rexy69

We are paid in full.

Hi,

I just happened to call my PVP at the right time, I guess. I did a mock booking the other day, saw a cheaper ( Inside) cabin and emailed him to see if we could switch to that cabin and get the difference ($90) added to our already $500 OBC (Casino Rate). He called me back and said he had an even better deal.... a Balcony, and the total was going to be a whopping $860-ish cheaper than our original inside cabin! Huh? That didn't make sense to me, but ok, we'll take it! He said we'll lose our original $500 OBC and have it replaced with just $100 OBC. Ok, still fine with us. So, my question is, where is this $860-ish? Will it get put on on OBC? Or will it get refunded back to my Credit Card? I went onto our Booking Info on the Carnival site, but I don't see it added to our OBC amount. Thank you in advance.

We're leaving on March 16 and scheduled to go to Ocho Rios & Grand Cayman.  From the news today, it's not looking good. We're pretty flexible and usually ok with any changes, but we purposely chose GC so we could visit my partner's daughter, who lives on the island. Oh well, it is what it is...... Hopefully this all dies down sooner than later.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20200303/chinese-businessman-guard-slain-brazen-mobay-robbery

Quote from article ~ "While most serious and violent crimes are on the decline, murders climbed by 11.5 per cent up to the end of February. Two hundred and thirty-three people were slain up to last Saturday." ........  🙄 And they're worried about the Coronavirus?? 😮

.... and I'm wondering what type of travel insurance you would suggest for my partner & I. With this Coronavirus coming on strong, I'm worried about our March Break cruise being cancelled, due to something out of the ordinary like not being allowed over the Border. So, I'm thinking maybe we should get some sort of Trip Cancellation. Any suggestions?

It's booked! We're looking forward to it! Thanks for everyone's responses :)

Love the video Hoops_Baller, Thanks!!
Thank you for the other responses. I know it will be a great ship!

Thank you, and I totally agree! I am a positive person, who always has a good time. I've always enjoyed every ship I've been on. I'm just interested in learning more about this ship, since I'm pretty sure it's the one we're going to book. Just waiting for my PVP to get back to me 🙂 So exciting! Have a great Cruise next Monday!

I'm thinking of booking the Sunrise for this March. How do you feel about this particular ship? tia

I learned that cruise number 37 was a much fun as number 1 on the Mardi Gras.

 

I've preached to all that would listen the value of getting there early, walking around, checking out the ship, etc is a grand way to spend your first day. Using that reason a five night cruise is really two days in port, two days at sea and then you're done kind of vacation. For years I've had my family and friends muster in our driveway at 10:00 am and head for Galveston. Not this past time.

 

We didn't leave here until after noon, traffic was light (30 minutes usual drive, I go to Galveston 3-4 times a week) dropped off luggage at a nearly empty terminal, let my family out, went to park the car and returned to a empty priority line. We were onboard the ship unpacking carry-ons in less than 20 min after I got back on the shuttle bus.

 

I also was "not in charge" for this trip. Our group can vary in size from just my wife and I to several families, and I'm always the tour guide. Not this time. We had them all over for dinner and I used Apple TV to show the excursions in advance, told them it's a do what you want vacation and we'll see you at 6:00 pm dinner if your choose fixed-time. Most did.

 

It was a delight to walk to the cab stand, taxi to Nachi Cocom, relax with the headphones, snorkel, float and chill.

 

If your still with me, the moral is let others make decisions on their own and not depend on you to plan their vacation. As a very light drinker I used this strategy along with the help of Bacardi to have a great cruise. 2017 saw my dad pass, a friend for 45 years take his life and my career path take a major detour. This vacation was different. The next one in a few months will be as well!

 

A pirate looking at 60 in 36 days... Still 200 years to late. The cannons don't thunder there's nothing to plunder I'm an over forty victim of fate.

 

 

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I love hearing other peoples' stories of wisdom, from their own personal life experiences. Thanks for sharing!

i learned to never twist around and flush the toilet while still sitting on it.[emoji33][emoji33][emoji33]

lol :'):')

We played the $1 Wheel of Fortune and the Buffalo. We went in March and although we played a lot of the machines, that's all I can remember. We didn't win. They were all very tight.

We've been on about 6 cruises and I have never heard of this Tea Time! I love tea and I can only imagine that I would love it more on a Carnival Cruise!! Thanks for all the info :)

Trip insurance through the cruise line or TA is overpriced. Go here: https://www.insuremytrip.com/

 

OTOH, did you check to see if your credit card give you trip insurance with your cruise purchase? Mine does. It doesn't provide medical insurance, just trip cancellation.

Thank you reminding me of that fact...I believe my CC just might cover this. I will look into it. :)

OP - You are giving out misleading information. PVP can't offer any pricing that's better than what Carnival offers on their website or by calling to the 800 #. We know two PVP's personally and very aware of what they can and can't do.

 

Since you couldn't find a similar room it could be you booked last available in that category for # of passengers in the room.

 

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

My apologies for giving misleading information, as that is not my intention. When I said the PVP gave me a "better deal", I didn't necessarily mean price-wise. I just meant that if I had've booked through the website without any assistance, I wouldn't have been able to choose from the cabins that he has access to, as the cabin he offered wasn't offered online. I also did a mock booking before calling him and it showed the entire front and mid ship as being sold out for the category & deck the cabin is on, same as the mock booking I tried after hanging up with him. It was my first time using a PVP and I'm excited with the results. :)

Probably would have been more helpful to do that mock booking before you booked the cabin! :confused:

I did that also and it didn't provide the cabin he offered.

After reading many reviews with advice to use a PVP, I finally did today and I can't believe how much of a better deal he gave me, as opposed to booking it myself through the website or calling Carnival directly. After I hung up, I went on the website and tried a mock booking, just to see if there was a price difference, and the cabin (or any similar) he gave me wasn't even available as an option. It actually shows them being 'sold out'. So I am very pleased with using a PVP!

On our last cruise, I purchased Carnival's Trip Protection Insurance for $79/pp, but I declined that this time as I recently remember reading peoples' advice to not buy that Insurance, but to purchase other Insurance from some other Company. I don't recall what that was, so does anyone have any recommendations?

Thank you for clarifying that. I will stop focussing on just the Early Saver rate now.

Hi All,

If I book a cruise now, for next March 2019, and I want to keep an eye on the price for price-drops to get OBC, do I have to book the "Early Saver" category only? Or can I still book, for example, the Casino Rate, and still get OBC if I see a lower rate, as long as the lower rate is the Casino Rate?

Can you always get OBC, as long as the lower rate is the same category......or is the Early Saver category, the ONLY category that you can play the price-drop game with?

I've always been confused with this subject, therefore I'm only focussing on the Early Saver rate during my researches. Yet my Casino Rate is always being offered at a lower price, so I'd like to book through my Casino Rate, but I fear I won't be allowed to fill out the form for OBC because I didn't book the Early Saver rate.

So, my question is, can one still play the game of watching for Price Drops, in all categories....or can you only play that game by booking the Early Saver rate?

We did this same cruise just 2 weeks before you. We had a blast! We loved the Conquest. We had an interior cabin on the 7th deck (#7335). Great location. My Guy was infatuated with Chloe. She sure is a great Cruise Director. Very outgoing and energetic. She definitely picked the right line of work, for her personality. Amber Cove was also in our itinerary...(sorry, I don't recall if you said it was in yours?) We had a great time on the water slides there! Your trip report sounds so much like ours, it's fun to reminisce. We also walked to Junkanoo, in Nassau. We docked at the space beside where you did. The NCL Breakaway (or Getaway, can't remember) was docked in the space you were. HMC was amazing for us, too. In Grand Turk, we walked down the beach to Jack's Shack and hugged Topher the Dog (highlight of my trip, as I was missing my dog!) Can't wait to read the rest of your report. Your pics are great, also!

Thanks for everyone's responses. It sounds like doing my own research and booking directly through the cruise line is not a bad thing. I enjoy spending hours at a time, searching for the perfect cruise. I should've been a TA, lol. So, if there really isn't a discount or that much of a difference by calling a TA, then I guess I'm doing it right and no need to change. I've never had a problem with calling Carnival directly and I've never paid more than any of the other prices I find through my research. Happy Cruising everyone! Can't wait for the next one :)

I've always just researched and booked our own cruises & flights, but I periodically read on these boards how people get extra perks (OBC, Upgrades, etc...) by booking through a Travel Agent.

So, I called our local TA and inquired. Turns out there are no perks to be had at this time.

Is this just a hit & miss kind of deal?

I know there are different variations of cabins to be booked, but it almost seems like my research produced a better price & cabin than hers did.......?

Should I try cold-calling different TA's? Will some TA's have different results/offers than others?

I was on the ship too, awesome cruise, visited with Topher too!

No way, that's awesome! We probably saw each other!

Where was your room? How was the food? Did you have early or late dining? How about the service? I have questions.

Our room was a Handicap Room #7335 on Empress Deck. They assigned it to us, but said we'd have to move if someone needed it. No problem. It was located directly in front of the elevators/stairs. It was fine for us, noise-wise, as we don't care, but for people who do mind or light sleepers, we could definitely hear the dinging of the elevators and people walking by if they were talking. But on a good note, we just had to simply walk up 2 flights and we were in the buffet, or walk down 2 flights and we were in the Casino. Two places we frequented the most all week.

We had late dining, but we didn't attend it at all. We prefer to just be free and not dress up, therefore, we thoroughly enjoy to eat at the Buffet for every meal. The food was great. We always liked what they were offering.

The service was totally fine. Our room steward did an adequate job. We don't really need much, other than clean towels everyday. His name was Wayan and he was very pleasant.

The Cruise Director, Chloe, was a hoot! Very energetic and incredibly entertaining. She is definitely the right person for the job!

We just sailed on the Conquest last week and we had a fantastic time!

The itinerary was great, with amazing stops at Amber Cove, Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay & Nassau.

We had the most fun at Amber Cove, playing on the waterslides for hours!

Grand Turk was amazing, as I lived out my wish of going to Jack's Shack and hugging Topher<3 He was so much fun to be around. A dog lovin' life...such a wonderful sight to see. The moment he came ripping out onto the beach, was hilarious. The way he just started digging in the sand, like he was trying to get to China, was so comical. Seeing everyone immediatley swarm him, like he was a Hollywood Star, was even more funny. If I ever go back to Grand Turk, visiting Topher will definitely be on my list.

Can't wait for our next cruise. Right now reality is slapping me in the face.....so rude!!!....but we will get through it and hopefully book the next one soon :)