CharlesKru

What's a bonus bet? Playing blackjack for over 40 years, never heard of this on "real" blackjack. I've double downed and split, never sat down where there was a bonus option

they have a chart of things if you get on the first two cards you win. I honestly don't recall most of them, but one was matching kings. and I mean 2 kings of spades ( etc) since they are using multiple decks, and an auto shuffler it can happen. Very very rare chance of it, but it can.

I hate the $6 min bet, I always get OCD about it and just bet a min of $10.

 

I'm usually a strictly blackjack girl, but have been trying to learn to play craps for the next cruise, but it is a premier cruise. So damn I guess min is $10. Now does that raise all the min bets, (such as come bets, place bets, etc.) on table or just initial pass line or don't pass bet?

 

Thanks

 

 

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They might keep it low, but I have heard from several friends that take the cruises that it is always 10.

The min applies to the field, pass line, come line ( dont pass/come) and place bets. Not to the inside.. so you can still do 1 hard ways or 1 for 6 6 ... a 6 or 8 will cost you 12 to place though.

If you were gonna start with $100 go up to $200.

have fun!

Also, I believe the $6 blackjack table​s only pay 6/5 instead of 3/2 on blackjack.

That is correct. I stopped playing them when they went to $6, because of the pay out.

Its hard enough to win at Blackjack with an auto shuffler, but its even worse with horrible payouts.

Lerin, that's strange because I just checked and the 100s were still available.

 

I FINALLY got my card to go through and snagged $300 worth

This is my second purchase, and using two different cards for each.. Why do people have issues with their card not going through? Is this a thing where your CC does not allow large purchases, or is this something on the AARP side?

Just wondering, if it is to personal a question then feel free to ignore.

Does anyone have an opinion on the first half of the question? When would you think I should book by? I'm thinking 1yr out?

We were booked on this cruise, as part of a back to back. We booked it the day ( actually the hr it opened, thank you PVP for watching and calling me). We have since gave it up, and are doing a 14 day Journey instead.

In your case, if you are not looking for a specific room then you should be fine close to final payment. Which is around 90 days out from the cruise. At final payment some people are going to cancel, as they were just holding a room until they decided, or until they get the money to pay. It happens every time I watch a cruise, about 1 day after final payment the inventory goes back up a bit.

If you want the best price, then book now. It will only go up. Even after final payment, the prices wont usually come down much on a new ship, as they know they can sell the cabins.

Good luck!

Is the coffee shop on board complimentary? I wouldn't have thought so but saw a recent review saying it was.

 

Should we expect a wait for your time dining? Do they give you a buzzer so you can wander around? Will they speed up dinner if you ask? Well probably at least try out bringing the 3yo one night, but she's not going to sit for a 2hr dinner so if we can fast track it and still enjoy, it's a thought.

 

 

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The specialty coffee is a pay option, however if you do Cheers it is now included with that. So you might have saw a reviewer that was on cheers saying that the coffee is included. ( they also have awesome milkshakes....)

For your time dining, if you need to be done in less than 1.5hrs ( which is usually the norm) ask to be seated at a table by just your group, then tell the server when he comes over that you need to be out by X time.. I would not try to do it in less than 50 minutes, but you can. With YTD, they have the ability to get the food faster for you. Just keep in mind that the server is servicing about 25 people at the same time, assuming their section is full. So it might still slow down a bit.

It does vary by ship but I believe I was told by the roulette dealer that fleet wide it is now $10. the chips are all worth $2 ( or higher if you want to buy them higher) and you are required to plan $10 min.

For blackjack, the table min is actually $6. They want you to play $1 on their bonus bet... you dont have to do that, what I do is just bet $6 on the main bet.

Craps is normally $5, unless it is a premier cruise then it is $10..

Hope that helps.

AARP has $100 value cards this morning. At least as of this posting, just grabbed 5 more.

The last time I got my cards in about 5 business days, they will require you to call and verify the order first then they will ship UPS.

16 long days!

In all my years of traveling to Bermuda, including last October, I've never seen individual tickets sold for the buses and ferries. (I guess they could have been years ago, but certainly not for many years.) Tickets are sold in books of 15. Tokens are sold for individual rides. Any chance you bought a transportation pass, which about the size of a credit card, that you just show to the bus driver or ferry crew while boarding, but isn't handed over to them because they're good for unlimited rides for one or multiple days?

That is probably what we bought, since it was good for 24hrs.

Makes more sense now. Thanks

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What they sell at the Visitor Information Center for single rides are tokens for $4.50. Not tickets. Paying on the bus requires $5 exact change in coins.

Weird, when we were there last in Nov it was definitely a ticket.. not tokens..

Any how, it is cheaper by a little and you can use your card if you like.. you don't need exact change. ( cash)

Can you get the Tiramisu martini virgin ? I am trying to make a list of virgin drinks on carnival if someone can point me to a list of them that would help as I know that comes up a good bit.

I highly doubt it, as this is a martini made with liquors.. Its ingredients are almost all alcoholic.

What is the best transportation for 4 adults who don't want to walk long distances to get from the dock to Horseshoe Beach?

 

 

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Assuming you mean Horseshoe beach in Bermuda and you are docked at Kings warf ( where most Carnival go ) you can either take the bus or you can take a cab. The cabs are right outside the gated area, there is a circle where you can get one. not that far.

If you take the bus, I am 99% sure it is bus 7 ( you will be able to see a giant sign with the listing when you get off ) To catch the bus you need to walk abit further around to the right, like you are walking to the museum. The bus runs every 30 minutes, and is first come first serve. They tend to fill up fast when the ship first gets in port.

Also with the bus, you can buy your ticket on the bus, or save a few dollars and buy it at the visitor center. You only need to send 1 person to buy the tickets.

You are looking for the bus that takes South Road. Tell the driver when you get on you want off at Horseshoe beach and they will stop there for you. Getting back is the same two options.

Note that if you dont take a cab, you have to walk up and down the hill to get to the beach. It is not a small hill either.

We have done the bus 2 times.. lots of fun talking with the locals and the driver.

Major Banks offer interest rates from 0 to 1.0% today. If you earn the highest rate of 1% on $342 for a year,your gain will be $3.42.

Yeap, my gain not the Carnivals for as long as possible. Every penny counts.

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I don't have personal experience but the way I read the rules you would have to book in one cabin and your husband in the other, then switch after on-board.

 

Hope someone who has done this will jump in.

Bury me at sea is correct. In order to use the rate you have to have a qualifying person in each cabin. So book you and your husband in different rooms, and have the other two split between you.

When you get on the ship, go to the Guest Services with ALL members of your party. They will be happy to generate new Sail and Sign cards for you that access the rooms as you want to sleep. But all members have to be present.

We have done it twice now, and it took a total of about 10 minutes each time for the new cards to be issued.

Have a great cruise!

Whatever you wanted ? Multiple entrees? I was wondering if you could, we like to try different things

 

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It is supposed to be 1 app, 1 entree and 1 dessert. I also have been multiple times on a cruise and when I mentioned I have having a hard time deciding between two apps they said not to worry and brought both.

No idea if it is common of if they were just being nice since that was the third time they had seen us that week.

How is it a sale when the price is still the same? Doesn't sound like much of a sale to me.

 

Here's the deal on these "sales." If there is a price drop and you claim it, in order to get the lower price you need to pony up the rest of the "standard" deposit.

While I agree that overall I am not paying less for the cabin I was going to book anyways, now I dont have to put up $500 today. Instead I get to keep the $342 in the bank, earning interest and just pay $158 today.

I also know if the price goes down I have to pay the diff on the lower deposit, but lets face it prices have not been going down lately. Anyone who is booking ES is hoping that after final payment date there are alot of cabins released from TA's holding group bookings open. By that point I have already paid in full and it does not matter.

That being said if there is a price drop of over $10 per person, I probably will just pay the $342 to save $20 later.. not like any interest bearing account I have pays that much interest...

Awesome review so far. I love the ones with lots of fun details to really draw the readers in.

Take your time and have fun with remembering the cruise!

I will start with I have never done a cash account, so I am not 100% on this.

But I have read multiple places that you have to put down more than $100 the first day... Just be aware they might require a bit more of a down payment.

Beyond that, we used to go down and pay cash on the account when we would win at the casino.. that was before we started earning so many reward points for travel on our credit card.. Your ship will have 2 automated kiosks as well that you can use to add cash to your account. Usually 1 by guest services and the other somewhere near the coffee shop.

Told the bartender I wanted a gin martini on the rocks no olives and was turned away on the Vista in January.

 

 

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I am wondering if it is a Vista thing... they had Blantons, ( really good bourbon for price point ). I asked for it with two rocks and the guy gave me a very hard time. He even got the rest of the patrons to try and talk me into letting him make it better....

I simply told him, that unless he was a master distiller of bourbon, I would be good with it in a glass with 2 ice cubes please.

I never went back, because it was not a good environment.

I haven't sailed CCL in awhile.

Does your final payment have to be made for the FTTF's to show up?

Do you find them in shore excursions?

Thanks. :)

 

Patti

Welcome back to CCL.

No you do not have to be fully paid to buy FTTF. It shows up with a limited amount way out, then when they get closer to the sailing they will open more if there are not alot of platinum/Diamond guests on the ship.

You will find it in the shore excursions area, if it is available. It often is there also as sold out. just check that one over and over.

My understanding is that there are so many cabins per cruise... call it 100 ( could be more or less ) that they are willing to have the early boarding, and other benefits you get with FTTF. Since FTTF gets these benefits from purchasing it, but Diamond and Platinum guests get it as a loyalty perk, they decide to allocate say 50 of the 100 up front as FTTF. Then as the bookings go one they track how many Diamond and Platinum folks book and later on they will post the diff from the original 50 FTTF, pulse diamond and platinum to the system to make up the rest of the 100 they want to get these perks.

Sometimes there are more Plat and Diamond, so they dont open up any more. sometimes less so they open more.

Please note, I have no idea what the actual number is.. just that it is a number of cabins in inventory that they will let have these benefits.

You have to pick a time, but you don't have to adhere to it. You can show up earlier that your check in time if you have FTTF.

So if you want to be nice to your fellow cruisers who dont have platinum, diamond or Faster to the Fun, select a late time... that way they can still get the earlier ones... We always take the last time available now, we are platinum but I dont want people to have to wait if they dont need to start the fun.

Crazy thought, if you have the time you could consider taking Amtrac down to Miami. It leave Penn station on day 1 at 11am, and gets there day 2 at about 5:45 pm ( assuming no major delays). We did this for our last cruise, picking it up in Raleigh NC and heading down...

If you get a sleeper car it is about the same amount of money as flying but it was a great adventure. The sleeper car rooms are basically like having a private room, that you can watch out the window and enjoy your time on the way.

For Grand Turk, I highly recommend going to Jacks Shack. IT is a great atmosphere and it is just far enough down the beach that the masses of people dont make it down there.

I saw on the Sunshine that JiJi is free for lunch. Is there a big difference between what is served for lunch and dinner?

Yes, the Mongolian wok is what is actually served at JiJi for lunch. So if you have ever been on a ship where you pick the veggies you want, and put them into a bowl, then hand it to the chef to cook with a protein and sauce, that is the same thing on the Sunshine. Only dif, is you fill out a piece of paper ( and they ALWAYS get it wrong)....

JiJi is a set menu, that is a sit down dinning experience with an App, Entree and Dessert.. the food is so much better than the lunch offering.

I second what others have said. This casino seemed about the same as most ships. Larger than a Fantasy class, about the same as Dream or Vista Class ships

Its been a few years since my last Sunshine cruise ( looking at a Bermuda next Sept ) but I recall and double checked with pictures that our last cruise they had just resurfaced all the table games. It was really nice playing on tables that the felt was brand new... no holes, stains or burns..

While others have said it is really smokey, I dont think it is any worse than any other cruise ship.. They are all smokey, and normally I get over it about 10 minutes into playing. I mostly play Craps, so I am always stuck in the middle of the smoking section..

Have fun!