Davey Wavey

On 4/4/2019 at 10:02 AM, CruzerDeb said:

I know that many of you cruise multiple times a year or every year, but this is huge for me and I'm so excited!

Congrats! Here's hoping you get to take as many as you desire!

I think the biggest source of the elevator problem was going from 8 forward elevators (4 regular, 4 glass) on Dream-class to 4 elevators on Vista. Then they had to find some system to do more with less. I will say a bright spot was we saw a record number of people waiting on the elevator say, "hey, we can just take the stairs to go one level," because the elevators were taking so long.

1 hour ago, purplephenom said:

Depends on the port, really.  We were on the Fascination in February, and some excursions met in the theatre, and some off the ship.  Both ways were fine, I'm impatient to get to doing something fun, so both ways seem like they take forever, but they really don't.  

 

I will say if you are meeting on the ship, some excursions left early, so I wouldn't get there right on time- a little early is probably better.  

Agreed that it may be inside or outside. I will say in my experience it was always inside when at a tender port so that ideally everyone can be on the same tender. Still plenty of times after meeting inside and taking a tender, we have had to wait on the dock for more people to arrive on different tenders. It has been inside or outside (on the dock or in a terminal building) at non-tender ports. Inside meetings have been in the theater or the forward dining room.

Last year, we asked at the info desk next to the taxis about going to a restaurant and a few shopping spots. It was about 5 hours between eating and stopping to shop at 3 places with the driver waiting the whole time. It was $40+$10 tip for the two of us. We had used Island Marketing twice before for all-day tours and had a young lady as a guide and then her aunt 2 years later. They were both great.

I have walked past quite a few people who had to stop and rest going up the hill. People worried about time or the climb can take a taxi for a few dollars to shave 6-8 minutes off.

I will add that I never had problems with sand fleas on the Mahogany Bay beach even when sitting right in the sand. On the first time I went on Carnival's private island excursion, I really got eaten. I did spent lots of time sitting directly on the sand and didn't notice all the red speckles until we went to lunch. They didn't touch my wife. The worker told me it was no see ums, which was the first time I had heard of them. I thought he was kidding, but the name was so accurate since I had so many bites it looked like I had red freckles yet had not seen even one of the critters. Good thing they didn't swell or itch and were gone the next day.

On my last cruise a few weeks ago, I saw someone use one of those $5 match play cards. I didn't ask where he got it, but I hadn't seen one in a few years.

I have seen it quite a few times and agree that it really isn't for eating based on seeing people only take a few bites of the chocolate ball shell.

15 hours ago, MauiWowie57 said:

You can order a gallon jug of distilled in advance for delivery to your room.

$3.75 for 50 fl. oz.

 

https://www.carnival.com/FunShops/item/Y36/water-large-bottle

That is not the gallon of distilled water. It is $3.45 for a gallon (128 fl. oz.). It can't be ordered in advance online, but can be ordered in advance by calling the Fun Shops at 1-800-522-7648 ext 70039.

On 3/25/2019 at 11:57 PM, MicCanberra said:

4) that would depend on your Credit card (international transaction fee free or not), BTW, it is always best to pick option B where your bank does the conversion rather than the cruise line.

Thanks! My credit card has no international transaction fee, but Carnival AU still charged a "processing fee" of 1.1% or something like that when I paid the port charges/taxes. It was specific to using a credit card and didn't apply to using a debit card. I was wondering if they would charge that processing fee on S&S final bill. My credit card gives 3% cash back or 4.5% for travel expenses, so it is worth it, but it does make a difference on whether I would purchase certain things onboard.

Can't find the answer in searches,

1) Does the Carnival Spirit casino use AUD?

2) Are the chips in 1/5/25/100 AUD denominations?

3) If I cash in chips, do they give Australian currency?

4) If I use a credit card for my Sail & Sign account, will they charge a transaction fee on the final bill? 

Guessing it was the premier cruise to China? It was $0 for a few seconds before they were all taken, except for the not free suites.

3 hours ago, CRZCRAZY said:

I've got my Diamond card from last month on the Vista, I'll bring that with.  99 cruises with Carnival should get me in LOL

Um...CrzCrazy...what an accurate name. 🙂

Is this your first from Australia? Do you expect to receive your 100 milestone card on this cruise?

I booked directly with Carnival AU, and without my asking the agent told me that we would not have priority status. Our documentation doesn't show it. This booking is a casino premier cruise which includes priority boarding and we are diamond level, none of which is shown anywhere. I figured AU just does stuff differently.

15 hours ago, mr walker said:

Of course it makes sense to make claims for events that are covered when they occur. For me, your proposition that for you insurance is some sort of speculative gamble to make money is the issue. Pay the premium & 'hope' that you miss a port(s) & make a profit on the insurance. Insurance is designed to reimburse for out of pocket - what are you out of pocket when you miss a port? You should be refunded any pre-paid tours, you get refunded port charges, and in some cases the ship will give OBC as compensation.

 

So, for you, the equation becomes:

 

Value of Cruise = Cruise Fare + Expenses + Insurance Premium - Insurance Refund

with the lower the final number the better??

 

Of course you view it as:

Profit = Insurance - Insurance Refund

with the higher the number the better!

 

You do know that by not going on the cruise at all, you will have more money.

 

Thank you for your thoughtful response. You do, however, make some very big assumptions about my motivations. I bought this "cruise" insurance because we traveled with our three children and had very big concerns about missing the ship for whatever reason, especially since we tended to take third-party excursions. People, including us, take pricier cruise line excursions because of this concern. This travel insurance designed for cruises covers the expenses of getting back to the ship should something unfortunate happen. And I take cruises because I like to cruise. I didn't have this type of insurance or even know about it on my first eight or so cruises. So your presumption that I take cruises for possible insurance profit is wrong. If I did intend to do so, I would know enough to take cruises exclusively during hurricane season only in the hurricane belt visiting those ports with fairly predictable weather disruptions. My cruise list in my signature shows I don't do that.

You also state that "Insurance is designed to reimburse for out of pocket" based on your understanding of policies with which you have experienced. I agree that is true for the majority of insurance. In this case, your assertion is wrong. My insurance company says in their advertisement for this policy:

Port of Call Change

If the cruise line changes your itinerary prior to departure and you elect to embark on the voyage, this plan will provide a one time payment of $1,250 to compensate you for this inconvenience (see coverage details below)

ITINERARY CHANGE

In the event a Cruise makes a Change in Your Trip Itinerary prior to Your actual departure date we will pay up to the Maximum Benefit shown on the Confirmation of Coverage.

Verification by the Cruise of the change in the scheduled Trip Itinerary will be necessary for claim payment.

It doesn't say anything about paying my documented lost out-of-pocket expenses. All of the OTHER coverage under this policy is based on out-of-pocket expenses. It actually pays documented pre-paid non-refundable tours in addition to the flat itinerary change amount. I will also note that I found this insurance through a travel insurance locator/comparison website. It was less expensive than the insurance I had previously purchased through Carnival, and was not the least or most expensive of the other general travel policies. It had the coverage I wanted at an acceptable price. I know this coverage is a highlighted feature of this policy specifically promoted by the insurance company to appeal to cruisers, it is included in my premium, and I will claim it when I am eligible.

The whole point was, like others have said in this thread, that I think it is important to have travel insurance especially on cruise vacations, and this is just another point of information that I use to persuade people to think about the benefits of travel insurance when they hesitate because of the cost.

Very interesting information. I guess prices are so different because purposes are so different. Here, each city and surrounding suburbs has its own transportation. You can't use your Columbus pass in Cleveland or Cincinnati. There is no state public transportation between cities, because people prefer to drive. Amtrak is federal, but is mostly used in Ohio as long haul transport, not for commuting purposes. It is used for commuting especially between the big east coast cities when people need to travel between cities that are close to each other, but in different states. In planning a trip to New York City, but staying in Jersey City, New Jersey less than a km away, I found it confusing they had totally separate transportation systems. Because of demand, they do have union stations where you can exit one city's system and catch the next city's system.

But overall the cost of public transport in the US is low and reliability good in order to lure people from their cars. Like I pay about $13 per day parking and gas to drive to work, and the bus is $4 roundtrip. I don't take the bus because it takes 50 minutes in addition to time to get to a bus stop and then walking the few blocks to work, whereas driving is 15 minutes from front door to my desk. I only considered the bus when they had a month of riding for free as a promotion, but even then I wouldn't use it.

I did see the IGA store on the Sydney map and thought that was another long ago grocery chain the I haven't seen in decades. But IGA(ustralia) is obviously different from IG(America). I do like hearing about your more typical stuff. They don't have that in visitors guides.

Next question, I was considering maybe a few hours guided tour of Sydney just to get an overall look at things in my short time there. Any recommendations for my first visit, or should I just stick with looking for specific interests like the museums and tourist spots?

16 hours ago, Belmont Babe said:

And with this kind of attitude, is it any wonder insurance premiums are so high?

You are right...great logic! People should obviously just buy insurance and not use it for the purpose in which it was purchased to keep the premiums low. 

On 3/19/2019 at 6:06 AM, Poochie71 said:

Hi

I've booked my parents (in their 70's) on their first cruise to PNG.  I'm currently looking at travel insurance for them.  With some companies I can choose a South Pacific Cruise, do you think PNG would be classed as South Pacific?   

 

When I travel I use Travel Insurance Direct but of anyone has any suggestions on who to use for a PNG cruise I'd appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

Tamara

You can check https://www.insuremytrip.com to see lots of policies at once with prices. Just enter ages, PNG as a destination, and trip costs. There is a good comparison for pre-existing conditions and coverages.

On 3/18/2019 at 2:43 AM, MicCanberra said:

Personally, I think it a big risk to cruise without medical and medivac insurance, but that is my opinion.

I ask people if they would carry travel insurance if it were free. I tell my experience with cruises and insurance. I have great free insurance through my credit card, but I also purchase cruise insurance for cruises. I found only one company that offers travel insurance that is specifically for cruises. I usually file a claim about every third cruise that far exceeds the cost of the insurance. Since I discovered this insurance, my premiums have totaled $2600 with claims received of $5900. These are not reimbursement type claims, but flat payouts for when the ship alters itinerary. Ship can't dock in Grand Turk because of high winds...$500 (or $250 for each person on the policy). Ship changes the order of ports visited...$500. Itinerary gets changed before the cruise for whatever reason...$2,500 ($1,250 per person). Of course, it's not guaranteed, but after 27 cruises I have found it a good deal, and it's really good travel protection.

Well, thanks for all the responses. My concern with tipping is not that I want to go around tipping everyone, but that I don't want to NOT tip somewhere that it is expected.

One interesting thing about these responses is I had to do lookups for word definitions. Examples: Circular Quay, NSW/New South Wales, Pay Wave/PayPass, OPT, and ANZ. I never knew Australia has states. I have only heard of places in Australia as just the city, like Sydney, AU or Canberra, AU.

The second thing is Australia is expensive. I still cannot imagine a mode of public transportation like your train costing so much. I can catch a bus here for $2 and go 40+ km across the whole city or beyond, or $4.50 for unlimited rides all day. That credit card surcharge thing is also surprising. Even big Walmart tried to do that and quickly undid it. I am interested to see Woolworth's. We thought they no longer existed. I haven't seen one since 1985. Seems I have lots of reading to do and more questions to ask. First one, is that Hyatt a good place to stay for seeing a little bit of stuff? I picked it randomly by looking at attraction tags on Google Maps and picking a hotel that was close to a cluster of attractions. It was a guess between Hyatt and Adina Apt. Hotel.

We really are looking forward to visiting even for just the two days before and after the cruise.

We planned a few days in Sydney pre-cruise, but the flight takes 27 hours, bleh. We arrive Friday morning before the Saturday cruise. We are looking at Hyatt Regency Sydney because it looks like walking distance to aquarium, marine museum, and shopping. I see people talk about a train from the airport. We have 3 big 4-wheel luggage that we have no problems handling. Many public transportation do not allow big luggage that would block the aisle, even public transportation to/from the airport. Is the train viable or taxi/uber? And then what transportation to the Overseas P Terminal? I saw Sue00p's suggestion of Manly Beach area via ferry. That looks interesting. How would we get there? What is a good seafood place in/near Darling Harbour? Does Australia have some unique food to try? And why does Australia have a credit card fee? Even Carnival charges it. Is that just for tourists or does everyone pay it? Do you really not tip anyone, or are there places that we should tip, and what percent should the tip be? Is there a limit on how much cash can go through customs or a certain amount that has to be declared?

On 2/9/2019 at 12:21 PM, CruiseMomTX said:

 

Thanks for posting this!  We will be on the Vista 3/3 for our first Ultra and are excited.  What big prizes did y'all win?  Do you have any other pictures of the gifts that were in the cabin or delivered to the cabin?  We also turn Platinum on this cruise!

 

Was on the Vista with you for the Ultra. I am a big Carnival fan, but that Vista casino was a mess for table games. I can't believe someone allowed those narrow aisles, especially those tables along the outside wall. Chairs were touching back to back in the aisle, so no room to walk through and no way to bring a wheelchair or scooter through. And then the Ultra games blocked the only walkway through. The whole area just seemed like bad design.

The smoke was extra, extra, extra. I'm used to the smoke, but I asked my wife if she thought the smoke was way worse than any other ship...right when the smoke alarms and sprinklers went off. And the nearest men's restroom was half a ship away.

We still had fun especially with the games but Vista is the lowest on our pick list of ships now. Oh, I won $225 in dodge the bull and the Apple Macbook. How did you do?

On 3/1/2019 at 7:27 PM, coevan said:

...The worst past of a cruise is packing the night before and the very uncomfortable debarkation process, would definitely not want to do this twice

+1

Another benefit of B2B in same cabin aside from not having to pack, you don't have to check out of the cabin at 8:30/8:45 on turnaround day. You can grab breakfast (if you want) and take it back to the cabin or just sleep in (that's me!) until it's time to go to the meeting spot usually around 10am.

If you get a good price on vanilla, it is probably Coumarin no matter what the label says. The demand for vanilla is so high that no producer will sell you a bottle for $10/20 when they can get $35 without trying. The bad part is Coumarin smells and tastes more like vanilla than vanilla. Some estimates are that 90% of vanilla sold in Mexico is Coumarin. The worst is when they charge you a premium for "real" vanilla so that you think because it is expensive it must be real vanilla. Only vanilla you should get in Mexico is beans so you can make your own and know what you are buying.

Of course, don't take my word for it. Find a nice reputable source and read about it for yourself.

*had them on our Tampa cruise along with marked seating areas for boarding zones

*on there for upcoming Galveston cruise

*not there for upcoming New Orleans

In Tampa, although we had a boarding zone, when they saw Priority on the boarding pass, they told us to go to a priority boarding area instead of the boarding zone seating.