Pops, Esq.
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Posts posted by Pops, Esq.
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Another vote for Blue Hole/Scotchie's with Liberty. We booked from Montego Bay, so it was even further than Falmouth. As was stated, there are tourists, but because the drive up there is pretty rough, the big tour buses just can't get there. A 15 passenger van may be the biggest vehicle that can make the trip. As a result, the crowd is much smaller. Even with multiple other tour groups there, we felt we had plenty of space. Ate at Scotchie's in Drax Hall(not sure on that name, but roll with it). If you are coming from Ocho Rios, you will eliminate the worst part of the trip -- the drive.
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That one isn't showing up on my options. (maybe because of our 4:30 depart time)
Also, it also doesn't include the reef snorkel, only the rays and rum point (and lunch at Rum Point is not included).
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Note that the non-serenity pools that are designated "adults-only" may only have the actual POOL designated as such. The pool AREA, on the other hand, may have kids hanging around (especially, for instance, in the Conquest-class ships, where the Pizza joint is in the pool area).
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While Sundays mean lighter traffic, they can (and often will) have lane closures on Sundays when working on the roads because lighter traffic means less people inconvenienced.
https://drivetexas.org is a really good source of up-to-date road construction and closure information.
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Better safe than sorry.
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We got coupons for discounts at the spa and pixels courtesy cabin staff for our anniversary.
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I see the same excursion on my Carnival cruise in Feb'18..through the ship
Why not just do it through your ship.. and not worry about the time..
It cant be that much of a diff. in cost vs being able to do what you really want. :)
Offerings for my Carnival cruise have nothing matching the rays, reef and Rum Point tour. Lots of reef and rays tours. Some tours with lunch somewhere. The unique aspect is the Rum Point lunch. Maybe that’s just not showing up on my sailing.
Following this because I have a similar question with our sailing. 4:00 departure (meaning 3:30 last tender).
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As an early riser, I found early mornings (7ish) to be pretty empty, actually. Maybe it picks up a bit after I leave. I find the advantage to the early morning visit to the gym is getting a full sized shower, rather than the smaller cabin showers.
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Some time ago it was suggested that they has intended to make the same modifications to Victory and Triumph, even gave the projected names. But reception of Sunshine was not overwhelming so they shelved the project. That was a very lengthy dry dock...how long are these scheduled for? EM
I believe they actually applied for a trademark for “Carnival Sunrise” or some such (I would have to look it up). That application has since been abandoned. This would mesh with the idea of having plans to upgrade (or “upgrade”) and then changing those plans.
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They have the ability to put you on a "no call" list of some sort. I think I am on it.
When I first booked with Carnival, I would quite regularly check for price drops. I would also frequently get calls to my home number from a PVP looking for business (can't blame them). Since we rarely actually answer the home phone, that is really no problem for me. THEN, my wife happened to answer. The guy on the phone referenced the "cruise you recently booked" and asked if she had any questions. Well, my wife had no idea what he was talking about, since I had booked the cruise as a surprise for our anniversary. A surprise. So, naturally, her only question was, "we are going on a cruise?" I sent a message on FB to John Heald and explained the situation and also said if I had any questions, I would be sure to call them. I have not received a call since that message.
So, I know they can stop the calls because it happened to me.
Oh, and for those who want to check past-guest rates? You can check the box to "show past guest rates" and not put in your number. It still will show those past-guest rates. You can't check your personal offers, of course, but you can see past-guest rates.
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I don't plan to drink more than 15 alcoholic drinks in a 24 hour period but if I did, can I buy a drink off the card? ok am I cut off? just curious
As someone has already said, buy them before you hit 15. But, the trick is you are buying them "for a friend". You can't buy for a friend with your Cheers!, but you can buy a round for someone else and pay full price for it. You do this BEFORE you hit 15 drinks because they can (and apparently will) cut you off at 15 drinks, meaning you can't even buy drink number 16.
That's why the bartender will sometimes tell you "you have had 12 drinks" or something like that. It's a friendly reminder that you may want to start buying rounds for friends. It's more likely you will be told how many drinks you have had as you approach the magical number 15.
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I have noticed a bit of a pattern. Watch for reduced deposits about a week or so after they stop a sale promotion. With one sale ending yesterday or the day before and another ending today, you might expect something as far a reduced deposits in the next couple of weeks. This is based on a non-scientific observation, so I could be wrong. In fact, I probably am wrong, if nothing else because I said it out loud....
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Easiest is a cab. They ARE regulated. As noted above, it's a flat fee for up to 2 with an additional charge for each additional passenger. I can't recall the exact amount, but the fare quoted by riffatsea above is in line with my recollection. I have traveled from the airport to the area many times and it's always the same. I have never experienced any driver trying to get around the system, as alluded to above. It's posted in the cab and on the paperwork you are given by the cab stand attendant. The cab stand is just outside the baggage claim area and is very easy to find. Just exit the airport and line up a the cab stand. Every time I have use a cab from MSY, it has been a minivan, thus you should have adequate space for 4, even with a week's worth of luggage.
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the picture clearly shows an exterior view
Walkway view. Note the stack of chairs outside the window.
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I am not going to say you CAN'T get on the ship without checking in before hand -- in fact, I think it is quite likely you will be able to do so -- but I CAN direct you to what Carnival says about it:
U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requires Carnival Cruise Line to submit a final departure manifest with specific guest information at least 60 minutes prior to departure. All guests are required to provide us with check-in information by completing their Online Check-in and selecting their Arrival Appointment no later than midnight (eastern time) prior to their sailing date.
https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4839
Like I said above, I am not going to represent that Carnival will stick to their guns if someone doesn't check in online. But, that's what it says.
On the other hand, a separate FAQ says that a boarding pass will be sent to the email on your account "whether check in has been completed or not" thus giving evidence that you CAN get a boarding pass without completing the online check in and will thus have access to the port.
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I can't specifically recall any "private" rooms, but I wasn't really looking. I do recall a lot of nooks and crannies along the way -- between the initial check in and the large waiting room -- where you would be able to at least get a bit shielded from the masses. I will check with my SIL, who has an autistic child, as she has sailed out of Galveston and probably scoped out the area while there.
But, I think if you show up a couple of hours after the original boarding rush, you will probably be okay. Just DO NOT get there before boarding actually starts. Not check-in, but actual boarding. It gets very crowded and there are people in every available spot.
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Out of curiosity, I started a "mock" booking to see about the "hidden fees". I don't know where this is headed as I start this post, as I have the carnival website open on another screen.
Clicked on Carnival's website. Found a Panama Canal cruise leaving in October from Galveston (my home port). Web page says "From $1389* AVG PP" the * indicates "Taxes, fees and port expenses are $327.25 additional to he prices displayed."
So, here we are, before I have even put any information in. Just selected the cruise I want and I have a "From $1389" plus $327.25. I suppose they could do the math for me, and have a "From $1,716.25". I call that "inconvenient" not "hidden."
So, let's see if I can book for that price....
Click "book now" and start the process. I will go with 2 persons in a stateroom, as that is a fairly common configuration.
There we are, interior cabin showing $1389 pp. It's an upper/lower with early saver restrictions, but the price is as advertized (at this point, at least).
To keep that price, I'm looking at deck 1, a sideways cabin. But, still $1389.
So now, at the booking page and it has a per guest price of $1389 and taxes of $327.25. (I wont include gratuities for these purposes, but if you gotta know, it's showing an additional $362.60 per room).
So, I am kinda of two minds here. The "taxes, port fees, etc." were identified early on and were accurate. The "from" price was accurate and available. The only hidden fee I see could be the gratuities, which are optional (not wanting to start that discussion, but, for our purposes here, they are still optional). They could do the math for me with the taxes, etc., but they are displayed early on. Again, inconvenient, but not exactly hidden. They could put the "advertised price" (the big number on the first screen) at the $1716.25 per person, rather than the $1389, but that seems to be a mild irritation rather than a hidden fee, since it shows up before I get to Step 2.
BUT, they do know enough to give a quote on the fees, taxes, etc. I mean, they KNOW which ports they are going to and have a pretty good idea what the charges are going to be. Sure, they change, but they are usually pretty close. The "*" could be "price may be adjusted if port fees and taxes change."
It looks like -- to me at least -- they are fairly open on the cost to cruise.
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That is because there are a couple of states that have strange alcohol rules. For instance, in Texas, they do not sell Cheers on the first day because while in Texas ports the ship must only sell liquor that is purchased in Texas and have Texas tax stickers on it. So, in order to manage costs and stock, the liquor options are reduced. I am not sure what the other ports are.
It's Texas and New York. And although when in Texas waters, the liquor does have to have a Texas tax stamp, I don't think that is why they don't have Cheers! on day one from Texas. After all, they do sell liquor the first day (although a limited menu, I believe). I believe it has to do with state laws that restrict the ability to sell all-you-can-drink packages. (There appears to be some interpretation differences among cruise lines, however, as I believe RC does not interpret it that way).
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Wine deal is the first night and the first formal night. So, if you don’t want to do it on formal night, you will need to go the first night.
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Looks like I owe somebody a drink. Thanks to firemanbobswife, I made the decision to call and try to see what a PVP could do for me. The PVP beat the online price by about 30%. I may like to handle things on my own, but I am also cheap. I am more cheap than independent.
I could be in on the PVP thing from now on.
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Renting a car and driving to the other parts of the island (such as Rum Point) is pretty easy and safe.
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The ferry claims Rum Point/Kaibo, but only shows a Kiabo docking. Does that mean they only have one stop and figure Rum Point is close enough to claim it? Or are there two stops and they just don't list the Rum Point times?
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Can't say what they did last year (I can't recall) but, in the days leading up to it, they reminded everyone about what they did in 2016. Maybe it will be similar?
Meet the Ghost of Thanksgiving-Weekend-Sales-Past
If you were busy last year, here’s a recap of what Carnival guests enjoyed on Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2016. Actually, if we’re remembering correctly, the deals stretched out for almost a whole week! (Yes, that’s right — we called it “Cyber Week” and brought in a whole family of these cute robots to celebrate… they were saying things like “book at light speed!” and the accountant robot was all “calculations show inventory is limited!”)
Last year’s deals included:
Thanksgiving: Everybody ate turkey and watched the human football game and it was glorious.
Black Friday/Cyber Friday, Cyber Saturday and Cyber Sunday: The bot family showed you ways to have a great time… and save with cruises starting at just $249, plus $50 in onboard credit.
Cyber Monday, Cyber Tuesday and even Cyber Wednesday: The bots went buck-wild! All humans got room upgrades for $1, while high-rollers who shelled out another buck got $25 in onboard credit. Deposits were a cool 50% off (or, wait — were they 50% on?).
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Not that I personally know of. Best bet would be to get a recommendation from someone. I obtained mine by an email with his name on it. Boy, did I hit the lottery with him :D
However, if you're looking to upsell your current booking, you can do that just by calling the 800 number and talking to a CSR. I don't think they have a general email. A PVP will probably help you, but since they won't be getting paid on your booking, they may be less than enthusiastic in doing so.
I was wondering if maybe with the upgrade, the entire booking gets transferred to them. I have a feeling the answer is "no."
Golf carts
in Cayman Islands
Posted
You can get a compact car for the day pretty cheap....
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