blondestickchick

30 minutes ago, jsglow said:

It IS the heart of hurricane season. Simply expect the unexpected. 

Agreed!! We cruise solely during this time of year as it works best with our schedules....it's always a fun time!  My very first cruise in 2004 we got caught up in Hurricane Jean, waves were splashing onto our balcony on our deck above the bridge.  We had the perfect view of the weather radar from our balcony and could see the storm we were outrunning.  We rushed to return to port only to be turned away as we couldn't safely disembark in time for the ship to escape the storm.  IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!  I was happy to learn I don't suffer from seasickness.  Thankfully we've cruised enough where we don't focus on specific destinations so much anymore, rather the experience as a whole.  As I told my husband, we just have to make it on the boat, from there, it's all good!

3 hours ago, asalligo said:

Euro and GFS models show this storm will be in the Gulf of Mexico around September 30th to October 1st and possibly be a cat 3 by then. If the timing is correct, your cruise would just skirt the coast south while it headed north. Fun seas though!

 

 

 

We fly into MIA next Friday from Houston....looks to be a bumpy ride!!  The plan is to depart on the Horizon, Saturday, October 1.  Hopefully we're all able to make our cruises and the folks at our many destinations are safe!!  The joys of cruising during Hurricane season!  Thank you for posting this.  

12 hours ago, 80sGal said:

We upgraded to Suite also.  The Havana area was SO nice.   It's smaller than I expected though so if you are just getting there midday the seats are hard to find.  Late afternoon though was no problem.  Great Bar Service!  And the pools and hot tubs were hardly used ... people rotated in and out and were not tub hogging.  Overall I would love to have that area again, but paying rack rate for GS is not worth it, but as a small upgrade, it can't be beat!  The inside bar is LOUD at night though.  We prefer 80s or 90s tunes so we didn't stick around inside but it was a popular area.   Enjoy your  suite!  

Thanks for the info.  We were gifted the cruise so when we were offered the opportunity to upgrade we jumped on it!  DH will most likely enjoy the Havana area during the day, I prefer the activity of the Lido. But in the evenings we hope to take advantage of the back bars for sure!  Hopefully we won't be too spoiled with the GS after this cruise!

We've long looked forward to taking this tour when we have the opportunity to visit La Ramona....first time we visited it was xo'd due to rough seas.  They took us on a very enjoyable walking tour and to a small beach for snorkeling.  We found THE BEST rum that you can only purchase in the DR.  But they were so nice we knew we'd be back to book again....which we have.  We are booked for our upcoming Horizon cruise in two weeks, but I obviously did not pay attention to our short port time (11:30a-6p) when I booked.  I know the taxi ride to/from Bayahibe is 20 minutes +/- so that eats into some of your time.....has anyone booked this excursion lately with such a short port time?  Were you able to enjoy everything and not feel "rushed"?  

Thank you for this!!  We cruise her in less than 2 weeks.....Do you have Havana access?  We upgraded to the Grand Suite and it comes w/ access to the Havana area.  Curious about what it entails.  Also - have you tried the salad option in the Serenity area?  

Anyone, aside from the Galveston cruiser, have any actual input on the OPs question re: unsupervised testing?  I'm just really curious how this is being handled.  Seems so pointless overall.  

2 hours ago, linga said:

Too funny I come upon this thread today!!.  I was just reading a news article about the things Carnival is bringing back and adding!  LOL!!   listed things like The Afternoon Tea, various parties, The Chocolate Buffet, etc.  With more complimentary new things to come, like the new salad buffet in the Serenity, which is nice.  🙂   

 

I am so looking forward to that salad bar on the Serenity during our upcoming Horizon cruise!  

2 minutes ago, 6aces said:

So these test can give false positives. Then what. I test 3 days out and ten minutes later, i can catch it.  You don't require this in any other aspect of your life. 

Agreed - false negatives as well.  We're all on the same page.  Ready to take our first cruise since this whole fiasco began.  Glad the steps in the right direction are being taken.  

20 hours ago, cruisinbeachbum said:

I'd rather be vaccinated than have to test. It's becoming so much harder to find a test. Plus the test doesn't do a ton to prevent spreading since people are testing 3 days in advance then a lot of them are getting on a plane. 

 

Only way a test is 100 percent effective to stop spreading is if you did it and then quarantined but that's obviously not a plausible thing. As soon as you go out in public you could catch it/spread it, etc. 

I don't disagree with you.  The vx sure isn't preventing spread. It's all very ridiculous IMO at this point.  But testing can stop positive folks from getting on board.  Looking forward to the rest of the cruiselines to follow NCL's lead.  Good to see someone willing to put their neck out for the sake of the industry! 

This is such great news for the cruise industry (and travel overall).  Very excited!!  I'd rather test than require vx - testing eliminates C19+, asymptomatic folks from the start.  The VX doesn't stop you from getting or spreading it but at least a test will show if you have it and stop you from spreading once on board.  Can't wait for our Oct cruise on the Horizon! 

2 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Carnival doesn't sail in a vacuum.  (Even if some of you say they suck.  Lol.)

 

They sail to ports located in other countries with policies not governed by what the CDC says, some of which may still have requirements for COVID testing prior to sailing/arrival.  Like Canada, for example.  (Which is dumb on the part of Canada, since no widespread testing is required for any other method of entry, but Carnival can't fix that.)

 

Until all or almost all of those ports lift the pre-cruise test requirement, the big lines have no choice.

 

I tried looking around, but other than doing my own detailed research by hitting each country's website, I can't find anything that summarizes which countries/ports still require the tests.  Anyone have a link?  I hate speculating about what moves will be made by the cruise lines without all the data.

Here's what I've found - it seems fairly "inclusive" of the tropical cruise destinations.  https://www.travelweekly.com/Caribbean-Travel/Caribbean-readies-for-a-wave-of-reopenings

I'm interested in the Surf and Turf Tour as well....did you end up booking?  

Since it's inception, we've always selected ATD.  We usually travel with a group of 8-10; this time we have 14 or so and intend to continue with ATD knowing that we won't all be seated together, but hopefully close in proximity.  We usually have to wait in line, and on rare occasion, for 5-10 minutes once we've reached the hostess stand.  However, we are a large group and usually request the same wait team.  We tend to arrive at the same time every night right when the doors open.  We liken it to eating out in our town on a Friday night...we always have to wait for a table, sometimes upwards of 45 minutes.  

We got ours this morning for the Magic 14, 2019 cruise out of FLL....

Holy moly! I had no idea it had gone up so much. Definitely not worth it now for my family...it's $100 since our next cruise is an 8-day. That's crazy!

Conquest Class ships are our favorite. We sailed the Dream in 2010, but for no specific reason, we didn't particularly care for her. Our group of 6 just thought the whole experience was blah. We are booked on the Magic in 2019, so perhaps our tastes have matured...we shall see.

This makes me very sad.....We visited Shipwreck on our last cruise to St. Kitts and LOVED it. Great day, friendly staff and gorgeous views. We especially liked that it was not overly touristy. Was looking forward to visiting it again on our next cruise. Sad to see that $$ rules all.

If I'm reading correctly, the 1 and 1.5 liter bottles in the MDR are actually included with Cheers. The below is from Carnival's website.

The following beverages are now available within the enhanced CHEERS! program:

All spirits, including cocktails, cognacs, whiskies and other spirits, as well as beer and glasses of wine, with a $50 USD or lower menu price per serving

Zero-Proof frozen cocktails, sodas (including specialty sodas) and juices

Specialty coffees and teas served in the main dining rooms, specialty

restaurants and coffee bars

Milkshakes, where applicable

RockStar energy drinks, Powerade, Vitamin Water, Coconut Water and Honest Tea

500ml bottles of water served in bars and lounges

Large format (1 liter and 1.5-liter) bottles of water in the main dining rooms and specialty restaurants

25 percent discount off the menu price for any spirit, cocktail or wine by the glass, costing above $50 USD per serving

25 percent discount off the menu price for wine and champagne by the bottle and larger format water bottles purchased outside the main dining rooms or specialty restaurants

25 percent discount off the menu price for all beverage classes and seminars

The thing to do with casino offers is this... if the cruise you are looking at still has an Early Saver rate... book Early Saver.. then price match to the casino rate..... That way if a lower price comes available, whether it is casino rate, or another special, or regular price has dropped, you CAN get the price drop... If you price match to the casino rate, you still get your obcs and discounts... but if you match to a different rate, you will lose your obcs if you had one with your casino offer...

Always remember... once Early Saver, always early saver, even after you price match to another rate..

The only exception to this is if you price match to a pack and play offer which is a guarantee rate... if you change to a guarantee rate, which you can do only once... you cannot change back.

At the risk of sounding completely dumb....I have to ask. If we booked ES, then matched a casino rate w/ $100 casino cash, if we match to Resident Rates, will we lose the casino cash?

We've never been able to match to a casino rate until now and the resident rate is only $27 less...but OBC is OBC. I don't want to lose our casino cash though.

Thank you!

We have a similar dilemma although the later flights for us are cheaper but we don't want to get home at 10pm on a Sunday. Our travel agent, who also sails with us, has booked she and her DH on the 10:45 a.m. flight out of FLL on Sunday, 9/11. I just don't have those kind of nerves; we are watching the 11:50am flight hoping for a price drop.

I've heard that there will be 5 ships in port that day so I can only imagine the chaos at the airport!

Good luck with your decision!

We do ATD every cruise.

In 2012 we had a party of 9 on the Liberty....no serious wait (5-10 minutes max), no problem at all, had the same wait staff and table every night (best wait staff in all our cruises!). We usually went down between 5:30 - 6:00.

Fast forward to 2014 on the Freedom. Party of 7....minimal wait times (15-20 mins), different servers/table each night. Again we usually went down about 5:30-6:00 every night.

It seems most of our waiting stems from getting there so early that the dining area isn't quite open yet....not from waiting for a table large enough for our party.

This year we will again have a party of 7 and will do ATD. For us, it's really no different than going out to your local dining establishment on a weekend night. And truthfully, the wait time is significantly less on the boat than it is at home.

Of course, YMMV....but Carnival really seems to be getting the hang of it, at least in our experience.

Do you remember the taxi rates?

TIA!

Sara

Still 15/day and no HMC. We were lucky enough to catch Cheers! when it was $37.95 +gratuities on our Freedom cruise.....well worth it for us at that price. Heck we'd probably still do it at $45 (including grats) but that $50+ mark makes it or breaks it for us. We'll bring on our wine, maybe some "extra" and our allotted non-alcoholic beverages and make do...

From Carnival:

CARNIVAL ENHANCES CHEERS! PROGRAM – STATEMENT

Carnival Cruise Line has enhanced its CHEERS! all-inclusive beverage program to include a greater variety of non-alcoholic beverages, as well as a wider selection of high quality brand-name spirits and wines by the glass. The enhanced program will be available for purchase March 1, 2016.

CHEERS! is an all-inclusive beverage program that allows guests to enjoy a wide range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages by paying a flat daily rate. Guests must be 21 or older to purchase CHEERS! and everyone in the same cabin must purchase the program.

The following beverages are now available within the enhanced CHEERS! program:

• All spirits, including cocktails, cognacs, whiskies, and other spirits, as well as beer and glasses of wine, costing less than $50 per serving (previously only drinks costing less than $10 per serving were included in the program).

• Sodas, including specialty sodas offered at the Havana Bar on Carnival Sunshine and new Carnival Vista debuting in May

• Zero-proof frozen cocktails

• RockStar energy drinks

• Specialty coffees and teas served in the main dining rooms, specialty restaurants and coffee bars

• 500ml bottles of water served in bars and lounges

• Vitamin Water

• Powerade

• Coconut Water

• Honest Tea

• Large format (1 liter and 1.5-liter) bottles of water in the main dining rooms and specialty restaurants

• 25 percent discount off the menu price for any spirit, cocktail or wine by the glass costing more than $50 per serving

• 25 percent discount off the menu price for wine and champagne by the bottle and larger format water bottles purchased outside the main dining rooms or specialty restaurants

• 25 percent discount off the menu price for all beverage classes and seminars

The cost for guests who purchase the CHEERS! program via Carnival’s web site prior to their cruise is $49.95 per person per day plus gratuities; the cost for the program purchased once on board is $54.95 per person per day plus gratuities.

We too purchase FTTF for the benefit of immediate room access and quick luggage delivery. It's much easier for us when we have our DS with traveling with us to drop off what carry-ons we have and get settled in to enjoy the cruise. It's well worth the $$ to us...until I become platinum anyways.

In answer to your question, it has been our experience that our room is ready immediately upon boarding. Our room stewards have always been pleasant and they already know which rooms are FTTF/Platinum/Diamond so they are prepared to see some folks walking down the hallways early. The two times we've utilized FTTF, our luggage was in our room by no later than 12:30 and we were unpacked, enjoying a cool beverage and lunch on the lido by 1pm.

We get to the port early around 10:30 a.m. and board behind the wedding, diamond/platinum, special assistance folks. Of course, YMMV.

Have fun on your cruise!