jlabs03

8 hours ago, planaholic said:

the question is, can you use 2 devices on it and how would it know if I logged onto it as well?

You use your folio number and birthdate to log into the wifi (or whoever has the wifi linked to their account).  If it is already connected it asks if you would like to disconnect the other device and if you do not click the button to disconnect the other device you cannot login on a second device.

I will be doing my first Haven in May on the Breakaway.  It will probably be my only one unless I find another excellent deal or get upgraded.  I agree with those that say if this is your only haven experience look at the ships that have a Haven proper on newer ships to get the full experience (The Epic, Breakaway and Breakaway plus ships).

I will be in the aft facing penthouse, so I will not be in the Haven proper, but I wanted a separate bedroom and living room since it is me and my 15 year old.  Now she has her own room to sleep in and her own bathroom and will not disturb me when she gets back late.  I am ok with walking to the Haven area from the back of the ship, from my research this is peoples biggest issue with rooms not in the Haven proper.  If you want to walk out your door and have all of Haven right there you should look at the rooms in the Haven proper.  If you do not mind walking to the Haven area then you can get some bigger rooms and better balconies for equivalent prices.  

I upgraded from balcony to haven forward facing penthouse after final payment. It changed my promotion to the one that was currently being offered. The only differences were internet changed from 250 minutes for one to 150 minutes for two, so they refunded me the money I already paid for unlimited because there is a price difference, and I get double latitude points (which I am happy to take). About 2 weeks ago I checked prices again and the Haven aft penthouse was the same price so I called and they told me it usually does not work because you have to pay something to upgrade but it worked and they upgraded me and kept the same promotion from my original upgrade. It may have worked because I previous upgraded after final payment but who knows. 

10 hours ago, kona_wahine said:

We are new to NCL, cruising on the Encore in May. It looks like there are 3 different dining rooms? Are you assigned a dining room or can you pick one to go to? We’ve only cruised Carnival and have always been assigned one. Our room is midship on deck 15. TIA

The Manhattan room has a more strict dress code than Taste and Savor. No shorts or T-shirts in the Manhattan room.

Disney the week of Christmas is insanely crowded, we did it once and never again.  I am not sure if they will still be doing reservation in December but this will probably be the only way to guarantee you can get in. Prior to covid they usually reach capacity by noon and have to turn people away, so you need to get there before the park opens. Long lines and crowds make it not so fun and now with having to purchase the fast pass, it will be even worse.  Some of the longest lines and waits can be for characters.  Someone mention Mickey's Christmas Party and it being cheaper, you still need to purchase your regular ticket and then the Christmas Party ticket if you want to be in the park during the party.  On these nights the park closes at 6pm because that is when the party starts.

If you are not going the week of Christmas or New Years you may have better luck with crowds.

21 hours ago, KyloRen said:

OMG I feel you on the kids running around everywhere. My 12 yr old was in an elevator and told me a pack of kids twerked on her and ran off. WTH. Literally roving packs of delinquent kids everywhere

I would have reported them to security, this is not OK.  They have cameras almost everywhere including the elevators so they could have found the kids.

Haven does not include gratitudes and upgrades, the free at sea works the same for the Haven as for all other rooms, you pay the gratuities.  

1 hour ago, Diane67B said:

Do you know if the extra money goes right to the staff? I wouldn’t mind, if it did. They deserve it. 

Yes, this is the gratuities for the staff.

It is due to covid.  They will the you fill out a health form about covid which needs to be filled out closer to your cruise date than previous check in.

Room service is available for select items for free until 10pm (things like ham and cheese, grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and BLT are free).  After 10pm the entire menu has a charge.  The room service on my last cruise on the Vista in March was extremely slow, had to wait at least an 1 to hour and half for cold burnt food.  Hopefully by the time you go they will have more staff to handle to quantity of people.

I have used emed three times now.  It is super easy.  You do not need an appointment, just click ready to test and they connect you with someone.  I have never had to wait.  Once connected it takes about 20 minutes to complete, 15 minutes is waiting on the test.  You do not need to stay in front of the screen during this 15 minutes.  After the 15 minute timer is up you click that you are back and ready to read the results and they connect you with another person and to read the results.  They will email you the results almost immediately and they will be uploaded to the Novice app within 5 minutes.

24 minutes ago, CruisingLover said:

We got the "speciality dining" as part of our package but have questions:

 

1) How do you pre-book speciality dining? Call, online, app.....?

2) How far in advance can we pre-book?

3) Is the "dining service charge" price listed on our package just a price to get into the restaurant, and we won't need to worry about any more payment? Or, will we need to pay more once at the restaurant? (I'm assuming it's the latter...)

 

Thanks!

1- Fastest way to book is online, but as the OP stated they only allow so many advance reservations.

2- I am pretty sure restaurants can be booked 120 days out Suites and Haven are 130 days out.

3- You get an appetizer, main meal, and desert.  You also prepaid the tips so there is nothing that will be billed unless you get drinks and do not have the drink package.

On 3/15/2022 at 12:51 PM, MrPhil101 said:

Tacking on to this, if there are 4 of us, do I need to buy kits or just 2 with 2 in each.  I did a test run of ordering and it seems to imply that you need a kit for each person, like they tie the order to an individual is that correct?

The emed proctored test only come with one test per box not two. Each person needs their own box since they will scan the QR code for each test on the outside of the box before they have you open the box in front of them (they are sealed with stickers).

On 3/6/2022 at 4:27 AM, tallnthensome said:

This is a classic case of you getting what you pay for . I sail many lines but have been booking and crusing  with Carnival lately. Not so much for the quality over other lines but pricing offers that are half of the other lines . I pretty much know what to expect after sailing Holand America, Princess, and such. Like you, I can look past a lot of things if the price is great especially when I sail with two kids. 

I am the same way. I prefer other lines but Carnival sails out of my home port and the casino gives me free rooms or great reduced rates with OBC. If I had to pay regular price or if another line is within a couple hundred dollars I chose the other line . I set my expectation accordingly when I sail carnival and always have a great time.

Tipping is a very individual thing and I do not think you can over tip or under tip.  

If you do not want to tip you should never feel obligated to tip. If you want to leave a large tip the do what feels right to you.

The tour guides will usually tell you if they split the tips among the other guides, so you can just tip one.  Usually I tip the driver separate from the guides.

It varies on the quality of the tour and the length of the tour.  I usually tip the driver at least $5-$10 and $10-$20 for the guides (not each per excursion).  There is only two of us and if we we're a family of four I would tip more.

When I was in England, Ireland, and Iceland I was surprised they asked for tips on shore excursions since it is not customary in these countries to tip, since they get a living wage so there should be no need to tip. 

I was on the 8 day on the Dream in October.  My first cruise back since shut down.  The Dream was an average Carnival ship, I liked it better than the Breeze (which we went on in December).  The casino was larger and the nonsmoking casino was about double the size it was on the Breeze.  I cannot say much about the food since I do not particularly like Carnivals MDR food. Guys Burgers and the pizza were great.  The buffet is a buffet with little selection, but typical Carnival buffet. Bacon was being rationed (only available on certain days) at the buffet but you could get it if you went to breakfast in the MDR. I am not sure if they are still doing this. The casino did give me two steak dinner upgrades in the MDR which were ok but not worth the price they were charging. I also am not fan of the entertainment on Carnival, I never go to the shows, I spend a lot time on my balcony or in the casino.  The only port we missed was Key West, but it sounds like they may be getting close to an agreement with them to allow ships back in.  HMC was great, we had a Cabana, would defiantly like to go back.  In Nassau we did a walking tour and it was nice.  In Freeport we went kayaking and it was really fun, the tour guides were great.

I find Carnival does not maintain their ships as well as other lines.  I sailed on the NCL Spirit (launched in 1998) in 2018 and it was in much better condition than younger Carnival ships I sailed on. The NCL Spirt went into dry dock later that year for a major renovation.  Carnival offers a bargain and I set my expectations accordingly.  I sail on the Mardi Gras this December and it will be interesting to see how well it is being maintained.  

22 hours ago, julig22 said:

Did you get an upgrade for diamond status-Latitude meta upgrade?

 

Latdblx is 2 extra points over what you would normally get, so 3 for most, 4 if you are in a category where you normally get 2 (if those still exist).

I am in the Haven in May and I have Latdblx on my reservation. On NCl website that haven and suites receive one additional latitude point, so it would be two points per night. So is Latdblx in addition to the two points per night for staying in the Haven?

I walked to the Southhampton Mayflower Cruise Terminal from the Holiday inn. We had to walk on some back areas with no side walks and it was about 1 mile.  Berth 102 is closer so I assume it would be easier to walk to.  

36 minutes ago, casofilia said:

Request Shore Excursion desk in Miami to split the cost between the credit cards of the primary person in each room.   If they will do that request the $50 off each!!

This is worth a try but I do not think they will give you the $50 off per room since it is still only under one person's name.

I am a college professor and teach many online courses while on vacation.  I always get the premium plan and can access the LMS (learning management system).  There are times when the internet is extremely slow or even down, so plan ahead, do not wait until the last minute to submit your assignments since it may take time to load the page and upload anything.  

In May will bey first time in the Haven and I was wondering what time do you need to be out of your cabin and do they serve breakfast in the Haven restaurant on debarkation day?  My flight was originally at 11:30am but it has been changed to 1:50pm, so I have plenty time and do not need to rush off the ship but I also want to be respectful of the crew.

I have been on both the Glory and the Dream, I will be on the Vista in a couple of weeks.  I generally do not sail for the ship but for the itinerary and timing. I am not extremely impressed with any of Carnivals ships compared to other cruise lines but they do get the job done, generally are cheaper, give me great casino rates (and free rooms), and I have always had a great time. 

As others have stated the Glory is smaller, I generally prefer smaller ships, but I liked the Dream better.  It was just a little nicer but I would sail on the Glory again.  The Dream has a larger casino and a separate smoke free casino, which is great since I do spend a lot of time in the casino. The Dream sails out of Galveston which is only about an hour away from where I live while the Glory out of NOLA takes me about 5 hours.  NOLA is usually cheaper to sail out of than Galveston.  I have taken three cruises out of NOLA and sailing down the Mississippi was nothing special.  There is not much to see and it gets dark pretty quickly, but a lot of people enjoy it.  I have also been hearing about a lot of cars parked at the port being broken into at NOLA, so since I drive to that port I probably will not be back there for a while.

I have used the home proctored Binax test for my last two cruises.  I just order another 6 pack since I have four more cruises this year.  They are super simple and easy to take.  I have never waited for a proctor so they take about 20 minutes to complete at home (15 minutes is waiting for the test).  I also just took a PCR test at CVS since I had some symptoms and got the results back in about 12 hours, so at least where I live the PCR test are coming back quickly.

10 hours ago, cruise_gal21 said:

So does this actually mean that I don’t need that exemption I submitted for my 1yo daughter now? No more waiting on pins and needles wondering if we’re going to cruise in 5 weeks? I can finally tell my oldest kiddo that we’re going on a cruise without fear that we will be denied due to no exemption? Just double checking I’ve read this correctly. TIA!

You still need exemptions only if not vaccinated and over 5 after March 1st.