moondog73

Last Aug we went to Panama City Beach, FL and Cancun in Sept.  Both were very low occupancy rates.  Cancun was only at 30% and I felt much safer at the resort there than in the US (as far as covid is concerned).  We enjoyed Cacnun so much we are already scheduled to go again later thi syear in Sept again.  Can't wait for cruining to start up again but there are definitely other places and ways to travel.

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

We dont even know if we have to do carnival only excursions.

 

If you book a private excursion, I'd for sure only book refundable. Even if you can book private excursions it's best to book refundable. My last vista cruise, early Nov, hit a offseason cold blast. It was 62 degrees in belize. Those who booked thru carnival were trying to cancel ... those who booked privately were miserable in the water I heard. Sometimes saving $5 to book privately isnt all its cracked up to be. We didnt miss the port, but it was sure cold for water excursions. 

 

Carnivals policy if a port is missed is to refund your port fees.... nothing else. I've missed a lot of ports. You click to agree to these terms. 

Not sure what excursions you have done in the past, but every non-ship excursion we have done has been considerably cheaper and considerably less crowded.  I do it more for less idiots I have to deal with on the excursion.  The money savings is merely a bonus!!!  A perfect example is the Waterfall Excursion in Amber Cove.  We did more waterfalls for less money with proably 1/10th of the people.  Same with snorkeling and Sting Ray City in Grabd Cayman.  It was way cheaper and we had maybe 12 people vs 50-60 on the ship tours.  Maybe you like your other passengers that much, but not me!!!

This thread is just Great!!!  By the same logic people will not get the vax, then you should never take advil since it is bad for you liver, dont eat fried foods since it is bad for you heart and pancreas, redmeat bad for heart, eggs bad for chloestoral, alcohol bad for liver, and most drugs have a super lsmall percentage of death.  Also you can NEVER have any surgery since there is a smaal percentage of death too. 

Yes it is true some people got blood clots that took certain vaccines.  But saying the vaccine caused it though would be like me saying it prevented blood clots in 99% of the people who took it.  It is just all nonsense. No one can say with 100% certainty.

I wish all health care companies would rally together and just say if you dont get a vax, pay for any potential covid related costs yourself.  My company said we do not have to get a vax.  However, if we get covid with a vax they would pay us while off.  Without a vax, it is on your dime.  Not one person has complained about it. 

If/when cruising starts back up, I hope they require vaccinations.  For every person with out one, there will be 4 lined up and waiting to go.  It is your right to get one or not, but you can't complain if a compay requires you to hav one to sail.  Why should I potentially surfer a cancelled cruise/quarantine becuase peopel won't comply?  If the risks were so high, the governments of the world would not all be on board with it.  Heck, the drug compaines would not put themselves out there for all the sue happy clowns in the USA either.

19 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Those eggs don’t taste fake and watery to you? I used to eat some of their burritos. I just can’t take it anymore. I probably haven’t had a blue iguana burrito in 2 years. I guess I have too many Moe’s and chipotle burritos at home. 
 

Just load it up with all the other stuff too and you never even taste the eggs.

Forget the Carnival tour as it looked like a zoo.  We used Blue Water Dive Shop and only had 8 people in our boat,  We stayed away from the carnival excursion so we could snorkel in peace.

Load it to your account once you are on board.  It will be used first for whatever you purchase on the ship 

That is just how many points I have right now.  i also paid for 2 cruises of mine and wife, plus 2 for my brothers family (5  people total) plus 2 for my parents.  Plus since I am a customer, it seems I have e cards available much more than non-customers.  I don't know why that is but I LIKE it.

I have 242,938 points....but oh wait.. I am a customer.

21 minutes ago, OnePsychLynne said:

 

Do you have a picture of the shark cup? 

Here you go

Why go to a bar when the waiters walking around will do it for me?

In April on the Breeze they had several different ones.  I saw the whale tail, disco ball, 2-3 different fish and a shark.  Had them all but the shark so I tracked down a waiter and got one for my wife.

I use a small rollered carry on.  I load cans up in that and wine bottles.  After cruise I use the same suitcase to haul my bottles of rum purchased at the ports.  Never had an issue.  Security never even has asked to open the bags.

I can see cruise cash being used a s gift to people going on a cruise.  Other than that it is worthless to me.  I either use cash or discounted gift cards and add it while onboard.  I never understood loading up on cruise cash and then needing to do the casino trick to get my cash back.  Add cash as you need it (or credit card) and you are goo to go

we ask for only morning service and always still get a towel animal.  I don't understand why people need twice a day.  If you stay at a hotel, you only get once a day.

I never understood the fascination with door decorations.  Some say it makes their room easier to find., but isn't that what the room numbers are for?  People don't decorate hotel room doors, so why should they on a cruise ship since it is a floating hotel.  It doesn't bother that people decorate, but I am not wasting time or luggage space to do it.

Best advice is research, research, research.  Look at the port of calls boards here on CC and check tripadvisor as a starting point.  Google shore excursion for xxx.  Also, it is always much cheaper and a better experience not to do any ship sponsored tours.

I just logged in and see $100 and $500 cards.

I just logged in and still have my 207,000 points.  I am an All State customer though.

Breeze is all indoors.  In April, we were on deck 9 Fwd and our Muster Station was upper level of the theater.  Others used dining rooms or comedy club.  No standing around outside on the Breeze

This same question has been asked dozen of times though (among others).  A simple search on CC would have supplied the info quicker than waiting on replies.

When you think about it, it is ridiculous that people can find Cruise Critic but then ask questions about stuff that is clearly written on the Carnival website.  The Carnival website should be consulted first.  I use Cruise Critic more for people opinions and experiences about specific things.

Just be advised. The big plane (KLM 747) no longer goes to St Maarten.

1 hour ago, Sean_B said:

I can't believe you actually want to dissect the meaning of the word fee. Gratuities are a fee separate from your cruise fare, just as you mention.

 

If you have an issue with the policy, contact Carnival and take it up with them. I don't really care; I just provided an official answer to Op. Whatever interpretation you take from it is between you and Carnival, not me.

Is this the kind of person I have to deal with when cruising with Carnival? Have a great day.

Not sure why your are acting nasty.  You are the one who is wrong.  Taxes &  port fees are not the same thing as gratuities.  Just as OBC can not be sued to pay for a cruise fare, it can not be used to pay the port fees and taxes.  Those are additional but I consider them part of the cruise fare and must be paid.  Any other charge on-board can be paid for using OBC.

any charge that hits your S&S account will use the OBC (drinks, pics, grats, restaurants, etc).

In April we did not fill out a customs card.  We were told it is all verbal now.  The agent merely asked if we had any apples, oranges or bananas from the ship.  Of course we said "No".  They didn't ask if I had 13 bottles of rum.   I would have answered "Yes".