Mike45LC

Dropping off your baggage with the porters is NOT a good solution for carry-on type baggage. I have to carry around with me all of the valuables, medicines, passports, travel documents, whatever else until the "full check-in." That is not a lot of fun!

That's almost enough time to really explore Disney!

Carnival breakfast buffet, I think they have orange, guava and some "cocktail" mix. I've not really focused on it, because all I want for my breakfast beverage is hot tea and a small OJ. I've never ordered bar juices for breakfast as Stacy suggests. Maybe I'll ask for pineapple juice next trip.

I have NEVER self-whatever they call it. Why would I wrestle with the bags for no purpose? On the ship, I put my bags out in the corridor the night before, and the bags all magically appear in the departure area the next morning, when they call my debarkation group (by number/color). All of the Purple Group 2 bags (for example) are nicely lined up, and I've never had much trouble finding my own bags. I segregate my bags, and then I grab a porter who puts my stuff on a baggage cart. He then escorts us and our bags through Customs/Immigration to wherever we need to be. As some here would say, easy peasey (?? not my culture!) I think the porter's assistance helps smooth the Customs/Immigration process.

With flight computer glitches, I want protection. I just use the cruise lines’.

There is a Haagen-Daas ice cream parlor in the mall. Great break from the cruise ship gelatos!!

I am not going to delve into the question of where/how to get Mexican pesos. ATM withdrawals in Mexico, bank transactions from home, whatever. In the Mexican Riviera ports of call (Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Ensenada, La Paz, etc.), the vendors are usually happy to take US dollars. It is not convenient for them to accept foreign currency (I mean US), so there is a hidden “convenience charge” in the form of a bad exchange rate. My last visit, the “real” exchange rate was about 16 $Mx to 1 $US. Many stores charged $15 MX to $1 US, for a surcharge of about 6%. If I am buying some snacks and sodas for a total cost of $200 MX, and the storekeeper wants to charge me $14 US, which at 15 pesos per $US is 210 pesos, OK. The extra $2 or so is my convenience fee. My normal purchases (excluding jewelry which is negotiated for in $US) are t-shirts, baseball hats, sweats, small food purchases, etc. Under $100 US. So a bad exchange rate might cost me $7 US or so per purchase. On a multi-thousand dollar cruise, I am not going to complain! I’ll do the math for fun, but I’ll pay! Any large purchases, I pay for using my credit card, and I get a good exchange rate from the bank. There is no hidden “convenience charge” in the exchange rate. WARNING: SOME RESTAURANTS DO NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. Both street corner taco stands and sit-down restaurants. So be prepared to pay in cash. Before you sit down, ask the hostess if they accept US$ and/or credit cards! There is a chain of Mexican convenience stores called OXXO. Very similar to the US 7-11. I find their exchange rate to be reasonable. If I need some pesos, I might buy a soda and pay with a $20US and request my change in pesos. I pretend that I don’t care about a poor exchange rate, but I really do. So a few years ago, I went to foreign exchange bureau in my home town and I bought about $500 worth of Mexican pesos. I figured that $100 US per port was sufficient. At the end of the cruise, I threw the left-over $Mx into a drawer and used them again on the next cruise and the next one. I’ve bought a few hundred $US more over time. Enjoy the cruise!

Jimbo, people use terms that are not appropriately applied. Nothing I've read suggests that Sandra committed "insurance fraud" or that any of her victims themselves committed "insurance fraud." Sandra committed just plain "fraud"; adding the adjective "insurance" doesn't help anyone! I hope that that this "Sandra" does not hurt others with the same or similar names. There is a Sandra who is a well-known tour operator in the Mexican Riviera, and I hope (1) this is a different person, and (2) her business is not injured. I hope the fraudster gets punished, and that her victims are made whole through some form of restitution.

My former favorite bar, Sea Buoy, no longer has its live band space. So that's out. Favorite things? Riding along in a pedicab. HaagenDaaz ice cream in the Mall. I hate to admit it, but playing a bit at the PlayWin Casino. Looking for a new favorite bar to replace Sea Bouy.

What time is your ship in Cabo? Do you have any status with the cruise line? Because Cabo is a tender port, some of the Cabo visits are very short, and the tenders are boarded by passengers based on their status, and "the status of being on a Cruiseline excursion" comes high on the list. You and the kids can get ashore an hour or more earlier if you have a cruiseship excursion. I personally find much more to do in Mazatlan than in Cabo. I'd do Cabo = resorts, Mazatlan = independent tour (a golf cart to downtown Cathedral, and visit to the Market, maybe to Liverpool Beatles Experience, and then back to the ship to recuperate from the heat). Don't forget Stone Island. And it is time that those younguns learned the joy of a frozen drink (virgin maybe) on a hot day, at the Cruise Passenger Terminal just outside the ship! Have a great visit!

My prayers to all distressed by travel plan disruptions!

I wake up hours before my wife does, so I check my email while she is sleeping and I eat breakfast. The “social plan” was worthless for us, but “premium “ was ok.

If Carnival imposes a 3:00 pm muster check in, my checking in at 2:30 is good. There is no “check in as soon as you board” rule. ”Less than five minutes” to do the muster check-in? Your watch is broken! Ascertain your muster station, wait for one of the so-called smart elevators jammed up for embarkation, figure out exactly where the mustering is taking place — my last mustering was in the theater, but without specifying port side, or starboard, and without specifying, which of the two floors it was on —. Certainly not less than five minutes. And when I am told the deadline is 3 o’clock, don’t start complaining to me that I didn’t check in before 230. A deadline means something.

Old Bart is correct, fiberglass.

January, 2024, we had an ice bucket, but we requested that it be removed.

Well, if you are in port on a Wednesday, and the tours are only given Fri though Tues, there isn’t much Little Sister can do. And now I have Elvis singing in my head! I hope it works out! At least the forts are Eight Days A Week, (Trying to change music tracks in my head.)

Travis Who?

I never head over to the muster station until I have left my carry-ins in the cabin (a privileged of priority boarding) and usually eaten lunch. I think the muster station check-in deadline is 3:00 pm, and I need to break my fast more than doing an early muster check-in.

@nc762shooter, even the “behind the scenes tour” hides the extra furniture storage area!! But it is a great tour, for those of us who’ve never worked on a cruise ship.

The last time I looked into this, the Bacardi rum factory tour were not given every day and had limited hours. Please check this out early. The forts are amazing to tour. But I also love visiting the rainforest for a hike. You can’t fit in both! Be sure to be outside on deck for sail-away. Sailing out under the guns of the forts is impressive.

I caution against this. When we disembarked from the Venezia in New, York City, we had a late flight out of JFK airport. We got to the airport far too early for baggage check. So I got to sit around in the airport for about five hours, watching my bags, unable to relax.

I am in the minority here, but I do not find it worthwhile to stand around for an hour waiting to get in. The comedians tend to make too much fun of seniors and many of them seem to be very juvenile finding the use of naughty words to be hilarious. It takes more than a swear word to make me laugh. And George Karlin broke those barriers more than 30 years ago.

On an Elite cruise, I had an invitation to a party in the Havana pool area on the Venezia. It was not impressive. I hope Loft 19 is better/fancier.

That $500 OBC could be used on the craps table instead! That's where I'll be.