CharlesKru

Ugh......I'm booked in this stateroom in April. Thanks for the heads up, I hope it's not as bad as you described.

 

 

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It is really bad. I read these posts before I went on the trans-atlantic. I decided to walk by these rooms while a movie was playing ( Jack Reacher in this case ) and I could clearly feel the bass in the hallway. There is no way I could stay in these rooms.

I would move to any other available inside if possible.

Here is my two cents...

I would do a Carnival excrusion in Freeport ( not much to do right off the ship) and do something on my own in Nassua. There is a beach not to far away, you can go to an all inclusive resort, you can do free walking tours of the city...

You do set your dining time... there are three options, Early ( 6:00 pm ) , Late ( 8:15 pm ), and Any time (5:30 pm - 9:00 pm ) You will pick this when you book, and they will try to accommodate your request. If you pick Any time, then you can go between the hrs listed and get a table, their might be a short wait involved.

Have a great first cruise!

I'm so glad you shared this! Where do you sit to watch? We're sailing in 6 months, our 9th cruise, and have never watched this before. I'm very excited to sit, wine in hand, and watch the food goings on! Thank you:)

Just as long as i have a place port side, it is good.

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Not only will it be, but it is so nice back there..

Wear some sandles/flip flops you can take off.. you can walk to the aft in the pool and watch the wake as you sail away. There is a nice ledge where the water will wash over your ankles while you stand there.

I am so jealous and need to start looking to book some more days in a Havana cabin to enjoy it some more!

I think you have to tell them in your booking ( that you are celebrating something )

We have gotten a small cake as an extra dessert in the dining room, along with the staff singing "happy Anniversary to you!" to the tune of Happy Birthday....

Our cabin steward also did something special for us, which I dont want to ruin the suprise.

But, unlike birthdays that they get from your customs info, they have no way of knowing your anniversary, so you have to tell them.

We have used Mears Transportation, 407-423-5566 when in Orlando for things..

Their website is nice, and lets you do mock bookings... it looks like a flat fee of $200 for a car for 4 people to go 1 way. So $400 total round trip.

I suggest calling and seeing if they can work out a better deal for you.

On both Carnival and Princess, I emailed them... both were applied the next business day.

On the Vista in April, not only where Platinum cards in the mailbox when we got on the ship, but everyone's where...

I know they say they will put them out when they are done with the rooms, but when I went to drop off my stuff ( we are platinum) every room in the hall had their cards. I doubt greatly that every room in my Havana hallway was platinum, diamond or FTTF.

:) I am trying to book my own adventures to save $ and avoid crowds.

 

I am starting to research which of these ports offer horseback riding. I will check out Carnivals excursions to help me start this research but also wanted to post here to see if anyone has an experience they can share on the topic.

 

I am going to these ports on the Vista!

 

Grand Turk

La Romana, Dominican Republic

Aruba

Curacao

 

We have an 8 yr old with us. Beach riding would be great but not opposed to other scenic experiences.

 

Thanks in advanced for any advice or experience!

We did it in Grand Turk. It was fun, about a hr of trail riding ( simple follow the leader ) and then 30 minutes of water riding... It was a few years ago, but I doubt that they got ride of the excursion. They also have some horses you can ride right by the ship as well.

I read the only cabins that really had noise issues were the inside ones that back up to the screen.

Balcony cabins have not had complaints...

I could see how it would be loud, I watched two movies and they have it cranked up..

I suspect very few people who have grievances against companies see the downside that you're pointing out. I suspect that many see it as the most effective way of leveling the playing field between large companies and the little guy; the best consumer protection tool invented since large companies got large. I could talk about how it fosters mob mentality and such, but since you raised the issue, perhaps you can elaborate why you see this change in our culture as a bad thing.

It is the mob mentality that bothers me the most. If I have a consumer complaint to a company that is between me and the company. It should not be put out into the world ( internet ) until I have had a chance to work with said company to get a resolution to my issues. If by all means, at the end of working with the company I feel I have still not gotten a satisfactory answer then feel free to leave a comment on their public forum.

By skipping straight to Twitter, I am invoking the internet community to pressure the company to do what I want. I am involving everyone in what should be between two parties. And I am forcing the hand of the company. While it is effective for me as a consumer, it is not something I feel is good for the society as a whole. We are pushing to be more an instant gratification, entitled culture.

The other thing that bugs me, is that Twitter was designed to be at 140 character max per tweet.... How in the world can you provide a real communication in a tweet about a consumer complaint... It results in people using links, to emails or blogs, which just goes back to use a more professional approach to dealing with your issues.

Do they do Twitter? Been successful with twitter for issues with other companies.

 

 

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Carnival has a twitter feed, so you could use that to provide your issue and ask for support.

Just as an aside, I worry about our culture that we have resorted to using twitter to resolve consumer issues... the simple concept of twitter is fine to share small messages, but it is just not really a professional or clean way to work with a company about an issue.. It seems people use this to get the company to do what they want or be pressured by the twitter community.

Any how.. good luck using twitter.

tipping with casino chips is just plain rude. Who said employees are allowed in the casino.

As to 2 drinks, I always like a water back with any drink, with the old Cheers I drank tap water, with the new Cheers I get a bottle of water back, never had a problem.

Tipping in chips at the casino is not rude. They can and do cash them in.

Not sure what you have been told, but i am sure they cash them in.

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I have done it three times now.

Original menu, the current Old menu, and the new menu that is being rolled out that started on the Vista.

All of them were amazing! I like the Vista one the best, but would be happy to have any of them again.

I will continue the advise to go hungry, it is alot of food... ( and when your wife is very picky eater, you get extra)

Also if you are a drinker, they do have unlimited wine. It starts with champagne, then a white/red. You can ask for them any time, and for refills... our last time was on the Elation ( Fantasy class) and the server was not refilling wine, dont take that to mean you cant have more, just ask if you want it.

Finally, be ready to be amazed at what they do to food.. My wife put it like this, "that meal was like going to an art museum that we are expected to eat each piece" She did enjoy herself, even though she is a bit picky. She also has allergies to onion and mushrooms. The chefs made special versions of each dish for her.

Have a great time!

Another question so then the only way to tip a bartender if you have Cheers is with cash? Correct

 

 

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You still get a paper receipt to sign, it is just for $0.00. you can add a tip to that if you like on the tip line, or pay cash, or as I mostly do, tip with casino chips, since I tend to end up getting drinks mostly at the craps table.

Chefs table will be either the second to last day, or the last day. If they get enough people interested it will be offered both days. Usually if it is only 1, then it is your last day.

Hope that helps.

Like everything else, it is up to each ship to participate in this.

That being said, we have seen it on the last 7 or so cruises we have been on. It is almost always the last sea day, and they are only out there for a short time before passengers start taking them apart or moving them to get seats.

You can always get up around 7 and turn on the cabin TV to the lido camera the last few days to see if they are out there.. if so then grab your camera and son and have fun!

Specialty coffee, milkshakes, bingo, specialty dining (steakhouse, Cucina, JiJi, Sushi), Chef's Table, Steakhouse Selections in MDR, candy... I'm sure there are more :)

Specialty coffee, and milkshakes are covered in Cheers now.

You can also book shore excursions with it. You can gamble with it, or you can do a ship tour with it. Pretty much anything you would use your card for is fair game.

There's no reason for a woman to change her name if she doesn't want to. I know plenty of women who kept their maiden name for work. It's not a requirement on marriage, it's also OK for men to change their names to their wife's if they want to. I know one who did this because he preferred his wife's name 😊

 

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I think you missed the point of the original post. No one said it is requirement to change names.. My wife did not, and I can care less.

In her original post, she has changed her name, just not finished with changing all the documents that she will need to change. She apparently does not want to spend the $10-$20 at her States DMV for a reprint.

I keep an eye on the tropics starting 2 weeks out.

My wife will pull the actual forecast for the entire cruise when it become available. She uses it to figure out what we should bring, rain cloths, more warm cloths, etc.

My biggest concern is not getting to the ship, after that I am flexible in what the weather brings.

Congratulations!

Glad to hear they actually give out gift cards!

I was looking on the Carnival website today and I noticed that it showed a pour your own beer area or station on the ship. Has anyone seen this and used it to get a beer rather than going to the bar?

I have used it on the Paradise. It was in fact the last time I used it.

Pro - there is rarely a line, and you can control how much you actually want to pay for, as it is pay by the ounce poured.

Con - You get charged for the run off... I have a keg-o-rator at home and always draw off about 1-2 seconds to get the foam out of the line... if you dont, you get ALOT of head on your beer. In this case, as soon as you start drawing beer, regardless of what you do with it, you get charged. So if you follow someone else, they you are good, the beer in the line will pour smooth, if it has sat there for more than 10 minutes, the beer in the line is warmer, causing the run off.

Also make sure it is off, before you swipe your card. People like to pull the handle down as they walk by it.

I prefer to just go to the bar, it might take a few extra minutes, but after the first day they always know what I am getting and get to me quickly.

It's interesting that your child is not allowed juice but is allowed other sugar-laden beverages such as shakes . . . Be careful: in my experience, once a child tastes something yummy, he/she will whine for more! [emoji4]

 

You should not have trouble sharing a few sips because you will have to buy the shake or smoothie at cost anyway, as those are not included in Cheers. The only non-alcoholic drinks are sodas and juices, which you do not allow. Well, there is tea, but not many children drink tea without sugar. Water not bottled from the Lido deck is free; simply bring a tumbler cup for him.

 

Overall, it does not seem Cheers is for you. Not many people will drink 15 coffee and energy drinks in one day. You can buy your canned coffee (Starbucks) and energy drinks beforehand, and place them in a drink box (e.g. emptied energy drink box) to carry on the ship.

 

 

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Milkshakes are now included in Cheers, and have been for awhile. Along with sodas, juice, specialty coffee, bottled water, and energy drinks.

To answer the original question, according to the policy there is no sharing. However, you can order something and decide you don't like it and just discard it.

Personally, if I was going to bend this rule, I would not have an issue with sharing a bit of water from a bottle or a sip or two from a shake. But I also would not do that right in front of the staff I just got the item from.

As to if it is worth it, you need to spend roughly $54 on average a day to break even. That is 6 mixed drinks, 7-8 beers, or 7-8 coffee's/shakes ( pretty sure the menu prices is in the same range as beer)

We always go without the package now, as we dont average that much a day.. also I dont want to feel like I have to drink, to break even. To each their own though.

1.) We have a group of 24 people. We were able to get FTTF for all but 2. We have an independent excursion. We are hoping that they will let all of us have priority boarding since we are all on same excursion. Are we going to have issue with the 2 people who were unable to purchase fttf.

2) Do you happen to have any Fun Times schedules you could post.

I can not say for sure. My guess is no they probably wont min for 2... I would probably ask at guest services the first day or so just to find out...

We are platinum so when we showed up to the lounge they just looked to see the color of our card, to get us moving. I am not sure if they check everyones card for the FTTF sticker when they move you down to the tender boarding area or not.

Thanks for the notes.

 

We're going late August. Been to Belize three times with princess, first time with carnival. We are Elite on Princess so we get priority tender, not on carnival. Getting a bit concerned about the tender process at Belize. You mentioned "train wreck". What's the tender process? We have an independent excursion planned.

Carnival tenders work on a priority system.

Platinum, Diamond, and FTTF have top priority, and are provided a location to check into. As they arrive they are shuttled to the next tender leaving.

Next is Carnival Purchased shore excursions. They tell you to meet in a different location than above. They will shuttle you out based on the time of the excursions.

Finally is general people. They will provide a location to go get a tender number. You need to bring everyone in your group to get a number. Once they start to have gaps in the Shore Excursion groups they will start calling tender numbers over the PA. When your number is called you can then go down and get on a tender.

It is a pain if you dont have priority tenders... but if they ran it correctly ( which is hit or miss ) it is not usually a train wreck.