atj1971

Yes, my husband gets them every day on every ship that we are on from the omelette station in the center of the Lido Buffet! He says they are delicious!

That's great news. Thank you!

it doesn't need to be certified...even a photocopy of your birth certificate is ok. Just used a photocopy on March 2, 2017.

 

"A clear, legible copy of a birth certificate that was originally issued by a government agency (state/county/city) or the Department of Health and Vital Statistics. The copy does not need to be notarized or certified. "

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3409/~/travel-documentation%3A-u.s.-citizens

In other words, certified. Birth certificates from a government agency, Vital statistics, Dept of Health, are certified. Hospital birth certificates are not.

I may be going to England in the fall, so wondering if it is easier to apply for renewal before it expires? I wonder if it matters.

I just got my first one but I have heard it is best to renew before it expires.

yeah, just saw that as I was filling in cruise docs. I'm nearly certain I have a birth certificate.

 

Sailing soon, do I chance getting a new one expedited or sail with expired passport and birth certificate?

I don't know if this helps, not sure when you set sail but I got my passport in 15 days without paying for it to be expedited.

Make sure your birth certificate is certified and you will be fine assuming you are leaving from a US port and returning to the same port. Happy Sailing!!!

 

Excursions are a TOTALLY different ball game though. They aren't just affected by what you "see" as the weather. A good example is on a multi-gen cruise my mother's parasailing was canceled, it was a little to windy higher up, weather in general was amazing that day. She also had the same excursion to Antarctica canceled not once, but twice on 2 different cruises. Neither because of the current weather, but because the forecast suggested it might be harder getting back in 6 hours. If they are canceled it is probably because of a really good safety issue and even if everything looks OK, they are willing to loose money to keep you safe.

 

Woah!!! What kind of excursions are there in Antarctica? What cruise line goes there? I am intrigued!!!

Not like I want to go on one, I am still shell shocked over the Titanic hitting ice Rose not moving over on that door. Just wondering.

I just returned home from and absolutely wonderful 5 day Bahama trip on the Elation. Let me know any questions you may have about this ship or ports and I'll do my best to answer them!

How late are the pools and hot tubs open? I sail 5/6/17. Super excited!!

Thank you for the congrats so happy for all of them ; 0 )

 

So each person in a room can not have a separate credit card assigned to them. It's only one card per stateroom? What I wanted to do was pay for the room fee only not the tips etc... of course I would pay for my kids gratuities etc...but did not want to be responsible for the rest

 

Thanks for response and patience

I'm not sure how you planned on listing each person in which cabin but there are age limits ( I think 25) for cabins. You will have to probably have to place an adult in each cabin. (They can sleep where they want, just for booking reasons.) Then, when you do the online check in, it will ask for credit card info for each stateroom and who can use their S&S card to purchase. I'm sure you can assign a card to each S&S card if you wanted to.

Another reason to add an adult to each stateroom that a lot of people like, if you are looking at a Cheers program, everyone over 21 in the cabin has to buy one. Splitting adults in to cabins with underaged passengers allows them to purchase one Cheers program instead of 2 or more per cabin.

You will need to put a credit card on each stateroom and set up who can do what with their S&S. (Make purchases etc) You can also pick the "cash" option.

We added our gratuities to our booking and paid upfront for them. I know everyone doesn't like to do that but I like knowing it is all taken care of.

Happy sailing and congratulations on the graduations!

Seems we will be sailing with his birth certificate after all. My DIL called to make an appointment to get the passport paperwork processed and there are NO appointments until May. The application is filled out and the pictures have been taken. I knew they didn't have an appointment, but this has never been an issue. When we got ours, we called and made an appointment for later in the week. I can't believe they are making appointments for 5 weeks in the future. Its worse than trying to make a Dr's appointment. Lordy!!!

 

This is my fault though. We were due to sail originally in late July and decided to change the date to the first of June. Had we stuck with our original date, we would be ok. Oh well. It is what it is. I hope others don't wait like we did. 8 weeks should have been ok. We learned a lesson. I should have had them apply for his passport before Christmas!

I would just try another post office. Surely there has to be appointments sooner than that. Right?

If not, just something to look in to, but I remember when my daughter was under 18 I had to show something signed and notarized from her dad saying I could take her out of the country. It's been a while ago but better to be prepared if that's still an issue.

We are taking our grandson on his first cruise on June 1 (in 8 weeks). His parents are finally getting around to getting his passport done this week. What is the current turnaround time, does anyone know? I am wondering if I need to pay extra to get it expedited.

My daughter applied on 3/13/17, hers came today 3/28/17

I applied for mine on 3/17/17, mine is said to be here by 4/2/17 (according to the status website)

Thank you for all of your responses!! I am eggcited!!! ;-)

There is a buffet station that makes omelets to order. You can ask them to use just egg whites there, and it comes out pretty good.

 

If you wanted fresh eggs prepped any other way, they also have them as well. Just ask and they get them from the cooler for you.

As funny as it sounds, an omelette station is exciting to me. I'm glad I can participate with the egg white option.

Thank you!!

Does Carnival offer egg white omelettes? I am not a fan of an omelette unless it is with egg whites.

TIA for your answers

Happy Sailing!! :cool:

Having the FTTF, what is the earliest they will allow you to check in? Anyone recently cruises with FTTF know?

I was just checking my billing for my April cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. It shows my FTTF dated for April 15...all good. But it shows cheers not until Sunday April 16...I can't use it the first day?

After reading this, I checked "My Orders" on my account. It was the same issue. I am sailing out of Florida and it said it didn't start until day 2. I called customer service and they had to transfer my call to the "FUNSHOPS" department. The rep there told me that being able to see your orders is new and I infact, would be able to use my CHEERS program as soon as I got on the ship with my S&S card. She said they are working on the dates but if it had not changed where I am seeing it, their computers show that it starts the day I board.

Hope this helps.

Super excited to watch this review progress.

Don't feel guilty about taking that 10.00 from the college fund, blame the kids for not getting 110% on every test they take to earn a full academic ride to college. ;-) They could help their Momma out a little bit here. I mean, you DID teach them how to eat and change those diapers!! lol

Great sense of humor. Until the next chapter...

Following along. Sailing in May on a different ship but love seeing reviews.

Waterproof pouches -- not something I had thought of -- better see where I can find one -- a week til I leave town for New Orleans :-)

Amazon!!! Have fun!!

There are no "time slots" to board, only to check-in

Ok, then, what is the earliest "Check in" time they assign?

Does anyone know the earliest check in time offered in Jacksonville? If the ship sets sail at 4pm, what is the earliest time slot to board?

If you get the FTTF pass what time can you board?

Hello – Just found this board – booked the cruise months ago. Just me and my 18 year old son going. This is his senior year of high school. We are pretty excited yet I am nervous. We have never been on a cruise before! We are coming from Indiana. Driving down, leaving on Saturday stopping on the way to see my Dad in KY. Will get to New Orleans on Sunday to do a little site seeing. Forget exactly what hotel we are staying at now.

 

Should I pre-pay or pre-book the parking? I seem to see some mention of that or I can do that when we get to the port. I was going to park at the port but now I am thinking of the Fulton.

 

 

In Cozumel we are swimming with the dolphins. Something I have wanted to do for so long. I assume they will have somewhere for me to lock up or secure my phone and camera while we are in the water.

 

In Progresso we have an all-inclusive beach resort booked. Hoping after both excursions we have time to explore the ports a little when we get back. Do a little shopping. Wondering if I shouldn’t have booked excursions in both ports. Does anyone know if this is usually normal or is it usually time to get back on the ship as soon as you get back?

 

A little nervous about it being spring break and being so packed. Not being able to find chairs at the pool. We have any time dining so nervous about having to wait forever to get seated to eat.

 

I am just nervous about all the unknowns LOL. I need to relax and just go with the flow I know. I know we will have a great time. Being a first time cruiser I don’t know what to expect.

Congratulations on your first cruise. I took my first and only cruise in 2005. Long story short, it was a complete nightmare from an hour after leaving the house. With that said, it had nothing to do with cruising (except the tropical storm we went through) but more of who we went with.

I have wanted to go on another since the day we stepped off of the ship. Wanting to go back on another cruise as badly as I do, made me realize it wasn't cruising that I didn't enjoy. Even through the literal storm, it had potential of being relaxing and memorable in better ways. haha I am currently booked on a cruise in May so after all of these years, I finally get to give it a go again.

The reason I felt like I wanted to respond, is because much like you I was nervous. I had no idea what to expect. I had plenty of friends who had been on multiple cruises giving me helpful hints etc but it never made me feel better. This message board is great for information. Soak it all in. I have one thing I always tell people about my first cruise that I wish I had done differently...

You will get a Funtimes flyer in your room at night with all of the next day's events. It is exciting to look it over and set possible plans of things you want to do or see. The thing I did was feel like I needed to attend all of the "informational" meetings they had. Each port had a meeting you could attend to keep you informed about shopping, beaches, etc. Looking back, I feel like the only thing I did on that cruise was go to "meetings". They were informative but on the last day, I realized that those meetings were shown in the cabin rooms on tv. :o

Now, it has been YEARS since that dreadful vacation, but I am sure they still show those meetings to watch after you turn in for the night. Instead, pick something FUN to do!!

On the other hand, the one thing I enjoyed a lot was room service coffee in the mornings. So nice to wake up and have coffee to start the day!!

Enjoy your cruise and relax. Make memories with your son and live in the moment!

Thank you all for quick response!!

I'm sorry if this has been addressed but I have seen both responses.

Can anyone tell me if the Cheers package is honored at HMC? Does someone that has sailed recently know the answer?

Happy Sailing!!

Thank you all for the answers. I have a lot of flip flops that are "blingy" and was worried about not being able to wear them. I really didn't want to lug another pair of shoes along if I didn't have to.