LoungingMcCoy

My family wants to do a full Panama Canal cruise one day, but it isn't feasible until we're all retired.  My father and I would also really like to visit Cartagena. 

We normally cruise in January, and Carnival has a 9 day cruise to Colón, with a stop at Cartagena, in January 2024.  I just want to confirm, but I'm guessing that the ship doesn't actually go into the Panama Canal?  Are any of the excursions into the Panama Canal any good?

It's going to be quite a few years before we'll be able to do the full transit and my parents are getting up there in age.  I was hoping that the ship travels the canal and then turns around and comes back, but that seems unlikely.  We could at least see the canal, and travel a little bit of it by a smaller craft, in case we never get the opportunity to do the full transit together.   

Macorix rum from Puerto Plata in Dominican Republic.  I didn't think I liked rum until I tried this.  My dad, who doesn't  drink, even liked it.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it in my area of the U.S.

For me it would be itinerary.

We're still early enough in our cruising career that picking excursions is difficult.  Even in ports we have already visited.  When I look at the excursion lists there are so many of them that I want to experience or experience again.  In the unlikely event that we experience everything we want to I would consider trying another line.

Grand Turk.

My radar went up when the "security guard" was trying to pitch us an excursion.  I should have trusted my instincts.  I found the people unfriendly.

I wanted to see the Salt House and some of the salinas.  We found a taxi driver that said he would take us to the Salt House.  He ended up stopping at a tiny little shopping area in a residential area that didn't look the best.  He had no idea where the Salt House was.  He wasn't going back to the port.  I asked him how we were supposed to get back to the port and he said "Just catch another cab".  There was no traffic on the little side street that we were on.  We could see the ship, so we just started walking back.  We didn't see another taxi, or human for that matter, until we got back to the main road that leads to the port.  There we managed to flag down a taxi that was heading back.  There were no incidents, but it was unnerving being stranded in a foreign country and worrying if we were going to make it back to the ship in time.

In all fairness, I should have researched better and been better prepared.  Still, I will never set foot in Grand Turk again.

January 8, 2022.

I booked for the itinerary and generally the ship isn't a very important factor in my decision.  As long as they have trivia games and the games like giant Jenga and giant Yahtzee and Dive-In Movies then I'll be happy.

The new thing I'm most looking forward to is Big Chicken.  Fried chicken is one of my favorite food groups.

21 hours ago, asalligo said:

I will be hard pressed to get it. I just really do not see the benefit. I already had Covid and never even noticed, so what benefit would the vaccine be for me? It has been widely reported that getting the vaccine does not prevent you from carrying or transmitting the virus and you still have a chance of catching it though greatly reduced. Add to that the possibility that my reaction to the vaccine could be much worse than my having the virus. I would much rather take my chances of catching it again since I did not even experience a cough.   

You make some good points. 

I was never concerned about contracting Covid.  (I don't want to start any arguments, so I'll just leave it at that.  lol)  I'm a firefighter/EMT.  Even though my department took protective measures early on, I'm sure most of us probably had it.  I never noticed any symptoms, and I never was tested.

I got the vaccine because of travel.  I suspect that the vaccine will be a requirement for cruising, at least in the near term.  And even though I suspect I had the virus at some point, if I didn't have it I hope to be protected.  I can't imagine what it would be like to show up at the cruise terminal after spending money on a cruise, flights, and a hotel and being told I couldn't board.  For me the potential benefits outweigh the risks.

I don't believe the vaccine should be mandatory, and everyone should do what they think is right.  I also believe that the cruise lines are within their rights to require the vaccine for boarding if that's what they decide.

I was one of the unlucky ones. 

My first Pfizer shot felt like someone sticking a glowing hot needle in my arm.  A few minutes later my arm went numb and that lasted a couple of hours.  The nurses didn't seem concerned about it.

After my second shot, I woke up in the wee hours of the morning drenched in sweat, with chills, fever, and vomiting.  I felt ill for 3 or 4 days.

Totally worth it if it gets me on our January 2022 cruise!  lol

5 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

If you don't want to get Cheers and use it for tips,  then go to the Cherry on Top store on the ship and buy Carnival gift cards for your next cruise.

You are a genius!  Thanks for the tip.

6 hours ago, iria64 said:

Here is why I think the cruise lines are still booking ships as if they would sail at full capacity.

- The companies need/want as much cash on hand as they can get.

- As final payment comes due a lot of people will cancel for various reasons.

- If the ship is still over capacity the company will then offer the opportunity to rebook at a later date with incentives.

- Very few people, if any, would then need to be bumped from a sailing.

 

I do have a question for those that have had to rebook a cancelled cruise.  Were you able to rebook at the rate on your original booking or did you have to book at the current rate for the new sailing selected?

When we rebooked we had to pay the difference in price, but the difference was negligible.  Since we had to rebook with a Carnival representative she gave us a casino rate (even though I told her we never use the casino lol) which may have made a difference.  I have always booked online.  The casino deal did give us an extra $200 obc.  I'm not sure how we're going to manage spending the casino obc and the obc from the cancelled cruise, but we're going to figure it out by golly.

We have the Mardi Gras booked for January 2022.  I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of us!

When we were in Amber Cove last year we did the Private Van - Your Day Your Way excursion.  It was just my wife, my parents, and me.  I highly recommend it.  We enjoyed the freedom to see what we wanted and we also enjoyed getting a tour of Puerto Plata with just family.

We visited the Macorix Rum factory, the fort (where our guide did an excellent job of keeping the vendors away), a chocolate factory, and the town square.  I know this probably sounds boring, but the highlight for me was visiting one of the tiendas.  The owner was hilarious.  I got soft drinks for everyone and even a local El Presidente beer (I was not allowed to drink it on the van.  lol).  We were free to spend as much or as little time at each stop as we wanted.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and our driver was a magician on the crowded streets.  The ladies were interested in buying some Larimar jewelry.  Our guide took us to a jewelry shop where we got to go in the back and watch them actually making the jewelry.  My wife got earrings and a necklace and I thought the prices were surprisingly good.

The excursion seems a little pricey, but we split the cost with my parents.  Even if it was just my wife and me the price would have been totally worth it. 

Maybe I'm just lucky, but the only time I remember being pressured to get pictures taken was on our very first cruise as we were entering the terminal.  The one where they take your picture in front of the backdrop of the ship you're boarding.  (My wife was already cranky by this point and it really shows in the photo.  lol)  At this point we just say "No thanks" and walk on by.

The only time I really felt pressured was when we decided to take a look at the art gallery.  That guy was on us like a dog on a steak.

Like others have suggested, we went straight to the excursion desk once we boarded and booked the tour.

Wear comfortable shoes.

Eat before you go.  Our tour was in the morning.  None of my group ate breakfast and we didn't realize how long the tour was.  We were really, really hungry by the time it was over.

I don't know if I would do it again, but it was definitely worth it.  Very fascinating.

January 2022 on the Mardi Gras.  I'm not supremely confident it's going to happen, but I'm hopeful.

Due to vacation scheduling issues, January and February are the only months we can reliably expect to cruise.  I would have rather tried for March or April of 2022, but it is what it is.

I always book for itinerary.  As long as the ship has Guy's Burgers, trivia, games, and alcohol, and our room has a balcony, I'll be happy.

We just applied our FCC to a January 2022 cruise on the Mardi Gras.  (Fingers crossed!)  The huge, mega ship with a roller coaster almost made me look at other options, but it was the itinerary that I wanted.

I know we're relatively new to the cruising scene, but I'm not burnt out on any port yet.  For the upcoming cruise we're going back to Roatan (second time) and Cozumel (third time).  Our first time in Roatan nobody (my parents and wife) wanted to go to the sloth preserve so I went along with the excursion they chose.  I planned our 2021 family cruise, that was cancelled, trying to keep everyone happy, but it wasn't an itinerary that I was thrilled with.  I made it clear that our 2022 cruise was going to include sloth holding!  lol  Hopefully we'll be able to go back to West Bay as well.  In Cozumel I've never really seen the port.  Just meeting for our excursion and running to the taxis.  That's going to be a port day.

I like getting on the Carnival website and looking at the cruises and excursions.  There are so many things I want to do and see, even in the ports we've already visited.  Some of our experiences were so fun the first time I wouldn't mind to do them again.

I got my second Pfizer dose yesterday morning.  I didn't even feel the shot.  My arm was a little sore yesterday evening.

I woke up early this morning with arm pain, chills, nausea, and a low grade fever.  It's not the worst thing ever, but I'm glad I'm not scheduled to work today.

I have submitted the online form to receive FCC from a canceled cruise.  The email I received says that they're processing them as quickly as they can.  I would hope that they would at least send an email when it has been processed.

I have always booked straight from the Carnival website.  Does anyone have any experience using the FCC while booking on the website?  I'm  not really opposed to calling, but it's a hoop I would just as soon not jump through.

On our first cruise we got an FCC due to an incident where we were forced to miss a port.  I was able to take care of it all online.

Do you have to pay the deposit when you book?

I had the first Pfizer a week ago today.  A few minutes after the shot my arm felt like it was falling asleep.  I was told that was normal.  The following morning my upper arm hurt.  I took some ibuprofen and had no problems after that.  My co-workers who received the shot also reported upper arm pain.  I was a little run down Sunday, but nothing terrible.

I'm ready for the second dose!

My wife had been pestering me to go on a cruise for almost as long as I've known her.  I had no desire whatsoever to go on a cruise.  I had a lot of misconceptions.  It was really expensive.  It sounded boring.  My understanding was that meals and activities were scheduled for you.  Why would I want to be stuck in a floating hotel, unable to leave, and be forced to play shuffleboard from 10:00-11:00?

Then in 2017 my wife's supervisors failed to let her department know when it was time to pick vacations.  By the time she found out all that was available was January 2018.  I felt sorry for her and wanted to do something special.  One of my coworkers had mentioned he was going on a 3 day cruise.  I didn't know there were cruises that were that short.  I figured I could tolerate a 3 day cruise and knew I could get time off in January.  I booked a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Triumph because that was the cruise that best fit her vacation schedule. 

I told my parents about our plans.  Dad wanted to go with us, but mom didn't.  He convinced her that it would be a good way to spend time with the family.  My wife was concerned about cruising with her in-laws (understandably), but we all had a great time and have cruised together every year since.  

I'm actually relieved.  We were going to be on the ship if our January cruise sailed, but I was a little nervous about it.  I didn't want to be quarantined for 2 weeks.

Time to start planning our 2022 cruise with 100% FCC!

We have Jan 24 out of New Orleans.  Part of me is hoping it gets cancelled, but if it sails we'll be on it.

We booked and paid for our Jan 2021 cruise in February of this year.  I wouldn't be surprised if the cruise gets cancelled and there's a lot of talk about reduced capacity, and who knows how that will play out.

As far as flights and hotel goes, I don't want to spend and lose a bunch of money if the cruise gets cancelled.  Especially since airline tickets cost about the same as a cruise.  I also don't want to wait too long and end up not being able to get a hotel or flight.  Maybe that last part won't be an issue if people aren't traveling yet in January, but once again, who knows.

Any suggestions for ways to book flights and a hotel without the risk of losing all that money? 

If it comes to it, our place to New Orleans is about a 10 hour drive.  I hate driving, and I really don't want to do that, but at least it's an option.  Not being able to get a hotel room would be the bigger issue.

Thanks!

Are any of the Sandal's resorts close to "civilization" where a person could do something akin to a shore excursion?  Specifically, I find it terribly fascinating to get away from the tourist areas and see how the real people live.

13 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I think it could be done if you significantly reduce the number of passengers per cruise. I live in Florida and our governor just announced today that restaurants could reopen May 4th in most parts of the state with no more than 25 percent of their capacity allowed inside the restaurant. If cruise ships did something similar I think it would be possible to implement social distancing on a ship. Of course the big question Is what percentage of your capacity (for any business) do you need to at least break even short term. 

Getting off topic here, but I have wondered about this myself.  We have a cruise booked for January (we booked in February just before all the madness started  lol) and it's way more than 25% booked Just using your 25% number as an example here because who knows.  I can see restricting new bookings but what about all the people already booked?  They'd have to determine some way to cut down on passengers.   

We're still fairly new to cruising.  On our first cruise we didn't book any excursions.  All the choices seemed so overwhelming and I figured there would be a lot to do in the ports.  It turns out I was mistaken.  lol

Now we book, and pay in advance, a Carnival excursion at almost all ports.  The exceptions being Half Moon Cay (I didn't see any reason to book an excursion at a private island) and Grand Turk (I wanted to visit the Salt House and the salinas) this year.  Going forward I expect we'll book excursions in advance for almost all ports.  The exception being tender ports.  I tend to get sea sick on smaller vessels in rough water.  Belize was absolutely no fun since I was queasy the whole time.