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I think that would be fine. We have been on Radiance twice in the last year. Looking at my Uber receipts, we were off the ship and in the Uber between 8:00 - 8:15 am both times. We are also Platinum and do priority/self debarkation.

Long Beach is set up that way also.

We have been on 8 cruises in the past year (10 since they started this new process) and in our case it totally depended on the port, except for guests in suites, they had priority in every single port. In every port (except for San Francisco) we boarded by boarding group and it was very quick and organized. San Francisco was a total mess (boarding was late, then they called for any guests in suites/diamond/platinum, all at once, which resulted in a huge crowd rushing toward the boarding area). To further add to the priority/no priority confusion, some ports have lines designated for Suite Passengers/Platinum/Diamond for expedited check-in, but even if you get through the check-in line quickly, you still have to wait for your boarding group to be called.

I was just curious what Carnival told you when you called? But it sounds like maybe you have determined (through screen shots and advice here) that it's a balcony guarantee, not Havana area? If you have time to come back up update us after your cabin is assigned, I'd love to know how it turns out. Living on the west coast we sail out of Long Beach frequently but I've never tried a guaranteed cabin.

I thought the same thing. Hopefully OP will come back and let us know how it turned out.

Yes, take a copy of your request (including proof of ownership) to guest services and they can apply it onboard.

I called Carnival when I had something similar happen, and in my case, was told it was a balcony guarantee (not HC). I know their agents can be hit or miss in helpfulness lately, but you might give it a try.

Wow, I'm jealous, what a deal. We are booked on Celebration in January, but the price for the Havana Cabana was significantly more than an extended balcony cabin, so we booked the ext. balcony.

You might want to at least give it a try - It all depends on what you are looking for. I know I'm really in the minority here, but I liked the Havana area on Mardi Gras better than Panorama (on Panorama it was too crowded for me). But I will admit I typically sail when the ships are really full. I don't do the pools/hot tubs, so I'm happy to just be guaranteed to find a quiet lounge chair without a lot of noise or people around (and Mardi Gras was perfect for that, super quiet and relaxing). No chair hogs/savers at all. Although the pool is not large, it's certainly big enough to get in a cool off, and at least on our cruise, it was so rarely used, 1 couple (or 1 family) usually had it all to themselves. I would book the Havana area on the Excel class ships every time if there weren't such a significant upcharge for it. Coincidentally it was also April when we were in our Havana Cabana on Mardi Gras and because of spring break, we over capacity with a ton of kids. But you never would have known in the Havana area.

Agree, great advice - be sure to keep an eye on your credit card (or whatever form of payment you used) even after your final paper statement is issued on the ship, as I've heard of people getting charged for laundry and beach towels days later. It's easy for me to keep on top of charges in the app while on the ship, but I always forget after I board the plane to go home. Out of sight our of mind I guess.

Thank you so much for posting this - it reminded to go back and see if any bungalows had come available and I just rented one. To answer your question, I'm a minimalist so I don't buy "stuff" but I do buy excursions. Train rides are my favorite - we have done the Panama Canal one and the scenic White Pass train in Alaska (my favorite). But I do have a family member who has purchased everything from jewelry/watches/liquor to several pieces of artwork.

The best way to know if this is good deal/offer based on your booking, is if you know how much you would have paid for a balcony cabin at the time you booked (versus the interior). I just did a mock booking on Mardi Gras for March 4th. I can book a balcony (double occupancy) for $350 per person more than an interior. Granted this example doesn't take into consideration the deck and location of the rooms, etc, but you get the idea. So assuming your upgraded rate is a total of $350 for 2 people, it sounds like it could possibly be about 50% less than you could have booked it for originally (depending on when you booked of course). In general for me it would not be worth it, but much of it is personal preference. We've been on Mardi Gras twice (balcony cabins both time) and there is so much to do on that ship, we spent very little time in the room. Also we recently sailed the Mexican Riviera during hurricane Kay and while many of the people with balcony cabins said the high winds caused their cabins to be noisy all night (for multiple nights), it was perfectly quiet in our interior cabin. Of course that was a different ship/different time of year, but food for thought. 🙂

Thank you for the suggestion (I will do this too). We are on Spirit for 16 days next fall, and I'm ridiculously traumatized by bugs (have always lived in a climate where we just don't have to deal with them very much).

I'm not really a breakfast person, but I do like the yogurt parfait on the brunch menu (and I haven't found it offered anywhere else on the ship).

Last month, we were off the ship by 7:35 (carried our luggage). We are platinum and they had told us to meet at 8:00 for priority debarkation, but by the time we got there at 7:30, everybody was already gone.

We are platinum/total of 21 cruises on Carnival, with a history of booking both inside and balcony cabins. Only 1 offer in 14 years (and it was since cruising resumed) - we were booked in an aft facing balcony cabin on Miracle. I don't know what the offer was specifically, as it was gone by the time I responded.☹️

Great review, thank you. I totally agree with you - we absolutely loved our Havana Cabana on Mardi Gras during spring break. But also like you, we booked at the height of the pandemic and got an incredible deal. The prices now seem so high, I'm not sure we'll do it again.

We were on Panorama (Vista's sister ship) about a month ago, and one night all the toilets (in cabins and public areas) in the front section of the ship (all decks) quit working. We noticed it in our cabin about 9:30 pm and it got fixed sometime overnight. I know these ships are constantly in service and things like this will happen, but at the time, you get kind of nervous not knowing if the problem will get fixed or get worse.

We have sailed out of Long Beach 4 times in the past year (we were also Platinum, with early arrival appointments). Out of the 10 cruises we've done since cruising resumed, I'd say Long Beach is one of the best/most organized. Every time we were there, they would not even allow people into the terminal until their stated arrival appointment time (with at least 3 staff people at the entrance to the terminal checking all boarding passes). They had very organized lines outside the terminal (based on arrival appointment time) but an open path to the front door for current/late arrivals. Twice our plane was late and we were able to bypass the lines outside, show the staff person at the door our arrival appointment time (which had passed) and were let in immediately. That's not to say we didn't wait in line once inside (it's a process to load 4,000 passengers) but it wasn't bad. Our experience was back when they were still covid testing people at the pier, which did create some delays/longer waits I think.

I think you will find Celebration to be a fun new experience - Carnival has nothing that compares to their new Excel class. Although I have nothing against Legend (Spirit class is also one of my favorites) we have really enjoyed Mardi Gras. With our first experience on Mardi Gras being at 50% capacity, I was worried a full ship would be overwhelmingly crowded, but It really wasn't (when we sailed above capacity on spring break). We loved it so much we have already booked Celebration (January) and Jubilee (NYE 2023). Like you said, all the added food and entertainment options are definitely a benefit of these larger ships.