mymirabella

So the wine discount only applies  for the bottle purchased during the dinner do I have to drink the whole bottle at dinner or can I bring it with me?

 While I’m asking Questions What about the premium drink package?  Can a bottle purchased with the discount from the package be shared with the dining companions? Does the premium dining package come with a drink cup for the freestyle machine?

The wording on the 3 day dining package description says

• “Dinner at three specialty dining venues.
• For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $20 food credit, which can only be used once a day.” 

The cost of the package,  discounted 40% is $113 for adults. How does that add up? $20x3 is only $60. What am I missing?

We sailed carnival when my boys were little (4 and 2)but working together they could open the balcony door, there was no safety lock even though they assured me there would be. I called guest services and after a bit of arguing they left me a key so I could lock the balcony. Even though they are never left alone I do sleep, shower and use the toilet so it was a safety issue. We haven't sailed with a balcony since  partially because of this. 

It wasn't NCL but I would say they would likely handle it in a similar way. We couldn't get anything taken care of on the first day because they were so busy so we stacked all our luggage against the doors while we were sleeping. They(maintenance I believe) wanted to just lock the door and not leave the key but I didn't let them I argued I paid for a balcony to use it.  

On 3/2/2019 at 1:41 PM, dexddd said:

We've done one way car rentals between Orlando and PC.  With so many ships and people there now, that has become a train wreck.

Thanks for the input we haven't used this method in a couple years so I will keep that in mind when planing next time. 

Doing a one way car rental can sometimes be very economical for transport to the cruise port and allows you to book your hotel anywhere in between so you have potential for savings and more choices there.

7 minutes ago, erdoran said:

My guess is that the DSC doesn't go directly to the staff anyway, and I"m sure each cabin is charged DSC x number of pax, so just leave it alone. The steward from your cabin and the one for your in-laws benefit equally.  Tip your steward a bit extra if he does a decent job, since you are making extra work.   

 

Pay the DSC for your son as part of DSC for in-law's cabin.  If they get their upgrade I don't think (not sure) their DSC goes up; even if it does it's only a couple of dollars per day so just pay it, it's really not that much more money.   

 Do you have in-laws? I have some of the most amazing in the world and still everything is always more complicated then just pay it as part of their cabin. Also I have OBC that I believe I can use for DSC charges (refundable). I already booked so obviously its not a deal breaker it will just be easier if his charges are not connected to their room. 

Sort of related question.I don't want to start a new thread give how controversial these get. 

My oldest son is officially in my in-laws room because we have 3 children and there are no 5 person regular cabins, he will actually be in our room. Will they allow me to remove the DSC from their cabin or do they have to do it? Will they allow 5 peoples DSC in one cabin or do I just give out cash for the 5th person? Will they give us a hard time if the in-laws get their upgrade bid to haven about the lower DSC since he won't be using any of the extra amenities staying with us?

If you still have some our family would love one! 

5 hours ago, Suze10860 said:

 

 

Just out of curiosity, I checked pricing for the week AFTER Easter this year. It's the same price as the week before Easter - so still 25% more expensive. So I'm not totally positive that Easter is the ultimate deciding factor there.

 

Obviously I can only base my decisions on what works for us and our school schedules. We work for different districts, but our April breaks are always the same, and it's obviously not automatically the 3rd week of April or even connected to Easter for that matter. I think there are a lot of different variables involved.

 

But honestly, I'm not wanting to discuss why it's so much more expensive this year than 3 years ago. We have no wiggle room as far as when to vacation, so the "why" doesn't matter. Again, I'm not asking why it's more expensive. And I know that the guy I spoke with is a salesman and wants to make a commission. It's not like he's going to trick me into spending more money than I want to. I'm actually a pretty savvy shopper.

 

My original post here was just to see if getting a call like I did had ever ended up with an actual cheaper cruise price than what one sees on the NCL website. I've never gotten this type of call so I have no experience.

 

From the sounds of it, I'm guessing it will not result in a better deal. But that's ok. I know what the experience is worth for me and what I'm willing to pay.

This year the week before Easter is school vacation for Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut , and the week after Easter is school vacation for NH so that may have some influence on the increase. New York also seems to be the week prior to Easter and if I remember correctly Vermont splits spring break between the weeks roughly half the schools having the week prior and half the week after.

***double post**

Thank you!   My husband is the grandson of a dairy farmer so milk, ice cream and coffee creamer are a big deal in this family. 

Do you happen to know if the gem has paper straws yet everything I'm reading says they have no straws at all.

I'm looking to fine tune my plans for our cruise. We are sailing on the Gem in April from Boston to Bermuda, incase that is relevant, please include if the answer is ship specific to make the answers more useful to everyone and for future references.

-First milk can we get milk any time of day like royal and carnival and what kind of milk are we talking? Should we expect little cartons of milk like we see at schools or is there a chance we will be stuck with ultra pasteurized shelf stable milks? While on that topic what about creamer for coffee is it powdered half and half in little cups or real cream? 

-Second can we get ice cream without paying additional anywhere besides the main dining room? 

-Third what are our lunch options? It seems like multiple venues are open on embarkation day what can we expect later in the cruise?

-Fourth my son is asking about if there will be a tea time on the ship,my research says no but can anyone confirm that?Also what tea is included on the ship?

- Fifth are the doors magnetic? We like to hang whiteboards and need to plan a way to make that happen.

I tried to get all this information without asking but it either doesn't exist or its inconsistent so thank you in advance.

We are looking at these ports for a cruise next fall and have 5 year old twins.

 

I'm strongly considering using a company in Grand Turk called Wet Money. They have tours and the capacity to do a private charter. It's $600 for the half day private charter, but it includes snorkeling at two places, a long tube ride, and stingrays at a private island. I can say that they respond quickly to questions and emails, which I always consider a plus.

 

For Aruba, I'm thinking we may hit Boca Catalina for snorkelling followed by Arashi Beach. We will take our own equipment and inflatable pool noodles to enjoy the day.

Boca Catalina looks really nice, any idea how long it takes to get there on the bus?

Very valuable post. Also, I would add that the guidebooks from the library are almost always out of date and you really don't know if the info is accurate. I also find it much more fulfilling to have a local guide (on some not all) excursions to answer questions and give history and /or anecdotes about wherever we are. Not everyone on vacation is looking for the cheapest way...sometimes it "pays" (pun intended) to spend some money (within reason) to get the full experience. :)

Thank you. I don't want to pay a premium every stop but some tours are worth every penny. We used Aquarius tours in Grand Cayman and they were amazing and 1/2 the cost of the ships tour,that my children weren't even old enough to sign up for. I'm all about saving money but not to the extent that we miss really cool things.

Get yourself a guidebook...libraries have them, and you can see ALL there is to do in each place! Rarely are excursions needed in the Caribbean. And with 4 of you, excursions get pricey....you can do what you want, on your own timetable quite easily IF you know something about the places you'll visit!

A guide book is helpful and I have ordered them. I have traveled around the country and utilized them but I will say some of the things the guidebooks hi-light are incredibly underwhelming. I find the best advice I receive is direct where I can ask questions from people who have actually been there. Also I can't exactly snorkel or glass bottom boat ride without some person or company providing the boat or equipment and Guide books tend to be out of date and not the best at making useful recommendations on what company to use or avoid.

For Grand Turk I highly recommend not doing an excursion.

 

Right next to where you will dock is a beautiful beach and it is fun to make it a beach day. This is what many people do.

 

There are shops and also a nearby pool.

 

I highly recommend this.

 

Keith

That looks like a Perfect solution for Grand turk. Is it walking distance,do we rent chairs?

I will be bringing my 3 boys age 3 1/2, 6 and 8 on Carnival Sunshine to Aruba,Bonaire,and Grand Turk I'm looking for non ship sponsored excursions at each port that will allow my age children. Carnival excursions have age limits on things I feel my youngest could easily do. All 3 boys swim well listen and follow direction better than most teenagers and are physically stronger than most children their age. Last Cruise 2 years ago we went swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman and snorkeling and they did great my baby at the time stayed on the boat while they snorkeled but was perfectly fine with the stingrays. The boys will all enjoy a bit of history but I prefer it to be less than 1 hour at a time of "boring" with some adventure included. What companies have you used?

I found my biggest challenge with a child under 4 is finding enjoyable excursions. Many ship sponsored have age limits for things I would easily think my child capable of. We ended up finding private tours at all our ports and had an amazing time doing things that my 2 youngest couldn't go on if we had booked through Royal.

Carnival has the kid club starting at 2 but it sounds like you wouldn't be taking advantage of that,I found they were great at finding things to pull in my shy 2 YO and make him and me feel comfortable. We did no excursions on our carnival cruise but I'm planing our April cruise and I'm finding age limits are older than I would think necessary with that line too but I can't confirm until I do a similar tour and determine that it wasn't pushing the limit of my children abilities.

Both cruise lines had plenty of unused spaces the children could run and play. Just look for places that hold large amounts of people in the evening and check the daily guide for when they are not hosting events .

Miami vice for me.

Miami vice is my go to vacation drink, they are awesome!

At home if I'm going to make a drink I have Nuts and Berries ,Chambord Frangelico and milk.

The in room Alcohol IV Drip is a good option. You can just lay back on the bed or balcony and don't even have to lift a hand. Start it at 10 and you will be legless by lunchtime. :D

Nah if I just wanted to be trashed without trying new things I would just drink my standby.

Well, that XIII is a special release. I'm just looking for the $2400 a bottle 'swill' at $75 an ounce...

Well then I suppose they should cover that :-)

Go to drink? Why, all the Louis XIII someone else wants to buy me.

I looked it up and I doubt a $22,000 bottle of cognac is included in the drink package ;-)

I'm not much of a drinker but we have the drink package and I want to try many new drinks. What are your favorite go to drinks,vacation only cocktails, beer I need to try,Royal specific blends,wine that isn't to miss?

I called and was told it's because I signed the cruse agreement and we all have the same signing info. Everyone else in the other rooms are done separately.

We have 4 rooms total. My immediate family are in 2 cabins, my oldest is sharing a cabin with his cousins. Everyone in the cousin room has separate Set Sail passes and we only have one. I am most worried that the 4 in my room only have one pass.