SDJen

Sailing on the Allure soon and have a question. I can find the menu online but I pre paid for a dinner there and am confused. Can we order any of the combos - there are several different price points? Also, could we order a Sushi roll and is that extra or included? And gratuity was charged at the time but will probably leave extra. What is a "normal" tip? Thanks for any tips! 

Hoping for some advice/feedback. We are staying in a VRBO for 2 nights prior to our cruise on 2/6/23. The house we rented is a couple of blocks from Pleasure Pier just for reference. We will not have a car but have already arranged transport from IAH to the rental. 

1. Any good breakfast places within walking distance to our rental

2. Does anyone offer grocery delivery service in Galveston? Any recommendations? 

3. Planning on just ordering a Lyft to get us to the port. Good idea? Can you "pre order" them? We have a 10:30 AM check in time scheduled - what happens if we arrive a little earlier than that? Thinking to set a 10 AM pickup and by the time we load up and drive to port might be a little before 10:30 AM? 

Any advice welcome! Traveling with 2 teen girls so hit me up with any can't miss shopping or other ideas for them. Thank you! Excited to cruise! 

In researching for this cruise, I had a hard time finding any info about this day pass option. We ended up choosing this for our stop in Nassau. Due to the weather, we actually changed our itinerary and stopped in Nassau a day earlier than planned. I emailed Resort for a day and they responded quickly that it was not an issue to change the date of our reservations. We had paid an $18 PP deposit and had to pay the remaining balance of $76 PP when we checked in at the resort. It was easy to get a shared van at the port to drop us off at the cost of $4 per person (after a stop at Atlantis to drop off others). 

You check in at the hotel front desk and receive wristbands. There is a towel desk right when you go outside where they give you nice towels for the day. We chose to sit by the pool and the chairs were comfy. There is bar service that will come by and get you whatever you would like to drink. The rum runners were really good! There is also a small sand beach on the lagoon along with a sun deck with more chairs. All the staff we encountered were very nice and always attentive. 

You are also allowed to access 2 different lunch options. One is a buffet indoors. There was a nice salad bar, soup, and about 4 different entree options along with several sides. The desserts were also included and there were about 10 different choices. The pool side snack shack had burgers, fries, hot dogs, pizza made to order and more. The conch fritters were amazing! 

Overall would recommend this as an option. Is is adult only and was a very relaxing and enjoyable day. If you were able to take advantage of getting there at 10 AM and staying most of the day it is pretty reasonable since food and drink are included. Hope this helps someone! 

Sorry I’m confused. You don’t need internet or WiFi unless you need to download a book. Why not just download them before you leave?

I did this tour in November and loved it! Learned a little bit of history along with the great food. Can't recommend it enough!

One more question. If you get the chat feature, how do you connect with people? Do you have a "chat number" you can share with others? I am thinking my teen will probably want to chat with other kids that she meets on the ship. TIA

We have booked through resort for a day and will be headed to Viva Wyndham resort on our cruise stop in April. Just wondering if anyone could help with a couple questions.

1. If we grab a cab at cruise port are they actual taxis or more like once we fill a van we will go (like we experienced in St Thomas)

2. I am hoping we can set a return time with the same driver so we don't have try to find a taxi to come back. Will that work?

3. Is there any shopping close to where you get back on the ship? I have researched and it looks like the main shopping area is quite far from the port (not walkable)

Thanks everyone!

I have tried to research this and haven't gotten a definitive answer. Hoping someone will know. We are book in room 2288 - Category 6c on the Freedom. Per the deck plans, this room is only supposed to hold 2 people. What I would like to know is if there is a couch and if it could be made into a bed or not. I know we can split the main bed into two twins but I would like to know if the couch can be a bed too. 

Thanks for any input. 

Just wondering if you can ever get a walk up reservation for this restaurant? Or wait to book on the ship? I am just not sure if we will want to go or not. May depend on the dining room menu on a specific night. TIA 

New to Carnival and have a few questions about excursions. We are sailing in April.

1. If I choose a Carnival excursion now do I pay now or when on the ship?

2. What is the cancellation policy if we would change our mind?

3. What if the weather isn't great - can you cancel day of?

4.  I usually book my own excursions (not through the cruise) but the one I am looking at is a decent price considering the transportation is included. Is it usually a slow process to do a cruse excursion (waiting for bus, etc...) would rather pay a little more and not waste a ton of time.

Thanks for any advice.

PS - the excursion I am looking at is the Segway tour on Blue Lagoon in Nassau. We are in port 7-5.

20 hours ago, CruisinCrow said:

We did it a couple of years ago when we were staying in Nassau (not on a cruise).  I have some pictures in my review here: http://susancrow.blogspot.com/2016/01/breezes-nassau.html  Scroll down to Day 3.

 

How much time you have after the tour depends on the time of your tour and the time your ship leaves port.  When we did it, we went over for the 10:30 tour and came back on the 1 o'clock ferry but we could have taken a later ferry back.  We did have a little time afterwards to walk around and see the beach and dolphins.  What hours are you in port?

Thanks so much! Those pictures look amazing. We are in port from 7-5 so hoping to get an earlier tour and have time for the beach after. Booking through Carnival I am not sure if we have any choice of times or we just take what we get.

Looking for feedback on this excursion. It looks fun and has good reviews. We would probably do through cruiseline (Carnival) since it would include transportation. I am wondering how much beach time we might be able to do after the segways? Enough time to explore the island? It looks like there are only a few ferries back and forth, right?

Thanks for any advice or feedback!

Thanks everyone. I will do some more research!

Trying to narrow down options for cruise in April and would appreciate any advice. Myself and my teenage daughter will need to get from Galveston back to IAH. We have a flight after 2 pm so trying to kill time on the ship and not the airport. Curious how the Carnival shuttle works? Do you have an assigned time/bus? Do you get your own luggage and put on the bus yourself? If anyone has done this and would share details I would appreciate it. I would rather pay a little more and not have to sit and wait at the port etc... Thanks!

Sailing on the Mariner next week. Would like to spend a little time in the casino but I am not much of a gambler. Does anyone know the min. bets on blackjack? And I assume they offer quarter slot machines?

Thanks!

Funny but I literally just got an email from RC telling me we embark from Terminal A. Guess I wasn't patient enough!

Thanks for the link too!

Can someone point me to how to find out which terminal to go to for embarkation? First Royal cruise leaving Miami a week from today on Mariner of the Seas. Wondering if we will get to use the brand new terminal?

TIA

Hi everyone. First time on Royal coming up next week. Booked through a travel agent and have received prepaid tips as part of the package. I am wondering if we will still get something to actually hand to staff at the end of the cruise? If I still get a voucher and envelope I have the option of adding more cash for good service.

16 minutes ago, JohninDC said:

How late is your flight?

 

You could get off early, Uber to South Beach, store your bags at the luggage Lounge, and then explore/enjoy South Beach - boozy brunch, people watching, beach, art deco architecture, etc.  When you are ready you can collect your bags and Uber to MIA or use the Airport Flyer bus for about $3 each

Not late - the first one I could get back home leaves at 1:40. Not a lot of time to do anything fun. I do get free lounge visits at the airport so I may just get there and find a place to relax. Thanks for the idea though.

Hi everyone. Looking forward to my first RC cruise in less than 3 weeks (on the Mariner if that matters). I have a few questions about disembarking and would appreciate any advice.

From what I can see, you are assigned a time to disembark. Is there any way to request a later time? I have an early afternoon flight and would rather stay on the ship as long as possible rather than waiting at the airport.

And, planning on taking Uber or Lyft to Miami airport. Is it easy to find a spot for pickup? Any space designated for rideshare pickup at Port of Miami?

Thanks!

Thinking of getting my daughter an Apple watch for Christmas and we sail next spring. Just wondering how that works on the ship or in ports? I assume you can turn the cell data off, right? I would hate to get stuck with a big bill! Or, if it doesn't work without cell service would probably just leave at home - or do they work with WiFi?

Any advice or tips? I just haven't researched how they work and this question popped into my head today :p

Thanks for the review. Sailing the freedom next year and love the details

Thanks everyone!

I have been researching this and cannot find an answer.

Sailing with my daughter and one of her friends (both 13). Is there a way to limit the amount they can charge to their on card on the ship? Is it a daily limit or a limit for the whole cruise?

Thanks to anyone who knows how this works.

Thanks