Illbcruzn4life

10 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Glad it worked well for you. The MCO reserve appointments really make that airport a breeze. Hope you had a good cruise!

The best part of clear at MCO is it's free. The cruise was excellent.

Thanks again

Thanks for that tip on using clear at MCO. Used it today after our 14 day cruise on MSC Seashore. Got us right through when the regular lines were 13-17 minutes.  on the app it says you have 10minutes on either side of your reservation to make your appointment. We showed up abou 30 minutes early and they let us go right through.

So thank you again! Much appreciate the tip!

11 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

No they do not.

tyvm. I didn't think so either but somebody else said they did. 

13 hours ago, Biker19 said:

The flier seems to have moved back to a previous link https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Promotions/rci_sales_event_USD.pdf

 

Very short this week with no bargains.

maybe they ran out of ink.

I was under the impression that was stopped.

6 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

As a first time cruiser, I would recommend using those free valuable resources that a TA or PVP provide.  PVP is personal vacation planner, basically are people that Carnival has work with clients (kind of a Carnival TA) but only deal with Carnival.  In either case they have great knowledge base and are free,,,

Agreed

On 4/4/2024 at 9:46 AM, Mum2Mercury said:

We always go with My Time Dining.  About a year ago we took a last-minute bargain cruise and were forced to take Traditional Dining ... it was okay, but it reminded us why we prefer My Time.  

 

Best practice is to make reservations (in the phone app) as soon as you reserve your cruise ... then change the time, if you want, later.  Most people want the earlier time slots, and they do fill up.  If you arrive a bit early /a bit late for My Time reservations, they'll work with you ... but if you don't have reservations, you'll wait. 

We always take my time. Last October we went on Oasis and found out they changed my time and we couldn’t eat earlier than like 7:30. Next time we will take early

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

Even in a topic with this much information people still don't understand the difference between Real ID and an EDL.  Baffling.

there is another forum I read and the amount of misinformation is unbelievable. Try to give correct information and nobody believes you. (shrug)

2 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

Carnival has really been testing the water with price increases. 12 half liter water bottles for 14.95 plus 18 percent delivery fee. Remember how water was going to be fairly priced after they banned bringing your own? I have noticed a huge markup for balcony rooms over interiors so I have decided interiors aren't that bad at all. Choices are good ! 

I hear you. With us both being retired now I'll take an inside cabin versus staying home any day.

2 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

During working hours, which also happen to be school hours. Both parents have to take off from work, and sometimes it might necessitate two different appointments in order to get the entire family handled, if you don't want them to miss important classes. For example, my husband and I will both be going to the post office twice next Friday in order to get my kids their passports - the first appointment will be during the younger child's lunch period, then we take him back to the school and sign out the older child during her lunch period. 

 

And the older one is still a year away from being eligible for the 10-yr passport, which means hers will only be valid for 5 years. 

 

Inconvenient, but it is what it is. But that's why we haven't gotten passports for the kids previously, when the only international travel we've done with them could be done with a birth certificate. Wasn't worth the hassle. Now that we'll be flying to Canada later this summer, we do need a passport. Didn't make sense to get passports 6 years ago for the one 3-day cruise they took in 2018, because we would have had to get another for their 2023 cruise - it would have been a one-and-done.

Your case is what @sparks1093 always says which I agree with him 100%. You did what was best for you and your family under the circumstances. A lot of people think one size fits all.

1 hour ago, TheLargeFamily said:

Yes it's Texas. 

 

I have a sinking feeling right now. Back when I was planning, I googled and found this (attached) which I thought was adequate at the time.  Glad I packed those birth certificates. Wow. 

 

Glad to learn from u rather than at the terminal. 

Well this proves Jimbo's point.

On 2/25/2024 at 8:11 PM, Shidah said:

We are the opposite, we have only cruised NCL because of the free style dining.  Trying our first Carnival cruise and already worried it is a mistake.  We are waitlisted for YTD, but the only option we had was late time seating, which for a variety of personal reasons does not work for us.  I have called a few times each week to see if we got off the waitlist, so far no.  This is literally keeping me up at night and makes me really miss NCL.  

if it doesn't get changed before you cruise go see the maitre'd when you board the ship. Odds are you'll get the change you want.

1 hour ago, hawkinsh said:

What about minors?  What do they need besides a birth certificate?  Can't find it on the Carnival site.

because that's all they need.

2 hours ago, Davechipp74 said:

I never understood why passports are such an issue for people, just get a passport if you plan on leaving the U.S. My 8 y/o niece has a passport, my sister got it for her specifically for a cruise.  

My 4 y.o. Granddaughter just got hers. We are heading to Punta Cana for a week later this summer

10 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

I can be more clear.  I am talking about all of them.  While you and I understand the difference between Real ID and EDL and their functionality differences, in regards to travel, we add in Passports and passport cards.  Hoe much mote confusing could it be to occasional travelers.  They were all trying to simplify secure.  
 

Instead we have one designed for air travel, one designed for contiguous birder travel (and oh by the way totally different than the other used for domestic travel).  Then the second oh by the way it is not accepted in all border states. We can wla e passports and passport cards out but they confuse it more. 

Your talk to text seems to be on the fritz.

8 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Even RCCL cruisers agree with me

who is a Royal cruiser? I can only imagine you are referencing me since I am the only one who liked your post. I'm an equal opportunity cruiser. Even if the ship is butt ugly it is putting butts in the seats and at a very high price. How long that will last is anyones guess. Prices have always been higher for new builds when they start cruising but this is another stratosphere. I for one won't be on her anytime soon. I'll be on the Mardi Gras after my MSC cruise. 🙂

6 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

They need something to pay for those monstrosities…..other than the absolutely ridiculous rates they charge for Icon.  But when you are doing 1+ ships a year at 2 bill per ship.throwing some free booze at their loyal customers must work….  All that said, if it works for you, it work.  Thanks for the reply.

They’re monstrosities until Carnival builds one. Then they’re the best things since sliced bread.

6 hours ago, skywalkr2 said:

To this point my entire cruising decisions have been based around getting Platinum level.  I am not alone in that.

If you are happy that is all that matters. 🙂

6 hours ago, skywalkr2 said:

now that I have platinum, I really don't notice the abundance of too many platinums... at least out of NYC or Baltimore.  Still mostly red/blue cruisers.

 

however I know for a fact that If I lose priority embarkation on my platinum, I will just have no reason to stick with Carnival any more, and there will be a lot of others who decide its time to try other lines.

I wouldn’t let the fact that you have priority boarding stop you from trying other lines 

1 hour ago, Texaslady22 said:

Happy Update:

 

I ended up getting 3 job offers in the same week after nearly 6 months of unemployment! This was one of them, but I accepted a different position.

 

I am so glad that things are finally looking up! 😍

Congratulations on the new job!! Nice to hear about good things happening .

5 hours ago, Oceans 818 said:

You should screenshot the OBC on your phone incase you need it on the ship if it doesn't show up on your web browser booking.

Have your friend email   MSCExistingReservations@msccruisesusa.com to get his information straightened out. You could try that as well and explain the discrepancy between App & Web. I keep any email pretaining to any issues incase I need to show it on board. 

Ty for the info. 😀

26 minutes ago, Oceans 818 said:

Hi Nancy, I'm wondering if the OBC turned up when you look at your booking? And the other I'm wondering, did you make your booking at least 9 months out in order to qualify for the OBC? Asking as have friends that just booked for 2026 and they have no status as yet and MSC said as long as they did a match before final payment the 5%+5%. 

My obc credit is only listed if I check my booking on my phone. If i check on the website it doesn't show it anywhere.

Friends of ours did the status match after they booked but it was still more than 9 months out but their reservation doesn't show any obc. He has called them a couple times and the reps just make it worse. His gender was listed as female. He called to get it changed and the rep wiped out his whole booking. 

thank you everybody for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated

4 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

If a passport was required for any port stop, you would be denied boarding if you didn't have one.

as I thought. ty Elaine

2 hours ago, stevo88 said:

carnivals current loyalty program already seems like a joke - let's think of ways they can make it worse

yeah, they need to come up with better bribes!