Linsuesue

I've heard that the limited number of passes available are offered to cruise lines on a seniority bases. Cruise lines that have been cruising Alaska longer, like Holland America, get seniority. Apparently there were none left for Carnival, unfortunately. I'm glad my Alaska cruise next year has it on the itinerary!

 

 

If that is true then will Disney not be going to Glacier Bay? I think they would be the most recent addition to the cruise lines up that way. I remember seeing a Disney ship in Seattle about 4 or 5 years ago, but I don't know if the Disney ship ever went to Glacier Bay.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy on 8/18/16. I told my breast surgeon that I wanted him to 2 things for me- Keep me alive and get me on the cruise that we had booked months ago. He very capably did both things for me. 7 weeks later I was on the Miracle and all of my medical issues faded away. I can't think of a better goal for your wife than to make it on the ship. Cruising is the best medicine! Best wishes for a speedy recovery, and thanks for the reminder that the best laid plans can go awry.

Thanks for the information Heather! I tried scouting around for more specifics of redeeming the points but couldn't find much. These boards are a great resource from people who have found out the hard way how things work. We are almost at 30,000 points so a bump from ocean view to balcony would be more valuable to us than an onboard credit. I will definitely call the redemption # first before booking anything. Thanks for the quick response!

I had read somewhere a while back about the limited amount of slots, but was sorry to see that Carnival wasn't getting any of them- other than the Journeys trip. I would love to do that trip but could never get 2 weeks off.

Points are worth way more if you use them for upgrades. I cashed in 30,000 points to go from an ocean view cabin to a balcony for our Alaska cruise. That was valued at $900 in savings. Cashed in 60,000 points to go from inside to balcony on our spring break 2017 escape cruise. That was valued at nearly $1900 in savings.

Heather I would be interested in knowing more about the ocean view cabin to a balcony upgrade that you got. I am not sure what a meta grade or double meta upgrade are. Did you go from an ocean view to an obstructed balcony? Also, did you book the ocean view room yourself and then contact the number to get the upgrade by redeeming your points, or do you book the trip with the redemption department to begin with?

Why doesn't Carnival show any 7 day itineraries to Glacier Bay for 2018? I asked the future cruise specialist about it on our cruise a few weeks ago and, she said I was the first person to ask about it. She thought it was strange but didn't know why there are only Tracy Arm Fjord bookings. I called Carnival yesterday about it, and the reservationists didn't know anything about it either. She said that the Legend appears booked up for 2018 for just Tracy Arm and it is unlikely it would be going to Glacier Bay that year for 7 day trips.

We will be boarding the Miracle in a couple of weeks. Could you tell me more about the boarding procedures? What time did you arrive at the port vs the time you picked for boarding? Did you have to call Guest Services to find your luggage? We have FTTF and I am counting on our luggage getting to the room right away. I hope you have an outstanding time!

You could tour the Queen Mary right next to where the Miracle docks. That would take a good chunk of time and you can walk to it.

Have fun taking pictures of jackpots, jacuzzis, juice, and jelly!

How about 3 different pictures of anything that starts with the same letter as your first name-presuming you don't have a Xavier or a Zoey in the group! 3 different pictures of anything that is the same color or colors as your shirt. How about bonus points if you take a picture of a room number that has your birthdate in it or a name tag of someone who has the same first name?

We have sailed twice on the Spirit to Alaska- both times in an aft wrap/vista view suite. For us it is the best room on that ship! We were on deck 4 both times. It has a large overhang which keeps the rain off of you when you are sitting outside. I wouldn't consider any other room for an Alaskan cruise. I do not agree that you don't see as much wildlife in an aft room. We passed by a pod of Orcas and were able to watch them for awhile from the side of our balcony and for a long time from the back after we passed them. The naturalist wasn't on duty to announce the sighting, and there was never any announcement from the bridge about it. We lived on that balcony, and definitely felt it was worth the extra money. Congratulations and you can't help but be awed by the scenery you will see- no matter what room you are in!

I make my own lanyards out of soda can pop tops. You can use any color of ribbon and make it as plain or fancy as you want. They are very lightweight, easy to wash, and one of a kind.

As I recall, the edges of the tub were very narrow and have the track for the shower doors right in the middle. Even putting towels down first would make sitting on it and having to twist and swing legs through that narrow space quite a contortionist's feat!

In my opinion, you have the best room in the fleet! I am guessing the tubs are a bit taller , because they are whirlpool tubs. It probably keeps the water from sloshing out and making slippery puddles. What if they could get you an aerobic/fitness stepper from the gym?-presuming they have them. They have a nice wide base, cushioned, about 8" high. You would still need help getting in and out because of those rolling shower doors though. Check out ATC medical and their bath step. Something like that looks portable enough that you could pack it in your suitcase. If you got 2 of them, you could have 1 inside and 1 outside or stack them and use them on the outside. Good luck for a creative solution to this problem, because that cabin is so worth it! If all else fails, order 2 cases of water from the fun shops and flip them over to make steps. Enjoy watching those big chunks of blue glacial ice floating by!

Thank you for the organized thorough review! Your information answered many questions we had about when to book and onboard activities. Thanks a million for taking time to post all of the photos too!

I was confused by the rules. Once I voted, it said come back in 24 hours to vote again. When I read the contest rules it said each person/e-mail address may only vote once???

K2excursion-thanks for the concise list of great information! I love your break down of beaches and costs!

I found the Carnival gift cards at Frys food store in San Tan Valley, Az. The back of the card says it can be used on almost anything: towards the purchase of a Carnival cruise, activities/shore excursions, and redeemed onboard toward the Sail & Sign account for drinks, gifts, and fun.

My bank has a point rewards program and I can use the points to buy gift cards. If I use the points to get one from Carnival, they don't send an ecard, like I thought. When I read the fine print, I see that they send a Cruise Dollars certificate instead. I would have to mail that certificate to Carnival in order to apply it towards a reservation. It cannot be used as the initial cruise payment, it cannot go towards onboard credit, and it must be mailed by certified mail! I can't believe that in this day and age you can't just type in a certificate number and apply it towards your account. The poster brings up a great point about the problems with using more than 1 form of payment!

It sounds like there is something special about the 10th floor! Thanks Amanda for the quick reply. I just hope we can get one of these cabins when we book at the end of the month.

Thanks Honey Bunny! It is great to hear from someone who stayed in that room, and I loved the photo! I am glad you had a great time and ended up with such a great balcony.

Thanks everyone for the links to photos and reviews! It seems to run about 50/50 that the rooms are noisy and the rooms are not noisy enough to worry about. I plan to spend a lot of time on the balcony to people watch and to me the extra large balcony is a huge plus. I did stay in a hotel room once that was next to the ice machine. The clunkity clunk of that thing operating at all hours was not so fun. I would think that there would be some kind of better soundproofing installed in between the cabin and staff space. One reviewer mentioned the bright lights from the "living wall" being a concern for those balconies and the next person said the lights were pretty and not annoying at all.

Thanks LetsGetWet! That one picture shows both of those cabins with an extra size balcony. I feel like I stumbled on a super secret! I don't understand why the deckplans wouldn't show that-it seems like those cabins would be first to go. I wonder if there are other cabins like those two that overlook the Boardwalk area maybe or a different part of the Central Park. I want to find as many of them as I can before I book, so if one or more is sold, I will have a list of backup cabin numbers. Thanks for your help!

I found 2 reviews that told about a double balcony/extended balcony on Allure of the Seas. The reviews say that the rooms were next to a staff station and overlooked the Central Park area. The cabin numbers are 10229 and 11229. According to the RCL deck plans, those 2 cabins just show a regular small sized balcony. Was something reconfigured after a drydock and not showing on the deck plans. I have hunted high and low and can't find which cabins have double or extended balconies next to a staff station. Any help from experienced cruisers from the Allure would be greatly appreciated! I even looked on cruise deck plan sites and they showed regular balcony size for those 2 cabins.

I could use some help trying to find out which cabins have double balconies. I have read many reviews trying to find a list, but have had no luck so far. 2 of the cabins that had a double balcony or an extended balcony were: 10229 and 11229 overlooking the Central Park area. On the RCL website, the deck plans show these cabins with regular small balconies, yet the reviews say they are next to a crew station and have balconies that are twice the size. I would really appreciate any help from anyone familiar with the Allure of the Seas cabins. TIAS~!