HerbertandB

CD doesn't effect my cruise fun at all (unless they are super annoying and talk too much).  

I'm at 30 - 45 minutes.  We would never drive to port; it's too far and I don't like to drive or ride more than 5 hours.  Fly in the day before so hotel to cruise terminal is as far as I would go.

From Carnival's FAQ - carry-on suit case should not weigh more than 50 pounds, and when lying flat, bags must not exceed 16 inches high by 24 inches wide (the length of the bag is not a factor)

1 hour ago, minnieiowa said:

I know it. I thought he made a typo and it as supposed to be $1100 and he replied back no  I realizeDes Moines isn’t a huge hub but shouldn’t be that high 

It looks like he quoted you business class rates.

Many moons ago I worked for a large health insurance company, which has been mentioned in one of the previous responses.   Occasionally we'd get claims from members that lived or were traveling overseas.  We'd look at the bill from the provider or any receipts given to the member and pay the member in US dollars based on the exchange rate for the date the services were rendered.  

Which makes me wonder,  if you pay out of pocket up front with a credit card that has foreign transaction fees of 3% will you get reimbursed for the amount you paid or does the insurance company still calculate the payment based on the bill itself?  

I wear a watch everyday to work because I don't carry my cell phone everywhere I go.  However, I bought a cheap Casio watch to wear for the cruise, one that could get wet, sandy, etc.

2 hours ago, slmiller99 said:

Thank you all for the info! As far as the 1 bag limit I saw it on the Carnival FAQs under luggage info. It only printed 2 luggage tags for our cabin and I was trying to figure out why. I am guessing it is just a suggestion though based on your responses. Thanks again!

Yes, under the FAQ Carnival does suggest limiting luggage but they won't limit you;  you can take as many bags as you want.   However, if it was me I would probably take less clothes or do laundry before leaving Universal instead of trying to deal with 4 bags in the cabin (unless you have a suite).

 To help you plan, we suggest you limit your luggage to a maximum of one bag per person, if traveling on cruises of 3-5 days duration, and no more than two bags per person, for cruises of 6 days or longer. 

19 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

It's not a big deal, I'll just start bringing my own travel size bottles of conditioner and lotion.  It's just a little sad.  Even cheap, 2-star hotels provide toiletries. But I have to provide my own when booking a Grand Suite on Carnival. I'm not upset.  I'm only slightly disappointed.  And I'm not surprised by this cutback in the slightest.

 

 

Hotels providing individual sized toiletries is going away too.  Marriott, IHG (Holiday Inn etc) and others have announced in the last few months that they will be going to toiletries in bulk-size dispensers.  

9 hours ago, K32682 said:

My first cruises were in the late 90's and I took a fairly long hiatus before coming back to them.  

 

What I noticed was tighter security, lower quality food, less personal service, higher costs for drinks but a lower cost for the cruise itself.

 

What I appreciated was less regimentation and rigidity along with a far less structured atmosphere.  Anytime dining, specialty restaurants, reduced dress requirements even on the so-called formal nights.  The entire experience was less affected and pretentious that I remembered from 20 years ago.   

I did exactly the same thing...took a long break and when I came back noticed the same things.  

In general, I think there's less personal service, lower quality and higher costs (which I expect) in almost everything now days so it's not surprising cruising isn't what it used to be but what is.

I got my Hep A immunization before we cruised.  I told my doctor where we were going and she looked up which immunizations were recommended by the CDC for those locations- easy peasy.

14 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

We only bring cash, credit cards and passport, never even thought about bringing food on a vacation

Anytime we fly, we always have some type of snack food with us.  Usually something like peanut butter covered pretzels, trail mix, and/or club crackers.

Yes, we buy insurance for any vacation not on the US mainland.  I not so concerned with recovering the cost of the vacation as I am the medical coverage,  evacuation and...repatriation.

@2wheelin Back when we got the price match, the non-Carnival exclusion was $75.00 so Carnival's price must have been almost $125.00.   It  looks like Carnival has a discount going on it right now for the $110.00 so the price hasn't changed.  https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/belize/lamanai-mayan-ruins-and-river-boat-safari-with-lunch-509098

@ChinaShrek

I used this one - https://belizecruiseexcursions.com/excursion/lamanai-belize-excursion-mayan-ruins/

We were able to get it with the Belize Lamanai Mayan Ruins excursion.  Saved us almost $50/person.

Not getting any messages but CC is very slow loading when I'm clicking on a new topic/thread.

14 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

OP has said her kids & grandkids have been begging for a family cruise, so it looks like they've made it clear how they want to spend their vacation time.

 

For those making this argument, don't y'all think that the OP and her husband took these things into consideration when they decided to pay for a cruise for 12 people?

 

Wanting to go on a family cruise and having a "surprise" family cruise are two different things.  Being told when and where you're going is different than sitting down and planning it together as a family.

6 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

I can't imagine booking a family cruise and making it a surprise.  What if someone couldn't get the time off or had other plans for their vacation time?  I can see making it a surprise for children, but not for adults who have jobs, opinions about their own vacations, and have to schedule vacation days in advance.  Scheduling a surprise cruise for adults is a huge risk on day one!

I hope you can work things out.  It's a great gift for those who can take that particular week off of work and will be happy with the plans you made for them.

This is how I feel too.  I wouldn't want someone else deciding when and how I was going to vacation especially if I had limited vacation time.  

8 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

I advise cruisers all the time to use a passport. If they need to fly home (in case of an emergency) they need a passport to do so. That always gets the masses riled up, stating you don’t need a passport, only a license and BC. Yes, that is all you need for a closed loop cruise, but why would anyone chance it? People are in denial if they think it can’t happen to them. It happened to me. Thank goodness I had a passport. 

I know.  I've had a passport since my second cruise in 1997.  Even if I haven't used it much, it's nice to have.  Some day I might win the lottery and want to whisk off to Paris for a croissant or Italy for pizza, can't do that if I don't have passport. 😉

When I booked our last cruise in 2017, after almost 20 years since I had last cruised, I was very surprised to learn you could still cruise without a passport.  I had assumed that had all changed during the time (2009?)  when passports became required for Mexico and Canada.

Wow that's awful for the DIL to get denied boarding.  But in this day and age where all the information is at your finger tips, I don't know why one of them didn't bother to read Carnival's web site or any web site about what identification is needed for cruising.🤔

24 minutes ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

 

What's that swan sculpture, and what's it made of?  It looks like soapstone.

The swan is made out of a bar of soap.

4 hours ago, thenexus2k said:

I'll piggyback this topic a little bit, as I am looking for opinions from fellow cruisers. I understand the letter of the law about no T-shirts, however what about a nice shirt like this:

 

 

I understand where printed Tshirts are a no-no, and to be honest I own like MAYBE 1 total printed Tshirt (even being a big sports nut), but I have a lot of pocketed shirts like the one pictured that I like wearing in my down time. Would anyone bat an eye if I showed up to casual dinner wearing one? Again, I know the letter of the law, just looking for honest personal opinions here. 

Since it has buttons it's a henley not a T-shirt so I say it's fine to wear.

Per Wiki "A Henley shirt is a collarless pullover shirt, characterized by a placket below the round neckline, about 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 cm) long and usually having 2–5 buttons. It essentially resembles a collarless polo shirt...." 

25 minutes ago, cruisin4Becky said:

I don't even understand why it is even a rule at all. I feel they should do away with the "no t-shirts" rule on cruise casual night. Casual is just that... casual.  I occasionally have worn them in the dining room  on casual night before,not really realizing it was a rule,since I dont peruse the list every time I cruise. To  my credit ,I do follow the rules for dress on elegant night,and go slap on a dress and pair of flat sandals to wear to dinner. I dont understand why they dont want people wearing t-shirts, some of which I have bought at ports and even on board Carnival ships.

 

I'm going to guess at why they don't want people wearing t-shirts may have to do with what is on the t-shirt.  There may be "offensive" pictures or words/slogans on said shirts.  Instead of just saying "no T-shirts with inappropriate slogans or writing", they chose to say no t-shirts all together.

2 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

That thread doesn't indicate when the no T-shirt rule was added to the FAQ's. The rule was there when that thread was created and discussed. The rule's been in place longer than that.

 

I said sometime early in 2016 due to some other posts I had seen from 2015.

Here's one - response #7 (assuming it was copied and pasted from the Carnival web site).  It states that t-shirts are not allowed on cruise elegant night, t-shirts aren't mentioned for cruise casual dining.