absolutonrox

Anyone have experience with the Wifi on Pride? We're sailing in September. We will be leaving our 17 month old home and DW wants something that she'll be able to use to Facetime with him for a few minutes daily. Grandparents who are watching him don't have iPhones, so that facetime isn't an option. We are thinking Facebook Messenger, or possibly some other app similar to it? Any personal experiences would be helpful!

I checked earlier today for a CHEERS! discount, no such luck. I wasn't expecting it, just thought I'd check "just in case".

We made the stop on a RCCL cruise last October, but some of the excursions were canceled due to winds creating rough seas. If I remember correctly, the canceled excursions were ones that went to Sting Ray City (and possibly others as well), which is apparently just in the middle of the ocean. RCCL refunded people on those excursions and had tents set up in port to book others if you so chose. I want to say that some of the private tours still did Sting Ray City, but I cannot say for sure because we ended up just walking around the island and doing a little shopping.

Happens on all cruise lines. People board who are sick, people don’t practice basic hygiene, people handle food in buffet. I asked a nan once not to pick up food in the buffet with his fingers, but use the utensils, his response was “stupid woman”. Lol

 

On another cruise the lady in front of me dropped serving tongs on the floor, picked them up, replaced them in the food and said “you didn’t see that”.

And people wonder why I hate buffets, even on land :rolleyes: I certainly would have "seen that" had I watched someone pick tongs up off the floor and put them back into a tray...

RCCL and Carnival are very similar. I cruise for the price so I flop around to find the best price. I have cruised both and found Carnival more lively but that is no bad reflection on RCCL. Both are great, honestly.

I second this. Of our first 2 cruises, 1 was RCCL 1 was CCL. We really enjoyed them both. We found both to have similar activities and dining choices. Neither had a ton outside of the buffet and MDR, but that was more to do with them being smaller ships (Grandeur and Pride) than anything else. That said, we found the MDR food to be quite good on both, but the steakhouse on Pride was outstanding. If you've been happy with RCCL, I have no doubt you'll be just as happy with CCL, barring some major catastrophe while you're on board.

As others have said, we aren't huge fans of Freeport/Nassau, but wouldn't eliminate a cruise from consideration if one was on an itinerary. If you can find a 4-5 day to either Key West/Cozumel or even get one with Grand Turk and/or Half Moon Cay, I would opt for that instead.

I love the alcohol smugglers threads. I love reading about chair hogs. I love it all.

For the information value, or entertainment value? ;)

Hoping this is on Pride for May. That Baked Alaska looks yummy. And that deli menu is going to get me into trouble.

I hope you're right! That would mean it's on my Pride sailing in September :cool:

Congrats on your first cruise! Glad you liked FTTF; we found it worthwhile as well. As for CHEERS!, it's obviously a personal thing. When we've had it, we tend to not drink in port because we know we can get it for "free" on the ship. We aren't huge drinkers, but like the piece of mind of knowing it's already paid for before we step foot on the ship, plus the knowledge that we can try new drinks and if we don't like them, we aren't "forced" to drink them because we paid $8, $10, $12 or whatever for it, we just order something else (we don't come close to the 15 limit each day). I'm glad not having it worked out for you though!

If it is just you and your pregnant wife, I think, since you clearly had something to do with her being pregnant, you'll just have to suffer through the week and buy your drinks a la carte. :D

That's quite an assumption, that I had something to do with my wife being pregnant. I really HOPE I did ;p

If buying a-la-carte ends up what's best (assuming she's pregnant, that's not even a given at this time), that's what I'll do. Like I said in a previous post, I just like to make sure I have ALL of the CORRECT information before making a decision. I brought it up because I've gotten conflicting information (PVP told me one thing, CC members saying another), and was just looking for someone with first-hand experience. I honestly couldn't care less either way, I just want to know so I can make an informed decision. I'm not one who's going to get close to my limit, we've pretty much "broke even" on past cruises. I just like it because I can pay it off before I go, plus I can try new drinks I wouldn't generally pay for knowing I can just get a different one if I don't like it.

i hear you gotta pay for thebathroom and take off your shoes or whatever but thats ok.

What airline is this? :confused: I don't ever want to fly them! Personally, I've found that Southwest gives the best "bang for your buck" when it comes to flying, but I live close to one of their hubs, and generally fly into another of their hubs, so that probably has a lot to do with it.

Put your big boy pants on

No thanks, I don't like wearing pants.

I'll continue to try to have as much information as I can before making a decision. I'll do what's best for me and my family based on OUR situation, like I did last October when I cruised with my then-pregnant wife. If you want to make decisions before being certain you have all the facts, well, more power to you. Call me crazy, I just like knowing that I've explored all possible avenues before I make my decisions.

I completely get where you're coming from, and don't necessarily disagree with your comment about "doctor's notes", I'm just going by what my PVP told me a little over 2 years ago. It's entirely possible (if not probable) things are different now than they were then, I was just looking for something from Carnival stating NO exceptions will be made, for ANY reason, or someone else's experience. I've read the FAQs and know what they say, but they also don't say "no exceptions will be made" (unless I missed that, which is possible).

Can't speak to Princess but we loved Pride. It's been about 2 years since we sailed on her, but our sailing was after the 2.0 upgrades. We found the food to be good (only ever ate in the buffet for breakfast/lunch, always MDR or steakhouse for dinner) and plenty to do on the ship. We watched comedians almost every night, so I'm not sure about the other shows. We thought they crew was good; made friends with the bartender & server in Red Frog Pub and they always had drinks for us whenever we showed up, no matter how busy they were.

As Sadie noted, serenity "adults only" deck is free, and it was wonderful. The adults only was strictly enforced on our cruise, which was nice because there were quite a few kids onboard, as we sailed right before back-to-school. I don't mind kids, and I expected them to be prevalent on the cruise, it was just nice to know there was somewhere we could go (other than the casino) to be in a calmer, more relaxed atmosphere :)

Pregnant women are forced to buy the package if others in her state room wish to purchase the package. She will then not be allowed to consume any of the package. It is a ripoff!

Where did you get this info from? I asked my PVP about this very issue before our cruise in 2015 because DW and I were trying to get pregnant. It turned out that she was not pregnant for the cruise, but our PVP said that if she was indeed pregnant, we would be able to submit something from her doctor (likely on office letterhead) stating that she was pregnant and her need to purchase CHEERS! if I wanted to would be waived. Again, she turned out not to be pregnant and we both bought the package, but we were informed should would NOT have to if it came to that. Maybe it is a new policy? It would seem silly to me to force someone to purchase an option they medically cannot use. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just looking for some confirmation that what you're saying is true and not just a random statement.

Actually I think most posters here are at work

I certainly fall in that category :cool:

When I booked our first cruise for our anniversary, I wrapped a passport application (DW still had her maiden name on hers and wanted an updated one) and bought a toy boat at a local store. I put the boat in the pond in our garden with a note explaining we would be taking a cruise. I must say, the confusion on her face when she unwrapped the passport application before seeing the boat/note was priceless ;p

Your comparison to an all inclusive is just wrong. You do not necessarily get the "bottom line, this is it" price for an all inclusive either. I've seen plenty of offers that don't include air fare. Even the ones that do could end up charging extra based on the weight and number of bags.

Sorry if you feel your being "lied" to, but advertising a cabin price as just the cabin price is not a lie. It's exactly what it says it is, the price of the cabin. A hotel is also not lying when they advertise a room for $89 a night, then you book and it's $120 after taxes and fees. It's not lying when Verizon says $40 a month for phone and data, then you get your bill and it's $55 after taxes and fees.

Your right, comparing different cruises DOES take a lot of work. That's half the fun of it for me, and I'd guess for many others here as well. As I stated previously, I get where the OP is coming from, I just don't think it's something we should expect from cruise lines because the taxes and port fees are never a set price and can fluctuate. A small amount of research can get you a "final, out the door" price.

We have photo copied our passports and stuck them in my husband's wallet before. Don't know if it would help but just incase we get left behind it's a starting point.

 

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This is what we do after reading it here on CC prior to our first cruise. As another poster said, you likely aren't traveling with the photo copy, but it's a good start in the unfortunate event that something were to happen.

...including guys in sweat pants and tank top (yeah, like Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force....seriously)

OMG! I'm not sure how many reading this got that reference, but I just about choked to death trying not to spit tea all over my computer. My coworker seriously thought I was in trouble :'):'):'):')

My wife and I usually dress fairly well in the MDR, but it's mostly because she likes to get dressed up and look nice every once in a while, the MDR (especially on "formal" or "elegant" nights) gives here that chance (she works in an OR, so scrubs all day for her). For the most part I couldn't care less how people dress, though I'm not sure how comfortable I would have been sitting with the biker couple who one poster described that seemed better suited for either Fantasy Week in Key West or the Sturgis rally. I do agree that lines (not just CCL but all of them) should enforce the rules they have in place. Otherwise, why even have the rules? In 3 cruises (a LOT, I know ;)) I've seen multiple people turned away int he MDR for dress code. The issue is that people come to places like CC asking for advice. Someone gives their experience where they were able to "get away" with something outside the rules (which is 100% fine IMO, not knocking anyone for giving personal experience). People read that, think it's OK, then try it on their cruise. Maybe they are on a different ship or different maitre'd, and are turned a way for wearing something a past cruiser was fine wearing. CCL and others could severely limit this type of thing by simply enforcing their own rules.

I don’t see them as “hidden fees”. Every advertised sailing says- plus taxes and port fees. They are hiding anything. Cruise rates very by category and even cabin; not to mention sailing. I always do a mock booking to see what my cost will be- total.

 

 

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I agree with this. I wouldn't call them hidden. Often I've seen the super low advertised rates as "From $99 per person" or something similar. As has already been stated, port fees vary from port to port. One 7 day cruise from Miami would not necessarily have the same port fees as another on the same ship if going to different ports.

OP I kinda get what your saying, I just don't think it's something that's necessarily viable for the cruise industry.

We purchased one of these and took it along.

https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-2000014807-Beach-Shade-Blue/dp/B00J955GXS/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1512588020&sr=8-16&keywords=popup+beach+shelter

Granted, we drove to the port so the extra piece of "luggage" was much easier to handle vs. flying. But a quick search on amazon reveals some that are "spring loaded" and may be much more "flight friendly". Ours has poles that need put together, but it is still about a 3 min set up and take down (we set it up once at home so we had some clue what we were doing). For about the same price as a clamshell rental, we now have one we can take with us on any cruise as well as to the beach over the summer.

Get a small bucket of ice from your room steward and put it in the fridge. It takes a day for it to work well but we had good luck doing it. Just let the room steward know you have the ice in the fridge and ask him to keep it stocked.

I'm sure that will work better when the water is already cold. It didn't work to well for us in the past when the water we were putting in was room temperature. The ice cooled it down a little, but didn't make it "cold".

Water is included in Cheers now. I don't bother buying it anymore. We just grab a bottle on our way by a bar and bring it back to the room. Stocked up pretty good doing that.

This was pretty much my plan if I was correct in thinking bottled water was now part of CHEERS! May actually work even better since you'll get the bottles cold and they should stay colder longer in the ice box/fridge. That was our biggest issue when we pre-ordered. The bottles were room temperature and the "fridge" was really more of a "cooler". It was difficult to chill the water, even asking for ice from our steward.

We recently took a family vacation (parents, brother, nephew, son) to Disney and Universal. I find the photographers on ships to be similar to photographers in parks like that. If we don't want pictures, we politely decline and keep walking. They are used to it. In my experience, albeit VERY limited compared to many on these boards, the majority of cruisers walk by the photographers without a second thought. Maybe not as much with the set "scenes" on formal night, but definitely embarking/debarking in ports. Formal nights we generally pose for a few photos because DW wants to, and as they say: "happy wife, happy life". We check them out, but haven't bought any yet. Not because they were too expensive, because we just didn't find any that really struck us as "must have". As someone else stated, the pictures are worth what you're willing to pay for them.

OP on the cruise you bought a lot of pics, did you just get them or did you buy a package? IIRC, there is generally a package offered to choose a set number of photos for 1 price. Perhaps that's an option for you?

We pre-ordered 2 12 packs for our Pride cruise a few years ago. It was great to have them to take off in a back pack in ports, or because DW and I both like to have water beside the bed at night. At that time, I don't believe bottled water was part of CHEERS!, but is now (I could be wrong on 1 or both of those accounts...). If we get CHEERS! for our Pride sailing next Sept., we may not need to pre-order the water.