CruisingAgain

I need to get from Ft Lauderdale Airport to a Miami hotel. SAS looks like a good option but they do not go to my hotel. Does anyone know ... 1. Will they drop off at other hotels in the Brickell area? 2. If not I will need to walk from the Hampton Inn (SW 12th Street) to Aloft Hotel (SW 2nd Ave). Does anyone know the area? Is that a safe area for a woman alone in the afternoon? Is it flat enough to pull a small suitcase?

YES ... there is COVID on the cruise ships and it doesn't matter if it is 30% or .03% if you run into the 1 person that has it you can catch it. It is very contagious. But there is also COVID in your neighborhood. My husband or I got COVID from a visit to the grocery store, hair dresser, LabCorp, pharmacy or department store. Not sure where but probably just one of us got it and gave to the other. We only had slight cough and tested because we were going on a cruise. Otherwise we would not have tested. Does everyone else test if they cough? And ... the people who test after the cruise probably got it on the cruise but could have gotten it going to/from the cruise (flying, stopping for gas or lunch, etc.). I agree with others ... if want to be sure not to get COVID on a cruise then you should NOT cruise now.

You do the swab, stick it in the "card" and then wait 15 minutes for the results. Tells you right away if you are negative or positive. Email is sent quickly. Definitely within 1/2 hour but I think it was almost immediate. We have used the proctored tests for 4 cruises and it works great.

Thankyou for the answer that I wanted. 😃 I start every cruise with a shrimp burrito and a beer. And I would rather use the free drinks for frozen drinks on a sunny sea day. I know it is only a few dollars difference but that's not the point.

Did you tell them when to use the free drinks OR was it the first 2 drinks you ordered after boarding?

I guess I can try this on my next solo cruise - just in case. I don't know why it would avoid the penalty (because I can't figure out why I got a penalty) but maybe as someone else said, the Carnival system couldn't handle solo to double to solo. Thanks for the suggestion

I won't be in this situation again because I am not inviting anyone on my solo cruises. 😀 Trying to give someone a "free" cruise ended up costing me $250. But if I relent, I will only do it with $50 deposit and I won't say anything at the port. I just understood that was the way everyone did it who didn't get a penalty and I didn't want to be enjoying my cruise and get a call to guest services to explain the missing roomate.

This is exactly what I don't understand. It says no refunds and the cancellation is 100% of the cruise fare (if cancelling up to 14 days). I didn't expect any refund. But I don't see where it says there is a penalty of the deposit amount.

She is doing much better but I think I will just stick to solo cruises that I love. I guess I could try if I book with a $50 deposit but never the $250 again.

No Future Cruise Credit but I wouldn't have expected one. Of course, I didn't expect the $250 penalty either.

Probably me. I posted in a thread asking about when to cancel a person who wasn't cruising. But at the time I hadn't heard back from Carnival yet. Istarted this thread separately to let people know about this new (I think) penalty.

I wonder if telling them she missed her flight would have worked. IN FACT .... it would have been true because we had a snow storm and her flight was cancelled so she was refunded for that. But they never asked WHY she wasn't cruising. And it is wierd that they gave you OBC but refunded ours (minus the $250).

I didn't have (and never buy) cancel for any reason insurance. Probably could have had the doctor say she couldn't go since her diabetes was out of control 2 weeks before cruise. But, as i mentioned, I didn't know there was a $250 penalty - I never saw that in writing anywhere and I thought they made a mistake.

They were a no show. I did not cancel ahead of time. Told them at the port that the other person wasn't cruising.

That is exactly what they did. This is with Early Saver but probably any fare type that has "non refundable" deposit. Do you agree that this is new or strange?

I have read on here many times that you can cancel a person out of the cabin at the port and get the taxes and gratuities refunded. But no one ever says that there is a PENALTY to cancel the person. I know that the remaining person as a solo has to pay double and they will not refund any part of the cruise fare or deposit but I never knew there was also a penalty - the $250 deposit. I didn't want the deposit returned but I didn't expect to have to pay it again. This may only be with early saver but still does not make any sense to me. Situation: I booked a solo cruise and paid double deposit ($500) and then double cruise fare and taxes/gratuities for one. I take a solo cruise every January. Later I added someone to my room and paid her taxes/gratuities She went into the hospital 2 weeks prior to the cruise and I did not feel comfortable cruising with her after that - my decision. At the port I told them she would not be cruising and they said I would be refunded taxes and gratuities - just as I expected. I knew I would be responsible for the full cruise fare - just as i had originally booked so that was no problem. After the cruise they told me there was a $250 penalty and only returned to me the difference. Today (after 3 months) they finally explained it .... seems that when I added her they split the $500 deposit - $250 each and when she cancelled that $250 was her penalty. But they still had my original $500 deposit so I don't agree with their logic. YES ... she had insurance but since I expected to be back to my original solo cruise cost we did not contact her doctor to get anything in writing saying she couldn't cruise (never asked) and we did not report anything to the insurance company (not Carnival's). I guess I can try now but it is probably too late.

They said there was a $250 "penalty". I didn't include the exact money details in my originnal post because I just believe there should not have been any penalty and the taxes and gratuities should haev been returned. I notified them at the port as many many other people have done in the past. I don't kno if this "penalty" is a new rule that everyone should know. Details: The taxes and gratuities were about $210. They sent me a gift card for $39. But that makes no sense either because if there was a $250 penalty then I owed them $40, they didn't owe it to me. I don't know if the $39 had anything to do with it or if that was some money left on my account.

AGREED. I would rather pay an extra $500 (or whatever) to cruise on a different cruise line than to pay $15 for a bag of laundry if they don't give it to me for free. 😃😃😃😃😃

https://www.carnival.com/~/media/Images/explore/dining/menus/room-service-menu.pdf OOPS ... I see it has no prices. Always did in the past. I guess they are updating the prices.

That is correct ..... I paid the full cruise fare for 2 people but only 1 cruised. That is okay and expected. BUT, they did not refund taxes and gratuities because they said there was that $250 charge. So they kept the money I paid for taxes and gratuities. After 2 months I asked about the status of my request and got the same automated reply that it might take longer than normal to reply because they have an increase in inquiries. I dont' know what is "normal" so I don't know when they will get around to this. Oh ... and I read through ALL of the terms and conditions and it does not mention $250 anywhere. My PVP is usually excellent but he couldn't do anything.