lazydayz

Likely just out the $30.  That is a risk worth taking to keep your original room. 

Have the potential third person pay for herself.  Then you are not out anything. 

It's not just the wristband, but the wristband and who shows up as occupying the Havana room on the computer.  You might get away with it, but I would not have the non-Havana occupying guest order a drink from the outside bar or the servers. 

27 minutes ago, bowen9475 said:

It’s still actually all hypothetical at this point. We are considering booking for 4 of us but may find my husband is not able to come. 

Then book him as the 4th guest if all in the same room.  You could also get the cancel for any reason coverage from Carnival to limit your losses if he needs to cancel.  But if his fare is just $100, not sure it is worth it.  Hope you all get to cruise. 

Correct.  But call Carnival and ask them the question as a hypothetical.  If you are comfortable with the answer, you say ok, we need to cancel one person.  The earlier you do the cancellation, the less the penalty will be. And yes, the rest of you who don’t cancel can still cruise, likely in the same cabin as originally booked.  Good luck.

It depends.  How long until your cruise? 

I always visit the host on the last day.  While all the specialty dinners might be gone, I might get some wine or $$$ for Cherry on Top.  The Celebration host asked me if I had grandkids, then how many. Told him three so he gave me $150 to spend on the grands.  What a fun shopping spree. 

Pretty sure I am going to book it.  Free balcony and free DOUE for two.  

While it appears you may have get one bottle of alcohol vs. two with Elite, no free parking, and no shore excursion, I like the idea of something new.  Plus what a great way to watch the Super Bowl. 

I would be very interested.  Royal’s world cruise was a little too long.  But this might be the spark I need to actually retire. 

23 hours ago, kwokpot said:

OK resolved getting my Guys now. Rumor Issue was changing out gangway for tomorrow's Firenze cruise.

Are you doing a live this cruise?  Is it an Elite?  

I would join the premier group if it is close in price. 

My advice is to wait until onboard. Go to the Ladies Pamper Party, then talk to the manager and book.  This is how I find the best deals and get my questions answered. And I am fairly certain the answer is yes, they will massage a pregnant woman.  

3 hours ago, tha sista said:

did you find this excursion very crowded?

Not at all.  Since it was the "Deluxe", I think Carnival capped it at 12 or so people.  

Cabo is one of my favorite all time ports. The water was clear and warm.  We did the deluxe catamaran cruise from Carnival.  The boat was wonderful, the crew was nice, the food was great.  Highly recommend it.  

No experience with Georgia, but Lee is one of the best.  He is everywhere!

37 minutes ago, pe4all said:

If you have not been to Amber Cove it is nice taking that long walk (or short bike jitney) to the port area and walking around a bit.  They have some stores, a pharmacy, a restaurant, and it is fun to watch the zip-liners flying overhead.  The pool is also nice, with a dj and some dances/games - kinda like Margaritaville. We get off for an hour or so, then back on the ship to enjoy the quiet and get to do things when things aren't crowded.

Agree with all of these comments, but can also recommend the Classic Cars excursion offered through Carnival.  It was a great day!

34 minutes ago, mz-s said:

Would be cheaper and probably better for them to build a new cruise terminal outside of the bridge's path than it would be to build a new bridge.

Probably but that is Tampa's only access to the Gulf of Mexico.  So it would have to be in another county.  At one time, Tampa offered St. Pete a swap. Tampa would get the Rays and St. Pete could do a cruise terminal.  That didn't go very far. 

Here are the things I love about my Carnival cruises that sail from Tampa.

Carnival has the fun ships, so there are a lot of activities if you want to participate.

There will be live music around the ship, in addition to the piano bar.

Comedy shows nearly every night (usually two different comedians).

The pizza is really good.  

The new Emeril's selections each night in the MDR. Delicious. 

You get to sail under the Sunshine Skyway bridge.

Valet parking is offered at a reasonable price (cheaper if you book online in advance). 

In addition to the many hours of driving saved, it's a less stressful trip to the Port.  Downtown Tampa is not nearly as chaotic as Miami. 

You could take the group to Emeril's for an anniversary dinner.  It is amazingly good and inexpensive.   It is much less crowded than the MDR, and the atmosphere is fun. 

26 minutes ago, BrentD said:

Thanks. That was only part of the question, though. If I want to pay it down with another card (debit, credit, etc…) that is NOT on file, can I do that as well?

Yes

We have cruised on the Mardi Gras five times and the Celebration twice. 

There are so many positives to the Excel class, I think you should book it and decide for yourself. 

We loved all of the dining and bar offerings, you literally could eat at a different place every day and still likely miss something. 

There are a ton of activities, and the ships are high energy.  

The Serenity area on both ships are beautiful and spacious.  

The staterooms are more modern. Some complain about the size of the bathrooms, but most rave about the generous size of the showers. Our recommendation is to go with the extended balcony category. 

The shows and talent are so much better than on the older ships.  

Because at times we are laid back cruisers and sometimes just want to chill, we are now alternating between the smaller ships sailing from our home port (Tampa) and the Excel class.

3 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

Enjoy!  She’s a beautiful ship.  
 

I am sad my trip is almost over!

Thanks for a fun trip report.  So glad it went well for you and your family.

We board the Paradise tomorrow for a spring break cruise.  What were we thinking? 
 

Since the grands elected not to go, it will just be hubby and me in our Grand Suite.

We were happy to be upsold today for a nice upgrade. Went from a Jr, Suite under a public deck to a midship grand suite with cabins above and below for $320.  Five night spring break cruise leaving Saturday.  

7 hours ago, Daruma said:

 

Just checked, sailing out of Tampa, you can book 3 - 6 day cruises in April or May of 2025, but not 7 day cruises... March is the latest until October. 

 

Even then for a 6 day cruise, for a solo passenger, the prices range from equal to March 2, 2025 to up to $500 more for the same room, (Balcony)... and that's with a day LESS... so, as of now the winner appears to be March 2, 2025 from Tampa, on the Legend for 7 days in the Western Caribbean. 

Good choice! 

5 hours ago, TravelBluebird said:

Thank you!  I’ve been told I have a generally sunny personality, but I don’t know any different and I can’t imagine being any other way!

 

One thing DID make me a tad cranky last night.  At 1:30 AM engineering came to our room to “fix our air conditioner”. Said we had called down that it was broken.  Well we did NOT—our air conditioner was working fine and the knocking woke my husband up.

 

Thankfully, I was still up because I was eating my midnight pizza.  I would like to have an explanation as to what happened. I assume someone had called for a fixed air conditioner, but gave them the wrong room.

 

so see, I’m not ALL SUNSHINE!  😂

A family prank?

We went to the piano bar on one cruise and I nearly fell asleep.  Our friends went every night and loved it.  Go figure.  To each her own, but I am pretty sure I am not a piano bar person.  Comedy is much more to my liking.