TheLargeFamily

Bc my husband gets casino offers that come from players club. My offer noted my activity in purchasing pixils, spa, dining and shore excursions. Mine doesn't offer DOU. while my husband's casino offers do, with higher OBC (500). I spent played in the casino for an hour at blackjack. I came out ahead. My husband played and lost $600 over the week at blackjack, playing approximately 1-2 hrs a day. No slots. His offers aren't for free rooms. Only OBC and DOU (in casino only) , and room discounts that aren't much more than early saver.

Wow. I have heard these deals don't seem to have any rhyme or reason... Case and point. I am currently poised to send my PVP an email... I think I may have found an option...

We took our first Carnival Cruise in March on Jubilee. Right after we got off the ship we rebooked for January on Breeze. Yesterday I received a Free Cruise Offer in my email. It's for an interior room and for a limited number of sailings in 2025. Most are 4-5 day cruises but one is a transpacific. Although there are many options, I don't think any of them work logistically. It seems like you pay $200 for the room but get a $200 OBC. You still pay for gratuities. Is there any rhyme or reason as to why I got this? I gambled at the blackjack table for an hour and doubled my $100. It's not a casino offer. I did spend a bundle onboard... Pixils, Specialty Dining, a few souvenirs, tipping bartenders with the Cheers pkg. I didn't use Carnival's shore excursions at all. I'm hoping that I'll get another for my homeport someday... but it seems like TX sailings are super popular. Edited to add... I am seeing 6 day cruises and a 22 day Transpacific... as well as a few other fun options... none that work with my crazy schedule. Oh well. But dang, I hope I can take advantage of these types of deals when I retire.

The merch in Jubilee also has lots of Texas flair.

On Jubilee it opened at 2pm (ish) each day. Cool that other ships open it sooner! It was never terribly busy and they'll often let you go multiple times while harnessed.

You're right. It's not complicated... once you're actually aware that there are different types of driver licenses.

Call me crazy/stupid/whatever, but I think the inconsistencies in DL's is confusing. I had googled "does Texas have enhanced drivers license" and gotten confusing results (I shared a pic within this thread). Is it my fault that I didn't do more digging? Sure! But, instead, I grabbed hubby's birth certificate as I was packing. Glad I did! Then there's passport cards vs passports. My husband will renew his passport. As for the kids, I am in decision paralysis.

My first PVP did nothing beyond book my rooms. Never responded to emails. So I tried a TA for my upcoming cruise (when we will have passports) and she couldn't book us ANY of the rooms I saw online. So I had to book online myself. Hey, look! More inconcistencies!

Also, I wonder why carnival cannot note this during the online check in process? It has our state of residency in its system. Can't it note the handful of states with an EDL. I don't intend to blame Carnival, but this would be helpful for the occasional traveler.

I wonder how often people are turned away at the terminal when they bring the wrong travel documents or the wrong state ID... As we did. I'm so grateful for the nudge to bring my husband's birth certificates.

Yes it's Texas. I have a sinking feeling right now. Back when I was planning, I googled and found this (attached) which I thought was adequate at the time. Glad I packed those birth certificates. Wow. Glad to learn from u rather than at the terminal.

FYI, if they do the EDL have them also bring a birth certificate. For whatever reason, the gal at the Galveston terminal wanted both for my husband on our March cruise. Also, the birth certificate line on the way out had a quarter the amount of people! Just saying! That said, we are renewing passports now that we have a booking in January. 😜

Can it go to another continent?

In Texas, school ends in May and starts the 2nd week of Aug. Try staying in Tha Havana area on a Vista or Excel? And, even as a mom, I can't stand to be in a hot tub full of children. I never got in the hot tub on our last cruise and if I did it would have probably been on serenity. The few times that one of our kids would go in the hot tub my husband would sit in there with her.

After the last fire, did she immediately get repaired or did she sail with a half burned tail? Any photos?

Hahaha same. We never got around to eating there.

It seemed really under utilized!

Is anyone booked on this new ship? I considered it but the reviews are terrible! Bad food, bars closing early, grumpy service. It seems like you have to do yacht club to have a decent experience.

Hello Fellow Texans! Galveston is my homeport. We live in DFW. How do y'all stay up to date on cruise ships comings and goings and new itineraries from the Galveston port? Is cruise critic your best bet?

Yeas all those things... And pictures they take of u

Spring break is a guessing game. I have looked at trends in past calendars but it's always the 2nd or 3rd week in March. As for Christmas, some years we get a full week before Christmas and almost no time off in January. Other years, we are out a few days before Christmas and then don't go back until January 6-8. Some years get a full week at Thanksgiving! At least July is always available.

Yes, we had a trash can in one bathroom and in the common area of the stateroom, but the common areas of the boat has no trash cans. The bathrooms that offer paper towels have a small bucket (labeled for paper only)if there isn't a small trash integrated into the counter/cabinet. Yes, that pizza is good! I wonder if it's the same recipe on all carnival ships???

No, the sports court was always in use for other things. There was almost always 2 half-court basketball games and a soccer game going simultaneously on the court. Lots of teens on our spring break cruise. Perhaps if I had a group of aggressive pickleball players with me, we could have staged a coup. As for the drinking, I guess Carnival is different. We had slightly limited beverage menus that whole embark day. Drink packages start the next day. I cannot remember how it was when we cruised out of Galveston with Royal 6 years ago.

Thank goodness they didn't go crazy and melt cheese on top of the kung pao chicken.

I brought champagne and I was hoping that they would bring me a cold bucket for it. But they did not and it was late in the dinner before I remembered to ask for one. But I think I know that I will only bring glasses in the future to avoid that small fee