Georgiagolfer

The only "perks" for booking a Suite on CCL is priority embark and debark. You do not get priority tenders. FTTF will allow you priority tender for the 2 rooms purchased, priority line at guest services, and access to your rooms upon boarding.

It depends on the situation. I'm much less likely to be upset if someone politely asks first and you only need one item. "Excuse me, would you mind if just grabbed some butter?" is no big deal.

 

Just barging in and filling a plate with multiple items, even if there seems to be a break in the line, isn't ok. Often the line will catch up to you and then those folks who were in line first are held up waiting for you.

Agree

Congratulations to those of you who received a free cruise! How exciting! I'm so jealous! I want a free cruise. I'm upset that they don't reward many of us who are always sailing on Carnival. How do those of you who are Platinum and didn't receive a free cruise feel?

 

I have sailed with Carnival on 18 cruises since 2004. I will be sailing on the Carnival Liberty in 4 weeks! They're having great deals now! I can't wait.

Sure, DW and I would love to receive one of these offers, but never have and probably never will.:( I am not mad, and I do congratulate those who have received the offer.

CCL, even with the low rates and small deposits, is obviously still having problems filling cabins. Thus, they offer the free rooms in hopes of recovering the costs in onboard spending.

As you live in Georgia, you may want to look at Fascination out of Jacksonville. They do 4 and 5 night cruises, with stops in Nassau, Freeport, HMC and LSC, depending on the cruise. You would really like HMC if you like the beach.

She is an older ship, but easy to navigate, and well maintained.

Seems very random in selecting who to offer these free cruises to me. DW and I haven't received, nor do we expect to. Will have no impact on us cruising or not. We have already decided that our next few cruises will be on other lines.

I am not upset, mad, or otherwise with not receiving the free cruise offer. I congratulate those who have received the offers, and hope it works out well for you.:D

To me though, it shows an attempt to get people on board. Evidently not enough people are booking on CCL, and if they can entice people to cruise, maybe they are hoping to recoup the $$ with on board spending. Who really knows their reasoning. Hate to say this, but I think CCL is desperate, otherwise why lower their rates like they have, small deposits, and now free cruise offers?:confused:

DW and I have sailed Fascination 5 times, with the last being 11/30. While she is older, she is still in pretty good shape. No specialty restaurants, no aft pool, small slides, no 2,0 upgrades. Being a smaller ship, you will find it easy to navigate. You also will find more of a community feeling, as you will often see the same people. To us, it is a cheap 5 night get away, and we treat it as such.

Carnival now offers a pretty pathetic loyalty program.

Actually that is high praise for their program Stu.

Most who post here and use/have used a PVP either like or dislike, seems as nothing in between. A regular PVP is a CCL employee (salary + bonus structure) and do not receive a commission, however as someone pointed out, they do have certain goals (quotas) to maintain.

Have used the same PVP for over 8 years, but no real advantage. They have never gotten us a different price than what I have found myself, never received an upgrade or upsell offer, and have decided, I can just book directly myself. At least this will keep the PVP from calling to see if I'm ready to book after each time I log onto the CCL site.

No, it is for days sailed, not for how much you spend.

Correct. Now RCCL gives double credits for booking a JS and above.:D All you get with CCL for booking Suites is a larger room, whirlpool tub, and priority embark/debark.

Do you go to cruise deals at the top and then to past guest? That is where I see special offers...and mine only shows a 2 category upgrade ...but I am at the top of the upgrade I would want on my Sunshine cruise and on the Liberty I am booked oceanview and there are no cabins above the main deck...which I have booked so the 2 category upgrade won't help me with either cruise :(

Since these offers started, I too have been checking my offers. Like you, I have only had the 2 category upgrade offer. Oh well, it is what it is.

Carnival permits smoking on your balcony. Why would you need to leave your cabin?

I agree, unless they have booked a spa balcony room. These type rooms do not permit smoking on the balcony, but all other types do on CCL.

momonthego, really enjoyed reading your review of Fascination. DW and I have sailed her 5 times. Just got back on the net today. Lost our Power last Wednesday, and got it restored yesterday (Sunday). We live in Augusta, Ga. and were hit pretty bad by the ice storm from pax, but all will get back to normal soon. Had another quake in Edgefield yesterday, 3.2 in the same area as last Friday night.

Last Day

I woke up round 9:00 a.m. I looked out our window and saw a beautiful view. Maybe booking the room wasn't such a bad idea.

I went down to the beach and looked for shells. They were all broken I went back to the pool area and sat in a chair in a location that I could see the ocean. I was playing on my computer when I looked up and saw something in the ocean. I wasn't exactly sure what it was and nobody else seemed to notice it. About 30 seconds later it flashed again. It was a dolphin swimming about 30 feet away from the shore. People were walking up and down the shore yet no one seemed to notice it. I went closer to beach to get a better view. A couple was walking by me and I pointed it out to them. It took a few moments but other people started to notice it. It had stopped and was playing in the water. It was splashing its tail and jumping up and down. After it left I went back to the room to wake up the rest of the family.

I told my family that I had seen a dolphin. They all went to the window. Sure enough that dolphin was working its way back up the beach. So we all watched it for a while. Then we showered, packed and put our suitcases in the car. We then went to the beach and spent an hour at the beach before we left.

We got to Orlando in time to grab a quick lunch before we went to the airport. We returned our car and were in the security line, when my daughter announced that she left her i-pod in the car. I went back to the rental car area. They had already taken the car to be cleaned. By the time they got back, the i-pod was gone. I only had 45 minutes before my flight started to board. So I left before I could talk to the manager. The flights home were relatively un-eventful, just the usual travel hassles that my family always manages to encounter. We pulled into our drive way around midnight on Sunday night.

Notes:

Ship's design - I loved the design of the ship. I really liked the 5th floor. If you sit at the ocean plaza bar, you feel a Breeze every time the doors open.

Cheers Program- My husband and I participated in the cheers program. I think Carnival made their money on us this time. We mainly drank beer or mixed drinks. I think there were only 2 days that we actually had more than 6 drinks and we never hit the 15 drink limit.

Un-ruly children- Ok, I am a mother of 6 kids. We have taken our kids on lots of cruises and know that they are not saints. This was our 17th cruise. Usually we do not see kids on the ship unless we are by the pool area. On this cruise there were kids everywhere. They were running up and down the corridors and playing on the elevators. One night when we were getting pizza we had the misfortune to be standing next to a teenage boy. He was flicking bent cards and hit me with one. He started laughing and then apologized. Fine we were all kids once. Then he starts doing it again. He hit some other people with the cards and started laughing. My husband pointed out that the woman standing right next to him was a Carnival employee. Sure enough she was one of the Club O2 youth counselors. She was just standing there watching him do it and did not tell him to stop. I thought that was highly inappropriate. For the most part they did not wreck my experience. I am just pointing out if you do not like seeing a bunch of rowdy children then maybe you should choose a different ship than the Breeze.

Stewards – This is the second cruise in a row that I have not been impressed with the stewards. I was happy that they honored our "Snoozin" card. I was however surprised by how many "My shift is done, I will not do that." responses that we received. Don't get me wrong I am all for them having set work hours. There were however more than one occasion where they did not complete their work. I understand that if we are in the room during their scheduled work hours, we should not expect our rooms to be cleaned. However, there were several times we were not in our rooms during their shifts, and they still did not clean our room. Usually they bend over backwards to please you, even if it is not in their job description. So I was a little taken aback by their "It's not my job" attitude. Before I start getting flamed, it did not wreck our vacation at all!! They actually saved us money. At the end of the cruise we usually give an extra tip in addition to the tips automatically added to our sail and sign card. We certainly did not feel the need to do so at the end of this cruise.

Other Staff – Very friendly and helpful. They actually seemed to enjoy their jobs. We especially liked the bar tenders at the Ocean Plaza bar and the atrium bar. We also enjoyed watching the waiter's in the Ocean Plaza area dance to the music.

Cove Balcony – I have mixed feelings about this room. First I loved the room itself. It fit the four of us just fine. The balcony is close to the water and we were protected from the sun and the rain. We could sit out on the balcony anytime we wanted and did not have to worry about the weather. I read that people could see fish from their balconies, but I was unable to see any fish.

The reason I have mixed feelings is that, since we had a balcony, I was very conscious of making sure that I used the balcony. We usually get an inside room or an ocean view room. When we have those rooms, I am not in the room and am out and about on the ship. This makes me participate in more activities. I feel I did not participate in as many activities as I usually do because I was sitting on the balcony.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I really enjoyed this cruise and the balcony, however I think I would have enjoyed the cruise just as much if I did not have a balcony.

Thrill Theater – this was not working the first half of the cruise. I did not realize that it was repaired until the last day of the cruise. By then we decided that we really did not need to see a show.

Air mattress – The kids stated that they wanted to sleep on the balcony. So I packed an air mattress for them to sleep on. The balcony is big enough for a twin air mattress and probably even big enough for a full air mattress. However even thought the balcony chairs remained dry throughout the cruise, the balcony floor was usually moist in the morning. I am not sure if it was due to sea spray or fog or some other type of condensation. So if you plan on sleeping on your cove balcony, be prepared to get wet. The kids decided not to sleep on the balcony.

The Ship Amenities – I chose this cruise due to the fact that it appeared to have so much more for the kids to do. However I don't even think they used the water slides, rope course or thrill theater. My daughter did like the Club O2. She said it was the best Club O2 that she has been in. There were also more children on the cruise, so this gave the kids a better chance to meet someone their age. They mainly hung out with a group of about 12 kids almost every night.

Crowds - I have sailed on all classes of Carnival ships. I usually like the smaller ships. There are less people to contend with. Although there are plenty of areas around the ship that are not inundated with people. I could certainly tell that there were a lot more people on the ship. The areas that I would expect to be crowded were crowded. The areas that I would expect not to have a lot of people in, were pretty much empty.

Recommendation- Would I book this cruise again? Yes!! :D

Nuff said, thanks.

I was online last night looking at some rates for May-June and checked my offers. Nothing there but the 2 category upgrade for past guests.

Fast Forward to this am. Our PVP called and said he noticed I had been on CCL site and wanted to know if I was ready to book. Told him no, that I was just checking "my offers" because of so many posting about free cruise offers from CCL. He said that for the most part it was aimed at those who hadn't sailed CCL in a while to get them back. When I mentioned that many were posting they sailed last year and had gotten the offer, he went quiet.

So basically, maybe no one knows what the market driver is for these offers.

Does anyone happen to know how much the tour is on the breeze? Thank you in advance :)

I think it is $95.

We have pretty much decided we will not sail a carnival ship that has playlist, hasbro and no rock cover band.

 

We like Carnival but they need to improve entertainment.

DW and I are looking at NCL Getaway for May-June. Also interested in maybe trying Princess. Looking forward to your review of your Princess cruise.

It's close.

 

And Carnival can sit back and watch in joy as many post that they like this, and will get exactly what they wish for. The Carnival Ferry. Cruise with or without a room, and everything is available for a charge.

 

And then and only then they can return to a class system, where those who want a hassle free on board experience pays one fare, and has access to everything and anything they want, including private areas.

Kinda like RCCL with their reserved seats by the pool and shows for those in Suites, and the Haven on NCL?:rolleyes:

Stu, thanks for the review. I'm with you on the main shows on CCL, especially the Legends and Hasbro. Hasbro seems like it would be better accepted if moved to an afternoon time slot on a sea day. Legends, well how many times do I need to see Tina Turner, et.all.:(

DW and I have sailed Glory 3 times, all prior to 2.0 and new menus. She was our favorite ship, but seems with all of the changes, she may no longer qualify for that spot.

goofytoo, thanks for the review of the Breeze and your excursions. Really enjoyed your detailed descriptions of everything.

To be quite honest, I really don't have a problem with that. One, it would cut down on the chair hogs if they had to pay a fee for their lounger. Two, it would likely increase the quality of the food if they didn't have to feed people 10 servings for every meal on a Carnival budget. Three, I don't usually go to the entertainment (and when I do, I usually think it's pitiful), so if they want to charge for it, they can go right ahead. Maybe it would increase the quality of it enough that it would be watchable for me.

 

Bottom line is that I have no issues paying for the stuff I want to do and NOT paying for the stuff I don't want. That's why I sail with Carnival, because it's a BUDGET line (or if you prefer, DIRT CHEAP) and I can afford to sail quite a bit more often on Carnival than I can a higher-end line that includes a lot of perks and "free" items that are included in the fare. And yeah, "free" is never "free." You're always going to be paying for it, either before hand or after the fact. I prefer something to be cheaper and then add options as I choose, instead of paying a higher price for a cruise that includes options that I may not want or use.[/quote]

 

This!!!

Stewart who? People keep mentioning this guy "Stewart", but I've yet to meet him. Where is he? :rolleyes:

Play nice!!!:D

If i asked for extra towels and didn't get them there is no way I am going to tip the steward to get extra towels.

 

He might find his tip a little smaller at the end of the week.

 

Bill

 

 

 

Sent from Iphone 4S using Cruise Critic App

This. If steward can't handle a simple and reasonable request, I can't handle tipping extra.

First of all, Congrats to everyone who got this offer!! How awesome is that??? A free cruise? upgrading to a balcony for less than a price of one inside room?? WOW and OBC to boot! This is a great marketing tool and kudos to Carnival for filling their ships. With that said, it will take a lot to get me back on a Carnival line after my upcoming cruise. I wanted to upgrade from a Oceanview to a guaranteed balcony and pay them $400+ but they wouldn't let me. That was a special promotion for 1st time bookings...I could upgrade, but it was for $600. Rediculous, and then no one got back to me on my complaint, and then last night I read about all these free cruises and free upgrades and OBC. I think they also need to take care of their past passengers who are trying to be loyal customers. A happy customer always comes back! But again, congrats to you all!!!

While I can somewhat understand your frustration, do not understand your anger to the point of saying it will take a lot for you to sail CCL again. You even stated the reason you couldn't get the promotion you wanted was because it was for 1st time bookings. What part of this causes your anger? Sounds like you are feeling some of the frustrations of me and other long time CCL cruisers that we do not get some of these offers.:confused:

Hi. Where do you buy these tickets? Sounds interesting.

Purchase tickets at the Excursion Desk. As they are limited, buy once you get on the ship the 1st day.

Personally, I would delete the Email and continue with my cruise planning.