KCCasebolt

Good for you! I can't wait to use our FTTF in the upcoming weeks. 

Thank you both for the clarification and halting the panic of the people 🙂

5 minutes ago, Crazy4Camping said:

Okay now I'm lost again. First time I have seen this subject!  First cruise in a couple weeks.  Are you saying that on top of the cost of drinks(either individually or cheers)there are taxes charged?  I'm so confused.  Contemplating Cheers program but if we're gonna get hit with an additional tax bill on top of the crazy cost then idk.

This! Please someone explain!

47 minutes ago, JamesEB said:

No smoking in carnival cabins at all..

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3839/~/tobacco-and-marijuana-smoking-policy-%28u.s.%29

Thank goodness! I didn't realize this was a super old topic until a while into reading the response. I was shocked that it was allowed in the first place. 

On 1/9/2019 at 10:58 AM, bury me at sea said:

I have read posts saying Krogers and Publix (?) have sold Carnival gift cards, not at a discount, but somehow with dollars off gas purchases.

 

I haven't read of any sources for discounted cards other than Allstate and AARP.

Our grocery store, Hy-Vee, had a Black Friday event: for every $100 in gift cards you got a free $20 Hy-Vee gift card and $.10 off fuel. So we bought enough Carnival gift cards to pay off our cruise and got $200 in free Hy-Vee gift cards which we plan on buying $200 worth of Carnival gift cards with. Also got what amounted to 30 gallons of gas for free. Best deal ever!

5 hours ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

Question from me is why is Carnival putting the onus on it’s customers for tour prices and not doing more from itself to study these things and offer competitive prices to attract more customers.

 

i’m not spending all this time for Carnival to get my business.  I will research options , make my choice and then stick with that option.  And if that happens to be with an independent tour operator, so be it.

 

That is how business works.  The fact that Carnival doesn’t understand it is either incompetence or arrogance .

I opt to pay the premium for the assurances that booking an excursion through Carnival affords me. As a consumer I believe it's fair that I have options to book through the cruise line or investigate other options that may be cheaper. What I think is awesome is that they are willing to price match if I do the extra research. 

It doesn't bug me that they don't have people scouting out the lowest prices to pass on to cruise consumers. It takes but a minute to look up cheaper prices myself and have them price match. I would think to employ agents to find prices, establish a business contact with on shore operators, buy liability insurance, etc. would inflate Carnival excursion prices even more. 

Oh, I've saved closed to $60 price match in two excursions so far. Waiting to hear back on a third. So for those reading, it is possible. 

7 hours ago, Eliot Ness said:

I find there is one other benefit to independent excursions besides price, and that is they are usually much less crowded that a similar ships excursion.  Just one example is the "Rays, Reef, and Rum Point" tour we took in the Grand Cayman's.  On that tour there were only 3 couples on the boat and that made for a very personal tour.

 

YMMV, and if you feel more comfortable with a ships tour then the price match is worth looking into.

I completely agree with you! My only regret in booking with the ship was that independent excursions would be less crowded. But we were so stressed about ship time vs. port time that we just said aww to heck with it. 😆The more we cruise in the future then the more I imagine we will get  better about it. 

Thanks! That's really helpful!

I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck doing this recently? I'm interested in trying to research options but I'm hesitant because I think it'll be harder than it seems.

For instance, I'm thinking I can find similar excursions in the ports but Carnival will come back and be like it has to be through the vendor they are using. But I don't know what vendor they are using? And my dashboard excursion info seems vague and unhelpful? We will be on Miracle visiting/doing Cozumel (Ancient City of Tulum), Belize(Jungle Buggy, river tubing & zipline adventure), Mahogany Bay (a certified two tank dive),  & Grand Cayman ( amazing snorkel, stingray sandbar & starfish).  

Am I over-thinking this? 

I'd love to hear other people's experiences in saving costs! Thank you!  And yes, I know you don't have to book through the cruise line for excursions but we are newbies and felt more comfortable booking through the ship this time of round :)