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Can anyone who has been on the Freedom recently share what the Platinum gift is?

Sorry to hear this.  W just had to put our pony of 23 years down.  He had cancer in his shoulder and couldn't get up.  So sad.

We've done this and we had no problem at all.  We drove to port.  We used it in our room and at a small private beach.

I have the exact one pictured and have taken it on every cruise. I have used it to cut a hole in my water shoe when it caused a blister, cut off sharp parts of my suitcase that was delivered to my room broken, and spreading cheese on crackers when I didn't feel like going to Lido to get a knife. I put it in a hanging pocket thing similar to a shoe bag but much smaller that I have for small items. No one has ever said anything even though it's in plain sight of room stewards. I've packed it in checked luggage and carryon. No problems.

It worked! Thanks.

We booked a cruise last January that was 2 years out and I put it in the Carnival Hub app to watch the countdown. Now we've booked a cruise for next year. Is there a way to update to show the new cruise countdown?

Half Moon Cay = Best. Day. Ever. It helped that we had 4 grandkids with us and a cabana. The sand is like baby powder and the water is beautiful.

This sounds like the excursion we did. We did a B2B 21 day Journey cruise and Aruba was the second of 13 ports, so it's hard to remember. My husband hurt his back getting off the boat at the first snorkel stop and was out of commission for several days. I snorkeled and it was okay, but not like Bonaire. I seem to remember pulling up to a pier with a restaurant and stepping off the boat, being handed a napkin with silverware, a plate of food and sitting at a table. Someone came and got drink orders. When we were done eating, we walked off the pier. There were bathrooms, but the line was very long. We were told what loungers we could use and we hung out there and people watched. Our guide came and got us and led us to a bus that took us back to the port.

My hairdresser is on the Fantasy now in a group of 27. I hope they don't run into rough seas.

Now that they have discontinued the fare viewer, how does everyone check prices?

We were caught by the fog one year in Galveston. We didn't disembark until around 5. They fed us lunch. You couldn't see anything in the fog and the horns were blowing constantly.

We still dress up and to us that is tuxedo and gown or cocktail dress. That's part of the cruise experience to us. People come to our table and tell my husband how nice he looks. My DGD5 had men come up to us and ask for a photo with her as she looked like a princess. I'm not a fan of the new dress code, but I don't let it ruin my cruise.

Kim, I know you don't normally do excursions but I think you would LOVE reef snorkeling in Bonaire with Woodwind. It is incredibly beautiful. The Woodwind folks are top notch professionals. Don't know about other lines but Carnival goes there. We loved it!

I'll second this. Best snorkeling I have ever done. I tried one of the full face masks too, and am glad I didn't buy before I tried. I couldn't get a good breath and was hyperventilating. The guide swapped with me until we got back to the boat and I could get my own mask and snorkel. We snorkeled the edge of a dropoff and saw turtles and lots of fish.

More info on the Thrill Theater.

Can anybody read the price for seniors? My senior eyes can't make it out.

It's a side 2 side. It's just like two different cruises. The packing up and unpacking is a pain and Platinum laundry is handy.

We did an 8 day cruise out of Fort Launderdale on the Freedom once, then drove up to Port Canaveral and boarded the Sensation the same day. If we are going to pay to fly to Florida, we might as well make it worthwhile.:)

They used to give you paper placemats on the last night of the cruise. They had a picture of the ship on them.

You can buy a lanyard right here on Cruise Critic! We got them for free when we booked a CC sponsored group cruise. They have cruise critic printed on them, and have a key ring to keep your punched card safe. The thing I like about them is that they have a buckle so that you can quickly take off the card to purchase things or doink on and off the ship.

Once we had a cabin right next to an area where they stored the luggage carts during the cruise. My hubby was taking a nap on embarkation day (we had a 12 hour drive) and they started stowing those carts. They were slamming against the wall so hard that the headboard was moving.

We booked thru Royal Caribbean. It is a new excursion and the owner said he was trying to add Carnival to the list.

Thanks, I found it on Carnival for $80. No food or drinks included, and only 3.5 hours. What a ripoff.

I can't find a price for this excursion. Is it offered by Carnival? Independent?

We have the pillows and love them. We've had them for 2 or 3 years and they are still holding up. DH destroys pillows. He wads them up and they lose their shape. These are holding up just fine. I washed them yesterday and they are good as new.

We're taking foldup camping type chairs on our next cruise to use in the room, (4J with no couch), on the secret deck, and at the beach.

We're Platinum and I put the embarkation photos in a separate album with our S&S cards slipped into the sleeve with them. On the facing page, I put a picture of the ship, usually offered with a "deal". I also wish they would make them the same size.

On the Magic last January, we went on the Behind the Fun tour. They said that each cabin's laundry is done in smaller machines by itself. Only clothes from your cabin is washed together.

Nope, never did laundry! I used a large backpack with several sections and a standard rolling carry on bag. I actually found that I was able to bring everything that I would have wanted. Perhaps I would have enjoyed one extra pair of shoes to wear at night, but I really didn't feel that I was missing everything. I was able to fit 10 bathing suits, 6 pairs of shoes (beach flip flops, nicer flip flops, flat sandals for casual nights, dress heels for formal night, aqua socks, plus an old pair of sneakers which I wore on the plane), casual dresses as cover ups or shorts and tshirts for all 11 days, casual or formal dresses for every night, all of my toiletries and electronics (iPhone, waterproof camera, regular camera, iPad, and their respective chargers), and even my snorkel mask and goggles (no fins though)! The only thing I didn't fit was all the drinks that we bought in San Juan, and my big bottle of suntan lotion which I bought at CVS in San Juan when I arrived (and that would have physically fit in the bag, but TSA wouldn't approve of such a big bottle... oh well!).

 

I think it is possible for anyone to travel with carry-ons only, especially if you are willing to do laundry. There's tons of youtube videos about it, with ideas of how many of each item you should pack. A big suggestion is to pack things you can mix and match- so pick 2 or 3 colors and pack lots of neutrals that match those colors and you can create several outfits from a limited supply of clothes.

 

Personally, I hate doing laundry and there was no chance I wanted to do it on vacation! That meant I had to get creative... I rolled all my clothes very tightly because you can fit more stuff in the same space if you roll the clothes instead of folding them. It helps that my shoes are a size 6.5 and they fit nicely between the bars of the handle on my suitcase. All of my Caribbean cruise clothes are lightweight and thin so it's not that hard to fit a lot of options into the suitcase. As for the nighttime dresses, I just rolled them tightly and squished them in as much as I could! (except for the black and white lace formal dress- that one I folded neatly on top of the bag so it wouldn't get too wrinkled)

 

J also brought only a carry on bag and a backpack, and we packed his stuff the same way as mine except for his evening attire. I think he re-wore his pants and button down shirts twice since he only wore them for a few hours each night and they never got sweaty or dirty. He had to do some ironing for his shirts after unpacking, but that was fine because I take way longer to get showered and do my hair/makeup so he went off to the laundry room to iron at that time haha

 

I hope that helped! Let me know if you have any other questions :)

I'm impressed! I don't think we could do that at our age (mid 60's). Our bodies, though not obese, are bigger than yours, so our clothes take up more room, and we require a pharmacy with all our prescriptions. I have a 21 day Journey B2B coming up, and I'm going to try to pack lighter. I say that every cruise, or rather DH does. We are Platinum, so we have free laundry, and that will help.