Retired_to_Cruise

34 minutes ago, Cruisin 4 Ever said:

I booked a Mediterranean cruise for next October several months back through my PVP

I just found out my nephew is getting married during that time and I really don't want to miss the wedding so we've decided to change the cruise date to the week before.

We booked early saver and paid the $400 deposit.  I was wondering if anyone has had luck in getting the full $400 transferred to a new booking when they were booked under the early saver fare which normally only allows the deposit minus $50 pp?

 

The $50 is a change fee for the early saver rate. This is clearly stated in the rules for early saver and I have never had or heard of it waived for any reason.

On 9/18/2019 at 4:23 PM, Organized Chaos said:

 

I don't think any of them will come right out and say they're miserable or that they're overworked. And I think miserable is too strong of a word. Are you and jimbo implying that all of the discussions about overworked crew aren't based in reality? What about the idea of Carnival having reduced the number of wait staff and stewards, for example; therefore, putting a heavier workload on those who are left. Is that not true? Because that's been echoed by long-time cruisers who're able to compare then & now. Is it all made up?

 

One thing I've said in the past is that I've always been impressed with the fact that, no matter how overworked and tired they are, they still manage to put on a smile and treat passengers with kindness and respect. But that's not proof that they aren't overworked. That's proof that they're good people who can set the crap aside and still offer a great customer experience.

I don't see this as any different than what you have seen in many U.S. companies over the last few years.

On 9/5/2019 at 12:52 PM, Saturngrl said:

I would hire a Lean Six Sigma Specialist (like  me) for Carnival team members and loyal passengers to identify sources of waste to eliminate.   That would help balance work loads, improve value and continuously improve operations. 

How do you know that this is not already being done. Are you just making the assumption that efforts to "balance work loads, improve value, and continuously improve operations" are not being done effectively? Where do you think the changes being made all the time are coming from?

On 8/22/2019 at 8:27 PM, Organized Chaos said:

 

OK, I have to ask. Don't those two comments contradict one another? 🤨

 

Do the ships only decorate for Halloween and do all the fun things for the cruise that falls on Halloween, or longer?

One was said with a costume on and the other without a costume.

9 hours ago, lottiegreen56 said:

 

yep - yours! You're nothing but a troll

Thanks!

On 8/22/2019 at 9:24 AM, lottiegreen56 said:

Hey all - just getting off the valor and noticed that on this cruise and on my previous two this year, the nationalities of the crew seem to be mostly East Asian and from Oceana. 

 

I’m part Native American (more than Elizabeth Warren!) and Italian so I do not mean this to be negative or racist, just curious if this is a function of carnival recruitment efforts, the economy of the countries in Africa and Europe. We’re all God’s children - or sometimes Satan’s spawn - so it doesn’t much matter to me where people are from. It was just something curious that i’ve noticed lately. 

We are now facing another vacuous post.

On 8/18/2019 at 9:58 AM, Djptcp said:

We love the Legend and the Miracle and agree with the OP and have sailed on them a number of times. The Miracle has left Tampa (our hometown port), but the Legend is now sailing from there, so very convenient for us.

The spirit class ships are the largest that can sail out of Tamp because of the undersized bridge if just barely get under to get out of Tampa Bay.

20 hours ago, desiree741 said:

I still have not figured out the different classes of ship lol.

I have only been on Elation, Triumph, and will be on the  Valor in December 

Google Carnival Ship Class Guide. Good printable PDF.

9 hours ago, alleghator said:

Well, we’re just waiting to disembark the Pride and I just went through our S&S account. Looks like even with our AARP 10% discounted gift cards paying for it, we didn’t quite break even on Cheers. Needed another 6-8 drinks over the week. 

 

We started out drinking pretty heavily (for us), but started feeling kind of ragged after two sea days of that. My husband, particularly, cut back his day drinking quite a bit by about Thursday. 

 

In the future we won’t be getting the package again. We liked the flexibility of trying new things we might not have otherwise and the convenience of prepaying. But — for these moderate drinkers — it started to feel like an obligation to try to get our money’s worth. No regrets at all! But it would make more sense for us to just prepay shipboard credit and save some money from the full Cheers package. 

 

Your mileage may vary. 

So, exactly what were your numbers that make you think you didn't get your money's worth. all you need is 5 to 6 drinks a day to break even. But you can use and of the other things that are included to calculate your numbers  

18 hours ago, Susan in Maine said:

We are on the September 23rd 4 day cruise from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas and have a balcony booked. I broke my right foot last week and will be using a knee roller.

 

The only handicapped accessible rooms are insides with windows at the front of the ship. I am loathe to give up my balcony. I know the aft balcony cabins aren't bigger than a regular cabin, but would it be worth an extra $200 to get the much bigger balcony for the extra room?

 

Thanks!

The aft extended balcony is extended outward not sideways. This is done because the glass railing across the end of the balcony is angled from bottom to top. So if you look at the aft from the side of the ship you will see a continuous angled line from the top of the ship on down. This makes the balcony deeper from the door outware to the railing, but a bunch of that space is not really "stand up" useful. It would only provide extra space if you had loungers and placed the foot sections under the slanted glass railing.The actual stand up section of the balcony is actually no bigger than a normal balcony.

13 hours ago, twodaywonder said:

You will get more in the dividend.

Yes, you will, but the question is - are you buying the stock to make money on the stock or are you buying the 100 shares to get the Carnival OBC benefits? My approach is the OBC. I am not playing the market with these 100 share to make a windfall. The money I spent for the stock is not considered an investment for the future in my scheme of things. I get the same OBC no matter the share price at the time. Now, if Carnival changes the OBC awarding next year to "0", then I will sell my 100 shares as soon as they are priced to get my money back. The $38 per share I paid has been returned in OBC and dividends in my journey to Diamond and beyond. Win, Win!

Just now, bamaone said:

It's not the greatest deal but it's not bad either. At $45 a share you get a 1% return in on board credit (1 - 7 day trip) plus 4.5% dividend annually. If you cruise more often you can add 1% per cruise. Now keep in mind you have to spend that 1% with Carnival but odds are you'll probably spend way more than that anyway while on board.  At the current stock price you have think it will increase in the future and you're getting 5.5% return at this time. That's as good as common utility stocks are paying today. The past 5 year average shows Carnival and utility stocks are pretty close in price changes. The down side is CCL dividends (4.5%) may take a turn down if the market dips. Luxury and service type stocks usually do. Over all I think I'm making the purchase tomorrow and will enjoy my on board credit while I go for the long term investment. Of course every time I say long term I wind up selling after I see a 20-25% price increase. There's also the elections that could come into play if the "green new deal" was to force Carnival out of the fossil fuel usage. But if that were to some how occur the entire US economy and every working human would be completely bankrupt. 

Buy the stock in your 401K account & it & your dividends remain tax free until you sell it. And there are no taxes on your stockholder OBC as well. Always sail 7 day cruises, or do like we do and sail on 2 B2B cruises a year which gives you $400.00. You do not have to spend it with Carnival. Go to the Casino and draw it out of your S&S account to your S&S card. Take your S&S card to the Casino cage and cash it out. Voila, you have $100 free dollars in your pocket to spend any place. Or leave it in your S&S account and use it to pay some of your gratuities.

On 7/22/2019 at 10:58 AM, Joe817 said:

Thanks! I've been looking for that. Since the minimum buy in to receive the stockholder benefit is 100 shares, does buying 200 shares double that benefit? ie: if holding 100 shares get you $50 obc for a 5 day cruise, does holding 200 shares double the obc to $100?

No!

On 8/30/2018 at 8:34 PM, escentialssoycandles said:

I am cruising with 50 people for our wedding in November. The dining is all linked for our group.

 

Does anyone know what the table sizes are on Conquest?

 

Trying to figure out if I should link specific cabins together for table seating?

There are at least four round 10 or 11 tops in the middle deck 3 MDR as well as some smaller tables all around these four, but I do not think that the Maitre'd would seat it that way without some nudging from someone higher up. Maybe you should ask John Heard to give you a hand. He has always assisted us in getting specific seating requirements fulfilled.  

2 hours ago, Thad409 said:

Yeah I didn't know if it is frowned upon but when in Rome oh, I sure do like my little snails

I do not think you can order escargot on a night where it is not offered on the menu. However, you can order one of every single appetizer that is offered on a given night. The only thing you can order when it is not on the menu, that I know of, is the banana split for desert.

We normally now only take B2B cruises. That means we get 4 D/P gifts in those two weeks. If we like them, at least 2 grandkids get one of them. If we have no use for them, 4 grandkids get one of them. Surprisingly, I have never had a grandkid come back to grandpa's G/S counter and turn them back in and complain that it was not a good enough gift. I am glad I have classy grandkids.

9 minutes ago, vicky3vicky said:

I was just wonderinG if the platinum appreciation gift is still a lanyard, and if that is most likely a permanent thing [with the design changing occassionally] 

Seriously doubt it!

4 minutes ago, Nic6318 said:

 

Hi

 

No. Obviously it depends on how many people will be eligible but the comedy club, or some similar lounge are venues that are often used. As you noted even with only platinum/diamond guests there can be a very large crowd. So a blanket "past guest" party as the OP suggested would be unreasonable, especially since that was the main reason it was changed to begin with. 

Since they changed it to a diamond/platinum party, the ones I have attended were in a club in the aft on deck 5, with one exception - on a Journeys cruise with a partial transit of the Panama Canal it was in the theatre because 80% of the cruise were Diamond and Platinum.

9 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I have heard (and posted on this site previously) similar comments about a fairly significant change to the VIFP Program. The biggest thing I have heard, which you didn’t mention, is they would not grandfather anyone once the new program is implemented. Although I know this will upset quite a few people, I think it’s necessary for any change to improve things. Right now there are way too many Platinums. When it gets to the point where so many people have priority on a cruise, no one really has priority. The bottom line is right now it is too easy to make Platinum, which the.number of current Platinums easily proves. 

 

I don’t see how they can have a past passenger party. That goes against everything I have heard about why Carnival is planning to change their VIFP Program. How can you have a party for possibly 3,000 or more passengers?  That doesn’t make sense to me.  

Being one whose Platinum level got stretched to 75 days rather than 10 cruises a few years ago, I know that another change would make people unhappy. I also remember the past cruiser party from years ago, in the theatre with people taking 3 and 4 dinky drinks at a time from waiter's trays almost knocking them and fellow cruisers over in the rush. I think what is happening today is just fine and dandy. I like the Diamond/Platinum party, I like the Diamond Lunch, I like the laundry benefits, I like the water and the diamond/platinum gift, and all the other benefits we get. Making changes now will unset an apple cart that has just gotten fixed from the changes that occured in the past. It ain't broken. Do not try to "fix" it again.

One time when all the cabanas were gone, I booked a villa and came to this site and stated I was looking for 6 more people to share  it with. Cost was 1/8 of the cost of the cabana per person. I said money would be paid when we got on the ship rather than play around with it before. Sold the 6 seats within 3 hours and had no problems. Every one arrived on the ship, we met at a specific location, paid money and ended up having a fantastic time with everyone. Not much different than asking for a 10 top table in the MDR with people you have never met.  Yes, you take a little risk, but most people on cruises are there to have a good time, not mess with you. Would do it in a minute, again.

3 minutes ago, debnrick said:

Unless I missed it.....can you get soda, milk shakes and speciality coffees with the Cheers program?

Yes, you missed it. They are included.

2 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

My passport along with my BC (two forms of ID required) was not accepted as proof of my identity when renewing my DL to get the enhanced version. Needed my marriage certificate (50 years old) as well. So a passport is not always the proof for everything.

Anyone who does not travel outside the country—and there are millions—does not need a passport so that would be a terrible waste.

My guess is that the last names on your Passport and Birth Certificate were different, hence the marriage certificate. My suggestion included a statement about Passports being used for more than just traveling. For instance, could be used for Voter ID, and many other things that require proof of citizenship. Would probably get rid of many other cards that you carry related to U.S. government functions and/o programs.

On 7/28/2019 at 10:06 PM, CozGurl said:

We'll be on the Valor this fall and not sure we'll get off the ship at least one of the port days. What will be open if we stay on ship as far as bars and restaurants? Any recommendations on what you like to do if you stay on the ship?

 

Also, any tips for first day favorite things to do or specials? I think I read somewhere that there might be 1/2 price happy hour in Red Frog Pub but I'm not sure about that.

With the Valor being a Conquest class ship, we call the aft area on the Lido Deck, between the hot tub and the back windows, "The Office" and it is where we like to roost. On the Dream Class we like to get the big yellow chairs on deck 10 above the pool. The lido deck is always open as well as the Blue Iguana Cantina and bar. Plu Guys opens at noon. And I thing brunch is served in the MDR.

33 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

I tried searching and could not find a thread on this.

 

I got an offer for $49 deposits and have basically been booking our vacations for Christmas 2020 and spring break 2021. 🤣😂 😂 

Right now Magic and Breeze. However I do enjoy the Conquest class also.

On 7/30/2019 at 10:17 AM, Susan in Maine said:

 

Which is your prerogative. However, I don't want to carry my passport every time I step on a plane or go to Canada. The card fits easily in my wallet and the passport itself.......well........doesn't fit easily pretty much anywhere.

 

The issue isn't whether a passport card is or isn't necessary. The issue is questioning why someone else wants one.

 

I have a little travel case that I use t carry all my travel documents for a trip (airlines, hotels, cruise ships, bus schedule, etc) along with my passport.  It fits into a side pocket on my small carry on roller bag, I use my passport as identification for everything. In fact, I believe the U.S. ought to issue free passports for all citizens. When that happens it will give citizens proof  for anything that arises.