Gypsywych

I smoked for 10 years, and quit about six years ago. I am, by definition, a smoker -- or at least was one at one point. I did not "hate" people telling me that I was killing myself. You may hate it, but don't speak for everyone.

 

I'd bet you'd appreciate a stranger pushing you out of the way of an oncoming bus, right?

 

My personal experience says your kids will appreciate your not dying of lung caner. Plus, if we're going to have 6 active threads about smoking, we may as well get to the heart of the matter, no?

 

As for the last part, I won't post a link to a commercial endeavor like weight watchers, but a neutral resource on the health consequences of obesity could help someone, you're right: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/

Out of Curiousity?

Would you walk up to someone you don't know and tell him he needs Jesus?

What's a cowbell and earplugs gonna do to deter smoke?

I was kind of wondering that myself.....?

We were already looking at NCL for a Panama Canal cruise (date still TBD), but yes...... the changes in Carnival's policy has us moving a little quicker to NCL for our regular cruising too.

For those of you worried about staying upwind, I only smoke 3 cigarettes a day on the balcony. Two in the morning with my coffee, and one at bedtime. All of them in my pajamas. I'm pretty sure the sight of me in pj's is more offensive than my cigarettes. ;)

We hate the taste and bring bottled water.

Only you can decide if the trade off was worth it. You are getting a suite with suite privileges with does include priority embarkation/debark. That's pretty much the only suite perk there is.

No, your room won't be ready when you embark. Depending upon your steward, you may be able to drop off your carry-on. I would hide it if you do. The rooms tend to stay open during cleaning and anyone can walk by.

You will not get early luggage arrival. You will not get priority tendering for tender ports. You will not get the special line at Guest Services. Maybe you should have kept the FTTF, if those are the things you wanted. :(

The Fascination Jr Suite balconies are very small and near the front of the ship. The room is a little larger though. So that's a trade off.

Basically, Charleston is a small port within a small historical area of a stuffy southern town. Because it's in a historical area, traffic patterns are still in 1800's mode.

Not much to be done about it.

We choose the Fascination. It's a couple of hours longer drive, but we can get a balcony without paying double for a suite. We loved the Fascination the last time we were on her, and we're booked for another in September.

To my knowledge, there is one on the Upper Deck Aft, and one on the Empress Deck Fwd.

Seattle security is a nightmare. Give yourself at least an hour to get through that line.

With early saver you will be able to take advantage of any price drops that happen in your cabin category. It must be the exact ship, date and category. If your category sells out, you "may" be able to upgrade to a higher category IF that higher category drops below what you paid for yours.

Price drops after full payment are issued as onboard credit, not back to your credit card, but you can look for price drops until 2 days before sailing.

The down side is that if for some reason you have to cancel, you will lose $50 per person, and the rest of any amount you've paid will be held for a future cruise.

Carnival does not automatically process any price drops. It is up to you to be proactive. Checking prices, taking screenshots and then either sending in the correct form or getting in touch with your TA or PVP is up to you.

Happy Sailing!

According to SEC filings, Micky Arison has divested himself of over $490 million dollars worth of Carnival PLC stock in the past 90 days.

Is the Miami Heat doing that badly?

Take screenshots so you can escalate if needed

Good Luck!

:)

Okay, I have read through ALL 927 CC Carnival Liberty Reviews...

(you know I'm a number cruncher, Keith)

... and there DOES appear to be some fake reviews, BUT:

 

The fake reviews:

- started about a year ago (almost none prior to 2013)

- are targeting the periods of the last two cruise directors (Josh and Brittney)

- always mention the cruise director by full name, and in glowing terms

 

I only found one fake review that even mentions the new menu, and which uses the same 'marketing' phrases that Carnival is using.

 

So... although there HAS been some ballot box stuffing,

it appears the intent was to make the cruise directors look better,

and was not targeted at the American Table review ratings.

 

And... the Carnival Liberty 4th place CC rating for 'Best Large Cruise Ships' was based on the CC Editor ratings, not the Passenger reviews... so that appears to be somewhat valid.

 

Keith... you just did the Glory last week... where is your review of the food?

You come up with the most interesting stuff!

Are you going to do the same to a few of the other ship reviews?

I admit to being curious.

They CAN, but after the uproar when they added a fuel supplement a few years back, they probably won't. At least not without some warning.

The PR nightmare was enough to make them back off fairly quickly.

I haven't even been there (on Carnival) but won't even think of trying them. When you pull into port next to three Carnival ships and see generators strapped to the top decks near slide into the pool (I've attached a picture that shows the generator), that tells me they haven't fixed their generator problems and are relying on a generator to run their ships when their generators crap out again. Not for us thank you!

What that actually tells you is that Carnival put back up generators on all ships in response to the Triumph problem. They will be put into their proper "home" on each ship as they go through the rounds of dry dock and maintenance. It may not be pretty sitting out on an open deck, but at least Carnival took the problems seriously.

All of the major cruise lines run their ships 365 days a year. Components break, parts wear out, maintenance is a constant. If it moves, something can and will go wrong. ( The Oasis of the Seas is currently experiencing propulsion problems. ) Murphy and his laws can hit anywhere. That back up generator is just one more line of defense against it. ;)

http://elliott.org/can-this-trip-be-saved-2/costa-reverse-course-fare-error/

At least Chris Elliott is getting involved.

Good luck!

I've put in all my info to purchase, it doesn't say anything about the promo card. I read on CC it's 'automatic' -- it that correct? Do I get the promo amount in an email?

If you ordered your gift certificates digitally (e-card), yes it will come in a separate email. Mine came the next morning.

If you ordered physical gift cards to be snail mailed, you will get your promo cards separately in the mail.

That works too! :)

I'll be using those gift cards for the first time on our upcoming cruise.

I put cash account on my paperwork, give shore side check in our credit card, and then go to guest services upon boarding to hand them cash. Then I don't have to stand in line later in the cruise.

I bought mine yesterday and the GC's came immediately. The promos showed up at 5am this morning.

b_cruise, I'm glad you were finally able to get something to work! ;)

We've had suites and been allowed to have friends board priority with us, and we've had suites and not been allowed to have friends board with us. It all depends on the port, the mood of security personnel, how busy the kiosks are at any given moment....and you won't know till you get there.

My advice? Go ahead and buy it, that way you won't have a thing to worry over.

Thank you...it's still not working for me..I even called carnival and her page would not load too. She told me to keep trying as they could not sell over the phone, only online.....frustrating!

:mad::mad:

Frustrating, I know. Feelin' for you!!

I can't find it and the link is not working? Anyone else having trouble..perhaps I missed it.

Try http://www.carnivalgiftcards.com/

That should take you to the same page.

I just used it with no problem about 20 minutes ago.

We went in the middle of September, one of Carnival's Glacier Bay itineraries.

Sea days we were up on deck with binoculars and cameras, hot chocolate and coffee close at hand. Otters, whales, sea lions, orcas, bears on shore..... what an amazing trip!

Our trip was chilly and drizzly. We wore jeans, t shirts, sweaters or sweatshirts and rain jackets. Only our day in Juneau required more, and it was a solid downpour for over half the day. It didn't even slow us down. ;)

Waterproofed our boots and sneakers before we left.