bakersdozen12

They don’t do this anymore. You get a “special deal” that’s good for two weeks after you cruise. But it’s never that great of a deal. A reduced deposit and maybe some OBC. 

I don't tip the drivers, but I do tip the guides because I feel like they go out of their way to give us a great tour.  I tip based on the experience, anywhere from $5 (once, where there was a specific reason for it) to $20.

You do understand that alcohol was never free, right?  It's just that it was included.  Take away alcohol being included, and of course the cruise fare price is going to go down.

11 hours ago, mrlddst said:

Thanks for the advice. The steward said he had his supervisor speak with them. Guest services said that the infant is allowed in the room but not in the Havana pool area. They told me to call them if the child is loud again and they will speak to them. Really confusing now because even the website says no one under 12 in the room......I will see how the morning goes.

No one under 12 is allowed to be booked in a Havana room, but anyone is allowed to visit people staying in Havana rooms.  We asked when we sailed on the Horizon, because we had a cabana and wanted to play a card game on our patio with some friends who weren't booked in a Havana room. Personally, though, I think they are abusing this rule.  Visiting does not mean sleeping in the room.  And I don't care if they are Platinum.  They doesn't give them carte blanche to ignore rules. 

That said, being in a Havana room doesn't necessarily mean that you will not be next to a room with a child.  There are Havana rooms on the 7th deck that are next to "regular" rooms.  I think the 12 and older rule is simply to keep young kids out of the Havana pool area during the day.  So it might be best to just let this go.  And use this as a reminder to never sail without ear plugs.  Because you just never know who you are going to be next to (adults can be loud, too).

19 hours ago, buckeyefrank said:

That's a real bummer.  I think the $50 name change is for a non-refundable deposit fare such as Early Saver.  I could be wrong but as long as you didn't book under that you should be able to change the name for no charge. 

Correct, there is no "$50 name change fee."  Early Saver doesn't allow for name changes, so the $50 is the penalty for cancelling an Early Saver fare.

I can’t speak to these excursions because I’ve never done them, but I can speak to the topic of Carnival vs non-Carnival excursions. While I have never had a bad Carnival excursion, all of the non-Carnival excursions I’ve taken have been better. For exactly the reason you state: less people. Which equals a more personalized experience from the tour guides. As long as you have done your research on these tour companies, I see no reason not to book with one of them. We did a Carnival excursion on Grand Turk that took us around the island, and it doesn’t seem like a terribly large island. And I don’t recall a ton of traffic anywhere. So I would feel safe getting back on time with a reputable non-Carnival vendor. After all, they wouldn’t be able to stay in business if they got people back late. 

On 8/12/2019 at 10:04 PM, lottiegreen56 said:

 

Did you try to get it approved before the cruise or during? The tour is 90 through a company and 125 through funship freddy. I don't want to to overpay but there's a chance of it being approved. This tour seems to be the exact same thing. 

You have to submit the price match request at least 7 days prior to your cruise. I have received a couple matches. They give you OBC to be used on board, for 110% of the price difference. And as it has already been stated, everything has to match exactly. 

Thanks for the review!  I have only cruise Carnival so far (10 cruises), but will be trying out NCL next year for the first time.  I'm looking forward to experiencing something new.

10 hours ago, going to see the world said:

Sorry, lol details do help.

When I booked our cruise, we were stopping in Nassau and now it says Princess Cays. 

They do send out email notifications prior to the sailing date when there is a change to a scheduled port.  Likely it ended up in your junk mail folder.  Or you saw it and thought it was a spoof email.  The body of the email doesn't contain the information; they put it in an attachment, and the email itself tends to look suspicious because it just contains an attachment.  I have received at least a couple of these notifications.  They come from donotreply@carnival.com and the subject is: CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES - IMPORTANT NOTICE.  And again, it only contains an attachment; nothing in the body of the email itself.

9 hours ago, MRSG29 said:

Wish they had other meat options other than pepperoni.

They do.  They have prosciutto as well. 

You can see the maitre d' on embarkation day and see if he or she can help you, but there are no guarantees.  Your Time Dining (what Carnival calls it), tends to be very popular.  They try to make everyone happy, but there's only so much they can do if there is no room in YTD.  You would probably have an easier time trying to switch to late dining, to be honest.

On 8/6/2019 at 3:30 PM, BNBR said:

 

Panorama is Vista class. Which is generally considered a disaster on these forums. 

Disaster?! Hardly. There are many people, myself included, that love this class of ship. 

How would this person be able to review both dining times on his cruise? He only had one or the other. Early or late. Not both. If he’s comparing experiences on two different cruises, then it’s not really comparable. 

I’m not sure which of the two June 2020 sailings out of Dover you are considering, but I’m booked on the 6/19 one to the Norwegian Fjords. So no, I don’t have any concerns. I sailed on the Carnival Horizon out of Barcelona to Italy and France and it was a wonderful cruise. While Carnival doesn’t typically do Europe, they do from time to time. So they do have experience and I don’t believe there is anything to worry about. 

And as far as the comment about Carnival not being to cater to the clientele these cruises attract, I disagree. We had a lot of Europeans on our Mediterranean cruise and the ones that we spoke to said that they love when Carnival does Europe because it’s a more fun cruise line than the ones that sail Europe regularly. I’m in my 40’s and my husband is in his 50’s. We love Carnival and appreciate their “Funships.”

So what exactly was there in the description of the excursion that you didn’t receive? Not liking an excursion is not the same as “not standing behind their excursion” (i.e. not giving you what you paid for).

Excursions for your cruise may not be posted yet, because it’s still early. They cannot post excursions until the contracts with the vendors are renewed. But once they are, they will start listing them. So if you are not seeing anything just yet, keep checking. 

3 hours ago, Buck Turgidson said:

Is there a hanging swing chair on the aft cabin balcony like I see on the side balcony Havana cabins.  

No, there isn’t. 

You can do comparisons of cruise ships right on the Carnival website.  Just go to Explore>Our Ships.  You can pick up to three ships and then it will literally list everything each one has, so you can do a side-by-side comparison.

The Legend in Endicott Arm Fjord on 5/2/17. 

Sorry, mistake. 

When we arrive the day before it’s usually in the afternoon, so we go to the hotel and take a nap if we are tired, then we find a nice restaurant to have dinner. Then we generally just relax in our hotel room and I try to sleep that night, though it’s usually hard because I’m so excited! 

2 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I think $603 is a really good price, especially for a nonstop during the summer travel season AND to be flying in main cabin rather than on a basic economy ticket.  Sure they might go lower, but summer tickets to Europe can easily run double what you paid so I wouldn't sweat the fact that "maybe" at some point they'll be $500.  You got a good price, be happy with it.

Yup, exactly how I feel. I’m not a gambler. I watched the prices for this past June and they were definitely higher. Maybe at some point lower, but not having to monitor prices constantly and having to stress about them going up is worth possibly paying a hundred dollars or so more per ticket. I’m good with it, and glad that’s one thing out of the way. I was also able to book our hotel last night and our car rental. Now, just have to figure about about excursions and transportation back to the airport after the cruise. 😊

1 hour ago, SFCAcruiser said:

 

Be aware the $603 flights are operated by Virgin Atlantic airlines, using a Delta flight number. It may not make any difference to you on this relatively short flight.

I prefer to avoid buying tickets right after the flights become available since the fares are often high as the airlines "test the market" and see how many people are willing to pay those fares. Generally the fares may come down a bit if needed to sell tickets, and then increase again as the travel date approaches. But, none of us has a crystal ball. The decision is yours, but $603 is not a horrible fare.

As far as seat selection, I suspect the airline will not allow you to select a seat until after you purchase your ticket. You can look at the seat map in advance to see what's available. 

Yes, you are correct. I ended up calling Delta and after a 25 min hold found out that it was because they were actually Virgin Atlantic flights. Which means you have to then contact VA to select the seats. So, I ended up skipping the hassle and booked the flights directly through Virgin Atlantic. 

They might very well come down in price, but I decided to just go ahead and book them now so I can start making other travel plans. Like finding a hotel and transportation. I feel like the price was ok for a nonstop flight. If it had a connection, I probably wouldn’t have felt the same way. 

Thanks everyone!

If you are considering flying in the same day, DON’T DO IT!!!  Too many things can happen that can cause you to miss embarkation. And while you might be able to catch up with the ship at the first port if you have your passports, why risk missing the first couple days of the cruise? Fly in the day before and enjoy sightseeing in the port city a bit before the cruise. Plus, you will be rested when you board. I don’t know about you but I always find flying long and exhausting. By the time we arrive to our hotel we are tired and so glad to be able to rest before the fun of the cruise begins. 

And also, what the heck is a “DGD?”

Hoping people with more experience flying to Europe, and also those that fly Delta often, can help me with a couple of questions. This is only my second time purchasing an international flight. 

I need to purchase tickets for June 15th to June 28th of next year (2020). We live very close to Logan Airport in Boston, and I would prefer something nonstop. I’ve been looking at British Airways and also Delta, and Delta seems cheaper. The flights I am looking at right now are $603 per person, round-trip. Does that seem like a good price? I know it’s very early, since they just opened up flights for that time period. I’m not someone that likes to gamble and book last-minute in an attempt to get the best deal possible, but I also don’t want to overpay. 

Also, the rate is a Main (not Basic) rate, so we are supposed to be able to choose our seats. However, when I click on the part to choose the seats I get a message saying that I cannot select seats now and to check back later. Is this because it’s too early to choose? Or do I need to pay for the flights first? It’s been awhile since I booked a Delta flight, so I can’t remember. 

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.