cruziJenn

You can have it emailed but it's kind of tricky. According to DH you have to "view details" first and then look for the dropdown for delivery option, select email and then add to cart.

Sorry just realized that i misread your post volmoma, you wrote that it CAN be emailed :*:)

But I think that it can be either mailed or emailed....?

I'm probably one of those that sounded more negative than positive but I was just thinking about the cabin stewards and cleaning or repair crew having to work hard in a short time to turn all of those cabins around for the next herd. Thats why the signs are there and doors are closed. P or D or FTTF have paid for permission to ignore the signs and closed doors but not all 3000 passengers have. It is not about smug sense of privilege (or it should not be) it's about understanding that rules are made for the benefit of the whole deal that includes cruise line employees as well as paying passengers. Maybe a steward would be nice to 1 or 2 that break the rules but imagine if word gets out on this board for example that the signs and policy don't really mean anything, it's ok for a thousand passengers to get in the stewards way, interrupt their rhythm and routine every 2 or 3 minutes and make it 10 times as hard to make sure that all rooms are properly CLEANED and prepared for the next hoard of guests to spend a week there? I for one want those cabin stewards and helpers to have as much peace and presence of mind as possible to do their jobs correctly and thoroughly....and not have to worry about losing future tips which they count on a lot, because of having to say no to 1 or many people.

My first reaction when I read this was "I'd be worried that someone would steal my stuff" but then I realized everyone gets their checked bags dropped in front of the room, but that usually happens much later in the day.

 

Some well meaning steward might see bags in the hall before checked baggage has started to come aboard and think it was from the previous cruise and send it ashore

That was my first thought as well. Tho I don't like to assume the worst from people sight unseen I did have a ring stolen on one cruise. I just would not risk it bcs we just don't know who may be walking those halls before they're open and I would really hate to see an innocent room steward blamed and possibly fired bcs my unguarded bag disappeared or was broken into. Just obey the signs and policies, that makes it so much more simple and safe for everyone. If you don't want to be bothered to lug your carry ons around until rooms are ready then just don't board the ship quite so early? One or the other, can't have your cake and eat it too ;) :)

For people like me that don't like to wait for a 30 minute window to get into the port... and also don't like to cart around luggage for quite a while... The $70 or so is worth it for me.

+1 from me as well, there are several benefits and it is still a reasonable price as a very small part of the huge total expense that cruising is. If prices keep going up or if they way oversell it then I may change my opinion but for now I would pay it without a second thought.

I budget but with wiggle room. I live in a spreadsheet world, so of course I budget with a spreadsheet and then report actuals then use the data for the next cruise.

 

This year:

Fuel: $125.11

Lodging: $268.50

Taxi: $38.00

Food / Drink on land: $150.00

Food / Drink on ship: $105.00

Gift shop purchases: $100.00

Casino: $85.00

Photos: $40.00

Other: $100.00 (there's the wiggle room)

Excursions: $300.00

Tips: $259.00

 

DW thinks I'm crazy. I also have a packing spreadsheet for 4, 5 and 7 day cruises. She packs the morning of almost -- drives me nuts.

This 'DW' doesn't think you're crazy at all and that's exactly how we do it. If he didn't to a spreadsheet then I would :)

Budget with about 10% wiggle room. That 10% is at least $300 (includes cruise fare) and that gives us enough to be free to be splurge at least once or twice during our vacation. Prepay as much as possible so then we can already see most of the 'damage' (lol) before we even leave home.

Do you request arrival times or are they assigned. Where do you request FTTF?

 

 

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You purchase FTTF as an "excursion". idk why they do it that way but you have to login to the website, pull up your cruise then click the link to buy excursions for that cruise. Then click your home port and then FTTF should show as a thing to buy (add to cart). It took us forever to figure that out the first time.

Then REPRINT your boarding pass. It won't show until you do that.

Just remember to put those phones into airplane mode to avoid surprise cellular charges when you get home.

 

The HUB app is free to use, just turn the wifi back on for your phone and connect to the ship's wifi. If you want to be able to use the messaging feature, it is $5 per device for the entire cruise.

 

See notes above about the wifi packages. We have used the Social Media Plan and been pleased with it.

Yeah some people still don't get that, you can turn on wifi while in airplane mode.

I heard you can eat at la cucina capitano on embarkation day for lunch without the extra charge; did you find this to be true? Thanks! Enjoying all your info!

YES and as The4Cruisers said lunch is no charge every day. For us on Breeze and Dream it was very uncrowded....maybe bcs it's way aft on deck 11? and not in prime traffic area. We were waited on with menus (limited) but maybe Magic doesn't do that. Either way I very much recommend it for embarkation lunch, it's very quiet and peaceful....and it's very roomy for carry-on luggage.

Thank you both! Still not such a bad price for the convenience and DH needs it for his diabetes and meds.

We get on when you get off, so hurry up lol! Thanks for all the great information!

 

Quick question, when we were on the Breeze the water in the buffet area came out at a snails pace which created long lines for water. Do you know if that's the same on the magic??

Wonder if Carnival still offers advance ordering of bottled water? $2.99 per 12-pack, we've gotten that on a couple of previous cruises and it was there for us when we checked in to our cabin. Guess I can't see the package options until we actually book a cruise....

Have not sailed Breeze. Amber Cove- we did a Carnival excursion, Big 3: zip line, ropes course, and something billled as an "exciting ride", lol, which was really sitting in some 50 year old military bus and rumbling along rock covered roads for 50 minutes. Oh and there's a beautiful beach there too. And a lunch but we didn't have time for it. It was really a fun excursion.

Thank you and that's ok, I found another thread that compares Breeze and Magic. I saw the Carnival ad for that old military bus excursion lol. Glad to know that you had a fun excursion, some are a real bust.

Thank you also for doing this, I know that it eats into your cruise time and I really appreciate you keeping this going, lots of good info so far!

NVM about Magic vs. Breeze, I just found a thread that compares those 2 ships!

Following. Thank you so far for mentioning Any Time Dining (we always do) and 1 or 2 other things....

Have you sailed Breeze as well? Loved Breeze and have been curious about how Magic compares.

Oh and Amber Cove? Wondering how it measures up to other ports

In our case, a Tempurpedic Cloud. I would not say we rave about them but they were comfortable and we had no issues. I have been in lots of hotel rooms, not necessarily cheap hotels, that had worse. Mattresses are subjective like the OP said

+1.

I can always tell exactly where the twin beds are joined but for a week I can avoid that. Cruise ship beds are not perfect but that has never affected my cruise experience at all.

I asked DH about this bcs he has sailed more Carnival than I have, about 10 years. He simply said that if a bed is too hard then it's almost an immediate problem but he doesn't remember ever having that problem. But obviously some people have, but yes you can request a topper I believe on every ship that we've been, bcs I remember hearing people talk about doing that. Ofc you can also request extra pillows as DH always does :-)

I personally have never gotten a bad one and always sleep great. DH has an iffy back and he always seems to sleep fine as well, never complained once. The best that I can describe my average experience is a bit soft but not too soft at least for me.

We sailed Conquest in 2015 and my opinion is "mixed"....the crew were absolutely great and the CS desk even sent us a free bottle of wine (can't remember what for now lol) but MOST special about that cruise was the live band in the atrium at least 5 nights I think....made it the danciest week that I've ever had :-)) .... and nice spacious uncrowded smoking area down on deck 3 or 4? where the crew could take their smoke breaks. I love being able to chat with various crew members especially from other countries and as I remember the Conquest crew they were probably my favorite thus far. Other than those great things the ship seemed a little old and a little darker than most or something. And MDR was not the best tho by far not the worst either. But I would certainly sail her again no question.

We booked our Princess Panama Canal cruise for less $$ (about $200 PP) in a better cabin (aft balcony) with prepaid gratuities and a $250 (military) OBC each. The cruise is also a day longer. That is with Princess, not a TA.

 

Not all Princess cruises will yield the same results. We got an awesome deal!

Asking for DH (he's retired mil) is that $250 OBC for military the norm? He said sometime ago that Princess USED to offer $250 as standard for mil but that they seemed to have dropped it to $100 now. So do you know if your $250 OBC was standard or part of a special? Oh and how many days was that cruise, maybe that makes a diff....

Anyways we have sailed CCL and RCI and he has also done the X once but neither of us has ever sailed Princess and have been looking... but always with best price in mind.

whitepages dot com / reverse_phone

enter the 10 digit number with dashes and go.

That site is pretty good about identifying either legitimate businesses by name or spam callers. I use it a LOT.

I have been on Oasis and the Dream, which is a sister ship to Magic. My vote is for Oasis without question. There's so much to do, and the ship is gorgeous. I didn't care for the Dream AT ALL, and that cruise is the reason I never tried the Magic out of Galveston.

Just fyi tho, we sailed Dream 2 years ago, after sailing Breeze and Dream was a total flop by comparison. Dream is the oldest in that class and Magic is the newest. Breeze had a new designer and I would guess that Magic did as well.

Based on what my TA said, we were sold on the Oasis!! Can't wait to compare it to the Breeze.

 

 

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I have not tried Magic yet but have sailed on Oasis and Breeze, love them both and would certainly sail Breeze again (doing Oasis again next month). It's just that Oasis is a different experience all together :)

If I'm not mistaken the steak that you pay $20 for in MDR are the choice cuts that they serve in Chops which is about $40 cover. MDR is free overall. There are SEVERAL free dining options on RC ships and they have way more eatery options than some other lines, including a nice free deli in Central Park (Oasis class), and several places that charge cover for dinner are free for lunch and maybe breakfast.

Really to judge RC for dining costs especially before even boarding is a BIG mistake! The 'problems' that we had on Oasis and Allure for example were just deciding where to eat from one meal to the next. From what I've seen all of the bigger RC ships have 25+ food venues, some just desserts or dogs, but believe me you can go a week without spending a penny and never go hungry. To me dining is one of the big PLUSES for RC compared to most others.

My hunni has a couple of mild conditions (plus meds) that require him to keep water handy to stay hydrated. We have never been denied carrying on water that has not been opened. And 2 or 3 times we have gotten through with several bottles of my Pepsi in our carry ons.

wow some of you guys sound like you could really use a vacation. So go on a cruise or something :p

But just keep in mind that the whole thing for the owners and shareholders is about profit profit profit, like $40 for a $20 bottle of wine :)

We like JR's because it is something different. The MDR is a bit too loud and intense for us to enjoy everynight. Add the fact that if you want a decent burger, there is no other choice on Royal! Those pre-cooked, gray patties in a pan at the Windjammer just look aweful! Another plus for us is that on Voyager and Freedom class ships, it is the only outside dining area, we we do enjoy at twilight time.

Totally agree. MDR is one thing on oasis class that is not all that memorable to me, plus I just love the huge variety of choices on those ships, and yes outside, always love that. If we could have it delivered to a table in Central Park would be even better! :)

I was gonna say I do resent the price increase, but you just talked me out of it.

:rolleyes:

:p