pungo3

Congratulations! Addiction to cruising is GREAT! Have a fabulous time.:D

Have a fabulous cruise.:D

Over the years, I have missed numerous ports for weather problems. It's been mostly tender ports due to high seas, but we've missed docking as well. Since I live in Florida, and cruise out of Florida most of the time, I've had several cruises skirting hurricanes. I never worry about it since I know I'll cruise again and get there eventually.:D

Does anyone here know if you get a platinum gift on a 3 night cruise?

Yes you do. I had a 4 day Sensation cruise followed by 3 day. Didn't get my gift on 4 day (just got it in mail) but did get my gift on the 3 day.

I was on the Sensation in November and they were out of gifts. They promised to mail them. Believe it or not, I JUST received them last week. Two of the Tervis Tumblers. I was thinking we might get the new coffee mugs as well. No luck. :(

I am so sorry they missed the ship and are returning home. It's wonderful they have insurance! Things like this remind me how lucky I am to live in Florida and am able to drive to the ports. I've only done 2 cruises in Europe and I definitely flew in the day before.:D

I LOVE the cove balconies. I've stayed in balcony cabins on almost every deck and have to say the coves are my favorite (unless it's a Suite balcony):D

If Carnival doesn't send you your letter, you will need to call them. My milestone cruise was November 17th on the Legend. I did not receive my letter and did not receive my 25% credit or white card. I called Carnival and asked to use my credit on my December 7 cruise on the Dream. I was told I would receive on board credit. That didn't happen either. It took 6 phone calls to 9 different people for me to receive my 25% credit on my April 5 cruise on the Dream. I never got my white card. Oh well...... I'd change lines, but I do like Carnival ships and feel their prices are the best of all lines. I have 31 days until Diamond. I'm hoping they won't change that level before I get there.

I had a different issue, but the same tiring 3 hours on the phone... I finally got John Heald involved who got me answers and action.

 

I also felt I had no other option because I was getting NOWHERE. I hate being the whining complainer, but I knew I was right and had the e-mail proof that the next CCL employee refused to honour.

 

My PVP was on my side.... it was beyond her control!

I hated involving John since he is so busy. But, I had my OBC within 3 hours after posting.

So glad you also got your problem solved!

Hey, that's what mine says also. Guess I'd better get to the port in the morning and take off for 9 fabulous days. The Dream is so much fun!!

Your shore excursion description will also tell you what you need to bring. For everyone getting off, you need your S&S card and a picture ID. I would definitely suggest sunscreen since the sun in the Caribbean can burn much quicker than what you may be used to. You'll also want to have a few dollars to tip your guide. Other than that, take whatever your excursion suggests. Have a fabulous cruise.:D

Thanks. I'll have to keep checking fares for my October cruise as well. Is there an easy way to do that?

Also, what do you do with that much OBC? Would they possibly give you cash back at the end of the cruise if you don't use that much?

If you don't use all of your OBC, they will give you a check at the end of the cruise. I've only had that happen a couple of times.:D

Hi all, I've booked our first cruise for this October and already looking to book for May 2015 as well. That's where the questions come in.

 

I've read on here about booking onboard for the $100 OBC. Is that per cabin, I would need 2 cabins again.

 

Also, I really want to book my May 2015 cruise, only this early to try to get a cabana at HMC booked now as well. How soon do cabanas sell out, I'd be looking at the last week of May. Is there a way I can look online to see if the cabanas are still available before I book?

 

Is there a way to book the May 2015 cruise now and still get some kind of OBC?

Welcome to cruising. I hope you love it as much as we do. I'll try to answer questions as I can. It is true if you book a cruise while on board, you are eligible for OBC. The amount depends on the length of the cruise. If you are booking a 7 day, you will get the $100 OBC when booking aboard a cruise.

Since your cruise isn't until 2015, you won't be able to book your cabana until the excursions are loaded for 2015. I suggest watching Cruise Critic closely to see when they available. I've found someone posts on here as soon as they see the new excursions loaded.

To book for 2015, I can't think of anyway you can get OBC. However, if you book Early Saver, you can apply for OBC every time the rate drops. There is a form to fill out and if the price is lower, they will give you OBC.

Good luck and welcome to cruising. There are many nice people here who love to help fellow cruisers.

That sounds extremely frustrating :mad: I hope they get this fixed for you without much more effort on your part (when there shouldn't be in the first place!).

 

Am I understanding correctly that when you hit a milestone, you get credit towards a future OBC? Is it only for the "big" milestones, or do we get one when we turn gold?

 

I've never even heard about getting any credit when hitting a milestone, so that would be good news either way :)

 

(EDIT!) I see you got it taken care of, awesome!

For your 25th Carnival cruise, you get 25% of your cruise fare as an OBC on that cruise. For your 50th cruise you get 50%, for 75th cruise you get 75%. It's a one time deal. Since they missed my actual 25th cruise, I have been allowed to receive it on my 27th Carnival cruise.

Hang in there and keep sailing Carnival. You'll be there before you know it.:D

I certainly don't know all the answers, but I can tell you there is NOT a robe for a child. I've taken my foster child on 2 cruises and there wasn't a robe for him. I even asked the room steward, in case it was something you had to request, and was told there are none.

My child did go to Night Owl and loved it. They had tons of things to do and there was no trouble for him to stay awake. I believe it was 2am, and they walked all the kids to their cabins and made sure an adult was there to accept them.

Congratulations! I hope you have a fabulous cruise.:D

In the case anyone is interested, I just this minute got my OBC. I had written John Heald but I don't know if he did it, or one of my emails or phone calls did it. Regardless, I now have my 25% OBC for milestone. I guess I won't turn into a Carnival hater after all. :D (a joke, of course)

Only you can decide what's best for you. If I had the choice, I'd cruise the Magic any day over the Liberty. Regardless of what you do, I hope you have a fabulous cruise.:D

A simple solution is to use a Carnival PVP.

 

You are still dealing directly with Carnival and they do all the leg work (or phone waiting).

 

Hubby received a letter because he was already past Milestone when they started the program for the 25%.

 

My youngest son and I used ours ON our 25th and never received a letter because it was a B2B (24th and 25th).

 

Our oldest son received a letter for his 25%.

 

For our 50%, we all received letters.

 

We have never had an issue using any of them.

Sorry, you are wrong. I've booked every one of my cruises through Carnival with a PVP. Carnival failed to issue my milestone letter which is why the problem started. ALL of my phone calls have been on hold with Carnival. One hand does not know what the other hand is doing. It is a mess.

I too was born and raised in Florida... not many of us crackers around :) especially in Florida... though, I left the state over 30 years ago for a job and don't desire to live there again... too many people :)

 

I really didn't care what the people I told thought. They were being rude by what they were doing and I wanted to protect the beautiful reefs. Unfortunately, didn't get into snorkeling until about 10 years ago while on a trip to Hawaii... and loved it. Try to do it at least once every cruise.

It's really too bad you didn't snorkel while you lived here. Pristine reefs down in the Keys. Such a shame what has happened to them.

Pungo, I actually had to yell at some folks who "obviously didn't listen to the guides" about not standing or breaking off coral for a souvenir. People are crazy and then they wonder why the reefs are dying...

 

Maybe I should let them touch the fire-coral... :)

Thank you for at least trying to tell them. I've been called bad names because I asked nicely for people NOT to stand on the reef. Being born and raised in Florida, I've snorkeled my whole life (63 years) and long for the days in my youth when I could snorkel pristine reefs here in Florida.

Contact John Heald. I was supposed to get my platinum pin and it didn't show up. I told him my booking # and date of the past cruise and my next cruise, and not only was my pin there but two ships on a stick and carnival' s finest champagne!

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I really hated to bother him, but this is getting ridiculous. I was told I'd be called back this morning, and here it is 2PM with no call.

I agree with Steve. You can see fish anywhere, but most of the reefs are dead or dying because of people touching the coral. Any place that has had lots of tourist will probably have dead coral which is brown and unattractive. The prettiest coral I have seen is in Belize. I hope you have a fabulous cruise.:D

Yes, lockers are available. Enjoy your time there.:D

It really depends on where we are. On one of the private islands, I keep my money, & IDs in a waterproof pouch which hangs around my neck. My towel, etc. just stays in my chair on the beach. I've been on 30 cruises and never had anything touched while I snorkel. If I'm on an excursion, I leave my stuff on the snorkel boat, if I'm at a public beach, I rent a locker and keep all my things there until I finish snorkeling.