trying to figure out the acronym for s hooks and now you tell me word check changed it on you?

My own thoughts are simply that it’s the week before Christmas and does not include Christmas.

In other words, if you want to get away for Christmas, you want Christmas to be part of the get away.

Other wise you’ve just lost the last week before Christmas with all your last minute shopping (presents and food for get togethers).

If you’re not concerned about the timing of the cruise, relax and enjoy a beautiful ship with less numbers of people than usual!!

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, you have that right. And another word that I discovered runs into the same problem is v i a g a r a .

 

Oh, and I agree with the other part of your post as well.

Hahaha. The little blue pill used by 85% of the male passengers on Holland America is a no no to say on a Carnival Board?

Guess Carnival really is shooting ( pun intended) for a younger demographic!!