mfs2k

Scary to think I go back 38 years to Tropicale and the first Jubilee. It feels like yesterday. I don’t remember the food but I remember the people and having fun.

Can you book Carnival excursions before you make the final cruise payment? I know the benefits of booking excursions early. Are there any reasons not to ? Also, while we’re here, can you make dinner reservations in specialty restaurants before final payment is made? Do you prepay for the dinners or are you charged the night you eat ?

I dont know specifics for your ports. Every port is different. I usually look on Yelp or TripAdvisor for spa recommendations

Not to mention the people who have lost their jobs.

But… Did they call it a pig butt or pork butt?

Congealed fat doesn’t work for me either. Maybe put it in a ziplock bag and use the hair dryer on it for a while

And that’s why my cruise ship steakhouse expectations are lower than at a land-based steakhouse.

And on a cruise ship it’s unlikely they’re cooking the steaks on an open flame grill. Fire 🔥 and cruise ships don’t like each other.

If you’re looking to save money and have good massages your best bet is to look online for reviews of smaller local spas in ports you are visiting. Nothing like a beach massage or jungle spa treatment for less than $100 while on vacation.

The real question is “Which cow do you recommend?”

Take a cruise from San Juan and when the cruise is over fly to Aruba

I was on the original Jubilee. Not my favorite ship.

Ignorance is bliss. My wife and I got married 25 years ago at a Carnival port stop in St. Thomas. It was all prearranged. It never occurred to us that we could miss the port. 25 years later I’m well aware many ports get skipped because of bad weather, or other circumstances. I wouldn’t take that chance today.

This thread cracks me up.

Ahhh but I didn’t ask about upgrades. I asked about cabin locations within the balcony guarantee category (ie deck, location, view obstruction)

We’re booked in a balcony guarantee on a Med cruise this summer via a casino promotion. We’re Platinum. What’s your opinion of whether they assign Platinum or casino guarantees to preferable cabin locations or do you think it’s random and those things don’t matter?

Most of our cruises have been during Spring break in March or April in the Caribbean. The ships are full, lively and fun. The bars are busy. The pool is crowded. The ports are active. I’ve also cruised in May to the Caribbean and it felt like a week at a retirement community. We preferred the spring break cruises but it’s not for everyone.

Some of you think it’s just go big or go home. There will always be demand for smaller ships for certain destinations. There is also demand for mega ships. It doesn’t need to be all or nothing. And no one says you have to be loyal to a brand if you want to try something different. After 10 Carnival cruises I’ve tried NCL, Celebrity and Virgin. They’ve each had their pros and cons. Now I’m booked on my first Med cruise on Legend in September because of price and ports. I’ve sailed on her 20 years ago. I’m looking forward to being back on a smaller ship. The only way I’d sail on a 200k ton ship is if I sailed with my grandchild.

As a life long New Yorker who has sailed numerous Carnival cruises out of NYC in the past 40 years, I often joke: “The problem with cruising from NYC is the ship is full of New Yorkers,”

If it’s an on board credit it posts to your stateroom bill (folio) as a credit. So anything you charge to your room is offset against your credit. If you don’t use it on things like liquor, excursions, photos, shop purchases, etc, you lose it.

We booked it (Sept ‘24). Learning the ship will be recently out of drydock is reassuring. Hopefully they address the major issues mentioned above.

There’s a moral to this unfortunate tale. Book direct or with a reputable agency. If the agency doesn’t take all major credit cards I’d say that’s a red flag. When you pay an agency and you rely on that agency to pay a hotel, airline or cruise line, you’re at risk if the agency goes bankrupt or disappears. in your situation, it’s a little puzzling how a chargeback occurred between the time the payment was made by the agency and your sailing. Something fishy occurred.

Yes. We’ll fly from JFK or EWR so lots of options. Most likely we’ll take a late night flight and an Ambien will help us sleep. That’s what I do from LAX to NYC so hopefully the plan works.

Thank you.

Awesome. Thank you. And I didn’t know about the dry dock schedule. That makes me feel better.