canwegonow

We're heading out on Anthem in a couple of weeks for an 11-night cruise. I really enjoy having cut flowers around, no matter where we are, but I've noticed that Royal doesn't have them available for pre-order on Cruise Planner. I was wondering if I would be allowed to bring flowers aboard in Cape Liberty as long as I don't bring them back off the ship when we disembark. We're driving to the port as we live a bit over an hour away, and I figured we could grab a cheap container from Dollar Tree or something, plus a couple of bunches of supermarket flowers. I'm obviously not planning to spend a lot on this, but I also don't want to get to the port and have to discard the flowers. (I prefer to throw my money away onboard, in the casino, like a good cruiser.) Anyone have experience with this recently, especially out of Cape Liberty?

Yeah, the dress code thing was a joke. I just meant, will they move elegant night if it's on Halloween?

Our 5-day cruise on the Sunrise leaves on October 30. The next day is the first sea day, which normally makes it Elegant Night--but it's also Halloween. For those of you who've sailed over Halloween, do they generally adjust Elegant Night if it falls on 10/31? I mean, we're taking costumes, but I doubt they'd be within dress code!

Also, now that the new menus are being phased in, has anyone seen which ones get used for a 5-night cruise, specifically for that potentially-costumed Elegant Night? The menus I've seen are all for a week or longer.

Thanks to anyone with some insight!

I'm wondering which formal night menu will be used on short cruises. With the last rotation of menus, there was an entirely different (non-lobster) menu on short cruises, and I'm curious to see what will be done with the new menus. We're sailing on a 5-night on the Sunrise in a couple of months, and we're trying to plan our steakhouse night. Any info about the new menus on shorter cruises would be much appreciated!

2 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

For bookings on the large ships for the shows etc., it seems that you can't book them till on board now. There's a thread started about how now it's permanent.

Of course, all the up-charge items are there to book (dining, beverage packages etc..).

 

 

I saw the thread about the shows, but that's not really what I was looking for anyway. I have literally nothing available to book except about a dozen excursions. The dining, beverages and internet are what I'm interested in, and there's nothing listed for any of those yet. I was curious about prices because it's an 11-night cruise, and we were thinking about getting the UDP this time.

I guess it's just too early. Usually we book much, MUCH closer to sail date, and everything is already loaded into Cruise Planner (if it's not already sold out).

I have a sailing booked in January 2024. I've never booked this far out before, but it's for a special occasion and we wanted our choice of cabin. When I open Cruise Planner, there is almost nothing available to book except about a dozen shore excursions. There's nothing under internet, drink packages etc. For those who have booked cruises early, when might I expect to see those items listed for purchase?

On 3/20/2022 at 3:02 PM, sunonfire said:

Did you book directly through Carnival or did you use a travel agent?

We went directly through Carnival. 

18 hours ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

What inside cabin did you have that you had so much space in?

It wasn't an inside--it was an oceanview. 243 square feet while a balcony has 205 inside plus the balcony.

17 hours ago, kelkel2 said:

Wow!! That’s quite the up-sell and I would have jumped on that too. What deck did they put you on? I also vote wait and surprise the husband!

They put us on deck 9, near the aft elevators. I'm pretty happy with the location. I originally booked us midship, but I would have taken a suite anywhere at that price!

3 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

They put Priority on the luggage tags and Suite Guest on the boarding pass so the surprise probably won't make until you get to the cabin, but I'd keep it under my hat for as long as I could.

I know--so far I haven't told him, but I'm thinking he'll notice by the time we get to the terminal, if not before. I'm hoping he'll be distracted by the usual bustle around embarkation and just follow me without looking as he often does. 😁

We're sailing on Mardi Gras in about 3 weeks. A couple of months ago I had gotten an upgrade offer in my planner to go from our OV to a balcony for something like $180 each. My husband likes a balcony, but I don't care much--I'm all about the elbow room in the cabin, and the cabin we had was larger indoors than a balcony cabin. We also had paid $550 each for our original cabin, so that made it even less valuable to us.  I turned it down and didn't think much more about it.

Well.

Today I got an email saying they had an offer for me, so I figured what the heck and called.

Would I like to upgrade to an Ocean Suite, for $150 each (plus the difference in tips, of course)? Mind you, the best price I see for an OS on the website right now is $1749 each. We'd be at $700 each before taxes and tips.

Duh!!!!

So now the only question is whether to tell my husband he's got his balcony AND I've got my interior space, or just wait....

So, does the soda station work if you have the soda package? Or does it charge by the glass?

7 hours ago, lennythenose said:

I think Lee will be the cruise director. On her social media page she said 

“March 14th I will be heading to the Carnival Flagship MARDI GRAS to shadow my amazing colleague and even better friend Lee Your Cruise Director who will be kicking butt and taking names as CD! There is sooooo many new and exciting events, shows, and activities to see and learn so I’ll be there for about three weeks to take it all in!”

Thanks! I had not seen this as I don't follow any CDs on Facebook. Curiosity satisfied!

We'll be on the Mardi Gras' April 2 sailing, and the posted CD schedule shows Lee Mason from 2/19-7/16 and Kyndall Fire from 3/21-4/12. What generally happens when they overlap like that? Do they share CD duties? Or trade off week to week?

And, no, it doesn't matter a lot to us--we haven't had either of them before but our experience with Carnival CDs has been good to excellent (with one glaring exception who's no longer with the company). I'm just curious if anyone has any insight.

10 minutes ago, Steve&Teri said:

Ok a quick question.  In the edocs suggested color printer for t luggage tags but didn't sound  like it has to be.  Has anyone ever used none color ones  luggage tags . We don't have a color printer at home the one I have access to at work isn't color.  So just want to see if anyone as used ones not in color tags

We used black and white tags in August for Adventure. Everything arrived safely at our cabin.

Thanks for this! We are on the 11/16 sailing and I was starting to get nervous that none of the headliner shows or ice shows are listed in the app. While I can appreciate the occasional round of "Name That Tune," I was hoping that wasn't all there would be for entertainment. I'm glad to see that there's something to do besides drink or gamble (not criticizing those who indulge, but it's just not our cup of tea).

When I sailed on Adventure in August for 7 nights there was a stuff-a-bag pressing special offered on embarkation day for $17.49. Is this a fleetwide offer? I'm sailing on Mariner in a few weeks and it would be much less expensive to pack in carry-ons and use this to repair our dress clothes than it would be to check a bag. Anyone with recent experience, especially on Mariner and/or other 4-night sailings?

They are e-cards. Sometimes they take a few minutes to get sent to your email, so don't panic if you don't get them immediately after ordering (voice of experience here).

Ah, ok. I think it's contactless on Royal, which is the next one I have booked. I'm getting confused.

@mexicobob we always use cash and I've never had anyone be anything but gracious (and grateful). 

Is room service currently contactless? If so, does the delivery person generally take off immediately upon knocking, or would one still be able to tip them?

I have visions of my husband chasing someone down the hall in his pajamas while waving a handful of ones...

Thanks everyone. According to their website, Scootaround's wheelchairs do fold, so storage won't be difficult. And the quotes I got for the wheelchair and the knee walker were so close as to be virtually identical in cost.

Guess I have some thinking to do. Or maybe more healing, so I don't end up needing either one!!

We will be on Horizon in mid-October. I am recovering from foot surgery, and although I can bear weight on it and walk for a short time while wearing a special shoe, I will likely still have trouble walking long distances by the time we sail.

I am considering renting a wheelchair at the port. Is it necessary for me to have an accessible cabin booked in order to take a wheelchair on board? I won't need the accessible features found in those cabins (which are in pitifully short supply, anyway), and we really want to keep the cabin we have booked. It will be no trouble to have the chair collapsed while we are in the cabin. Will we run into any difficulties with Carnival? Thanks for sharing your experiences.

So if we sail in 48 hours, and my bid says "Pending" but I'm not allowed to cancel or modify it, does that mean I actually have a chance? I only bid on one cabin because the other options offered didn't work well for our group, so there isn't anything that says "expired."

Crossing fingers (and toes!!)

12 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Call Carnival and find out if it's a promo code that everybody, including you is entitled to, or if it's selective marketing.   I have received multiple emails from them about it and I have also redeemed it on my B2B next year on the MG.  The code is good for any date in 2022.  It is not in my today's deal box, just sent multiple times via email.  

Thanks--I guess I'll be calling so I can try it. That's a lot more OBC than we've ever had...

We're thinking of booking our first-ever B2B on Mardi Gras next fall. Normally when I book a cruise, I just go online and book through the Carnival website. I assume, though, that if we want to stay in the same cabin for both legs, I will have to call Carnival in order to book. Is this correct? (No, I'm not interested in working with a travel agent.) Is booking a back-to-back different in any other way than booking one cruise--different deposit amounts for example? Any info or advice anyone can provide would be really helpful.