Victorious8

For me it made sense to pay before my cruise because I was paying with a travel rewards credit card. Paying a large sum of the balance early, then using the points I received to pay off part of the cruise actually saved me money. Also doing this early made sense because I received extra credit card points by spending that much on the card in the first few months. Obviously this would not apply to most people.

Where are you finding those "awesome" deals? They sure aren't like they used to be.

 

I'm always ready for a road trip!

Awesome deals compared to what it costs now for a solo traveler.

Edited to add some of the last minute cruises have been letting your get the Free at Sea perk even though it less than 30 days.

Hey everyone, so I am about to go crazy with my insane semester of school and I am really in need of a spring break trip. My friend just backed out of our CA cruise trip and the only other option I have at the moment is Cancun with a group of 21 year olds. Although that sounds fun and I am still pretty wild I am also 27 and am looking for some wild times in moderation. I see now that a lot of the NCL cruises have awesome last minute deals (and for singles) is this common for them to do or is this out of the ordinary. Thanks!

I took my first cruise at about 22. It was a Princess cruise in Europe and I still had an absolute blast. Again Princess probably had way less fun things to do (not to mention a very old average age). Again I had no clue what to expect and am a very go with the flow. My next cruise on a big RCL ship at about 24. Definitely much more to do and maybe more "fun" but didn't see a huge difference (really I just loved our connecting rooms with family and the younger crowd).

My favorite cruise was my last one on Princess and it was definitely not for young people.

 

One thing about first time cruises is it is really hard to know kinda "how to cruise" until you have a few cruises under your belt. I definitely think the longer cruise. It may take them a bit to warm up to it and figure it out/make friends. It will be better to have a long cruise.

 

Also with the 16year old. I know my cousin had a lot more fun on our Princess cruise when she was 14 than when she was 17 (until i broke the rules and snuck her into the disco, sure get mad but she was the ONLY person in a group of 20 under 18). Again I am sure this is more of issue with 12 Princess cruises...

The Triumph is in a very short dry dock. I would imagine it is simple maintenance stuff. Lots of changing carpet, painting, scrubbing, etc. I wouldn't be worried about coming on board after that kind of dry dock. I would be more concerned if they were doing major work and adding a lot of things, such as Guy's and the Alchemy Bar. I could see those areas not being finished and service being slow because they aren't fully trained and run into problems they didn't expect.

 

Inspiration just finished a dry dock where they added these things and more. Granted there is not a ton of information on here but not one person has mentioned things not being done or the improvements not running smoothly. Actually most comments are about how much they enjoyed the new stuff.

 

Have fun! Maybe check out the Inspiration recent reviews to pose this question.

I am a 27 year old female (someone has to keep the average age down on CC right?) and I really like to cruise. I am also extremely extroverted and love to party. I was a bit meh before our first cruise but NO WAY was I going too pass up the opportunity. I went with a large group of family so there was always something to do. I do think it would have been a little weird my first time to go alone with parents. I definitely second the inviting a friend. Maybe you can compromise by paying the cruise fare for friend but that person covers expenses?

A lot of my friends give me a side eye about cruising but I love it for the ease of planning, some of the stuff is a bit hokey but that first my personality. Good luck though!

Without FTTF, how early can you board? We are flying into LAX and will arrive just before 8:00 a.m. Would like to get on the ship as early as possible.

 

Interested in this as well!

[quote name='jimbo5544']Long Beach is a perfect example of a port that needs staggered check in. It would solve a lot of their problems.[/QUOTE]

Could you elaborate a bit more? I have never used this port or Carnival. I have found it pretty hard to find recent information about this port (I had a hell of a time finding info about alternate parking).

THIS X 123190248094

 

I think this has SO much to do with it. I think that most of the cruise crowd does not go out to bars (as in on the weekends and after 9:00pm). I believe they are used to the normal cruise way which is wayyyyy unrealistic to real life. Sure it would be great to be able to still have the automatic service that we had before but that isn't realistic with the new beverage plan.

 

I currently live in a college town which has CRAZY cheap bars (think multiple places in a small area to get a 3$ 32oz beer on the weekends at peek hours). I'd say this is similar to the UBP. Most bars have a waitress or two but really you don't depend on them, you go to the bar and wait, it's normal to wait 50-10 minutes to get someones attention.

 

I do recognize that for many people their drinking habits on the bar are significantly different from their habits on land. I could see how the change would feel particularly significant and hard to understand. I think it is the normal bar goers/people who have not cruised as much who do not see the waits as an issue.

 

 

I wonder how much people's experience depends on whether they generally go to the bar for drinks, or wait for a server.

 

I habitually go to the bar. It's just what I do. The only time I don't is if a server happens to ask us for a drink when we are close to needing one, and in my experience that has always been very rare on NCL. Just two particularly good servers spring to mind (Spirit pre UBP offers and Getaway last year).

 

If I was waiting for servers, I'm sure I would always have waited quite a while on NCL and, given the reports of just one or two servers working a while pool deck that may have now got worse.

 

When going to the bar, I would say that maybe the number of people waiting has increased slightly at certain times in my experience, but nothing major.

[quote name='ShakyBeef']Here's the PDF from Carnival listing all the ports and times:

[url]https://help.carnival.com/ci/fattach/get/90416/1454607880/redirect/1/filename/Embarkation%20Check-In%20Times.pdf[/url]

It looks like Long Beach has not yet gone to Staggered Check-In. Have a great cruise.:)[/QUOTE]

Awesome! Thanks so much! Also since it says 1-4 is this the sort of situation where you can normally come before that time?

I am SOOOOO excited for this cruise. I am finishing up graduate school and because of family issues/a course getting cancelled I am taking 19 graduate credits this semester to finish up my law degree and my masters of social work. This spring break trip is what is keeping me going with my 80 hour weeks!

Great news! I wonder where they were!

How can you find if this applies to your port? I am sailing out of Long Beach. My friends and I have been thinking of doing a last minute cruise but I am nervous we will get stuck with an obnoxious check in time.

Also this matters to us because we plan on buying the Cheers program, will be driving a distance and will want to be able to relax sooner, plus the friend has never been on a cruise and I want to be able to orient here as quickly as possible. Thanks!

Prayers and good vibes to all involved

I've never done Carnival, how late do you board if you don't have FTTF? I'm leaving out of Long Beach if that helps answer my question.

Not quite the same atmosphere in the Alchemy Bar as on the Miracle - especially with TVs - yikes! Thanks so much for posting - we've been so curious!

 

 

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I find it odd they have that empty space on the wall though. I wonder if they are going to be installing TV's or putting something there at a later date.

Just a good reminder I need to hit the gym later today so I can be ready to dance like that on the Escape in August!

Welp... at least I know. Too bad what has been seen cannot be unseen. I watched the video that basically was a rant on how women are dumb bitches because they don't date big men who are so insecure they won't cheat on them...

 

I just can't even...

 

I also wondered if I counted since I don't identify as skinny or big.

 

I sincerely hope he is getting help. He looked noticeably different since the cruise.

Can someone explain the Motley thing or send me a link?

 

Man these board have been making me want to go on a cruise SO BAD. I keep saying book the August sailing! I need to have some drinking buddies and friends!

Amazing review! I am so glad to see the ship is alive during the late hours. I can't believe I have to wait until August. CC has been my reward for my study break. Now I only have about 12 more weeks of law school, two months or reviewing for the bar exam and then it will be my turn!!

 

Seriously this was amazing. If you want to be BFF's on my solo cruise I am looking for a friend!

YASSSS! This live update is wonderful! I hope to find fun people like you on my solo trip in August!

LOVING this review! As someone who is younger and will definitely have a few too many Patron shots on my cruise I am loving this perspective. Also I hope you feel better soon!

Great review! Can you comment more about your sons experiences? I'm in my late twenties and will be doing this cruise as a solo in August.

So excited for this review! I am in my late twenties and y'all seem to be the sort of people I would love to meet on the cruise. I will be on the Escape in August solo!

Yep. Once late spring hits, most of the ships go to Europe or Alaska and leave the Caribbean.

 

Interesting, my cruise itinerary says I am going to Philipsburg, St. Maarten on August 9th but I can't find it listed on any website that shows cruise schedules...