nwcruiselover

I don't know about decorations, but they can get a cake from Cherry on Top. It doesn't have to be ordered ahead of the cruise.

See you at trivia in September, Robb! Nancy

The prizes depend on the ship. It used to be a ship on a stick for the winner of each trivia game. That has changed to a medallion, AKA “bling on a string” on many ships. When people play in groups, there is one prize for the team. In cases of a tie, they have a tie-breaker question. Some ships still give out ships on a stick, but most seem to have medallions now.

I know from first-hand experience that it includes WhatsApp. I don’t use the other social media you mentioned.

I used the soda dispenser in the Lido Celebration using my sail & sign card. I didn't have a package. What I got was very flat soda with not enough soda syrup in it. I never tried again, just went to a bar or Java Blue and bought cans of soda.

That's so true. In my case the difference is only $50, so I'm just going to forget about it and move on. In your case, the difference would be $250. I wish they would get their act together. If I ever book a similar combination of cruises that add up to 12 or 13 (with one of the cruises being 7 day) I will submit one and wait awhile to submit the other. That might work.

They put $50 on each booking.

I even asked them what would have happened if I had done that, and they said when the second one came through and they saw it was a B2B, they would have denied the second one.

Two booking numbers, two separate cruises. They adamantly insisted that this counts as a 13 day cruise.

I stayed in this area on the Venezia TA, and it was very nice. I would do it again. The lounge area itself is open to everyone, but it's rarely crowded. They did kareoke there in the evenings, but again, not crowded. The outside area with loungers, clamshells, and two hot tubs, is only for people staying in Terrazza cabins, and it's wonderful. It's not crowded at all and I was always able to find a comfortable place in the shade. I highly recommend it!

I recently applied for stockholder's OBC for two consecutive cruises, B2B on the same ship. One was 6 days and one was 7 days. I was given a total of $100 OBC, $50 for each cruise. I was expecting $50 for the 6 days and $100 for the 7 days. The Guest Admin department said they looked at this B2B journey as one 13 day cruise and gave me $100 since that's what 7-13 day cruises receive. Has anyone else experienced this?

I have two total knee replacements. They beep at the airport and I tell them about my knees. They either: (1). Call an officer of my same gender to do a wand and pat-down. It’s not very intrusive and very quick. (2). Sometimes they send me to the full body scanner instead of the wand and pat-down. On the ship, I just point to my knees and they usually just pass a wand past my knees and send me on my way. No problem.

FYI, for those of you going on the Venezia, the mini-fridge we had in our cabin was VERY COLD. Our cabin steward recommended against storing insulin in there because it was probably too cold and the insulin could freeze. My husband took his extra insulin pens to Medical where they stored it at the proper temperatore. Sure enough, the first morning of the cruise, the water we had in the mini-fridge was frozen. Glad the insulin wasn't in there.

We were also in a Terrazza Cabana on the TA and had an ice bucket that was refilled every day. Some friends onboard didn't have ice buckets, so I asked my cabin steward why, and he said it was just for suites and the Terrazza area. Hope they have rectified that by now.

I have seen them too, and the Fun Squad just ignore their obvious cheating.

I’m a huge trivia fan and I love to play, but the cheaters take some of the fun out of it. Nowadays on many ships, they’re playing for medallions (bling on a string), rather than ships on sticks. I don’t mind people who have heard the answers before on other trivia sessions and actually remember the answers, but those who google or fill in the answers as they’re read should be banned.

Long Beach is one port where arrival times are strictly adhered to. So if diamonds, platinums, suites and FTTF arrive before their arrival times, they will not be able to enter the terminal. Long Beach has separate line-ups for all the arrival times, and everyone must get in their appropriate line. With a 11:00 - 11:30 arrival time and being in a suite, you should be onboard by 12:00 - 12:30 under normal conditions.

That’s very true. If people would just use these elevators the way they are designed, they would be very efficient.

Once people get used to them, the smart elevators work very well and are more efficient than “normal” elevators. People need to remember to select the floor they want, once for each passenger. That way the smart elevator “knows” how many people will be getting on. For people with walkers, wheelchairs and scooters, there is a disabled button under the regular buttons. Press that, then select the floor you want. Then the elevator will allow extra room for the mobility device. It works very well if people follow these “rules.”

Definitely, nice jeans and a dressy top would be fine for elegant night in Alaska. The dress is more casual on the Alaska cruises.

No, Carnival doesn’t sell a coffee package, unfortunately. They do have a coffee punch card where you buy 6 and get the 7th coffee drink free.

I was on the Venezia TA cruise. The second night of the cruise was the first elegant night, and the night where people were encouraged to wear masks. There was a craft session that morning to assist people in decorating masks to wear, but they ran out of supplies fairly early. That night, not that many people wore masks, less than 25% for sure, but it was fun to see them. Some were very elegant.

Carnival is not hosting meet and mingles and hasn't done them since the restart.

We’ll be looking for you. DH and I are also in a Terrazza Cabana.

Following along. DH and I will also be on the 5/29/23 TA on Venezia. If we see you we’ll say hello.