trirae

Thanks, all! We don't need towel animals but we do appreciate ice twice a day and fresh towels.

Our strewerd on the magic asked for morning, evening or both. I always say, "I'd appreciate both, but I know you have a lot of cabins, so if it's a bad day, I'd just love fresh towels."

We ended up with 2X a day service and even double towel animals most days.

My replacement came a couple of days ago. I'd still prefer to use the ecards for convenience and no shipping fee/time, but I was very pleased with the customer service. I hope the OP gets the card situation straightened out soon.

I think that's a good plan. I've purchased about $1500 of them in the past several months. $500 were actual cards, and I did have one card that was not usable. I was very happy with customer service, and they claim to have re-send it about the same date as yours, but I am also still waiting. I much preferred my ecard experience. I hope yours arrive soon.

Even at the new price, I would probably consider it worth it if we only had one cabin, but with two it's so hard to justify. We were able to use it the first time we sailed and really liked it, but haven't since. I just looked the other day and it was still available for our August 11th sailing, and I admit I considered it for a hot minute because having access to the cabin and early luggage is nice, but I can do a lot for that money.

How much was the price difference before, and why did you not buy it then?

That's been my guiding question when faced with a similar deal. Is it enough of a savings off the original difference that it's worth it, or do I just feel excited because the initial sticker shock of the cruise is not on the table anymore?

We have also gone from a balcony down to an interior (4j so windown interior) and not felt like missed out on much.

Try this link. It now works to add the offer to cards that did not have the offer previously (like Delta and Hilton).

 

www.americanexpress.com/wlcl

Thank you. I was able to add the offer to my card using that link. Here's my question. If I click "redeem now" that takes me to the new booking page for WLCL.

For those of you who successfully used the offer, once it's simply been added to your list, do you just go to Carnival on your own and pay $500 using your card? Or have you needed to follow a particular link for the credit to show up?

I have kids who aren't fans of the clubs or Circle C.Just not their thing. I wanted to ntoe that like an earlier post, I did "force" my eldest to try Circle C the first cruise. She did two activities, and I wouldn't say she was miserable but she never went back and does not have a desire to try again. She hangs with us throughout the trip, and I'm okay with that.

My youngest is similar. She does enjoy finding a friend but would prefer to do that at the pool, etc. She made a friend from our table last year and they went to the kid's club a couple of times together when there was a special activity.

Still, my kids choose crusing over just about any type of trip we could take (so that's what we do now even if it's not my first choice). I was worried they would find it boring if they didn't like the clubs or make friends, but it wasn't true for us.

There are a lot of tough variables, especially since it's not a direct flight increasing the chance of delay. I'd also factor in which airline it is, though even that is a crapshoot.

My daughter and I flew into New Orleans last year while my husband and youngest drove due to a schedule glitch. Our arrival time was supposed to be like 11:30 and it did get delayed by 45 minutes. We also had no checked luggage and a ride waiting to pick us up. Honestly, we had no problems making the ship. There was essentially no line at that point, and we boarded shortly after 1:30, I think.

So, it is possible for you to get there in time, if all flights stay on time. It's definitely tight.

I got one too, and I was so hopeful. We currently have a 4J on Deck 6, and the upgrade was to an Oceanview on Deck 1 for $72. Not interested in being that low, but since oceanview and balcony are currently the same rate to book, I'd hoped for a good deal on a balcony upgrade. $370 for that which I think is more than it would have cost me to book balcony in the first place.

Ah well.

Both of mine are branded cards. I was able to add it through the backdoor last year, but not seeing an option to do that this year. It would be great, though.

Greetings LOVE----Can you believe that Freedom cruise was three years ago? Such a wonderful trip.

 

So regarding those 4J's. I did a quick check of goccl which is the fact sheet used in the industry. None of them have a couch. :( Sorry. We like having a couch as well.

 

Now I will tell you that you can have dessert every night and not feel guilty. We just got off the Splendor and had 9201 which is all the way in the front. Of course we had early dinning which is in the aft MDR. So for breakfast and dinner we got to walk the length of the ship. Normally that would be a good thing but right now I have some health issues that make walking difficult.

 

I can also share with you that if you have any rough waves you will feel them. Our weather in the Pacific got so bad we had to slow the ship and got to Long Beach late.

 

 

We loved the fantastic views. We even saw a whale when leaving Cabo San Lucas.

 

I hope you find the perfect room and have a wonderful cruise.

I've done some googling and seen actual pictures of the cabins, and while they are not listed as having a couch on the description on Carnival, I've seen both video and pictures of the middle 4J's on the Dream class of Decks 6 & 7 having couches. I'm not 100% what I can link here but there is a collection of pictures/video on cruisedeckplans when I googled the cabin numbers 7201 and 6201.

I would have booked the 4J without a couch as we really liked that location, so if I get there and there isn't one, I'm not worried about it, but it's only the middle that might, so I booked those just in case.

I take my own gear...Went to my local dive shop and bought it but you could always buy it on line. Your local dive shop (if you have one) is a great place to decide on what you want even if you order on line. I take my gear on every cruise...It’s paid for itself over renting over the years.

 

 

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This is exactly what we did for our first set. Got good advice and had a chance to see what would fit both my husband and me. I use amazon now and just look at review online. Each model is a little different, but we like the ones that have shorter fins because it's easier to pack/transport. I don't even know what we have actually.

I'm going to keep watching the thread because my youngest needs a new set.

We take our own. You can get pretty decent sets that will last years and don't cost a whole lot. We've had poor luck with the rental gear and prefer the time savings of just taking what we have. Just personal preference I'm sure, but it's always been more convenient for us, particularly with kids who may struggle to use the equipment at some locations.

I believe, at least on Deck 6 and Deck 7, the two in the middle appear to be bigger and have a couch from what I can tell in researching. The get smaller as you go out, I think. We're doing this on Deck 6 on the Magic in August. We did a 4J on the Triumph last March and loved the location, but it was a smaller cabin.

If the option is there for Deck 7 in in the middle, I'd preobably pick that, but we definitely wanted the middle and have been on Deck 6 multiple times with no issues.

I could be wrong, but I think the better sale might be the "more the merrier" one where 3rd and 4th guest in the cabin have a reduced rate. We got a great deal with that one once.

I booked three cruises directly on the Carnvial website. On the first one a PVP had called me but I din't know what it was all about. Those cruises were all booked within 6 weeks of sail date. This time, I decided to look for a PVP. I googled elite PVP, used CC and other social media and just picked one who seemed to have a strong reputation. I think you CAN do things without a PVP and be just fine. I like giving the commission to someone AND knowing they can help if something comes up given that we have a wait this time.

We also haven't had much of an issue. We usually try to do both PG shows when we can, and we do have to leave after the first, which means we run to the back of the line, and then typically don't get a very good seat for the 2nd show, but it's not been especially bothersome and so far we've always gotten in even if it was way in the back.

It is one of our Carnival favorites, and I'd be opposed to anything that added cost to it. Pre-reserved or picking up tickets might be fine but at the end of the day, I just don't know that it's a bit enough problem to solve.

I was hoping for this, but does anyone have a valid "back door" link?

I've enjoyed reading through this thread. Our reasons are much the same as others. Price matters. Each time I've booked a cruise, I've looked extensively at options, and so far, the Carnival option was at least $800 cheaper for comparable cabins for our family of four. When my husband and I talked about it, while we know there are better entertainment options on other lines, we like our evenings in the comedy club or watching dive in well enough that it hasn't been worth that much of a jump in price.

What's been really interesting is talking to my kids who love Carnival, obviously not knowing any difference. My youngest very specifically likes going on the same line because we know what to expect and what we like. I always say it took us several Disney trips to get it all right. Now, each one is awesome. It took us until our third cruise before we really honed in on a rhythm that worked for the whole family. After our second, I didn't think we'd ever cruise again, but we took the risk and loved it. Since our family is not particularly great at going with the flow, I think we all have some fears that the unexpected would make the cruise less fun and at an added cost, why bother if we know we like what we're getting?

I don't care at all about the loyalty benefits. It's not something I've ever paid attention to.

We've been on deck 6 on the magic twice, both times in the rear, and loved it. We're doing a 4J this next ship, but still on deck 6.

Love being right above the promenade. It's great because they have continental breakfast there in the morning which is quiet and I can avoid the craze of the Lido buffet.

It's nice at night to be so close to promenade as well. Our first time was a GTY and I was worried about noise since we were just above the piano bar, and I won't say we couldn't hear it but it was a low din and never impacted sleep or comfort.

These were great answers.

1. Tendering

2. Muster drill

3. When entertainment/eventing activities conflict with each other.

I don't think it's bad at all. We cruised the Magic twice and the Triumph once. I actually preferred the Triumph. I found the entertainment better in both live shows and in music throughout the ship. There were nice spaces to gather and listen to music. Certainly, you have to keep expectations in check given the age, but it had what we needed and it was our best cruise. My family missed some of the food options going from the large to the small ship, but with Guys and Blue Iguana you don't go hungry.

Hi there! I have two girls, aged 10 and 15, and we are taking our third spring break cruise this year in April (Also first on Triumph).

Neither of my girls do teen or kids clubs, and they LOVE cruising. Mostly during the day they spend time at the pool with me, the youngest sometimes makes friends there and swims with them. At night, we are mostly together at comedy, shows, or dive-in movies. Looking at the Fun Times, schedule, there appears to be some time that's appropriate for them in the piano bar as well which we may try. We will do every PG comedy that's available. It's our favorite thing, I think. You can definitely do some of karaoke (it'll be labeled if it's older than 18).

I really thought they would want to find peers, but they have each other and us, and find a nice balance between exploring and eating ice cream together and being in our vicinity.

Hope you have fun!

We did the same dates last year, and there wasn't anything Easter-ish happening. We're going again this year, and still hoping a different CD/Entertainment director might add it.

Hmm, odd. I know there were pictures of them working on something on the BBQ area, but you're right, nothing is currently listed.