BrentD

For what it’s worth to anyone who finds this later. On the Mardi Gras the kiosks on board do NOT accept Carnival gift cards for payment. The option is there, but it is greyed out and unavailable. If you want to use gift cards to pay down your tab you have to do it at guest services on that ship.

Back from our cruise on the Mardi Gras. Not a word was said about the travel router. It worked exactly as intended. And for what it’s worth, with the premium plan we made FaceTime calls back home with little issue. This is the equipment I used: https://a.co/d/9WWe5ip Use this information as you would like and at your own risk (of people like some in this thread ridiculing you for it). 😏

Was on Mardi Gras last week. Chose the 8-8:20 am time slot for express self-debarkation. It was group G. Had I not been near the cabin door finishing up packing the toiletries and whatnot we still needed that morning we would’ve completely missed our group because they were calling for group G before 7:30 am. When you pick your time slot for debarkation it does say estimated time, but I would expect their estimate to be a bit more realistic than calling us nearly an hour earlier than the chosen slot. It wasn’t a huge deal and we were ready, though. We all had passports, which appeared to significantly speed up the process, judging from the long line of birth certificate holders we briskly whizzed by in the terminal. Photo recognition process was quick and easy. We were off the ship and out the terminal door by 8am.

Do you If you use express do you still pick a time slot and just don’t check your luggage for debark? Or is it a leave when you want type thing for express?

Wow! Congratulations!

I can't recall if it was Carnival for sure (though I'm pretty sure of it), but I recall making a payment with another card while on board and it didn't replace my card on file. I remember because I was charged an international use fee by my bank.

Thank you for some on the ground (or in the water? 😂) information!

You can definitely pay down your tab with cash. I just wasn’t sure about using another card to pay it down.

Where was this posted? I don't see it on Heald's Facebook page. I've got friends scheduled to depart on April 6th on Freedom and have been looking for updates.

Just like your WiFi router at home. It’s not going to work a block away. I have heard of some people powering one with a battery pack and just keeping it in their book bag or something as they walk around the ship, but that’s a bit excessive. In my case with two small children, it allows me to plug a USB drive into it with movies and other video content on it that can be accessed by any device on our private WiFi network. This keeps them occupied while in the room and keeps arguments about what one or the other wants to watch to a minimum. This isn’t a tech forum, though, which is why I only asked how the policy has been enforced for those who use a similar product. Trying not to get bogged down in other details.

Exactly my thought when you just confirmed what I already said in the first place.

Like I said, not without a second wireless interface. So yours has two.

Most smartphones cannot share a WiFi connection. They can share a cellular connection over WiFi, but not a WiFi connection they are already connected to. Further, laptops can share a wired connection wirelessly, but cannot rebroadcast a WiFi network without a second network card/interface.

Man, what a fitting username.

Fair point. But I’ve seen them mentioned many times on all the cruise line forums, so I’m hoping someone can give some personal experience. Considering what they charge would pay for 4-7 months of my home internet plan, a single plan should be covering every device to start with.

Is this personal experience or advice? I’m looking for personal experience here.

I’ve brought along a travel WiFi router on previous cruises in Carnival, Royal and NCL. This could have been in their rules before and I just didn’t notice it, but I just happened to notice this in Carnival’s prohibited item list: ”Satellite disk, routers and other internet related equipment” Has anyone had any issues bringing one along lately? First time I’ve ever seen anything about it.

She was already heading to Freeport when it happened because weather cancelled their visit to Princess Cay.

That's awesome! Less time spent standing in line means more time vacationing! Assuming Mardi Gras would have the same since it's newer than either of those.

Thanks. We do plan on doing that as well, as my wife got several hundred in gift cards for her birthday a couple weeks ago. I knew you could use those, and have also read not to use them to buy “cruise cash” if you aren’t sure you’ll spend all of it on your sailing.

See now you’re projecting your assumptions on me after I made a completely logical and reasonable rebuttal. I, too, wouldn’t put a debit card on my sail and sign just like I already said, and I certainly wouldn’t cruise if I couldn’t afford it. And as any logical person would (I hope), I would much rather pay my balance with money in hand (or bank) than on credit. Have a nice night!

Plenty of reasons. Maybe your paycheck is deposited while you’re on the cruise? Maybe something you’ve had for sale online finally went through? Maybe some other funds transfer you’ve been waiting on went through? Maybe you don’t want your debit card that’s tied directly to your bank account attached to an endlessly spendable sail and sign card? I can think of plenty of reasons. Just because it doesn’t make sense to one person doesn’t mean it’s not perfectly sensible to another. 😎

Thanks. That was only part of the question, though. If I want to pay it down with another card (debit, credit, etc…) that is NOT on file, can I do that as well?

It’s been 10 years since I last sailed Carnival, so my memory on some details is a little foggy. I know I put a card on file to attach to our sail and sign account. And I seem to recall I could “pay down” my balance with cash at any point during the cruise, be it from cash I didn’t spend in port or the endless pennies of casino winnings… lol But is it possible to pay down the balance while on the cruise with a debit card or other credit card as well? That’s the foggy part for me. I believe so, but just want some confirmation.

That’s because GoPort only offers parking for Carnival Mardi Gras at their facility near the port. I would recommend finding a cheaper hotel in Titusville or Melbourne and booking a parking/shuttle package through another provider, as the hotels that offer a package are very pricey. Though I’ve noticed that several don’t service Disney cruises. I couldn’t tell you why that is.