Illbcruzn4life

1 minute ago, Elaine5715 said:

It is considered cancelling and a new booking.  Can you?  Of Course.  Will you be subject to fees or get refunds?  That is up to Carnival and factors we can not know.  

You still keep your booking number though.😀

17 minutes ago, DukeASUGirl said:

We have a cruise booked for June, with a final payment date of March 11. We have four cabins, and 13 people going.

 

We are currently booked for a Baja cruise out of Long Beach for a Girl Scout trip, but one of the dads (not attending) gets intelligence briefings due to his job, and he's advising that we don't go to Cabo or Ensenada. So now there is discussion of simply not getting off the ship and just remaining onboard, which really defeats the entire purpose of the trip for the girls.

 

So a suggestion was made to look into the possibility of applying our deposits to a cruise to the Bahamas instead. (We need to stay in the same general price range, since this would be done with cookie money and we'd already set a budget - and even though the cruisefare is cheaper to Bahamas, we would now add airfare, increasing the total cost) I found a relatively comparable (cost-wise as much as possible, and very similar dates) cruise, but don't know whether this would work.

 

We're a month out from the final payment date, and the girls are neck deep in cookie sales right now. I don't want to bring this up as an option unless I know it's possible, and I'm waiting for a call back.

 

But does anyone happen to know the answer? Can we switch itineraries and apply our deposit to the other sailing?

I just did this last week. Changed from Jubilee to Mardi Gras one week later. Cost was $50 pp to change. Also if the cruise you switch to is more money you need to pay the new price. Just an FYI: there was just travel update for the Bahamas as well.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/the-bahamas-travel-advisory.html

2 hours ago, George C said:

For many years it was Embassy Suites but had a terrible stay a few years ago and recently stayed at Hilton Marina. 

Same here. The Embassy Suites has gone downhill. Now stay at Hyatt House or Place.

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

YES YES YES most definitely and also the Wonder OTS as well.

 

As they say "once you have done an Oasis class ship, it is hard to beat".

However the new ICON does look interesting as well. 

I'm going on the Icon as soon as I hit the lottery which means never. lol way overpriced!

On 1/11/2024 at 7:17 PM, jimbo5544 said:

Not trying to start a dog fight on the topic.  I have been in both as well.  Not even sure why it is an issue.  All cruise ships and lines have way more in common that differences.  Just wanted to reply to a couple of your points and then I will move on.  First, the reason that the food is the same is because Carnival WANTS it to be same.  She now is a Carnival ship.  The Italian flair is way more about the heritage and decor than food (which BTW is way better than Costa food).  

 

In regards to the kids and keeping them happier on Oasis (class), it really depends on ages and demand.  I would def concede the flow rider, but the rest not so much.  A merry go round and flow rider attract a WAY different crowd.  I s the ice rink open every day?  I do not believe so.  Saw WAY more adults on rock climbing walls than kids.  I could go on, but will not.  No need.  I did a lengthy review of our sailing on Oasis and posted it on the RCCL main page as well as here.  There is a reason we have only sailed Oasis class once.  

 

Listen I get the hype, the wow, the sizzle (Icon right now).   That comes with some caveats, no tender ports (NONE) and limited ports of calls.  For a lot, the sizzle wins….not for us.  Your opinion (or your kids) may vary.  Time to move on.

Is that the cruise you went on reluctantly because you were sailing with friends and they chose the Royal ship?

On closed loop cruises to Panama are passports required?

On 1/23/2024 at 10:20 AM, sparks1093 said:

We'll be onboard in April so following along. No specific questions yet. I just read a comparison between Mardi Gras and Anthem of the Seas (which we've been on) and Mardi Gras is very comparable so I can't wait to be onboard. 

beautiful class of ship. The only bad part is center stage. Booking Mardi Gras as soon as I hear from PVP.

On 1/23/2024 at 4:43 PM, Kudos2Fly said:

Is Carnival still allowing Platinum members to go to their rooms early to drop off luggage and hang out there? It's been since 2020 since we have sailed on Carnival.

Yes they can’t offer that perk anymore since they got rid of a lot of the cabin attendants.

3 hours ago, palaemon said:

I know it’s listed on the website as an option, but I also know it’s not available in the self-serve fountains either. 
 

Does anyone know for sure that they actually carry it?

 

Bonus if you can say which bars (or all?)

 

We’re planning to sail on the Celebration this April, our first Carnival.

 

tia

 

Dave

They have it, it's just hard to track down sometimes. We had the best luck at 820 Biscayne right across from the pizza. They didn't have it every day but if we went and they didn't have it they would usually go and get a case. It was only like a 5 minute wait as they didn't have to go far.

34 minutes ago, voljeep said:

15 alcoholic drinks per Princess 'day' - 6 am to 6 am

 

but at Princess discretion, you can buy additional drinks 🥂

tyvm

Is there a cutoff point of 15 drinks a day like on Carnival? Just curious as I would never come close.

5 hours ago, heffa72 said:

We're cruising as a group of 13. We want to attempt my time dining but not sure if we're setting ourselves up for failure. First, my question would be do their tables accommodate 13 or are we going to need two tables? Secondly, I haven't done it on Royal Caribbean yet but on carnival you can make standing reservations for the days you plan on eating in the dining room. Is that the case for Royal? Or do I have to make a reservation every morning? And do I have to go down to the dining room to do so?

we had a group of 12 on the Oasis a few years back and they pushed a couple tables together to make 1. We had anytime dining and the Maitre'd told us as long as we got to the dining room by a specific time he'd hold the table for us every day. One day it was available but we were only moved back 2 rows of tables for that one day. The Maitre'd was awesome. He came over to our table 2 of the nights and poured us all a glass of champagne.

3 hours ago, lr2024 said:

I just matched to Gold from HH Gold.

 

I booked the cruise months ago - will I still get the $50 on board credit? That was the main reason for the match. The note in the status match email say I had to include my number at booking.

all you can do is try. I must say that MSC is a stickler for details. Hopefully they prove me wrong and you get it.

1 hour ago, moesyk4 said:

Not bad. One floor apart and close to the stairs so really just a couple of cabins down on separate floors. 

cool thanks for the quick reply!

20 hours ago, moesyk4 said:

We did a regular balcony cabin with a family of 5 in 2017. Our kids were younger (4,5, and 10) at the time and it was cozy but very doable. This time it was cheaper to book two inside guarantees so we went with that. We did that on the Allure and we loved the ship!

how close were the cabins they assigned you?

On 11/13/2023 at 7:34 PM, A&L_Ont said:

I didn’t know that they did live entertainment.  What type of music did they play?

had a guitar player there when we went in October who played and sung country music.

2 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Have the request placed on your reservation.  Be aware, there no actual 2 person tables.  If you get one, it will be a 4 top with only 2 places set.

 

Also, it's just a request, and DCL cannot guarantee all (or any) such requests will be honored.

we did that and got moved to a 4 top as shmoo said. It turned out great.

3 hours ago, mamiamjo said:

Beside Pepsi Zero they have Starry Zero and Diet Mountain Dew although I’ve found that on the past  2-3 cruises I’ve been on the last two aren’t always kept in stock at all the bars. YMMV

they also have decaf diet pepsi that is very hard to find. Even though I'm not supposed to have caffeine I sneak in a dt Mt Dew once in awhile.

6 hours ago, Chief93 said:

So I just booked my first non-Carnival cruise.  Really wanted to do Europe, the cruise I wanted was on the Legend, but the deposit was $800 and non refundable, which I was cool with, but also non transferrable, which I was not cool with.  Also apparently it's special, and your Platinum status doesn't count.  Anyway, I've seen my Platinum benefits watered down enough that that wasn't a consideration.  So I'm gonna try NCL, 9 days, no sea days, two days in Istanbul.  

 

Anyone else sailed NCL and have any suggestions?  Oh, and this isn't a negative thread, I'm doing Carnival in Australia next year.

Cool, have a great cruise! 😀

2 hours ago, actuarian said:

It is not that unusual for people to have issues with MDR seating on MSC when they book the Bella or Fantastica experiences. However, you can book the Aurea experience on MSC and still be paying less than it costs to cruise on Royal Caribbean, although the savings over Royal Caribbean will be much smaller. If you book in Aurea, you can show up in the Aurea MDR without an advance reservation and with as many people as can fit at a table. If you really want the best service, you can often book MSC in the Yacht Club for around the price of a junior suite on Royal.

We shouldn't have to pay an extra $2000 so that our family can be seated together. The point that it would still be cheaper than Royal is not relevant .

8 hours ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

The ratio is roughly the same when comparing Carnival’s Excel class to RCI’s Oasis class. They both carry around the same while Excel class is around 40,000 tons less. I never felt like the Mardi Gras was overly crowded, and they announced there was 6,500 pax on our sailing. It felt about the same as any other Carnival

ship. Remember the Oasis/Icon class ships sacrifice a lot of revenue producing space to have those open air split superstructure features. Don’t expect Carnival to do that. They will put cabins in any nook and cranny, that’s how they keep the fares so low. If the Oasis/Icon ships had those open areas filled in, they would easily be 9,000+ capacity, Royal simply chooses to have those impressive architectural features over higher capacity. Like I said, Carnival would not do that, therefore getting the same amount on a smaller/cheaper ship. It’s been their business model since day 1. 

Why does Carnival want to keep fares low? Shouldn’t they want to charge more to maximize revenues?

4 hours ago, shof515 said:

Looks like Carnival is building their version of icon of the seas

That's preposterous. They said they would never do that. Never say never! If that's what attracts the majority of your clientele, you build it.

8 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

Totally agree.  Approximately 12% bigger than XL Class ships with almost 30% more passengers 🤪

3 hours ago, Despegue said:

A  first of a new class of ships has been ordered with Fincantieri last week by Carnival corp.

Measuring 208.000 tons, she will be the largest vessel of the whole Carnival group. It is currently not known with whom she will sail, but it is expected that it will be Carnival Cruises.

 

 

oh no Carnival Corp building a monstrosity of the Seas equivalent? Say it isn't so.

1 hour ago, NancyIL said:

 

Thank you. I applied last Wednesday (Jan. 3), but haven't heard anything yet.

usuallt takes about 24 hours. I did 3 of them for myself and 2 others. No problems at all.