QTPieRye

I am a SoCal resident and frequent Long Beach cruiser...the Queen Mary is right next door to the Carnival Cruise Terminal. Thought I'd share a couple of tips with you~ Instead of parking in the QM parking lot for $22/day or $27/day for valet, you can park over in the covered parking garage which is $17/day. Also, the morning of embarkation, you can easily walk over to the Carnival terminal... you will likely find a bellhop that is willing and eager to walk your bags for you :)

Greetings! I am travelling with a large group in January 2018 on the Conquest 6 night, which will have 2 elegant nights. Several people have mentioned having a themed elegant night.... besides the "white night", anyone ever done this or have any ideas. Ready, Set, Go :)

Does anyone happen to know which, if any, rental car companies are located near the cruise port and if they have shuttle service? Thanks in advance.

Word of caution be careful of over planning. Plan one get together in the morning after breakfast like at 10am to 12pm. Do whatever team bldg, training or whatever during that time.

 

NOONE is going to want to hangout with coworkers all day on a cruise. Trust me.

 

Do not plan your schedule around the ship schedule. Ship schedules change without notice. If everyone knows 10 to 12 is team training/bldg time it will be much easier to manage.

 

After your sessions, everyone can select to do as much or as little as they want off the fun times.

 

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Great advice!

I am also planning a high school reunion group cruise on the Imagination for November... I happen to be sailing this Thursday for 3 nights. I plan on spending time coordinating activities around CCL's programming and trying to find lounges/areas that we can use for no charge. I will upload the FunTimes for you next week :)

I agree with going back to the little stuff like Buckeye said.... I miss the Carnival funship hurricane glasses, the chocolates on the pillow, etc. I always enjoyed the past guest party that was offered to gold+, then they took that away from gold and now give it to Platinum+, but only on 5+ day sailings. Got me wondering, since Platinum don't get the past guest party for for 3 or 4 day cruises, do they give a drink coupon to Platinum guests on those cruises?

They do not want pax waiting in the Captains Lounge. It's too puny to accommodate both checked in and those waiting to check in. They encourage you to wait outside, to the right.

We avoid this altogether, arriving around 11:30. Dome doors are open by then. Simply a matter of checking in and straight thru to the ship.

Thank you! That's my plan. Just check in around 12:30 and walk in the dome. I do recall seeing people walking into the dome to the left side and bypassing the line of people having their passports and boarding passes checked.

Thank you for the clarification. I was confused because they both say PRIORITY, but then showed an assigned time.

One other question you might be able to answer.... my sister has priority by default because she is booked into my cabin; however, her two childen, 16 and 13 are a booked in the cabin next to us. Our bookings are linked. What is the best way to handle?

With so many other social media outlets regarding cruising, I rarely sign into CC anymore because frankly it's not worth the harassment and bullying. Needless to say,when I signed on today to ask an embarkation question, I was shocked to see this post lingering around with recent comments!!

With that said, I thought Iwould take a minute to share our cruise experience from last September. As anyone with MS knows, stress is a trigger, but fortunately, my BFF had no flair ups during our cruise. Despiterough seas cruising during Hurricane Newton, not being able to port as scheduled and the kids club fiasco, we had an enjoyable cruise.

While CCL did an okay jobattempting to have make-shift kids clubs during their remodel (which was quite extensive), the strong the rough seas and rain caused further chaos with the kids club situation.

Many of the usual outdoor activities were rescheduled for indoors last minute, and unfortunately the kids club was then moved without notice to different locations with varying times. To make matters worse, on 2 different occasions, the kids clubs were moved while the kids were in there. This was andled by the pager going off, us stopping what we were doing and go to the kids club, only to have to check the kids out, wait for all the parents to arrive so that they could be re-checked into the new location. So yes, it was frustrating. If that makes me selfish, then so be-it! Did it spoil our cruise?Absolutely not. Did my daughters help watch the younger girls?Absolutely.

Did my BFF and I enjoy quality time? Of course, we were on a cruise for 7 nights!

Thank you to those of you for your genuine concern regarding my BFF. Since last September, she had major brain surgery where they successfully clamped off 2 cerebral aneurisms. Although she is not back to 100% and has been cautioned to be as stress-free as possible, she is alive… and that’s all that truly matters :)

Just printed my boarding passes and noticed that they state "Arrival Appointment 12:30 to 1:00 p.m." , which is the time I selected on my cruise manager online checkin.

This is my 1st cruise as a Platinum cruiser and it was my understanding that I would check-in at the Captain's Lounge in Long Beach prior to the 1st embarkation group?

Anyone familiar with Priority embarkation in Long Beach?

Hi there. I was thinking if doing the same thing but I have a group of 70 and will use the points for travel bag and Inc. I'm thinking about bringing a case of two on myself and speak with the maitre d when I get on the ship to see if something could be worked out. 50 of us are coming at the same time. Of course tipping will be done.

Sounds like we are in a similiar situation! I think I am going to opt for the Champagne & Chocolates through FunShops using amenity points..... I am going to go with 1 of the following options:

1. Go around to each cabin when I board the ship and stick a tag on the bottle that says something fun..... maybe something like "Cheers to 30 Years! Bring to to MDR tonight for special toast!"

2. Go around to all cabins and remove champagne bottle and deliver myself to the dining room for dinner night #1. Keep the remaining bottles for elegant night toast and mimosas for the group during our sea day!

P.S I have confirmed with CCL that there is no corkage charge for items delivered from the FunShop :)

Thank you Sadie! That's what I was thinking..... yet CCL makes it sound like all the lounges, etc are busy!!! Maybe their attempt to sell the private party with bar services, etc.

Travelling on the Imagination 11/16 for a small high school reunion group of about 60 people.... would like to have a check-in area where alumni can pick up goody bags filled with 80's garb, name tag and possibly have a bar close by.

My first thought was to utilize a small area near the Atrium Bar on the Empress Deck or one deck up at the piano bar (assuming no weddings or other events are being held).... thought it might be convenient for guests to board the ship on Empress, walk past the elevators and do a quick check-in / pick-up of goodies before we head up to the Lido Deck!

My co group leader and I are the only Platinum cruisers in our group, so we will be onboard before the rest of the alumni giving us a chance to drop our luggage off in our cabin and find a spot.

Not interested in a formal meet and greet, as we've allocated our amenitity points, and berth credits towards other events for the weekend.

As a side note, I happen to be on the same ship 2 weeks prior and wondered if I might be able to set something up at that time.

Thanks in advance!

For basically the same price, I would definitely go with Miami and be closer to the port... especially if you are trying for an earlier return flight.

Although I wouldn't recommend it.... I have disembarked from Miami and made an 11:00 a.m. flight out of FLL with pre-arranged transportation through SAS :)

Greetings.... need help with the best way to orchestrate a champagne toast at dinner for a group of 30 people. Not sure if we will be assigned to 8 or 10 person tables and not really sure how many bottles of champagne will be needed per table (I was thinking 2).

I basically have 3 options:

1. Have a few guests carry-on a bottle of champagne and give to dining room to serve on 1st night and pay corkage fees;

2. Order from Bon Voyage and pay inflated price, but no corkage fee;

3. See if I can use a group amenity point for the "champagne and chocolates" and ask for the champagne to be delivered to the dining room and the chocolates to the room.

Anyone ever done this?

Thanks in advance.

Does anyone know if NCL has a special fare for excursion spectators? Kids want to zipline in Cabo and I do not..... can I pay a spectator price and go hang out and have lunch with them, but no zipline??? I've tried online, but it doesn't exist. Maybe this needs to be done online? Don't want kids to miss out on excursion.... do I just book all 3 and then ask for adjustment once onboard? Thoughts? Thanks!

Help! Leaving next week and I've already booked r/t transportation with Cortrans....however, HUBBY just mentioned renting a car upon our arrival at MCO, drive to Daytona Beach for breakfast and then to Orlando!

Our flight arrives at 6:30 a.m. and ship does not embark until 4pm. We would plan to arrive port around 2 p.m. latest. Does anyone know of a rental car company that is close to Port Canaveral to drop off rental car?

Thanks.

Thanks for the info. I am booking this excursion through Island Marketing for our cruise next Friday :)

They'll take many poses wherever you want on deck or indoors and then require you to sit through a full album presentation in a private one on one session where you'll be offered packages starting at $1475 and bottoming out around $495. I don't like to sound negative but do want you to be aware that requesting the services of a personal photographer comes at a price and a hefty one at that if you decide to purchase.

 

Have a fun cruise.

Thanks... yeah, I sat thru the book and slide presentation with my friend in Septemter. She ended up only purchasing 3 or 4 prints of the sunset prints... they were pretty amazing. II believe the price was the same as every other 8x10...and no sitting fee was charged :) Just wasn't sure if that was always the case or how to set it up.

Thanks... I wasn't sure if they did that, charged a fee or what! But I will check with them once onboard!

Just pick up our rental from Alamo this afternoon. We used our credit card to pay and did not purchase any extra coverage. I checked with our auto insurance company before we left and Puerto Rico is covered since it's a US territory. It's just like renting in the states. The Alamo staff was very friendly and helpful. We were in and out in 15 minutes. So far, it's a good choice!

Thank you! Enjoy your trip :)

Hi there... husband and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on the Sunshine. I was thinking instead of the normal backdrops, poses, I would like to try and have a photographer do some sunset photos.

Does anyone have suggestons for arranging this? A photographer took some of a friend of mine and her family in September... she said a lady just grabbed her and took her outside for photos. They were amazing! Thanks for any suggestions on coordinating this :)

Curious what type of liability coverage, if any, post people travelling purchase? When renting in the states, I have coverage through my State Farm policy and under the credit card I use...do any of you purchase the additional coverage?

We sail on the 8 night departing 1/13. If they aren't posted before we leave, I will post upon return :)

I know there are specific packing tips of what to bring.... not looking for that, as I am a Platinum cruiser, just looking for tips on packing light without overlooking the basics. We are flying and have scuba gear and wine that will be replacing other items in our suitcases! Thinking of bringing laundry pods and doing a couple loads mid-week... thanks in advance for any ideas.