zeph918

My family and I are still booked to go on the cruise to the Caribbean. It hasn't been canceled as of right now but with the constant no sail order extensions, I am thinking that the trip won't happen at all.  Even if we do sail, will the port even allow us to come in and do excursions?  

It sucks because I'm torn, and I don't know what to do. I can schedule my family to have just a normal Beach vacation but things fill up very quickly and most of them do not give you very long to cancel.

Do I go ahead and cancel the cruise and flight to book the beach vacation witch would be more stable. Or do I wait it out and hope for a miracle that cruising is going to start up in October and the ports will be somewhat normal.

My logical brain is telling me one thing, but my heart is telling me another. This was going to be our kids first cruise and first flight.

My wife and I are at grand turk right now and....my my...  this place is straight out of a dream.   

We want to take our kids on a cruise next year and thinking about where to go.   Seems like more cruises go to princess cays compared to grand turk.   How is princess cays?   Is it this beautiful? And has anyone gone snorkeling there?   We took a snorkel excursion here in grand turk and it was wonderful.    Also would like to find a dolphin swim.   Ocean world in amber cove was awesome.   Got to be pushed and pulled by dolphins in deep water.  

At first I was bummed we didnt get to go to bermuda...but we are having a blast

As a first-time Cruiser, we have never been to any of the destinations on the new itinerary either so I guess we are okay with this. Wasn't planned, but we will make the most of it. I am sure that San Juan and Amber Cove are pretty as well

Yeah, you're right! I'm sure it will be a good time no matter what.

If the ship for whatever reason does not go to Bermuda and has to be diverted somewhere else, I wonder if insurance would cover that. It seems to say so under the trip interruption section since it didnt reach its destination.   Hmmm   i may have to get clarification on this.

I insured back last december when  I first booked the cruise.    Your answers have put my mind at ease a bit. I was worried about flying to Orlando and then the cruise be entirely canceled or something causing us to be stranded.  

We are set to be in Bermuda on Monday and Tuesday which is exactly when that hurricane is predicted to be there. I guess we will see how it goes.

This is my first cruise so I don't know how it works. We are set to go to Bermuda next week but there is a hurricane heading in that direction. In fact, the hurricane is supposed to be there on Monday evening and Tuesday which are the exact days we are going to be there.

How do cruise ships handle this? Do they cancel the cruise entirely? What about the shore excursions that we have already paid for? Do they get refunded?

We are flying on Saturday to Orlando and this has me worried in more ways than one. I have insured my trip just in case, but I don't know how all of this works

This is going to sound silly but I have never been on a cruise before so I really don't know. I booked an Excursion through the Carnival website for a snorkeling session. My question is, does the Excursion company provide things like a mask, snorkel, and fins? Or is that something that we have to purchase and bring ourselves? It does not say either way on the Excursion description

Awesome thank you. Is there any way that the waiter or waitress knows that I have prepaid gratuities? I know it sounds funny but I don't want to walk away from the table and the waiter or waitress resent me because I didn't leave a tip. You know what I'm saying? Is there a way for them to tell that it's already been taken care of?

Hello everyone. I have a new question to ask. I am going to be going on the Carnival Breeze for a cruise in September. I already have everything booked and I went ahead and prepaid my gratuities on my package via the website.

Does this cover gratuities across-the-board? I am thinking about my waiter or waitress for our sit-down meals.  Does the gratuity add-on also apply to them or do we need to tip them separately?

I know we can always give an additional tip, I just didn't know if it was covered already or not. I am certainly not the type of person to shaft someone for good service.

Im gonna tell her 1 week ahead of time

Awesome.   Thanks everyone.    This really helps.

Set up to go to bermuda in september for our first cruise.   Had some questions and Ill admit they are probably common knowledge so I apologize.   Im doing all of this planning on my own because its going to be a suprise for my wife and our annivesary.    Sorry for the wall of questions but I do appreciate the help.   We are going to be on the Breeze. 

1.  When will I know a schedule for things like shows, movies, and others that will be happening on the ship?

2.  When will I know if its elegant night and how many of those there are?   Its a 7 day cruise, need to know what to buy and pack for!

3.  I dont understand dining.   All the places like guys burger joint all have food.   Am I correct in assuming that is mainly used for lunch?

4.  We have late dining scheduled and I know that takes place in the Blush dining area every night since the Sapphire room is for early dining.   Does the menu change or how does it not get old?

5.  Lastly, with having all the little joints for lunch, and then the main dining rooms or specialty dining options, what is the purpose of the lido deck buffet?

6.  When you are docked at a port, do people normally go back to the ship for lunch and dinner and then exit the ship again to enjoy the beach some more?   Is it a pain to get on and off the ship like that?

7.  Laundry.   Research says there are a few coin laundry machines on the ship but it seems like they would be always in use.   Since its a 7 day cruise and then having to pack special clothing for elegant nights, it would be nice to NOT have to pack 7 full changes of clothes on top of elegant stuff especially when considering airline baggage fees and lugging everything around.   I thought about washing clothes by hand in the sink or shower as frugal ad that may sound.   Im sure laundry services can get expensive.  

Thanks all.   As luck would have it, I'm pretty sneaky lol.  I told my wife that I may need a passport for a new opportunity at work which may require travel into mexico.    I'm a truck driver.   We can go to mexico with just our CDL but she doesn't know that.    Told her my company is paying for mine but we may as well get her one too so they stay in sync with each other.   She agreed and still has no clue about the surprise.    *evil grin*

Awesome, so a marriage licence will suffice.  Thanks!     Oh and side note, I bought travel insurance as you guys suggested in my last post.   Just over 100 bucks is a small price to pay for coverage during hurricane season!

Thank you all so much for all the terrific answers I got on my last batch of questions.   They were very helpful and I now understand how the MDR and such work.   My next concern is ID requirements.

I dont have a problem taking our drivers license or birth certificates.    We have official documents complete with seals.    We do not have passports.   We COULD get them, but if you read my last post, this is all going to be a total surprise to my wife and if I make her get a passport, she will KNOW something is in the books.   

So with that being said, what about her last name?   She got married to me (duh), and it doesn't match her birth certificate.    Would bringing a copy of our marriage license bridge the gap for this?   I dont know what else would suffice.    Id love to be able to get passports and be done with it but you have to go in person to do all that and like I said, my secret would be out of the bag.     

Thanks all.   This info was very helpful.   How do I know which nights are elegant nights?  I don't see a calendar or anything but it may be too far away still.   I'm assuming elegant night applies to the MDR as well as the signature dining places correct?   

Glad I found this site... maybe you guys can help me out.  

In September 2019, It will be our 20th anniversary.    She THINKS I only have a trip to the beach planned.   But no, I have a cruse to Bermuda already booked up.   Im doing all the planning pretty much on my own.   I got a flight booked, transfer service scheduled, and even a shore excursion planned.   Im doing it solo because I want it to be a surprise for her that Ill reveal a week or two before we go.  

With this being our first cruise, I had some questions.   We are going to be on the Carnival Breeze by the way.   

1 - Our trip makes a stop at the Grand Turk where I have already booked a entry level snorkeling excursion.   But Im not sure how I am going to find where to go for the excursion once we dock at grand turk.   

2 - Whats the point of having a "dining time"?   I was under the impression you could eat 24/7 as much as you wanted to on a cruise (aside from obvious signature dining locations).  Part of a cruise was staying stuffed with food all the time right?  😃    Am I wrong in thinking that you can eat at any of the included diners anytime, and as often, as you would like?   

3 - Are there Ice machines that you can get access to or like a mini fridge in the rooms?   Just thinking about being out on the balcony (we have an aft balcony room) and getting thirsty.   

4- Room service is....really free?   First time cruiser so I honestly dont know.  So If I want some food or a sweet treat at 9PM I just call room service and they bring it to me all included?    This seems so foreign to me  since normally not only do you pay for the food they bring, but you also pay for the service of them bringing it to you.  

5 - How is luggage handled?    When we get off the plane with our bags, we find the transfer service.  But what then?   Im sure they will let us know but figured I would ask.   Do we carry our bags to our room right away or do they have some kind of service like an airport that does it for you or what?

Sorry to be so ignorant.  Ive been researching so much on the internet regarding cruises.   Watched countless youtube videos and read even more websites.    I still have 9 months before we depart but Im the type that likes to have his ducks in a row as early as possible.   

I appreciate all the help.   Im gonna prod around on this site to see if I can find some answers in previous posts here.