WLHyatt

The lady at the coffee bar is kinda... Italian. She would come off as rude but not actually mean it. She is nice enough, but it's easy to take it as being rude.

I promise she didn't mean to imply anything negative. We had a similar situation with her back in November but after a few trips to the coffee bar she warmed up and was really friendly.

PVP's are effectively Carnival employees that act as travel agents.

Travel Agents, if part of a larger group as many are, can often get better pricing than published rates by putting your room into a group with other cabins. This does not mean you need to actually meet anyone else in the group if you do not wish to, it just means they are getting a volume discount on the rate. Along with usually lower prices you can also get amenities such as onboard credit, treats in the room, a cocktail party, or other items that come as part of those groups. They are not allowed to advertise those prices to the public, so you usually have to find one to ask about group rates.

As well as booking the cruise they can often help guide you on your pre- and post- cruise travel arrangements, because if they specialize in a particular port or set of ports, they have had clients stay in all the various hotels before and can help you avoid the bad ones.

All this comes as part of the cost of booking a cruise.

There are many who think, like I used to, that you lose control. That's where finding a reputable agent comes into play. A reputable agent will be available at all hours of the day and night to will fix any issues that arise.

Some will go above and beyond the group amenities, but that is optional if they think that will help them keep you as a client in the future.

I've never seen anything from Bon Voyage actually be on ice unless it was ordered that way. You may be able to get your room steward to ice it down if you meet them first thing, but I would not count on it.

Our steward on the Triumph a couple of weeks ago would ice ours down that was given to us as a gift, but not until the first sea day morning because it was delivered the first evening.

You should be able to order a bottle from room service. I know that was an option in the past, I am pretty sure it is still the case.

Coincidentally, news broke earlier today that Carnival is outsourcing its shore-side IT operations:

 

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2016/12/13/carnival-outsourcing-plans-a-hard-blow-to-take

 

 

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note7 using Tapatalk. Hey, do you smell anything burning?

We were thinking the same thing at the same time.

Interesting timing.

Triumph had the old menu as of the November 26th sailing. It had been nearly 2 years so we tried it and was surprised at how it impressed us even a second time.

You buy it once you have a deposit down and you have a booking number.

Cheers cuts off early that morning, if I am not mistaken it is a 6am cycle.

Two threads from this.

The gangway was broken in May too, and we disembarked via deck 0 forward, crossed the dock and walked right into the luggage and customs area. It was really quite convenient. Boarding will happen similar to the way you board in a port, via deck 0.

Back in May, they had issues with the gangway too. We embarked via the gangway, but a week later they said it was having serious issues and they would not put passengers on it. We disembarked via deck 0. It was actually EASIER to disembark there because you walk across the dock and right into the luggage area.

It would be a spirit class vessel, and unless the imagery is a bit old it would have to be Pride.

The one I want to figure out is the one in dry dock just to the east of the cruise port at the grand bahama ship yard. It is a fantasy class with the water park so not Elation or Paradise.

Exactly. When I start to detect a gray water odor in my room, I fill my ice bucket with water and pour it down the bathroom floor drains. It hasn't failed me yet. :)

Is it part of the start-up routine of a new ship to have plumbers go around and fill all the gray traps? It seems like there are some that could be missed during the build that would start to stink pretty quick once mop water and whatever it is people put down the sink gets in there and starts... working.

Day after tomorrow.

If the price going up is a huge concern, then $100 on board credit probably isn't worth it. No sense in waiting for $100 onboard credit when the price will go up over $100.

This is the correct answer.

The Creole Queens paddle wheel does indeed move the ship, but it is via electric motors on the outboard walls. You can see them in this image with the "CQ" on them.

If you want a real history lesson go on the Steamer Natchez. The engine room is really a neat place.

The Str. NATCHEZ also offers two hour excursions on The Father of Waters. Unlike the CREOLE QUEEN the NATCHEZ is powered by historic steam machinery that is nearly 100 years old and is one of only four steamboats still operating on the Mississippi River System. If Mark Twain could walk into the NATCHEZ's engineroom today, he would feel right at home. And you don't need to be Mark Twain to visit the engineroom either!

 

The CREOLE QUEEN is a nice boat, and I traveled on her once while she was in Cincinnati, Ohio, but she is diesel powered. The NATCHEZ has a nice optional buffet prepared onboard along with a full bar. Neither the CREOLE QUEEN nor the NATCHEZ have a casino.

 

Hopefully, you'll take this chance to experience the river and New Orleans from the decks of a genuine paddlewheel steamboat. wwwsteamboatnatchez.com

We are leaving this coming Saturday on the Triumph and doing a B2B from New Orleans.

Has anyone ever parked at the port garage for a b2b?

I am wondering what that process is like. Do you just let them know when you pull up that you are a B2B cruiser and they charge you accordingly?

I know there will be folks who will tell me to go to the fulton garage or look at hotel cruise parking options, but I am not interested in that. I am interested in how the parking works at the port. We are weighing all the options now, and I know where/why/how to park at other locations.

You may be able to get the shareholder OBC offer, depending on the line you are sailing. Someone who has 100 shares would have to answer this.

Apparently, the problem appears to be with one of the alternators that the diesel engines drive that generate power. This can become a large can of worms, and may require some time to schedule parts and service technicians. I don't think future cruises will be cancelled, but expect some more itinerary changes in the next month.

I was watching the Galveston cruise cam and they've conveniently put the aft toward the camera. There is no oil boom in the water, so does that lean toward the shaft seals still being good?

Birthdays and anniversaries do get something now, it's a relatively new program. We tried it in May for our anniversary and my wife's birthday and we got a $50 spa gift card and a gift card for a bottle of wine which we had in Cucina.

Make sure you let your PVP or TA know.

There are exclusions in the cheers documentation that exclusively call out tubes of beer and fish bowls as not being covered. It's basically any single-serving drink up to $50.

It is very likely, considering they've done what feels like one a month all year. They are very popular with families because it lowers the initial commitment, and they are very popular with the cruise line because they get bookings without actually discounting anything.

I don't see any reason they would stop the reduced deposit sales.

Thank you, JaneyLynn, do you know if they have any gluten-free 'pasta'? My wife is gluten-sensitive, but can do a little, if she has to.

They do have options, but tell them when they seat you so they can make it specific for her serving.

The Ocean Plaza or Lobby bars are as close as you can get. They certainly don't have the level of ingredients that Alchemy has but they do have some very good martinis.

I just read the link you posted. That statement about it not applying to group rates is the interesting bit. It means you can use early saver in the group, but the people who get the discounted group rates can not go back in later to try and match a lower price.

If you book early saver into a group you can match prices later. If you book the group rates you can not match prices later without rebooking.