audcc77

I am on the Pride tomorrow. That's why I wanted to know a good team.

We were last there 5 years ago and that is what made me schedule your time dining. We had assigned seating 5 yrs ago and the service was awful and we were stuck with cold and slow food every night, despite my talking to the maitre'd. I finally just gave up. I vowed never to do assigned dining after that.

I have requested specific waiters thanks to people here who have made suggestions and have had some pretty great wait teams.

Does anyone have a fast and/or favorite ATD wait team on the Pride ?

Thanks :)

We were on the Fantasy last May with ATD and gad wiwik and wayan all week. They were lovely, efficient and fun.

Thanks for the suggestion.:)

We've had Fernando as our waiter a few times over the years and he was wonderful. I'm hoping he is still there but realize it is unlikely.

Does anyone know of a good ATD waiter or waitress on Fantasy?

How about Fernando? Is he still there?

Any suggestions ?

Thanks.

Thanks to all who responded.

I was also wondering if there was a price sheet floating around.

Spanky - I believe the ship packages it up nicely for you in a cardboard box. If you pack it well, then you should be fine.

I usually just get my liquor the last night of the cruise instead of purchasing ahead of time. There have been some stories on CC about liquor being delivered to the wrong room when they purchased it during the week. We're driving to port so hopefully we can do self-assist. Perhaps I need to bring along some bungy cords....

Does anyone have a recent price list for the alcohol? My friend is particularly interested in the price of vodka, but I don't know what kind.

Also, what is the cost of cigarettes per carton and is there a limit you can take off the ship duty free?

Thanks in advance. :)

Wow - LOVE LOVE LOVE your nice big photos.

Thanks for taking time to post. We are going to the same ports on Fantasy in 3 weeks. It will be 3rd or 4th time for me. Other ships are defintely better but Fantasy is okay for a less expensive cruise.

I have a few questions.

1. How many minutes walk is Barefoot Beach from the food area where Carnival sets up?
   
2. Also are there public restrooms at Barefoot Beach ?
   
3. Did you have Anytime Dining? If so, did you have a good waitperson?
   

Thanks again for doing the review with such great photos.

:)

I play the Rewards Card boogie every few years when we take a vacation and this Barclay Arrival deal is about one of the best I've ever heard.

 

My cruise is mostly paid for (I've been using Verizon Points to get discount GCs to pay it down, already saving 10% off my cruise). If I get the Arrival card and spend $1,000 I will get $400 worth of points, but to maximize the benefit I would use the Arrival card to pay my remaining balance, and then use that $400 to pay off the card's balance when my statement arrives? In other words, I don't transfer it to an OBC? Right?

I could be wrong, but I do not believe this promo is still running. It was running last year when I got my Barclay Arrival Card. Now, I believe you have to spend $3,000 w/in 3 months in order to get $400 back.

The way I did it a year ago ... I opened a card, then ran a purchase for $1,000 on an existing cruise. A few days later when the $1K showed up, it showed that I had $400 in travel points, which I then deducted as "cash" and so when my bill came, it was only $600. That's all the purchases I put on the card. Then I just paid off the total balance of $600 on the card.

It worked so well that I got another card for my husband (he was not on my card in case it didn't work out well :o -- but it worked great.) Now, 12 months later, surprisingly we have about $1,000 in cash back redemption on each card. Because of this I am gladly paying the $89 annual fee for each card. This card is definitely for people who travel and is the best card out there. We put our car/house insurance on it. Our house furnace broke and we just bought a new house furnace on it. I have no idea what the interest rates are or how they compare to other cards, but for us it's the best :D and we only cruise once or twice each year.

Thanks so much for your recommendations. So, do they just let you leave your car there if you book a room and not the park and cruise?

That's actually a little tricky. It involves being a Hilton Honors member. If you are a HH member, then email me but I don't want to put that info here.

There is a King Street Grille about 5 min walk or 2 min drive. Good food with decent prices. There is also a movie theater, ice cream, lots of shops. Red brick streets, sidewalks. Real nice area.

Here is where we stay:

http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/south-carolina/hampton-inn-and-suites-charleston-mt-pleasant-isle-of-palms-CHSMPHX/index.html

Nice & clean with free breakfast with better than just fruit and pastries. If you look them up on TripAdvisor, you can see some reviews. They do have a shuttle service for the Park & Cruise, but we just book a regular room & take a cab.

I do not like waiting for shuttles to fill up on our way back home b/c it takes too long. We have a 10-hour drive ahead of us in the morning and it is worth it to get FTTF so we can get off the ship early and then get a cab. I called Yellow Cab & spoke w/ Marsha 843. 577. 6565 and she said that for 2 people it was $24-25 one way. This seems pretty competitive pricing compared to others that I've called.

I really like Charleston and hope to retire there some day. :)

Happy sailing :D

Any info as to where to stay the night before and maybe night after for a cruise out of Port Canaveral ....that has shuttle service from and to airport and to and from cruise ship.....also would like to have near a store to pick up supplies since we will not have a car

thank you

This will probably be moved over to the Port Canaveral thread, but this is what we did.

I looked around for a hotel with a free shuttle service to take us from the airport to the hotel (about a hr drive?) and found nothing.

Therefore we went with Travelynx. Travelynx - Toll Free: 1-800-226-5969

Their website shows pricing. They will take you back to the airport after the cruise.

We stayed here. Nice room, clean. No too expensive.

Comfort Inn Cocoa Beach

3901 North Atlantic Avenue

Cocoa Beach, FL

phone 321-783-2221 / toll free 800-247-2221

They offered free shuttle to the cruise port.

We bought our wine here, up the street.

Walgreens 4150 North Atlantic Avenue, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931, (321) 799-9112

Good luck. :)

We are booked to leave Feb 24 on the Fantasy for a 5-day cruise.

I now see that the Feb 8 voyage on Fantasy, which is a 7-day with better ports is now getting pretty low in price and will likely be lower than my 5-day. :(

Has anyone ever switched their reservation?

Is there a penalty?

Thanks ... :)

What credit card do you have? I recently found out one of the benefits of mine includes basic travel insurance - having to cancel due to sick/death, lost luggage, etc. Glad I found out. Saves me from buying duplicate coverage.

Me too! My Barclay's Arrival Card has insurance, so I haven't bought it since discovering that. I do not think it covers medivac, but my husband's work insurance covers that for our family. You can purchase only "medivac" insurance for about $36 through TravelGuard.

Get off & on as many times as you'd like. Only bring on 1 bottle of wine pp each time when getting on though.

No free wifi in the cruise terminal that I could find. Free cell service though for us.

When you grab your bags and exit the airport doors, there will be a kiosk with several people in line. Sometimes this is a long line but it moves quickly. Get in that line and the guy will write down on a paper # of people, # of bags, and then you'll move ahead & get assigned a taxi. It is probably a 15-20 min ride.

I have had the same PVP for about 4 years. She's great.

The advantage is that if we buy under Early Saver and there is a price drop before final payment is due, I don't need to mess with the ES form. I just send her an email (the email w/ my original booking confirmation) and she just adds the price drop and returns it. Last time she turned it around in 3 minutes.

I usually pick out my own cabin and tell her what I want. She is a very fast thinker and points things out to me. She also has probably only called me 1 time in 4 years to tell me about a sale. She doesn't harass me to book and is very good to work with.

It's a good thing b/c I have very little tolerance when it comes to messing up my vacation. I live for vacation.

Thanks for your answer - but what would be considered "peak times" ? Around the holidays?

I’m sure everyone would have a different opinion, but I’d consider January, February, September, & October to be non-peak. When I’m forced to sail during peak times, I usually book way ahead. This time I did not & now we’re paying more.

On the other hand, it depends on which ship b/c just DH & I sailed on the Valor out of Puerto Rico mid-March (college spring break) and it was $700 pp for an aft balcony. By the time the sail date arrived, regular balconies were going for about $350-400 pp. In that instance, I should have waited to book and would have gotten a better price, but I was too freaked out over the airfare and wanted to get that nailed down.

We (DH) could not make up our minds to do a cruise during spring break April 2015.

This summer, I was finally able to make my DH commit to one & we ended up with an 8D balcony on the Pride for 3 people for $2,927 and that was supposedly a special casino rate.

If I’d have waited until now, that room it would be $3,437.

I booked the exact same room & same cruise next year 2016 for spring break, and I only paid $2,087.

I think booking Early Saver is best if you go during peak times. You can certainly get a good deal if you wait to the last minute & go during off times. At least that has been my experience.

Yes - I was waiting for someone who has actually moved the gratuities to their own account.

I use a travel credit card & get a nice cash return. Therefore I'll go down & move them onto my S&S card towards the end of the cruise.

Thanks for responding. :)

My friend will have her own credit card securing her own S&S card but I will be paying her gratuities.

I never prepay gratuities & just have them tack it on at the end of the cruise so it is listed on my bill at the end.

I do not want to pay with cash on her S&S card but will do that as a last resort.

My question is … Would it be possible to move her gratuities to my S&S card on the last night? Or do I go to Guest Services & pay her gratuities w/ my credit card?

Thanks.:)

I was on the Liberty in August and they had 2 Quick Hit machine clusters. One in smoking and one in non-smoking. I just went back & forth between the two groups all week and won about $300 total. I love those silly things.

You can even set up your S&S card with a credit card on-line before you cruise, and then when you arrive to check in, change your mind to another credit card.

If you can get it, a Barclay's Arrival Card is the best card out there.

Cash back on it is great.

http://www.barclaycardarrival.com/arrival-plus/?campaignId=1983&cellNumber=1

I fully intended to cancel before that $89 annual fee came due (the first year is waived), but the cash back we've received has been crazy.

Can you confirm if we can rent stand up paddleboards here? Thanks!

I did not see anything like paddle boards, jet skis etc., however, according to its website, the hotel says it is "right outside your door" ... whatever that means. It was a very quiet beach. I don't even recall seeing vendors of any sort or people even selling necklaces or anything.

I'd call the hotel :

8070 Lindbergh Bay

Saint Thomas, 00802-5901, VI

Phone: 340/777-8800

We sailed on the Valor out of San Juan this past mid-March, so it was spring break.

We usually buy ES but did not buy ES that time b/c it was not available when we booked.

By the time we left, balcony cabins were going for $419 pp. If I'd have bought under ES, I would have received quite a bit of OBC. In other words, prices were dropping pretty low right before we left. I almost hated to look at it but did so out of curiosity.

We then sailed on Liberty last month. To sail the Liberty out of San Juan will be the best of both worlds.

Mine was $159 total.

It was from Travel Guard for 4 people for an inside and aft balcony for 8 days, plus 2 days traveling to port & 2 days traveling home, plus a hotel room.

And yes, I cashed in on it.

I went on the cruise a few months later.

No problems.

I was on the Liberty last month & put about $200 in the slots. I came home with $300. I always check my "offers" and never have anything.

Just now -- I just checked my "offers" and have a casino offer.

Not sure if this is a deal or if it is better than early saver.

Also, I see something about casino cash but I can't see what they are talking about. :confused: