FlamingJune1967

When I got my passport I asked the postal worker what was the difference and was told, "The most important difference between U.S. passport books and passport cards is that passport cards are not valid for international air travel; they're only acceptable for land and sea border crossings between the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean"

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However, if in the unlikely event that you face an emergency which requires you to fly, already having a passport card makes it much easier to expedite acquiring a passport book.

We use passport cards for the whole family - never had an issue. My husband does have a passport book, so that if an emergency should arise at home which required our immediate attention, he would be available to fly without delay. However, we saw no need to spend <$450 on passports for myself and the two children to cruise when three $35 pass cards were adequate.

edited to add: My children travel to Mexico via car every year which was the initial reason for passport cards.

I'm not a complainer either - but this is a PLANNED and non-emergency shut down of services you have paid for! This only benefits Carnival, in that they will continue to generate revenue during what should be dry dock maintenance. No different than shutting down the MDR to recover the chairs and telling all the full-paying passengers that they can just eat in the buffet. NOT acceptable. If they had marketed this as a pre-drydock construction cruise and lowered the price to reflect the decrease in amenities than there would be no issues... but I imagine y'all are paying the same as all the folks that will get to enjoy the new and improved Glory next month.

We were on the sailing that left on Feb 11th. I swear we weren't but an hour or two away from the dock when the blue curtain went up and the work started. There was NO notice at all, we had to go ask why the slide was roped off only to learn it was being taken down and our kids would be unable to use it or the pool that was next to it. No apologies at all. I would have appreciated a heads up when we were checking in.

This is unacceptable. It's similar to them closing down the MDR for renovation and telling everyone to just use the buffet. NOT what you paid for!

Because this:

Ok, I don't know if my review will be a fair one because I've never been on this ship prior to the dry dock revamp but I was pretty disappointed........

 

This was my first time on Carnival and just my opinion but RC has them beat easily in every area. I'm also not really a "complainer" or negative person but I was just underwhelmed period with the entire ship and experience. I will say most of the staff were very nice and trying their best but I just think the ship wasn't ready. Luckily we made the best of it and had a blast and met a lot of friendly, cool people but I'm not even sure if I'd sail Carnival again. The one plus point for me was that Carnival is less "stuffy"/snobby whatever in general. Casual. Staff and cruisers. Just more laid back. And I like that.

 

Hopefully things will get better as they are more prepared and work out the bugs.

Thanks for the review!! I really appreciate your honesty. I would have been very disappointed as well if the ship's advertised amenities were not operational. Glad you had a positive attitude and were able to just go with the flow!

Please someone tell this nice lady that 1 adult is not enough supervision This ship is the size of a city and the most well behaved child can get into trouble. Just remember Natalie Holloway. It does happen. Not often but it could happen. I'd have 1 or 2 aduldts at least

huh? Natalie Holloway was on a high school class trip in Aruba. Not even close to the same situation.

I took 3 teenagers on a cruise. Piece of cake. Maybe I just have unusually well-behaved children. Or maybe I'm a super woman. Yep - that's it - I'm a Super Woman :)

When I logged on 5 days ago I got a prompt asking me if I would like to try the new shopping cart method Carnival was testing. I tried it both ways and agree with the OP. I didn't like the " cut to the chase " method of the cart design and prefer going through the steps to see available cabins to select, etc. If Carnival goes with the cart design it needs lots of work before going live full time.

The same thing happened to me when I logged in looking for a cruise last month. I HATED the shopping cart method. Not only would it not let me select my room, I couldn't choose 2 cabins at a time. (at least as far as I could tell) I kept trying to get back to the old method, but could not find an option to do that so I cleared my cache and returned to the carnival website. This time when it asked me if I wanted to try the new method I said "no" and it has not asked me again.x

Finally, and I know you never return to a thread after a drive by, but there is nothing special about the toilet paper on the ship, other than it is as cheap as possible. I have worked for 42 years with vacuum toilet systems, used almost the entire range of toilet paper available, and never had a problem caused by "incorrect" toilet paper.

I wish I could make this a sticky on every cruiseline board. I am soooooo sick of hearing about how "special" the cheap ass cruise toilet paper is. As someone who is allergic to most toilet tissue - and brings my own everywhere I go - I get so frustrated with this particular internet misinformation that just won't die. ugh!

I have been eye balling a 14 day cruise to Alaska. aboard the Carnival Splendor. I have done a mock booking and when all is said and done the total cruise amount is $6,623.10 for two. This would come out to around $473 pp per night. I also have been looking at RCCL (we think RCCL is a couple steps ahead of Carnival). However there is only one cruise that starts and finishes in the same port :(, and this is aboard the Explorer of the Seas. Also this cruise is only 7 days and comes out to $4,946.60 for two which means its around $707 pp per day:(. So what do you guys think, is it worth it or not to do the 14 day sailing?

hmm..

Something is wrong with your math.

$6623 for a 14 day cruise comes out to $237 per person per day.

$4946 for a 7 day cruise is $353 pp per day.

OR You could stay in an oceanview on Splendor for $142 pp per day - total of aprox $4,000

https://www.youtube.com/user/flyingscotsman84/videos

I ran across this YouTube Channel by the new CD onboard Carnival Dream, "Chris the Flying Scotsman". He documents the last week of drydock and the first week back at sea. He gives us a peek at some of the updates (although you have to wade through quite a bit of fluff to find it.)

Just thought I'd share for those interested.

All depends on how long you want to wait and where. 10:30 is only 30 minutes earlier than I was there so it shouldn't be a problem. I just wouldn't go with the super early times because the ship won't start boarding till around noon no matter how early you get there.

Ok, thank you! First time using staggered check-in, so not sure what to think :)

Thank you so much for starting this so soon! I can't wait to hear it all.

btw, do you recommend not having a 10:30 check in time, or simply not arriving before 11:30? I chose the earlier check in for maximum flexibility, but if that is not the case, I'll change the time.

I went to a dermatologist last year and he gave me a Rx for 0.1%

(the strongest) He told me to mix it with moisturizer to dilute and make it last longer (I did.) The Rx itself cost me $120 for 20 g tube of generic Retin-A.

Big mistake! My face was red and raw no matter how I used it - and it barely got better over time. When my husband traveled to Mexico a few months later I had him pick me up 0.05% ($30 for a 40g tube of actual Retin-A) and things have been going much better. I still cannot use it every night - only 4 to 5 times a week - but the process of adapting is going much smoother. If I am able to use the 0.05% every night by the time he goes back to Mexico in Oct, I may try the 0.1% again.

Anyway, before anyone comes on and tells you THIS is why you need a doctor and Rx etc - I wanted to say that having a Dr and Rx did me no good. He gave me almost no instructions and started me off way too strong. I've done much better "medicating" myself!

I am a local and I work at International pier. Shop in town where we shop. Smilaries on Calle 1, 1 block up from Ave 10 where the pedestrian area of the Zocolo ends. Ahora which actually is across the street from the pier, and YZA, not sure of locations as the one I use is way back in the neighborhoods. They usually will point out the ex date, if not please check it. Antibiotics will require an RX which you can get from the consulting doctors located at the farmacias. Free consult or 50 pesos, about 3 dollars.

Thanks for this info!

I'm just a simple Retin-A girl :) Do you happen to know if English is spoken in any of these pharmacies. My husband usually gets my Rx in Mexican border towns and I have to give him a note written in Spanish. Also, what do you think about the pharmacy inside Mega? We've always wanted to stop in there (been to Cozumel a few times - visited a pharmacy inside a grocery store once and had to act out "anti-itch cream" - maybe the pharmacist just got a kick out of seeing this american woman make a fool of herself :) )

The room steward did ask us whether we preferred morning cleaning or evening. He did say that we could have both if we wanted. We know that's creating a lot more work for them and I'm fairly capable of turning down the bed so I had them clean in the morning which meant anytime I stopped in all day long it was neat and tidy in there, bed was made, towel animal sat there waiting for me to move it to the couch, etc..

This whole Carnival change in room cleaning is starting to worry me. We are still asked to pay the same amount in tips - but now we are supposed to feel guilty for desiring the same level of service? I'm not resentful of tipping - and we always tip extra - but I am resentful of this whole switch to once a day service without changing tip amount. I go on a cruise so that I never have to worry about cleaning or cooking or entertainment. Yes, I can turn down my own bed. But the onlytime in my life that I don't have to is on a cruise - and that's one of the things that makes it so special.

me too! :cool:

We used Acquarius Tours when we were there in December. We went to Stingray City, Starfish Beach and snorkeling. Then they dropped us at 7 Mile Beach.

Thanks, Maldenmusic! I visited the site and was impressed by what I saw. I had not noticed this tour company before!

Thanks! I appreciate your taking the time to write this!

Just got back from the Elation 5 day 3 ports and I can definitely say I would have preferred a 2nd sea day to stopping at Freeport. Unless you've got an excursion booked, there really isn't much to do there in the port area.

I wholeheartedly agree!!

ummm... yes. That would be correct. This is how retail works. It's not cunning... it's supply and demand. I did this for my last cruise. We got a guarantee cabin after final payment at a significant discount. Of course, I had no say in my room and had a partially obstructed view - but I gave up my right to choose my room in order to save money. You are welcome to do the same :D

You'd think after 11 cruises, I'd know the answer to this. :rolleyes: How does the 2 category upgrade offer work? We'd like to stay in an interior picture window cabin. When I choose that cabin type, then choose the upgrade offer, the price goes up. If I choose to use the upgrade, does that mean that we won't get the interior picture window cabin, but a different category interior? Is there a way to use the 2 category upgrade and get an interior picture window? Thanks!

I may be wrong, but I THINK the 2 category upgrade means that the price you see is the price for a cabin 2 categories down. (in other words, it is already applied) The reason the price went up is because the VIFP discount is not the best available price right now. I think the early saver is.

But, let me state again - I could be wrong!

Decided after 20 some odd cruises that I would try my friend who has recently become a TA. Booked a 7 nt April cruise on the Carnival Magic. Chose an inside on deck 6. Just received an e mail from his company asking if we wanted to upgrade to a deck 9 balcony for a total of $ 330.00. Couldn't say yes fast enough. May have to buy my friend a beer next time I see him. :)

Good for you!

We had bed bugs on our first Carnival cruise 5 years ago. They were found by the room steward. We were immediately moved to a new room, received complimentary laundry, 50 percent of our cruise back and a 50% off future cruise certificate. I credit the bed bugs for us being such big fans of Carnival, if it wasn't for that future cruise certificate we might have not cruised again but now we've gone every year since. We had some bites, we survived. We check very carefully now. We didn't then, if we had of I'm sure we would have seen some evidence because we ended up with a lot of bites. But we had a delayed reaction to the bites so if the room steward hadn't have moved us we would have literally been none the wiser until we got home. I don't blame Carnival. It's a constant battle I assume for any hotel or ship because people bring them onboard with them.

This actually eases my mind! To know that Carnival takes this issue so seriously! Thanks for sharing.

Hey everyone!

 

Just on the Dream and waiting for muster. Guys, blue iguana and all the new stuff looks awesome! The ship is clean and ready to go, and embarkation was insanely smooth and early. No worries about incompleted work or anything. I'd post pics but service is too slow for me right now.

 

I was on this ship last year, and while she doesn't look particularly different, she is squeeky clean and fresh!

Thanks so much for the update! I'll be following this thread for any more info!

I haven't been on Elation, but we cruised Fascination (same class ship) out of Jax for our first cruise with kids. They were 8 and 9 at the time. They loved every minute.

I just booked our second cruise with the kids and when I asked what was important to them, they said "a pool and free ice cream and pizza".

Yep! That's pretty much all it takes to thrill them :)

We had an interior - and it was cramped, but didn't hinder our fun one bit. There is, fortunately, a lot of storage in the cabin, so that helped. I would advise separating the bottom bed into 2 twins as this provides more room with the two pull down beds above - although we didn't do this because it just felt too weird for hubby and I to sleep apart - lol!

I definitely would not travel to Miami for Sensation just to get an oceanview. Having just cruised out of Miami two months ago, I would avoid that port simply because of parking costs. You can find much cheaper private parking right outside of JaxPort (it's in a safe part of town) - in Miami your choices are pretty much limited to the port at $20 a day or stay at a >$150 park and cruise hotel. (Most folks advise against off-cruise parking there as it is not secure.)

Are you going to Half Moon Cay? If so, this is an awesome spot for a family- very nice! We aren't even beach people and we actually stayed until last tender back to ship. We rented one of those clamshell umbrellas (around $20) and just sat and read books while the kids played in the water in front of us. It was probably the best time I've ever had on a beach - and I've lived near Florida beaches my whole life.

As for Kid's clubs - your nine-year-old will love being able to check themselves in and out of the club - feels very grown up - and your younger children will probably enjoy Camp Carnival as well. If you are going during off-school time there will be a lot of other kids for them to interact with.

One tip - Do whatever you can to get earlier dining. We had late dining and 2 couples with young children(at our table) had to drop out due to the fact that their kids couldn't stay awake long enough for the meal :)

Enjoy your cruise and your family!