photogineer

Hey all,

Next cruise is booked! We are sailing out of Port of Miami this time, we usually do Port Canaveral. I am looking to rent a car from Budget at FLL (couldn't get a good flight in to MIA) and drop it off near the cruise ships and get a shuttle to the ships, like we've done in the past at Port Canaveral. In searching the forum I came across a number of posts saying for Budget you had to drop off near the port and take a cab ride over to the ship, but I was searching Budget's website and found this location: http://locations.budget.com/us/fl/miami/p2f.html

I was expecting I could rent the car at FLL and drop it there, one way rental and get a free shuttle to the ship, but the posts I've seen on here suggest otherwise. Does anyone have any experience with that drop off locaiton and getting a shuttle? Also, can we do the same in reverse? Take a shuttle from the port to that location to pick up the car for our return trip to FLL?

Thanks

We just went on our first Carnival cruise this month. I was nervous about the "behavior" talked about on Cruise Critic. We had a FANTASTIC time. I didn't see anything inappropriate at all. I can't wait until next March!

We were actually on your cruise I think, I saw you in the roll call, the Dream 3/15 right?

It was a pretty good cruise, we only encountered one overly drunken person and he was seated at our dinner table unfortunately. On the upside, he was so overly indulgent he usually missed dinner :)

Other than that, we never really had a problem, just that one guy... Occasional splashing issues in the pool, but that was mostly a personal problem because I had contacts in and didn't want to lose them, I just left the pool area.

Matt

I was recently on the CCL Dream, and one of the excursions (in Roatan) we did was beginner scuba diving that didn't require a certification. We were accompanied by an instructor and walked through an easy 40ft dive, it was some of the most fun I've ever had. When we returned to the boat we had a bunch of people on ask about it, and tell us they went snorkeling instead and it made me curious.

If my understanding is correct, snorkeling involves a snorkel (obviously) and a dive mask of some kind, and taking a deep breath to swim down to see a reef or whatever your target is before eventually returning to the surface to breath. Is this correct?

Assuming it is, what's the point of the snorkel? Is it really that much convenient to be able to clear the snorkel on surfacing and breath through it instead of having to completely surface? I don't know want to seem rude, since I clearly don't understand it, but it seems like snorkeling and swimming underwater with your breath held are really pretty similar.

So my question, can anyone explain the differences between snorkeling, and just swimming down while holding your breath?

Matt

Another option to consider, rent a camera. I just got off the CCL Dream last week and we did a Scuba excursion, my friends and I rented this camera:

http://www.borrowlenses.com/product/Canon_d20

For 10 days, it was ~$70pp, the photo quality was quite nice, and the camera is easy to use underwater, it's also rugged and great for tucking in a pocket. If you jumped in the ocean or pool without remembering to take it out, no big deal. Drop it? No problem!

I have used BorrowLenses a lot, they're always been great. When I get home I can post some of the photos I took with the camera on our dive. We took it down to 40ft (it's only labeled for 33ft) no problem for over half an hour of active use.

Matt

Visa gift cards are very tricky.. They will not approve a charge, if the amount is not available. Like you were saying, the $2.79 charge and only having a $1.00 on the card. No, the charge would be declined.

 

The best thing to do, is have them do an immediate charge of $50.00 on the card. They can usually credit back what is not used. When you get to the point that the money is all gone, they will call you to come and place another card or cash for the rest of the trip (like they do, if someone's credit card gets declined, I imagine)....

 

**PS. This comes from a person that worked in retail for MANY years and had to deal with American Express, Visa, and Mastercard gift cards all the time. You may want to even call Visa and get your information placed on the card and give them a heads up that you are planning on charging it while on port or on the cruise. They can become very pickled and not allow certain charges through, thinking that it is false, especially if you charge the whole amount off at one time..**

I am sorry if I wasn't clear, I had intended to do what you suggested, immediately using up the entire balance of the gift card to preload my S&S. I was just worried about the transition from preload to credit card. There will be no chance of me not going beyond the $50 haha. I already have a credit card on the account through Carnival.com, I still want to use it, I just want to use the $50 first. Is there any way to set it up so it will automatically roll on to the credit card without me having to intervene?

Thanks,

Matt

Second cruise coming up in under a week (whoo!) and I have a quick question about the S&S cards. Last cruise I simply tied it to my credit card and let them charge right to it, and that worked out fine so I was planning on doing the same thing this time. Recently I was given a $50 Visa gift card towards my cruise though, and I was wondering how to best use it. Can I just preload my S&S account with the $50 and have it use that before it charges to my credit card? Is there a better way to do this?

Also, assuming I can and do use the proposed method, what happens if for example I have $1 left on the prepaid amount and charge $2.49, does it deduct the $1 and put $1.49 on the credit card?

Thanks,

Matt

So, on my upcoming 3/15 cruise out of PC my friends and I have arranged for a rental car from MCO to our hotel, then drop off the next morning from Budget. We also arranged for a rental car from PC to MCO the day our cruise is back in port, again from Budget. I've never actually rented a car before so I have a few questions:

1. Originally my flight was coming in at 7:45pm and to allow time to get bags and such I booked the rental for 8:30pm pickup, but now my plans have changed and I'm arriving at the airport at 7pm. Assuming I make it to the rental counter by 7:45ish, will they let us have the car early or do we have to kill 45 minutes? It's no big deal, but it would be nice to be on the road a bit sooner!

2. I'm getting conflicting information regarding the tolls and the Budget car regarding transponders, do the cars have them? Is there a charge to use them? I was expecting to have to pay cash, but I'd rather use the transponder, even at a small fee, as long as it's reasonable.

3. How close is the Budget location at the port? Is it walking distance after I drop off the car or is there a shuttle? If there is a shuttle do I need to pay or make prior reservations for it?

4. Assuming there is a shuttle from the rental location, would it make more sense to drop off my two friends closer and return the car solo or should I drag them along for the ride? :)

5. Are there any general purpose tips or gotchas I should watch out for?

Thanks,

Matt

I'm considering a cove balcony on the dream too, and found this thread to have useful info

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1125140

 

Says a cove balcony is 40sq Ft and a regular balcony is 35sq Ft.

 

There are some links with good pictures in that thread, too.

Wow thanks for the link! I'm catching up on that thread now.

Cove balcony is 40ft^2, does anyone know the dimensions of the balcony on the Ecstasy and/or Epic?

Thanks,

Matt

So, my cruise is coming up! The 3/15 sailing on the Dream, and I am anxiously looking at photos of my last cruise to get ready and I came across a few I shot of the NCL Epic when she was docked alongside us, which brought up a curiosity.

I remember noting when we saw the Epic how huge her balconies looked compared to the one we had (Junior Suite on the Carnival Ecstasy) and I was wondering how our balcony would compare this time.

So anyone who has sailed on the NCL Epic or her sister ships, or the Ecstasy/sister ships as well as the Dream, could you tell me what to expect? It's not really important, I'm just curious! I wouldn't mind if the balcony was the same size as the Ecstasy balcony, but I would hope it's larger given that the Dream is much larger. I'm also just plain curious how it compares to the Epic, so who can tell me?

Thanks,

Matt

1. I did ithe hot stone massage in August and it was great!

2. Port day discounts are the best deals. You will get info on it during the week.

3. The discounts are pretty good. Can't remember the % though.

4. Port day discounts fill up fast so as soon as you get an ad/flyer with your evening fun times call up the spa and book it.

5. Day passes are $35 (not positive but it's around that amount). Couple passes are $249 a week. Single week long passes are $149.

6. Nothing else is included except the showers, locker room, and gym.

7. Loved it! Nice and warm with lots of bubbles. :D It has a bench in the water that's shaped like a lounger so you can lay back and enjoy yourself. It really helped my arthritis and sore knee.

Really? For what the massage costs you'd think they'd throw that in, oh well!

Anybody else know about the specific discount amounts or have any reviews/recommendations?

Matt

Hey all,

My cruise on the Dream is coming up on 3/15, and I was thinking about treating myself a bit. I am a software engineer by trade and spend a lot of time in chairs of various (but usually poor) quality, hunched on a keyboard. As such I have a ton of back pain, and I was hoping to soothe that. In addition, on my cruise my friends and I are taking a few excursions (Mayan ruins, zipling, cave tubing, scuba diving) that will probably make me a bit sore. So I was considering getting the hot stone massage in the spa. I know it's overpriced, but I'll only get find time to do that sort of thing on vacation, so I don't mind splurging. I had some questions about the spa in general:

1. Can anyone say how the hot stone massage was? Anyone from the Dream recently?

2. Is it true that they tend to be discounted on port days? I'm staying in on the last port day (7am to 12pm port, seems silly to rush off the boat for that) so that would be ideal. I don't mind splurging, but I'm not going to turn down a deal!

3. If discounted, what sort of discount is typically applied? 25? 50%? 95% :D

4. If discounted, does that have to be booked the morning of, the night before? is it something I should be up early to make sure I get or is it a pretty easygoing thing?

5. The thalassotherapy pool sounds like it might also be useful for my soreness, and I want to check it out, I've heard the spa has day passes, what do those usually run?

6. If I get the massage, does that include any other spa access like the sauna or thalassotherapy pool?

7. Can anyone give me their review of the thalassotherapy pool?

That about does it, thanks in advance and happy sailings!

Matt

So, my friends and I are booked on a Carnival Dream sailing out of Port Canaveral in March, 3/15. We are flying in to MCO the evening of 3/14 (after a harrowing experience running late for our first cruise last year) and need a place to stay near the port. I am hoping not to spend more than $60 on the hotel if possible, with the cruise transfer. There are 3 of us and we were considering taking a towncar from MCO to the hotel, and then whatever transfer the hotel had to the port the next day.

Any suggestions?

Matt

you have 10 posts -- that makes you a cruise newbie

 

the bed is two beds pushed together if you arrive and they are together leave a note for the steward to get them seperated easy to do and the night stand goes between the beds

Good to know, as long as there is something simple to be done about it. I like my friends, but I don't like any of them enough to share a bed ;)

Matt

aww, why are you nervous?

 

to answer your question about your cabin.

You have a junior suite-- which is a glorified balcony cabin.

You can not compare the suites on this class of ships to the other ships in the fleet. (so when you come back and want to book another)

 

the balcony is VERY narrow- (just be prepared)

http://www.cruiseshiprooms.com/Cruise-Info/cabin/Ecstasy/V1

 

has some pictures posted so you can get an idea

I'm mostly nervous because after posting my room people immediately pegged me as a newbie, makes me think I picked some horrible stateroom that those in the know would never go near :)

The photos show more or less exactly what we expected, it's myself and two old buddies from high school and college. The only thing about the photos is that it shows one single bed, though I asked for (and according to Carnival's website I am getting) two twin beds, plus the couch. Is the room just reconfigured on the fly depending on the booking?

Matt

matt is this your first cruise?

Yes.... and now I'm nervous :)

Matt

Anybody have any information on the V15 stateroom on the Carnival Ecstacy? Sailing in there in March for a Bahamas cruise.

Matt