stingray310

@TxTeach79, I know its been awhile since this cruise, but I was just wondering if you remember if there was much noise in that room 1472. I'm considering booking this room for a future cruise and just wondered if you got any noise from the thrusters when docking or turning. We had a similar room on the Magic and the room was great except for an hour or so while docking, which we could put up with. Love having the 2 windows and the extra room through. thanks, Stingray

@TxTeach79, I know its been awhile since this cruise, but I was just wondering if you remember if there was much noise in that room 1472. I'm considering booking this room for a future cruise and just wondered if you got any noise from the thrusters when docking or turning. We had a similar room on the Magic and the room was great except for an hour or so while docking, which we could put up with. Love having the 2 windows and the extra room through. thanks, Stingray

We used SAS for transportation after our cruise in October and were very happy with their service. They had good communication with us as were getting off the ship and through customs and the driver was waiting for us when we exited the terminal. Others may have had a different experiences with them but we were very happy with their service. If you do not want to use them for transportation for an early flight I would recommend using Uber of Lyft.

Generally we have had very good luck booking cove balconies as far as noise level on the Magic, but we were in room 2414 last year and let me tell it was very noisy directly above us. As someone mentioned above it sounded like a bowling alley above us. There must have been some type of heavy wheeled cart or something that they kept rolling across the floor above us starting very early in the morning around 4:00am, and then occasionally there would be a large banging sound in the morning and evenings. We have had cabins 2368, 2374 and 2386 and have had very quiet cruises. We also had room 2464, a non cove room, and only had noise and vibrations when docking and leaving ports from the thrusters, but otherwise it was pretty peaceful once we got out to sea.

I believe the Half Moon Cay pier construction and additions have been either delayed or cancelled all together due to the pandemic. I think they decided to concentrate all funding towards Celebration Cay. Hopefully they will reschedule the Half Moon Cay construction to a later date. Maybe someone else knows more, but that is what I heard.

We just used SAS transportation this weekend for transportation from a Fort Lauderdale hotel to Miami cruiseport and from Miami cruiseport to FLL airport after our cruise. I was a little reluctant based on this post but it worked out perfectly both ways. It does appear that they may be contracting out to other companies possibly because neither of our two shuttles specifically said SAS on the shuttle van. This did create a little confusion when they picked us up at the hotel because we were outside waiting and a shuttle with another name pulled up and we didn't realize it was for us until we saw the driver making a call and my phone began ringing. After the cruise they texted me that morning asking when I anticipated being off the ship, and after we cleared customs I called them and they were waiting in front of the terminal for us and loaded us immediately. They were about five minutes late getting to the hotel from my assigned time, but the email does explain that the times are approximate, and when I called them they said the shuttle would be there in the next 5 to 10 minutes. Just posting my recent experience for others to help make their decision. I will probably use them again for my cruise in May of 2024.

Has anyone heard about the status of the improvements at Half Moon Cay?. Has it just been cancelled permanently or has it just been put on hold. It seems odd that they would start this one and not continue with the plans at HMC.

Would Uber of Lyft be an option for transportation versus a taxi? I've seen Uber or Lyft prices to sometimes be less than a taxi cost.

Bob & Linda, thanks for this information, I have this hotel booked for an upcoming cruise and had not been able to find much information about it. It looked like a decent hotel for a decent price but I couldn't tell for sure from the online pictures. Hopefully it will be a decent, clean place to stay for 1 night precruise.

After looking into it further and according to the article below, it looks like the announcement was made in October of 2019, before Covid struck, so I'm assuming the project was either delayed indefinitely or put on hold due to financial issues with Carnival. So I don't expect to hear about it for a while, if at all. https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4317/

Just curious if anyone has seen or heard any progress on the expansion and improvements to Half Moon Cay. There was an announcement by Carnival last year about the addition of a dock, a lazy river, and a pool area, but I have not anything further on whether its been started or when it will be or the projected completion date. Thanks,

I've never seen a ban on teams during trivia before, but the thing I would like to see is a ban on phone usage during trivia's. On our last few cruises it appeared to me that several people were looking up answers on their cell phones and telling the person with the paper the answer to write down. I also think I've seen, but can't verify, people just write down the answer when it is given and then they end up winning the trivia with a perfect score. These activities really discourage me from wanting to participate in any of the trivia's. I only participate in the trivia's for something fun to do and do not usually expect to win, but these activities really make it less fun for me at least. Just my opinion on the trivia contests.

MeganGC, I was just wondering, while you were at Half Moon Cay, did you happen to see if they have started any of the construction for the new pier and resort area. I remember seeing that they were going to add a pier, but I don't remember if I saw a start date or completion date. Just wondering. Thanks,

thank you very much for this information, I will take this as a very positive review. As long as the hotel and rooms are clean, we can always take an uber, lyft or get delivery for food. Also a good breakfast at the hotel is also a plus. Thanks,

jennas_mum, I'm just curious how you liked the Comfort Suitees Orland airport hotel? Is this the one on McCoy Rd? I have a reservation here for a pre cruise stay next March and I have seen some mixed reviews, mostly good but a few bad reviews mixed in. Would you recommend this hotel and stay there again? How is the location as far as places to eat within walking distance? We don't need anything fancy, just a clean hotel and room in a decent neighborhood. Thanks

We were in room 2414 on the Magic and it was very loud from early morning until late at night. It sounded like bowling bowls being rolled across our ceiling at times. There must have been some kind of heavy wheeled cart or something that was being moved above us in the galley. We asked about the noise at guest services on day 2 or 3 and they called our room a couple of hours later and said they were going to move us to another room without us even requesting the room change. So we figured they must have known this was an known issue for that particular room on previous cruises. We have had other cove balconies in the area of the ship and have not heard any noise, so we were very surprised at the noise level when we go to this room. So, take this a word of warning for possible noise in this room.

There are several services available that I found for Seattle and many of them use the same locations. We happened to use one called Stasher and we stored our luggage at the Mediterranean Hotel near the Space Needle. The ones that I found were Radical Storage, Luggage Hero, and Bounce although there may be others I didn't find. Most of them have apps that you can use on your phone. We mainly chose Stasher based on location we were visting and price and I felt I could trust a hotel that would be open 24 hrs rather than a store that may be closed. My advice is to just pick a location near places you are wanting to visit and then compare prices and make sure and check the times that they are open, because some locations had odd hours.

Does anyone know if you are allowed to get off the ship in Victoria if you are cruising with a only a Birth Certificate. It doesn't look like my sons passport is going to be returned in time to cruise with his passport, so we are going to use his birth certificate and drivers license to get on the ship in Seattle. Just wondering if he will be allowed to get off the ship in Victoria with his drivers license and ship card or birth certificate, or if he will even be allowed to get off the ship. Thanks,

I just recently booked one of the $100 per person 7 day alaska cruises on the Splendor and I did receive the on board shareholder credit.

I was curious about the "game day luggage vendor" you mentioned. Is this a service that is available near the ballpark or somewhere further away? We will have some time after our cruise and thought we may go to a game but we didn't know what to do with our carry on luggage during the game. thanks.

Ok, thanks for identifying that for me, I was hoping you would see my post and reply, I thought you might know what it was based on some of your previous post I've read of yours. I was stumped when I saw it. Thanks,

I think it was being towed by a tug, which was way out in front of it, or it was being escorted. It was the same gray color as navy ships and was as long as the cruise ship but only about half as tall. It was totally flat on top like an aircraft carrier just with nothing up on top like one. It looked like it either had an "8" or a "B" on the side of it. It was something that I had never seen before either on the ocean or in a port on any of my cruises. I just thought one of the military or maritime folks on here might be able to identify it for me. It sure had me stumped. Thanks,

This reminds me of a picture of a vessel I saw on my cruise in March, I know it's not a very good picture, but it kind of looked like it may have been military but I wasn't for sure. It seemed like it was possibly being towed by another smaller boat that was out of the picture to the left. Does anybody have any idea what this could be?