xitappers2bx

My Hubby and I are sailing on the Liberty November 23 and have a suite for the first time. We reached platinum on our last cruise, so I wondered what extra perks come with a grand suite? This is a splurge, we are used to a balcony roon.

 

Thanks!

none that you wouldn't already get for being platinum.

i thought carnival suites were great (every cruise up until the next one has been in a suite). and then we went to alaska in an equivalent of a grand suite... and it destroyed carnival suites for me. other than the bath tub, which is great, you get absolutely nothing. no deck space by the pool like royal, no concierge like holland, no special restaurant like NCL, you get nada. it's rather disappointing. even more so now that i've experience what a real suite experience can be.

I hesitated a bit before posting, but we've done 9 cruises out of New York (7 Canada cruises, 2 Caribbean cruises) - and yeah, we've seen worse behavior on NY cruises than our other cruises. I live Upstate, but I'm not a native (South Jersey originally) and I'm in NYC on a regular basis - regular enough that tourists ask me for directions on the streets and the subway.:p The guy at the Purser's desk who, upon being shown the alcohol policy that explained why his bottles were taken, crumpled up the paper and threw it at the Assistant Purser? Carnival Glory out of NYC. The woman who cut in front of me at the breakfast buffet, explaining that "all she wanted was scrambled eggs"? Another Carnival Glory cruise out of NYC. (BTW, all I wanted was corned beef hash.) The woman who stood on the Promenade Deck, bellowing for all the world to hear to summon her grandkid for a picture? Carnival Victory out of NYC. It's certainly not the case that I'll avoid NYC cruises (I really wanted to book a Canada cruise for this summer after our Alaska cruise, but it just didn't work timing-wise), but I certainly understand OP's point of view.

I too have cruised out of NYC, and will be again next month. south jersey native, now living outside of philly in PA... and let's go with, the people on board are a different shade of colorful. better than when on the Pride though, and people who had booked for 199$ person demanded suites because the weather turned sour and they were sea sick or wanted their 1200$ bar tabs erased... but the NY people... and this is NYC/Long Island NY people... theyre rude, crass, they will pick your stuff up off your lounge chair when you go to the bathroom and dump it in a wet pile, and then take over said lounge chair without thinking twice. my then-6 year old (well, a few days before she was six) had a grown man in a yankees shirt call her a word that you don't say in polite company, and certainly not to a child, in reference to her phillies shirt. i had a guy in the sports bar spit in my direction after my team beat his team (mets guy that time). they're a different breed... but you're on vacation. and it's best to not let them ruin it. when my stuff got dumped in a pool of water by a selfish long islander i repaid the favor and when she tried to make a stink about it to carnival i produced my soaked stuff, and she went and sulked in a corner where she belonged. it's best to take it with a grain of salt.

i've only seen passengers worse than the ones from NY/long island once... and they were a tour group from China on our alaska cruise last year, it was beyond disgusting. so i guess that'll put this next cruise we have coming in perspective.

You have to send them a letter from OB stating how far along you are, but if you are A) Not showing yet, or B) have an OB that will fudge the number a little bit, you could most likely board anyway. BUT this may not be the best idea, the reason Carnival does not allow you to board is becuase they are not equipped to provide care if something goes wrong while at sea. So you should prolly just follow the policy and get what you can back and re-book for after the baby is born. Could be a good stress releiver then too!

Not attacking you personally BUT COME ON!!!

Could you imagine what would happen if you LIED about how far along you are?

FIRST you're breaking a rule that is there for a pretty damn good reason. at 24 weeks a fetus is typically viable, unless you don't have access to medical care. What in the heck would you do if you went into early labor? You can't get any drugs or anything to help you, and do you really want to either admit to the cruiseline that you lied (and probably opening yourself up to the costs of getting you off board to a hospital) and then have to go to a non-American hospital for care? I don't know about you, but if I'm in pre-term labor I'd like to be not in Mexico.

SECOND could you imagine the lawsuit you'd file if something happened to said unborn child? People would attack Carnival like it was their fault.

THIRD, why in the heck do you want to put YOURSELF or YOUR UNBORN BABY at risk?

Fourth,

are you really THAT selfish? come on. they have this 24-week thing for a reason. so skirting it for your own selfish desire to go on vacation is pretty pathetic. as a mother who had serious complications around the 24 week, and as a mother in general, you do what you can to protect your kid. that starts now.

so anyone advocating that anyone fudge or lie to go on a stupid vacation when the risks sure as heck don't outweigh the benefits is really pathetic and disgusting.

if you need a vacation that bad, go somewhere that's not going to put you in the middle of the ocean or in a developing country.

I love the Spirit class ships... I thought I was biased since I've cruised on them most, but after my HAL cruise on a pretty similarly laid-out Spirit class ship, I've determined I just love the layout, the ease of getting around, it's not too big, but not too small (like the Fantasy class). You run into some of the same people (usually the ones you want to see). I also like the dining room set up, no split dining rooms or having to go up to go down to get around a dining room which is great (in my opinion at least). I'd pick a spirit class ship every time if i could.

Interesting... Just to emphasize your second point in red, both the PVP I spoke with, and the group department told me that the group rate was more than the early saver rate at that time. The PVP was under the impression that you had to book under the group rate in order to get amenities. Although the groups department corrected that, they still quoted me a group rate that was higher than the early saver rate.

 

Perhaps the early saver rate is an exception- meaning that it may actually be cheaper than the group rate?

The one time I almost led a group I had the same problem with the PVPs, besides the fact every single one told me something different, the prices were higher... and when I tried to get to the bottom of why they'd be higher, when in theory they should have been lower I gave up after too many different reasons and justifications and went back to my TA.

a good TA is an invaluable resource, once you find one, you never give them up. I will probably mourn when my TA finally retires

If your driving make sure you put a snow shovel in the trunk...your never know what your going to come home to.....

No need to bring a shovel!!

we disembarked the morning some 3 feet of snow was dumped on Baltimore, and they bring in railroad workers to shovel and plow out.

as for the way to pack, lots of layers... we left from Baltimore in December, knowing that Port Canaveral would be "hot" (in the upper 60s lower 70s) and Nassau and Freeport very hot (it was 90 in Nassau, never made it to Freeport thanks to the storm that eventually dumped feet of snow up the eastern seaboard... miserable ride back home to PA for sure). I wish I had NOT brought my heavy coat onboard, and just left it in the car. I wish I had packed more long sleeved t-shirts (i had packed none) and a cardigan to take on and off as I warmed/cooled. Onboard the ship wasn't cold unless you were actually going outside, or hanging around where doors open into the elements. It was cold for about a day, we hauled butt southeast to get into warmer weather as quickly as possible. it was a lot more rocky than we were expecting, but after the first day it wasn't too horrible. (coming back up in that storm was another story... three days of absolute awful seasickness... never before and never since has it been that bad). And then it got cold on the last sea day heading back to Baltimore.

Here are a few other things that i wish i did/did not bring:

-less sweaters, one or two would have been fine.

-more cardigans, taking on/off hoodies and sweaters was obnoxious and can't wear them to dinner

-a nice-ish pair of pants to wear in the dining room when i thought it was chilly

-a nice jacket to wear over my sundresses other nights

-a hat.

-more sunscreen. i was shocked at how quickly we turned pink, and i'm usually a sunscreen-aholic

-sunglasses

-a scarf (to both keep my neck and shoulders warm, and they're cute and can be stylish)

-less hoodies and sweaters

-not my heavy coat, a jacket would have been fine for florida

-only one nice pair of shoes, and then a pair of sneakers that aren't gym shoes (i run, and my gym shoes are not suitable for public consumption)

hope this helps!!! i think layering up my daughter was the hardest part, she doesn't like to wear a ton of clothes, and i ended up caving and letting her bring her own suitcase.

I had a little money to burn so I upgraded our balcony to an Ocean suite. with this we get early boarding.I also have a balcony room booked for my 2 daughters aged 14 and 24. But I am realizing they will probably not be able to board with us early. Our rooms are directly next to each other, I feel like I need to be there at least for my 14 year old. Will they let us all board or what is going to happen? our room are next to each other on th ship. Hope I haven't made a mistake....

they can board with you. they don't separate families, and you only need to show them one VIP boarding pass.

they'll be fine. and if they need you, the 14 year old can always crash on the sofa.

Has anyone used FaceBook to call home? I recently heard FB has this feature. I was wondering if this could be a way to call home from the ship without being charged high fees. I know I would need an internet package but planned on doing this anyway to email home. Thanks for any help:)

you can do this with skype and facetime.

i do it with my friend in Bali... if it's an iffy connection it really sucks. and you're still going to have to have the wifi. which is usually not the best connection.

Just want to ask a question. I am trying to put a cruise together and trying to decide if I want to do a group cruise or just have everyone do individual bookings. In the past when I have done groups we would have a good discount and some good perks but today when I called and priced each one the individual rate is much better minus the perks. The groups were like $130 more per person for 1 and 2 person and $30 more for 3rd there is a cabin credit of $50 -$75 allowed for the cruise, also the free birth is a plus. We have about 15-20 cabins filled. So my question is should I even bother with groups or have everyone call and book individuals and link to our booking? Need some advice.

I'm having two streams of thought here...

The first one.... did you try and call a travel agent? Sometimes they're able to get better perks which make booking as a group worth it.

The second on... if a travel agent can't get you a good deal, might as well let people book themselves; it takes the extra work off of your shoulders as the organizer (or at least, you sound like the organizer, excuse me if I'm wrong!!) and let's people be responsible for their own vacation. It might also take some pressure off of you to have to be the entertainer, organizer, gatherer of people, tour leader, etc (if you're the one organizing it as a group that is).

Although... there might be a perk or two... I think on Carnival if you book 8 rooms you get yours for free... so if you have 15-20 cabins filled, that's two free cabins, so in "theory" you could spread that cost savings along to everyone, or keep one "free" cabin for yourself, and then spread the savings from the other free cabin among everyone else.

Well, you get three very different streams of thought for the price of two. Hope this was marginally helpful!

And I HIGHLY recommend that you look at Holland America and Princess.

 

 

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I'm a pretty loyal Carnival person, and I agree HOLLAND AMERICA.

seriously.

and we booked out HAL Glacier Bay itinerary in December for a mid-May, and it was an AMMMMMAAAAZZZZZZIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG deal... 3rd and 4th passenger free, so we got an amazing suite, and all the amazing bells and whistles you don't get on Carnival (where until this upcoming cruise, we've only cruised in suites) for less than what two balcony rooms would have cost.

And for real, Holland America. There was a good mix of ages, a fantastic crew. And, my last, seriously important piece of advice, get a balcony. and if you can't swing a balcony, then get an ocean view. there was NOTHING more amazing that I've seen in my somewhat amazing almost-30 years than the northern lights dancing overhead. It was literally life changing.

I'm wondering how close to sailing can you book a cruise. We are tossing around a last minute idea.

 

If you have any personal last minute booking experiences, please share. :)

I booked a cruise on a Saturday when it left on Monday on Royal Caribbean, I don't think there's a company-wide policy that changes from line-to-line just whatever the law says is the limit before they have to submit the passenger manifest.

The hardest part of booking so quickly was the airfare, it was February, and direct flights so last minute were exorbitant, and there was A LOT of stress when it came to picking flights (ended up on Delta, flying from Philadelphia to Detroit, and Detroit to Fort Lauderdale). It was the very first flight out of Philly, and even then with the time it took to de-ice it was a rush rush rush through Detroit (I really don't remember it being THAT big!!!) to catch the connecting flight; and then another trip through the de-icer for that leg as well which added another 45 minutes or so. We got to FLL by 10:30/11 and it was an easy taxi to the port, and we met my parents and sister onboard by lunch time (we all had booked it extremely, extremely late).

There's also the question of rooms available.. I literally booked the last room (it was still a pretty good rate considering it was RCCL). My parents, other sister and brother in law had booked a cruise for March this past December, and I was waiting to jump onboard at the last minute, but when it looked like it was starting to really sell some rooms I decided to just book it, that any discount I may get wasn't worth waiting for in case there were no rooms left. Even then, I booked it two weeks ago, and we're about a month and a few days until sailing. Much less stressful.

so... a few things here. this is why having a travel agent is key. when a collection of workout videos (225$) went missing out of my room, my travel agent was able to fill out all the paper work and help me follow up and within two weeks i had a check for the entire cost of the videos, plus shipping so i could re-order them.

second... when you booked the room, you should have checked to see where the room was... and when you realized that the stateroom was UNDER the gym you should have booked a different room. because come on, they're not going to reimburse you for a room that YOU picked, and they're also not going to tell their employees not to use the equipment they're ALLOWED to use after closing hours. All because you didn't check the deck plans. I just booked a cruise last week for March, and before i booked it, i looked at what was above and below me so that i know i don't have that potential for obnoxious noises. i am a little nervous about being so close to the elevator, but i am accepting that risk, and if the people keep me up, i'm certainly not going to go crying to Carnival about me booking that room and expect a refund.

next up... carnival doesn't care how/who paid for the cruise... if someone in the stateroom called and did what you were unable to do, you can't expect them to be like, oh wait, hold up, Mr. XYZ paid so we have to talk to him. You said yourself your that the two other people paid you for their portion and then you made final payment... so they're as entitled to that 1/3 of the "refund" you didn't deserve in the first place.

Next, it sounds like you were on a 4 night cruise (you said 3 out of the 4 nights) so you paid about 750 for 3 people for 4 nights, that works out to about 250 per person, so thats barely $60 a night... you're not ever going to do that well with a decent hotel, all the food you can eat, and everything else you get on a cruise...

You then said that the ship made some some big movement and thats when your YSL cologne broke? It's a vessel in water, sometimes they shake, sometimes they shutter, sometimes they tilt. You should have kept it in a place where it couldn't be damaged (like in the bathroom behind a rail, in one of the drawers, so forth and so on). That's not their problem.

You should be grateful Carnival offered to refund you anything... they did nothing to owe you anything. I went to Carnival and wrote a very civil e-mail and letter regarding our experience in a suite and the people below and next to us being chain smokers, rendering our very expensive balcony useless giving us a very overpriced oceanview room, I asked them to review their policy and in return they sent my daughter a cute plush of FunShip Freddy and a fairly significant (unasked for, and unexpected) credit to be used on board our next cruise. This credit I shared with the person that I travel with, because half of it belonged to her. While I'm sad your friend didn't share the refund with you and the other fellow, that's more of a testament to the type of friends you have, not a problem Carnival has.

while longer cruises (and vacations in general) are my preference, there's nothing awful about a 4 day... i've done one 4 day on CCL and one 5 day on RCCL, and while i'd pick a 5 over a 4, (if no 7-8) but to cruise is to cruise.

i'd probably fly down a day or two early and make it a little pre-vacation to stretch it out a big longer. on the plus side, you can pack lighter, less laundry, etc.

Just curious, or am I just not sensitive enough...with the rash of recent drownings on cruise ships, who is at fault? I personally would probably blame the parents for not supervising their own children, but you know there are money hungry lawyers who will say that cruise lines should have life guards. I have been on a few cruises and all too often find myself keeping an eye on children that I do not even know that appear to be unsupervised by the pools.

Just curious as to what others think about it....

There is ONE person at fault-- THE PARENT.

if the parents dont want to watch the kids. then the kids shouldn't go in the pool. it is that simple.

if going in the pool is required for this vacation then the parents need to either NOT cruise, or NOT ignore their children.

this is not a cruiseline problem and there should be no rule requiring lifeguards. if the parents had some personal responsibility for the beings they brought onto this earth they'd have both their boys alive and well. the parents are the only reason their kid is dead. harsh maybe, but come on. stop blaming everyone else already (CBS did a 3 minute story on this and didn't once say where or what the parents were doing. and that's insane. where the parents were should be the entire story).

We booked a cruise with Carnival, with a military rate. Before final payment, we switched the booking to a TA because we had some sort of coupon from this agency to be applied towards final payment.

On looking at this cruise, there are still many cabins available and we are less than 2 weeks out. We booked an inside cabin. I wrote to Carnival, as we are long time cruisers with them, and asked if MAYBE we could be upgraded to a better cabin still in our inside category. Their response was very polite but it basically said that they cannot do anything to my request because I am using a TA. The request has to come from them. I have now asked our TA to contact Carnival about this.

Is this normal procedure?> I have read so many times here how people have been upgraded, out of the blue. Is this the policy on Carnival?

 

Cheers

 

Len

So Carnival won't talk to you because you have a TA, because the cruise industry has an agreement more or less like a non compete. your TA should have booked you in the cabin you wanted... if you're within the same category why didn't you request that room when you booked? before i booked with my TA, she gave me a list of available rooms near the rest of my family (i booked about two months later and wanted to be close enough to them) and I was able to pick which stateroom i wanted before i paid for it. My TA offers price breaks or can usually bump us up a category but I think she takes the hit for that, typically TAs are offered the same exact prices as PVPs. I prefer my TA because she works for ME not carnival, and if something goes wrong she has that incentive to fix it quickly where as a PVP might not be so inclined (i know there are some fantastic PVPs out there, and i have had experience with awful ones as well before anyone tries to crucify me for that last statement).

Irishnyc,

 

I don't know that I've seen a thread complaining about an unknown tax being added, but I have seen it myself. Granted we sail from Miami a lot and Miami adds a port tax that shows up on S&S so that may be why I've never given it a thought.

i wouldn't call it an "unknown tax" so much as people should be educated on what they're paying for when they book a cruise. or as a friend would say, a tax on stupid people.

like when the price of crude goes up a certain amount they can pass that charge onto you, on a set per person per day rate, and when that happens people get so bent out of shape, and are clueless they've agreed to it when they purchased the fare.

Search seems to be down for me, or I'd ask in an older thread.

 

Considering booking 8235 on the Pride. It's the only premium balcony available on the date I want.

 

Is there a lot of noise from above?

 

The other concern that I have is the deck, I've always been much lower on the ship. While I haven't had seasickness issues my last couple of cruises, I have in the past.

 

Can I get some input from the collective brain of the Carnival forum, please?

now it's been about five years, but i was supposed to be booked in that room and on the advice of my travel agent when the price of the OS was only about 150$ more than what we had paid she said to move to that bc there was noise in 8235 from above. but that might have been her way of getting me to move into the cabin that she knew i wanted, but when i booked was about 750$ more than what i wanted to pay. honestly, i think so long as you're not by the anchor the noise isn't that bad during sleeping hours.

I'm on the Paradise a week from Thursday, if I get the same one I plan to go at my regular time.

this is why they send it.

everyone rushes to get there too early... and then they have a back up log jam. and then people complain because they have to wait in insanely long lines. and then people do it all over again.

I booked a cabin (9202 on the Splendor) with a Carninval agent on the phone. I did not ask for a handicap cabin; he did not tell me this was a handicap cabin, but I have come to learn that it is. I'm reading in other threads about people getting bumped from handicap cabins because there was a need for a disabled passenger. I really like the location of this cabin and would hate to loose it. Is it possible I might get bumped from this cabin? Has anyone had this happen to them? Did they notify you prior to departure?

it's odd that they'd book you in a handicapped room and not tell you about that... several times i've nearly booked handicapped rooms and my travel agent has told me before i even put a deposit down that i can (and likely would) get bumped from that room and to pick a different stateroom. i'm sorry that the carnival employee wasn't completely forthright with you when you booked.

yes they can bump you... i have a handicapped brother so i think about these things while most people don't... can you imagine going on a vacation where you can't even access the bathroom, the balcony?

there's a very limited number of handicapped staterooms in each category... out of respect for those who might actually have a need for a handicapped room, you should look at the deck plans and then change your stateroom to something else that is equally desirable.

it would really suck for you to get bumped so a truly handicapped passenger can vacation to and then not have a room that you would find comprable in location too.

There is a thread called All things Splendor, but most of the posts are old and all are from LA.

 

I thought I'd start a NY related one, since we will be sailing on her in June and I've been on a quest for info.

 

Things I've learned so far/questions I've gotten answers to ...

 

The Splendor has actual trays - not plates pretending to be trays - yay!

 

Go through the “secret doors” (all the way to the front of the ship, may be at the left or right side with or without high wind warning signs) on decks 6, 7, 9, or 10 and you’ll have the same view the captain has from the bridge.

 

Rotisserie has good food and plenty of tables.

 

They can cover the Lido pool in inclement weather and they show movies there with free popcorn.

 

The cover band is currently True Identity - who I have heard are very good!

 

There is both a Mongolian Wok and a Burrito Bar. Also Tandoor/Indian - but I wasn't as interested in that - might give it a try, I've heard the Naan is very good.

 

The Sushi Bar serves sushi - not the Tasting Menu thing!

 

The Deli has good paninis.

 

Everything is PINK! Looks kind of lavenderish in some pics. I like pink - I can deal :D

 

The Steak House is good, and I may need to make my reservations online before we go. If you did the Steak house was it difficult to get a reservation? Ahi Tuna Tartare is calling my name!

 

It has a Serenity area with a bar, but no pool and no hot tub.

 

The aft pool is Adults only.

 

The ship has a mini golf course - I love mini golf and it's such fun to play on the ship with the wind wrecking havoc!

 

You have to pay extra for the Thalassotherapy Pool and the special Spa rooms, unless you have a Spa cabin.

 

They do the bean bag game - Yay! They do not do the Horse Race thing :(

 

Malcolm "WooWoo" Burns is the CD, but Big Tex will sub while Malcolm is on vacation - late May early June. I thought we would have Big Tex on the 6/10 sailing but John Heald said, we would have Malcolm. I've had him before, guess I will have to prepare myself to be "Wooed" :p

-----------------------------------------------------------

Things I would still like to know ...

 

Did they offer the wine pairing class in the Steak House? We did this on the Miracle and it was very good - loved the little food samples.

 

Do they have the little cinnamon rolls at breakfast - I love those?

 

I heard that they switched the Lido coffee to Lavassa and that it's much improved. If anyone can confirm this, I won't need to bring as much tea.

 

I'm sure I have more questions and more information, but that should do it for now. If anyone who has sailed her recently has Fun Times, they could share or perhaps post highlights - that would be awesome.

 

Thanks to everyone who has helped with my quest for knowledge! I've heard lots of good things from the first group out of NYC and the second group should be debarking as we speak! Those of us who will be sailing on the Splendor out of the Big Apple want to know!

thanks for starting this thread. our favorite ship is the miracle, and now that she's gone, we've been hemming and hawing about giving up cruising out of NCY since the splendor is significantly more, with a lot more people... but now i'm reconsidering.

Malcolm has been (by far) my favorite CD on any ship on any line.... and the most personable. he's TALLLLLL but really not intimidating.

I can't find the cruise out of Long Beach, Ca for the Carnival Miracle leaving on 11/10/13. It was there a month ago. Anyone know what is going on?

dont freak.. this happened to us, about two days before we were to sail. i called a friend who happens to work for carnival and she said it was most likely not showing up due to computer stuff... not because the cruise was cancelled or anything. then when it did pop up, the times were all wrong for the ports we were in, but then within a few hours it was fixed.