Donh44

I remember recently seeing a conversation about the gold/silver they sell on the ships by the inch. I was surprised to see a lot of negatives since I haven't had any problems with my silver set. I wanted to go back and finish reading them but cant find it. Anyone have the link?

I bought a necklace and a bracelet several years ago and they both turned my neck and wrist green. Never again.

I read that Costa is getting 2-180,000 ton heavies. I wonder if Carnival is eventually going to send one their own way? Never been on anything over Splendor size, so I'm not sure if I'd like it. Truthfully I found the Splendor a bit too big!

I have been told and read that the Splendor was originally built for the Costa Line but changed and Carnival took it over. That is why the ship is somewhat different than most of the other ships.

Is there an easy way to search/know what ships have 4 day sailings over the weekend? Planning a trip with my sisters and one of them doesn't get much vacation, so being over a weekend would work best for her.

Thanks!

There is a very nice 4 night cruise out of Jax, Fl to Freeport & Nassau. It goes out on Thur afternoon and returns on Monday at 7 am. I took it last August. Very nice getaway. On the Carnival Fascination.

Just want to be prepared if I ever get a call

My upcoming cruise will be my 6th with Carnival. I love Carnival and hope to be a stockholder soon. I have never received a "upsell" call nor the "casino free cruise call". Makes me wonder what the criteria is. Whether it is random or how much you spend on the casino and/or other things like excursions/photos, etc . They do know how much you spend via the usage of the S & S card.

Hi Fellow Cruisers

 

We live in Texas and have sailed Carnival Magic several times. Recently we heard from friends that the magic is looking it's age...though they still loved it. We are debating between a cruise on Royal's Liberty of the Seas vs Carnival's Breeze. I know...two very different experiences but we have young kids! I understand that Liberty is undergoing a 100 million dollar refurbishment. So i know that ship will look good. Anyhow...if any of you can chime in on how the Breeze's current condition we would appreciate it. Trying to decide which ship for next Aug 2016.

 

We are debating between grand suite on royal vs 2 balcony cabins on Breeze (family of 5). Obviously the grand suite is $$$ more then the Breeze. Having said that if the Breeze is looking too dated...we would consider paying the extra $$$$. My kids just love the water fun park on Magic...and I know the Breeze has this as well.

 

Thanks

Just remember, these ships carry thousands of people 24/7/365 until they go into drydock for the major upgrades and additional amenities. They take quite a quite a beating when you stop to think about it.

Just a two cents here.. By the time you've had your couple of drinks at the party it would amount to the coupon for the free drink in most cases. I really wish people would stop their wining... If it's that big of a deal.. Get yourself to platinum and stuff a sock in it.

I agree with you 100%. I always have felt that I get a great cruise for a reasonable price with good food and a nice selection of destinations and shore excursions. I went to the parties in the past and, to me, there was nothing to them. I always appreciated the past guest pins that they used to give. It just seems that there are always those who are looking for something for nothing. I think that Carnival cruises are a great package for the money.

As a heads up, last November when we sailed on the Fascination there were several short lines of cars waiting to enter the parking lot. Once they started letting us in, I inquired about pulling around to drop off passengers and luggage and they advised us they were not allowing to yet as the area was still congested with debarking passengers getting picked up.

 

Someone else can help my memory....but if I remember at least one person had to show photo ID to drive into the port.

 

So if you arrive early, plan on being able to park near the walkway to the port building and have all passengers walk with you. If the crowd is gone and they allow you to pull around to the curb, then bonus!

 

There were LOTS of porters with luggage carts practically running to cars to unload bags in the parking lot. You shouldn't have to carry anything into the port unless it's something you intend to carry onto the ship yourself.

I cruised out of JAXPORT last Aug. If I remember correctly, you will be directed into a lot and have your passport or ID verified prior to them allowing you to go into the regular parking lot. This is a security thing. It is not difficult. You just get in line with the other cars and follow thru with the procedure. No one has to get out of the car or bus or van or whatever vehicle you are in. Once ID is verified, then follow the other vehicles to the parking lot.

My Personal Vacation Planner is a nice guy. He calls every few months and sees if we are interested in booking. If I have a question, I email him and he emails me back right away.

 

We decided to book a cruise with 3 different families. I did inquire with him about some questions I had. Since there were multiple credit cards...new cruiser names that needed to be added, I found it to be easier to just do it on the website.

 

Will he not get credit for the booking? I want to upgrade one on the cabins, but I am embarrassed to call him since I booked online.

 

What are your thoughts?

I don't think that he is going to get any credit or commission on your booking since you did it online. He would have no way of knowing that you booked it that way unless you told him. As far as helping out with the booking now for the upgrade, I don't think that he will be able to help. You might be able to cancel the booking and rebook thru him, but don't know about any cancellation fees. He could have handled all of the families and all of the credit cards. That is his job. You might call him and explain and see if he can help you out.

Being as this cruise is at the end of Summer can anyone tell me please if the weather gets cooler at anytime, perhaps in the evening...Just planning clothing. I know last year when going to the Caribbean in June the first night out to sea on my balcony was very cool..

I did this same cruise back in 2010 in mid Sept and only needed a light jacket one day. I am taking this same cruise the day that you disembark from it. Weather should be fine. You will enjoy the cruise. To me it was the best cruise that I have taken so and and looking forward to Sept 6.

It is an interesting, yet subtle attempt to enhance the embarkation process. We along with most here, arrive early to board as soon as possible to enjoy our cruise vacation as much as possible.

 

What Carnival is attempting here is a normalization to one of the two least "fun" aspects of a Carnival cruise (the other being debarkation). Obviously, the attempt is to rid the boarding area of the hoards waiting to get on the ship. Most other cruise lines have been successful in staggering boarding times. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

Without sounding "snarky", don't be surprised if this becomes the norm. People are causing Carnival to do this. Everyone wants to board early to "start their vacation". Hence, huge crowds in the port terminal. Sooner or later it is going to get to the point that you will only be boarded when your time comes up. I was fairly late arriving at a port due to a transportation problem and arrived about 2:00. Walked right up to the counter and onto the ship all within about 10 minute timeframe. Everybody wants to be first. IMHO, my vacation starts the moment that I leave my home.

Aren't we glad that Carnival sends these emails....thousands of passengers who are unfamiliar with the boarding process (newbies) are diligent about getting to the pier when they are asked to do so and in the process it definitely staggers the rush of humanity that are impatiently waiting to board. Without the emails I'd assume that thousands of peeps would show up at 9am, congesting to the point of stall an already unruly scene.

 

Just board at a "retirement" pier where hundreds of passengers are loyalists and who obviously ignore the email....talk about a zoo.

 

Since nobody seems to "read" the Carnival site that schedules boarding for 1pm or later Carnival is just trying to ensure that the herds are staggered, at least a bit, by issuing a "blanket" email.

 

Besides, platinums and diamonds and FTTF holders "are not guaranteed" early boarding they are guaranteed priority boarding once they make it to the pier....big, big difference.

So many people ignore this request. Carnival is doing this to help control an influx. Of course, FTTF & platinum and diamond have priority boarding anyway. These e-mails are probably mass produced. My concern is that if those to whom this applies continue to arrive at 9:00 am or so, what do you think Carnival will eventually do? Probably assign a boarding time space on your boarding pass and have someone check the boarding pass when you get to the terminal. Then they will complain about that when they are the ones who have caused it.

A "good price point" is the one that makes sense to you. When I bought in it was just under $20 a share & it was a historically low trading stock, so that seemed like about the best I would do - I figured it might go into the 30s but never expected the current trading value! With the shareholders credits the dividends AND the upward trend I've done alright. It's a long term hold for me as long as I continue to reap the rewards. :p

Thanks again for all of the wonderful comments and advice. So glad that there were no snarky comments to a novice. I am watching the stock prices and waiting for a while to see how it progresses. What with Carnival moving into the China market and, possible as well, the Cuban market, it is worth watching.

What scares me is that there isn't 24/7 emergency medical service available.

Now that comment I totally agree with. Since it is a closed community, there is nowhere else to go for help. Someone s/b available 24 hours. The doctor surly hasn't left the ship. He is somewhere.

Plus there is a $1/share dividend for the stock. Not a lot, but something extra :)

This may sound dumb, but I don't understand this. You mean over and above the quarterly dividends? Not sure I understand, but then I am a novice at this.

Yep, every qualifying cruise, however, you have to request, and send in proof of ownership for each, and every cruise.

 

"SKY"

Thanks everyone. I thought that was the way that it worked but I read one article which led me to believe otherwise. I knew that I would get good information from CC members. Thanks again. Now, if it would only drop a little bit (for my benefit) and I will purchase some.

I am considering buying some Carnival stock. I understand that with the purchase of a minimum of 100 shares, the invester is entitled to OBC ranging from $50 to $200.00 depending on cruise length. My question is: Is this the rule for every cruise after the stock purchase or only on the first cruise after purchasing the stock? I have read a lot about it and got the impression that it might only be for the first cruise after purchase. Can someone answer my question? I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the tease. Will be doing this itinerary on the Splendor in 10 weeks!

Will be on the same cruise as you are. Looking forward to it.

Then why would you take a cruise that goes to Mexico?

Some ports on the western cruise are not in Mexico. I will not set foot in Mexico. I don't necessarily cruise for the ports anyway.

We don't even get off the ship in Cozumel.

Me either. I will not spend $1.00 in Mexico.

I am stunned and Carnival has moved up on my there is goodness in people list. I needed to cancel my upcoming cruise ten days out for personal reasons. I had no real documentation other than to tell them my ex messed up our custody schedule and I couldn't go on the cruise. I took a shot and emailed them requesting my cruise fare be transferred to our family cruise in April 2016. I fully expected them to say no and really wouldn't have blamed them if the did.

 

Obviously by this post, I am delighted to say Carnival transferred my cruise fare to the 2016 balance. I am beyond thankful!

Glad to hear that it worked out for you. So many of these incidences don't have a happy ending. Sorry that you couldn't go on the cruise but glad that you didn't lose out on anything.

If its Carnival then you'll have no issues..it's when it's someone private not booked through Carnival that you'd have to worry maybe

Thanks everyone

I would think the ship will stay on ships time and all the times provided on both the arrival and departure time as well as the shore excursion times are based on ships time. Though this could be the cause of the issue? Not sure.

 

If it were me, I would just rent a car and leave early. The photo taking tour being only 3.5 hours, it sounds like leaves later in the day. Renting a car and getting out early would give you lots of time to see the sights. You could probably get to some better sites in a car than the bus could. Too bad Hopewell Rocks is over two hours away. Depending on tide times, that would be a great place to see.

 

Driving from Halifax to Peggy's Cove is less than an hour and I suspect the cemetery they go to is Fairview Cemetery in Halifax. Seeing the rows of Titanic victim graves is truly haunting. While you wouldn't have a tour guide, I would rent a car for this one too. With a car you could perhaps beat the buses to Peggy's Cove which tends to get over run with them throughout the day. Driving in Canada is super easy. Not sure how easy it is to rent a car near the port though. We traveled through Eastern Canada with our own car, never cruised to there.

I wanted to go to the Hopewell Rocks Park, but I checked the tide schedule and, on the day that we are there at the time of the excursion, it will be high tide. No chance to walk on the ocean floor. Wouldn't think that it would be that scenic to see if it is mostly water.

Don't sweat it, the ship will not leave without you. Enjoy your excursions!!

Thanks for the encouragement. But, I hate to cut it close even though I know that Carnival will back it up. BTW, loved your picture review. Great job.

If they are Carnival Excursions I wouldn't worry at all. You will return to the ship before it sails, np.

 

Is there a difference between ship time and shore time then?

No change in ship time at those locations. Both are in the Eastern time zone.

I am booked on the Splendor out of NY in Sept to go to New England/Canada. Two of the excursions that I am interested in have me a bit concerned. In St John, NB there is a Photo Taking tour that is about 3.5 hours but not scheduled to be over until about 15 min before the ship departs. In Halifax, NS there is a Peggy's Cove/Titanic Cemetery excursion that is not scheduled to be over until 30 minutes prior to ship departure. This has me puzzled. They are Carnival excursions. I know they are supposed to be guaranteed but would you book an excursion which gets you back to the ship so close to departure? I am one who likes to make sure that I am back on time. I am not a pier runner and don't want to be. Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing? Can't believe that Carnival would have them scheduled so close to departure.