Going on Pride in Nov: Questions about room assignments and documents

[Sailfish]

I'll be on the Pride over Thanksgiving cruising the Mexican Riviera. I booked this cruise in June 2003, and made my final payment yesterday. As it's been a while since I cruised with Carnival, I have a few questions concerning my reservation and cruise.

 

First off, we booked an inside guarantee. After calling in my payment, I spoke with my agent regarding my room assignment and was told we probably would be getting an upgrade. We never expect an upgrade when we book a cruise with Royal Caribbean, even though we are Diamond members - Royal Caribbean is very thight. I was quite surprised that my agent sounded so confident we would be upgraded on the Pride. I'm not expecting anything more than maybe an upgraded inside cabin, but those of you who cruise Carnival regularly, how does Carnival dole out upgrades? Would anyone know when Carnival assigns rooms to guarantees?

 

My next question concerns our documents. When can I expect to receive them. Will I be mailed a ticket booklet, or will my documents come via email?

 

Any other input concerning the check-in process or cruise I should know about?

 

Thanks in advance!

[pam7553]

I am on the sailing after yours and also booked an inside guarantee. I have been checking on the Carnival website to see if a cabin has been assigned but no luck so far. Probably too early. I'd be curious to know what you end up with.

[wwakla]

I rec'd my doc's from Carnival 30 days prior to.

 

Kris

[cjar855]

You will recieve the actual documents.

[serene56]

Carnival has been setting cabin assignemnts 7 weeks out. You have to register your cruise on the Cartnival website..and can only do this if you are NOT booked as a group.

 

Once you get your cruise registered...go into that area to checkout how many days--etc you have. ( do not worry about the category picture theyhave showing--its only to show you what else is available. While in the site

copy and paste this into your browser. http://www.carnival.com/BookModify.aspx

 

this will show you what you paid. Towards the 7 weeks you will see a cabin assignment.

[Sailfish]

Thanks, Everyone!

 

That new feature on Carnival's website is awesome! I'll continue to check back to see if any cabin assignment has been made. I too will be curious to see what we end up with.

 

Again, thank you for your input.

[VentureMan_2000]

The answer to your upgrade question is you get upgraded within your category:

 

Inside cabin to inside cabin

Outside view to outside view

balcony to balcony.

 

Some folks claim to have been upgraded outside their category such as inside to outside, outside to balcony, inside to balcony, inside to suite.

 

These upgrades would be rare, if they have ever happened at all (I don't believe these stories. My mother would be one to embellish this way).

[Sailfish]

VentureMan_2000:

 

What prompted me to ask the question concerning Carnival's upgrading policy was my travel agent, who insists I would be getting an upgrade; but don't ask me how she came to this conclusion.

 

We cruise more often than not with Royal Caribbean, and seldom do we get what I consider a "real" upgrade. As we usually book guarantees, our experiences have been restricted to a "within-category" upgrade, meaning if we book a balcony guarantee, we end up in a balcony on a higher deck - not really an upgrade in my book.

 

As it's been a long time since we cruised with Carnival, I was curious why our travel agent was so sure we would get an upgrade. I'm not anticipating anything more than possibly a higher level stateroom. I just asked thinking maybe Carnival's upgrade policy had changed.

 

As frequent cruisers, it has been my experience in the past, that "real" upgrades were possible. At least with Royal Caribbean, as diamond members, we used to stand the chance of getting a decent upgrade for free in the off season. But these days, Royal Caribbean sells "upgrades" at the pier (at still very reasonable rates) so this perk evaporated about 7 years ago - the last time we got a free upgrade.

 

Thanks for your input.

[GoinCruisin]

Your TA probably stated that because most people that book a guarantee DO get an upgrade... but it is most of the time within the same category, just a better deck. My parents got a great upgrade 10 years ago... Booked an OV guarantee and received a suite... they were celebrating their 25 anniversary, so I don't know if that attributed... they had a great TA at the time. Carnival has a new policy for guarantee cabins... they will be assigning cabins 8 weeks out and issuing docs at that time, so you should get your docs 6-8 weeks out...

[VentureMan_2000]

On the Pride, there are two cabins that, in my eyes, can provide you a "real" upgrade of the "within-categories". These are the 5A Gty and 7A Gty.

 

The 5A is an "obstructed view" ocean view category and the 7A is a "partially obstructed view" Balcony category.

 

An upgrade "within-category" for a 5A would push you into a 6A ocean View cabin on the Pride.

 

An upgrade "within-category" for a 7A would push you into a 8A through 8I Balcony cabin on the Pride.

 

Since upgrades don't always happen, you would have to know that you would be happy with a 5A or 7A.

 

I lucked out and got upgraded from a 7A to an 8F. Not the worse 8F on the ship either, and a heck of a lot better than a 7A.

[Sailfish]

Thanks again, everyone! I had a feeling Carnival these days is operating much like Royal Caribbean. No worries on my end...we'll be happy with just about anything.

 

We'll be cruising over Thanksgiving with other members of our family. By then, I will have had enough of Northern California rain and cold, so we're really psyched that we're going. If you've been on the Pride, what were your impressions of the ship? I'm assuming Carnival no longer decorates their ships in gaudy Las Vegas neon decor. From what I could tell by the few pictures I saw of the Pride, it looks much, much nicer and more subdued. Like I said before, I have not been on any "new" Carnival ships - meaning it's been a good 7 years since our last cruise with Carnival.

 

We have less than 80 days left!!

 

Suzi

[VentureMan_2000]

Lots of Naked pictures and statues! :eek:

 

I understand that the ship is decorated with paintings and works of art from the Masters of the renesance period. There is a lifesize statue of Angelo's David, without the fig leaf.

 

Sounds like a beautiful ship.

[serene56]

Carnival has a new policy for guarantee cabins... they will be assigning cabins 8 weeks out and issuing docs at that time, so you should get your docs 6-8 weeks out...

 

 

 

Nothing is stated where you will be getting documents at 6-8 weeks although they are setting gaurantee cabins at 7 weeks. Documents should come a few weeks later.