kollarism
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Posts posted by kollarism
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We cruise mid April, hoping we are unaffected. I'm not concerned at all about getting the coronavirus. I'm more concerned that someone tests positive and the ship is quarantined when we get back.
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54 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:
Technology is not the issue, it’s about maximizing profits.
True, but some people won't buy cheers because of port days. If people could use it on the island, more people might buy cheers. Nonetheless, I'm sure Carnival had already done sensitivity analysis on all these scenarios to what makes the most money.
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On 1/6/2019 at 3:33 PM, bmci3398 said:
What is this Alchemy Bar of which you speak?! Do you just walk in and they make any concoction you want? Is it part of the Cheers package? If not, how much do the drinks run? Sounds amazing!
Yes it's covered under cheers, I would say the drinks are about $12. If you are looking to get your money worth, this is absolutely the place to go. The drinks are fresh, high quality, and something you would find off of a drink menu when out to dinner at home. Don't get me wrong, we grab drinks all across the ship, but in the evenings we always get at least 2 drinks here each night.
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Are these always offered on AARP? We're cruising 2020 and if like to wait till a bit closer to purchase, and stack with new credit card offers.
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32 minutes ago, teknoge3k said:
Priority embarkation is just one of the few perks of FTTF. You're not auto-assigned a check-in time with FTTF. With FTTF you still have to pick a check-in time for the terminal. You just get to ignore that check-in time if you have FTTF. Otherwise you may have to stand in the "early/late" line, depending on which port you're at.
Even with FTTF you could still have the same check-in time as Joe Blow. You could both have a check-in time of 12:30. The only difference is that Joe has to wait until 12:30 to check-in, whereas with FTTF you could be sitting on the ship at 10:30 eating. Joe would still be waiting in the "early/late" line.
You're not auto-assigned a check-in time with or without FTTF. I guess if you just don't check-in, you'd be assigned whatever check-in times are left in the end. I'm not sure.
Does boarding ever open at 1030? Our first and only cruise was FTTF, checked in at 1130, went straight through and they just opened the gangway.
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1 hour ago, teknoge3k said:
Having FTTF has nothing to do with your check-in time and what you pick. You can buy FTTF and pick whatever check-in time you want. Having FTTF means you do not have to adhere to that check-in time. So if you purchase FTTF you still have to pick a check-in time. If you cancel your FTTF then you would have to stick to whatever check-in time you pick. Also keep in mind FTTF has more perks than just priority boarding.
So the real perk of FTTF is boarding immediately? I could realistically not get it, have an 1130/12 check-in, but then have a bad zone to actually board? I wonder if zones are assigned in order of check-in?
Which is why I raised the other point/question: if you are auto assigned the best check-in time with FTTF, buy it, get assigned earliest check in, then cancel it. Not saying I would do it, but it sounds plausible.
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We cruised 2017 work FTTF and were given 1130 check-in. I've been following along and deciding if we need it this time. Curious what happens if we buy it, get our check-in time, then cancel it?
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Assuming you as the buyer need to find the better deal and call in for the adjustment, they won't just credit you? Also, you also need to find the same room type or better at a cheaper price to get an adjustment?
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On 11/18/2016 at 8:52 AM, happygirlchocolate said:
We paid $44 per day plus gratuity for the premium package. This was supposed to be 20% off but I guess that is RC's new math LOL. The original price is $55 per day. We also got a 30% discount on the internet package. All of this was purchased prior to sailing and you had to check with your ship to see if it was being offered. Not all ships offered the discount at the same time.
Do you know ahead of time that the drink package deal is running?
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HMC was awesome. We also went to Nassau and Grand Turk, and wish we could have just stayed at HMC for 3 days. Stay and enjoy!
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First cruise was in July and we got FTTF. Well worth the price, very similar to your thoughts.
Do other cruise lines have similar perks?
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New to cruise, just booked this one! So I'm grateful for your review. I have no clue what FT is? And my next big question, do either or you get sea sick? This is a big concern of mine... how the cruise ports/journey "felt". Any help appreciated! Thanks
Great! I'm not sure whether I reference FT, unless you meant FTTF faster to the fun.
We bright Dramamine, but didn't need it. From my understanding, if you are susceptible to car sickness, you may get sea sick. There were definitely times that if you focused on the boat, you could feel it rocking a bit. If not, you really don't feel anything. Don't stress, enjoy your cruise!
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My wife and I also sailed with Conquest in July with cheers. Most drinks were $9 and alchemy bar for about $12. If you don't count any of the other perks (water, soda, vitamin water), you can break even around 5 drinks. It really is worth it IMO, but everyone is different.
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Sounds like you had a good first cruise. Congratulations on your Masters degree!
We really did have such a great time, and keep talking about wanting to be back on it. We understand the addiction everyone talks about. We would love to go with other people, or we might bring our soon to be 1 year old with us. We're already looking into holiday time or spring 2018!
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What tour did you go on in Nassau can you tell me the name or give me a link. I would like to check it out.
Here is the link. For $30/ea, we were happy. You get to see a bunch of things, the tour guide was great, free water, and it doesnt break the bank for some other excursions. Nassau doesnt seem to be the best of ports from my findings, but it was enough for us.
From what I've read elsewhere on these boards, you have to scan/setup Mobile Passport within 4 hours of going through Customs. So (as I understand) it won't do any good to do it the night before.Yep, AFAIK, Port Everglades is the only port so far that uses Mobile Passport. But this is one port where it is definitely needed -- until too many people get wind of it, maybe, but at Port Everglades almost any sort of improvement is a welcome one.
We sailed Conquest two years ago and thought the ship was "okay" to very nice. For one thing, we both agreed that the rock band in the Atrium was the best ever. But that might've been just a one-time or short-term thing, and as I said it was two years ago.
Yes, once we completed the mobile passport, you only have 4 hours. We filled out a paper card, but then completed the app when we docked at 6am. It takes 1 minute to fill everything out.
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Nice review, glad to hear you both enjoyed the vacation. I'd love to hear more about this mobile passport. What exactly is it? How do you get it? How much is it? Thanks.
Its a free app to download. You scan your passport, verify all of the information, and then use it at customs coming back (I believe only Port Everglades is using it right now, but I'm not 100%). We got to the front of the line, and were directed to another agent, and their scanner wasnt working anyway. Luckily we had filled out a paper form just in case.
To be honest, I wish I took a picture of the terminals coming in and leaving for people to see the FTTF perk and mobile passport. We saved hours just from those two things.
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So glad to read a positive review, especially from a newbie :)
Glad you had a great time, and now plan to take more in the future. It's called Cruise Addiction. lol
Thank you for posting your entire review at one time. So many poster's write a bit, stop, write a bit, stop. I know people are busy, but breaking up a review so much, drives me crazy. I can't keep up with posts written that way, so I miss the ending to a lot of reviews.
Yours was enjoyable to read. Come back soon.
Thanks. Well I had all these thoughts in my head, and wanted to get them out. I really want to be helpful to other new cruisers or people that have questions on FTTF, Cheers, Mobile Passport, etc. Its quite overwhelming, so I hope I can help at least 1 person out!
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Quick Background:
My wife and I turn 30 this year, I finished my Masters, and we have a 10 month old. We decided it was time for a fun trip. This was the first cruise for both of us, and the first time we left our baby overnight, so we decided to do it for 6 days!
We were on the Carnival Conquest from 7/15-7/20: Nassau, Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, and Sea Day.
Faster to the Fun:
We purchased our cruise about 2-3 months out, and we had no idea what all the cruise lingo was. After some research, I'm typically frugal, I grabbed the FTTF that was still available. I have to say, thank god that we did. For $70, I can't see why you wouldnt purchase it if it's available. We flew from Pennsylvania to FLL airport the morning of, got there around 10:40. We took a Lyft to Port Everglades and walked into Terminal 19 about 11:45? Well we had a drink in our hands in the lobby by 12:07! The terminal was packed, and we literally went to the front of every line. I made the comment to my wife that it was worth the $70 just for the terminal line, which had to be at least an hour or more wait.
We used FTTF for tender to Half Moon Cay - went to the lobby, waiting for a group of people, and we were immediately taken down and loaded right on the tender.
Guest Services:
Man, this would be another reason to purchase. Of course there were times that the line was pretty empty, but we saw lines throughout the cruise 25+ people deep. We did stop there about 3 times to ask a question or two, but there was only ever one or two people in line for the FTTF/Diamond line.
Room:
We has stateroom 2255 with an ocean view. Going into our first cruise, we were happy with the size. Happy we had a view compared to inside, but inside would be fine to save money as well. We might do a balcony next time, but I also like to save money! Room steward/housekeeping did a great job, and no complaints.
Food:
Guys Burgers:
Burgers were pretty good, loved the toppings bar. The fries were awesome! I think we ate there twice.
Blue Iguana:
This was by far our favorite food spot on the ship. The tacos were amazing (fish, chicken, pork). The tortillas were so fresh. There was also a burrito and burrito bowl side, along with breakfast burritos in the morning. We ate here just about everyday in some form.
Pizza Pirate:
We kept saying we were going to eat here, but were so full from food and drinks. One night after a few too many drinks, we did make it up for 2 slices. It was very good, thin pizza.
We didnt test our the Seafood Shack or BBQ place.
Main dining room:
We had anytime dining. We typically eat dinner by 5pm at home, plus we liked the flexibility to come and go whenever. We typically ate between 6 and 7, and ended up really liking one of the waiting teams on day 2, so we requested them every other day. We are fairly simple people, but also like nice "fine dining" food one in awhile. The food was quite food, and I don't know who would complain about it. Every night had a wide variety of foods to try. Our waiter always recommended us food, and brought an extra appetizer every night for us to try that we didnt ask for. Favorite foods were probably the prime rib and pork chop. We also tried frog legs, escargot, beef carpaccio, etc.
Drinks:
We purchased the Cheers package after tons of research. It was about $250/ea for us. Drinks were basically $9 if you didnt get a beer, which was $6, and Alchemy Bar was $12. I didnt add up our statement yet, but I would say we at least broke even. We used the perks for specialty coffees, Vitamin Water, bottles water, etc. Even if we didnt reach it, it was so nice knowing that we didnt need to look at the prices to keep track of spending, we didnt drink a few drinks that we didnt like and didnt feel bad, and even "bought" a few drinks for people that we ran into that didnt have the drink package. No way could we drink 15 drinks, but met a few nice people along the way.
We like all of the bars. The bartenders did a pretty good job; granted it got pretty busy, so there were times we had to wait 5-10 minutes to get 2 drinks, but others where we just walked right up and got them. There was a pretty good amount of pool service walking around if you were around the pool area for a drink, so that was nice. One thing that we didnt do, but should have, was brought a landyard with plastic case for our sail and sign cards. I wasnt sure if we wanted it, people said you would look like a noobie, others said who cares, but we didnt really think of it. It would have been nice to keep them with us for drinks, but it wasnt a huge deal.
When it came to drinks, we drank a lot of frozen drinks because they were easy drinking by the pool in the heat! We didnt drink at all on the islands. We did realize that our stomachs felt funny after awhile, but likely was because of all the sugar in the drinks. We sprinkled in some Michelob Ultras, Greygoose and club because a nice clean favorite, and the Alchemy Bar was amazing! We went there a few nights, but we definitely got in some trouble one night that we had 3 before dinner. The drinks are strong, and made with very fresh ingredients! This is the place to go for good drinks.
Hub App:
The app is awesome. We used it so much, just to check what was going on. Turn on airplane mode, connect to carnivals wifi, and you could see everything that was happening on the ship, locations, food, drink, etc. If we were in a group, the chat feature seems great if needed.
Cell Phone:
Since this was the first time leaving our baby at home, we wanted to keep in touch. The plans were pretty expensive, but we have AT&T. They have an International Day Pass for $10 - when you use your phone, you are charged and can use it for 24hrs. We couldnt use it at sea, but were able to use it while in port or on the islands. For $20, we
were able to video chat multiple times a day to check in and see her.
Mobile Passport:
Again, similar to FTTF, this was a huge time saver until people figure it out. We had an 11:40 flight out of FLL, and was worried about getting hung up. Well we were at the port at 6, and able to get off the ship about 6:30 if we wanted. We grabbed a quick snack on the Lido deck, and walked off the ship about 645 with no line. In the terminal - wow, what a line already for customs. I showed the mobile passport app, and we must have saved another 1hr+. Straight to the front, 1 person in front of us, and outside we went! We grabbed another lyft and were waiting in FLL airport for a few hours, but we were happy just to be settled. For those that needs transportation, FLL to Port Everglades was about $6 with Lyft. I'm sure Uber was about the same, but I heard taxis are closer to $20.
Ports:
Nassau was just OK - we found a nice tour on Trip Advisor for $30/ea. It was about 3 hours, and took us to 6 or 7 stops. Atlantis, rum cake factory, distillery, queens steps, etc. We did that, and then just went back to the ship to enjoy it.
HMC was the most beautiful beach that we've ever been to. The sand was like powdered sugar, and the water was crystal clear. We bought $30 snorkel gear at Costco, and had a blast just swimming around for hours. The food here was pretty good as well, music paying, free beach chairs. After going to Nassau and Grand Turk, we wish we could have just stayed here for 3 days!
Grand Turk was very pretty in port, but we didnt care for the port too much. We tried to snorkel a bit, but there was so much coral and rocks that you needed to navigate around on for certain parts. Some of the other portions were a bit crowded. One thing I wanted to do, but we decided against it, was walk up to the shipwreck on Governors beach. We probably only stayed at this port for about 2 hours, and then enjoyed the food and drinks on the boat again!
Overall, we had such a great time. We will definitely be cruising in the future, and were very happy with the price and experience. We overheard some cruise snobs, complaining about everything. It is what you make it, and the CC forums here were also very helpful in making our first experience worthwhile.
Feel free to ask any questions!
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While it doesn't matter, because it will happen anyway, do you start checking the forecast as you approach embarkment day? Our first cruise is Saturday on the Conquest, and I can't help but check the weather/tropical storm report this week.
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We returned on Thursday. Not sure what happened at the port but we couldn't leave the ship until about 11 AM (they were setting up the lunch buffet for the newly arriving passengers) and another 90 minutes or so in line at the port facility before we decided to try the app. From then it was smooth sailing through customs!
What was the date that you returned? I see that on 6/29 and 7/6 there were a TON of ships moving in and out of port everglades. Im looking at my return date, we there are only 2 -- hoping to not get held-up for our flight home.:o
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Can I order a drink for my wife and I using both of our cards, or do we both need to be present when ordering?
TYIA
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Yikes! What day of the week did you return and how many ships were coming back? We have a 11:40 flight from FLL, but departing on a Thursday with only 2 or 3 ships that day.
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Have fun! We're getting on that ship when you return, so please be sure to disembark quickly!
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Get an Uber or Lyft, only about $12 got the whole car
Just returned from Magic. Time for break from Carnival?
in Carnival Cruise Lines
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How did you get on before your check-in time? Did you have FTTF or Platinum? No early/late line?