shiner6

17 minutes ago, Cruising_Addict said:

Yes, we absolutely loved the vista suite. But those particular suites actually feel Ike suites since the bedroom and living room are separate. Plus, they have an aft wrap balcony which is the largest balcony on any cruise ship.  Not sure I would pay full price for an ocean suite, however. I much prefer booking early and getting the special bowling alley balcony rooms on ships where they are priced the same as regular balcony rooms. 

Good to know. We are booked in a vista suite for our Norway cruise coming up soon.  I am trying to decide if I should cancel my cheers package and just pay per drink since Cheers is not included in room service and I was looking forward to sitting on my balcony instead of a bar.

I have lots of Carnival stock and I just bought more today. I feel it is a good buy right now.

On 3/21/2023 at 9:38 AM, Eli_6 said:

I can't speak to Norway, but I was on a UK cruise last year and I do not recall there being any issue with bringing alcohol back on board. I know my husband had some scotch he had purchased in port and we took home and I am assuming he just carried it on board in his back pack because we didn't have to retrieve it at disembarkation.  We didn't even drink it on board, but took it home with us. 

My husband loves that idea!

What is permitted when bringing alcohol on board in Uk and Norway? Are you allowed to pick up spirits, wine in port and bring it onboard?

6 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Well it sounds like it might be, but that's an Apple thing. I think it's a security thing to make sure somebody hasn't stolen your phone number perhaps. The same thing would happen to you right now if you put your iPhone on airplane mode for a few days, it's not something that Carnival is doing.

Thank you for educating me on this tech topic! 

On 1/18/2023 at 7:19 PM, Joebucks said:

I hope this brings the price down too. What is it now, $12 a day for social internet? Ugh.

Yeah, after reading reviews, we decided the price just isn't worth the benefit for us, so we cancelled it on our upcoming cruise.  We will be just fine and can spend that money elsewhere.

10 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

It's been my experience that eventually iMessage will stop working (2 or 3 days in maybe?) because it wants to verify my phone number and my phone has to stay on airplane mode.

Well, this seems punitive, doesn't it?

Oh my gosh!  Thank you everyone for making this easy to choose a solution!  We will do the international plan and use the $5 ship messenger service.  Again, thanks for helping out this Granny!

Would someone please help this granny decipher what is best for keeping in touch with a Teen on board while sailing?  I have read that the wi-fi on the ship is not optimal in Europe. Is this true?  She wants to be able to keep in touch with her friends, and I want to be able to communicate with her onboard.  I also need information on what is the best option while in ports in Norway and in London. We have AT&T i-phones.  It is all so very confusing to me. We had wi-fi on our trip to Alaska on HAL last year, but she ended up with a $800 phone bill because the wi-fi was awful.  I am not wanting to get fooled again!  (I made her pay for it out of her own funds).  Anyone with experience with this, please advise.  Thank you for your help.

try Looking at  https://www.whatsinport.com/Has much of the information you are searching for.

Thank you for posting!  I have been uneasy about my booking  on this ship because of not so good reviews. I know some people just like to complain, however, your pictures actually verify your very valid complaints. I would not be pleased by being offered a single dinner for all of my discomfort. 

That mattress looks tortuous!

On 3/2/2023 at 1:55 PM, ProgRockCruiser said:

So, to clarify what everyone is asking about:

 

Did you (or your TA) make any changes to the cruise booking after that initial deposit?

 

If not:

 

You already indicated it was  the base cruise rate that has changed.  Can you contact your TA and ask "wha' happened?"  (And make sure to use the Fred Willard character voice from A Mighty Wind.)

 

I, too, would be annoyed to see a price change when I thought I had locked it in.

Yes, I contacted my travel agent last week. I am still waiting for a reply.

The  passenger rate increase is for the Cruise itself, not the port fees or taxes.  Just the rate was raised by $80.00 and to be frank, I just didn't pay it much attention until I tried to balance my accounts today and found it.

If I drive to my port, then I take whatever I want, because lugging it around is no problem. If I have to fly, that is a different ballgame.

Even as a seasoned traveler, I tend to overpack.  Everytime I go somewhere, I try to learn from my current packing situation and make mental notes for future travels.  In January we took 1 carryon, 1 backpack and shared 1 checked bag for a 14day cruise to Hawaii. We found that we didn't use many of the things we brought, so we are already planning to take just a carryon and backpack for each of us on our next 21 ay cruise! No more checked bags!  We found that a capsule wardrobe is key! We purchased Merino wool tee shirts and sweaters in basic colors. I bought a basic black merino wool short sleeve dress. They are a gamechanger! Lightweight/ breathable and no stink. I did do laundry once by bringing along lightweight detergent sheets. Next time, I will send out laundry to be done and handwash my fine wools once and lay flat to dry.

we just did the Princess one from LA. It was perfect!

Does anyone have experience with Carnival raising the price of booked cruise 1 month before final payment is due? I booked a Baltic cruise almost 2 years ago and paid a non-refundable deposit. Now I notice that the price they are charging has increased by $80.00. I know it is not much in the scheme of things, however, it makes me very leery of their accounting practices as I never received notice of this increase.  They did decrease port charges when they had to cancel St. Petersburg. This was extremely disappointing but understandable.  I really wanted to cancel the cruise at that time,but was convinced by my travel agent that it would be a great itinerary even without St Petersburg and my cancellation fee would cost me about $800, so I stayed.  I keep careful watch on my chrges, but this one has me baffled.

58 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

You would need to go to a bar each time you'd like a drink. Room service is not included in Cheers.

In terms of getting an unopened bottle, technically no, but the bar tender might if you ask.

Soooo, maybe I am better off in not taking the drink package, if I want to sit on my balcony and have my drinks?

As a first time Carnival cruiser, I have a question about the Cheers package.  Since I purchased a Vista suite, I want to order drinks while sitting on the balcony. How does this work?  Do I order each drink separately, will they deliver to my room? Do I need to go to a bar and get it myself?  I would appreciate other's experience with this.  This is for a European cruise.  Can I get a bottle of beer unopened and take it back to my balcony?

I was there 2 weeks ago on a Princess excursion. It was quite nice. Plenty of tima alotted to see the active volcano. We had a group of 12 in a Transit van. Very comfortable.

no issues on Jan 16 trip to Hawaii

On 2/3/2023 at 7:12 AM, 1965 said:

I can't wait to watch them enjoy themselves. They're both celebrating their retirement from nursing. We will love sharing this with them. ❤

Tell them to enjoy themselves. I purchased a nice white blouse and wore some gold jewelry with it that I already owned. It was perfect. Nobody really noticed but I felt good.  (RN here) 

We just returned from Hawaii on the Crown. I had purchased an outfit for white and gold night based on reviews in this site. There really was no need, as very few people actually dressed for it. It was still pleasant way to spend an evening.

1 hour ago, scottca075 said:

 

It's doable, but it depends on how much you intend to do in each place. I'd head back to the airport (assuming that is where you return the car to) no later than 2:30PM, maybe even sooner. If the ships sails at 5PM, they like you on board before, not getting dropped off at 5PM.

Thank you! That is exactly what I have planned------   head back around 2.  

6 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Why would you say that?  If she would not be pleased with a balcony for $945, why would she bid for it at all?  $63 a person for a balcony from an inside seems like a reasonable deal.

 

How did she decline?  Did she have that option or did she just not pay for it when billed?

 

Congratulations to you.

 

Obviously if you would not be pleased with by winning any of your bids, do not make the bid.

 

I wonder if they would allow her to submit another bid after defaulting on her winning bid?

 

Did she get her original cabin back?

I don't know where you got the $63 from?  The balcony bid was for 2 x the $945 in addition to what she had already paid for her room,  soooo quite a bit more than she thought she was paying. She is very new to this.