Hsmama

IDK...... I've taken one cruise before,and had one booked for fall. My husband no longer wants to cruise at all (he was uncertain before) and I'll probably cancel. (even if we lose money on it) I have no desire to get on one of these ships anymore. I feel sad about this,and didn't know where to go for a discussion about it to tell the truth,since usually these threads are about when things get going again.

Hi.... never booked an excursion before (noob) so I'm just getting this straight.... to  do this, I would need to actually book a ship excursion first (and pay for it,correct?) and then try to price match it,using the form. If I decide not to take the excursion, I have till a week before cruise to cancel,with no penalty? Thanks...

27 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

You obviously did not read the post I was replying to. We were only talking about the time between lunch and when the cabins (S&S cards) would be available on embarkation day. I made no claims of objection to the app. We use it all the time.

ahhh sorry! this thread got long fast and I got mixed up....

11 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

You can’t just send the kids off and tell them to come to the cabin at 1:30? If they are responsible enough to explore on their own with the app, they should be able to do it for an hour without it.

??? Not sure why this is even a question for you? In my case, I had teen/YA kids who pretty much set their own schedule for the day while DH and I would do things at our own pace.... we all liked to meet up at various times throughout the day onboard...we quickly realized with no texting this was a comedy of errors challenge,and hard to meet us all up same time/place....this will simplify things a lot. I don't see the problem with this ,in fact I think it's a wonderful thing to have and use! Yes, we had to make do with notes in the cabin,and hopefully meeting at the right time before, but this is much easier,and we all have a phone in our pockets so why not?

thank you!

So are these not allowed to be brought home on the ship?

On 1/11/2020 at 9:25 PM, blarko said:

 

I did that ONE time and won’t make that mistake again. The line on the last day of the cruise is never ending long due to all the people removing their gratuities 😡

people do that???? that sounds wrong

ok.... I was discussing this in another thread (somewhere) and I want to verify that I can do this without issue... I want to pay our gratuities once we get onboard,using a few gift cards that I have....this is ok,correct? what do I need to do?-thanks

19 hours ago, crzndeb said:

https://www.carnival.com/shipboard/funhub/funhub-landing

 

Download the app before you sail.

This is AWESOME. The one thing I disliked on my (one) cruise was the inability to split up and then find each other easily throughout the day!

14 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

If you use a travel agent, it Iis different.

 

If your travel agent takes carnival gift cards, you can call the travel agent to have gratuities added, and then use gift cards. 

 

If you have a travel agent, you can still go on the website to pay the gratuities then and there, but it will not be added to your overall balance. I have no clue why, but this screen does not give the option of using gift cards. I just looked, and the two choices were credit card and master pass. 

Ok I think this is what I did wrong (sorry I'm a noob here) I booked thru a TA,so I only get a screen with option of paypal or cc to prepay gratuities. I guess I'll just use the gc's I got as cruise cash,and that will cover the gratuities once onboard. Thanks

On 12/4/2019 at 6:34 PM, christyran1228 said:

I used discounted gift cards to purchase cruise cash on my account to cover gratuities - instead of waiting in line at guest services to apply them once on board.  🙂

Ok I'm curious how to do this- How do you turn a gift card into cruise cash? And that can be used for gratuities also? When I try to checkout to prepay gratuities I only get a choice of a credit card or paypal also. What am I doing wrong?

When I prepay gratuities in this way, do I have the option to prepay only the entire amount?  Carnival site doesn't work on chrome browser,only thru firefox on my computer.

Thank you! this is great!

Can I use carnival gift cards to pay my onboard gratuities? thanks

1 hour ago, thesmiths said:

We did an 8 day on the Sunrise in Sept from NY an had a great cruise and this was when the bashing was real heavy about the Sunrise. We even sailed around Hurricane Dorian.

 

Go, you'll have a good time. Great ship and crew.

 

Deck 3 is a great spot to read and watch the Ocean go by. Plenty of Shade.

Deck 10 Aft outside of the Italian eatery we always found loungers.

 

We did anytime dining when they opened and hit the shows and comedy and in bed most nights by 10.

 

Plenty of things to eat, some with an upcharge, actually  my wife enjoyed the upcharge nights, She looked at is as date nights.

(don't think she knew  there was an upcharge, she never saw the final bill 🙂 but happy wife happy life.)

 

Here is a pic of deck 3 at night.

Shows how close you are to the water line.

Again great place during the day and neat to walk out there at night time..

 

 

this is awesome! thanks- we booked it! Very excited and it was such a good deal I'll be happy just being able to see new sights! I did book early dining time...does that mean they'll assign us a specific time?

 

9 hours ago, E@syPe@zy said:

Is it the Panama Canal cruise in October 2020?

It will be a quieter sailing than a shorter cruise.  I've done the Panama Canal cruise, partial and it was an older crowd.  I see the cruise on 10/19/20 is full transit.  That will be a great cruise.  I don't think you will much of a problem with it being crowded and noisy.  Go and enjoy!  

I have found that a lot of cruises that embark in one city and disembark in another are less crowded, due to the expense of airfare.  Just know that your taxes and port fees are more expensive on a Panama Canal cruise.  It's expensive for the ships to go through the canal.  I would love to do the full transit!

Yes that's the one.....  Thanks for your opinion.... I was kind of hoping that due to the length and the two different ports, it might attract less of a party crowd and more of a sightseeing vibe? Not 100% sure of the difference there, but really, on our 1 cruise we've taken, we enjoyed the FOOD first of all.... I'm guessing there are lots of included options on Sunrise also, altho it appears there are more upcharge options onboard also... Honestly we enjoyed just walking,taking in scenery, relaxing and reading a book,either in a lounge area, library,or on a deck somewhere.... I think a show or two might be fun also but we're not night owls or anything. We're not "old' lol (early 50's) but we tend to like relaxed activities on the ship.  I see they removed the onboard library for Sunrise....  

Considering this cruise- it’s 12 days  out of nyc.... but not sure it’s right for us... 2nd time on  cruise, looking for peace and relaxation while touring... reviews here seem to be mixed,and all say crowded and not peaceful. Is there a difference in experiences between a short cruise on this ship cruise line vs a longer 12 day trip? Any opinions? 1st cruise was HAL and we loved that.

thanks! So I guess I'm watching for refundable vs. non refundable deposits...correct? I would likely buy insurance anyway just in case 

So I'm viewing some RCL cruise options for Nov.2020- it seems like the policy is if I had to cancel before Sept. 2020 I wouldn't be penalized,am I reading this right? Never sailed them before but this seems generous.

Thank you for all the replies- I will stalk that thread and look for info too! I loved HAL and the laid back experience,and the food. I noticed MSC had different named levels.  

Please tell me about MSC..... I've never heard of this line, and this would be my 2nd time planning a cruise. How is it for families,or young adults? My only experience has been Holland America,which we liked a lot. thanks

are there hard and fast rules about when you get on the ship,or does it vary from line to line? Is it allowed to possibly book a cruise,but not actually get on the ship till the 1st stop? I was looking at a cruise that's r/t from NYC,1st stop is port canaveral. Would we be able to book that, but not get onboard till Port Canaveral,and take remainder of the cruise as  normal? 

My son was a no show in his cabin last year. There were no problems whatsoever and his port charges and taxes were refunded to my credit card quickly, without having to request it.

This is what I have concerns over.... I want to book the cabin for the 4 of us, but one son may ditch last minute.... what should I do if this happens? we'll have already paid the fare etc anyway. Do we say something ahead of time, or when boarding(depending on how much notice we get from him if this happens?) I assume our cabin would remain the same since we have 3 anyway

what is the general thinking on NCL? I'm looking at some bargains here..... the ships look amazing

Ok I am a new cruiser-took an Alaska Holland America cruise last year and loved it- looking to cruise again- this time to caribbean somewhere in the winter. I'm drawn to Carnival for their itineraries,and good prices. I'm also attracted b/c of their somewhat liberal cancel policies without penalty.also the name change policy seems fair and easy,I like that (incase one of our fam swaps out last minute) ...what do you think.... can I find happiness on such a different line than our only other cruise? from what I read,each cruise line is different,and I liked the quieter vibe on the Alaska,HA cruise. (I love the food,etc too) but for the reasons above,I'm thinking of trying Carnival...I'd like to hear your pros and cons please!