April-in-NC

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

And some more did in the last three months, including very lengthy waits for refunds - yet another reason you should minimize any optional purchases.

We did drink packages and a shore excursion on Labadee today to get the sale prices.  This trip is to celebrate my mom's 65th birthday and my 40th and we are 100% committed, but my dad will be 84 when we sail and is at high risk for complications due to Covid19, so we want to hope for the best and plan for the worst.  

I can wait for the refund, as long as I know it is coming.  If it isn't refundable I just wanted to make sure my trip insurance policy covered that amount.

Thanks again!

Just now, Biker19 said:

Yes and yes.

Thanks so much!  So much has changed since we last cruised, I feel like a brand new cruiser!

Hi!  I've not taken a cruise in 5 years and we just booked for February 2021 on Oasis (woohoo!!).

I'm calculating the costs for non-refundable items for our cancel for any reason insurance, I just booked drink packages for the first time so I'm not sure of the answer to this.  Should we cancel on our own, all prepaid packages, tips and excursions/reservations booked through RCI would be refunded, right?  Just not the cruise fare?

Thanks!

Hi!

We just booked  a cruise for February 2021 and this is my first cruise in 5 years.  I'm traveling with my husband and 2 small kids (3 & 1) plus my older parents (84 & 65 - but they will be booking their own insurance).

I want to cover potential non-refundable expenses (flights and cruise fare primarily) should we need to cancel due to health of my parents or a 2nd wave of Covid19.  The current CFAR on the two polices that I'm looking at only covers 50% of non-refundable expenses which is better than nothing, but not optimal.  

Health issues would be covered under our full coverage policy since we are getting the insurance within 14 days of booking. So I'm really concerned with some level of protection should the cruise not be cancelled but we deem it too risky to travel.  My understand the only possible coverage for any pandemic/Covid coverage would be CFAR.  Is there another option I should look at?

Even if you have to wait for awhile, by being there that early you are almost guaranteed to find seats to sit in while you wait.

We got there around 11:00 and while it was crowded we could all find seats while we waited.

Hoping for ornament as well as we have them for every ship we have sailed.

 

Looks like the one available online is generic whale tail and ship and not specific with ship's name. Can anyone confirm?

That might be available in the online Fun Shops, but they didn't have any available on board last week.

We are back from our trip and our strategy worked an we were all able to sit near each other and keep the preferred ratio of 2 adults per kids on all three flights.

Yesterday was a long day with a lot of hurry up and wait as we got off the ship, transferred to FLL and then had to wait 3 hours at the airport before we could check our bags and go through security.

By the time we got on the last flight the kids (and adults) were all at the end of our ropes. The 4 year old had a meltdown on the last flight but otherwise we survived.

The Fun Shops reopened on Tuesday evening after leaving Falmouth.

FYI they didn't have any Carnival ornaments, just one generic Caribbean one with a map of the islands. The woman working the shop said they were still receiving shipments so it is possible that they could eventually get some in.

It has been awhile since I cruised Carnival, but I was pretty underwhelmed by the offerings in the new shops. The Logo shop didn't have a lot of options and the one shirt I liked was $60 and I refused to pay that much for a long sleeve tshirt.

Yeah, we sail Sunday as well and while I don't cruise to shop it is fun to go in and wander around to see what might strike my fancy. The only thing on my "must have" list is a ship Christmas ornament.

This isn't super active, but if your kids like chips and salsa the Salsa, Salsa, Margarita could be fun. I'm sure they will give you guys non-alcoholic drinks and I enjoyed learning how to make different salsas.

The only time I've been to Falmouth we did an independent tour and don't remember much of what was outside the gates.

Inside the gates is a very clean, very safe, very sanitized version of Jamaica. There are shops and restaurants and a few more local vendors, but mostly traditional tourist shops.

We will be in Falmouth again next week and have decided to spend the day at My Silver Sands villas. They have a $10 pp day pass that gives you access to the beach, chairs, umbrellas, restrooms and the bar and grill. No pool access. It is a private beach and since we will be traveling with small children we wanted something a little more secure.

Yes, there is at least one viewing platform there, possibly more.

depending on the ages of the children if you cut through the park there is some rides & animals for the little people if they are older they may not be interested though ;)

The kids are 4, 2 and 2 so that might be a good option if it isn't raining!

The Breeze shops are closed as of today when it left Miami a few were open they closed when it left San Juan my daughter said the rest of the cruise they will be closed, also pulled into San Juan about two hours early some kind of medical emergency.

Is there any word when they will be open again?

How long is the flight? If it's only a short flight, i don't think it's essential to all sit together. As long as there is one adult to sit with each child, there shouldn't be a problem. No pre-planned strategy needed.

The flight is about 3 hours, not too bad, but not exactly short when you're dealing with active children who most likely won't want to sit in their seat.

Your claim of not saving seats, then you write you are sitting with your husband? How would that be known if boarding separately?

Because I can't imagine that him boarding with group A (early bird) and me boarding between group A and B with my niece or nephew would result in no empty seats next to my husband.

If for some strange reason that two people who boarded between us really felt the need to sit in that row then it is easy enough to move to a different one where there are seats available.

Do you honestly think that I would have asked my original question if we were just going to save seats? If that was our plan I wouldn't be worried about it because we would be saving seats...

Well, I would think they would do the change as quickly as possible if this is the case. When the shops are closed they are losing out on revenue.

When my husband was having trouble walking we requested a wheelchair and he was wheeled through the airport and down the ramp to the plane -- I accompanied him. This would help your parents considerably. Older travelers often use mobility assistance in airports.

How many sets of tickets do you have? If you have one then you will probably all be checked in at the same time and have consecutive boarding numbers. If your sister's family is on one ticket and you on another then you may be significantly out of sequence. I would just go with the flow and, if needed, ask for a little help when you are at the gate.

We have two sets of confirmations. I bought tickets for my parents, my husband and myself (with early bird for my husband only). Then my sister, her husband and three kids are all one one.

Check in for my parents will happen when I log in of course, but it is a moot point because they are going to request early boarding due to his limited mobility.

Is it really across the street? I thought it was a little further away than that. I've stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami before and I know that is right across the street from Bayside. Knowing that is so close is a big relief!

Does anyone have any family friendly dinner recommendations near Intercontinental Miami? We will have a group of 9 (6 adults and 3 kids) and if it is within a few blocks of the hotel so we can walk that would be great.

We won't have car seats for the kids so we would like to avoid taxi's if possible.

We don't want fancy and are okay with chain restaurants, we just want reasonable prices (entree price less than $20) with a kids menu of some sort.

Thanks!

The WN website states that "an adult and child under the age of six" may board after the A group. It does not state that the entire family may board. Children 6 and older will have to board with their assigned herd number.

If the adult with mobility issues does not require companion assistance, please do not try to game the system to get one more on board early.

Remember - no seat saving allowed on WN. So, if someone wants to grab those seats next to you before the rest of your group boards, they are rightfully allowed to take those seats.

 

If you all want to sit together, you are going to have to pay that Early Bird or take your chances.

I'm not trying to game the system. My dad can barely walk with a cane and needs assistance, so my mother will board with him. They will not be saving seats.

Also, just noticed that my thread title states 9 adults and three kids. It is actually 6 adults and three kids (4, 2, 2). We are hoping to have it work out that there is one child per two adults, but we realize that might not happen depending on how full the flight is.

My husband will board in Group A (early bird). He will do his best to sit near my parents, but he will not be saving seats either.

I will board with my 2 year old niece (who will be sitting with me and DH for the flight), then my sister will board with my two year old nephew, and my brother in law will board with their 4 year old son. We will all try to get seats near where my parents got seats, just for the ease of entertaining the kids, but if it doesn't work out it doesn't work out.

Earlybird for everyone?

I considered it, but my sister is paying for 5 tickets so that adds quite a bit to their cost to do early bird for their whole family.

Thanks everyone!

The kids have to board with their boarding number. They cannot tag along with someone that has a lower boarding number. By purchasing Early Bird for only one person, you have made sure their boarding numbers will be different. Now, if you husband wants to board with the kids, he will have to go back to their position in line.

Thanks, that is what I assumed. The kids are our nephews and nice so he doesn't need to board with them. I would much rather him board as assigned and try to get a seat near my parents.

Good morning! I've flown Southwest twice, but never with a group this large and with kids. We are trying to get seats together (or at least two adults and one child in each row) and I have some questions that I hope someone can answer for me.

My Dad has limited mobility so we are going to request priority boarding for him and another adult to board first, before group A. That takes care of two adults (we won't be trying to save seats).

I bought my husband Early Bird to guarantee at least one of our group will have Group A boarding. The big question here is can he board with one of the kids? None are lap children and have their own ticket (not early bird).

Unless my sister and her family luck out and check in early enough to get group A they will be boarding between group A and B in the "adults traveling with small children" group. If one of the kids can't board with my husband then I will be boarding with them so we will have three adults traveling with three children.

Hopefully this strategy works. Is there anything we can do other than log in to check in right at the 24 hour mark? Any other tips?

Thanks!

Do you have to do a ship tour to get to Red Stripe Beach? We are three weeks out from our cruise and I can't decide where to take our three generation family of 9.

1) Safe

2) Cheap

3) Preferably close to port (Falmouth) because we will have 3 kids under 5 and we aren't sure how long they will last.

4) Shade of some sort, either umbrellas or trees

5) Chairs for rent