Bostwick girl

6 minutes ago, travelinjess85 said:

I was about to ask if it was safe to do that walk! We are going to Nassau next year and wanted to check that place out. Is it easy to get a taxi? 

The new port area is so much nicer and easy to get a taxi. They have a little area where you can tell them where you want to go and someone will get one for you.

Don’t know where you live, but in Florida you get your renewal notice a month and a half before it expires. You even have the option to renew by mail in most cases. If you waited until your license was almost expired, then you have to go to the DMV to renew. Just wondering why you haven’t renewed prior to your cruise, then you wouldn’t have to worry about it.

Loved your review! We will be boarding Liberty for the 11th time since 2016 on March 4. It feels like coming home. And you are correct, Carnival has the very best crew, always super friendly and so efficient! Happy that you enjoyed your Liberty cruise!

Everyone embarks on deck 3.

Having sailed many times with my DH and other friends on mobility scooters, sometimes at port canaveral, there is a line for wheelchairs/scooters, sometimes not. Most times we just go in the Plat/Diamond line. You indicated you had not registered, if you are referring to not telling carnival you will be using a scooter, you need to get in touch with Special Needs as soon as possible to let them know!

14 hours ago, ledges1 said:

Mobile is a real parking problem with the lines. If you get there too early, they may send you to the overflow lot to wait to prevent blocking the street. However, you never know when to leave the lot to get in line. There can also be two lines trying to get into the parking deck. If you carry on your luggage, you have to wait in line with those dropping off. It is difficult to pass them and go into the deck. Also, you may want to consider prepaying if you are parking your car in the deck. If not, you have to get in a line after you park to pay at the kiosk.

Yes, we did prepay, but I believe from what I saw, you’re better off parking in one of the outlying areas and being shuttled in. I doubt very seriously we’d sail from there again!

2 hours ago, vcop said:

We are sailing on Spirit the week of Thanksgiving. We have been to Mobile before but usually park at the hotel & shuttle over.This time we are parking at the port. We are Platinum so we are going early.My question is can we line up about 9:30 or will they turn us away? I know the port opens at 10:00 but I wanted to be in line. I don`t mind the wait but was a little confused on lining up.

Thanks for your help!

We were on the 10/22 sailing. I think everyone decided to arrive early! Our checkin time was 10-10:30. We picked up the rest of our group at the hotel across the street and drove the block to the line. We got in line at 10:15. There was lines on every street as far as we could see and no one or no signs directing traffic. People kept breaking in line, maybe they were trying to get out, not in, no way to know. Some cops finally arrived and started directing traffic, and we finally started moving. It was a while before we got close enough to see what the problem was. Too many trying to get to the same place at the same time! We waited in traffic over an hour, probably 11:30 before we got in the drop off area. Once all that was done, we went inside to wait on the rest of our party. We all went inside to the check in area and that and security went pretty quick except one of our friends was pulled aside to have her little manicure scissors she’d had in her carryon for 20 years confiscated! They said it was because they were pointed! What BS! Anyway, we made it to our room to drop off luggage by 12:30.

Guess my point in all this is that if people wouldn’t arrive an hour before their arrival times, things may go smoother for others. This was our first and last time from Mobile. We cruise out of port canaveral, choose 12-12:30 checkin time and usually have no problems. They’re better equipped to handle the traffic I suppose. Not that it matters, but this was our 45th cruise. The cruise itself was great! Love the Spirit enough to drive from south of Jacksonville to mobile to sail on her again!

If your group hasn’t already done so, the price for the Cheers package is going up effective December 1 on cruises 5 days or less.  You can purchase at the old price until October 9th. There’s a couple of posts about it already. The increase is $10 more per person.

17 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Bed is by the balcony.  On Carnival bed position does not alternate.  EM

From what I’ve read, the balcony rooms do alternate between by the balcony and by the wall on the new big ships.. I haven’t experienced it, but have read on here that they alternate. I don’t think I’d like that very much unless you knew which way your bed was located. We have a mobility scooter and think the one by the door (closets) wouldn’t have enough room. I’m sure some others will answer who have experienced it.

You can go on line and order it from Scootaround. They will have it waiting for you when you arrive. If you cruise often, I would recommend buying your own. Time you pay for two or three rentals you could buy your own. That’s what we did.

Facebook and Facebook messenger with the social package. Netflix no because no streaming is allowed.

Carnival can’t talk to you if you booked thru a travel agent. If you go into your cruise manager on Carnival.com, you should be able to open your planner and scroll down to see your cabin occupants then the next line should show the other cabins that are linked to you. If they’re not, then you can add them. I didn’t think you could actually use the Hub until you were on board?

We carry a small soft side cooler we bought from Carnival. I usually bring 5 or 6 Diet Coke and same for diet sprite directly in the cooler. ABSOLUTELY NO ICE IS ALLOWED TO BE CARRIED ON BOARD! I usually have enough room left in the cooler I can put our tervis tumblers in so don’t have to put in carry on.

Another reason to use a good PVP! Just booked with our friends this morning for a little getaway 4 day. We had chosen balcony cabins on deck 7 in the back which are usually pretty good locations. When we called our PVP she said we didn’t want those cabins as there were cabins of 4 on either side of us and across the corridor as well! Definitely didn’t want that, she had already had us ready to choose deck 6 (above the Promenade, pretty quiet area) with balconies that opened to each other which was perfect. Had we done it ourselves, we wouldn’t have been very happy!

It could be that you have to use the offer before December 31, not cruise before. Need to see the full offer to tell.

11 hours ago, Djptcp said:

Our boarding passes said that Diamond members could not go to their cabins until 1:30pm. That is the first time we had seen that note on the boarding passes. Although on our last Carnival cruise, don't recall which ship, we went to our cabin upon boarding and no keys were in the mail box by the cabin. DH hunted down our room steward who gave us the keys but said no entering until 1:30. We thought it was a one time thing, I guess not.

 

We also did not receive a gift, first time ever. Not that we wanted fanny packs, but it's the principle of the thing.

Did you go to Pixels to get your gift and ship pin? These are no longer delivered to your cabin.

First, on embarkation day after everyone gets their S&S cards, check your dining room and table numbers. I think with a group of 20, you should have 2 tables for 10, so 10 would have one table number and 10 another number. If you have an opportunity, go to the dining room and see if you can find your tables. Sometimes the table numbers are already there, or there may be someone in the DR that may be able to help you figure it out. If that doesn’t work out to your satisfaction, then go to see the Maitre d and see what they can do. I know if your group is linked, they try their best to accommodate you. There unfortunately is no way to prearrange the tables other than making sure all the cabins are linked. Good luck and happy cruising!

We were on the April 1 cruise, #43 for us. I had no issues with anything. We had the absolute best cabin attendant, Viktor! Our group of 6 found the food was fine, and the steakhouse was very good! Food is always subjective I suppose.  Far as going to your cabin on embarkation, until 1:30 no one can go to their cabin; however as Diamond, you are allowed to drop off your carry on luggage and go do other things until 1:30.  Lido is always very crowded on embarkation day until the cabins are available. Sorry you couldn’t find a place to sit. I feel your pain with the rollator as we have a mobility scooter so know how rude people can be! The majority are very nice and polite. Also bear in mind it’s still Spring Break for some people.  We are going on Freedom on May 13, so hope we still have a good experience.

On 5/1/2023 at 12:55 PM, groundloop said:

 

I sure wouldn't base my decision on which ship to book based on the whale tail, that'll have zero influence on the enjoyment of your cruise.  

 

With that being said, we were on Freedom for Thanksgiving last year and were very disappointed, if that would have been our first time cruising it probably would have also been our last (we've been on 15 cruises now with another 8 booked through next year).  It was extra crowded for Thanksgiving and Freedom just didn't seem to handle the crowds well, there were long lines for everything.  There was also a distinct sewage smell in the hall not too far from our cabin.  To add insult to injury we debarked at a different terminal than where we got on the ship and had to be bussed back to our cars and that was a disorganized mess (I later checked the Port Canaveral port authority schedule it looks like Freedom is the only ship Carnival does this with - the red-headed step child so to speak). 

 

 

 

 

We were on Freedom April 1, had a great cruise, no issues! We had 3 suites on deck 7. Best cabin attendant ever! We had no problems with debark, it was at terminal 6 where we started from. We will be going back May 13, so we will see how it goes!

 We had the same experience as you described on Magic last November. We embarked at Terminal 6 and the last day were told we would be debarking at terminal 3 because of an electrical issue at terminal 6 and bussed back to get our vehicles. Bear in mind we had 2 mobility scooters in our party. We are all Diamond so we’re off pretty early. It was total chaos as you said, took us over an hour to find someone who knew what to do about scooters. There was one little bus and it wasn’t even there, said it was on the way! Finally 2 of our group got on a bus and went back to 6, got the vehicles and came back to get us! We didn’t get on the road home till after 10:30 which is when we’re normally almost home. Sure hope we never have that happen again! 

22 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Not sure about that. I cruise on the oldest to the newest Carnival ships and there are always other Diamonds. The longer cruises tend to attract more Diamonds than first time cruisers, but you can't get away from Diamonds on any sailing.

 

That’s what I said, the longer cruises mostly on bigger ships attract more diamonds. Don’t think I’ve ever been on a cruise where there were no diamonds. Closest we ever got was a 3 day on Liberty just before Covid, I think there were only 12 at our cocktail party on that one.

If you all notice, the majority of diamonds tend to go on the newer, bigger ships for the 7 plus day cruises. That’s why you see so many different answers as to what type of Diamond event it will be on what particular ship! 6 days or more tend have more diamonds than the 3, 4 and 5 day cruises. We are Diamond. On the Magic (bigger ship) in February (6 days with John Heald) there were so many diamonds they had two separate luncheons, one on the first sea day and the other on the last sea day. April 1 on Freedom (smaller ship, 5 days) we had a nice cocktail party with drinks and appetizers for all of 16 diamonds who were on that cruise. Same for Liberty last year. Will be back on Freedom in 2 weeks for a 5 day and will most likely have the same type event.

We’ve been on Magic 7 times since 9/30/17, the most recent was February 5, 2023, the John Heald FFS#5 cruise. Have always had good experiences. Food and service has been good. Have really enjoyed the non smoking casino on deck 4. 
 

22 hours ago, icft said:

You have a valid point of view. I largely disagree but if you haven't experienced the problems it is understandable.

 

We have cruised Carnival exclusively since 2001 and since reopening have been cruising five or six times a year with all cruises being a week or longer. Pre-covid we were very happy with Carnival. Post-covid, during the masking period, we didn't like the masking but understood and the lower number of passengers about made up for it. But once the masks were off and the ships full again things seemed to fall apart.

 

At that point the food quality went downhill fast and that decline continues. The service overall has gone downhill. The real killer though is we started, for the first time, feeling not totally safe. A different class of cruiser became more common; people who are rude, aggressive and don't know how to behave in public. We have not seen any fights, but we have seen a small number of assaults. It only becomes a fight when the person shoved, or whatever, reciprocates.

 

Our unease with the new class of passengers (though they be a small percent) caused us to book a cruise for next January on NCL as a test. Then on our Carnival cruise last month my wife was assaulted so we have booked more NCL cruises and will be making them our primary cruise line going forward. They have not tried to be the low cost cruise line so we are hoping for better passengers. But we recognize that in today's society boorish people may be unavoidable on cruises. If so we will give up cruising.

 

At this point our thinking is that Carnival's attempt to be the low cost cruise line has attracted low class people. While we will probably continue to take some Carnival cruises (fourteen day Journeys cruises have always had more genteel cruisers) I don't see us ever being regulars again.

 

We don't think Carnival gets a bad rap. People are just recognizing the reality.

We’ve been on 43 cruises, exclusively Carnival. Until restart, never saw any crazy or violent behavior. December 2021 on a 3 day Liberty (part of b2b) there were so many young, very loud, very drunk people doing stupid things on board we said never again would we do a 3 day! But then on the John Heald FFS5 cruise in February on Magic, we saw our first and hopefully last fight! If you’ve ever cruised on any of the ships where at dinner you get off the elevator directly into the mob that’s waiting for the dining room to open, you will know what I’m talking about. The area was packed more than usual as it was elegant night, and you could hardly move, more people kept coming off the elevators, very chaotic and those by the doors didn’t want to move. Well, some older gentlemen actually got into a knock down drag out fight right by the doors as they were opening them! Took a few minutes for security to get there and both guys had gone to their tables. Guess they knew who they were because we saw security leading one out and talking to the other. My point is that it’s not always the young people drinking nor the number of sailing days that have a different clientele that cause these things. This was the last thing I’d have expected on this particular cruise! If you read some of the other forums occasionally, you’ll see Carnival isn’t the only cruise line that these things happen on.

7 hours ago, JoeMo said:

By the time you board the ship I will have parked my carry on in the cabin, gone through muster with just the four of us, eaten lunch, staked out a pier side window seat on the Lido and downed the first 3 or 4 Fun Ship Specials. My vacation starts around 11 AM (Galveston) when I step on the ship. Board whenever you want, we'll do the same.

And that’s what’s great about life, we all have choices to make! I like your choice, but after 43 cruises, I just prefer not to rush these days! If I were still your age, I’d be right there with you!

3 hours ago, Clearwater said:

haha it's ok!  It made me LAUGH 🙂

 

Appreciate ALL the replied.  Been an awesome week.  I tried the reg casino and I got so ill I puled for hours from the smoke.  Since I found the smoke free, no issues.  Sucks for me!  

 Hoping one day soon they will all be smoke free!

4 hours ago, finoky said:

I feel like an idiot!

 Oh please don’t, I do stuff like that all the time! Got a good laugh out if it!