jmcancruise

Because we prefer cash we take most of our money in travellers cheques and cash them as we need them at guest services. It has worked very well for us. They may no longer be in vogue, but they have worked very well for us.

I grew up in saint John. Don't expect the weather to be warm. October tends to be quite cool. I have even seen a significant amount of snow late in the month. Perhaps not the answer you wanted to hear, but just want you to be prepared.

Thanks that was fun, but only 50% here. I have only sailed Conquest and Dream class and really don't know my older ships.

Ok I know you can get away without using it probably baring an emergency, but as others have said you really should have one in case something happens. We have not always had a lot of extra money when we have travelled, but we have always found a way to have a credit card with a decent limit. More than once we have needed it. We have had a ship delayed getting back to our port of origin, a broken arm and a ship fire. All three required at least some upfront cash in spite of having insurance.

I understand travelling tight, but please be prepared. I also wonder about your hotel if you have one. Some require a card # on hold in case of damage.

Hope whatever you decide to do works out for you.

DH and I always use lanyards. I'm old enough and have cruised enough that I could care less what anyone thinks. They are convenient. When we go to supper in the evening DH puts them in his suit pocket.

Just wanting to bump. Anyone???

Does the Glory sell a spa package and if so what does it cost and what does it include?

We have come to love b2bs. For us it seems to make sense since it is so expensive to travel to port. It just seems more cost effective. Anyway we are hooked and have another booked for next spring. One thing we really enjoyed was the opportunity to get to know staff better. When we did a b2b on the Valor out of San Juan we were the only b2bers. They treated us like royalty. Go for it and have fun.

Would love to know this as well. Also how was the zoo? We went to the zoo in Nassau an really enjoyed it. It wasn't large, but felt very tropical. It was a very relaxing way to spend a morning.

Another vote for Megan's.

Glad you are going to go on your cruise. I can understand being in financial difficulties, but just one suggestion. A water heater is important, a dishwasher one can live without.

Ok, so everyone posting seems to be bragging about how little luggage they take. I'll fess up. Our first cruise we each took two large suitcases and two carry ons. A couple of cruises later we managed to eliminate one of the large suitcases. Recently we eliminated another one of the large cases. So now it is one large and one carry on each. Works for us. We still like to "dress"' for dinner and yes like to bring our own first aid kit etc to prevent the high prices on board.

My everyday life is pretty routine. Wear a uniform to work, don't get much chance to go out to a nice resteraunt etc. When I cruise I like to feel a little more refined, thus the extra clothes. That's one of my favorite things about carnival, everyone gets to do it their way.

Actually we have been told on a couple of occasions by our room steward that it was fine for us to skip the muster as long as we stayed in our cabin.

In Miami, how many hours before your flight can you check your luggage?

Lots of research. We have been on 10 cruises and are always looking for odd rooms. We have been in a 1a that says it has a twin and a bunk, (but really had a twin\king). We have been in a 6a balcony that actually had a long balcony which held a lounge chair. We have pulled off an upgrade from a regular oceanview to a family ocean view with 2 bathrooms, and best of all we have managed to snag a grand scenic oceanview that don't usually even show up on the website most of the time.

We always book well in advance, usually a year or more. We also make good use of websites that show actual pictures of individual rooms. The carnival website usually has generic pictures, but not individual room pictures. You might try ******************** or cruisedeckplans.com. Cruise deck plan is a site that you have to pay a small subscription fee, but we have been members for years and has been well worth it.

We try really had to book the best room we can for the best price we can afford. Good luck and happy cruising.

Well we will finally be at platinum next spring, and although it will certainly not ruin our cruise if our perks are downgraded, it might help to give us a push to try another line. I wouldn't say we have stayed with Carnival for the perks, that would be silly, but when we got close we figured why not stick with Carnival at least until we made platinum. You never know what they will do. Maybe they will surprise us this time and everyone will be happy with the changes...yeah right...

We did a b2b on the Valor out of San Juan a couple of years ago. That cruise had the same itineraries both weeks. It was so port intensive, 5 ports, that as a b2b we were able to have a really relaxing cruise. We simply spread our planned excursions out over the two weeks and spent a couple of days just going ashore long enough to shop.

We came home feeling like this was our best cruise ever, except for our first of course. Tried doing the same cruise again last year, but they switched ships on us, then the Liberty had a fire and we did our second week on the Magic out of Galvaston.

I know most people like to switch up their itineraries, and we have done that also, but for us this made for a perfect cruise.

I guess the lesson here it to keep on top of things yourself and not put too much trust in computerized systems We have never had this situation happen, but have had issues that we had to really move up the chain of comand to convince them that there were mistakes on their end, not ours. Many hours spent on the phone, but worth it in the end.

We have done a couple of b2b's and I don't honestly remember what we did in the past, but I am thinking this next time we will give extra tip at the end of both cruises. Only once before did we have the same room, so the other times we had different staff.

Glory was our 1st ship back in 2005. We sailed on her again as a b2b in 2008 and have another cruise booked on her, again a b2b, for next year.

She was the ship that got us hooked on cruising and this was the first place that convinced us that cruising was for us.

Welcome to a very healthy addiction.

Wow. Did someone else not notice they said no more ding when inserting sail and sign cards. Without that ding embarcation wouldn't be official would it?

My husband is a pastor and on our very first cruise he performed a renewal of vows ceremony for a couple we met on the roll call. It was done on the back of the ship overlooking the wake on a Sunday morning. The couple's daughters and a couple of people we met on the roll call attended. After the ceremony we all went to breakfast together in the main dining room.

I think it made for a special day and would highly recommend it if you could arrange it. Also would note that the couple placed some onboard credit on our account as a thank you. It was totally unnecessary, but a very kind gesture.

We had 9201 on the Valor. We have 9201 booked on the Glory for next year. I believe the only real difference is that the couch on 9201 does not turn in to a bed. We went from that cabin to a lido balcony doing a b2b and would take the GSOV in a heartbeat.

The space and views are amazing. Traveling with more than 2 would make

One of these rooms great. I also think they could be great with young children. Lots of space to spread out and play.

Actually it is Saint John NB. The Saint is not abbreviated. I know it seems rather silly to everyone, but we Saint Johner's are rather touchy about having it spelled incorrectly.

I'm not sure what it all is supposed to mean, but if you read the reviews they are hilarious.