Bobblefrog

SPLURGE

Balcony - this time (before we had portholes) and I doubt I'll be able to go back. I hated having to find places on an outside deck that were QUIET, had a chair, I could just enjoy the ocean - and actually SEE the ocean. Having an outdoor private (ish) place is on my priceless list.

FTTF - never sitting around waiting on someone else while I guard the bags (love being first on the ship to explore), and it's especially worth it if we've booked an independent excursion - like we will this time which is an-all-day-probably-will-be-pier-runners kind of excursion.

Experiences - we did Chef's table once, Behind the Fun Tour Once, etc. and will do the Steakhouse this time. Won't do them again, just like to see what they are about. I agree with others the MDR is perfectly adequate, even quite pleasurable often.

Excursions - always try to do independent and find things more out of the way when possible.

Bon Voyage - I just have fun planning stuff - decorations, a bottle of something for cocktails. Love the cake although we didn't end up eating it. Just love having "gifts" for ourselves when we board. Very festive.

SCRIMP

Cheers - just could never drink enough to break even!

Alcohol - not big drinkers

Soda - never drink at home either

Specialty Coffees and Cakes - nope, can't see paying for that

Gambling - just not our thing

Photos - we do look. If there was one I liked I might buy one.

Souvenirs - just a little memento - earrings are good - LOL

Hotels/Airfare - we drive and I look to find a hotel that isn't super outrageous but does give us a little experience. So I can't say I really scrimp on hotels as I avoid the cheap dives. It's good to have something by the water since we can't get enough of that.

Hi all -

Checking fare viewer this morning and see a 12 hour sale that is lower than my current ES rate. But when I go to pull up the rates for Balcony, all I see is BL - not the usual categories. Is that a generic rate for all balconies regardless of the level? Color me confused!

EDIT: Ah, think I answered my own question - this is how they designate guarantees. Not willing to give up my cabin selection even though it was a nice price difference!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING!!!!! You get all the brownie points today :D

Thanks for the clarification and tips. I'm glad to hear that the points can be used for all Carnival owned cruise lines. That's too bad the points are worth the same on all lines, dollar for dollar. I'm going to have to learn how the points work.

I do know that the reason I applied for it was because they give me either 5,000 or 50,000 points, can't remember which but I roughly figured it that those points would be worth about $100 towards a cruise or OBC ETC. Maybe some one would know if that sounds like 5000 or 50000 points.

I did'nt have to pay any annual fee for it. My wife just got us the Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa and she seems to think it is worth $100 a year.

Personally, I think every thing should be 5 cents:)

I got mine a few months back when I booked our next cruise - they applied the points as a credit to my statement in the first billing round. I didn't seem to have a choice in the matter. But I still had my cruise deposit on it, had not paid it off immediately, so maybe that was why.

We leave on June 13th so I believe we will be in Freeport on the 16th. Ok now I don't know if I will book this one slipping on the rocks makes me nervous. My husband and kids love going in the water, but I get a little anxious maybe I will just do the beach getaway instead... I just can't make a decision and now I am running out of time :(

There are sandy areas right off the beach (sort of left if facing the water if I remember correctly), but it doesn't get very deep. So it's not rocky to the edge. I remember some smaller kids splashing and there was a smaller stingray that came up that far that a group was watching. I could be wrong, maybe someone else can remind me, but couldn't you rent "boogie board" style floats that let you float out if you are not in fins?

Very sad to hear Carnival getting in on the game - I'd be trying to figure out how "avoid" their group's 2.5 hour window!

We were very happy with the independent excursion offered by the owner - good value, nice driver, never once felt concerned about getting back. The van went back multiple times. I remember we rented an umbrella (dirt cheap) but ended up never using it.

The reef there was awesome. Baracudas, turtles, huge stingrays...Grand Turk snorkeling ended up being a big disappointment in comparison on our next cruise. Course that's just the luck of the draw sometimes.

Could you give me more info on what the social and valhe package is? Sailing on the Sunshine in December and always love to stay in tough with my Mom as she watches my furbabies! Thanks!

In case the OP doesn't come back here at least are the basics on those plans:

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1152

It would be so cool if it was on the Valor by our cruise in December!

I just want to dive into the colors of your photos. I'm looking at a camera that advertises "ultra-wide" angle and the shots you posted is definitely nudging me in that direction. It captures the sheer BIGNESS of it all :-)

bottle of wine her person!

Beautiful! Alaska is soooo going to be our next cruise...

are these FAQs going to be updated in real-time? or near-real-time?

 

for instance, the wifi and hub app page:

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1152

 

it actually lists all the ships with the new wifi plans (oh my gosh!)... previously we've had to basically rely on the john heald facebook posts - which incidentally are very difficult to reference after they are made - and then re-posted here, and the FAQs were not being updated to reflect new info...

 

while i think this is a GREAT new start, a commitment to keeping the actually current would be a great step in the right direction, too!

First place I went too!

I, too, bring the battery operated votive candles. Works great! Enough light to see but not enough to wake you totally up :)

I'm with you - hate bright bathroom lights at night, or to be honest even fumbling for a phone/flashlight. I prefer to sleep through that nocturnal visit to the facilities :D

Although it is good to know I have the latter for emergencies! Love that app on my phone.

From our experience on the Fantasy twice with the same porthole cabin (I think one or two from the very front) - definitely wouldn't give that up for an interior. We had some rollercoaster rides going in and out of Charleston, but noise was never an issue. And the expected "rumble" in the morning was also not as bad as we were anticipating. I loved being able to see out the porthole and sit up there/use it to store extra stuff. Would have loved a sofa too if you all make it up during the day.

Although I must admit the aft location might have been nice as we spent most of our time on Serenity. Course the extra walking helped work off the cruise food LOL.

Anyway, my two cents to further confuse your decision!

Gorgeous photos - were you using a panoramic setting on the outdoor shots?

I will also try to upload them on here.

Crossing my fingers you can get them posted :D Thanks for your efforts!

Hmm, just for your own sense of time, I was going to suggest a Google search for the port(s) in question with keywords like "port XXX cruise ship schedule" and you'd probably find one that lists each day of the calendar year, what ships will be in port and what time. IE: http://www.mahoganybaycc.com/port-schedule.aspx

I assume that's referenced by the locals as well.

However, I noticed in the calendar above it shows our ship in port from 8:00 - 18:00 (8am - 6pm), but our itinerary states 9 to 7 which seems to be only an hour difference ... err ... which doesn't account for the two hour time difference (Port Canaveral/or Miami time).

I suspect I'm missing something obvious...? I'm sure someone here will be happy to jump in with an explanation. Maybe this is the phantom time change that seems to occur as other cruisers above have noted?

About four weeks ago I booked Valor for December 12th and FTTF was available at the time. So I guess dependent on the ship/date it can definitely available even further than six months out - that would have been what? 7 1/2 months?

Good luck Mrs. Hurly on nabbing one for your cruise!

We have an all day independent excursion in Belize and wanted that priority tendering. It's not on my bucket list to be a pier runner!

You probably know this in spades, but be sure to get the name of the person you talked to, yada yada! Good luck to you, and best wishes -

Eh, we have TBA.

To answer your question, no, I don't think Freeport has changed much.

Now for my very personal and unsolicited opinion. I think each port you can find a gem with a little research and luck.

Freeport was one of our favorite ports so far - we had a great snorkeling adventure at this dive called Paradise Cove at Deadman's Reef. The food was meh, but the owner pleasant, and saw some amazing rays and turtles and barracudas. And I loved watching the industrial cargo port with all the little trucks buzzing around the freight containers. And in the shops at the Freeport dock was a man who carved his own walking sticks among other things - we have always regretted not getting one because since then we've rarely found souvenirs at the ports that were not mass marketed stuff.

The first time we went to Nassau we did the walking tour - it was hot, crowded, felt badgered by some guy at the Queens Staircase - and I swore the second time we went I wouldn't get off the ship. We did though, and the second time took a Jitney and went to Ardastra and had a great time. It was my favorite port of that trip and that was completely unexpected.

Because at Grand Turk which everyone loves, I remember as meh, because the snorkeling/sting ray tour we went on - was fifteen minutes of blah snorkeling and one stingray at a distance.

Also while everyone loves Half Moon Cay I just found it miserable and slogging through sand and the music way too loud - you couldn't escape it. LOL. But that was our experience and I know we are in the minority.

As much as I research, sometimes I think it's just a crap shoot and hopefully you stumble upon the things that make you happy!

So glad your daughter is okay!!! And I would be madder than a hornet at the situation your work put you through - you definitely are owed an apology.

I can't compare - our only cruises have been on the Fantasy, but we love her. We really appreciate the smaller size. It feels closer to the "sea" if that makes any sense. And as cruzelover said you can run into people more often.

As others have said, Serenity on Fantasy is wonderful to watch the wake - beautiful - spent as much time out there as we could. Our suggestion is to have your bathing suits on and right after the drill, pop in one of those hottubs on Serenity, with that drink, to enjoy sailaway :-) Toast the horizon goodbye.

We also liked hiding out in the cigar bar that is no longer a cigar bar...big leather chairs and dark lighting - that felt good on a sunburn after a long day at the beach.

Enjoy! And don't forget to just stay persistent with the work issue - and that "this too shall pass".

Is it worth the hassle to try and board as early as possible? Is there a best time to board? I don't plan to get FTTF. Is it like an airplane where everyone is stepping on each other's toes to get on 10 minutes earlier? What would I miss if I waited until the hordes are already on?

From what I've read on these boards, this seems entirely subjective - what experience do you want? Some people wait until early afternoon so most of the lines have disappeared and rooms are ready (after 1:30) so they just stroll on board, drop their things in their room and are good to go. Others don't like waiting because they are anxious they'll miss the departure time. Others (like me!) want to get there just as fast as they can and maybe be close the front of the line so they can start their vacation at the soonest possible minute. That said we purchase FTTF and it gives my OCD extra time to unpack and settle in :D

True, it is possible that we would be couple of two at a table for 8 or 10. Though we also saw that on our lat cruise in late traditional. We had a table for 10 of which only 8 people showed up. There was another couple at the next table over where no other people showed up on the first night. On the second night after the other couple didn't show up at our table, we invited them to our table. A few people did finally come to the other table on night three but we never saw more than two couples at that table for the entire cruise. They also said ours was to have 10 people seated at it, but that one couple never showed. I suppose perhaps they changed to ATD or early or just ate at the buffet every night.

Ah! So traditional dining has its challenges, too!

We prefer ATD for two reasons, the flexibility to dine when we want. We prefer to eat later in the evening when cruising and ATD lets us do that. Also we like that if we want a table for two we can ask for it or if we are feeling more social we can ask for a group table. If you get traditional early or late, are at a group table and you don't feel social, you don't have much choice if you want to eat in the MDR. You have to sit with your table mates. With ATD you also have new table mates every night if you wish, meeting more people. Though we often ask for a table for two.

Not sure you can always plan on this - on our last cruise we asked to be seated with others four times and they always seated us by ourselves (no one else wanted to sit with us I guess - :p )

Use your "Snoozin" door card when you are in your cabin, and then turn it around to "Cruisin" when you are not in your cabin. I've never had a cabin steward who didn't honor that.

Although I will say, on our first cruise our cabin steward (Noervi - he was awesome) requested we not put the "Cruisin" out UNLESS we needed our room serviced! Apparently they kept coming in when we were gone trying to figure out what we needed. Oooops :o