Davey Wavey

It depends on which TV you get. First, you would need a USB-C to HDMI adapter and an HDMI cable. As coevan said, many of the TVs are locked now to be unable to switch inputs. Depending on the ship, you may get a TV that has an HDMI and can change inputs, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I have resigned myself to not relying on the ship for any college football viewing. It is so hit or miss. On Sept 15, they were showing the close 14-13 Ohio State/TCU game then suddenly switched channels to the 52-7 Alabama/Ole Miss game. Even in the sports bar where they usually show 3 or 4 different games, they switched channels so the only football showing anywhere was Alabama/Ole Miss. From now on, I will depend on ESPN GO and CBS all access on my tablet during football season.

That is an infrared blaster. You will find it attached to the IR window on a TV or cable box. Do internet search for pictures and more info.

We have done land excursions on each of the islands on our first visit there. We don't regret doing any of them, but we wouldn't do any of them a second time. There just isn't that much to see on these desert islands outside of the cities. I tell people these are great islands for beaches, snorkeling, or gambling. In a casino on Bonaire, pretty much the entire ship's casino staff was there.

I think Curacao has the most stuff right around the port. You can cross over the floating bridge, which itself is a tourist attraction, right into the city. Head to the left after crossing the bridge to find the floating market. Internet search for self-guided walking tour of Willemsted for lots of info if you just want to keep walking around the town right there. Plenty to keep busy. Curacao is also the biggest of the islands and lots more stuff to see and do if you do an excursion.

The port in Aruba is in more of a business district. There are the usual port stores around and a flea market across the street, but not much of a walk around and look at stuff kind of place, unless you want to see some of their government buildings or do port shopping. Note, the prices on these islands is higher than typical Caribbean islands. Of the three islands, I would probably do an excursion here. Oranjestad seemed to be a much bigger city than Willemsted with lots of those colorful houses to see and old churches and forts. Just keep in mind that outside of the cities, it is just desert. Aruba has a cave and the collapsed bridge/arch thing, so I thought the highlight of excursions here was looking at the buildings in the city. You could drive yourself if you wanted.

Bonaire is least developed. Port stores and restaurants along the waterfront with not much to walk around and see. It was really interesting to see the active salt pans since so many of the islands no longer have them. The big piles of salt and the pink, pinker, pinkest water was unique and is too far to walk. The slave huts and a few old mills have some historical interest, but the excursion seemed like a desperate attempt to throw enough stuff together to make a "tour." The most enjoyable thing here was walking to the left of the port to the little area with a few shops. The music playing was unique to Bonaire and they liked dancing to it. I bought quite a few CDs of their unique music. Can't even find much of it on youtube. Example search for Grupo Di Betico or Remailo-Rincon Boyz

So, any of the places isn't bad for taking a land tour excursion for the first visit just to see some different places. Curacao is the best for just walking around near port.

17 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I was reluctant the first time I cruised on Carnival, but I had a great time on the cruise. Since that cruise, my wife and I have agreed we would sail on a different cruise line when we have a bad cruise on Carnival. Twenty-two cruises later we have had nothing but great experiences on Carnival, so we continue to only book cruises on Carnival. 

Agreed. I don't stay with Carnival because of a loyalty program. We say we will go on other lines one day, but haven't felt the need yet. We enjoy our Carnival cruises and the loyalty stuff is just a small plus. Once we want other itineraries, especially Asian and European, we will need to look at other lines.

The FunTimes usually lists "1 hour after sail away" as the opening time when in port, with exceptions of course. Sea days it is usually 9am. For regular cruises, 2am is closing time, again with a few exceptions. For casino cruises, they usually say they stay open as long as there is sufficient activity. The vast majority of times that has been 3am, but I did see 4am once. NOTE: This is for table games. Slots/machines are usually open all day except when restricted by being in port, +/-1 hour.

On 10/21/2018 at 10:53 AM, barbevrn said:

I've seen people charge anywhere from $20 to $500. I'm sure it has everything to do with your credit card limits.

It's $3000 per day you can charge to your S&S, or $5000 per day on Premier Casino cruises. They said the max in one charge was $3000 (whatever your amount + 3% has to be under $3000), so $2000 and $1000 are acceptable. I also found that it was PER PERSON, so for example my wife could do $3000 per day even when we are on the same account. And they treat amounts charged at the machine as a different $3000 limit from the $3000 charged at the table.

And, yes, they do preapprove the amount on your card just like any other vendor, so you do need to have enough available credit to support whatever amount you charge.

Or ask your room steward the day before.

20 minutes ago, landsear said:

I honestly can't tell how I booked?  It was through a TA who isn't the most helpful.  I sent him an email but alas.  I am on the Carnival website and can't seem to find my booking type?

Ask your TA to submit the refund request for you for onboard credit, then look for a new TA if you prefer to use a TA. Having a good TA is no more hassle than dealing with Carnival directly.

FYI, if your TA isn't responsive, you can call Carnival and they can attempt to contact the TA with you on the phone. If they are unable to reach him, they can handle your issue. I had to do that once, and then switched to a new TA.

I turned platinum on 2nd leg of B2B. Status was effective on the 1st leg. Will turn diamond on the last day of 2nd leg of B2B and get diamond on the 1st leg. I just book each cruise separately and don't do anything to "link" them. I can check the cruise documents online and see the VIFP status. Just be aware that the status doesn't show if you aren't eligible yet. For instance, I have a 14 day planned before my diamond B2B. My diamond status won't show until I have completed the 14 day and those days show up in my past cruises total.

Consider prepaying your gratuities when you book. It gets added to your invoice and is billed as part of your ticket, fees and taxes.

We carry a hand scale now, but in every airport I have been to there are luggage scales in several spots across from the ticketing counters. Before our hand scale, that is where we would adjust our luggage weight on the way back home.

One big surprise for us on our cruise to Bermuda was everything is shut down on Sunday. They are not tourist centered like many other island that open up just because a ship is in port. Public transportation starts later in the day and ends early, if the route is running that day at all. That is very important if you want to go out to dinner. You will probably need a taxi to return to the port. Quite a few of the TOP 25 attractions/stores/restaurants are closed for the day. If you are there on Sunday, check ahead before you make your schedule.

Yes and Yes.

Can't print luggage tags yet cruise is way out in February.

I have a cruise in April and can print luggage tags and general information. Just not boarding pass. Check the first page of your general information for PRIORITY. Your name on that page may already say Your Name - Platinum.

Just my 2 cents, your tastes my vary...I tried bloody mary twice from Carnival and found the mix they use to be beyond salty. Waitress said try a "bloody caesar" (I know I know, you Canadians, it's called just Caesar) in which Carnival uses clamato juice instead of bloody mary mix. That tastes like the bloody mary I get anywhere else.

End of May in 9315 and past September in 9434, the air worked fine. My wife likes it really cold and I wore a sweatsuit anytime I was in the cabin.

Just be sure to check your policy for HOW or IF they will refund expenses paid for with points. I have seen plenty that don't refund anything that was paid with points/miles/awards, even if they are non-refundable. Ask the insure my trip rep if you have questions.

Even though it is expensive for 6 soda, order in the fun shop and have it delivered..

I don't bring my own to save money. I will order from the fun shop when they get diet Mt. Dew Code Red and Peach Crush, especially since they are very hard to find even in stores.

Well, there was a change since this thread was created. There is a 15 drink limit per day on the drinks on us card. Elites can use the card anywhere on the ship, where Premiers can only use it while on the casino floor. Now, the OP could still order all the drinks he wanted, but they would bring the receipt to sign with his one drink free and charges for the others. They handle it per drink order so he wouldn't need to worry "about keeping track of drinks ordered and getting told what I can and can't order and when how far apart I can order my drinks."

Received an email about an hour ago from Carnival's Players Club for a free balcony cabin, last time I received this offer only 2 sailings to pick from. This one there were about 15 or so. Jumped on a New Years cruise out of Galveston, grabbed 1 of the last 2 balconies available. Only paid port fees, taxes,etc. We are already booked on the Horizon in Oct. on an Ultra cruise but had to pay considerably more, oh well, just glad this came along and was able to book it.

So this was free Premier cabin? If so, you can use Premier offers for any available Premier sailings. Last time I got a free Premier offer, I booked four sailings out of 12 available since that is all the vacation time I had available.

I also should dispel the myth that in order to be invited on an ultra cruise you must sail and gamble on a premier cruise.

So the Ocean Players Club says, " In order to qualify for a spring 2019 ULTRA Premier Cruise, guests must sail on a Premier Cruise of 6 days or longer departing between May 1,2018 and November 30, 2018...and earn 7,500 points on that cruise... "

This would supposedly be a guaranteed way of receiving an Ultra invite, but you have seen that is not the only way. Even so, I found this guarantee isn't even a guarantee. I went on a Premier cruise in September, 2018. I have previously asked the casino host how many points I had for the current cruise and NEVER received an answer. So, on this September cruise I played craps on the machine until I had 8,300 points just to make sure I had the 7,500+ points to meet their requirement. I did not receive an Ultra invite for spring 2019. I wrote and asked why I received no invite and they said, "your level of play is insufficient for an Ultra invite."

I don't complain much since the one Ultra I attended was only at a reduced fare. I have had to pay for three of my previous 18 cruises, some of which were Premier, so it is better to get a free Premier or regular than a reduced price Ultra, but still I wanted my invite.

On my most recent bounceback cruise in May, I played my usual amount, but my wife made a rare trip to the casino and played blackjack for 2 hours and lost $100. We both received bounceback offers, which we didn't take, and then both of us received the $100 cabin with $100 OBC offer.

All of this just shows they use a variety of methods to determine offers, which is probably why it is so impossible to determine how it is done. When their guaranteed in writing offer didn't happen, I just gave in trying to predict when an offer would come. I get bouncebacks after every cruise, but I expect other offers will just be random.

Last September when the 2 big hurricanes went through the eastern islands and Florida, I had a back to back scheduled out of Miami on the Glory. First week was eastern, second was western. As the time approached, the first hurricane had just wrecked the islands on the eastern itinerary. The second hurricane was heading for Miami. All the airlines canceled flights, and Carnival moved boarding from Sunday to Tuesday. I rescheduled flights to Tuesday. Miami began evacuating so airlines canceled flights again. Carnival moved boarding back to Wednesday. I went to reschedule for Wednesday and there was a single flight with only first class seats available. We flew into Miami right as Carnival announced boarding would be Thursday because the port was blocked by sunken boats. Since the eastern islands were damaged, itinerary was changed to a 3 day to Cozumel. We found a hotel downtown since much of the city was without power. Once on the ship, a storm was developing by Cozumel, so it changed to a 3 day to Nassau. The reason we were hellbent on getting on that cruise, aside from it being a back to back, was our travel insurance.

Our cruise insurance paid a flat $1,250 per person if the itinerary is changed before boarding if you elect to still go on the cruise. So, we knew making it to the ship would get us $2,500. It also paid another $250 per person because they changed the itinerary again after boarding. The insurance reimbursed us for the first-class tickets because we explained there were no coach seats available on ANY airline. They reimbursed us for taxis, lunch, dinner and breakfast, and the hotel. They did not refund anything that we already received a refund for, like Southwest gave us future vouchers. Carnival refunded the missed days and excursions. The itinerary was also changed for the second cruise for another $1,250 per person on a second policy. The customer service was in Tampa, so their hurricane damage had the office closed for two days. Even with that, they answered my emails right away with instructions to file a claim, and the checks came two weeks after everything was filed.

When it looked like we wouldn't be able to make it to Miami, we considered flying to Cozumel to meet the ship. The insurance would have paid for that, although good thing we didn't since the ship went to Nassau.

This was specifically CRUISE insurance through Nationwide, not general travel insurance. We found it through insuremytrip. I have filed claims two times since then for $250 per person when we had to miss a port, and each time the checks came exactly two weeks after filing. I get this insurance only for cruises. I use regular travel insurance for land vacations.

We were unable to dock in Grand Turk on two of my cruises because of high winds, so yes it can affect docking. Both times the ship pulled in very close to the dock in case the winds died long enough, but had to move away. It would seem a big ship wouldn't have problems with wind, but there is a video somewhere of the Carnival Legend leaving a port during high winds and scraping the side of RCL Enchantment.

Not my experience..... luggage tags and boarding passes are now marked "Priority", not FTTF, unless you purchased FTTF presumably. I have heard them call Premiers as a separate boarding group.

Thanks for the correction. I do note they are inconsistent with each cruise so it is better to just say premier will get some priority boarding before general boarding.