LoungingMcCoy

My Cruise Planner says the same thing.  I think it's a bug with the system, or something.  Late dining and early dining aren't checked so "confirmed" should be YTD.  It wouldn't hurt to talk to your PVP, though.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Ft. Lauderdale Cruise-Airport.  It was clean, close the the airport and cruise port, and there were restaurants within walking distance.  The included breakfast was pretty good.  The staff was friendly.  They have a shuttle from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the cruise port.  I'm not positive about onsite parking, but I think the couple in front of us at checkin were talking about parking during their cruise, so I think it's available.

We were on the Carnival Magic in January.  There was a board on the Promenade deck, close to the Alchemy Bar, with little cards with numbers on them.  There will be an announcement over the intercom when the numbers are available. 

We didn't have any excursions booked, so we just went down after breakfast and grabbed a number.  It was number 46, or something like that, but there were plenty of lower numbers available.  The cruise director would announce which numbers were available for boarding the tender over the intercom.  We were on the island with plenty of time to play in the water before lunch.

My advice would be to grab the lowest number available.  When the CD announced the numbers he would say something like "1 through 46 can now board the tenders".  You don't have to board the tender right when your number is called.

We did it on our Carnival Magic cruise this year.  It was very interesting.  We got to see the galley, the engine control room (not the engines), the crew common area, the bridge, and a few other areas.   We got a professional photo of the group with the captain, a ball cap, a bag, a rubber bracelet, and a lanyard.  After the tour was done we got mimosas and orange juice.  All of this was included in the price.

My only small gripe was that it took almost 4 hours and my back was aching after so much time walking on concrete.  Eat breakfast before you go!

I'm not sure if I would do it again, but I'm definitely glad that I got to do it.  Totally worth it.  I would recommend it at least once.

We were on this cruise as well.  The ship sure was rockin' the first couple of nights due to the wind and the choppy water!  We were on deck 9 so we probably felt it more.

Not much.  I think a CD can make a cruise a little better, but I'm not sure they can make it worse.  On our first cruise we had Peter McGarth who was hilarious and seemed to be everywhere.  His personality was just infectious and you were glad to be around him.  Last year we had some guy who was incredibly dull.  I can't even remember his name.  He wasn't rude or anything, just not particularly engaging.  We only saw him once.  This year we had Simon London.  We didn't see him terribly often, but when we did he seemed to be really friendly and outgoing and enjoying his job.

I wouldn't choose or deny a cruise based on the CD.

Thanks for the advice.  I'll give them a call.

I had to deal with a similar, but much worse, itinerary change for our cruise trip last January.  I wonder if I wouldn't be better off waiting until closer to the date of our trip to book airline tickets.

The airline changed our flight itinerary for our upcoming January cruise.  We now only have 40 minutes between our arrival and our departure for the next leg of the flight.  I have never been to Bush Airport but this seems to be cutting it too close for comfort, at least for me.  And that's assuming that everything is on time.  Will we be able to make it to our connecting flight in 40 minutes or should I call the airline and try to work something out?  I suppose it's possible that the itinerary will change again between now and January.  The airline website says that if the change is greater than 30 minutes, and it is, that they may be able/willing to make changes for no charge.

I don't feel pride about that stuff.  I'm indifferent about it.  I don't care what anyone else thinks about the ship that I'm on.  The important thing is that I'm having fun.

I do think it would be interesting if you were able to tour other ships while you were in port.  I understand that this isn't going to happen.  I have only ever been on Carnival, and I have no intention of trying other lines at this point, but I think it would be fun to see ships from other lines. 

On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 6:13 PM, nwcruiselover said:

Trivia.  I like the challenge of winning a ship on a stick.

This...and margaritas...and Alchemy Bar

27 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

 

In my opinion, if you're going to fly as rarely as you appear to, $85/year (times two people) wouldn't be worth it to me to save just a little time/frustration once or twice a year. But of course, everyone's priorities are different.

 

 

That's what I told my wife when she mentioned TSA Precheck before our first cruise.  lol  It is convenient, though.  My dad always used to say "We aren't going on a vacation to save money", and in my adult life I agree with this.  I have done my best to pass this little pearl of wisdom to my stepkids.  An average of $34 per year to (hopefully) save a little frustration at the airport sounds pretty good to me now that I have experienced it.

Last year when we flew to New Orleans for our cruise it was the first time that we had flown for many years.  At our home airport my wife got a random TSA Precheck, but I didn't.  On the way back we both got it.  For our flights this year we both got TSA Precheck both directions.  It's pretty convenient and I'm considering going ahead and signing up for it.

Since we have both gotten random TSA Precheck in the recent past can we expect to keep receiving it?

We have already booked flights for our cruise next year.  Is there a way to tell if we get TSA Precheck now or do we have to wait until our boarding passes are printed off at the airport?

Thanks!

We'll be cruising to Alaska at some point.  Does an Alaska cruise still have all the activities like trivia contests, giant Jenga, giant Yahtzee, etc.?  If I don't have the opportunity to win a ship on a stick it would kind of be a bummer.  These activities are one of the highlights of cruising for us and we always make friends while participating.

The included tea is pretty harsh and I'm guessing it's instant.  IMO it's drinkable but that's about it.

Both of our first two cruises have been in January out of New Orleans.  We have a cruise booked for Jan 2020 out of Ft. Lauderdale.  Thankfully no weather related flight delays. 

So far the weather has been decently warm in New Orleans, 40s or 50s.  The weather in the Caribbean has been warm, usually in the 80s.  We have experienced a couple of short rain showers, and one heavy downpour that lasted about 20 minutes, but nothing that would ruin a whole day.  I was actually riding the water slides on a port day in Cozumel when the downpour hit, so it really didn't affect me at all!

We have only cruised in January, so I can't compare to cruising at other times of the year, but I think it's great.  Go for it!

We're taking our first cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale in January.  Looking at Google Maps the cruise port is about 10 minutes away from the airport.  Our flight is scheduled to depart at 11:40.  This makes me a little nervous but all the other flight options were late afternoon.  Hopefully there won't be any delays! 

https://www.carnival.com/shore-excursions/cozumel/mariachi-tacos-tequila-and-shopping-304221

We took this one in January and it was a lot of fun if you're up for morning margaritas and tequila.  The shuttle ride is short, maybe 10 or 15 minutes.  The dancers and mariachi band were really good and seemed to enjoy themselves a great deal.  The tacos were very good.  The tequila tasting was very fun and informative.  Did I mention margaritas?  The gift shop was ok.  Mostly touristy stuff.  We got some souvenirs for our friends and family there and I thought the prices were good.   

I won one on our cruise last January.  I was so close to winning two, but my partner and I got unlucky during a crazy match of Giant Jenga.

We're cruising to Amber Cove in January.  My wife is kind of freaking out.  I hope things calm down by then.

I can imagine situations where I wouldn't be willing to leave the port area, but recent events in DR don't concern me at the moment.

In my experience, drink prices on Carnival ships are about the same as bar prices in the U.S.  (You appear not to be in the U.S. so hopefully that comparison will be helpful to you.)  If you do an internet search for "Carnival cruise drink prices" you will find a website that will be helpful.  According to the site it is "continually updated" and it seems fairly accurate.

Before our first cruise I did some research to see if the drink package was going to be worth it for us, and I decided it wasn't.  We drank our fill and paid less than if we had the drink package.

Mushroom tarts.  I only saw them once, but they were exceptional.

Mine was immediate-ish.  I booked online, filled out the form, then voila.  I paid in full, but I can't remember if I did that before or after filling out the form.  I never received any kind of notification, which I think is weird.  If I hadn't paid attention to the price when I booked, then checked again when I filled out the form, I wouldn't have known for sure.

I'm not sure what CC's link policy is, but if you search for "carnival cruise alcohol price" you will be able to find a website that will help answer some of your questions. 

In my opinion, alcohol prices on Carnival are comparable to bar prices.  It I remember correctly, beers (20 oz. cans) are around $6.  The mixed drinks that my wife likes range from $8 to $11.  I have read on the CC forum that if you drink something like 8 drinks a day you'll break even with the alcohol package.

I don't know about drink limits without the alcohol package or wifi.

I'm thinking about checking out the Salt House.  I'm interested in seeing a salina and there's supposed to be a salt museum here.  Has anyone been to the Salt House?

I would appreciate recommendations for authentic restaurants.

I haven't seen any cruise excursions in Grand Turk that interest me greatly, so I'm thinking about striking out on my own, but that makes me a little nervous.  We always book excursions through the cruise line for peace of mind.  I'd hate to be in one of those pier runner videos.  If I take a taxi to the city will I have any issues getting a taxi back to the port?

My wife and I enjoyed it.  I'm not a foodie at all but it was fun trying new, exotic, "classy" dishes.  Ours started with a tour of the galley which was terribly interesting.  There was a magician that performed for us.  When they change the menu I will definitely do it again.

My only complaint was that it lasted almost 3 hours.

If you decide to do it, pace yourself unless you're a big eater.  You don't have to clean your plate at every course!  I'm not a big eater and I was miserably stuffed at the end.