Davey Wavey

They just love you all THAT MUCH! Embrace the love!

Like every other company, Carnival probably doesn't like any media they cannot control. Good PR departments will try to at least establish a presence to tell their side. That is a losing proposition on CC. It would just turn into a public stoning no matter what they said or did.

If itinerary is really important, buy cruise insurance. It won't stop the change from happening, but the $1500 payout for "inconvenience" makes it hurt less.

I wish they would have told me on the bounce back, if you couldnt find something that worked, or if it was gone already, they would give the cash option towards any cruise... that i could have worked with.

I never knew that either. I passed on 2 bouncebacks because they were too soon.

Seems like the Premier offers aren't as cheap as they used to be.... no real bargains any more.

This is the first time my premier offer was for a free cabin, so the price seems waaaaay better. I didn't plan on taking any cruises this year but now I have a free bounceback in April and 3 free Premiers in July and September.

Make sure you check back. I have seen them add more premier cruises a few weeks after the first were announced. One nice thing is they have made the bounceback offers good for 6 months out instead of just 3. My bounceback from November I was able to schedule in April. They had asked in a survey last year how to make the bouncebacks better and that was one of their suggestions to give more time. Good thing they actually listened.

I haven't heard of something called quality points. Entries in drawings are based on 100 points earned, but I am not sure based on your description what drawing you were entered or if a quality point is equal to 100 points. For earning points at table games, they record the time you start and what your buy in is. Starting with chips lets them put in a default amount, which is low. You should cash out your chips at the end of each session and buy in with cash...the more the better. They don't record when you buy additional chips as you play, although some people say they do. It only takes a bit of observation to see they don't.

To confirm what I had experienced and learned from casino staff, I started doing an experiment. I only play roulette for the same bet every spin and around the same amount of time each 7 day cruise. I used to buy in with $200 and would earn the free interior cabin bounceback offers. Then I started buying in with $1000, but only playing with $200. I would cash in the $800. Instead of earning the drinks card (3,500 points) on the 4th day, I would get it on the first day. On the 3rd day, I asked the host how many points I had and was told, "Don't worry, you already earned a free cruise (at least 5,000 points)." The bounceback offers became free oceanview offers. The premier cruise offers went from reduced price to free cabin premier cruises. So, don't start a session using chips. Buy in with cash.

So far, the Ultra/Elite cruises have been at the end of the year. Invites come out around August/September. They have been adding more each year, so maybe they will be offered earlier someday.

Occasionally , very occasionally , you get a post claiming bed bugs on a ship . They have always come from 1 hit wonders . I have never seen any claims of bb's from a CC user with more then a few posts .

Well, let me be your first. On our last back to back in November 2016, we didn't unpack on embarkation day. Next morning when we went to unpack, there were 4 of the critters in one drawer...all dead. We put them in a baggie and took pictures, then took them down to guest services. We pulled them off to the side so no one would hear. We asked that they fix it and check the room over. They asked if we had been bitten (no and the bugs we found were dead) and assured us they have a special pest treatment team to handle the problem. They showed up 30 minutes later, so we left so they could do their job. When we returned, it looked like nothing had been touched. We pulled all the drawers out and saw they had put a bug trap behind the drawers. We took a picture of that, too. They also left our door open (we thought maybe for fumigation, but no...), which is another story.

We went back down to guest services and asked for the manager. The officer head of hotel services came. We told him we were going to be in that room for 14 more days and had just asked them to check it over thoroughly. He said they were not allowed to disturb the room when customer stuff was in there. I said you have my permission to turn the room upside down to check it. He said he would go with the team and make sure it was done properly. When we returned to the room two hours later, it was obvious the room had been completely undone and put back together. The sheets were crispy brand new, like we got to use them even before the captain.

We didn't ask for anything and they gave us nothing...well except crispy new sheets on the bed for the rest of the cruise.

Just wondering how you see how many points you have at any given time?

 

Thanks in advance for the info!

Slot points and table points are separate. To see slot points, put your card in a slot machine. Table points you cannot see. You can ask a host and they will sometimes tell you something, but I generally use receiving the free drink card at 1,500 points as a gauge of how I am progressing towards a free cruise on table games.

And here is my often repeated post on the "formula" for getting a free cruise.

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Originally Posted by sassy5683

so if i'm doing my math right you have to spend $12,500 to get 5000 points to get offered a "free" cruise???

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Originally Posted by Davey Wavey

Yes, correct!!!!

BUT, that $12,500 is $12,500 PLAYED, not necessarily LOST. Let's do some casino math for the shocked and awed crowd. I'll use roulette since that is what I am most familiar, and this will be some loose math based on average statistics.

Carnival's roulette wheel (zero and double zero) has a house edge of 5.26%, meaning for every $100 I bet (using the 1 in 38 chance to win) the casino will end up with $5. So, if I start with $100 playing $10 per spin and keep replaying my winnings I should play $500 and end up with $75 left. If I keep playing my $75 I should play $375 and end up with $56. If I keep playing my $56 I should play $280 and end up with $42...and on and on. If I keep playing until my original $100 is all gone, I should have played $1835.

Based on that, to reach $12,500 of PLAY, I should have spent $700. So, in this example a 5000 point free cruise is NOT $12,500 of cash out your pocket, but $700 (assuming you get the average number of wins and losses). So it is entirely possible for people to say they only had $100 and ended up $200 ahead and still got a free cruise. It's also possible for someone to play $10,000 and be horribly horribly unfortunate and lose every time and not get a free cruise. It's not the win and loss that the casino counts but the amount of PLAY.

Please note this is based on a bunch of established averages and individual results WILL vary.[\QUOTE]

Yes, but just be prepared for speeds that are slower than dial up use to be.

None of the ships I have been on with the new wi-fi are that slow. I certainly knew I wasn't on my home wi-fi, but it was very acceptable using the standard package, not even the premium speed. My phone showed peak speed of 1.3Mbps with sustained speed of 0.8Mbps even in middle of the day on the Dream using just the standard package.

They usually tell you when you book to ignore the invoice. The casino will pay it and it will show as paid within a week.

...People are spending thousands of dollars and staying very loyal to a brand and they toss them a sun visor? Flat out, it is UGLY and I am not seeing a comment from anyone that likes them...

Well, just off the Dream last week and received some plastic sun visors. It is not my kind of thing, but I did see plenty of people wearing them in ports. I'm guessing the people who like them are just enjoying their gifts and not cheering about them on this site.

Ok. When I know for sure if I am canceling I will call them.

You should call them now, when you already have doubts. The longer you wait, the fewer your options. And better to be informed of your exact situation than to guess using scenarios and tips from people who don't know all the details.

Slots at 5pm, tables at 6pm according to the casino host.

As I understand ( and techies correct me if I'm in error) there's licensing or rent or pay for access for certain periods of time by local businesses or community/municipal groups. These cover X area and no more. Our city for example had a community wide Pokémon Hunt in a major civic venue a couple of weeks ago for a specific date and time period. Prior to and after that date and time there were no Pokemons to be captured or seen.

Without totally derailing the thread, that is not at all how it works. A quick look at a website that lists all the pokestops show there are many hundreds in your city. But Pokemon can appear anywhere but are more frequent near a pokestop. And since pokestops are usually attached to a known feature in your community (like a statue or location or structure), most of them are concentrated in urban areas instead of rural areas. For instance our statehouse grounds have about 20 pokestops since there are so many statues and plaques, but my entire neighborhood has zero. Sitting in my house I can catch 3 at most per day, whereas standing on 1 pokestop I can catch about 70 in a day...lots more if I actually walk around. And gyms are similar except far fewer and don't spawn Pokemon...and gyms are totally unnecessary for the entire catching them. They are just for fighting with ones you have already caught.

Businesses or other entities that have a pokestop near can attach lures (they last for 30 minutes) to them to attract more Pokemon, and that is generally what a community event is...they purchase lures (anyone can purchase them but usually the a business will do it) and keep a set of nearby pokestops active with lures (they sparkle with flower petals).

So, no pokestops attached to ships means the possibillity of catching any on a ship is near zero, unless using a personal "Incense" item which spawns them for 30 minutes anywhere (even ships) but only for the user of the Incense, whereas a lure will lure them only to a pokestop for anyone around.

And that is more talk about Pokemon than any cruise forum should have. :D

I wouldn't be surprised. Cruisers do offer something a little bit different from the same old local grub.

My only complaint about both is that it seems to take a few pushes on the dispenser to get enough to suit me.

I did leave that part out. I do hammer the body wash pretty hard to get enough out. I push it enough times that my arm gets tired and I use about 1/4 of the dispenser to get enough lather going. But I do like the smell of it.

Inconsiderate is right. Pokemon on cruise ships are there to vacation just like everyone else. Please let them enjoy themselves...unless they are chair hogging then all bets are off! :D

My wife brings shampoo and body wash. I use Carnival's. She doesn't seem any cleaner than me. :D

This story is going to irritate people but it happened.

Nothing wrong with your story. It just demonstrates that Orlando is an unpredictable airport. It's my least favorite thing about MCO that you never know what you will get. It would be so much easier to plan if you knew the wait was always the same, but it can go from easy peasy to nightmare with no consistency. There are many stories like yours...I have plenty myself...but I also have my story of arriving 3 hours before my flight and still missing it by an hour. So, I tell people both stories and let them decide if it's worth the gamble.

Every casino offer I have seen specifically says "casino cash" or "fun chips." Casino cash is real cash. Fun chips are yellow chips you have to bet at a table game. Wins with fun chips are paid with regular chips that can then be cashed at the cashier.

Very much my same experience the one time we used Hertz in PC. Only one person working the whole lot and counter. Our prepaid full size never became available. He eventually told us the only car they had was a Benz and that if we wanted it, it would cost over $300 for the day not even offering a credit for the $65 prepay. "Call the 800 number if you want to complain." We took it and called the main number on the drive to Orlando. Basically, were told too bad. This is the reason we use a credit card with super customer service during travel. We submitted the info to the bank and they charged back $326 and the $65 to Hertz. We no longer use Hertz anywhere.

If you were on yesterday that means you were on only a 4 day sailing to Canada. 11,500 points??? The amount u lost in the casino u coukd have bought 2 cruises

You are misinformed. Points are based on the amount played, not the amount lost. You cannot know how much they won or lost by the amount of points they accumulated.

Ship-based casino staff are not allowed to offer you a bounce-back if you already have a cruise booked; however, the land-based casino staff are allowed.

Bounce back offers can be offered to those with future cruises. I have had 3 future cruises booked (including a premier casino cruise) and still received a bounce back offer. I have also had a future cruise booked and not received an offer. Once I even received a bounce back letter that was different in that is said something like, "We see you already have a future cruise booked. Please call to see if it is eligible to be converted to a casino offer, or to make a new booking for a free interior cabin." I have yet to see a pattern on when they will or won't offer a bounce back, but having a future cruise booked doesn't seem to stop them.

There is some herbed bread that I don't now what it is called. It is almost like cornbread with dents in the top. It's not the gluten free stuff. I have only seen it at dinner buffet and not every day. I get it whenever I see it.