jlabs03

NCL did not require masks until right before Christmas when numbers of cases started to increase due to omicron.  They are just returning to their previous policy since case numbers are decreasing rapidly. Carnival did not require masks except in specific locations until the omicron surge so it would be nice if they also went back to that policy if not just get rid of masks all together.

12 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Gary, I've read  your posts about providing a letter to the butler on the first day of the cruise. I've seen posts referencing your posting an example of that letter but I cannot find a copy.  Would you mind post another copy if it doesn't intrude too much on your families privacy.

It is on page 16 near the bottom.

3 minutes ago, complawyer said:

if i'm not mistaken, the cabin has only the one room.your bed and the couch are right next to each other and only 1 bathroom

No, it is two rooms and one bathroom. A bedroom (with a window) and a living room (with a balcony).  The couch in the living room can be converted to a bed.

1 hour ago, n4w said:

 

Thanks I will read through the post.

1 hour ago, Peachypooh said:

We have cruised NCL 9 times all of them in the Haven. There are people (like me) that just like the larger cabins, not waiting in lines, and the ability to call someone (Butler or Concierge) if there is a problem. We only did that once and it was a stateroom maintenance issue. There are others that like the dedicated restaurant, special seating at shows, afternoon (free) snacks, smaller exclusive areas to hang out. The person who posted above has outlined many informative things. Will you be sailing with children? During the holidays, winter and spring breaks  and summer vacation don't expect peace and quiet in the Haven areas. Lots and lots of kids most of the time. I have cruised with my grandchildren during summer vacations so I have first hand experience with that. And that's OK I expected it.

Thanks for the information.  I will be sailing the second week in May so school will not be out yet.  It will be me and my 15 year old daughter.  Part of the reason I went with the Forward facing penthouse is because she can sleep in the living room area and I will have my own bedroom.  She usually gets in after I am already asleep.

I just upgraded my cabin to a Haven forward facing penthouse w/balcony on the Breakaway.  I have never stayed in the Haven before and would like any information/tips people can provide.  I am not even sure what is really included.

I was there at the end of October. We had cabana 12 because we wanted to be away from the Pirate ship bar (due to noise) and the crowds. The walk to the bathrooms was not bad and people using the beach did not start to arrive until about lunch time since we were far down so it was nice. Also about every hour to hour and half Carnival Staff stopped by to make sure everything was ok and check to see if we were the ones that actually rented the cabana. The walk to the buffet took about 5-10 minutes so also not that far. We did not eat at the buffet but just ate the fruit and tortillas and guacamole provided. 

My cruise is in Oct and I did not receive the email until they made the announcement about the protocols for September and October. So my guess is that you probably will not receive the link until they make the announcement about the November and December protocols. The link was in the email about the protocols, it was not a separate email. 

I have sailed Holland America, Royal, NCL, and Carnival. I would say Royal is my least favorite but would cruise them again if the itinerary and price was right. NCL is my favorite line since I am very causal and laid back. I like being able to eat in the dining room every night without having to bring special cloths for formal night. The buffet in NCL is better with more options than Carnival but Carnivals additional free options are way better than any other cruise line I have been on. I am not a fan of Carnival MDR food. NCL has Broadway like shows which Carnival does not but it is similar to Royal. Carnival gives me casino offers so I end up booking Carnival more often and I also can drive to Galveston. Currently Royal and Carnival are the only two lines that sail out of there and Carnival is always better priced.  

It may be ship dependent but I could not just walk up to the casino bar on either the Glory or Valor I had to be be actively playing in order to get free drinks.  

My October cruise shows up but is just says must be completed prior to boarding with no exact date.  If you have children and are trying for the exemption you will not be able to fill it out until you get the exemption or not.

My December cruise does not have the vaccination survey but I assume that is because they have not announced the protocols for Dec & Nov yet.

On 7/19/2021 at 4:47 PM, cruisehappyinJune said:

On my October booking the FTTF excursion is listed but is sold out. I’m stalking it just as I would have pre-COVID to see if any come available. I was hoping that with today’s announcement we might hear about the future of FTTF. I may be wasting my time, but I will be so happy to snag one on the off-chance they bring it back by October!

I am doing the same for my October cruise. 

21 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

I just received an email from Carnival with the subject "Game on Jeff - thanks for booking".  If they're going to cancel this cruise on Monday or Tuesday, this is a very bad tease...

 

BOOKING #: M37FXX   |   SAILING DATE: 09/12/2021

Thanks for booking your Carnival cruise, Jeff. Carnival Players Club and the entire Carnival Pride team can't wait to see you aboard! Meanwhile, please don't forget to link your booking to My Cruise Manager to easily book spa appointments, plan shore excursions, make restaurant reservations, check your itinerary and much more.

Unfortunately, many of these are auto-generated and if you cruise has not been officially canceled yet you will get the scheduled emails until the cruise is cancelled and then even after it is cancelled you still may receive the emails.   

I sailed the Glory a couple years ago and it is a good ship.

1. If you are used to NCL cruise ships the decor is more garish but not as bad as many ships I have been on.  I did find the upkeep on the Glory no where near NCL ships of the same age or older. I sailed on the NCL Spirt (this ship is older than the Glory) right before it went to dry dock for its major refurbish and it was night and day to the Glory.  The Spirits upkeep was so much better.  On the Glory seats in the buffet are no longer their original color and have many stains (but this may have been updated since I have been on the sip), tiles broken, rug in room peeling stuff like that, nothing that really that will impact your cruise.

2.NCL does YTD the best in my opinion, but on Carnival it was not that bad, but there are times when you can have a wait.  The last time I was on Carnival it was the last cruise before Covid shut everything down so the cruise was pretty empty.  I was on the Valor a sister ship to the Glory and we never had to wait to be seated on this cruise.  From what I remember the HUB app could not be used to make dinner reservations on the Glory (it is only available on select ships), however this may have changed since I sailed in 2019.

3. The sailing of the Mississippi is fun for the first bit but you will always end up in the dark because it takes many hours to reach the Gulf.  I would not consider the Mississippi a pretty river and after about 30 minutes I go and do other things.

9 hours ago, Criusewanderlust said:

Which Port?

 

Nassau. The other two ports do not show any bubble tours at least not yet. 

5 minutes ago, Cruisesfun65 said:

 

How do you know if it's a bubble excursion? Does it specifically say this?

Yes, it says bubble in the title:

24 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 My 14 year old would be upset if I left him at home. But he is vaccinated so we're good to go cruising :0

She understands why she would be left and she is pretty spoiled with travel and cruising. We usually go on two to three cruises a year and the one she is looking forward to is May 2022, we are going on a 9 day Alaskan cruise.  So I hope by then Alaska is all sorted and vaccine will not be required but once again it is a waiting game.

8 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 

That is very useful information to know that "Bubble excursions" are showing up.

 

That means people with currently booked cruises can go online and if that shows up in their list they know their cruise will still be requiring unvaccinated cruisers to have limitations.

 

That is my concern as well, but I will wait and see.  There are two bubble excursion for Nassau right now and none for the other ports, at least not yet.  My daughter is 14 and will not be vaccinated (she is home schooled and very low risk) and if 95% vaccinated is required or you are required to go on the bubble excursions I will probably just leave her home and have her as a no-show since I am vaccinated.  This was a free cruise through the casino so it is not like it is costing me not to take her.

I have October and December cruises and I am guessing that at least the October Cruise will be 95% vaccinated or a very high percentage vaccinated. I was just looking at excursions this morning and bubble excursions are now showing up in one ports. 

My original cruise was in May so I rebooked it for September once it was cancelled.  The cruise was half the price.  When they gave me the future cruise credit it was for what my penalty would have been at the time of cancellation.  So that covered the cruise and then I had about $36 left over from that amount that they rolled into the OBC.  They then refunded me the rest, which I got in less than 30 days.  My September cruise has been cancelled and I just took a refund this time since I am not really sure when things will get back to normal and all of the cruises I am looking at are more expensive.  They will be refunding me the cruise, taxes fees, and the $36 of my OBC since this is money that I originally paid on my first booking (I called them to verify this before I made my decision).

5 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

So, my September cruise was cancelled and I am going to roll the money I paid to a January cruise.  I only paid a deposit for my January cruise.  The thing is, my January cruise is $1,288 less than my September cruise.  I am wondering what happens with the $1,288.  Will they refund it to my credit card?

That is what they did when I rebooked my cruise at a lower rate after it was cancelled.  I also got my refund in less than 30 days. I did book through the Casino so I am not sure if that makes a difference.

15 minutes ago, Knighton said:

How does it work if I already had obc from the last time I got cancelled and booked a later one.  Do they add it to what you already had?  I had $800 obc on the one they just cancelled.  Does that mean the next will be $1400 obc?

No, they do not add them together. Here is the fine print from the letter: New OBC offer replaces any previous OBC offer and applies to new booking if made by 5/31/2021.

You will lose your original OBC.  This happened to me, I originally had a $500 OBC through casino offer and once my cruise was cancelled and I rebooked I only got the $600 OBC (7 day cruise).

13 minutes ago, LMKakaThing2 said:

Just got the same email for my September 7th sailing on the Paradise. Still trying to figure out what we’re going to do. Got an amazing casino rate and highly doubt I’ll find another one for $250 all in.


Sent from my iPhone

I know. I booked the same cruise and got over half it back from my original booking.  Looking at the same cruise next year it will cost more no matter when I sail so I am debating on just taking the refund and waiting for another casino offer.

4 minutes ago, Nessa55 said:

My cruise date was also May 9th for 11 cabins and 23 people total but we have not received anything back so maybe as someone said earlier money comes back faster on AMEX than on any of the other means of payment. All of the initial deposits per cabin came off my debit card and then there are additional payments totaling $16,000 so I am waiting for a lot of money to hit my account. I have made it clear to everyone it could take up to 90 days and do not contact me asking me about it, I will let you know when it hits my account. The problem is everyone's money will not hit at the same time as they will refund it per booking number but I was told by Carnival it might be better to wait until all the money has hit my account to start disbursing it,  don't have to do that as I will be able to tell from the amount whose money is whose, thank God.

I was also booked through the casino and I am not sure it that makes a difference as well.  I was surprised that the refund of the cruise, excursion, and FTF came through at the same time since most people are reporting this is not what they have experienced.