Miller_KC

They are made to look like wood, but they are metal. Magnets work well on them and the walls.

The best views leaving New Orleans will be on the Port side if you are going late enough in the year that the sun is still up after 6:00. Otherwise it doesn't make too much difference.

We really enjoyed cruising Alaska. I highly recommend the White Pass Summit Train excursion in Skagway and Tracy Arm Fjord Explorer. Keep your curtains open the first 2-3 days, you'll want to see the scenery. There will be enough light out that time of year to see most of it.

I would think just getting it on the inside should be fine. We've done similar with our Platinum. Waited to board with friends then put their carry on's in our cabin.

The suite and FTTF should have the same disembarkation schedule.

They are on Deck 2. They are quiet if you avoid cabins under the Galley, and there are some vents that blow down on 1 or 2 balconies (we had 2305) that was a little annoying. They are very convenient for for port days. Not bad for the main dining room or theater. Lido is a long way.

They are the most private. Most other balconies look down on the deck 5 promenade and can be seen from the promenade.

I didn't notice FTTF on my tags but mine said Priority (we were also 1st time platinum on a recent cruise). Not sure why you would want both as Priority get treated better than FTTF when embarking.

The best option is to have Priority and the FTTF logo on your boarding pass / luggage tags.

Having your room ready when you board and getting early delivery of your luggage is not part of the Platinum or Diamond perks. It became available on ships as they began offering FTTF. Platinum and Diamond cruises are given free FTTF so they get those perks as well as Priority.

I believe all ships now have FTTF but early on it was rolled out to a few ships at a time, so there was a time you could have Priority and not FTTF.

Also Suites get Priority boarding and debarkation, but don't get FTTF.

Dang... I have a cruise booked with 14 people going on Dream later this year. I hope the food, service and decor don't suck.

It doesn't. Most of the comments about the ships are in relative terms. Cruisers hold their experiences up to very high standards and try to give a heads up about slight differences that makes one ship slightly more preferable than others.

I have not been on a cruise where I did not have a great time. Some I like better than others but hardly anyone agrees on which ship is best or which to avoid because experiences are different and what is important to each of us is different. I "love" some ships many people "hate" and vice versa. They're all great.

Unless you booked both cabins at the same time you will need to call the Carnival 800 number and ask to have the bookings linked. Have both of the booking numbers when you call. If you have them set up through a Travel Agent or Carnival Vacation Planner then they are probably already linked but it won't hurt to make sure.

The water can get a little rough in October, but unless there are storms moving through it's not too different than April. The water could be just a little cool around PC, but should feel really good during the rest of your cruise. You will still find it hot in the South but about the same as April for land excursions.

If you check the weather on the islands it will most likely say it will be in the 80s-90s every day with a 20-80% chance of rain. We have seen rain on many days but only got wet a few times, and usually sunny again within 30-60 minutes.

Some excursions do allow "Ride-alongs" for a small fee so that families don't have to get separated. We were able to set up a couple at the Excursions desk. I don't know if you can find out about them or book them ahead of time.

I've been on 29 Carnival cruises and always pack a power strip WITH surge protection and have never had an issue. So my advice is to not worry about this.

This is a new rule as of a few weeks ago after a surge protector caused a fire on a ship with an electrical systems similar to the one Carnival uses.

http://www.amazon.com/Accell-D080B-007K-R-PowerSquid-Multiplier-outlets/dp/B004LZ5XMU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454515835&sr=8-1&keywords=squid+extension+cord

 

 

We took this with us last time and it worked well

That is exactly what I use now too. On power strips and extension cords the plugs are too close together for some of the camera and tablet chargers we carry.

The Breeze shops are closed as of today when it left Miami a few were open they closed when it left San Juan my daughter said the rest of the cruise they will be closed, also pulled into San Juan about two hours early some kind of medical emergency.

Were these 2 things related? In the groups I travel with they could be.

I tried to book excursions last night for 4 people in 2 linked cabins. The website seemed to know what it was doing but the rejected payment (Carnival gift cards) for 2 of the people and booked for the other 2. At least it credited the other 2 back. But then I couldn't book for just the 2 because it kept adding the other 2 back in on the payment screen wanted to charge for all 4 even though the screen clearly marked the first 2 as paid. Finally had to call the 800 number to get the last 2 book.

Oh, and BTW I paid with the gift card that was rejected in the first place.

It is dangerous to complain. Every time I think it can't get any worse, it does. I finally realized that the PVPs are designing the web interfaces so you have to come to them and they get credit for the booking. Why else would someone think you need to download an entire graphical screen to confirm that you want 1 cabin. Then another full screen to say you want 2 people in it?

The pricing changes every time I take a cruise but here are the current prices for on board the ship for each phone. They also have an international package that covers most of the Caribbean but I don't know if it bundles with the Cruise ship package or is additional.

Pay as you go:

Voice: $1.79 / Minute

Text: $.50 each sent / $.05 each received

Data: $2.05 / MB

Cruise Ship Package $40 / Month:

Voice: 100 minutes included

Text: 100 sent included/ unlimited received

Data: 100 MB included

Overages $25/MB data, .$25 / Minute voice, $.25 / text sent

International package is $40 for the same coverage.

On shore pay as you go voice minutes is $.99 in Mexico. $1.79 in most other Caribbean countries and $2.99 / minute max.

I would just buy the social package on board for emails and otherwise leave the phones off. Use the pay as you go if you have a real emergency.

If you are a member of AARP or a Verizon customer they have a rewards club where you can sometimes get Carnival gift cards at a 10% discount. I've heard of other periodic promotions too. Otherwise its just like any other gift cards. You can give people part of their cruise expenses.

Any line? Just embarkation, debarkation, guest services, and tender lines.

And just as an add-on, neither Platinum nor FTTF helps with the returning tender lines. You stand in line like everyone else.

I have often seen the regular guest services line move faster than the priority line with only one purser.

On the Sunshine on embarkation day most people don't know that you can use the seating in the Havana Bar. Its all the way back on the Lido deck. You can bring in your food from the buffets inside there is a Mongolian BBQ (that people haven't found yet either) and Italian. There is also a small counter by the bar with Cuban appetizers.

There is plenty of room where you can get your family seated and take turns taking the children to find the food they want.

We visited Belize twice and did Mayan Ruins excursions both times. In Cozumel we just did our own thing shopping, and in Honduras we did the cabana rental which was awesome.

That is exactly our plans on our cruise in a few weeks. If we hadn't been to Tulum already I would probably take the excursion from Cozumel instead of the Mayan Ruins from Belize. We already did the cave tubing and Altun Ha in Belize so this time we are going to the Xunantunich ruins.

This will be our second time for the cabana rental.

We tried the Carnival transfers but waited a long time in the airport for other planes to arrive and fill up the bus. Next time I will bite the bullet and get a taxi. I unsuccessfully tried to find a rental car company that would let me drop the car off in Galveston.

This thread will probably be moved to the ports of call section that has excursion information.

:rolleyes:

Why would a thread about excrusions move to a section about excursions?

Urban Dictionary

Our trip to the restaurant was an excrusion because we got lost on the way and couldn't find anyone to give us directions.

The current rate is an Early Saver promotion so if the price decreases or and add-on becomes available you can get the lower price. If the price goes down for the same cabin, you fill out and send in the price protection form. If the price drops before you pay your final payment then your final payment is lower. If after, then the difference will be added as a credit to your on-board account. I haven't seen the prices go down much lately.

You should be good with going ahead and booking. If you have trouble checking the prices or filling out the form just do a search on CC. There are a number of threads answering most typical questions.

Galveston is a long way from the Houston airports. About 45 minutes to Hobby and around an hour to Bush. Carnival tends to be less likely to offer the service to airports that far away.

Port of NY is not Tampa, and the only bridge is the Verrazano, which is plenty high. Also, NY does not suffer as much fog as Tampa.

 

You are comparing apples and oranges here.

:D

I caught it:

Your are comparing the Big Apple to Florida Oranges.

I thought there would be more comments on that one.