junglecat

We already have an excursion in Juneau so it's Icy Point Strait for us. Thanks for responding.

May 3rd

I contacted this vendor, and they were the nicest people. Unfortunately, they are not operating in early May when we cruise.

Coral: I emailed this company, and they were THE nicest people. Unfortunately, they are not open yet the first week of May. We are a week too early during our cruse. Now I'm wondering if we should book anything due to it being too early. I'd hate to spend approximately $200 per person and see nothing due to the season being too early. Has anyone else reading this booked a whale excursion for the very first of May and had success? I'm tossed as to what to do. Thanks all!

It would be for Icy Strait Point for whale watching as we have something already booked in Juneau. I totally agree on the fact that I've seen some of the ship excursions with loads and loads of people. While in the Caymans our private tour had 17 and the ships excursion boat had nearly 200! Crazy. If anyone has any suggestions for ISP for whale watching send them my way. Tha ks everyone. It takes a village.

We typically book the few excursions we do via a private company but are unsure about Alaska. This will be our first cruise to Alaska and feel a bit overwhelmed. We're trying to decide if we should book whale watching through a private company or through Carnival. Has anyone booked a whale watching from a cruise company and can let me know the pros and cons. I just have big boats with loads and loads of people. We just want to book and be done. We'd appreciate any input you all have. Thanks!

Thanks, Tnlynch81. Our PVP also suggested we book once on board. I just wonder what the daily cost would be. I guess only time will tell.

Has anyone booked the use of the thermal suite, once you are on board? We did this about 8 years ago and loved it. If I remember correctly, it was $20 pp per day. We did it for two days. We are cruising in May to Alaska and would like to book it again. It shows up online to book but you have to book for the entire 8-day cruise. Does anyone know if we can book daily, like we did before, and if so, do you know the daily cost? This would be on the Luminosa. Thanks!

They do but just a little bit of saving advise. We've used Cortan's Shuttle Service every time we've cruised in/out of Orlando. They will save you a bit of money.

Help! We've cruised for years but always to the Caribbean so I could talk all day about Florida departures. Seattle is a first for us, so we know NOTHING! I don't even know the name of the port! We'd like something that has shuttle (free hopefully) from airport to hotel, and somewhat close to the port. It will most likely also need to be late shuttle due to our schedules. We will be in Seattle only to sleep and catch the ship so we don't need to be near any tourist attractions. Just a nice, clean, safe and somewhat reasonable hotel for a few hours to sleep before our cruise. My guess is we'll be arriving late due to our work schedules and flights. We don't cruise until May of 2024 but I'd like to get as much planning and things paid for in advance as I can. Thanks all! Any other Seattle & Alaska advice is always welcome.

Perfect! THIS is the answer(s) that I needed. NO, they don't sail until September. THANK YOU all for clearing that up. I was just a Mom trying to help and couldn't NOT figure this out.

Sorry. I'm still confused. Ok, here's what I don't understand. DD and SIL booked on new years eve BEFORE the March 31 deadline. We booked the same, but much earlier but used a PVP and got the OBC. DD & SIL booked on our own and have been told basically 3 different stories. 1. Nothing to do it will appear once you're on board. 2. Fill out the claim form. 3. There is no form to fill out. So are you all saying there WAS a claim form that needed filled out and because they booked on their own the claim form didn't get filled out???? Could it be that our PVP filled ours out because we did NOTHING and got the OBC? I'm confused as they are the same situation and the only difference is we used someone from Carnival to rebook and they did not and they didn't get the OBC.

Thanks for your help.

Hello I'm dealing with a situation that I can NOT get resolved and don't know what else I can do. In September of 2019 we had a cruise booked out of New Orleans for our first wedding anniversary. We all know what happened next. We opted for Carnival to keep our deposit and rebook. On December 31, 2021 we rebooked a cruise out of Houston and were promised a $300 OBC for opting to rebook and not cancel. My parents were also given the same deal as both my parents and inlaws were going with us. My parents booked and cruised in January of this year and had their $300 OBC to use. Our cruise doesn't sail until September of this year. Originally I was told that the OBC would appear on our invoice on line, it never did or has appeared. When it didn't show up I called Carnival. Since then I've called 5 or 6 times to try and resolve this and been unsuccessful. I've been told a variety of different stories. The most popular was "wait until you get on the ship and it will appear on your Sign and Sail card. I once was told to fill out a claim only to be told no claim was needed. My parents didn't file a claim so that's what I did, didn't file a claim. In June we're to pay off our balance (under $75) and the OBC for $300 still doesn't appear. In my last correspondence with Carnival I received and email explaining that my OBC for rebooking had expired on 3-31-23. WAIT WHAT? Carnival is now telling me that it expired and that we're not getting the $300 OBC. We booked on our own and not with a PVP which I've learned is a lesson learned in maybe getting this resolved. Does anyone have a direct line to John? LOL. What am I doing wrong since I was told at booking there was nothing to do? We stayed true to Carnival during the pandemic and believed they would make a come back and had them keep our deposit knowing we would cruise again. What are my options? Would my parent's PVP be able or even willing to help since I didn't book directly with him? ANY and ALL help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!!

We will be in Amber Cove in two weeks and have found an excursion that fits our needs/wants that is not with Carnival. The description states that they are "a 10 minute walk outside of the port area" which makes me a little nervous and DH A LOT nervous! LOL. We did this years ago at Roatan and met up with "Ronald McDonald" and did his tour without incident. Obviously years ago, and another country. I myself have never felt threatened anywhere we've been but DH get's a little uneasy. We are looking to book something with Shore Excursioneer for a beach day. Has anyone ever used them before? They have great reviews and I actually found them here on Cruise Critic. I also want your input on that 10 minute walk outside the port area. Thanks all! Your help is much appreciated as always.

If it's not too late check into staying in the Dania Beach area near Ft. Lauderdale. First check out SAS transportation's website. They only service the hotels on their list. They only service from FLL to Miami and then back to FLL for your flight home. We have used them and recommended them for years. We have never had an issue and you know as soon as you book exactly what your cost will be. I believe "Steve" is the guys name we've always used. They do a great job. If you do stay there and need a place to eat, check out "Sal's" Italian restaurant. Delicious!

We will be arriving late on Friday night, in a couple of weeks and staying at the Hilton's Homewood Suites at the airport (west) on 74th Avenue. I was just curious if anyone knows of any stores that we could pick up our soda from that is near this hotel. Also is it an option to ask our Uber driver to stop somewhere on the way to the port the next day? It would take all of 10 minutes. We've only used Uber a couple of other times and didn't have to make any stops, so we're unsure if this is a thing or not. I do realize that will be more time in the car and more money but in the end I would hope it would save us $$ for soda on the ship. Any and all suggestions welcome. Thanks!

We are to fly out the 27th for our 8-day cruise beginning the 28th. We're watching closely as well. Due to our work schedules, we wouldn't be able to hit the road (Indy to Miami) and make it on time. We would have to do it in 2 days. We've also looked at other airlines and are debating on if we should cancel now and rebook or to ride it out for another week or so. Our SIL is a TSA agent at Indy so we're hoping he will have some inside scoop to give us to make a decision. If it happens it will be a vacation well deserved as this is a pre-Covid cruise that's been rescheduled twice and after a month of worrying about Southwest and how were getting to the port.

After our experience I would never ever again book the transfers with the cruise line. Like several mentioned your schedule is when the bus is full. Years ago, we arrived at 10:00 and had bought transfers through the cruise company. We were 10 minutes from the port and finally, when the bus was full, we left for the port at 2:30!!!!!!!!!!! I had my elderly parents with us and it was a bit of a walk to the bus to add to our situation. In the end, we had to buy airport food ($$$$$) because we had left so early we didn't eat breakfast. We were so excited when they called our name, we left behind a fanny pack (that had cash and two digital cameras inside them) on the airport seating. We got to the bus and my DH ran back (maybe 10 minute turnaround) and the fanny pack was no where to be found. Granted leaving that behind was on us, but if we would have taken a taxi (this was before Uber or Lyft) we would have been on the ship hours before. Several years later on a girls trip we booked the water taxi tour of Ft. Lauderdale to pass time before our flight and it was awesome. Good luck

I have a question regarding the food classes offered in the specialty dining section of planning and managing our January cruise. For weeks, several food type classes were offered for $35.00 per person. There were classes like pie making, cupcake and cake decorating, sushi making, BBQ pit master and then the specialty dining options. In all there were maybe 8 to 10 different things offered. After thinking about it I decided to enroll in one of the classes as did my DH. When I went to the specialty dining, to enroll, they are gone. The only thing listed is the Green Eggs and Ham breakfast and the steakhouse. Does this mean they are no longer offered? They are sold out? I find that hard to believe because they all vanished at the same time. Is it something that we could go to guest services, once on board and enroll? Has anyone had anything like this happen? Thanks all & Merry Christmas

Help! It's been some time ago and I should remember, but I don't. There is a web site you can check out and see what other ships are in the same port you are each day. Can anyone help a girl out? Thank you!

It sounds like they threw us a line and we took it. It sounds like a great marketing tool and it's WAYYYY better than it really may be. But if it saves me buying one drink it's a win.

Thank you all for your replies. 65 days and counting! Happy Thanksgiving!

I currently have 3 Carnival gift cards and will have 4 by the time we cruise in January. Thus far, I have nothing to pay for as everything is already paid. Once on board, can I add these to our account to use or can it be done before we leave? I'm also wondering if I should just apply as needed because once they are all on, then getting my money back from Carnival might take forever. Any thoughts or experiences with this?

I was told this years ago. Don't ever buy insurance from the same people with whom you're going to possibly make a claim on. So we have never bought the insurance through Carnival or any cruise line we've sailed on.