AlPSUCruiser

Hey John - all of the quotes I received were in GBP and I converted to USD.  I like your idea of using services located closer to Dover, so I requested quotes from the companies you suggested.  So far DJ Coaches is the cheapest at $580 USD ($45/person).  They are all saying allow 2 hours for the drive to Heathrow on a Sunday morning.  Even if we are delayed until 8am leaving the port we should be at the airport by 10am, which is great.

You've been very helpful, thanks 

Do you also know hotels in London?  At first my my search was focused on location, close to the Victoria station.  The more I search, the more I would like a historic, grand architecture hotel like St Pancras, but that location is not optimal for sightseeing - correct?  I think the train to Dover from St Pancras would require at least 1 transfer, which is doable, although boarding once with all our luggage would be awesome.  Are there any other hotels like St Pancras that come to mind?  We may end up there, as a few of our group are going early for a day trip to Paris, and I think the St Pancras train is a good starting point to Paris from what I've read so far.

Allen

Thanks John - the quote of $650 I received from First Choice Bus is for a 32 seater minibus, so it should be more than adequate.  They knew 13 people and 13+ suitcases would not fit in a van.  That comes out to $50/person, cheaper and expectedly faster departure than Carnival's $85 shuttle which probably has multiple stops in London.

I appreciate the links to other operators, I was planning on getting multiple quotes, so that helps.

I'll also keep the 2 van approach in mind, since the 13 of us may be headed to different airlines/terminals at Heathrow.

Cheers

Allen

Thank you all for the ideas, they are very helpful.  Yes, "getting back to London" means for a flight from Heathrow, and it will be Sunday morning, so that's a plus without commuter traffic. I completely forgot about the disembark unassisted option, which we did last time.  Since we have 13 in our party a private coach will probably be cheaper, I'll search the forums for companies familiar with the Dover port.

For our outbound, I plan to take the train from the Victoria station to Dover Priory, and then taxi to the port to start our cruise.  I think our kids would enjoy the experience of the train ride, and I see some cheap fares, hopefully they will be available for our July 2022 British Isles cruise.

For disembark I have a feeling the $85 Carnival shuttles back to London might be the easiest option given luggage issues and the mass of people.  Am I thinking about that correctly?  Does Carnival take care of your luggage, or do you have to find it and schlepp it to the bus?  Can anyone share their experience / recommendation?

For flights home from Heathrow, American has a 12:20pm flight, I suspect that is not manageable - correct?  What is the earliest departure time at Heathrow on disembark day that gives us plenty of slack, or is it just best to fly home the following day?

Thanks!

Should I expect to see the "new" cakes on the Ecstasy next week? 

With the exception of the chocolate melting cake, I have never seen so many cakes that look so good, but are so disappointing lacking any flavor at all.  What a colossal waste of time and effort.

I guess you were looking for more suggestions than just Tropicana feedback... the Museum of the Revolution was also memorable. It was interesting to see our country through the eyes of the communists. Seeing pieces of a wreckage they claim to be one of our military planes they are proud of shooting down was a conflicting moment.

Spending part of a day on a driving tour and part walking old town is a great idea. Lots to see.

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Just providing a slightly more positive point of view to Mr Ziffle's... I saw the Tropicana in March 2017 and looking back on it as part of our 6-day visit, I would consider it a memorable event, one of the highlights of the trip. This is primarily due to the history and being an iconic part of Cuba, and wanting to be able to say I've seen it. On the negative side, it is very noisy, seating is very tight, and cigar smoking is allowed and prevalent - to say that it is filled with cigar smoke is an overstatement based on my experience, but it was near me and I did smell it, but it didn't ruin my evening. We had premium seats in the front row and it was very, very loud, and non-stop for what seemed like an eternity. It is open-air, if it rains you will get wet. But the colors, and the energy of the dancers is incredible, really something you should see if you go to Cuba. I might recommend 2nd or 3rd row seating, and hope they don't fill your table completely. We reserved/paid directly with Tropicana, but did not eat there because of the poor reviews, and that was a good choice, there are so many great dining options in Cuba, no sense in wasting a meal at a mediocre place. You won't have a problem getting a taxi there or back.

I know you have already cruised and purchased your Hawaiian shirts, but for others searching the forums on this topic, Ross Dress For Less has 20 stores on the islands and they sell Hawaiian shirts. Some are made in Hawaii and some are not, but the prices are obviously very good. BTW, I'm told the authentic shirts have wooden buttons. Feel free to check me on that...

We were on The Magic in May. The slip did not have a box to check for both

I just got off the Magic on Sunday and the postcard size form he presented us on day 1 had 3 boxes - morning, evening, both - we chose both. It also had room to select extra pillows, ice, etc. Had I known this was a point of interest in the forums I would have taken a picture of the form. BTW, he did both unless we were in the room during his cleaning "window".

Thanks that makes me feel better, but it is hard to be patient when you have limited options and we're only 2 weeks out. I couldn't pull up his Shutterfly page so I did a search on Shutterfly for him and it said something like Pro Gallery services will be shutdown as of April, that made me think it was down for good. Glad to hear he is still posting photos, that is a great benefit if we can get him booked. Good luck!

Folks - sorry to bring up a thread that is a few months old now, but could any of you please tell me how you connected with Javin? I've emailed, called, texted, and FB messaged him but haven't received a reply yet. Shutterfly appears to be closed down. Also, how long did it take for him to reply? I'm on day two now... trying to be patient, but our cruise is 2 weeks away. Thanks!

Widdy - have you had any success connecting with Javin? I've emailed, called, texted, and messaged via facebook, no reply yet... People are connecting with him, I'm just not sure how.

More like a few minutes early... I've done it twice - before the price increase. On our last cruise the rest of our group without FTTF boarded within 10 minutes of us (and had a great deal of fun at my expense the remainder of the cruise reminding me that I wasted $50). They even got their luggage well before us and disembarked faster than us. There were no tender ports on that cruise and we might have used the guest services desk once. So in that case we did not realize any value at all.

The other cruise with FTTF had a tender port and the priority boarding there made it worth the price alone.

There are many threads regarding FTTF, lots of opinions on both sides. I've replied in another FTTF thread that you are really buying peace of mind that you can board as soon as you arrive, and supposedly have access to your room immediately, but don't be surprised if Carnival doesn't fulfill all the promises of FTTF.

FTTF was sold out for my June 2017 Magic 8-day cruise since I booked in June and I checked daily hoping it would open up. It did this week - "limited availability" at $80! For now I'm passing due to a combination of disappointing prior experience, no tender ports, and once you pay $50 for FTTF it's a struggle to pay more - even $30 more... Folks are right - it's a cash cow for Carnival and they're milking it for all it's worth.

Ha! I like your sense of humor Riclop.

I've been searching nearly daily for FTTF which is sold out for our 7/24/17 Magic cruise, hoping it will open up again. When I first click on excursions under my booking FTTF briefly appears for a split second (and I see the SOLD OUT), and then FTTF disappears. I click on the drop-down arrow at the top right and change it from "Featured" to "Recommended" and FTTF reappears - unfortunately still sold out. Not sure if that will work for you or not, but it does for me...

I was close to your room, we stayed in 9179 June 2015. The room was nothing special. I was reluctant to stay on the Lido deck thinking it might be noisy, but it's not. You'll like the convenience. It's the Lido deck for me from now on when possible.

Agree with CruisinpsychRN that there are many eating options. Highly recommend the steak house (make reservations now). Try the Italian free for lunch. Most recommend it for dinner too (extra fee like the steak house), I would stick with lunch, but it just depends how much you like Italian food. We love the sushi, it's extra, but not a lot. MDR was okay, but I agree with others that it seems to be slipping and our servers were mediocre compared to other cruises - I suppose that's always hit or miss.

We've been on 3 Carnival ships and the Sunshine was our least favorite, but everyone has different priorities. I just found it hard to orient myself and find a relaxing, quiet space indoors. The kids didn't enjoy Camp Carnival, the staff was not very engaging with them. We still had a positive experience, just not as good as the other 2 ships.

Have a great cruise, but don't base your impressions of Carnival entirely on the Sunshine.

They are 1,000 points for a $10 discount on a $100 gift card. So you pay $90 for a $100 gift card or $450/5,000 pts for a $500 gift card plus a couple dollars for handling fees.

The 4-7 day estimate is best case if you are buying the $500 card. Make sure you answer the phone when Verizon calls you to verify your shipping address and make sure you're home when UPS delivers because it requires a signature. If you're not home they'll take it to the closest UPS Store the next business day after 1PM - that was my experience, yours may vary. Going forward I'm planning to buy the $100 gift cards over time vs the $500 gift cards to avoid the hassle of the call and being at home for UPS.

I've been checking almost daily since booking our June 2017 cruise on 7/1 (FTTF is sold out). I don't know the facts, but some have posted that they believe Carnival opens up more slots for FTTF, and/or the possibility of folks switching or canceling the cruise. Good luck!

I was researching this myself recently for an upcoming cruise visiting these same ports. I can't speak from experience, but I would point you to the "Ports of Call" section of the forums, then Caribbean, and then San Juan threads. Do a search there. I found a number of zipline referrals who spoke very highly of a couple specific travel guides - Natural Wonders is one that I made note of. Unfortunately the minimum age of 10 eliminates ziplines for us for another year.

Also beware that I saw lots of warnings about allowing sufficient time to get back to the ship due to traffic congestion. It's a bit of a drive from the ship to the ziplines. I'm inferring from the comments that you get a guarantee the ship won't leave without you if you book through them, but not if you book elsewhere.

$60 per cabin covers everyone. They put stickers on our room cards.

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Yep - makes sense, I would not want to impact the next cruise, just wondering if you're not in a rush to get on a plane or other, whether there are benefits to waiting until the end of the departure deadline. Is it more relaxed and less crowded at luggage pickup, customs, etc...

I understand why most try to disembark quickly, but I was wondering if anyone can share their experience taking their time leaving the boat at the end of their cruise? What is the latest you left and how do they eventually persuade you to leave?

(if there are past threads on this please help me search, I'm probably not entering the right words - thanks)

Agree with Celebrat, I get $3386 on Fare Viewer for the parameters you posted.

But you took the right steps - use Fare Viewer first and then verify by going through the normal booking steps.

You're buying peace of mind and if that is worth $60 then don't look back.

But don't be surprised or frustrated if others who don't purchase it board with you, or shortly after, or get their luggage before you, or their room is accessible as early as yours, and they are able to disembark as early as you do. All of these happened to us on the Sunshine last year and the other folks in our party laughed at us for purchasing it. But I'm buying it again next year if it becomes available (sold out). I'm a nervous traveler, so I regard it as cheap insurance. The price has gone up $10, I'm surprised they haven't raised the price more due to the popularity.

If none of your ports have tenders then this early boarding benefit won't apply. If you have a problem-free cruise then you won't use the priority customer service line.

If you didn't buy it you would have constantly questioned whether you should have after it's sold out. It's $60, just be glad it's not more...

I'm not sure I fully comprehend the usefulness of a recommended item from early on in this thread - the collapsable cooler... Are folks using these to take snacks/drinks on their port excursions to avoid pricey offerings? Or is there something else I'm missing?

We enjoyed the Seaquarium and adjoining beach (a gorgeous spot), then timed the driver pick up so he could drop us off in the shopping area. From there we had a leisurely walk back to the ship across the floating bridge that also included Starbucks, shopping, and some terrific photo ops. One of my favorite cruise souvenirs is my Curacao Starbucks coffee mug, it reminds me of that great port every time I have my morning coffee. :)

Another tip - be sure to have your driver teach you the proper way to say Curacao. We have fun with that to this day...