Georgiagolfer

DW and I have sailed on Fascination 5 times. Each was great and different. To meet people who will be sailing with you, go to the roll call boards, then look for Fascination and the date.

Welcome to cruising, and hope you enjoy as much as we do.

Scott, I voted for both as Sandy and I ate at both equally last week. Both good in their own way, just wish Blue Iguana stayed open until 6 pm. Not sure why they are only open from noon until 2:30 daily.

Hey Mike! Yes, I saw your comments. We enjoyed meeting everyone! It seems we ran into Cruisinmom (Michelle) and her family quite a bit., which was fun!

 

Also, we often saw Sandy at the trivia.

 

I am going to take a break for now....lots of stuff to post so stay tuned!

Good time at Trivia for both of us. I won 1 ship on a stick, 1 deck of cards, and 1 medallion. Sandy won 3 ships on a stick. We gave all away to kids we played trivia with the parents, except for 1 ship on a stick and the cards.

So, how do you become a "Player's Club" member? Are those deals in the same place as the VIFP deals?

If you play slots and/or any table game you are automatically enrolled in the Players Club.

The deals are listed under your "special offers."

Just off the Glory and DW and I received the coffee mugs.

Hey Julie, looking forward to your pictures and the review. Sandy and I had a good time on the cruise and really enjoyed meeting everyone. I didn't post a review, but just posted some random thoughts about the cruise on our roll call.

Just off the Glory, and the MDR food options for us that we like were almost non-existent. We ate in MDR 1 night, 1st cruise elegant night, steakhouse 2 nights, and Lido the other 4 nights. Worst menu I have ever seen, and this was cruise 19 on CCL, and 24 overall.:(

DW and I have used each cruise since we became Platinum. Never had any issues and received clothes back same day, neatly folded.

Really enjoyed your review. Thanks for the heads up about the CD. We will be sure to tune him out during our cruise.

We had the same issue with the Liberty out of Miami 4 yeas ago. Received call from Carnival 4 days after we were home that our luggage was "found", it actually never left the Port. This came after numerous calls with Delta and Carnival.

Just finished your review. DW and I are doing the same route as you. Seems like if it can happen, it happened to you. This will be our 19th CCL cruise, and fortunately we have not encountered the amount of issues on a single cruise that you mentioned. Better luck on your next cruise.

BTW, we always pick our room so we will know what is around us.

Hi All!

 

I have been reading these boards for a while but have never posted. My husband, son and I are leaving June 14th on the Carnival Freedom. This will be our third Carnival cruise. We are up to $990 in OBC. Also called the Carnival Players Club and was informed our comps were $200 redeemable at the casino cage, a premium bon voyage gift basket in our stateroom and I was to receive the drinks on us card (for use in casino only) upon embarkation. The reason for posting is our first two cruises I never called to ask for anything. After reading these boards I did. And what did I get - a whole heck of a lot! I was not booked early saver to begin with. Every time the price dropped I called and asked. Some people told me no, every other person said yes. Did not even realize that the players club tracked your play for 24 months! Lesson learned. I will ALWAYS call from now on for our future cruises. I plan on posting a lengthy review as I haven't seen anything for the Freedom 2.0 as of yet. We are Carnival MasterCard holders, are purchasing FTTF and will purchase the Cheers program.

Welcome to cruise critic with your 1st post. Looking forward to your review of the Freedom 2.0.

We've received one complimentary upgrade call--and it was for the first leg of our b2b last summer. We directly booked with CCL and moved from 1As and 4As to balconies in the aft and forward. We had to move cabins for the second leg anyway, so it wasn't a big deal and we were happy to take the cabins off CCL's hands. We were told we got the upgrades for "loyalty" (Mom and I were both Platinum and had done several CCL cruises that year).

Congrats on the upgrade, but I really don't think "loyalty" has anything to do with it. As I stated earlier, our cruise this Saturday will be #19 with CCL, and have never received an upgrade and/or upsell call.

Jeff, so sad to hear this heartbreaking news. Feel like I've know you by posting with you these last 2 years. Please know that you, your wife and family are in our thoughts and prayers.

While I am quite satisfied with Carnival's room service offerings, a cheese plate is the one thing that I really wish they would add. I know you can get one in the MDR, and I have done so previously and just brought it back to the room, to have as a late night snack, but there are other times of the day that I might like to order it during the day, such as before dinner in my stateroom with a glass of wine.:)

I can so relate to and agree with the cheese plate.:D

I love ordering room service, but I SO wish they would add a couple of soup options - would really help when the seas are rough. Even canned Campbell's Chicken Noodle or Tomato would be comforting when you aren't feeling too swift... Also, some tortilla chips and salsa would be a nice addition.

Just order some tomato juice, ask for several. This can help just as much as the tomato soup.

Generally speaking, if you book through a TA, Carnival will not contact you directly. You have to work through the TA. It sounds like what Dick is referring to are the free upgrades that Carnival offers as past guest promotions at time of booking. The upsell call is what you are talking about where Carnival calls you after booking and close to sail date to offer you an upgrade for a certain amount of money.

 

I guess anything is possible, but I don't remember anyone posting here that Carnival called them with an upsell offer when they booked through a TA.

 

I have received the upsell call many times, but I always book through Carnival.

This will be our 19th cruise with CCL, and still waiting on our 1st ever upsell and/or upgrade call.:(

Oh well, we book a room in an area we like, so all is still well.:cool:

Free wine the 2nd night, now this may entice DW and I to visit the steakhouse our 2nd night as well as the night we have previously planned.:cool:

You can just go online, see what's available, and upgrade yourself.

 

 

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Doesn't always work. Besides, all vacant cabins are not listed on the web sites. In addition, the $$$ paid for most upsells is less than posted fares (this is consistently posted).

Only you can determine if an upsell is worth the $$$$. Congrats on the call. Our upcoming Glory cruise is #19 with CCL, and we have NEVER received an upgrade and/or upsell call.:( It would be nice to have an opportunity to accept or decline.

No doubt Jimbo. They are the destination. To say that someone sailed them just to say they sailed them is just hyperbole. Just for the record, they aren't my first choice of ships. They've all been family trips. We prefer the Freedom class and Celebrity's Solstice class. We won't sail Carnival again until they put out something new.

 

 

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The largest RCI ship DW and I have sailed is Freedom of the Seas. We didn't use many of the amenities, Rock Wall, Flow Rider, Ice Skate, Portofino, Chops, Johnny Rockets, etc., but still had a good time. We did go to the ice show and it was the best show we saw on the ship. BTW, we are both mid 60's and retired.

As for Oasis and/or Allure, we would like to sail either, and yes just to see what all the talk is about (good and bad), and not the Ports. I keep checking, but the price is still too high for us, especially since we aren't sure we would be content.

This morning returned from 10 day Alaska/Glacier Bay cruise on NCL Pearl. Having been a long time Carnival cruiser...I was looking forward to seeing if the "pasture was indeed greener on the other side".

I had a wonderful cruise and if price and itinerary were right...I would definitely cruise with NCL again. I did notice some differences between CCL and NCL...so here goes:

 

Rooms(balcony): Carnival's are noticeably bigger and beds are more comfortable.

 

MDR: Carnival

Buffet: NCL..more variety

Entertainment: Carnival

 

Crew friendliness: NCL

 

Value: NCL..I paid less for the 10 day cruise than CCL's 8 day!

 

So..that's MY opinion..yours may vary. I still love CCL...but NCL ain't too shabby!

Now this is really surprising. Our last few CCL cruises, the entertainment has been extremely lacking.

When we sailed in August I got the cash, my husband did not. Although he shared in everything else along with free drinks for the week in the casino. When the offer came in the mail, it was addressed to me only so it was my offer to get the cash.

Same for me and DW on our Glory cruise in 2 weeks. Offer sent to me, I get the cash, she doesn't.

I am close to getting platinum. On my next cruise the 75 days will happen durring the cruise. Will I be platinum on that cruise or will I have to wait till next one :confused:

Platinum next cruise, congratulations.:D

We will be taking our 7th Carnival cruise in September and it is the very first time we purchased FTTF. Now, our reasons for purchasing it were not typical. You see, my DH has severe sleep apnea and has to bring a C-pap machine on board. It is going to be nice to be able to take this medical equipment straight to our room and secure it as soon as we board. Honestly, I don't think we would do it otherwise.

As I have stated many times, why do people feel they have to explain why they purchased FTTF?:confused: DW and I are Platinum, and have been for quite a few years. With the introduction of FTTF, we can now go to our room upon boarding and drop off our carry on luggage. Couldn't do this prior as a platinum perk.