sperkins921

IHG Platinum Elite (roughly 95k points in the account atm) matched to MSC Silver.

Took two calendar weeks exactly (so 10 business days not counting s/s)

It's one of the two pick up locations that the twizy rental places lists. They do not mention anything on their website about being able to rent/return right at the wharf. 

Hamilton Princess is a hotel/resort (one of two listed on their site) that apparently you can pick up the Twizy from; again based on doing a booking on the website. DH and I were toying with renting one but not knowing how easy it would be to get to either location I haven't cemented anything as of yet.

TMLA,

  Can you give a synopsis of just how you got to the Hamilton Princess on drop off/pick up? I'm considering renting a Twizy for the three days in port, but not sure if we'd take the ferry to the location or a bus or what?

Thanks!

3 hours ago, parsec0298 said:

Use print to PDF to create a file of your pass, then email it to yourself.

D'Oh! Why didn't I think of that? LOL

Good idea! Thanks!

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

There isn't one for Anthem - print it.

I did. Like said I was hoping for a just in case back up. First time on Anthem- not royal- so wasn’t 100% sure if it was available. Thanks for the heads up!

So if I am on Anthem out of Bayonne- what do I do for an electronic set sail pass? I don’t see a way to use IQ at home- it’s just advising me to use ship WiFi. And regular Royal can look up my cruise but says it’s not supported.

i just wanted the digital copy as a just in case. Never forgotten passports or boarding passes *knocks on wood* yet but thought a backup might be nice.

OP, the reason people were making a big deal out of needing a web browser is because you have to navigate to Carnival's "carnivalhub.com" page in order to connect to their wifi. Then enter your folio number and DOB. The device won't just simply connect to an available network. Apple TV's have the Safari browser.

 

We were aboard the Glory a couple of weeks ago and I used the so-called YouTube workaround to get the inputs to change. All you have to do is disconnect the gray communications line from the back of the TV, which feeds Carnival's television programming into the cabin. I was able to successfully hook up and use a Nintendo Switch for my son and his friend. I didn't need to manually change inputs on the TV, it did it automatically once I unplugged the gray cable and plugged in the HDMI. But if necessary, the TV had an input/source touch button on the TV itself. As you said, another way would be using a universal remote. Sometimes it took some playing with it to get the input to change and the Switch screen to appear. Unplug the HDMI and plug it back in again. We always carry a long extension cord, so I just used that to power the Switch, but in our case, the TV was probably close enough to the outlet to reach. I just made sure they disconnected everything and plugged the comm. line back in when they weren't in the cabin. Maybe the steward won't say anything, but Carnival obviously doesn't want people changing TV inputs, so I didn't want to take any chances.

Yeah, I understood why people made a big deal out of it, but while I can't speak for ATV (I have used one in hotels but don't own one) the FireStick that I have has not been an issue even with captive log in screen. I can think of 5 places off the top of my head (one being a cruise ship- though not Carnival) where I had to enter that kind of info and a browser window of some sorts popped up. I was able to log on just fine. More of a POS is the need to have a universal remote (didn't work on Princess though they had Samsung TV's, which we have at home but I wasn't chancing bringing ours and losing it on the flights to Athens, cruise, and back) with you to change the inputs if the TV is locked or doesn't recognize the device. Granted, I've never bought my gaming systems with me- but could see the need or desire if I had kids with me. But I've always been curious if that too, could be done.

Mostly, I asked the question because I was curious whether those services would be blocked the way they say they block Netflix, Hulu, etc. I didn't want to bother taking FireStick or TV with me if I wouldn't be able to stream the satellite apps (HBO and the like). I was curious if Netflix and YT would be blocked through those means as well, which it looks like they aren't.

I'm very grateful that someone took time out of their trip to experiment and let me know, so thanks again Hans!

Okay, so, as mentioned, I set up a portable router in our (DW and my) room. DS and friend were in a room across the hall. They were not more than 15 feet away from the router location, but their access to it was VERY limited. When I logged the router onto the ship's WiFi, could then access the internet splash page, use my logon, and connect multiple devices to the internet through the router. 2 problems with this: one, the limited range as noted above, so only multiple people sitting in our cabin could simultaneously use the internet, which definitely limits its usefulness; two, DW totally Bogarted the internet almost the whole time, kicking the router off and making it impractical to relog over and over again! :rolleyes:

 

As far as the TVs go - and note, this is on the Horizon, I have no direct knowledge of any of the older TVs - there is a joystick control on the bottom of the panel that allows you to switch the input (and the screen mode, if you are watching a movie and don't feel that super contrast is desirable).

 

There were 2 HDMI and 2 USB ports on the left side of TV, the USB port was able to power the Chromecast.

 

I hadn't used the Chromecast in a couple of years, but was able to update it (twice) over the internet after connecting it to the router (which was connected to the internet through the ship's WiFi).

 

I did make a video of my streaming a YouTube video to the TV over the Chromecast, but since I was using my phone to do it, the video is on DW's phone, so don't have it to upload. I also tested Amazon Prme video streaming on my phone - it took 3-4 minutes of buffering to start, but once started, was able to stream the first 10 minutes or so of a movie with no problems. Then I figured I had better things to do and went back out of the cabin :D.

 

Also note that even though Carnival's website says FaceTime isn't supported, we used it without any issues. So, that may be outdated info.

 

So, there you have it. Not terribly convenient, but not terribly complicated, either. If you have questions, I will answer them to the best of my abilities.

Thank you! I really appreciate the description! Everyone was so negative and it can’t be done and you need a web browser etc. I was pretty confident that it may not be as simple as at home but that there must be a way to do it. Again, we don’t plan on spending a whole lot of time in front of the TV, but there are times where maybe you want to watch something. What if we have bad weather, or one of us isn’t feeling well etc. I just like knowing that the option is there.

Sounds like bringing the router is the way to go. Did you end up disconnecting it and hiding it when you were out of the cabin so the state room attendant wouldn’t see or did you leave it in plain sight?

It might help some, but security is responsible for the whole ship, and not just for Havana. If someone wants a wall, they are on the wrong cruise line. That would be Royal. ;p

LOL Okay, you have a point.

But seriously? It's not that. I don't want a wall, I just want what I paid for. To relax in an area that is reserved (until 7pm anyway) for only those staying in that immediate area. If people can get up in arms about the mere thought that someone would *gasp, the horror* share a beverage package? I don't think it's too much to ask that just anybody not be allowed back in Havana when that's not what the rules state. Personally, I would never dare try to sneak in there if I wasn't staying there, but that's me.

Enforce rules? When has Carnival ever enforced rules? Don't be silly. :evilsmile:

LOL

good point.

Guess I will be notifying staff when I see people without wrist bands on. Not that it will help, I guess.

one thing I just remembered with the Havana talk. One afternoon we were taking the elevator down to 5 and there was a group of three in their late teens/early 20's in bathing suits, with towels. They then walked thru Ocean Plaza loudly proclaiming that they'd better be let into the Havana area, with all the Carnival cruises they've been on, they deserve to hang back there. I was really tempted to follow them and see what happened :giggle:

 

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I hope they were thoroughly embarrassed when no one let them in.

This is the one thing I am most worried about – are they going to stick to monitoring for wristbands and keep the people who aren’t in Havana cabins out of the Havana area?

Chair hogs I can deal with, we were fortunate enough to be able to splurge on a wraparound balcony so if need be we can always go back to our cabin on six. And if we didn’t have that wraparound? I have no qualms with moving stuff if it’s obvious that people are cheer hogging.

But if the area is flooded with a bunch of people who don’t belong back there in the first place? That’s a dealbreaker. I’m sure getting away from the crowds is why most of us booked back there in Havana in the first place. Why pay the premium price if they are not going to be strict and making it so only Havana people are back there during the day?

I also will echo the sentiment that it depends on what ship you're on. I've never had luck asking on the Oasis, always been told no. Even though both times a large portion of the crew was SE Asian. I say that because I'm sure the crew dining room had plenty of curries and such done. But no luck getting it in the MDR. On the flip side, I had luck getting it on a Celebrity sailing (forget if it was Reflection or Escape) which was surprising because there was not as much SE Asian representation in the crew but the buffet had lots of curries so maybe that's why. Princess, I do believe I was also able to get a curry dish one night. But, on a whole, we do not do a lot of MDR dining so that may also be why we could not get dishes as I think maybe if you can form a rapport with the wait staff you might have better luck. On a 7N cruise we may only eat 1-2 meals if that in the MDR.

Pulled pork BBQ can cause a riot when you get the sauce versus no sauce, with or without cole slaw groups. :D

Legit. BBQ is dangerous territory because it's VERY regional. Sauce vs no Sauce, sweet vs savory, vinegar based or no, slaw or not. While accepting of other regions' idea of BBQ, most of us have a way that we prefer and think of that as 'what BBQ is'. For example, I grew up in Southern VA, so for me, BBQ is pulled pork, red sauce (that is sweet leaning with a hint of that vinegar twang), slaw on side. Travel 1-2 hours south of where I grew up, and BBQ is pulled pork, completely vinegar based sauce or mustard based vinegar sauce and slaw on top. Ribs are served with sauce where I grew up, but go out TN, KC, and I believe they do a dry rub with no sauce. And then there's TX. There's nothing in the world like TX brisket.

And let's not start the biscuit discussion. lol

I can't see any of the photos:(:( just spaces.

That's because the thread started six years ago. OP probably doesn't have them hosted online anymore....

If it tells you to go to A after you have pressed deck 8 IT WILL stop at deck 8. It might stop at 6 7 and 8 and people might get on at those floors.

 

Don't just get into random elevators.

Which is exactly what I said. If A is set to go to different decks (3,7, and 10 In my example) and you need 8 and just get on A randomly- there is no way to guarantee you’ll get a stop at that deck. You might get lucky and someone on 8 is getting on and told to use A; but there is no way to later select where the elevator goes once inside. My response was to reaffirm the consensus that the new programming doesn’t make that (getting on an up when you need down or VV) easily feasible.

If it is a port day, and the mad rush was going to the gangplank deck 3 or whatever deck it is. Then the logical thing is everybody is going down. So if you catch one going up when it starts going down the chances of it stopping on every floor is great.

Not based on my understanding of how the elevators are programmed. My understanding is you chose a floor in the lobby and the system tells you to go wait in front of elevator A. If A is going to deck 3 7 and 10, and you need 8, and get on? There's no guarantee you can get to 8 unless you get off at 7 and walk. Once you're in the elevator you're at the mercy of it's programming in terms of where it stops. So no, the old trick of riding up to go down and vice versa will no longer apply. safer to walk if you're able to, or just select the right elevator from the start.

Celebrity must not be losing towels. We have never had to check towels in and out. It’s self-service, and if you need to take them to your room, the room attendant will get them when he/she cleans the room. Very convenient, and no hassle or incorrect charges.

Correct. And the towels on Celebrity are actually 'worth' stealing. Not that I condone it, just saying the quality is way nicer. I don't know that they're the same now, but 2 or so years ago they were a softer blue-grey color with the 'Celebrity X Cruises' along the edges. The same towel was on loungers in the adult area and in the self serve. I can't see anyone stealing the things on RC. I agree with the person who said he/she had gotten see through towels before as I have as well. Or frayed. Or stiff/scratchy. Plus....who saves the room in their luggage to take home beach towels?

There is no doubt it can work, do a search on YouTube!

Now imagine I had responded to your "can I change in the bathrooms" question as tersely as you just responded to me. Yet, I didn't. I gave a well thought out answer to your question. If you can't do the same why waste either of our times??

You should be able to set up the phone as a hotspot and then log your fire TV onto that, I would imagine. As I say, I honestly don't know what will be possible as far as streaming, but I am willing to see what I can do. I have experience with these hacks, so should be a fairly reliable person to investigate. Not going to mess with a VPN or anything - that seems like overkill. And I don't consider this any type of infraction of Carnival's policies. If they deny access to a site, that is their prerogative, and I don't intend to circumvent it. But, whatever works is fair game. Now I'm mostly curious - have no intention of sitting in my cabin watching TV!

I honestly appreciate any info you find out. Like I said to others, I'm not trying to get to Hulu OR Netflix. Yes, there is some TV that I'd like to watch, but honestly, it's more because at home I use white noise to fall asleep. I use an Echo in the bedroom, but because of the portal- it can't be configured to use the ship wifi. Same sleep sound apps are on the FTV and also on the stick. Either one we bring we'd be able to use those apps. And I agree, VPN is totally unnecessary based on what we're trying to do. I just think instantly when you post a legitimate question such as this people automatically assume you're trying to skirt the rules. Or in the case of the "just YouTube it" don't realize the true nature of the question. In this case, if they block Netflix and Hulu and the like, I wondered if they blocked the apps/content for these other devices too.

Would you do me the favor of PMing me whatever you find out? Thanks again for being willing to help.

I think the issue will be these devices don't have web browsers so you can't login to Carnival's wifi and purchase a package for them.

 

On the ships I've been on, you can't switch inputs on the TV either - so that's another issue. There are also no outlets behind the TV to plug in the device.

 

Lots of issues, I'd say leave them at home.

Neither is an issue. You don't need a web browser on Fire TV to log into wifi, you simply navigate to a settings page. And if you have a situation where there is a web browser that is used to log in to the wifi similar to hotels and what not- one pops up. No big issue. We won't be getting internet unless this happens, and I'm not trying to broadcast that log in to multiple devices, though I guess with enough savvy that can be done. It's just not my intent here. As I responded to someone else, I just want access to paid legal content easier than DH and I sharing a tablet or laptop screen.

Fire TV has an adapter that will use usb power from the TV if it has a port so you don't necessarily need an outlet. New hotels and ships use a HDMI port. The TV input thing is also not an issue. IF it comes down to it, you can unplug theirs and plug in Apple/Amazon device. Easier thing is to just bring a Universal remote and pair it with the TV and use that to change the inputs. Both ways work as I do this on EVERY cruise I've been on since the first FireTV came out. It just so happens that this is my first Carnival cruise. X and RC don't block Netflix (at least they didn't the last time I was on a ship from either) and in the case of RC, VOOM is fast enough to support streaming so it was not a big deal.

Good luck! I'd be interested to know if you can get it working. Not because I want to bring an Apple TV with me, but mostly to see how far people can take Carnival's WiFi packages :-)

I'm not trying to skirt any system if that's what you're implying. Apple TV isn't that large, and a Fire TV is smaller than my iPhone Plus. Fire TV is what I will be bringing, but it and Apple TV work similarly in terms of log in. I simply want easier access to content I have paid for than to have DH and I share a laptop screen. I'm not planning anything more devious than that.

What ship will you be on? We are sailing on the Horizon next week, and I can find out what will work. The only problem I would see is if there is no HDMI port available on the TV - but that seems very unlikely. I am guessing you plan to install the device, then mirror your phone/tablet to the device? Depending on how tech savvy you are, you also can bring along a portable router and set up your own WiFi network. I plan to do this so that when we are near the room, we can use the internet without having to kick each other off all the time. We don't use it much, but having to log one person off and another on each time is annoying, and paying for multiple people when we really don't need it that often seems like a waste.

Thank you for offering to look. We'll be on the Horizon as well- but not until September.

So with the fire TV you don't have to mirror at all. I can not speak for the current Apple TV as we don't have one, but that's because we have several fire tv and fire tv sticks. I have used an Apple TV in hotels and I think it works similarly to the Fire products.

All fire tv and sticks plug into the HDMI and all software/wifi is contained within the device. They even make an adapter that plugs into a neighboring USB port on the TV (usually if it's got HDMI it's got USB) to power it too. Otherwise, you've then got to jerry rig a power source and we all know in the cabin that's not always feasible as the TV is not always near an empty power outlet. In terms of Wifi- the ability to select a signal is contained within the device as well. You don't have to go into a browser window to do anything, it's all right there. However, should your wifi require a log in window say like at a hotel or such, one will pop up so that you can enter the pertinent info.

I hadn't thought to bring a router...

But that brings up an even better question. If your cell phone can serve as a hot spot and broadcast it's signal to other devices- could you do that and not have to take the router? We're driving, so it's not too big a deal, but I'm envisioning my router disappearing from my bag or in the case of putting it in the carry on, having to explain just why I'd need my router in the first place LOL

Thinking of getting the Internet package and I happened to notice that all of the packages specifically state that streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu are blocked. Does that mean that you cannot use an Apple TV or Fire TV too? This will be our first cruise with Carnival, I know that on other lines we’ve used our fire TV without a problem, but I don’t want to bring it if we will not be able to use it. Thanks in advance!

I think they fixed it, when I go to the link, the day 5 is Nassau, not another Coco Cay. This is for Feb-Mar 2020

I would like to believe that if you had truly inferior service or an obvious issue (not just a subjective complaint) in a specialty restaurant then guest relations might remove the service charge if you asked them or perhaps remove even the entire charge. The tip used to be included in the specialty dining upcharge. RCCL could have just increased the base price and continued this practice. Instead they went the service charge route. So I would think the service charge might be open to removal in some circumstances.

This is exactly what I was wondering. I don’t mean necessarily a frivolous complaint like there wasn’t enough ice in your tea or something. I mean terrible truly terrible service where you would not even a question not tipping and speaking with management about comping something back on land. There should be a way to still remove that charge. I truly don’t like the idea of it being mandatory. I prefer to tip based on service. If the servers know they are getting 20% what’s their incentive to do a good job?