squierjosh

6 hours ago, diesteldorf said:

I purchased $500.00 cruise cash to help meet a credit card signup bonus quickly, and will have around $575.00 worth of credit on my account, after already paying for my internet and drink package in advance. 

 

However, I am planning to go to Cherry on Top and purchase 4 or 5 $100 CARNIVAL GIFT CARDS that I'll be able to use for a future cruise.  So, cruise cash isn't risky unless you disembark without using the credit, but between gift cards and using your sail and sign card to deposit money to slot machines, cashing out after 1 or 2 plays, it is pretty easy to use.

 

Does anyone know if Carnival gift cards can be used as payment on the other corporate lines, like Princess?

That’s a good idea. Cover to future cruise funds!

Do you have to have a balance on your S&S account? Can't you just charge to your credit card?

I get the idea of planning and setting a budget, but if you don't spend it, you lose it. Seems risky if you're not in a drinking mood or buying gifts on a certain cruise.

Thanks for the response. Right now I'm looking at a late Friday night flight for a Saturday cruise. So staying near LAX and heading down in the morning might be the best option. 

If I find a better flight for Friday, do any of the Long Beach hotels offer port shuttle service? Budget isn't a huge concern, but $$ add up quickly with 4 people. 

Are the residence inn and Maya really considered downtown? Looks like they are across the channel from downtown, surrounded by industrial stuff. Maybe it's a short walk across that bridge? I'd like to find a place for pop and snacks for the cruise.

When you say "into town," what part of the peninsula is the town? It's all built up. 

Hi. I've been on a lot of cruise, but never out of Long Beach. I'm perfectly comfortable finding a hotel and pre/post cruise transportation in Miami. Takes me an afternoon of research and I'm done. Long Beach seems way more complicated, mostly due to the distance between LAX and the Long Beach cruise port.

Two adults, two kids. Flying in late on Friday night. Should we stay near LAX and then find transportation to the port the next morning? Or, find a hotel in Long Beach and get there really late, but have a short commute in the morning? 

How far away from LAX can I expect to find free hotel transfers? I realize I'll also need transportation to the port Saturday morning, as the only hotels I see with free port shuttle are hundreds of dollars more per night, so not worth it.  A nice balance between free airport to hotel shuttle and an Uber or whatever from hotel to port would be ideal. 

Getting back to the airport after the cruise...What can I expect an Uber to cost? Are they readily available? The Carnival shuttle is insane. 

44 minutes ago, vwrestler171 said:

I've made that flight many times.  That being said, any delays can turn it into a very stressful day.  Definitely take your own luggage off.  Last cpl cruses we didn't and they didn't even start calling luggage tags until 10.  I think they are trying to push more people into self assist.

Do you have to sign up for self-assist? Or does it just happen automatically if you don't leave your bags in the hallway?

2 hours ago, carib1 said:

A 12:10 flight out of Miami is plenty of time.  We got off the Spirit in April over Easter and had a 9:30 am flight out of Miami.  We made it with an hour to spare.  Normally, I would never book a 9:30 am flight, but the only other option was the 5:30 pm flight from Miami to Chicago--then another 3-hour drive home and we had to work the next morning. We took the chance and made it.  Luckily!

So you got to the airport at what time? An hour to spare makes it sound like you were there at 6:30, since you're supposed to be there 2 hours early. 😛

I should add, the other option is 2:55. And there's 2 adults, 2 kids. Not sure how that works with grabbing a cab. Maybe an Uber XL? I mean if we're off by 8:30-9:00, it only takes about a half hour to get to the airport, correct?

Sailing next March. One flight option is 12:10 out of Miami (we'll be on Horizon). What would be the process for making sure we get off the ship ASAP and onto the shuttle to the airport? Is it faster if we take our luggage with us? Or is 12:10 just pushing it a little close and not worth the headache?

2 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

This is the second thread I have seen tonight asking about golfing on the islands.  Not the same islands.  I am kind of surprised that someone who is an avid enough golfer to carry clubs on a cruise would not belong to some golfing forums which could provide suggestions as to golf course locations.  EM

You sure you're not from MN, with that subtle passive aggressive response? 

Anyone ever put together a golf excursion themed cruise? I'm looking to put together something for a winter getaway, but I'm not seeing a lot of Carnival golf excursions (Jamaica, Mazatlan, St Kitts). I don't think there's any cruise that has any two of these ports together. I know Cozumel has at least one course. I assume most other islands do as well.

My household (two parents, two kids) are split into two rooms on our upcoming cruise. If one of us tests positive before the cruise, are we all prevented from going?

We're coming in a couple days early, so we can't test at home before we get to Seattle. I thought we'd do a home test before we fly for a sanity check. If we get one or more positive results, is that good enough to call Royal to setup a cancellation? Or does it need to be from a doctor? 

15 minutes ago, rudeney said:

Travel insurance will cover you for COVID, but if you have not yet bought it, you may find that you can't get the pre-existing condition waiver, and that could affect coverage.  This late in the game, I highly recommend talking to an agent personally and finding out what they can provide.

That's what I was planning on doing. Thanks!

I don't understand the need for testing at this point. Almost all cruisers are crammed in airport security and airplanes with no mask requirements. Feels like half the cruisers would have to cancel, even if they don't have symptoms.

Hey all. With Covid raging again, it seems impossible to avoid catching it. We're flying Seattle two days before our cruise, so we have to test when we get there. If we anyone tests positive, we're pretty much screwed. I was thinking we would test before we go, and if someone is positive, would travel insurance be a good option to avoid losing too much money? I know the cruise would be covered by rebooking/credit. But flights, pre-cruise hotel, etc are not fully refundable at this point. Woudl travel insurance companies still cover this for covid?

I've been listening to the cork sniffers for years tell me how great RCI is, especially compared to Carnival. As fate would have it, my in-laws booked an Alaska cruise for us on RCI, and it has not been impressive.

The website is almost useless. You can't do much from it compared to Carnival. Find cruises, picking staterooms, etc, is so much easier. RCI doesn't use the Verifly app, preferring to do everything by paper, like we're in 15th century England. We can't test 3 days out, so coming to port a couple days early means we have to test there, which means a negative tests causes A LOT of preventable problems. Given how many covid outbreaks have been happening on RCI lately, does it even matter if we test?

Then this whole fiasco with the Quantum ship not going to all the destinations, and absolutely no communication about it, no updates on the (worthless) web site, etc. My itinerary still shows excursions I booked and paid for, yet they're on days listed as sea days, or they don't fit into the new port schedule. Seriously, it shouldn't take this long to fix something, and it absolutely floors me that for what you pay for an RCI cruise, the service is non-existent. 

/rant

49 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Agree and Common. Over the yrs similar issues with Azipods have happened on dozens of Ships/Lines. As in past Cruises continue on until parts/Drydock fix. Feel for Cruises, over last 35 yrs have Skipped, missed or shortened many Ports myself

But the ship is running just fine right now and making all the ports. Somehow it's going to stop performing in August, then be ok again at the end of August?

Seems awfully suspicious that the July sailings are JUST FINE. It's almost as if they're planning on purposefully crippling the ship for the August cruises so they don't have to drive them as far.

3 minutes ago, Jt4428 said:

That happened to us about 5 years ago on one of our rc cruises (forgot which ship). They shortened our time in a few ports. . They gave us some obc  for compensation.

$100 for a whole cabin. Big whoop. I'd rather see glaciers, since it's an alaskan cruise and all. 

20 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Sure seems like the odds of these being sent in error is more than 50/50

I don't think so, they've already updated the port times on my Royal page, and you can't even look at Juneau excursions anymore. Something is going on.

Edited to add my cruise date is 8/1

25 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Yeah that doesn't quite seem right, both the date and the issue, especially since right now Quantum is sailing at a respectable 17 knots. I also don't see any Quantum itineraries that even go to Endicott Arm. They all go to Tracy's Arm

My 8/1 cruise says Endicott

THanks for the replies. That should save quite a bit of walking time against the Google Maps estimate.

Google seems to think I need to walk through the entire port then up the street to get to the water taxi stand. Can I cut across like in the line I drew here, or is it a secured area? Sure would cut down on walking times for the taxi or walking to the city.

2 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

No….
Babylon on a poor quality beach.   Think a kick-back here.

Go to the Marriott $39 pp for adult with children free - 10% discount on food.

Great Beach Pizza ideal for family sharing.  They also have a day room for family use for a few dollars more.

Taxi back to ship $20 total- Marriott will call one for you.

Contact the hotel direct for booking. Mention it if one is a Marriott member.

 

 

THanks for the info. $100 vs. $40 seems like a big jump. Maybe $140 depending on what they consider child age. Plus we only have a few hours after the rainforest tour. Also, who would get the kickback from the tour company? Every restaurant on the beach? Seems unlikely.