wmjrdn4ever

Promised to let you know the end result.

We are all checked in through the lounge. Once checked in we waited for about 20 minutes in the lounge itself.

Then we were escorted on the ship. We went through an access door to bypass the first ones called to board.

My son is very excited to report he was the absolute, one hundred percent first guest onboard.

The gave us our sail and sign cards at the entry point. We did not actually ding on.

However, the real answer is yes my wife and I have platinum cruise cards for this cruise.

Now we are off to the Bahamas.....

Please let us know your experience.

I will. Thank you.

Interesting- maybe it is something like that. Just for this cruise since it is the Owners/Penthouse whatever suite. The good news is, nine days and I will know for certain!

I do not have personal experience to share about this, but do remember back in 2014 Carnival was extending temporary Platinum status offers to certain customers.

 

That is the only situation where I have ever heard of Carnival extending temporary Platinum status.

 

My personal experience before becoming Platinum and booking a suite was priority embarkation as a suite perk, and that is reflected on the boarding pass.

When we were booked in the Grand Suite we were still marked as Gold on the boarding pass and the status was marked as Priority on the other paperwork and luggage tags.

When we were upgraded to the Owners Suite, the new paperwork shows us as Platinum and the status is marked as VIP on the paperwork and luggage tags.

Not a big deal, more curious than anything.

Cruising the first week of March. A month or so ago took the upgrade offer on the Penthouse/Owners Suite. The cost from the Grand Suite to the Owners Suite was a small percentage for tripling the space from 300 sf-ish to 900 sf-ish for the three of us (wife, 7 year old son and myself).

Any way, we are all VIFP Gold with 49 days, so multiple cruises away from VIFP Platinum.

However, all of our documents for this cruise have us as Platinum. The VIFP numbers are correct.

Do they "artificially" upgrade you for cruising in a premium cabin?

Thank you for posting. What was your favorite?

Thought it was interesting. A little happy happy joy joy interesting, but still interesting. Had not seen it posted before.

FTTF - report

We were on this itinerary on March 1. We boarded at 11:10, we got to the port at 10:30-ish. We were the first FTTF the passengers to board.

It sounded like they were boarding Diamond and Platinum through Gates A & B, but only let FTTF passengers board through Gate A.

When it was time to go home, we were told to meet in the dining room at 7:15am. We left the ship about 7:40 am.

As a big aft fan "slight" and "mini" would not be words I would use!

Best of luck! :)

Be sure and post some pics of your room when you return. There are not many out there and I would love to see what I have to look forward to!!!!

I would love to, but you will be there before me! You get back one week before we leave so you will have show me what I can look forward to!

I cant answer your question sorry, but we are booked in that cabin for our Valor cruise :D :D Do you have any pictures you can share? so your saying the balcony is bigger than the other aft balconies? :D

 

the Breeze is a Dream class and the Valor is a Conquest class so they might be different.

Yes, absolutely if you are in Valor 8450 the balcony is wider than the ones in the middle of the aft section. The cabin is the same width, but the balcony is about 4 feet wider than the cabin. We liked it so well we booked the same cabin in 2011 and 2012.

OP....did that answer your question??

Not exactly -- the cabins you describe are on the side of the ship and they do have the longer balcony. They talked these cabins up a lot at one of the future cruise presentations I attended when they were debuting the Magic.

These cabins will not work for us because we need a cabin for three, not two.

The one I am asking about is -- imagine looking at the inside door for the aft wrap, the one you reference is on the right, the one I am asking about is on the left and is a true aft balcony.

I am going to go ahead and try to do the upgrade and take a chance. My wife really likes the aft balcony cabins so even if it is not wider, she will still enjoy it.

Stumped?

When we cruised on the Valor in 11 and 12 we were in aft balcony Cabin 8450. We really liked this Cabin because the balcony was about 40 percent wider than the standard aft cabin balcony.

We are currently booked on the Breeze for March 2014 and thinking about upgrading to another aft cabin.

Looking at some pictures it looks like Cabins 9477 and 9474 have the same balcony lay out.

These are not the aft wraps -- they are right next to the aft wrap where the wrap cabin and the first aft cabin are separated by a non-public area, and the cabins share the "extra" balcony space.

Saw this pic on a review and thought it looked like it was the same as the Valor.

Anyone have a confirmation?

This has been a fun review to read - thanks. We have never been on the Ecstasy but it is one that we look at a lot when trying to figure out a way to get to the Bahamas for quick getaway.

I have never been to Puerto Rico and as a US citizen I have not gotten stamps in St Thomas. There is a Customs office in Havensight Mall that should be able to stamp for you since you are a Canadian.

In Belize when you enter the cruise terminal area there is a long wall of buildings and a covered walkway that rings the perimeter of the area. As you look away from the ship go toward the left. If you imagine the perimeter as a "L" tipped over toward the right the stamp office is right at the corner.

In Roatan its a small, almost trailer looking building close to where you end up after walking the long dock - its on the right near the fence. The stamp in Roatan is definitely a novelty stamp more than anything official, but it works. (at least in September 2011)

I have enjoyed getting my son's passport stamped.

Nassau is very easy -- just before you go in the building to go through security to get back on the ship - as you look at the ship - turn to your right and you will see a tall chain link fence with an open gate and a guard. Show the guard your sail pass and he will let you in. Go in to the building walk to the end of the hall and they will stamp it there. What is good about it is you can leave the building and then just walk to the ship and do not have to wait in the line in the other building.

Cozumel is a little harder -- you can go to main post office in town and they will stamp it for you there. Its an ugly building but right on the main road into town.

Grand Cayman is another easy one - just as you leave the tendering area there is a small building on the right as you go away from the tender. Walk up the ramp and they will stamp in the building. If you visit Hell in GC they will give you a novelty stamp as well.

Grand Turk - when you enter the cruise center from the dock you enter this vbuilding that kind of looks like three buildings go on through and go to the right. There is a small building before you get to Ron Jon's surf shop and they will stamp it there for you.

HMC - I did not do it there and don't think there is an actual stamp for the private island places. Could be wrong though.

I can not say for absolute certainty, but I believe they no longer will stamp the passports through Guest Services.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the review, My wife, three year old son and I leave for this same cruise on Sunday February 5th. Really enjoying the review and pictures so far.