Miller_KC

Do you think the cost is comparable, cause you can book Anthem out of NJ or Breakaway out of NY?

Balconies on the Anthem is about $700 more, but is 2 days longer. I haven't seen prices for the Breakaway.

They have sales on every sea day. Usually nothing special about the prices, you'll get what you pay for, and don't expect the prices to go down on items from the gift shop that you have been trying to decide if you want to buy all week. Looks like they just bring out extra stuff for the sales.

We have picked up T-shirts for family members at good prices but you can get the same deals in port. If you were busy in port and didn't shop for gifts the sale on the last day can help you take care of that.

If you are all on one account the Gift Card will be applied against the total balance of the account even if the charges came from the other Sail and Sign cards.

You can change your account from the group account to just yours and fund it with the gift card like cash. I wouldn't think it to be worth the effort.

I saw that. We are looking to do the 7 day Canada / New England cruise again and it's only offered on the Sunshine in September out of New York.

I'm on a cruise that is impacted by the N.O. roll out. After seeing it on John's FB page I went to Manage my cruise, then on the My Cruise Details page, clicked on the "Online Check-In" button. On the Check-in page that opens there is a "My Check In Time" button on the left that opens a window with a drop down box with 30 minute windows to choose from. I selected one and it made the selection for everyone in the cabin.

Back on the My Cruise Details page I now see the check-in time I selected below my Dining Time.

Thanks for taking up an early spot even though you don't need it. Thoughtful and considerate of you. More demonstration of the 'me' sense of entitlement.

I booked an early spot and that's exactly when I intend to arrive. Why should I lie and give a different time then use my priority to arrive at my intended time only to find the lines long because the real 'me' entitled people talked others into giving false arrival times?

The poll should be set up with ranges. For me it has typically been between 3 to 9 months. Sometimes a little longer, once a little shorter but most between 3 to 9 months.

If you go to the Verizon web site and go to the "Redeem Now" page, up on the line with your Points total there is a link to "Account". Click on that and you can see your rewards orders. Click on "View Details" and you can see your order status. Shortly after it ships you should be able to see Tracking information.

On the Sunshine everyone has access to the Gym with exercise equipment, the showers and a sauna in the locker room.

If you have a Spa cabin or a spa pass you also get access to the Thermal Suites, various warm rooms with different kinds of heat. On the newer ships there is also a large hot tub (Thasslasso Pool) that you would have access to but not on the Sunshine. You also get discounts on services if you buy multiple services, but these were not as good as the daily specials that were offered.

There are charges for all spa services even if you have the spa pass or a spa cabin.

If you want one or two treatments during your cruise, read up on the prices in the previous post. When you see spa girls trying to get people to sign up, that means they do not personally have any appointments right then and are not making any money. You can often negotiate a good price on a spa treatment from them if you are ready to start right now. My wife does that a lot for massages.

We've been on the Dream twice and liked it enough to book a third time in February. We didn't seek out the Dream, price and itinerary just worked out that way. Both trips were great and up to our expectations. The second trip was the second half of the October Journeys Cruise where there were issues with embarkation and debarkation but that is not part of the normal process.

On the second cruise we tried YTD and didn't feel the service was as good as the regular time dining. The sea day brunches also took way too long. About 2 hours. I don't mind that for dinner, but not breakfast. None of the "issues" made the cruise and less enjoyable.

Unless you're just looking for problems there is no reason not to have a fantastic time.

The elevators are just a little slow and the lobby gets crowded with cruise guests in the morning, but we found it a great place to stay before the cruise. There was an officer directing traffic at the corner so crossing the street with our bags was no problem. From there to the cruise terminal was an easy walk. The breakfast buffet on the second floor is slightly pricey but very good. We could see the ships from the window in our room, but the view from the dinning room terrace is very picturesque.

Alas, no more casino. At least not for now.

Our "Your Time Dining" was in the lower level of the Crimson Dinning room just off of the Atrium on the Lobby deck. Two lines going in to two hostess, one for each side of the dining room. Line up on the side you want to eat on. It generally took 10-15 minutes to go through the lines around opening time. When we left the lines were about the same length.

On our first night we were assigned a waiter we had on a previous cruise on a different ship, so we asked for the same team every night. A couple of nights they were on later shifts but the other waiters were Ok, too.

This was our first time at YTD and we found it a little slower and the wait team didn't seem to work together as well as Traditional dining, but that impression is from only one cruise and could be part of the overall trend for the MDR lately.

They are now scheduled for a second day in Huatulco.

Thanks, that pretty well convinces me the ship isn't likely to stop there in February.

The HAL Amsterdam is scheduled to be there on 12/12. Has anyone from that cruise (left San Diego on 11/16) said anything about if they will miss that port?

I've booked under a lot of different promotions and sales rates and have never been denied the shareholder OBC, even with some pretty drastic discounts.

The Sunshine did not have the American table back in May.

The CD can help make some of the shows and the announcements he makes more enjoyable, but there hasn't been much difference in the overall cruise experience to me when we have the touted "Great" CDs and when we had duds.

I have only seen the ship board time change twice. Once in October the Dream Journeys cruise changed to the Central time zone after leaving from San Juan. It changed to the San Juan time zone (Not its real name) on the previous leg of the Journeys cruise.

The other was on the Splendor out of Long Beach changed to the central time zone for Puerto Vallarta. Maybe Carnival changes if they get two time zones away from home port.

Usually the forward dining room, lower level but it can be anywhere they decide to use the space. I believe it is the Sunset Dining room deck 3 but for some reason the Carnival web site isn't showing the Sunshine in it's list of ships where I could double check the deck plans.

You can book early saver on board and still get credit for the price drops plus the OBC for booking on a ship.

You also don't have those depressing weeks where you don't have a cruise booked.

Its the same in the summer but in the fall its an hour difference.

Miami observes Daylight Savings time, the Caribbean in general doesn't so it's the same time in 2 time zones most of the year. In October I thought we would gain another hour flying from Orlando to San Juan but because of DST we didn't.

If you would be happy moving from an interior to a Balcony cabin then you made the right choice for you.

As a heads up a Jr Suite on a Fantasy class ship is pretty close in size to a Balcony cabin on a larger ship but are nicely decorated. They are on deck 11 and look down on the Lido deck instead of down onto the water. The rooms are under the spa and gym on deck 12 but the balcony is open so will have a lot of sunshine. If you received "obstructed view" you would be behind the life boats, otherwise you will have a good view.

Yes.

Sunshine has two dining rooms, Sunrise Dining room in the aft and Sunset Dining room in the middle. Fixed seating is usually in the Sunrise Dining room on both deck 3 and 4. The Sunset is only on deck 3 and is where YTD is usually provided.

Every change makes it harder to use. Go back to the old days of showing the floor plan and highlighting which cabins are available. If you want to get fancy include a color coded chart of the prices. Nothing has ever worked better than that.

Sometimes it doesn't show up on your payment screen, but show up if you display your boarding documents.