Starlight Durban Cruising

Ok, so have you ever visualized what the Upgrade Fairy looks like?

I know we have some imaginative folk here, and some of you must be budding artists. So come on, pull out that sketch pad and draw us a visual of what the Upgrade Fairy looks like to you, then when you are done load the picture/scan of it here. Let's have some fun with this. :D

There hasn't been a formal night on Carnival in years, however, I do believe they will bring out the tablecloths for elegant night.

LOL, sorry I did mean the semi-elegant night :D

I am having a hard time with the naked tables. I wish they would leave the tablecloths on the table to look like fine dining and not like the tables on the lido deck :rolleyes:

I agree, looks like eating at my local steakhouse/pizza joint.

Perhaps this is step one to "don't bother to dress-up for the dining room, now you can come in your jammies or shorts to formal night!!!":rolleyes:

Good luck....be insistent that you want to go and they will make it happen.

:eek:

Common sense should always apply on the part of the individual. As an example:

In the country I come from there are caves with an optional section called "The Devil's Chimney". It is NARROW, and even as a child I feared going through it. Well recently, a rather ample-proportioned lady was on the tour and when they got to this section the guide told her: "Sorry ma'am you will not be able to make it through this part."

Well she screamed at him about discrimination and it being her right to do that [optional] part of the tour. So he said ok. Well she got stuck, and 13 hours later they got her out - with the use of much lubricant and hand-shoving in unmentionable places!! (I don't think she'll ignore such advice in the future).

Realism and wisdom required, please!!!

I'm gad cc does not have a pm feature.

With all the fighting that goes on publicly here, can you imagine if some people decided to take that to private messages! :eek:

Not to mention it would be nearly impossible to monitor the no advertising of TAs with that.

 

As far a friend requests, I ignore them.

Well PM's (and friend requests) can be ignored.

To be honest. I think the roll calls suffered when CC decided "no reference to FB roll calls allowed", and then kept the "PM system continues to be an inactive system".

- Why do I say that: Because now there is no place to privately give personal details such as full names, cabin numbers, Paypal payment info for group M&G events.

- Second why: 15 minutes after this posting is submitted, the various search engines will crawl this posting and it will be found on an internet search. Can you imagine giving your full name and Paypal account on a posting for your Roll Call, to find it out on the internet for all to see and trace (where a person lives, and dates of travel) a short while later!!! That scares me.

As far as I have read: MSC is family-owned, so I don't think that you can buy stock (well unless you marry into the family :D )

Well, if they cancel that one too, I can tell you "don't bother with the tour that goes north up the coast for a scenic drive to a beach restaurant in the area called La Fonda".

Considering that it goes half-way back to San Diego, and there really was not much to see/do at La Fonda, I found it to be a waste of a trip. Oh wait, there was one fun thing: crossing over the visible earth-quake fault lines running over the freeway on the way. :rolleyes:

How far out are you from cruise date? If it was FAR from cruise date then the cruise line might keep such cabins empty in case someone needs to book an HC cabin. However as they get closer to cruise date (and no one has made a reservation requiring an HC cabin), then the cruise line will put anybody in there.

Sure there is the risk that if someone needs that HC cabin (between now and cruise date), then you could get moved - provided that there is another cabin available for you in the same, or better, cabin category. You will not get bumped off the ship.

Most people who need an HC cabin know that these are limited supply, so they will typically book pretty far out to ensure they get one.

I think it may have to do with the fact that they could like your style of posts, the reviews you posted, or the topics you have written about and therefore would like to "follow" you through your postings. Different from subscribing to a specific post or forum, as the person could be interested in many of the topics or posts that you have written about.

I don't think there is much other benefit to it.

for your replies!!

 

I often travel to the US and usually stay in a hotel in New York.

So when making a reservation, I use the hotel's address - but my European credit card.

There was never a problem until some days ago when I received a message from the US ta.

 

 

 

I simply changed the Dutch address (I used to check in online) back to the US address. I don't think at the time of boarding the staff members of the cruise line will cause trouble...

Passports don't prove residency. Drivers licenses do. Unless you have a drivers license that corresponds to your booking address, you will have trouble.

Dirk, in the US one will often be asked for your Driver's Licence (card) or a State ID card (if you do not have a DL) which shows that you reside in that state as it was issued by the particular state in question only if you reside in their state. Your address will be reflected on the front of the card (definitely the case for California). For cruising:

1. A US citizen will have a US passport at check-in, so the cruise-line will not even ask for further proof of residency as they can see the person has the right to re-enter the US.

2. A foreign citizen who is a permanent resident in the US will usually need to show their Green Card and foreign passport at check-in. This would be proof that they can re-enter the US, (and that they would also qualify for the US rate).

3. Any other foreign citizen who is visiting the US would need to show their passport and some form of entry permit/visa which allows re-entry into the US for a certain period. While they may not check the rate that a person booked under, there is a chance that someone could notice it and refuse to honor the rate booked. This really comes from contracts between the cruise lines and their different in-country booking agencies.

Not to say that it will be a problem (hey we all appreciate a good discount), but like gambling it is all about (graciously) accepting the wins with the losses.

I occasionally book my cruises in the US, UK, Brazil... always depends on where my friends tell me about a good deal. We are living in a globalized world - so this should not be an issue I thought.

 

Has a cruise line ever denied boarding because a proof of residency could not be presented? Just curious as I received a weird email from my travel agent....

If you booked a "resident rate" e.g. one that is only for California-residents (for a cruise leaving from California), then you would have to show proof of a California address in order to qualify for that rate. Typically they would want to see proof before you board.

Certainly some normal bookings might be possible via the cruise-line's website if the credit card is accepted online. Most credit cards have country-code built into the number so a certain number range could be rejected if it does not fall in the range that belongs to the country in which the cruise line operates. The other way that credit cards can be refused is because of the postal/ZIP code tied to that card.

... you need to get to 1500 points on the machines and then they give you the Drinks On Us card...

Elaine is correct. That amount of 1500 points sounds right in my dad's case.

My dad received one of those on our 2011 Carnival cruise. He played a lot on the slot machines and he was given the card by about the 3rd day of a 7 day cruise. Not to say that he did not end up giving most of the winnings back, but I think he was on a good roll to play so long.

As far as I understand it, this card is given for a certain volume of gambling activity. I think it is a known fact that one would be awarded the card after you have played that specified level of gambling activity in the casino.

Perhaps another poster can provide more detail.

Carnival website says:

At the entrance to the Queen Mary, stay to the far right of the parking ticket taker for the Queen Mary; this lane is the entrance to the Long Beach Cruise terminal.

Follow the signs for Passenger Parking and Luggage Drop-Off area.

Port Parking: $15 per day (rates subject to change by Port Authority)

• 5-Story, 1450 space parking garage
  
• Full payment due upon exiting the parking garage.
  
• Accepted forms of payment: U.S. Dollars; major credit cards.
  
• No advance reservations required.
  
• Oversized vehicles will be charged per parking space.
  
• Handicap parking available with proof of valid permit.
  

http://www.carnival.com/cms/FAQs/Cruise_Ship_Terminals__Parking__Directions__LONG_BEACH_CRUISE_TERMINAL.aspx

I seem to recall that the rate might be $17 per night now. Not sure if the last item is meaning that HC gets a $ charge or a zero-charge. Try to phone Carnival or the Port of Long Beach.

So we just got back on Saturday and we paid off our Sail and Sign with cash. Well, we had a Credit Card on file with Carnival for the Sail and Sign and they CHARGED it, even though we paid of the total the night before we disembarked. And its some random number that is not even on our receipt! No clue what is going on and guest services doesn't open for another hour! :( Very stressed now.

I hope that you kept your receipt that they gave you for the cash paid in. In fact you should keep that receipt for the standard storage period for all receipts!!!

NO, but if there is a problem and they get told to get out of port immediately, then you could have a problem. This is what happened a few years ago on the east coast with a major weather front that came through at one of the islands and they had to abandon a few (ships) tour groups in port due to the risk of damage to the ship if she was kept in port. I think that these passengers were flown to the next port if I remember correctly.

The likelihood of that happening in PV in March is slim, so go ahead and party it up in the town.

Yes it is true. My mom and dad have Verizon. Their plan covers them everywhere in the US including Hawaii and Alaska. While on a cruise in Alaska they used their phones in Port. Their phones picked up the cell tower on the ship. They had a $500 charge for overages due to the cell tower on the ship. It is best to get away from the ship before using your phone. No problems once away from the ship on their excursions.

While I don't doubt what you say, I don't think that shore-side crew would be happy if their cell phones hopped to the "stronger-signaled" ship's tower. I think more often than not that they would turn the ship tower off to avoid complaints from non-cruising port crew about such charges.

I had the opposite experience last year. I was cruising out of LA and I had fairly strong signal on the Verizon land-tower for at least an hour after we left the Port of Los Angeles. I was checking continuously on where the signal was coming from, and I was sending data/phoning. After that the signal became weaker and I put it in airplane mode.

I did a Vancouver-ending cruise last year and it was more expensive to fly out of Vancouver airport - cheaper to cross the border and fly from a US airport. There are shuttle bus services from Vancouver to Bellingham airport which is just south of the border - or you could go all the way to Seattle.

Bellingham is a lovely little airport and you connect via Seattle to all major US airports. There is even a small air museum a few buildings over from the terminal building if you arrive early enough.

While I did south-bound shuttle, I am sure they do north-bound shuttle too.

Well, I certainly learnt something new today. Thanks for info.

DD has to do a high school science project while on our cruise next week. She's planning to test different aspects of the ocean water at each port, ...

How is the "testing" to be done? Using chemicals, or just observation? Chemicals could be a big concern for the cruise line.

thanks Goldenbonny.

Thanks Suzanne.

You might want to post this on the MSC Cruise line section too.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=80

There are 3 times that you need to consider for embarkation day:

- Embarkation time as shown on your Boarding Pass. On one of my recent cruise documents said "Embarkation 1:30 to 4:30pm". But often you can board even earlier if the ship is ready.

- Typically 60 - 90 minutes later they have what they call the "Departing" or sail-away time (also shown on your Boarding Pass). On the same cruise document mine said "Departing at 5:30pm". This gap is so that the manifests can be completed and are then sent to immigration/DHS). Departing time is really when they drop the ropes from the wharf and the ship starts moving.

- Muster drill time, correct at about 45 minutes before sail-away. My cruise documents (Fun-time document in cabin) said "Mandatory Safety Briefing at 4:45pm". They will usually leave sufficient time between muster drill and sail-away so you can order your sail-away drink and watch the ship pull away from the pier. Sure, things may get delayed, but typically muster drill is completed before you pull away from the pier.

This was for an LA cruise for embarkation day. Enjoy your cruise.

Taking note of what everyone else above said, there have been other postings about similar issues for Pacific Island/Indian Ocean destinations in recent times. Do a search on this blog for similar destination names and if I recall correctly try the term "French embassy" as well. From what I remember from the other postings:

1. Definitely speak to the French embassy as soon as possible (and mention that this is a cruise with an 8 hour entry). Sometimes cruise ships get a blanket visa to cover all passengers.

2. Rules can change, so don't just take the old postings as gospel, recheck everything with the local French Embassy.

3. While everyone answers from their own experience, you have to consider some of the above postings relevance, as it to applies to your local situation, with a pinch of salt. Not to say that any of them are wrong, but the law applicable to cruises originating out of the US could be quite different from cruises originating out of other parts of the world.

One further thing that your friend SHOULD check is:

- you say she is "on a temp residency visa in Australia". She needs to KNOW 100% whether there are any travel restrictions to her leaving the country on that visa and then trying to re-enter again. Some countries have unusual rules about such visas and she should definitely check that there are no unusual restrictions to re-entry.