starstruck05

I love Triva on a cruise and 100% agree its ruined by cheaters. I actually won Harry Potter triva with 11 questions right because no one cheated! But the cruise before someone got all the questions right including the name of a teacher who is only mentioned once in the books and never in the movie. No way someone would have known that off the top of their head. I wish they would do like a phone lock box or something for triva like they do at some bars.

I don't cruise Carnival for their loyalty program. I honestly don't care. I am Platinum and yes, I enjoy the perks, it's a bonus not a mandate. I cruise Carnival because I get more value for my money and enjoy the ships and Carnival's social interaction with its guests. The perks are nice but I wouldn't stop cruising Carnival if my fanny pack got taken away.

The cruiseline is not responsible for disciplining children. The parents are the ones responsible. If their child can't be controlled they shouldn't have taken them on vacation.  Every single sailing is different and no way can anyone one say "the Vista has too many bad kids" when a whole new group joins the next week. That's insane. There are bad kids at Disney, Universal, the mall, the movies, everywhere! If the parents aren't doing their job, why is it anyone's else's job to do it for them??

8 minutes ago, new_cruiser said:

You have it wrong. The enhanced Driver's License is good for land or sea entry but not air. See:

https://www.dhs.gov/enhanced-drivers-licenses-what-are-they#:~:text=Enhanced Drivers Licenses (EDLs) are,technology that makes travel easier.

 

OP make sure it's an Enhanced Driver's License, not just a RealID. People have gotten them confused at times.

 

You can get a passport renewed quickly with the urgent process. It's a bit of a pain as you can only get an appointment when travel is within 14 days and you  have to go to a passport office in person (or pay an expediter to do it for you $$). I just did this and it took most of the day (appointment in the morning and passport pickup in the afternoon). 

👍🏾 

Your enhanced ID only works for air or land travel to those places. (For the ones you can of course go to by land) You just need the ID and your birth certificate for embark and debark for the cruise.

5 hours ago, jsglow said:

CRBAs are $50 and a careful read of the travel.state.gov website seems to clearly indicate that obtaining a certified copy is routine (albeit slow) and customary. My wife's piece of paper is 60 years old.  I doubt they can even determine that she has one. No where does it ask if one's original is lost/misplaced.  It seems very analogous to getting a certified Birth Cert from Vital Records. Again, she's a native American so therein might lie the difference.  

 

An interesting factoid is that any record older than 1990 requires a hand search and takes 3-4 months. The request procedure is very well spelled out and makes absolute sense in terms of what you provide.  My guess is that her 'new' one might even contain her picture as one is required to submit front/back of her DL. She also submits her existing Passport info perhaps easing the process. Obviously the government thus knows she's legit as they have already previously affirmed that fact.

 

I'll try to remember to come back here and update many months from now.

I'm just seeing your post. I haven't dealt alot with CRBAs but what Sparks says sounds right and you can never have enough documentation. Ferry will have more updated info than I would. 

No big secrets for the Valor. Easy to navigate. Only place hidden kind of away is the Steakhouse. Can only access from the back of the ship. She's a lovely ship and I've been on her plenty. I love the seats off the atrium to the side to sit and people watch. Bbq on the level above the lido. Seafood shack is my favorite from all my cruises.

Photo copy means a printed copy of the original NOT a photo on the phone.

36 minutes ago, adventuredancer said:

ok, i searched. and searched. 

b-i-l has a baby mom (from now on known as dumb idiot-and not just because of this situation). her application for passport was denied because she supplied the wrong version of birth certificate. she waited almost 2 months to tell me and then request a new copy of her birth certificate (she says they kept the other one). she has a photocopy of the very very beat up birth certificate she turned in. 

she was borne in texas, we live in florida. so she can't go in person to get one.

she already asked for the new one expediated back when she told me one month ago

we sail in literally ONE WEEK. it may or may not come in time. this is a family cruise (bil will get a letter from her just in case). and their solution right now (if the new birth certificate doesn't come), is for her to show up with the photo copy and hope they let her on. 

i know when they check you in, they look at your documents. i have always sailed with a passport.

 

what if Carnival allows her on (accepts her birth certificate copy), but then customs is not happy with the copy when she come back? 

what are the chances that they will accept this copy? (I know they will accept a copy, but its not an official copy and her original is very beat up). 

I used to work check in for another cruiseline. It's up to the port staff who will also need to get approval from Homeland for the photo to be used but no one can answer if they will say yes or no. Did she go on the Vital records site and try and get an expedited one? Or as someone mentioned if she has someone still in Texas can they go get it on her behalf in person and overnight or even fax it? I've seen approvals for the wildest issues so hold out hope but have a plan in place just in case.

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Nowhere does Carnival's documentation say the photocopy needs to be certified.

All birth certificates need to be certified. It doesn't state a photocopy because a photocopy is not normally accepted.

23 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Most of the excursion vehicles don't have seatbelts.    

My post is supposed to say most would not have the connection. 

13 minutes ago, Sailor00000 said:

Would you mind sharing the one you use? Thank you for the idea.

I can't find the exact one we had but this is similar.  Our was not that expensive.  I do see they have inflatable ones for way cheaper now too.  https://a.co/d/hkMPCvY

Alot of countries don't have the same car seat laws as we have in the US. And alot of times on buses situations you would have have a connection for a car seat, even in the US. However, We travel with a foldable booster seat when we can't bring my nieces car seat. It works really well and folds down flat for easy storage. They sale them for sure at Amazon and target. 

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

At this point they have what, 20+ years of YTD data across their ships to understand when most guests choose to eat. And how many eat at the buffet or steakhouse or what have you. And now they have going on 2 years of data from Mardi Gras and Celebration. So maybe they will tweak the formula. OP here cannot be the first to complain that just because they chose set dining they have to wait until nearly 8PM to request a table at many of the new dining options on the new ships. I would be right there with them, it's ridiculous.

YTD is not 20 years old. It's not ridiculous. It's completely understandable and done for a valid reason.

It's easier to understand if you look at it this way. Set dining times, they know exactly how many people are eating at that given time. With YTD 50 people may check in at 5:30 and then 300 people at 6:00. YTD is less predictable and to control the waiting on the new ships they have options. I don't cruise the MG until Dec but I'm happy to have options. I have done set dining since YTD has been introduced because my family never wants to eat at the same time everyday, even at home. I honestly wish the other ships had the same included options. I spend way too much going to the steakhouse or seafood shack when I get bored of the dining room.

My niece was a bit older than 11 months when she went on her first cruise but she had a great time. Kids club starts at 2 so your baby won't be old enough for that but my tips are to make sure to bring some comfort from home. Favorite toy, cup etc. I also recommend bringing a blanket for the floor. Housekeeping keep sit clean but just like a hotel you never know. That way the baby can crawl.

The ships do have cribs but my brother brought my nieces pack n play ( he checked it in as luggage) so we can move it from room to room with whoever was watching her at the time. We did bring her full stroller but it did take up space in the rooms. If the baby is stable in an umbrella stroller it might be easier on the load. 

My niece was eating table food and they do have high chairs. We just filled her sippy cup with her water, milk or lemonade.

My niece does not like loud noises (even now at 4)  so we had got her noise canceling headphones. She wore them at shows an out on the deck. I will also say try to keep to the same routine with bedtime. If she takes baths there are small inflatable travel bath tubs for kids on Amazon that shouldn't take up too much space. 

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

We're flying in the day before (and flying back the day after). As I understand it there is a festival going on in the French Quarter this weekend, so we'll wait to go there until after the cruise.

It will be crowded but I would say don't skip FQ fest. It's one of the best festivals in the city and it's free! You can try most of the best restaurants in the city at one time. No better experience than festival season in NOLA. WAY less crazy than Mardi Gras.

Former Cruise a check-in person here. I can also confirm you are good to go with that birth certificate.

55 minutes ago, Dippy Dawg said:

I made a purchase for our upcoming cruise for the end of May from the online gift shop.  I can see the item on my Booking and Order Details.  I have noticed that the specific item I purchased is no longer available in the online store.  Is it safe to assume that since I haven't received a message saying the item is no longer available that it will still be in my cabin when I get onboard?

Yes, if the item is completely out of stock by your cruise, they will email you and refund you for the order. I've always be notified before I arrived to the ship if I wasn't getting my Funshop purchase 

16 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

$48 per person (plus Grat?) to dine at the Steakhouse.

 

So...is that steak (and overall experience) at the Steakhouse worth an extra $48?  Because the standard MDR broiled strip loin steak is "free" (no added cost, pre-paid, however you want to rationalize it).

 

To me it is occasionally worth it, but not always, not every night for certain, and not every cruise necessarily.

Yes in my opinion the steakhouse is worth the extra cost. I pay way more locally than Carnival charges for just as good of an experience.  The food is almost always consistently good. I can easily spend $150 at a good steakhouse here in Nola for myself for $48 is a bargin for really good steak.

The broiled strip is on the menu every night. Yes the flat iron is gone for now. The steakhouse menu is worth it. It does come directly from the actual steakhouse if there is one on board however,  I would honestly just pay the extra what $29 and eat at the actual steakhouse. Well worth the total cost.

3 minutes ago, bguppies said:

Heald posted on his popular Facebook page, “So I would like to add my congratulations to Mike Pack who along with one other Cruise Director has been promoted to Fleet Cruise Director. "

 

Sounds like it is going to take two people to do Heald's job.

Not taking over John's job at all. He is the Brand Ambassador. Completely different position.  They are basically responsible for all of the Cruise Directors and their Training. 

Yes to your first question. Yes you can cash your player bank at anytime but no to your last question, you can only cash out what's in your player bank at the casino cage. So if you haven't charged anything to your player bank to gamble, you won't have anything to cash at the cage. Not Glory specific. All Carnival ships.

Yes, his platinum perks still count no matter who books the cruise. It goes by the VIFP number. Just make sure to add it after booking.

It's not actually nickel and diming. The extra pay has always been there. I could be wrong be Sushi used to only be free at lunch time, not all day. You can 100% cruise without eating at any upcharge venue. I love the steakhouse and seafood shack so I budget to pay for those things but I'll be perfect fine with the dining room, buffet, deli, guys, pizza and Blue Iguana for free. I've done cruises were my bill at the end is $0 because I didn't do anything extra (pre-paid gratuities). Your experience on the ship is what YOU choose to spend money on as extra. Other cruiselines have WAY less free options than Carnival. The Sushi is less than $10 a roll which is cheaper than at home restaurants.  The steakhouse is $49 a person now which is also way cheaper than I pay to any local steak house.