babe97

Can we buy a bottle of liquor and take it to our cabana? We have Cheers, would love to take some "free" drinks off. I thought about grabbing a drink or 2 and putting it in some water bottles or rum runners, but that seems like a hassle. Shots from a duty free bottle would be so much easier and stop us from paying what are basically ship prices on the beach. 

On 12/5/2019 at 4:47 PM, Mrs CruisinCritter said:

The newer Verizon phones, especially the Samsung Galaxy phones, require cellular data to send/receive text messages. It was part of one of the updates they did almost two years ago. You used to be able to video call from Sansung phones over wifi on Verizon, but they also removed the ability to do that too and now you can only video call if you use cellular data. That update came before the texting update. 

 

 

Turns out this isn't true. I shut off Wi-Fi and mobile data and I'm still able to send and receive texts. It must have been an issue with the ship's cell towers. Maybe it'll work on the next cruise. Guess I'll find out 🙄

5 minutes ago, Mrs CruisinCritter said:

The newer Verizon phones, especially the Samsung Galaxy phones, require cellular data to send/receive text messages. It was part of one of the updates they did almost two years ago. You used to be able to video call from Sansung phones over wifi on Verizon, but they also removed the ability to do that too and now you can only video call if you use cellular data. That update came before the texting update. 

 

 

That makes sense. Sucks though, maybe there is a work around somehow. Gives me a direction to research. Thank you! 

11 minutes ago, coevan said:

  if so, where are you getting a cellular signal, which you need to text, unless you have wi-fi. 

From the ships cell towers. They use cellular at sea, but it's billed through your cell company. Up until this last cruise I never had an issue. My highest bill was an extra 9 bucks. As long as roaming data is turned off all is good..... But like I said on the last cruise texting just didn't work and I haven't been able to find out why. Verizon so far has been completely useless. I might try going into a store and hoping someone is working who isn't a complete bone head. 

4 minutes ago, coevan said:

you would have to change your settings to wi-fi calling, as the wi-fi plan does not have cellular.

My phone is set for wifi calling, but my goal is to not use wifi at all, just as I've done in the past. 

54 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

I don't have a Samsung so no idea if this could be related. On Iphone, the default setting is to use their "imessage" feature which works through internet, not SMS. There is a setting to change back to SMS texting. Is it possible Samsung has a similar thing where it's default now is to text through the internet instead of SMS?

For some reason even when I had the wifi plan my texts weren't sending or receiving. It was very strange because we had cruised 2 to 3 times a year and I had texted without issue up until that cruise. 

For several years I would turn off my data roaming while onboard the ship and be able to send and receive texts with no issues. It was $.50 to send and $.05 to receive. This was the easiest and cheapest way for me to stay in contact with my kids and their sitters. But on our last cruise, Feb. 2019, I couldn't get it to work. Ended up buying a Wi-Fi package and using Facebook messenger, but I'd like to avoid that this time. Does anyone have any ideas on what I was doing wrong? I'm sure it's some simple setting somewhere that I'm missing. I have a Galaxy S9+ and Verizon. I've always had one of the Galaxies on previous cruises. My sister in law who was counting on texting the same way couldn't get hers to work either. She has an iPhone and I think AT&T. Has carnival disabled this in their cell towers somehow to force you to buy a Wi-Fi plan? Verizon still has it listed as an option in their cruise planner thingy. 

A PVP is the way to go when booking multiple cabins. They can link all of the bookings for dining, do rate adjustments for early saver, it just makes it easier all the way around. I just booked 4 cabins with my VIFP offer. My PVP said the VIFP rates and the military rates are now good for up to 5 cabins. We just recently started sailing with friends and family. One thing I do, especially when traveling with newbies, is get all of the booking numbers and add them all to my Carnival account. That way I can access their booking, remind them of final payment dates, select everyones check in appt. so we are all boarding at the same time, make sure they are checked in, print boarding passes and luggage tags, etc. That way I know everyone has what they need and I don't have to constantly check up on them to make sure they are all ready!

I just wanted to update this post for anyone with mobility issues or traveling with someone with mobility issues. When we got to Grand Cayman the seas were kind of rough. My aunt had decided to stay onboard because it was an early arrival time and she was tired and wanted to rest for the day. The rest of us went to Sunset House and snorkeled. Our second time there and they were just as friendly and the snorkeling was great! It was still early when we finished and I wanted to get back to the ship and get my aunt to shore for a bit of shopping and maybe a drink or 2. I got back on the tender and i couldn't believe how rough the water had gotten. Just standing on the tender to get back on the ship was difficult. I'm so glad we didn't take her to shore. I'm really afraid she would have fallen trying to get on and off the tender. So just something to keep in mind for those who have trouble walking.

The menu gives that much info, but that site looks useful. Especially if trying to decide whether or not to get cheers! 

I'd buy it for sure! 

Got off the Dream last week and I'm missing my favorite drink! Anyone have the recipe for Red's Remedy? I'm kicking myself for not asking a bartender for it before I left. In the past I've gotten the recipe for the Jokester martini from John Heald. I posted and asked for it but Jacinta answered with the ingredients, not a recipe, for the wrong drink.😢 

That's strange. If you got to 75 even on the last day of your last cruise you should have been platinum for that entire cruise. We have 70 days right now. We board on Sunday and our boarding passes and luggage tags say priority. 

Thanks all! 

We leave for our first platinum cruise next week. I read on another post that we can take up to 5 people with us on the tender. That's great because we are traveling with 3 others. The last time we tendered we had fttf. We were in a hurry to get to shore and we met in the dining room and everyone with priority walked to a tender together. The few times before that we had fttf and we just went to guest services when we were ready to go and they walked us straight to a tender. Can we still do that or do we have to meet the whole group and be on one of the first tenders? I ask because we may not want to get off right away but don't necessarily want to wait in a long line once we are ready to leave. We'll be on the Dream in Grand Cayman, if that matters. 

If you book over the phone you can avoid the hassle and just book the kids in their own room right from the start. That's what we always did. We did go to guest services at some point and get extra keys to the kids room. 

Thanks everybody! 

We've cruised 10 times out of Nola. I'm usually up watching the ship dock and it's almost always been before 6am. We are usually on the interstate by 8am when we choose self assist. I have noticed it seems to take a little more time to clear the ship when we've been to Belize and Roatan, don't know if that is still happening. 

I really love a Red's Remedy from the rum bar. I have no idea what is in it but it's delicious! My old go to was the green iguana from the tequila bar, but after realizing I was having sudden but mild asthma attacks after drinking them, I discovered I'm allergic to midori. So I know it has tequila and midori in it, but not sure what else. 

3 hours ago, Mysticalbama said:

I am considering upgrading to a balcony and was wondering what the difference is. Is the Cove one obscured by a lifeboat? How will I know if I get a good balcony? We have never had a balcony and would love input. Is it worth the money? We love the sound of the water and think that would be nice to sit out late at night and just enjoy it. Give me your inputs please.

We have a cove on the Dream in a couple weeks. We've had one before. I love them for the balcony themselves. Don't care for being down on deck 2,just because of the distance to everything else. We've had several balconies on the Dream and if you don't get a cove, I suggest getting one on Lido or higher. The way deck 5 wraps around the ship really cuts down on your water view and your privacy on especially deck 6 but somewhat on 7 and 8 also. We didn't notice deck 5 as much from our Lido balcony. 

1 hour ago, MommytoAsquared said:

I've never been in a cove balcony, but my biggest complaint about a regular balcony is the site lines...When I sit in one of the deck hairs, I cannot gaze out onto the water because all I can see if the balcony rail.  I either have to duck down below the railing or stand up.  I cannot do what I want to do which is sit in the deck chair and stare out at the ocean.

 

Does a cove balcony solve this problem?

The coves don't have the same glass with a rail on top like the other balconies. They are just metal railings. Great for propping your feet up on. 

Our first cruise was a 5 day on the Elation the first week of March. Looking back I say it was just awful, but we went on 11 more cruises in the next 5 years, so we still had a great time and it didn't turn us off cruises. I'd say take a 7 day or longer and stay on a high deck. We were on the first floor and the drunk kids were screaming in the halls, banging on doors, leaving tons of room service food in the halls. We would be enjoying a venue and then 20 or 30 would show up and the whole atmosphere went down hill. But while they could be indirectly annoying as a group, every single personal encounter we had with them was great. They were all really polite and friendly. They were just having fun and being a little obnoxious. But that being said we will never sail in March again! 

Yep I've had a bartender once who I had to ask to back off some. My margaritas started to basically be tequila on the rocks. Lol! 

If you are canceling one cruise and booking another sometimes carnival will waive the fees and apply everything to the new booking. They just did it for us and we didn't even have a good excuse. I know you said you used a TA, so they would probably have to go to bat for you. I had booked with our pvp and he just had to put me on hold for a few minutes and get permission to waive the fees. Get well soon! 

1 minute ago, babe97 said:

Has always been that way on every ship, not just from Texas

To clarify I mean it has always been that you can't use it the last day. The first day is a Texas thing.