HeidiHo

This wasn't on Carnival but Royal Caribbean. I know someone who boarded a cruise with only a debit card that had no money on it. She thought that it would be fine as long as her paycheck on the last Friday of the 7 night cruise was deposited into her account. She didn't realize that she needed to have the money on the card when she boarded so that the cruise line could put a hold on a certain amount. She couldn't buy or do anything that wasn't included in the cruise fare the whole week. By the time she got paid on Friday and the money was in her account, the cruise was almost over.

In regular cabins they will not permit 2 people to book a 4 person room

That's not always the case. It depends on the sailing and whether or not it is capacity controlled. I have seen sailings that were capacity controlled for months so that 2 people could not book cabins for 3-4. Then, as the final payment date was drawing near, Carnival removed the capacity controlled status and opened up all cabins so that parties of 1-2 could book cabins of 3-4. Our group just recently booked the Panorama for 2020 and triple/quad cabins were available for booking by 1 or 2 persons.

To answer your question....I think the details are in the language you used....can cancel "up to" final payment date.....this would mean the day before to me, not the actual final day. I would guess this may be why she could not cancel the insurance. Just my guess. Enjoy the cruise.

Exactly what I was thinking. It has always been my understanding (I could be wrong) that the booking actually goes into "penalty phase" on the day that final payment is due so any cancellations would have to be made the day PRIOR to the date final payment is due.

Since your daughter will be 18, I suggest she brings someone else who is also at least 18. If she brings a 17 y/o, they could run into issues at venues where you must be 18+ (dance club, casino, etc.)

If Carnival will not allow you to book into a cabin that holds more than 2 guests, it is probably capacity controlled, at this time. That does not mean it will stay that way. When I was booked on the Dream sailing in 2017, it was capacity controlled for a long time. Then suddenly, just maybe 3-4 months before sailing, they opened up triple and quad cabins to be booked by any number of guests (as long as you didn't go OVER capacity, of course). It probably has to do with how well the sailing is selling out. I'm sure they don't want unsold cabins at the time of sailing just because they wouldn't allow parties of 2 to book into triples and quads. If you really want to move, keep checking and something may come available.

The Dream was last in Dry dock January, 2018. Lots of updates done at that time.

Be sure to read the fine print for past guest rates. I just booked the Panorama and therefore 2 past guest rates. One was an early saver and one was not.

There are more deaths on ships than you will ever know about. It's quite common. They have refrigerated areas to hold the bodies.

Out of my 13 cruises, I have been on 3 cruises (that I know of) where someone has died. One cruise where a man had a heart attack and had to be airlifted off the ship (he supposedly survived) and another cruise where ambulances met the ship in 3 ports. And those are only the things I was aware of. I'm sure there have been other incidents that I was unaware of. Cruise ships are like small cities. Things happen same as they do at home. It's always sad, no matter where it happens.

Brochure? I haven't seen a carnival brochure in forever. I hate i tossed my old carnival books, i loved looking through them, i wish they would bring them back.

Carnival brought the brochure books back 2 or 3 years ago. The "Old" book I was looking at wasn't actually very old. It was for sailings through Apr. of 2017.

The Paradise does have balconies on the main deck

Sorry, my bad. I was looking at an old brochure. They must of added them. I see them on the deck plans on line.

I am booked on the June 4 sailing. When I booked I did not have the option of what balcony room I wanted. I have now been assigned to the main deck. I would like to be higher. I wonder if they would move me if requested? I know I can call and ask but I'd rather not sit on hold.

There are no balconies on the Main deck on Paradise which, according to your signature, is the sip you are sailing.

Ah, I remember (on a different line) when the waiters would dance through the aisles with flaming desserts on their heads.

Carnival did that too, a LONG time ago, like back in the 80's.

Aren't they doing one right now?

They are! I don't know if it's for all sailings though. The one I looked at goes through tomorrow (02/22)

I was on the Breeze last month and saw full face snorkel masks for sale in the photo shop. I thought it was an odd place for them. I have no idea how much they were since I wasn't shopping for them. I only noticed them because someone else was looking at them and was asking one of the staff members about them.

This actually just happened to a couple in our group on the Breeze from Galveston last month. They didn't even notice that their boarding pass said FTTF. When they got to the port and showed their boarding pass, the person said, "Oh, you have FTTF" and sent them on through. They didn't argue. LOL. That being said, it was ONLY on their boarding pass. They didn't get a sticker on they S & S card so they didn't have any of the additional perks.

We got a an e-mail for our Breeze cruise on Jan 21 saying that debarkation for the previous cruise would take much longer than usual and to arrive an hour later than planned. So, DH decided to take his good old time. We got to the terminal around 11:45 and the Priority line was super long. After we got up to Lido for lunch, we walked the entire length of the ship and never found a table, so we took it back to our cabin.

We're Diamond and the person checking us in asked why we didn't arrive at 10:00 and I showed her the email. She apologized and said that boarding had actually begun earlier than usual because the debarkation for the previous cruise had gone so smoothly!

 

The only time I will arrive later is if I check the webcam and the ship is not in port due to fog!

I was on the Jan. 21st Breeze cruise too and also got that email. I heard the reason they thought there would be a delay was because the previous cruise had had a medical emergency and they had to make an unscheduled stop at Cozumel so they expected to be a bit late. I think they sent that email out, "just in case." I don't think they were delayed though. We had FTTF fun and didn't really pay any attention our arrival time (probably about 11:30) but they were boarding when we got there so we walked right on. Now, the Feb. 28th cruise was DEFINITELY delayed because of what DebJ14 mentioned, FOG! We didn't dock until about 11:00 AM. I missed my flight home. I don't know if those people got an email but if they did, they would have been smart to abide by the suggested arrival time.

I sailed with a group on the Breeze last month. Just a few days before the cruise, one member of our party was put on oxygen and brought a concentrator. They called Carnival Special Needs department and were told it wasn't an issue unless they were actually bringing oxygen tanks (not that that's problem either but they definitely need to know about that). The only issue they ran into was some confusion at security. The guys at the scanners didn't seem to know which line they should go through for screening. That was in Galveston and was probably due to poorly trained screeners. I would still call the Social Needs department though, just to be sure you cover all your bases.

I don't think the Upscale Fairy exists on Carnival. ;)

I did call once, back in the old days of the "Upgrade" fairy and got upgraded to a mini suite for no additional charge. The did it because there had been a pretty big price drop. That was about 16 years ago. Sadly, those days are over.

HeidiHo

I just recently purchased FTTF for our upcoming cruise and noticed something a little odd on the purchasing for our linked reservation. I have two other staterooms linked to mine since we are a family group. When I selected the FTTF for our stateroom, it automatically entered it for the other two bookings linked with mine. I was going to purchase it for all three staterooms anyway but thought it was interesting that it automatically applied it without me doing anything to specifically select FTTF for those other bookings. If someone wasn't carefully checking the charge total, an extra FTTF could easily be purchased for a linked booking. I wonder if someone else paid for your friends who didn't purchase it.

I suppose that's possible but I doubt if someone "accidentally" purchased it for them since it was only on their boarding pass. Beyond that, they didn't have FTTF. There was no sticker on their card. Also, this couple wasn't even booked yet when the rest of us purchased FTTF. That's why they didn't purchase it. They booked much later than the rest of us and it was no longer available.

Last year on the Dream we chose morning but I asked to have ice refilled in the evening. He ended up just doing everything both morning and night. My cruise last month on the Dream I asked for evening service but fresh ice in the morning. This time he did exactly what I asked. I had a full cleaning in the evening but in the morning he would bring me ice only. Worked out just fine and I think this is what I will request from now on.

I once got FTTF right after midnight. It was gone by morning. For my cruise on the Breeze last month, I got it as soon as they first offered it. I do know though that it opened back up a couple of times, the last time being just a couple of weeks before the cruise so it pays to keep checking.

We did notice one odd thing about FTTF this time though and I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this or if it was just a mistake. We were a group of about 14 people. Most of us had FTTF and all of our bookings were linked. One couple who booked kind of late, were never able to get FTTF, although they tried. When they were checking in they were told that they had FTTF and to proceed on through (they had previously not noticed that their boarding passes said FTTF because they were not looking for it). That was the only time they were told they had FTTF though. They did not get a FTTF sticker on their Sail and Sign cards. We were wondering if their boarding passes showed FTTF because their booking was linked with others with FTTF. Is it possible that Carnival does this with people because they might all be wanting to board together? Or was it just a glitch?

I was on the Breeze last week too. Cabin temp was turned all the way down when I boarded. Moved it up to just about the middle and was comfortable. I found too that public areas were a bit chilly for me (my late husband would have loved it that way). I had forgotten to bring a little light weight hoodie that I would normally wear around the ship so I bought a zippered hoodie in the gift shop. I wore it a lot in the public areas, except when I was dressed up, then I had a dressier cardigan.

I just did a mock booking and was asked for each individual if they wanted to add cruise vacation protection so yes, even with Carnival's insurance, you can purchase it individually.

I could have sworn I ordered water too but couldn't find it later. Couldn't find an email either. I could see everything else I ordered though. Since it was only water and only $4.50 though, I just went ahead and ordered it again. If I get 2-12 packs, no big deal.

Sometimes Carnival "allows" you to book a cabin that holds more people than you you are booking for and sometimes they don't. It all depends on the particular sailing. I don't know how they determine that but I assume it's by how they expect each sailing to sell and whether or not there will be lots of kids on board. A sailing during spring break for example would have lots of kids so they would need more triples and quads so probably wouldn't allow 2 people to book a quad. Last year when I was booked on the Dream sailing in February, they weren't allowing parties of 1 or 2 book triples or quads until a few months before the cruise, then all of a sudden they opened up ALL cabins to be able to be booked by 1 or 2. Like others have said though, they do reserve the right to move people for ANY reason. I have personally never seen it happen though but I know it has.