momin05

So much for outsmarting the system. PVP called me back and left a message…said he saw the deposit has been paid and we need to put a second name or else he will have to change it to a solo. When you book a “no name change” rate, I guess not allowing it to stay at TBA is their way of bringing in some extra change fees.

Well now I don’t feel so good again! I worried about the sellout, but hadn’t thought about it from a muster station point of view. I guess I just need to decide who the lucky person is that gets to go with me!

Just spoke with my PVP and he said I have price protection on the first two people, so if I add a second, it is guaranteed at the rate I have paid in the solo supplement. I guess I am feeling better. btw, I booked another cruise and one of the cabins doesn’t know the second person yet so I told the PVP to just hold it and he would go in and pay the deposit and add the name. This is a workaround to the situation 😜

Also very interesting. Maybe it is a recent change.

That’s interesting. That means he really could have booked it that way. I have to call him today about a future booking and I plan to ask him about this. In particular, what rate do I get when I add someone later…the going rate at the time? Or do they automatically get half my solo rate? I will report back!

That’s right. And that’s why I did it through him. I didn’t use a PVP for years and coordinated many large family cruises. Once I found him, he has made life so much easier. He really has been so helpful these past few years, especially because I coordinate these large groups. So, I hated to leave him without credit for the booking.

Thanks. I have held TBAs for years, too (over 3 years when Covid hit!). I should have pushed back harder when he said that. Maybe what he did was fine, but I would rather have that second person price locked in than roll the dice with adding someone later.

Thanks

Thanks. He didn’t book the room for two with a TBA, though. He booked it solo (just me) and said I could add a second person later.

I am taking a cruise this fall but not sure if I will go solo or ask someone to go with me. My PVP said to book solo and add someone later…says he does it all the time, “trust me”. But it is still unsettling to me. It seems like it would be better to book my husband with me, then have him be a no-show or change him to someone else before final payment. My PVP has been very good to me, but a few things he said just didn’t seem right: 1. He said he couldn’t leave the second person TBD. He said he knows it will let you do it sometimes online but it is not supposed to. I just know I have held TBDs until final payment before. 2. He said no name changes. I was booking ES for the low deposit and lower price, but can’t you pay $50 for a name change before final payment? 3. He said when I decide who is going with me, I can just add their name and they will tack on the taxes and fees. So it doesn’t matter if the cruise price goes up? I don’t want to get screwed trying to add someone. if anyone has experience adding someone later, I would love to hear about it. (And I am not too worried about the ship filling beyond berth capacity, as it’s fall and they are already allowing us to book two people into a 3-person cabin.) TIA

I forgot to mention disembarking. It was also very easy. Because we were not in a hurry, we went for a leisurely breakfast in the dining room. I didn’t keep an eye on any of the times. But when we finished, we headed to the atrium, down the elevators (no crowd) and into the line getting off the ship. In the terminal we grabbed our bags and hailed a porter. The porters jump the line so we were on a bus in no time and off to the parking lot. My husband went and got the car and pulled it around and a nice porter loaded all the suitcases into the back of the car for us. I think from dining room to car could not have been more than 20 minutes. My daughter started feeling bad as we walked into the terminal building, so I know it was all very short because she was miserable for those 15 minutes. Maybe we were luckier than others, and I can see if you time it wrong with being first on the shuttle or something, it could be longer. I am glad it worked this way for us, as I thought my daughter might pass out!

Steakhouse selections have gone up to $23. They have a surf and turf which includes a lobster tail and filet. Or each of them separately. The regular menu on elegant night includes prime rib and garlic shrimps. Both are good.

We just got off Sunshine yesterday and had a most fantastic time. Overall, our experience was not affected by the cutbacks. I will say that of our group of 22, we are up to 4 who have tested positive for Covid since we disembarked yesterday. 🥲 And others are likely to follow. I don’t want to hijack this thread, but I will give our experience related to some of the things mentioned so far in this thread, in hopes that others can benefit (as I appreciated the information I received here.) Embarkation: we were among the folks in line waiting for parking to open Saturday morning. We had a 930 appointment and arrived at 935. They opened the parking around 950 and things went smoothly from there. All the checkin steps were easy (I was worried about my dad’s positive test at 11 days out, but it was not an issue.). Everyone was pleasant and helpful. They definitely scrutinize the drinks you carry on but that has always been the case in Charleston. We were on board well before 11 because I had to wait for Shore Excursions to open at 11 to choose my cabana. By 11:03, I had chosen my cabana and was texting a picture of my first drink at atrium bar to my cruising mates who were behind us. (I agree, the bartender there was impossible to hear.) Room service: I would call at night and order our breakfast for the next morning and give them a time. They were always punctual, usually early. One night I didn’t call until the next morning and it arrived in just a few minutes. I agree they have made it harder to figure out. What I learned is that the QR code on the desk differs depending on what time of day you scan it (breakfast, day time, after hours). Also, on the very last day, my husband saw where you could order even the free items off the hub app. I saw it for myself, so I know it was there. Again, it likely depends on when you check it. Bar service: we didn’t have any issue with slow bar service. Red Frog pub was almost always deserted and you could walk up and get a drink any time. Casino bar also never very busy. Atrium wasn’t busy but the bartenders there tended to be slower. Alchemy was easy to get to. Even the roaming waiters in the casino were pretty punctual. After what I had read, all of this surprised me. And we put it to the test. We all mostly had Cheers and some maxed out on multiple days. Andre Williams in Red Frog was the bomb. We didn’t hang out on lido so I can’t say how that was. Main Dining Room: we had 6pm dining. We ate there every night. Our wait staff was personable and very quick. If anything, they were rushing us to order and food came lightning fast. No problem making it to 730 comedy, even getting there by 715 to get a seat. We had two tables, a 14 top and 8 top. The food was good. I was worried about this, but the food really was good. The salmon was dry the first night but someone had it just about every other night and at brunch and it was good. We did sea day brunch both days. The first day was a disaster. I think every table was full and we couldn’t get a waiter, drinks, food, anything. We had arrived maybe around 11. My daughter wanted to go to HP trivia at noon and I had to finally chase down a waiter and ask him to please bring her an order of French toast and then come take our order. He did oblige and she did make it. By around 1130, the place had pretty much cleared out. So we learned our lesson and on the second sea day, we went around 1130. It was mostly empty and we had good service and a nice, relaxing experience. I didn’t do steak and eggs but others did and said it was fine. It obviously wasn’t the filet, but it was certainly edible. The ship barely rocked. But we did have some movement our first night. They cleaned windows on our balconies the first sea day and said it was because of the rough seas on the previous voyage, so I guess that experience was unusual. I guess I will say that there wasn’t as much going on as in the past. One night there was honestly nothing going on. The cruise director actually said something like “we will resume activities tomorrow”. That part was disappointing. Because we had a large crowd, we made our own fun. We could just hang out on Red Frog and play games, yuck it up with Andre, etc. I definitely missed the live music there. Of course, it probably would have been crowded if there was music, so… And the musicians in atrium and ocean plaza were just not very good. The playlist performers were pretty good and we enjoyed the shows (epic rock, Latin nights). Thank you again for the information provided before our trip. I hope I have paid it forward in some small way.

Good clarification on the room service. Thank you so much for posting this while on your vacation. It has been really helpful and made me even more excited about boarding tomorrow (if that is possible)! Leave her in good shape for us!

Thank you, @Drazil65. That’s good to know parking is open that early. But boy, 2 hours from arrival to getting on board is a long time! I know Charleston is different and we have cruised out of there before (but it has been several years, before they opened Bldg 324). But I was hoping with the earliest arrival appointment, we would be on board sooner. I will be sure to pack my patience! Thank you for replying!

@wgeddings, can I ask what time you arrived at the terminal? We have a 930 arrival appointment, but I am surprised parking is even open that early in Charleston. Wondering about your experience. Or if anyone else has experience with arriving early to board in Charleston. Thanks!

I don’t know, it is pretty crazy. He started telling me about all this OBC people in my booking have and I said no, they used it on Cheers. That is when he said he can’t see that. He said he has been pushing ever since they have started allowing OBC to be used for pre-cruise purchases to allow the PVPs to see it, but so far they haven’t done it.

Are the hang tags still working? They were supposedly doing away with them in June. We love the hang tag and it is the last thing we do at night before we turn out the light. Just a silly routine but my daughter likes to take our order and fill out the tag. It will be awesome if they still have it. and I am glad to hear about the food quality. And thanks for the tip on the beef tenderloin! (I really hate to hear about the smoke though. Grrrr. I also wish they would realize that smoking is not a thing in any public place any more.)

Thank you so much for posting a mini review. We board on Saturday! All 18 of our crowd of 22 who tested today all tested negative!! We also love Sunshine and always love the Carnival staff. It makes me sad to know they are getting frustrated. I hope they can get this staffing issue resolved soon. Sea day brunch has always been a favorite. I was already sad about losing the filet on steak and eggs. But now to hear this…it’s too bad. That meal has always been such a nice pace, away from the bustle of lido and just a relaxing specialty. I am glad to hear of the many positives, though. Have you tried any steakhouse selections in MDR? I am curious the quality of the filet or lobster. And is it true there is no music in Red Frog Pub and limited live music at all?

Thank you. I actually called my PVP and asked him. He said the OBC is split from the outset and each person’s pre-cruise purchases would be deducted from their half. But I am not sure he really knew the answer. Interestingly, he said they cannot see if someone has used their OBC pre-cruise. He said he has applied OBC to an upgrade for people before, not knowing the OBC had already been used. That is why the caution about potential cancellations is on the website.

So I know if cabin mates have separate on-board accounts, the OBC assigned to that cabin will be split evenly among the cabin mates. But what about for pre-cruise purchases? There is a caution online that says: “You have X balance in combined OBC available for your stateroom. Confirm with all OBC holders before applying credits pre-cruise to avoid cancellations on board.” Say there is $300 OBC to start and one person purchases $90 in pre-cruise purchases and the other purchases $10. Once on board, will they split the remaining $200 so that each person has $100? Or will one person have $60 and the other have $140? Does anyone have any first hand experience? I am also curious what it means by cancellations on board. I am not sure how a pre-cruise purchase could get canceled once on board. Thanks all! After 2 years and 10 months since original booking, looks like this crowd of 22 is sailing on Saturday (with good fortune on Covid tests tomorrow!)

How long does it take to get laundry back? Is it same day or overnight?

Has anyone who is not platinum/diamond/suite, but booked under a casino rate that includes premier boarding been successful at getting check-in 16 days prior to boarding? I emailed the casino and my PVP and asked when they would change my cruise manager to allow check-in at 16 days and was told that due to Covid, check-in would be 14 days, not 16, even though the P6V rate includes “premier boarding and luggage handling”. I am curious if others were able to get 16 days before I email my PVP back. thanks