13cheermom

That's kinda what I was thinking about the water temps. On our Panama Canal cruise back last March, we put on bathing suits but I wore a cover up as well most of the time. We usually enjoy just getting in the pool to relax but I think it will be too cool for that this trip, lol.

Thanks! We have cruised probably every other month of the year except Jan/Feb., earliest being middle of March, and I did notice it was a little cooler that time of the year. When we cruise in Oct/Nov, water temperatures were still warm from summer months. I always pack motion sickness, thankfully have never had to use it. Just waiting to finally get to sail on Mardi Gras after 3 cancellations. 😊

Just wondering, we have never cruised in January before, and wondered what the weather is typically like in Caribbean (Grand Turk, Amber Cove, & San Juan)? Any recent cruisers have any tips for packing? Thanks!

Have to agree with most of the nay sayers above. We also when flying from FLL to our home airport always end up with a late flight time. There just aren't that many options for flights for us. It makes it worse that FLL is very strict about their not checking bags until certain time before departure time because of space (which I totally understand) however it makes it even more challenging. But we either trek to FLL and sit and wait or go somewhere else closer to check-in time and then go to the airport. I would hate to have a great vacation ruined by missing my return flight back home. But then again at our age we are not big risk takers as we were in our younger years. 😂

Well Op here, I am tired of getting the same loop around trying to refare my ez-air for the last week. 😂 I think the $.04 cent increase is just a way to keep me from completing the process. I mean whoever heard of a 4 cent increase anyway. I might just cancel and book it myself with Delta, this flexible thing isn't to flexible in my opinion. We never have had this happen before when booking with them. Plus it won't do any good to call, I never trust the intelligence of the rep. that I might get at any given time. 🤔

Have to agree with OP, we have been loyal to Carnival over the last 20 years and have enjoyed their product and all it provides. However as we have gotten older, we decided to branch out to Princess to try their product. We went this past March on the Emerald Princess, and found the food to be of a good quality, in the dining room as well as buffet and other food venues. It is kind of hard to compare right now post-pandemic because I feel all cruise lines have changed with supply and demand issues. We will be sailing Carnival again in January, (first post-pandemic) so we shall compare it to our March Princess cruise to see how food options compare to be fair. As far as entertainment, we loved all the different options Princess provided and the multiple venues we could visit each evening. Carnival is more set on nightly production shows and comedy only. The comedy venues are sometimes too small for the crowds that follow. The overall atmosphere on Princess is a little more classy and elegant compared to Carnival as well even on the older ships. We enjoyed our sailing with Princess and decided to cruise again with them next October. I think it's good to try different cruise lines as we all grow and change in different stages of our lives! Happy Sailing & Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Anyone else having issues with re-faring their ez-air booking? I have tried the last week twice to reface for a lower price and half-way through it stops and comes up with a message that your fare has increased by $ .04 since you started, so ok I agree to continue with the 4 cent increase, and then it just loops over and over again until finally I say decline the 4 cent increase and it still just loops again. I have to back out of the entire flight section to go back to normal booking information. I know their system has been wonky lately, but I thought it was finally taken care of. 😂

Yes the original booking was with the Plus package, and I understood that was all included as we had booked the same type of package with our first cruise. It's just those other items that you stated are part of the Premier Fare, we didn't book. The only issue was that the booking was originally on another ship and got transferred to a new ship and booking was changed. But it seems like that it would have shown up before now as it was several months ago. Others have stated problems with their bookings today, so will just give it sometime and look back later. But I always print everything out regardless to have copies, just for this reason. Thanks anyways!

So has anybody else noticed in their booking a change with the items that are now included with the booking? I went in to look at a booking for next October in 2023 and noticed there were additional reservations & purchases listed with my current booking. We booked with the Princess Plus package as it was prior to this changeover. So along with the WI-Fi Package, Plus Beverage Package including service charges, and crew appreciation, there are now these other items added. They include Premier Photo Package, Medallion Accessory, Premier Princess Prizes Play & Specialty Dining 2 nights. They all say package purchase by compliments of Princess Cruises for both myself and my husband. I'm totally baffled what all of that means? I know their system has been glitchy lately but has anyone experienced or saw this? We are only gold members and this will be our second cruise with Princess so I know it's not a loyalty type thing. The only perks we were suppose to receive were FCD OBC as well as $100 booking OBC. Any insight would be appreciated, Thanks!

Think we posted at the same time. I actually got a deal from Target 4/$94 and then used my Redcard and got another 5% off. I purchased them exactly for this reason and for flying as well. They also make a good pet tag if you need one.

Not sure if you are an apple user or not, but the apple AirTag would work well if you have an iPhone.

Yes I did as well for an upcoming sailing in January. I will not forget it this time. Btw, I was the OP of the one who never received this email for a November cruise that got cancelled because I missed payment by days. Decided not to re-book at the higher rate at the time. But actually got a better offer last weekend for same cruise different time. So it all worked out in my best interest in the long run. Somebody is looking out for me. 🥰

I think the cove balcony depends on the ship. Mardi Gras has them on deck 5, on most other ships they are on deck 2. That is a big difference to me and why I decided to try one on the Mardi Gras. We shall see if it was a good decision or not.

We also use TD, and we just log-in to our account and print our own statement page whenever we need a new updated copy of our information.

Just curious what time did you head over to the parking area? We will be staying the night before at a near by hotel and driving over to park and wondered when was a good time as far as traffic? Thanks for any helpful tips!

Mind me asking where you were located? We booked one under the Javablue Cafe since there wouldn't be any lifeboats above. We are hoping it will be an okay location, but regardless better than an interior room with no balcony at all. 😊

Just saw this post, and curious what you (original OP)decided to do. I also am doing the same thing and only one one night in hotel that is near airport (prefer a hotel shuttle) and then taxi or uber to pier the next day. I can't see the point of paying for a Manhattan hotel when I am just going to arrive and sleep, and leave the following day. I noticed nobody really answered your question, lol. If I am going to New York to see New York, then yes definitely would stay in the Manhattan area close to everything. However just for a cruise departure I don't see the need for that. Thanks for any input on what you decided would work best in this scenario.

I am usually on top of things, however have elderly parents with medical issues, so my mind has been elsewhere. Not an excuse, but rather a reason as to how this slipped up on me. It was only 5 days, so it was in the back of my mind just not front and center. Lesson was learned and going forward I will be on track again. Thanks!

Yes you are correct, hence why I decided to take back the deposit and use it somewhere else for this particular timeframe. It's not feasible to lose that much credit and pay more for the cruise. But this OP was just to let others know that sometimes you don't receive these reminder emails anymore that used to be automatic.

So like Mondello stated above it was like a 25% credit given for re-booking as well as leaving the deposit in place. It was sort of like an apology for the cancellation and delay of the Mardi Gras ship back in 2019. Sorry if I didn't explain it very well, it's been awhile and then we were in a pandemic for 2 years.🤣 I think Mondello explained it more accurately.

Yes this is the one email I would loved to have received, lol. Since the last change that was done on the booking was 1/19/21, some time had lapsed since I had received any correspondence from Carnival concerning this booking. Nothing since then other than Carnival promotions. And also where I had used OBC to purchase reservations at 3 of the specialty restaurants and purchased wi-fi ahead of time. I received those acknowledgements but only because I initiated the sale to begin with. Thanks for posting this copy as some have stated they never receive them, we however have always in the last 20 some years of cruising always received something similar to the above.

Well as a 58 year old woman, I can guarantee I went back and looked through all spam and trash and had no emails from Carnival. Same email I have had for last 15 years. I have received all other kind of sale promotions from Carnival, just none concerning this booking. I am glad it worked well for you, hope it continues to do so. This was just a FYI. (it can happen).

So just to clarify, the original cruise was booked in 2019 for the inaugural Mardi Gras. It was delayed due to construction delays and our date was cancelled. We received FCC credits if we rebooked with them instead of cancelling and taking back our deposit. We did so, and received that amount (still Carnival's money). Then there was another change with the scheduled bookings and we got changed to another date (also due to Carnival) could've been as a result of the COVID-19 complications. To be honest that was like 3 years ago when this all started. But we moved the booking again and received the OBC (Carnival's money) as well as they moved the FCC credit along with the booking. This was when they were being more lenient with things. So for us this was still all money from Carnival, and we only had our original deposit $500 invested in the booking so far. Of course we had a nice balance to pay off for our balcony room. But if re-instating this same booking we would have lost all of that money ($1,100) as well as ($440) increase in the room rate. That's why I decided to cancel and the resolution specialist totally understood and said she didn't blame me.

Yes I have received all of the above mentioned emails to the correct email account. I even went back and looked at Spam & Trash folders all the way back to June. I never clean those out, lol. But this reminder slipped through the cracks, and the resolution specialist thought that it was odd that it was cancelled in the system, however they never sent out a notification letting me know. Just can't rely on their communications currently.

Can't lose what was never mine to begin with. I guess I look at things differently, it was Carnival's money not mine to start. The only money I had paid so far was the $500 deposit. They however lost the rest of my remaining booking which was quite a little bit of money. Like I said it's fine, and I'm not bitter, just disappointed in the way things are handled currently. Sorry I posted any of this.