Hawaiifrank

I have 4 b2b sets lined up. Have they caught on to that or will hold my purchases till after the 2nd week?

I was told I could not rebook yet to Magic out of Orlando, or Breeze in TX since the itinerary is not listed yet. But I know its somewhere just not public the folks they putting on Breeze that were on Splendor know when and where they are going. I need to find out the ports that the Splendor was going on in June 2016, so I can already be thinking about that option.

 

AND the should tell the ones who are switched these other cruise options before releasing for the public. I would be very interested in Magic out of Orlando.

 

Maybe I should call back?

There are a couple of Breeze cruises available from Galveston right now--Nov 27, 2016 and Dec 4, 11 (and the holiday cruises at 2x the cost). I booked the 27 Nov and the 4 Dec ones to replace the canceled repositioning that was going to happen on 27 Nov 16 and now is in May 2016. It looks like it will be crew only. :mad:

I'm fortunate because my cruise was canceled (never thought I'd be saying that!) instead of being switched to another ship. Also, lucky in that the Breeze was supposed to be on the repo cruise starting on the 27th and the Magic was to be repositioning at the same time. That means that there was no one booked on these 2 cruises that need to be switched over. Every cabin is available. Stake out your favorite now.

Yeah, I was really surprised that they canceled one of the "Journeys" cruises...especially since they rolled them out with such fanfare just a few months ago.

 

They're offering a $50/person OBC credit to rebook on another cruise. I'll take a look and see what is available around that time of year...who knows, we may end up booking two 7 day BTB cruises.

Garnett

They have a 27 Nov 16 Breeze cruise available for booking right now on the Carnival website. It's out of Galveston. I booked that one and the next week already and I'll fight with Carnival later for my $50 pp OBC and my deposit on the repo cruise.

It's true that the ports are not the same, not by a long shot, but there are only so many ports in the Caribbean and I've been to most at least once already.

From what I've read so far today, Carnival decided to do some rearranging after the "Cruise To Nowhere" was outlawed or whatever you want to call it. The Magic is going to PC in May, Splendor is replacing the Breeze in Miami in May and the Breeze will replace the Magic's cruises from May on. I may have a couple of details wrong so don't shoot the messenger.

One point that may be missed in all this is that the NEW 27 Nov 16 Breeze sailing (and the 4 Dec 16 sailing) is not a replacement for any existing cruise. Therefore, the cabins are ALL available. If you have a favorite, hard to find cabin, now is the time to try to get it. I booked a forward facing inside cabin on the Lido deck--the one with the window on the walkway.

I kinda need to know if it is worth my hassle to change what Ive got for my Freedom cruise next month.

 

I currently have purchased 1 premium package and 1 Refreshment.

 

If I cancel those and do the promo, the cost is basically the same... My real question (that I cannot seem to readily find and the descriptions are vague on the website) is?

 

What does the Ultimate package give me that the Premium package does not?

-and-

What does the Replenish package give me that the Refreshment package does not?

In a word, the ultimate gives you some additional premium liquor brands, better wine, non-alcoholic frozen drinks, fresh squeezed OJ at Breakfast that you do not get on the premium pkg. It is like getting the premium pkg and the Replenish package together.

The refreshment pkg is soda pop only. Replenish pkg gives the fresh OJ, non-alcoholic frozen drinks, premium coffees and soda pop.

I am new to this forum and have never been on a cruise. My husband and I are planning a cruise early next year. I want a balcony room, but I want the balcony facing the sea, not the interior of the ship. I read somewhere that some balcony rooms face the inside. How do I know which ones face which way? Thanks.

The Oasis class ships (Oasis OTS, Allure OTS and soon, Harmony OTS) of the Royal Caribbean fleet have balconies facing inward overlooking either "Central Park" neighborhood or the "Boardwalk" neighborhood and Oceanview balconies as well. A CP or BW balcony is usually somewhat less. You can see the ocean out the back of the ship from a Boardwalk Balcony, especially one farther aft.

I don't understand how this works, can somebody explain please??

We sail 08/17 from Tampa on the Paradise, "Oceanview" :confused:

All of the necessary information can be found on your invoice that Carnival should have emailed you. Select the ship from the drop down list, select the date of the cruise from the next list, the type (outside or oceanview for you) and the number of passengers. Check the appropriate boxes for > 55, past guest and select your state. Then figure out the characters in the little box and enter them in the other little box to the right.

Click "Continue". Now pick the fare type or sale fare that you think may be lower than yours. Only people who are booked Early Saver can get price reductions and that is usually the best fare as long as it is available, so select Early Saver. Click "Continue".

Now you see a table of cabin classifications. If you put in Outside or oceanview, the list will contain all of the available OV categories Find yours and compare the price to your current fare. If you don't know the category, look on the invoice near where the cabin number is listed.

At 5 months before the cruise, the Early Saver price is no longer available (7 day and up) and other fare sales might be lower. Even before the ES fare expires, sometimes a sale will cause YOUR cabin catagory to decrease and not others, for example a sale with free category upgrades. If the other sale fares look close, "Edit" the fare type and try other sales. Don't forget to check to see if some sales include OBC as part of the promo.

If you find a lower price fare without OBC and request a reduction, you will lose OBC gained as part of a fare promotion. You keep any previous OBC from onboard booking and some other sources of OBC.

It takes about a minute to check all the sale fares. Much faster than calling.

Sometimes it's easier to check for yourself.

http://www.carnival.com/BookingEngine/FareViewer/#

The tour looks fun, but I am worried it will be a bit rowdy for my 7rd old and 13 yr old. Thoughts?

My DW and I went on the lunch/2 location snorkle excursion about 3 yrs ago. It was the same price as the shorter, no lunch excursion sold by RCCL. I saw plenty of kids and families, no one really plastered. You can't drink until after the snorkeling is over. Lunch and drinks were served only on the way back to the dock and not for long enough, in my opinion. :D

If you do a mock booking on Harmony, you'll find your dining choices are

- Dynamic Dining Choice

- Dynamic Dining Classic

 

There is no Dynamic Dining Traditional.

Sorry, I meant DD Classic for both reservations. Thanks for correcting my mistake. The person on the phone gave me only the 2 choices for my Harmony OTS booking - Dynamic Dining Choice or Dynamic Dining Classic.

When my SIL called to place her share of the deposit for our Harmony reservation, she asked about our Oasis dining selection. It was listed as "MTD" on my last invoice. I'm not sure how the question was posed, but the results were that we are now listed for DD Classic on both ships.

I apologize for any confusion caused by my use of the wrong term. There've been so many changes and uncertainty lately that I mixed-up the names.

Probably a bit strong to claim DD is on a "permanent hold" as that would mean it will never happen. All this email said was that DD won't be implemented prior to 25 Oct.

My Harmony OTS booking for Feb 2017 was assigned to DD Traditional, Early.

Our Oasis OTS for Feb 2016 was changed this week from MTD to DD Traditional, Early. It looks like they are at least planning to start it on Oasis by 2016.

Check out IRS Publication 525 page 33 (2014 edition). You can download it in PDF format from the IRS website. In the center column near the bottom under "Prizes and Awards". It says the "fair market value" must be deducted. No one ever challenged it, so if I was wrong, I got away with it, I guess.

It's been a long time, maybe 12 years so, I guess it's moot now. Maybe the rules were different then. At any rate, I justified it with my understanding of the rules and my conscience is clear.

This was a contest prize not cash or gambling related. Those rules may be different as well.

Ask away!! There are no stupid questions. Especially as a first timer. There's so much to learn..

And most of can be found here on these message boards.

Find your roll call in the ROLL CALLS --> Carnival --> "ship name" --> "date of cruise" and join the conversation with folks booked on the same cruise as you.

Find the port information section and see what there is to do in the ports on your itenarary, how to reach the points of interest and how much it costs.

Use the search function to find reviews on your ship, entertainment and dining options and many more helpful bits of information.

You'll also find links to information on other websites such as photos of your cabin or a similar one, port maps, tour oporators and information about how many ships will be in each port.

As for deals, you picked a pretty good time frame since Feb means school is in session and the prices come down a bit to attract people to replace the families with kids who are in school, or entice them to be truant. :sly:

The best advice, if price is the prime consideration, is to know what a good price is when you see one. Check prices on the line's website for different dates and different ships so you are familiar with prices. Newer ships and popular destinations command a premium.

My rule of thumb is, if the basic cost of the cheapest inside cabin is less than $75 per person per day (before taxes), your getting a sweet deal. For example, the base price of a recent booking on a 7 day after Thanksgiving (Dec 5) was $389 pp. That's about $55 pp/day on the Early Saver fare. Nice, if you don't mind the no refund policy and the $50 change fee. :mad:

BTW, the absolute cheapest cabin on many ships is an upper/lower type arrangement. Pay the few dollars to upgrade to a regular side by side cabin unless you want bunk beds. :eek:

It will be arriving in Ft. Lauderdale in early November, 2016. :D

And the Roll Call for that transatlantic cruise has 5k posts already. :)

I wish I was on it. :(

A balcony is cheaper than an inside, go figure...:)

What they said. :thumbup:

We have a Boardwalk Balcony booked on Oasis for Feb 2016, a b2b. We booked it during our February 2015 cruise. So the Feb Harmony OTS was a given. See the pattern here? We've cruised each February with my brother and his wife for the last 5 or 6 years.

The Oasis will be our first balcony on RCCL. We normally go with Prominade View, but there weren't 2 together on the b2b so we were offered Boardwalk Balcony cabins and were pleasantly surprised that the price was only about $150 more than a PR catagory. I wasn't thinking about that balcony discount!

Since we had booked the Boardwalk balcony on Oasis, it seemed natural now to check the cost "up there" for our next cruise. Surprise, surprise! The BB was actually less than an a "cheap" inside cabin with this new 30 - 30 promotion and our (now even better Diamond) balcony discount.

We've never booked this far out either. In fact, is it unusual for a line to take reservations for a ship that far ahead? Especially one not scheduled for completion for over a year? Maybe they need extra cash to fund the construction. :eek:

I'm very confused by what you are saying.

 

If one makes $50,000 as an income from their job, that has nothing to do with their casino winnings. If someone won $10,000 (and all have a 1099), it has to be declared as income on your taxes (and if they don't, the IRS will be after them with penalties) and if it took them $20,000 to win the $10,000, they can certainly deduct the $10,000 off their taxes as losses.

 

The only time one has to declare their winnings is if there is a 1099 involved, if all wins are less than $1,200, even though they add up to $10,000, then there is no need to do anything on their taxes.

I believe "StanandJim" means that the additional $10k not used to offset your winnings in his example, can't be deducted from your earned income. Essentially, the same thing you said.

Another point made by someone else about the stated value, i.e. full retail price vs actual cost you would pay--you can adjust the amount on your tax form. My wife won a contest at 7-11 for a hotel stay and inter-island flight. In our case that was from Oahu to The Big Island (Hawaii). The contest sponsors sent us a 1099 claiming that the prize was worth $1500. They used a rack rate of $350/night for the hotel and the full published price for the Hawaiian Airlines flight. I researched it and was able to adjust the value lower by about 40%. No one ever pays rack rate, especially local residents and the same for the flight.

As to the ORIGINAL topic of this thread, my SIL won a free NCL cruise at bingo while on her honeymoon cruise. We joined the happy couple on their next cruise, the "free" one. She won $1500 at bingo on that cruise and took our group of 10 to dinner at the Italian specialty restaurant. She's very lucky and very generous.

Going to make the jump from interior to balcony! How do I get the balcony discount? I am Platinum.

 

Do I simply log into the C&A site, search for a sailing, and the discount is automatically applied or is there more to it?

Yes, login to the RCCL website with your C&A name/password and the balcony discount is applied to any bookings. You can see it if you link directly below the price, "Fare Details" or something like that.

BTW, it's worth noting that by using your discount and the 30-30 sale xx% off, a Harmony OTS Boardwalk Balcony or Central Park Balcony are actually less than an inside cabin for some sailings. My b2b Feb 4 & 11 sailings are that way. Strange, but true.

I"m glad you said that. I just booked 2 cruises, and one of them I booked for my daughter and her bf and my PVP told me that all of the deposit comes back to whoever booked and paid.

That is 100% correct. I had to cancel 1 of 3 cabins I had booked in March. My DD backed out just before final payment last December. Since I had charged the deposit on my credit card, the money came back to me for a future cruise. I applied $200 from both deposits to my November cruise. Carnival did keep $100 ($50 each for DD and her BF) of the $500 for cancelation penalties. Whoever owns the credit card used gets the credit for future cruise.

As far as taking your parents, no one can decide for you. My wife's dad was 91 on his last cruise, in a wheelchair, ate through feeding tube and couldn't speak due to a stroke in the 1990s. He went everywhere with us. We full-time in an RV and he traveled with us from 2008 until he passed in 2012, 5 months after a 12-day cruise to Hawaii and 3 weeks on Oahu. (We lived there until 2008.) He went on a total of 6 cruises with us between 2008 and 2012.

A cruise ship is no harder on an elderly person than living at home is, as long as you are "doing for him. Helping him in an out of the chair, helping dress, etc.

As far as O2, is an oxygen concentrator considered a prohibited item that needs Dr. note? You can rent one. Does he use O2 all the time? I'm surprised he doesn't have a concentrator. We did check with the Dr. and gave blessing. Maybe get a second opinion.

A life lived without enjoyment, is barely living. Our "Pops" lived a life full of travel and family. He never regretted it.

- what is an MLM group?

Multi-level Marketing. I think of Amway, Avon, Tupperware, Thirty-One when someone says MLM.

Basically, a pyramid scheme where you get others to sell a product or service by buying it from you. In turn they create a new level who must buy from them and so on. Eventually, you run out of people to buy the stuff because everyone is selling it. Only the early adopters make any money. YMMV.

LOL :D I'm cruising Aug 22, with my best friend, all the way back to 3rd grade. Over 60 years ago now. I'm Platinum, and know I get the water.

She's Gold, so nice to know she gets 1 also.

Did you notice the sale on water 12 - packs on Carnival's website? There's been a thread here on CC for the last couple of days. Look on the Carnival Cruise line section of the boards. It should be close to the top, it's a very active thread. If you want more than your free bottle, it's only a few dollars, $2.99.

There is no charge to use the beach or for the chairs! :)

 

LuLu

Thank you. Not a problem if there was a nominal charge, but it's nice to know for comparison to other options.

I could only find pricing info about the "excursions" Carnival offered and a rental list with the prices cut off. I hate places that don't list their prices on their website. In this case, it's probably because the price changes depending on how many ships are in and which cruise lines. I understand that Carnival built MBCC, but does allow other lines to dock any time there is space not needed by Carnival ships.

I'd suggest your wife use a wheelchair or a walker with wheels and rest seat. The route out of the Dufry shop is relatively steep but not insurmountable. The shopping area remains steep until about the chairs, then it's a slight downhill to the beach. Paved all along the beach from the gate/building to the restaurant bars to the last cabana. You can step off at any point to the sand and find loungers.

 

I have seen older cruisers in non-motorized wheelchairs make it up to the shopping area from the pier on their own, but it took some doing.

TYVM. Having never been to Roatan, I couldn't tell what the path was like from the pictures on MBCC's website. Almost every picture of the chairs shows the ship in the background across the bay. I knew there was a path but had no idea if it was a few hundred feet or most of a mile. :eek: On the map it looks to be across the bay and a looong way around to the other side.

She can walk in case of steps or steep inclines. The hard part is getting her to pull the trigger on getting one. I think she will feel self-conscious and is resistant to using it around others. Several times I've suggested we look at the walkers at Costco and we "...don't have time right now." :confused:

On our February Oasis b2b my brother, with PAD, plans to rent a scooter for ports and maybe for longer walks on the ship. It must be 1/4 mile from the aft dining room to the theater up forward. Due to vision problems, a scooter is not an option for my wife. She has never been able to drive a car either.

A wheelchair might be best for her because we can keep moving while she rests. A walker with a seat would let her sit down whenever she wants, but we'd never get anywhere because she has to rest her back every hundred yards or so. We can't pass a bench or a low wall without stopping to sit and let the pain subside when we're walking in port these days.

And it wasn't a silly question.

I just type the list in the signature area.

If you click on your "avatar", that's the little square box by your "handle" (user name) at the top of your posts. You can click on anyone's avatar answer see some information about the user. The user determines how much you see.

When you are in your profile, you should see a link in the upper right that says "Edit your profile" or something close to that wording. Click that, then look along the left side of the page you see now. "Edit signature NO ADVERTISING" should be one of the choices. Click that link.

Now you should see an area to the left with a text entry box. You can type in whatever you want, but no advertising of any type! Some people put a list of ships with or without date sailed. Mine was getting kinda long so I recently changed the format. Just remember, every time you post, everything in your signature, aka "sig", is appended to your post. Once you have what you want, click the "Save Signature NO ADVERTISING" link and you're done with that part.

Having lots and lots if text or countdown clocks slows down the loading of the forum pages for everyone, especially for folks who may be on slow connections. Also total monthly data is limited on most cell phones. Make a sig, but don't over do it.

You can also add a picture or other graphic as your avatar. That's one of the first options near the top of the profile choices. The picture should be small (low pixel count) and I think it says the maximum size. It's too complicated to describe how to reduce the size of a picture, not hard to do, but this post is already getting too long. One of your friends can show you how or ask here and someone else can help you

Good luck.

On one Carnival cruise with my wife's invalid father, the cabin steward just told us to stay in the cabin during the drill. I doubt that he had the authority to do that, but we skipped muster and never heard about it afterwards.

My wife also has some pain after prolonged standing or walking. I bought her Travel Chair on a big online shopping site--$26. It worked great and she says it really saved her back when we had to wait in line at several places in Europe before our transatlantic crossing.

It's a 3 - legged stool and weighs just a couple of pounds and folds to a small, compact size with a shoulder strap. Maybe 18" L x 3" diameter. It is built very sturdy and held my 300 lbs with out breaking or bending (when she'd let me use it).

I wonder if it's supposed to be $13.99 and they dropped the '1'. Did the price recently change (I mean besides the drop to $3.99)?

I drink ship's tap water. Like someone said, it's probably the same stuff.