dengirl69

The day you get on the ship is generally referred to as embarkation day. The first sea day on most itineraries will be the following day.

Thanks!

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Good point Elaine- the further front, the less noise from folks in the hall.

So I guess we have to pick what is more of an issue lol

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Two! Usually on the first Sea Day and then a day where you get back from port early. Our second one was Grand Cayman day when back on board time was 3:15 p.m.

Is the first sea day the night we get on ship dinner ? Or next day?

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On a six day cruise is there one or two :)

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Jacksonville has only one ship-and needs the smaller ships because of the bridge on the river, and costs a lot less than Charleston. I thought the upcharge was to Charleston. Port fees and what nots. I would always choose Jacksonville over Charleston to get to HMC. That said, I celebrate a big birthday next year, I love smaller ships, and Charleston has an 8 day to the ports I have yet to go to. So I sucked it up, put down a down payment and will pay off the rest of the cruise over the next year. Eee gads, its way more than I paid for the Alaska cruise!

I have to ask what is hmc? Or where lol

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Supply and Demand. Charleston is a popular vacation destination, it's an easy drive for people who live in NC/SC/GA/VA/TN. The cruises from there always fill up quickly. That's probably one of the reasons the Sunshine is heading there in 2019.

This is why we booked it. Shortest drive for us. No other reason lol

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we always take our own collapsible cooler and put a thicker zip lock bag inside (as it leaks thru the seams when ice melts), cabin steward fills with fresh ice every morning. works great!!

That’s a wonderful idea. Thanks

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Check the board and John Heald's Facebook page. There are plenty of threads about the charge for room service after 10 pm that just recently started. I have been very quiet about every other change - except this. We use room service a lot at late night because we are night owls.

I’m not on Facebook but thanks for tip in case I do get on it :)

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I'm pretty sure when we were on the Triumph in 2016 that the bread was left on the table. There were several varieties each night. I initially didn't miss the table cloths and I like the way the tables LOOK, but with out coasters or table cloths, the table can get kind of messy.

one positive thing of no table clothes on the casual nights is cleaner tables. they can sanitize better :)

They still have bread baskets though I'm not sure they are baskets per se. The table clothes are only available 1-2 nights on 6-8 night sailings (formal nights). I like the formality too but most don't seem to mind. You'll probably notice there has been quite a few cutbacks since you last sailed. For instance, night time room service is no longer included and no more chocolates on the pillows. Also, they only clean cabins once per day unless you ask for twice. The cheerleaders will say I'm being picky but it's undeniable the product is different. All that being said, it will still be a good time for you and your family.

they dont offer room service for free? i thought they had the free menu then another menu with prices?

i am curious how many would say that the front of the boat you feel more impact and can get more nauseated? room u4 to be exact. the reason for question is the lady at carnival told me at time of booking that some people say they get more motion sickness that close to the front..

( i know this is a very old post and thread )

I dont know how they dressed before it was switched from formal to elegant but on my first cruise in 2011 I felt so under dressed. i didnt look near as beautiful as most the woman on our ship. I told myself on my next cruise which is coming up that I was defiantly going to bring a prettier dress. i was wearing more of a go to club dress and the ones i saw were long and maybe wedding style. i just know they were all beautiful.

They are just plain cream and not flavored! The coffee is too bitter for me so I have to use 2 Hazelnut liquid creamers to make it drinkable.

Even when I make my own coffee I still use two hazelnut creamers lol I love creamy coffee lol yum

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Every cruise I go on be it Carnival or RCCL or Celebrity I always bring my Hazelnut creamer with me. I get a box of 24 liquid creamers and they last the whole cruise.

This is my favorite :)

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Or you know, you could use Google.

I wanted to thumbs down you but that’s not an option in here :)

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I have got to stay away from here...

 

 

 

My tale of going down the rabbit hole too many times:

 

 

 

Last week I was browsing here, and someone mentioned the Elation for one reason or another. I had sailed on her back in 2007, but I don't have much memories of that cruise (time fades things, I was in a different relationship, etc). So I decided to check her out, curious about what has changed after the upgrades etc. Ah, that's right, I remember this and that a bit now...

 

 

 

And then someone else mentioned getting an OV room for their cruise (not on Elation, IIRC). While thinking about OV rooms as an option, I recalled that Elation had more OV rooms (ratio wise) than the larger ships, such as Liberty that we enjoyed in December and are going on again this March. When booking the March cruise on Liberty, I had completely not considered the OV rooms, because I like to be higher up in the ship - we booked interiors on Deck 7, because Balconies would just be cost-prohibitive in this case.

 

 

 

Anyway, while looking at the deckplan for Elation, I was wondering which rooms had the "floor to ceiling window" scenic ocean view or whatever it was called. I couldn't find one immediately, then I got distracted, and forgot about it.

 

 

 

And then I was pondering whether it was likely we would take any cruises next year - we have two booked this year already (as mentioned March, and another in Dec - see sig). I thought that it might be nice to book something in a slightly warmer month, maybe May, but in the timeframe when kids are still in school (I had noticed that fares were cheaper in April/May for 2018 while looking at other possibilities prior to booking in March). So I put in a search for Port Canaveral - May 2019. One of the options was a 5-day on Elation - oh, that's right, she's sailing out of Canaveral starting about then, moving from JAX.

 

 

 

Hey, let's do a ghost booking, just for fun (you might see where this is going...):

 

 

 

Select Oceanview, let's see what available...oh hey, there's an option to grab a Scenic Ocean View, last one in fact, let's check that out...ooh, it's on the very top deck that has cabins, with a neat forward-looking view! Carnival doesn't show a floor plan, but it looks a bit bigger than normal. And floor-to-ceiling window! Hmm, cost is a bit more than a regular OV, but a lot less than a balcony, which we probably don't need on a 5-day. Hmm, ok, will keep that in mind, but I won't book anything yet. Click "Cancel booking" etc.

 

 

 

Next day, I was discussing the Scenic OV type cabin with my wife, and went to go show her the possible available booking in May 2019. Oh, that cabin isn't available any more, wow, that got booked fast! OK, so we discussed that next time we see something, we should probably go ahead and grab it right away, especially if it is the last cabin of the type we want. And then I showed her some images of that room type found here on CC, I think, or maybe one of the other cruise line room-review sites. She liked the idea of having a big window, especially since that walkway-looking area in front isn't open to general use, looks like for service access only.

 

 

 

So just now I'm poking around again doing some ghost booking for entertainment, and I wonder what OVs are actually available on that Elation cruise in May 2019. So I have a look...WHAT?! That Scenic OV is still available?! Someone must have done a courtesy hold on it, then released it.

 

 

 

I asked my wife to come have a look...checked that the dates didn't seem to interfere with any known or likely plans (we have other activities that generally mean we are booked for social or side-job type stuff at least two weekends a month for at least the next year).

 

 

 

So, for $100 down, I can book this now. Not gonna bother with trip insurance - if we can't go, it will very likely be due to something that arises before the final payment is due, and trip insurance would be a comparable cost to that $100 deposit! (With Carnival, it was $79 pp, IIRC, so $158).

 

 

 

So...I have three future cruises booked now, on three different ships!

 

 

 

As an aside, as I mentioned the Elation deck plan on Carnival's website shows that the room I booked (G1) is a bit bigger than the average, but no floor plan of the cabin is available to view. The usual cruise related websites don't have good photos of the actual cabin. I'll poke around here, but if anyone has a handy link, I'd appreciate it!

You lucky! I just booked one and I have been thinking well it’s not till next year so I need one sooner too. So I am thinking of booking another one and I like the big window you mentioned and I never herd of that one before so I’m going to go look into it lol I agree this forum can be bad.

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Lot's of irresponsible people cruise. Early this year on the Elation at about 430am, there were overhead announcements about every 10-15 minutes. The were looking for a woman. Security searched the boat. They came into my room and searched everywhere. I'm pretty sure the ship stopped and they may have lowered a boat to look for her. I think it was about 6am when they found her. If someone wants to off themselves jump off a bridge, don't inconvenience me and a thousand or more other people on vacation.

Sad!

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Look under Gift Ideas and then Beverage Package Gifts

that was the one place i did not look. lol i found it , thanks :)

i was looking at the carnival website and i could not find where they were selling the coolers that they used to have for sale? i was wanting to buy water and a cooler for this cruse i have coming up.

I wanted to update and let anyone who may be interested if this situation happens to you. I called carnival this morning and the customer care was very kind and helpful. she was pleasant and gave me a porthole :) i have u4 i was booked with r40 or 60 i dont recall now but she did confirm it was a bunk bed. but we dont now and i feel lots better :)

Alcohol + anger + cruise ship = recipe for disaster.

 

 

Not saying this as a fact in this situation, but I would be surprised if alcohol wasn't involved.

this is one main reason why my husband nor i ever drink. not just on a cruise but we dont touch alcohol ever..both of us come from alcoholic up bringing and neither of us have seen anything good come alcohol. yes some can drink and be happy and giddy but even with those people they still seem to do or say things they may not with no alcohol in their systems :)

Every time we discuss cruising with anyone, it is the first thing out of their mouth. "aren't you afraid of falling off?"

now isn't that silly? just like when someone says they are from the south, they say arent you afraid of the tornadoes or if someone is from the coast people say arent you scared of the hurricanes. i have lived in both areas and yet have had one at my door step:)

It was a 44 year old woman. People just don't fall overboard, they have to be doing something stupid like leaning their entire body over the railing or trying to sit on it or something. The woman who died this past week from the Elation they are not giving out her name or age for a legal reason...appartently, somebody on board heard a man argue with her then this happened, it was reported by two different passengers that they saw this man arrested in hand cuffs....when they got to Freeport he was excorted in handcuffs with police on the islands, this woman must of been pushed or thrown over because they are not saying anymore and the fact the man was taken by the police.

this is very sad!

Does anyone know details? From what it sounded in article she did not fall in the water, is this correct? Anyone know how she fell yet?

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Ok I will be the first to say this was my fault so I’m not complaining or blaming Carnival now with this being said when I was on their website I took advantage of the 50.00 pp deposits and I hate to sit at my laptop for too long and so I just clicked fast and didn’t change anything in the final steps to my booking and after reading some today I believe I have a bunk bed room. My husband and I do not want that were to old lol I should have taken the time to look into what the small print and signs all meant so will Carnival change this? The cruise is not till next year?

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