tensixmom

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Sounds to me like this is a combination of slow steaming and following seas, where the seas catch up from behind and slap the flat bottom of the hull at the stern.

I was hoping you would chime in!

Thanks... it was very annoying so I will be more careful the next time I choose a cabin.  Normally I love an aft balcony!

We just got off a short cruise on the Miracle- we were in an aft balcony on deck 5.

While we did experience a bit of weather (rain) and some energetic seas (more movement than I usually feel), those did not bother us in the least.  What DID bother us was at night when we were trying to sleep- we were moving very slowly (around 1.2 or 1.3 knots) the first three nights and there were maddening, intermittent  "bumps" against what I presume was the hull.  It shook the floor, and was magnified by (I presume) the bed/mattress set up.  They either kept us awake, or woke us up many times throughout the night.

The only night we did not experience it was our last night coming back from Ensenada to Long Beach, when we were traveling quite a bit faster (around the 13 knots range).

I would happily book the Miracle again but will definitely steer clear of any of the aft balconies as I have no way to know how far "up" that shaking and shuddering can be felt.  (I have been in an aft balcony before- different line and different ship- with no such effects).

Can anyone chime in with knowledge of how that feeling is affected by travel speed?  Is it just as simple as "the waves are more easily felt when traveling slowly"?  

Well I am going to be sad if they don't do them any more.  By now it's tradition that it's the first thing I do!

I just put a hold on a 2025 Hawaii Journeys cruise.  By then my youngest will have graduated.  It sounds intriguing so I hope we are able to do it!

Oh wow, I didn't know about this!  The last couple of cruises we purchased Cheers but we aren't doing that for an upcoming 4 day, so we will definitely buy 6 over that time period!  Great info; thank you!

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Why not?  Are you against saving 10%?  The GC can be used for everything associated with your cruise.  Deposit, balance, shore excursions prior or during cruise, Cheers, specialty dining, gratuities, any gift shop purchases.  The list is endless. 

No, but I am against the potential for those 'drained' GC's being an issue and it being too late (too long from date of purchase) to "do anything" about them by the time I get on the ship. 

43 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I see that they source gift cards from merchants as well as individual sellers, but I didn't see a way to tell where each one comes from. But it does say they offer a 1-year money back guarantee, so that's good. I didn't know they did that.

 

A few years ago, they had such a problem with invalid cards that they instituted a verification policy onboard. If you wanted to add a gift card to your S&S, they had to verify its authenticity first, and for some reason they processed it through HQ, so it'd take up to 24 hours to verify. Thankfully, they didn't do it for long. I ran into it once and it was a pain.

Gosh that would definitely be a pain!  

I had a GC to use on RC once... THAT was a pain.  No place to enter them on their website... IIRC, I had to email a very specific email address to get them to apply it.  Not worth the hassle!  But Carnival does make it easy, at least to pay cruise fare and any shore excursions purchased in advance.  I don't think I would bring a card to add to my account on board.

On 8/9/2023 at 5:32 PM, Organized Chaos said:

 

As far as AARP, unfortunately your only option would be to know a member in the U.S.

 

The electronics website, newegg, occasionally sells Carnival cards for 8% off, but I looked and there's none currently for sale. There's another website that I won't mention because users have gotten in trouble for it in the past. If you google "buy and sell gift cards," it should be the second search result. They have Carnival cards for 8% off, but that site lets individuals sell gift cards and I do know in the past there was trouble with people buying gift cards that were empty. Which is why users have gotten posts deleted for posting the link. So unless there's a way to guarantee the seller is legit, I wouldn't recommend it. Maybe someone who's more familiar with that site can chime in.

I am not an expert, but I frequently purchase Carnival cards from that other site... I love that Carnival makes it easy for me to use them.

I have my booking up on one screen, and the card website on the other, and I purchase and immediately apply them to pay for my cruise fare etc.  I just make sure to use them immediately so that if necessary, I could file a claim immediately.  So far I have been lucky and never had an issue with them being drained.

I have multiple Chase cards and it is on NONE of them!  Darn it!

Thanks for the heads up so we could check!

3 hours ago, lazydayz said:

Yes, there is.  We enjoyed many specialty coffee drinks there.  

2 hours ago, bluejay555 said:

We just got off the Miracle and they do have one.  Here is the menu 🙂 

 

2 hours ago, FastShip24 said:

Many of the bars can make them also

Oh wow thank you all.  When I looked at the website I didn't see it listed under Dining.

Thank you!

I don't believe there is a Java Blue Cafe on Miracle.  Is there somewhere to get what my husband calls "foofie" coffee drinks such as lattes and things?

Sorry, I didn't know how to word it better.

I made the reservations for myself and 3 friends (2 rooms).  Our online check in date is January 20.  What information will I need from my friends in order to complete that online checkin?  

Their names are already on the reservation (although we decided later to swap roommates and I can't seem to change the names despite the "edit guest info" option), and I can't remember if it's going to ask me for their passport numbers or what I'll need to have ready to get us all checked in correctly.

Thank you!

Can anyone point me to where on the Carnival site it tells you how much OBC you get for holding 100 shares of Carnival stock?  I cannot find it searching the site.

Thank you everyone.  We are from Arizona so we are not concerned about warm weather.. we will go with the flow and have a good time!  Radiance wasn't my favorite ship but it has an Alchemy Bar so really, I can't complain!

We are good with just DL's right?  I always bring my passport but I am not sure the other ladies all happen to have one at the moment.

I have a short 3 day girl's trip on Radiance coming up in about a month.  I am probably the most experienced cruiser out of the four of us, and one of my friends has never cruised before at all.

What do I need to remember to tell her (and the others) before we go? I know the way *I* like to cruise (almost never eat in the MDR, I am more of a 'sit and people watch' rather than 'get out there and dance'), but I want to make sure they have the most fun we can squeeze into 3 days.  We do plan to get Cheers, but we do NOT plan to do any specialty dining.  

What do you think I need to make sure to tell them?

I am by no means an expert but we sailed on Miracle in January 2020 and Radiance in August 2022.  I far preferred the Miracle... I thought the decor, while certainly unusual, was far more interesting than that of the Radiance and I hated the 'choppiness' of not being about get around the Radiance... particularly trying to find the comedy club (which was hot).  That being said, I had a lovely interior room on deck 5 that was more square so it felt roomier than normal, and it was literally just steps from the Alchemy Bar, so that helped!

5 hours ago, five. said:

Per person per day? Or just $400 more total?

2 hours ago, wdw1972 said:

That offer would be $398 total for the cruise.

 

Sue/WDW1972

That was per person for the entire cruise, so wdw1972 is correct... it was $398!

32 minutes ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

Koningsdam is good. Eurodam has deck 11 "balconies" that have no room for chairs. The doors open so you can stand at edge like Juliette in Romeo & Juliette.

 

Good grab !

 

Oh I would not like to pay a balcony price for that!

1 minute ago, CHOPPERTESTER said:

Which ship, how long a cruise? Did you end up with a Juliette balcony?

Konigsdam, 7 nights.

I'm sorry I don't know what a Juliette balcony is!

3 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

That's $199/pp for a seven day cruise????

 

Its a steal, even for an obstructed balcony. You can call them and confirm the exact stateroom. Have a deck plan of the ship ready. 

 

Bon Voyage!

Yes it is a 7 day.  I don't check prices/cruise often enough to know what a good deal it is, so I'm grateful to have the experts here to help me!

Thank you!

49 minutes ago, five. said:

Assume this was via email?

Yes it was.

2 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

So happy for you.  Have a wonderful time. I love a balcony.

It is always my preference.. I've done interiors on short cruises and it was fine but I really do prefer a balcony!

9 minutes ago, HAL4NOW said:

You can ask; if they are able to assign a room, they will. If it isn't a room you would prefer over the interior room you already have, then just decline the offer and enjoy your cruise.

4 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Unless things have changed drastically you can pick your room.  I'd be all over that offer.

thank you!  I called... actually got through with minimal hold time!

Now in a spa verandah (not that we are spa people) one floor down from where we were.  

Thank you both!

Hi, we leave on Saturday and are in an interior.

Just got this offer that reads:

Verandah (Category VQ to VF) for an additional $199pp USD/$249Pp CAD

I am assuming that means they will assign me any balcony/verandah room they want, and that it could possibly be obstructed?

If I call, can they tell me exactly which room and give me a choice to accept or not?

10 hours ago, SKCruiser007 said:

If you have late (main) dining, you can easily see the show first, and have time to arrive just in time for dinner. I actually prefer this.

OK we will try this!  Thank you!