pamesacruisin

We are bringing our 17 year old Grandson on the Jubilee.  Does he just show up at the Club 02 or make a reservation?  Please tell me about the club.  Food, drinks, games?

4 hours ago, marshalltp said:

We just made our Saturday IAH 11:20 flight with shared van....a Moody garden hotel pickup, and a stop at Hobby.  We were off Jubilee with the suites at 7:50 AM.   Everything had to be just right and thankfully was...

 

Do you make reservations ahead of time?  Many times we just walk off the ship at our leisure and there are people holding signs to share a van.  Usually a lot cheaper then the Carnival buses.  This is the first time out of Galveston though.

4 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Having flown international many times I would arrange to meet and stay at a hotel near the airport and book a shuttle for the next day to allow for delays and meeting up together.

 

Are you sailing on a Sunday as you say you can’t return the car? Recent posters have reported they are open now for returns.

Sailing on Saturday, but actually want to return the car on Friday.  We called Enterprise in Galveston today and they blamed the problem on the airport.???  We're going to try calling the customer service # tomorrow. I'll update what we find out.

Figuring out transportation getting from IAH to a Galveston hotel is becoming a major headache! Flying into IAH on a Thursday late afternoon.  One would think it would be easy, but there will be 6 of us and 2 of those people are flying in internationally.  Scheduling a shuttle is difficult because I have no idea how long it will take them to go through customs.  Going through all the car rental options and even though Enterprise has a location in Galveston we can't return cars there.🤔  We'd have to return in Texas City.  Thinking Uber might be the best option but will get rather pricey as we will need 2 XL's to fit 6 of us and all our luggage.  What have other large groups done?

10 hours ago, n6uqqq said:

You can always go back a second time and add more later. They just limit the number per transaction and 9 is an upgrade from the previous limit of 5 at a time. 

Our cruise is in June, so we had to pay in full at the time of booking.  That's ok though, as now we have plenty of $$ to pay for gratuities, exursions, wi-fi, and beverages.  Oh and cherry on top!😋

Here is an update to my AARP gift card dilemma.  All is good now and we are cruising!  We put going to Australia on hold and instead we will be cruising on the brand new Carnival Jubilee out of Galveston.  We did learn another little tidbit of information when using the cards.  You can only use 9 at a time to pay for a booking. We bought 14 to pay for the whole cruise.  When we tried to put in the 10th card it said we had reached the limit for the number of cards allowed.  I have not been able to find anything about that in the small print!  Had we have known that ahead of time, we would have made 2 separate bookings instead of putting both cabins under one.  At least we can use the remaining cards for all the on board expenses.  So hopefully this will help others when using the cards.  That's what Cruise Critic is all about, right?  😎

24 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

I just did a mock booking on the Splendor out of Australia and the website was going to allow me to apply a gift card online

 

 

 

 

I told the PVP that there was the option of me applying a gift card.  She checked with her supervisor who said it would eventually not accept them.  

6 minutes ago, canes20 said:

Of course, it would have helped if the PVP would have told me.  She held the booking while I bought the cards.  She only learned when she tried to apply them.  Seems a Carnival PVP should have known and told me ahead of time.  Lesson learned for both of us.  

I just bought $7,000 worth of aarp gift cards to book the Carnival Splendor departing Sydney. I put a lot of time and effort doing mock bookings and choosing just the right cabins.  No where was there anything that led me to believe that gift cards would not be accepted.  Why would I even question it when the booking is in USD? I have just been told by Carnival that I cannot use the gift cards for a ship that uses Australian currency on board. Has anyone found a way around this? I'm paying for this cruise in USD, but the PVP said I can't use the gift cards to pay. 

2 hours ago, craig01020 said:

Not too easy to reach. I laid on the floor next to bed and reached under. I wouldn't want to do it every day, but it was worth it.

With this adapter, you can plug the lamp back in too:  https://a.co/d/1rnluAU

Thank you so much for the reply.  Yes, I think it's worth trying.  Of course we better attempt it before heading to the buffet!  

On 1/28/2023 at 4:49 PM, craig01020 said:

I sailed on the Splendor last July. There is one US and one AUS outlet by the desk. The bedside lamps are plugged into EUR outlets under the bed. I unplugged my lamp and used an adapter so I could use my US CPAP machine.

 

DH and I are sailing on the Splendor in June 2024.  He also has a CPAP machine.  He is so happy to hear that we can unplug a lamp.  That said, are the outlets easy to get to if beds are together?  The ole bod wouldn't be able to bend down and reach under a bed too easily.

I am going to be booking a 13 day cruise soon and want the Plus Package.  Should I go ahead and include it when I book or is it best to wait in case a better price comes along?  The cruise is in December.

7 hours ago, casofilia said:

Another update; things are starting to open up.

 

New Zealand ends self-isolation for travellers, Kiwis able to come home sooner

The Government is removing the self-isolation requirements for vaccinated travellers from Australia to New Zealand and enabling Kiwis to come here from the rest of the world sooner.

Starting from 11:59pm Wednesday 2 March, fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens, residents and other eligible travellers from Australia will no longer have to self-isolate for seven days when they arrive. 

Step 2 is being brought forward. From 11:59pm on Friday 4 March, fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens, residents, and eligible travellers from the rest of the world will no longer have to self-isolate on arrival.

This means those travellers will be able to enter the country and immediately connect with family and friends, and enjoy all New Zealand has to offer. 

We are able to make these changes because we have a highly vaccinated population and good public health restrictions through the COVID-19 Protection Framework.

 

Thank you as this is very exciting news!  Does "eligible travelers" mean anyone who is vaccinated?    

We had Cabana #8 last month during our Horizon Thanksgiving cruise.  Our Cabana was in a great location.  Bathrooms not too far, just up behind the Cabana.  After we boarded the ship, as soon as the shore excursions desk was open, I reserved #8.  They helped me choose one as I didn't want one too far away, but not right near the dock either.  Just somewhat in the middle.  Towels were provided, and floats.  While at the excursions desk, they asked for my soft drink orders.  Bottled water was also provided and ice.  There was a huge bag of chips, along with dips, and yummy fresh fruit.  There was a table and 4 chairs, and 2 loungers.  We went to the lunch buffet and brought the food back to our Cabana to eat.  There was a tram to take us to the Cabana and when we were ready to leave an employee called for us a ride on the tram back.  My daughter chose to walk the beach instead of the tram.  One time I needed to go back to the ship and they sent an ATV to pick me up.  Someone regularly came around to see if we needed anything. Cabana's are expensive, but definitely worth it!  They are right on the beach and chairs are arranged so the they do not block your view.

If your plans A and B, and back up plans C and D fall through like ours did, Salvation Army at 911 West Flagler Street in Miami, (located at the back of the building in the parking lot) saved the day for the 5 of us needing tests.  Coming from Colorado, I did everything I could possibly do ahead of time to make sure we could get the required testing.  Most people have no problems, but we were part of the few that did due to sites just up and leaving early for the day, to cancelling last minute etc.  Being on foot made it even more difficult, but got an Uber to the Salvation Army and they happily tested us for free.  There was a place to fill out insurance info, but we left it blank. Got another Uber to take us back to the hotel and our results arrived on our phones while on the drive back.

9 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

I'd be really annoyed with the bartender for not telling me that. One night on Mardi Gras it was last call so my husband ordered 2 more drinks just a few minutes after we had gotten drinks. The bartender gave us the drinks and just waited 10 minutes to charge our cards. 

Another time, DD ordered a gatorade to take back to her cabin and also ordered a drink, again not knowing she couldn't order 2 at once.  Of course, more expensive alcoholic drink got charged to our bill and gatorade was included in her drink package.🙄

Even though you've already paid tips when you bought the package, there's a line for tips.  There's that "guilt feeling" of crossing through that line and my daughter who had the package could not bring herself to do it so would up the amount to the nearest dollar.  if the drink was $13.20 she'd add $.80.  Another thing, you must allow at least 15 minutes in between drinks.  She learned that the hard way when she ordered a drink and didn't like it, so turned around and got something different.  Charge showed up on the bill.    

Definitely take some cash for room service.  We also gave our room steward some cash during our cruise as he was taking care of our family with 3 cabins.  He was so very grateful!  

We were just on the Horizon last week.  As we had cabins on the Lido deck we had to pass the vultures, LOL - I mean spa ladies every time we went to our cabin as they were always just inside the entrance off the open deck trying to sell services.  They were offering big discounts when my husband stopped to ask a question.  Sea day massages are listed at $149, but they offered him one for $99.  There seemed to always be 3 or 4 ladies standing around trying to drum up business which tells me they weren't being kept busy enough.

24 minutes ago, sweetsixteencruisers said:

We’re from NY,  we took our covid tests at Walgreens in Florida. They never asked for our insurance.  Test results in 20 mins. 

May I ask which Walgreens you went to?  We're flying in from Colorado 2 days before our cruise and trying to find somewhere inbetween the airport area and the port.

2 hours ago, Colorado Cruzer said:

I am trying without success to see if I can get a rapid test at CVS or Walgreens from out of state for free.  We are travelling to Long Beach from Colorado 2 days before the cruise so we have to get it done out of state.  ugh!

 

We are from Colorado too and need to get tested in Miami since we are flying in 2 days before the cruise.  We too are having a hard time trying to find a location near our hotel.  Carnival suggests going through Quest, and makes it sound simple.  I go through the whole process answering the questions, and it then goes to Walgreens scheduling only to find there isn't a location close by that we can schedule with that does the rapid test.  Very frustrating that it has to be this difficult.  2 days just isn't enough time for those traveling out of state.

Check in for us is today for our Nov.21 cruise. I started check in at 10:01 pm last night as there is a 2 hour time difference.  Everything was going smoothly until I got to choosing a boarding time. Kept getting an error message.  i was literally yelling at my computer, LOL!  Husband got on his laptop, I signed out and he signed in and had no problem.  

Is the O2 club for teens open?

I was hoping to use SAS, but unfortunately their website says no flights arriving after 3 pm.

I've found a flight we could switch to and get to Miami 2 days early vs. 1 day.  Problem is I'd have to cancel our covid test appointments that I have made here where we live and try and find somewhere close to the Port of Miami for us to get tested. I've searched and searched!  Does anyone know where you can get tested for free with or without insurance?  Although appreciated, Carnival's option that was sent today for $100 per person the day of your cruise is expensive for 5 people!  Sure wish we had a crystal ball to know what these airlines, especially SW, are going to be like Thanksgiving week.