momof3cruisers

What a fun idea! I’m looking forward to reading your comparison and want to read your live review too. I feel like it’s harder to find things out about MSC. I’m also considering trying them out especially due to the status match.

Carnival giving stuff away! Who’d have thought? Lol thats a good point about the plastic straws. I honestly never thought of that.

They GAVE those to you? Might want to check your account. They usually sell them. Personally, I like silicone straws and while they aren’t biodegradable they also aren’t single use.

Adding—we took a taxi back to the airport as neither the Uber or Lyft apps were responding and it was $95 not including a tip. Later we talked to some of the people in our cruise group who had just walked out of the port area and across the street and got an Uber for $65.

I personally really like sailing from Galveston. There are a lot of transportation options to get from either airport to the island. There is a lot of history and some great architecture. There is a trolley that is easy to get around on and it’s also pretty walkable. Tons of restaurants to choose from as well.

That’s the thing—I don’t know what happened to people’s brains during the pandemic but there is so much more misbehaving out that. Look at flights for instance. There are problem passengers weekly it seems. As for the marijuana, I hate the smell of it. Gives me a headache everytime. I can’t figure out how people have such a hard time understanding that you can’t cross state lines with it. I have a medical use license for it, but if I travel from my home state across any boarder whether that be car, plane or on foot, I’m breaking federal law. I think Carnival would benefit by showing clear enforcement of not allowing it. In the meantime, stock is dropping again.

I can’t figure out your math. A waiter on an 8 month contract at $2600/month is making $20,800. Even the person making 12k per month is bringing n $144k annually at 12 months a year. Which they don’t get 12 month contracts. I was under the impression that the reason the ships are flagged in other countries is to not have to follow US labor laws. I know when NCL sailed only in Hawaii with no foreign ports, their crew had to be paid etc under the US department of labor rules.

I think the younger adults can’t afford Virgin. I know I can’t! 😂

I totally get that! I think my reading comprehension was suffering before I had caffeine this morning. 😉

We got this guy AND Bob Biggerstaff on the same cruise soon after the restart. Boy, was that a dull cruise. If you Google or YouTube Bob, you have seen his set. The clips are 20 years old but he was still telling the same jokes.

While Carnivals language isn’t clear, it seems that their intent is that you can’t show up prior to your window. So let’s say I picked 1:00 but then on the morning of, decide I want to just show up at 10:30. They would in theory, make me wait. Of course, we certainly don’t know what will happen in every circumstance but so far, the anecdotal evidence seems to be that after your arrival time, you still get sent to the priority line.

I apologize. I assumed there was some significance to the idea of it not going directly to the crew.

And the new menu changes as well as free specialty dining on the newer ships. Along with debarking boarding is vastly improved with the check in time slots. So much less stressful and a lot faster and more organized. Agreed. I’m no accountant but I’m pretty darn sure that the people who oversee these things would notice if Carnival was reallocating money from an area it is supposed to be in to another area instead. That sounds like fraud to me and not worth the risk.

I sailed with my daughter age 25 while Covid testing etc had to be done before cruising. The night before, at the hotel in Miami, I had to walk her through the process of testing with the Binax deal AND Verifly because she hadn’t done it yet! Then when we got to the port and they asked for her documents, she had packed her birth certificate in her CHECKED luggage! Oh my word. She had received many reminders about all of this.

You won’t be alone in rolling your bags about with you. 😎. Generally, we find somewhere pleasant to sit and look at the views and skyline of wherever we are sailing from and just keep our bags close to us. The time always seems to go very quickly. Have a fantastic time on your first cruise. Be prepared to get addicted to cruising!

When you get to the terminal, it will likely go much more quickly because instead of the regular lines, you go to the priority line which will have a lot less people. With that arrival time, you will either be in the FTTF boarding group or pretty much walk right onto the ship. As I recall, you can also drop your bags in your room right away with FTTF. and yes, disembarking is faster because you will be able to wait in a designated area and be allowed to get off the ship before announcements for regular groups begins. Do you have any tender ports?

I don’t understand it either. The priority is getting to choose the time you want before other people. And then board pretty much as soon as you get there or as soon as boarding starts. I understand that before there were check in times that the priority was to arrive whenever you wanted, but this time slot system is so much more efficient!

I had this happen back during the crazy low prices for the restart. My friend got a rate for $30 pp for an inside so we jumped n it and made a reservation for one of the forward insides with a window. Like a week later she realized she couldn’t go. I went anyway and hoped for the best. When I checked in I told them she was coming later. Everything was fine. I was even able to buy Cheers when I got on board before sail away not having to pay for her as she was not checked into the system.

Heck, when we finally got under 200 days last week, I was pretty thrilled! Lol

Thank you so much for this! I especially appreciate the details you covered in getting in and out of the water to snorkel. I have a mild disability that affects my balance and that info and the pictures are very helpful.

I have a tour company I’ve used many times. Their snorkel boat is also a glass bottom boat so if your little ones get tired, they can still see things that way. I actually stayed on the boat while my daughter snorkeled and had a lovely time. the co is Safe Tours Cozumel. Two or possibly three of the people on our excursion couldn’t swim. Like, literally didn’t know how! I couldn’t imagine trying to snorkel if you couldn’t swim but the team was incredible with them. They wore float vests and the one staff took a life ring that had a ring around the edges made of metal. They all kept a hand on that and he basically towed them around. Granted, they couldn’t go deep (my daughter was going WAY down) but they all seemed to have a fantastic time.

Should have been $17 for up to four people. I’ve travelled twice to Cozumel solo. It’s very safe. The taxi drivers who are allowed to come into the port have to get approval to do so. In order to get a taxi permit there is a waitlist. I’ve become friends with a tour operator there and he has shared that taxi drivers are some of the better off people on the island and no way do they want to jeopardize that by any misbehavior.

I’m so sorry you lost an item that was so important to you. That would be really hard especially when you’re in a situation where you really want to be relaxing and putting aside all of your cares. Thank you for the reminder that important things should stay with us until placed in the safe.

Hope you enjoy! Sounds like a good move for your needs. Come back and tell us how it worked out.

We always park at the port as well and I was going to suggest to get there rather early to secure a handicapped spot. You have to hit the right balance between getting there early enough that new cruisers haven’t taken them all but the previous cruisers have already exited. As mentioned, unless the handicapped person needs a wheelchair or scooter and requires extra time and space to exit the vehicle, drop off is often a better choice to cut down on the distance walked.