virginiab

It's a full size bus, so I'm guessing 50 passengers or so, so 20 will not be enough for them to head off to the airport. Sorry.

Those of us on Cruise Critic are probably the unpaid travel arrangers for their family and friends. I know my spouse tells me to just let her know the dates and what kind of clothes to pack, and I'm in charge of everything else.

For a moment, imagine your great aunt Zelda, for whom you set up this cruise on Liberty. Let's say aunt Zelda is cruising with a companion who is equally information-free. Now their cruise is being changed - a lot - and they literally don't know what to do with themselves.

If it were you or I, we would already know a bunch of things that we thought about doing in San Juan, but couldn't schedule time for, so we might be saying to ourselves that we might finally get on the bio-luminescence kayak tour, or we might have time to tour the jungle, or see an interesting museum in San Juan. Aunt Zelda did not consider a bunch of alternatives, and is now at loose ends about what in heavens they will do to amuse themselves for the rest of the cruise.

Some of the people in line at Guest Relations are somebody's aunt Zelda, and it will take some time for them to adjust to the new reality.

I know lots of us with more knowledge and experience are in a better position to roll with the changes, but i'm guessing that not everyone in line is a jerk. Some are just befuddled cruisers, feeling lost and needing both information and reassurance.

We take our passports, credit cards, and a bit of cash. A copy of your passport is not a real document, it's only a way to show what your passport number is, which might help you get a replacement faster. If you have a passport, please take it with you; this is what you got it for. Keep that photocopy back in the cabin in case your passport is lost ashore, but do your best to keep the original with you.

Although pressing is available as a separate service, I'm not sure how it would piggyback on the free laundry service. I wonder if you would have to get your clean laundry back, then send out the items you want pressed. It would be more efficient to send those items out for the paid wash-and-press service and send the socks, undies, t-shirts, etc in the free bag for wash and fold service.

I have gradually been replacing all the small cosmetic bags (vinyl bags with zippers at the top) that I have used for years. Now I am only buying clear cosmetic bags. This way I can throw all of them in one drawer and easily find which one has first aid supplies, which one has the laundry supplies, which one has the chargers or headphones, etc. Almost everything that is not clothing is in a clear bag. Each bag also contains a 3x5 card of what belongs in the bag, which helps me pack and gives me a place to note that I need to add something to the bag before the next trip.

I used to use a fabric tray, like the boxes recommended above, on the nightstand, but when they changed design to have the bedside lamps attached to the nightstand instead of the wall, my tray was too big. After trying a number of solutions, I believe I have settled on yet another cosmetic bag, one with a flat bottom so it will stand up; mine is just big enough to hold a packet of tissues, a small flashlight, lip balm, earplugs, and my glasses. During the day I tuck it into the nightstand, along with my jammies, then put it on top when i go to bed.

packing cubes help me make good use of shelf space. I use one for undies plus scarves and a second one for socks. On my last cruise, I stopped using a toiletries bag, as all my stuff already fit on my share of the bathroom shelves. I just packed toiletries in a couple of ziploc bags. I had an additional bag for all the small stuff that clutters up my toiletry bag, like sewing kit, safety pins, bandaids...

OJ is available at breakfast, but it cost money at other times of the day.

Thanks for posting this. I just got a couple from AARP after reading this!

That's a good outcome! Congratulations.

Some years back, we were on the Liberty during a period of meteor showers. We tried several of the front decks and found the darkest one and watched for a long time. I'm thinking about timing a future cruise for meteor shower dates as it was a great experience. I don't remember which deck we ended up on, but just check them out!

Lido is a great location on any ship. However, our worst cabin on Carnival was an inside on Lido. As I recall, it was on the port side and it was modified for handicapped use. We were assigned to it as a guarantee cabin. Because the conversion required extra floor space, they reconfigured the available space to get wider doors and room to turn a wheelchair. There were fewer closets, no chair, no table. The fact that the bathroom smelled like sewer gas did not help, although I would assume that long-ago problem would have been fixed. Our cabin number was 9286. Avoid this particular cabin at all costs. Other than that, a Lido cabin is great.

A decade ago, after ankle replacement surgery complicated by a wound infection and slow healing, I spent most of 6 months non weight bearing. The knee scooter was a huge help. SOO much easier than crutches. It was great for getting around the house and on short trips to the store (someone else was driving). Longer distances or waiting in line was more difficult, although my scooter's padding for surgical leg was usable as a seat, which as a help.

I would not want to cruise with crutches. I'm wincing at the thought of even gently moving decks and crutches. The knee scooter will also need a bit of extra care on the seas, although the newer scooters seem a little wider and probably have a bit more lateral stability than mine did.

If you are having any pain issues at all before you cruise, take materials with you for ice packs. I like to travel with a cooler and several of the reusable ice packs that are big enough to wrap around the ankle, plus a neoprene sleeve to hold an icepack and that can be used to fasten it in place. this is also handy at home.

You can ask for a shower stool for your cabin.

During my recovery, I found a great last-minute price on a river cruise that was only a week or 10 days away. It was close enough that we could drive. I arranged for the cruise, hotels, and a rental car to get us from the end point of the cruise back to our car at the point of embarkation.

Then the doctor said I couldn't go. Grr. The best I could get from the cruise line was the ability to change the passengers, so I sent my mom and a friend of hers on a nice riverboat cruise, while I stayed home and waited for insurance company approval of the treatment the doc thought I just had to stay in town for. Grr.

Anyway, stuff happens. Certainly cancelling is a safe option, particularly if you can do it without great expense. And that does support your workers comp claim, too.

Good luck with whatever you decide after you see the orthopedist!

goccl, carnivals website for travel agents, describes cabins 11001, 11002. and 11003 as Category 4S (interior spa cabins) and states that they have no window. So these cabins do exist, evidently. And they are not the obstructed view interior cabins found across the front of some decks on some ships. They are just interior cabins.

https://www.goccl.com/~/media/Files/Irman/bookccl/the_fleet/Sunshine/sunshine.ashx

All of the balconies on decks 4 and 5 are directly under other balconies, so there is coverage/ceiling to your balcony, but only as far as the edge of your balcony. None of them have any additional overhang. So your comfort in case of rain all depends on the direction of the rain.

If your spouse is not fond of heights, he might, in fact, like the obstructed balconies, which make it difficult to see straight down, but allow you to easily see out and upward. The lifeboats are mostly below the level of the top rail of the balcony, although a couple of bigger lifeboats have a taller portion. When we stayed in one of those cabins we did not notice a noise problem from the lifeboats and I haven't heard others mention that, so I suspect it is not a common issue. Like the cove balconies, the lifeboats make the balconies feel a little more enclosed, a little less exposed.

Only a sampling of available cabins will show up on the public booking engine. If you have a need such as connecting cabins it is important to call, the they have access to ALL the currently available cabins.

To the OP: I think you'll really like the new family cove balconies on the Vista. They look really nice in the pictures.

The day bed style sofa does indeed stay made up with bedding during the day, but the bolsters are still in the cabin, so you can use them on the daybed if you want to use that bed for seating.

On our last cruise, the room steward asked before making up the "extra" bed if we preferred that he pull down the upper and make that up or make up the day bed. He had the bed of our choice ready by dinner time.

How about renewing your vows?

Seeing wildlife depends on how much time you spend looking and on your itinerary and the time of year. You can expect to see birds diving for fish when you are fairly close to land. We have seen fish jumping and dolphins. You may see more or less, but its fun to watch. Enjoy your cove balcony.

The cove balconies, in my experience, are more likely to have salt spray on the furniture which needs to be wiped away before you sit. But i love the cove because it is shaded most of the day, and the direct sun is not my personal friend. If the sun IS your best friend, you may prefer a different balcony.

Whatever you choose, have a great time!

What you have described is the standard configuration for a three-person cabin on that ship (and all of the ships after the Fantasy class): two twins that can be made into a king, plus a "sofa" that is really another twin with removable bolsters on the back that you take off when you are using the sofa as a bed. There are generally drawers under the sofabed that hold bedding.

The only place I would expect to see a different sofabed is that a few suites may have a fold-out sofabed that sleeps 2. If you are in a standard oceanview or balcony, you will see the twins/king plus sofabed. SOme cabins will ALSO have pullman beds that come down from the ceiling in cabins for four passengers. (Or for 5 passengers on the Dream class ships in deluxe oceanview cabins.)

Can you book (past guest) and then switch to ES later.

I want to book a cruise 18 months in advance to get a cabin I want. However I won't know if I can get that date off for another 6 months. (good chance I can)

Just in case we can't go on that date I did not want to pay $100 penalty.

Is that doable.

I did just this thing for just this reason. When our vacation dates were confirmed at work, I changed to ES. In order to make the change I had to pay more than I had originally paid, but there was also a senior rate available at the same time. So I paid extra for ES, then immediately submitted a form to get the senior rate, which was lower than I had initially paid.

I had to talk the customer service rep through my entire plan, as she wanted to keep me from paying more (ES rate) for my cruise. But we got it done.

You'll stay an Early Saver even though you are getting a rate has some other name. You only lose Early Saver if you switch to a rate that is for guarantee cabins instead of specific cabins.

I can only address Carnival vs NCL. I enjoyed both. The cabins were larger on Carnival -- which was especially noticeable when we had inside cabins, less of an issue with a balcony. For me, the buffet was better on NCL but the dining room food was better on Carnival. I also found the steakhouse better on Carnival, but only ate there once on NCL so it might have just been a bad night there.

As others have said, the evening entertainment is better on NCL.

Both provide nice vacations at good prices. I haven't sailed HAL yet but I'm thinking about it for next year. RCI's biggest ships sound like a lot of fun, but the price always has made me turn in another direction. I love getting great value and saving money on my vacation.

Enjoy your first Carnival cruise!

Enjoy those balconies! I know you'll have a great time.:)

As I understand the process, they put your clothes in a mesh bag and wash it in a big washer with mesh bags of laundry from other cruisers. You certainly don't want to include anything with color that might run, and you have to hope that nobody else does either.

It's not a perfect service, but once you learn how to work with it and which of your clothes will come back in shape to wear later in the week, it can be pretty useful. We send sock, underwear, knit shirts, maybe knit shorts, and sleepwear. We also plan to do laundry ourselves once during the week for things that need gentler care, but it's nice to pack fewer sock and such.