Hawaiifrank

For the person with the 3 cruises b2b2b, I don't believe you'll be platinum until the 3rd cruise. Plus even though you'll reach platinum on the 3rd cruise, I don't believe the documents for the 3rd cruise will reflect priority on your boarding pass. My husband and I did a b2b where he turned platinum on the 2nd leg. He didn't receive a platinum card until several days into the 2nd leg because the cruise history database hadn't updated the days from the 1st leg until a couple of days into the 2nd leg of the cruise. So guest services didn't receive confirmation of his status until after the previous cruise had posted to his history. Hope this makes sense.

It does and it's kind of what I expected. A few people did think that they'd grant me the advance on the first cruise, but, of course, no one knows for sure. I plan to take a print out of my VIFP status page that shows my points so I can provide proof if I have to for my 3rd week.

If you buy one device, you can log into one iPad and check email then log off and then log on another? What is the discount for Diamond if you chose to buy internet for a week, one device? In my case I am on the Jewel next.

We take our first cruise as Diamond in Feb 2016. My reading here on CC indicates that you can log off one device and login with another, even on accounts that allow one device at a time. All 4 of our group are Diamond, my DB, his DW, my DW and I, and will each get 1 free day or its value towards a package. I think the value of a 1 day access is $29, not sure.

Since you can't combine the free days to buy the full week package to share, we will plan and use our 4 separate days (actually four 24 hour periods) to cover the 7 days and agree to login and out at specific times so each can have an access window. None of us are planning to live on our phones during the cruise, but it'll be nice to check in and read email and messages a few times a day, every day.

Obviously, there will be some gaps. You can't stretch 4 days to cover 7 without leaving some afternoons or mornings uncovered, but at least we'll have access either in the am or pm everyday.

PS. I just noticed that you're on the Jewel. I've never been on that ship and I haven't read anything about the Internet service on that ship specifically. We'll be on the Oasis next Feb and the Harmony in Feb 2017. My research was primarily focused on that class. I believe the same Internet services will be on all ships soon. Just not sure about the Jewel.

As an old fraternity guy.......glasses up to you. Don't think I could do half of that now and I know my liver is glad I don't. Party on and have a great time.

The day runs 24 hrs starting at 6 am. If you start with a mimosa or 2 at breakfast, a beer at lunch, a few Miami Vice or other frozen concoctions around the pool, a couple of glasses of wine at dinner, a cocktail before the show, then couple more at the 2 comedy shows most nights and finally, if one can still walk, a few more in the casino. I believe that's what my son-in-law did.

I was able to almost keep up one day. Probably, half of his were beer, that helps. When not on a cruise, I seldom drink and on most cruises I have only 1 or 2 a day. This last cruise with my DD and her DH, my son-in-law and I got Cheers. First and last time for me.

I think there are frequently miscommunications between the people on the phone and security at embarkation. If it has a screw off top I think it will be confiscated. Atkins does have some flavors available in cans. Some of the Boost products are available in the pull tab boxes. My son has a feeding tube and require 30 eight oz cans of Ensure plus for his nutritional needs. We were advised we would need to hand carry a Dr. s statement saying it's medically required.

We took my FIL, who was tube fed, on several cruises. We just packed his Ensure and Boost (21 cans per week) in his suitcases and wheeled him right on in his wheelchair. No one ever asked for a note. No one questioned his ability to cruise.

I made it to 14 one sea day, but then didn't feel like drinking for 2 days...I did anyway. My son-in-law made his 15 several times on a 6-day cruise.

yes call and get all 3 linked and yes your boarding pass for the first should be priority with them all linked

Great, thanks.

Upon checking in you will indeed receive a Platinum S&S card and all the perks afforded the level. You no longer need FTTF. You'll be able to have three bags of laundry washed, dried, folded, and delivered to you cabin, courtesy of Carnival. :D (One of our favorite perks. We brought four days worth of clothes on our 13 day Panama Canal cruise.)

On our next string of cruises, a back-to-back-to-back or b3b, from November 28 through Dec 19 (21 days), we make Platinum during the last week. I really could use the laundry perk in the first 2 weeks.

Do I have a chance to be awarded the level-up early since it's b3b? Anyone know Carnival's policy on how they count consecutive cruises for award purposes? Three separate cruises or one long cruise?

I'm probably SOL, huh? Though, I have heard that sometimes people get a temporary level increase? How does that come about?

I booked directly with Carnival on an Early Saver fare for all 3 cruises. Each week was booked separately, though the week 1 cabin was switched to match week 2 by a phone rep. so they do know about week 1 and 2 being consecutive. The final week I just added recently when I was offered a 4J (inside w/ window), during a trial booking. Week 3 is a different cabin and was booked entirely online. Should I call and make sure all 3 reservations are linked for consecutive cruise purposes?

I second (or maybe 3rd) the suggestion to take a look at the cruises from PR. I enjoyed the 2 cruises to the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) that we sailed on from there. You can hit those southern islands on a 7-day cruise because you save hundreds of miles by leaving from PR.

Since you'll need to fly somewhere anyway, it might be only slightly more to fly to San Juan, PR. Besides, PR is lots better than flying into Houston or NOLA. I've also found the prices to be better from PR than mainland ports.

It's easy to check by doing trial bookings on the different corporprate websites.

We have this exact cabin booked for our b2b on the Breeze starting Nov 27, 2016. That date was going to be the beginning of the repositioning cruise from Miami to Galveston.

When our repo cruise was canceled, I went online the same day to book this cabin. Since the previous cruise was canceled, the ship was wide open and I had my choice of cabins.

The Quantum class ships will keep it (Anthem, Quantum, Ovation), but no others

That's exactly what I heard, er... read here on CC. There was a PDF file of a flier put out by RCCL posted here in the Royal Caribbean topic. It looked as if it was directed towards TAs because it used phrases like "your clients". Only Quantum - class will keep DD.

Not long ago, the reservation agents at RCCL were accepting requests for DD Choice or Classic for Oasis and Harmony. The last I heard the system at RCCL still had those options, but the flier I saw a couple of weeks ago said the switch would occur automatically--DD Choice would be MTD. DD Classic changes to Traditional dining, early or late based on what you selected for DD.

Someone might still have the link to the PDF file of the RCCL flier.

Has anyone done the new liquor or wine pick up on departure morning?

How is this working out?

Is it a mad house?

Can you find your purchases easily? Does it matter if you purchased on board or ashore?

Has anyone done this on Carnival Freedom?

On any Carnival ship?

I have a cruise coming up in a few months and was planning to buy a couple of bottles. I know about the tax in Galveston. The $3-something a bottle tax for liquor sort of takes the shine off the deal you get by buying duty-free.

We're new to Carnival. We're thinking of buying Cruise Cash ahead of time for our kids accounts. What are the advantages or disadvantages of Cruise Cash vs. just depositing cash on the card the first day? If Cruise Cash is unused (which it may be for one of the three) is it refunded?

Unless you are using cash yourself and spouse, just add the kids to your account on your credit card. You can set a spend limit for the cruise, different for each child, if you like, and adjust it as necessary. Do set a spending cap because the arcade can be a $$$ eater.

If you set up individual cash accounts, keep in mind that the daily gratuities will be charged each day against each separate account unless you pre-paid the gratuities.

If the kids (and spouse, I presume) are on your credit card with a spend limit for the kids, the gratuities will all go on your card and not affect the spending limits you set.

The letter X is used frequently to substitute for several letters, especially in the military.

Xmit = transmit

Xtal = crystal

Xmas = Christmas

On Explorer right now and managed to FaceTime on Day 1 but not again since then. Only Internet package available is for the whole duration of the cruise so we have been unable to apply our second D+ discount. However on Anthem and Allure we were able to apply both D+ coupon discounts so all ships differ.

Is that correct? The only Internet package is the one for the full cruise? This is the first time I've heard you can't get daily (24 hr) packages. Please tell us more.

My wife and I and my DB and SIL have adjacent cabins for b2b cruises on Oasis OTS next February and on Harmony OTS in Feb 2017. All 4 of us will be D and we were hoping to share our 4 free 24 hr periods to cover the week for email and Internet.

That won't work if the only plan is for the whole cruise. Previously, people have said that there are 1-day and 2-day packages as well as the full cruise deal. Tell us it ain't so, Joe.

My family and I (14 of us) were on the Conquest in 2008. It was everyone's first cruise. Fond memories. It has been refit since then, someone said 2009.

We enjoyed the traditional dining, 6 pm every night, same 2 tables. It was best for a large group like that because they can't really accommodate large groups for My Time Dining. The show schedule usually fits the 6 or 8 pm dining times best as well.

Read a variety of subjects here at Cruise Critic forums, particularly on the Carnival boards if you choose Carnival. Do browse the various cruise company sites. Look at pictures, deck plans, dining venues and, especially, prices. You chose a good time, after school is back in session. Another good time, price wise, is between Thanksgiving and Christmas, NOT including the holidays themselves.

Another post was trying to persuade you to Royal Caribbean. I like them too. I'm just about even point-wise with both lines. Prices are usually competitive between the 2 lines, but Carnival Easy Saver on a low season cruise sometimes makes for some hard to beat deals. NCL too, but there's a reason I only have 2 cruises on NCL. :rolleyes:

While I don't agree with what you're doing, the bottom line is if you book each one of you (both Platinum) separately in the cabin with the first timers, then yes, they will be allowed in the VIP Room, their cards will be there and they will be allowed to board with you.

 

Once on board, you go to Guest Services and change things... From that point on, they get/receive nothing... No gifts, no free laundry, AND no admission to the Diamond/Platinum party....

I can see where you might think there is something, what...dishonest? about booking separately to each receive some benefit for someone not entitled to it. I disagree.

It's no different than if my friend and I booked a cruise together. He's a newbie, but I'm Platinum so he gets the perk of FTTF, essentially free, by being in my cabin. OP is taking his friend and DW is taking her friend. Everyone is paying their own fare. If you look at it that way, why is it wrong?

Besides, the booking agents are fine with it. I was up front with them when I booked 2 cabins last year on Magic. I had a FCC (Future Cruise Certificate) and my wife had one. We booked in separate cabins in order to use both FCCs and we were both Platinum while our DD, BF and grandkids are all Red cards. No problem.

On Harmony for 2017, I booked 2 Boardwalk Balconies, me in one with my brother and my wife with his wife in the other. We are Diamond, my brother is not, but will be by then. He couldn't yet get the D balcony discount when we booked 4 months ago so I booked 2 cabins, myself and DB and wife with SIL, with full knowledge by the RCI agent doing the booking. No problem.

There is nothing wrong with booking 2 cabins to use you full entitled benefits. My wife and I are both D. We are both entitled to the full D benefits on RCCL, or Platinum perks on Carnival, for us and our cabin mates, whoever they are.

And having him on your credit card without charge privileges still let's you pay his gratuities (unless you pre-paid already).

To the OP: When you do your online check-in, after you setup your's and spouse's account, there is a section at the bottom to add someone in another cabin. Just follow that link to add son to your account as a non-charging user on your credit card. That way, his gratuities will be on your card and the Grands won't need to worry. They just setup their own and nephew's (?) accounts.

Can you use both of the passengers' discounts when buying the package?

You can use each persons credit for 1 day separately. By starting the 24 hrs at noon, for example, you cover 2 days with one free 24 hr credit. Then on the 4th day at noon, start the spouse's free 24 hours to cover day 4 and 5.

Here's a link to a flier from the Compass in March this year, 2015. Oasis of the Seas.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45797023

I see it has an hourly price listed too. I'm surprised, I thought they stopped that.

And that would be a violation of the federal Passenger Vessels Services Act (sometimes wrongly called the Jones Act) which puts up all kinds of legal roadblocks to foreign flagged ships transporting passengers between USA ports. Hank

I think the previous poster was referring to a cruise from, say Florida, to Aruba or Bonaire, some foreign port and staying for a week. Then catching a second cruise from Aruba, or wherever, back to Florida. This would be a great way to tour Alaska too, Vancouver to Whittier, tour a week in a rented car or RV, then cruise back.

My suggestion is to post something on your roll call. You might be able to "co-op" with somebody on your cruise who's buying a full internet package and make a donation to their internet tab for privileges on the couple of days you need. Even if the person has a One Device plan, any device can log on, just one at a time. You'd just need to get the user ID and password from your co-op buddy and figure out a schedule for those days. (If I were on your cruise, I'd work with you - there have to be others who would.:))

Judy

That is my plan for our Feb Oasis cruise with my brother. All 4 of us are, or will be, Diamond by then and each will have one 24 hour period of free Internet use. I suggested that we split up the day by even and odd hours. We'll take even hours, 2,4,6, etc and they (DB and SIL) will get odd hours, 1, 3, 5, etc. It'll work if everyone remembers to log out on time.

If I understand what you're asking, why not book both kids in the 4 person cabin? You two adults in the 2 bed cabin and the other couple and both kids in the 4 person cabin. Easy-peasy. How you actually sleep is your business.

Thank you so much! I'm taking if the price goes down before final payment that they will honor the lowest price?

Maybe, if the sale isn't for new bookings only. It's more likely that there will be a price drop after final payment date if the cruise isn't selling well. It sounds like you haven't booked yet. If not, waiting until after final can bring you a lower price.

A couple of caveats, RCI has said they are not going to play last minute price drop game any more. We'll see.

Second, the cabin selection will be limited. You're not going to find prime locations available or even whole catagories may be sold out.

Why waste $59.99 when switching cabins by having S&S cards reprogrammed is a two minute affair?

Or NOT switching back and having a 7 day affair. :eek: ;);)

I have a back-to-back-to-back, or B3B, cruise starting 28 Nov. The second day of the third week I'll have the points for Platinum. Do you think they'll grant me Platinum the first week or will they have me wait until the 3rd week?

It'd be nice to have the free laundry about the end of week 1. By the time week 3 starts we'll need all 3 bags for each of us. We do get 3 each, don't we?