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Anything at Alchemy Bar. Just tell them your base liquor, if you want it sweet, not so sweet, fruity, pick of syrup, etc. It order off the menu. I paid $14.92 for each drink (tip included). If you are a whiskey drinker, I know some good, top shelf shots were in the $20 limit, but I forget the name of it. 

8 minutes ago, adventuredancer said:

just a warning that i read a lot of people having their FTTF on Panorama cancelled recently.

My guess is they were out of Long Beach? Frankly, I see little value in FTTF on a ship out of Long Beach. I have never had an issue getting first boarding time. And only Cabo and Catalina Island have tenders to port, so priority on those isn't really that important to most. 

OK. Thank you for clarifying that the 1.5% redemption was on any purchase $1500+ no matter the point value. I thought I had to have 100K points to do it. Guess I will save them until my next cruise. I won't have any further charges for this one that amount to more than $1500.

I'll comment on the trash in the ocean. We just had a HUGE wind storm on Monday and Tuesday, so my guess is that a lot of the litter is from that. Most all city storm drains go to the ocean, so when there are wind events, the trash collects. A huge reason to NOT LITTER. 

I got the promo offer of 20000 FP for opening the account. I purchased the remainder of my cruise on the card, so I can use those 20000 points against that charge. I see the best value is waiting until you hit 100K FP and cashing in against a charge that is $1500+. Am I better off just waiting to rack up the FP and using it against a future cruise, or should I just use the $200 credit now? 

Also, I plan to use this card as the card on our on-board account card. After the cruise is over, can I use the points to cover some of those charges instead? Or can you only use it for credit against the actual travel?

Thanks! Still trying to figure out how the card will work best for me.

The pockets in the show organizer should be clear plastic. I have never put shoes in the pockets! Sunglasses, sunscreen, lanyards, hair brushes, shaving gel, razors, deodorant, medications, sea bands. I always cruise with my daughter's (12 and 13) and sometimes my husband. Having this on the outside of the bathroom door allows for people to get ready without needing to be in the tiny bathroom.

Based on life experience, I'd be an entertainer in kid's club. I wouldn't mind working in the spa or bartending at Alchemy.

23 minutes ago, Mara! said:

Great idea, which kind works best?

Clear plastic. You need to be able to see what is in each pouch.

For Alchemy, the cucumber drink is the best menu drink. I chose to ask for custom cocktails. "Vodka, fruity, no orange, not too sweet." Or " Rum, coconut, but not with pineapple". If you love black cherries, ask for the filthy cherries for garnish.

Bring a clock! Do not just use your phone. We had an interior in AK and my DHs phone kept going really wonky with time zones for some reason. We woke up to get off the ship like 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave and thought we had an hour! We also slept really well, but it was difficult to get "up and at em" for us.

34 minutes ago, Kirbit62 said:

Well, thanks to the good advise from all the fine people from this board, I am an official member of AARP.  I already have accumulated enough points on the "Rewards for Good" program to get my $700 worth of gift cards (It's really easy).  Here's the plan:  I will buy $500 in cruise cash (this is the limit per cabin).  I can use this for buying some souvenirs, Pixels, etc. and drinks (buckets of beer, shot glasses at MDR, souvenir cups, etc)  I will also buy $200 in bar cash.  Obviously, this goes specifically for our alcohol consumption.  With everything paid before I board the ship, I feel this is a better financial plan than paying up for Cheers and feeling "obligated" to reach my limit in order to get my money's worth.

Just take the gift cards with you to customer service when you board and apply to your account. Any balance left will be refunded on a gift card. You can spend any amount on anything. I think bar cash is non refundable. Not sure about the other.

If you have to leave Friday, get a red eye non stop out of lax instead of SNA. Yes, lax is the equivalent of a butthole when it comes to airports, but if your flight is delayed, there will be far more options to still make the cruise vs SNA options.

I'd do it at those aged IF they have had ample experience with hotels and cruises. I wouldn't book them in their own rooms if travel was very new to them. Mine are 12 and 13. I would have 0 issue with them in their own room, but we travel a lot and they just went on their 4th cruise.

Especially for the 13 year old, there will be a meet and greet the first night, usually at 8pm or so. She can make friends there. Most teens just hang around on board. The teen clubs are open significantly less than the other at clubs. At least that is how it was in January, but that was also off season for kids.

Why would you sign tax documents without the value of the prize on it? I've never had to do this before, but I NEVER sign any documentation without totally understanding all of it, and a lack of value of a prize I was going to pay tax on would have led me to not sign it. They could put ANY amount on there, and you are on the hook now. Am I missing something?

We always get 3rd party. Cheaper, and usually a higher evac allowance, since that is $$$$

Tax per drink IS CHARGED when docked in Long Beach, CA.

Oh, I bought carnival gift cards off AARP(you do not have to be a member) for 10% off and went to guest services and had them applied to my account. In this way you can "prepay" for drinks at a 10% savings.

Alchemy had drinks were $12.92 with the additional gratuity. I think my pin a colada was a dollar or 2 less. Each guest 21+ can carry on one bottle of wine, so take that into consideration. With just 3 alcoholic drinks+water, you are better off just paying for each. Especially if your cruise is port intensive and you won't be on the ship during the day.

Imagination out of Long Beach

5 minutes ago, MississippiMom said:

Wait!  You can actually order one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic drink at the same time with your Cheers?  

 

I was already sold on Cheers, because I want to be able to try the Alchemy Bar drinks and not worry about feeling bad that I paid for something that I don’t like enough to drink.  But I also liked the idea of being able to order a bottle of water on a regular basis, so I could have some in our cabin for in the late evening and early morning.  I thought it might be a little annoying, but had just planned on making extra stops at bars to get the bottle water, since I was under the impression that I could only order one drink at a time.

Between my friends and I, I tried about 6 menu drinks and probably 15 off menu drinks and 1 wasn't anyone's favorite, but was still drinkable at Alchemy. (The strawberry with smoke and 2 rums. Tasted like a strawberry daquari got left by a campfire) 

I got my first go ld pin a couple weeks ago and it was 2018 as well.

I just did a 5 day on Imagination without Cheers. I knew that since I was with friends who also had their kids with them and I was sans hubby, I wouldn't be drinking heavily as I had to be "responsible". I did the following to save $- #1-I used my OBC of $50 for part of my drink budget. #2- I purchased some of my cruise with Carnival gift cards I got for 10% off through AARP (You do not need to be 55+ to join their rewards program) I had about $80 left on one gift card after paying for tips, so I just added that to my account once on board. If you have some idea of what you want to spend on drinks, I'd highly suggest getting the discounted gift cards. I did see Ladies night specials at several bars, including Alchemy. If you participate in games, you often win champagne. If you participate in the mixology contest that are on longer cruises, you get the drink you make and drink tickets, at least I did 2 years ago. I brought on a bottle of wine and never touched it. I opted to get wonderful cocktails each night at Alchemy. They were loaded with flavor, but not all the sugar of a pina colada. I found I sipped them because of the flavor vs downing them quickly. Yes, with additional tip(my choice), I was spending $14-15/drink, but they were drinks I couldn't make at home.

Non alcoholic drinks run around $6. I think my girls' drinks were $6.95 and mine were $10.95 at Alchemy.

I saw non-alcohol beer, but not wine on one menu. I wasn't looking for it, though. My daughters LOVED the drinks the mixologists made them without alcohol. They said they would never again get virgin pina coladas/miami Vices if Alchemy was on board. They just told the mixologist "Something with crushed up berries" or "Something with coconut in it". They loved all of their drinks! And I do beleive you can order any of the menu items sans alcohol as well, but I'm not sure how they will taste compared to the alcoholic varieties.