Bonnie J.

What I do is write down the ship's prices of alcohol I want to buy. Then when I get off the ship i have those prices and know which is the best price. I know Carnival will match any price you get off the ship. So, you buy one bottle off the ship, then show your receipt and order same alcohol from the ship. Ask if your ship does this.

I am a tea drinker. We sail a lot on Carnival. They used to have a good selection of tea but now only have Lipton which I do not like. So, I always bring my own tea bags. There is hot water in the buffet 24/7 so I can always get my tea. If you are in the dining room just ask for hot water. They will bring you a small pitcher of just hot water for you to put your tea.bag in.

Our 1st cruise was 1985 on the Dolphin which became the Dolphin IV. At the time it was the only ship of Dolphin cruise. They later had the SeaBreeze (which sank off our coast after being sold to Premier), The Ocean Breeze and they built the Royal Majesty (which was sold to NCL and sailed as the Majesty).

We LOVED this little ship! It had 800 passengers and the crew was small enough you got to know them. We had the privilege of having dinner with three different captains. Depending on the captain, the ship was a freighter that was built in 1947, '48 or "50! I'm not sure when it became a cruise ship.

Dolphin Cruise Lines died and the Dolphin was bought by Cape Canaveral cruises, their only ship.

We were on her next to last cruise. There were major engine problems and they didn't have the million +++ to fix her so she went to India. This is where all shops go to be scrapped.

We have been on ships of 5 cruise lines that no longer exist! Dolphin, Premier, Regent, Cape Canaveral Cruises, and Commodore.

Now I guess our favorite is Carnival as we are about to go on our 82nd Carnival cruise. We cruised 12 years before our 1st Carnival. Princess is our next favorite, we're platinum on her ships. However we have also been on NCL (don't like her), RCCL, Celebrity and Costa. And we are retired so cruise a lot.

WE also have New Year's Eve booked on Carnival!

Guess we are cruise-a-holics!

You can't buy anything, except from all bars, on the ship when you're in a port. Nothing is open until you leave the port. Things are open at night after leaving port. So, bring it with you or buy it on the ship ,the 1st day at sea. Or, stay in the shade!

Definitely go on the Dream! It is a new ship, The Triumph is an older, smaller ship. And Carnival is no longer a 'party' ship, even on shorter cruises. There are a lot of families now and lots of kids but you seldom see them. We cruise on Carnival a lot (100++ cruises since 1984!) and I can't tell you the last time we saw someone really drunk on a Carnival ship.

Carnival is know for a fantastic kids program and kids are kept busty all day in this program and kids love it.

Carnival ships now have a Serenity deck. This is for adults ONLY, no kids and NO SMOKING! And they mean that. You can get towels here so you don't have to bring them from your cabin and there is usually a bar here also. We live on this deck as all the chaises and chairs have thick pads on them. A deck steward will put a notice on chaises and chairs where there is a towel but no one sitting. After 40 minutes everything on them is removed so anyone waiting for one can have it.

Try this deck and try Carnival! You will be surprised and delighted !

We have cruised on Celebrity, NCL (which we do not like), Princess, Costa, RCCL and ships of 5 cruise lines that no longer exist!

You can tell them you will call them when you leave. There is a button on your phone for house keeping. You can also tell them not to turn down your bed, etc. at night. But housekeeping is between certain hours. Ask them what time it ends, morning & evenings, You can ask to have your cabin turned down 1st -which maybe 5pm.

Why carry it on? You can get it, 24 hours, in the buffet! You can also fill a thermos with it and carry that around wherever you go on the ship.

I just read here on CC news that the port is starting to allow ships leaving from San Juan are being allowed back but as a port for other ships not yet.

We each have a suit case that will fit through the x-ray scanners getting on the ship (we drive from NC- never fly any more!). And I have a shoulder bag. Sometimes we check them, sometimes carry them on. We have done 15 day and B2B cruise with these two smaller suitcases. I will wash things 1st day of 2nd cruise when no one is doing wash then. However we are Diamond on Carnival so having them do our laundry, now for free, is what we do. I have the laundry hung when it comes back then it doesn't need to be pressed. Our underwear comes is a bag tied ON a hanger too!

And with the package you and only you have to drink 7-9 drinks a day! We don't drink beer or during the day so it is not worth it for us. Also you can ask for the 'house ' when you order a drink or wine. I know the gin is Bombay but don't know the others. Theses are the least expensive drinks on the ship. If you get a souvenir glass with drink in it, the glass is yours. You can have it refilled at any bar for less than you paid for the glass.

I heard no ships were coming into San Juan. Is this right? Do we know when cruise ships will be back there? Where are ships going if not into San Juan?

I would also take my birth certificate just to be on the safe side. The person checking you in may not recognize an enhanced license for what it is! Then they have to find someone who does. I've never heard of one.

You will find older people on any cruise more than 7 days. Why? Because most people are working and cannot take more than a week at a time off from work. So on longer cruises there are more retired people who have the time for them.

Go to Roll Call here on the date you're thinking of cruising and ask how many kids, etc. are going on this cruise. You can also ask who are your age.

You could also think of taking a Back 2 Back cruise (B2B), with each cruise 7 days. You can usually find a ship that goes Eastern Caribbean one week and Western the next. That would be 14 days and have more kids. Just because its Celebrity, you will find older passengers and fewer kids. I don't remember seeing any kids on our Celebrity cruise!

I saw, on a Carnival ship, a potty place probably for a dog. It was a good size square (for big dogs) near the bow on the deck outside the atrium. It had straw in it.There are no chaises or chairs here so passengers might walk by but no would would sit anywhere near it.

I have seen Seeing Eye dogs on ships and was told they had a place just for them to uses as a potty.

We are Diamond on Carnival so can have seats reserved for us. I speak to the crew Member in charge and tell him/her where we want to sit. A 11x8 laminated paper is put on our seats that says 'reserved"'. I don't know if platinum can do this but a lot of Diamonds don't know they can do it!

There are only so many FTTF's sold on Carnival, a specific number, depending on the size of the ship. Once they're sold there are no more. but if someone cancels the cruise that had it, their FTTF becomes available for some one to buy. I don't know if there is a waiting list for this. Ask your TA. Next time book FTTF when you book your cruise.

She should have no problem at all. All dinner menus have a vegetarian meal on them. She can order more than one salad, tell the waiter what she doesn't want on her plate, ask to double whatever she does like etc. The waiters will be happy to follow her requests. The breakfast & lunch buffet will be easy because she picks whatever she wants. Vegans and vegetarians cruise all the time.

It didn't cost me anything to use the flown rider on RCCL's Freedom of Seas. I didn't need to pay for a lesson. It took a few days for my husband to allow me to do it and then he did it too but not as much.

I just waited for my turn and the flow rider crew told me what to do. I was 70 years old then! THEY taught me how to start on my knees, after lying on the board the 1st few times. I did it 7 times. When you start on your knees the only thing in the water are your toes but you use your hands to steer.

However standing up just dido't work for me.

A lot of cruisers go to a hotel that has free transportation to the port or charge a small amount. This is to and from the port. Will your hotels have this. Call and ask them.

I always make an Arnold Palmer. This is ice tea on top of lemonade or the other way around. I like a bit more lemonade. It's called this because the famous pro golfer used to drink this!

ice tea is available in the buffet 24/7!

A Coke/Pepsi is $2.25 with tip.

I carry my own thermos full of ice water with cubes, around with me all day, on board and off the ship. Then I always have water, don't have to find a bar to get it. I get a glass from the buffet.

Are you saying it's $26 a day if you buy a drink package? You don't have to buy it, just order one beer or drink, not $26 worth per day.

We have seen both on ships. Do you have both? Would you take both on a ship?

Electric scooters should be IN your cabin, not left in the hallway.

We have seen service dogs on ships, primarily Seeing Eye dogs. I also discovered a 'box' near the bow of an open deck where few passengers go. This was for dogs to releave themselves. I am sure it was cleaned after each use.

Once we were supposed to go to Bermuda but hurricane Irene was coming up the coast. We were cruising from Charleston SC. Irene was south of us but you never know where it will go. In the parking lot we got a letter from the captain. Because of the hurricane there was a small chance Irene would hit Bermuda so now we were going to Key West and Cozumel.

Relax! All cruise ships stay AWAY from hurricanes. You will notsail anywhere near one. They do not dodge them at all! If you're supposed to go to the Eastern Caribbean and a hurricane is going there the ship will go to the Western Caribbean.

No matter where you are, you are going to have a ball! You won't be close to any hurricanes!

Some of the cruise lines USED to give you a cruise companion. You didn't know each other, the cruise line would just pair you up with someone. They stopped this because so many 'companions' couldn't get along, hated each other and being in the same cabin with a stranger just didn't work.

So, as has been said, look around you to find someone to cruise with you.