sealovers

On 2/9/2024 at 1:43 PM, Torquer said:

Huh?  Specifically which country in Europe are you talking about?  Every European country I have been to has a vastly different attitude to tipping than the US and Canada, and I have traveled extensively in western Europe.  In most European countries tips are not even expected and if you leave a couple Euros or round up the bill to an even 5 Euros (or pounds or whatever the currency is) the servers are very appreciative.

 

Your comment makes me wonder if you have ever even been to Europe.

I agree with you 100%.   It is actually not customary to leave gratuities for services which are already included in the cost in Western Europe. It is graciously accepted but not expected,

On 1/8/2024 at 11:10 PM, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

Do we know if they were ignoring the rules?

Per Holland America:  cigar smoking is not allowed inside the casino. The only location for cigars and pipes smoking is in the smoking area of the Seabreeze Bar.  

I wouldn’t count on it. It will be a long walk of about 6 or 7 blocks and hoping a suitcase wheel doesn’t break. It happens!

every intersection will be packed with cars either coming or returning to the port. The busses are actually much easier and of course there is no charge if you parked at the cruise port parking lot. 

On 3/23/2023 at 4:59 PM, Nanciekitten said:

I am going to be traveling on the Carnival Magic out of Norfolk in September.  We will be arriving by van with many family members and lots of suitcases.  We are elderly and have difficulty lifting suitcases.  Should we drop off our luggage before going to the parking garage or wait and load our luggage onto the shuttle bus? 

We are very excited that we can drive to Norfolk from Washington, DC and do not have to deal with flying this time.  Getting through airports is difficult for us due to mobility issues. 

If you use the cruise parking lot, itisso easy to drive up to where the buses. Are loading and just drop off your luggage, then drive to a parking spot. If anyone in th3 vehicle has a handicap sticker or hang tag, you will be directed to park just to the left of where the buses are located…short walk. Once each BU’s is loaded they head to the cruise center. Your luggage will be unloaded and you should stay there at the luggage unloading are until you see all your luggage is there.  Tip your luggage porter!  Keep your carryon with you for meds, valuables, etc.  

pits very simple really. The parking lot is totally fenced in, locked, well lit and has uniformed Norfolk Police patrolling throughout the lot 24 hrs a day. The city of Norfolk has spent $1M to make this lot secure and safe. This happened after a bad start to Norfolk cruise season post Covid when many cars were broken into and/or damaged. 
The ship is about 4 blocks from the cruise terminal, but the route the buses have to take, along with traffic lights make it seem longer. 

It is being refurbished soon after our NE cruise in mid-september 2017. Perhaps that is an 'iffy' week....maybe they are not quite sure of completion date at this time.

Funny! I thought I was the only person that 'rocked' post cruise! After my very first 7-day cruise, I rocked for a couple of days then it just went away. We were in a cabin across the aft so maybe we experienced more constant back and forth at that location. 25+ cruises and it's never happened again.....and we have been on some rough ones:)!!!

Which hotels can you recommend that were reasonably priced with parking and shuttle included? Thanks for any info that will help my sister and I make the best choices for two old foggies in their 60's!!!

Sealovers (couple) 14 Days, 79 cruise days without this one. 3rd time to Alaska, first time on Maasdam!

If the cruise line were a little less restrictive or a bit more proactive and they provided sufficient ashtrays (and emptied them regularly), this would not be an issue - do not necessarily blame it on the smokers.

Out of 18 cruises, I have yet to see a butt thrown overboard. I have always cruise in suites, but since there is no smoking on balconys on other cruiselines, I opt for an inside. That puts me along with the hundreds of other smokers grouped outside, infuriating those who think there should be no smokers onboard. I have booked a SA again on the Oosterdam, only because smoking is allowed on deck. I never smoke when neighbors are out and first chance I have to meet them, I make it clear that I won't be smoking when they are using their veranda, unless they also smoke. I book aft precisely for the reason of airflow. Electronic cigarettes are allowed to be smoked inside cabins, which I now know is a safety hazard. Many explosions and injuries have been reported lately in these Chinese made EC. I think they should only be smoked in open areas on deck. Tossing lit butts out of a vehicle has nothing t do with this forum. There are huge fines for this now and people are reported often by other drivers via cell phone.

My TA told me a couple of years ago to never cancel a passenger....just let them be a no-show (transportation issues, illness, etc.). Otherwise, the primary who is sailing will incur all costs of the cancelled passenger. Don't know about Carnival's Casino cruises though.

Well, if they hadn't moved the smokers off their balconies there wouldn't be so many in the nice shaded areas:p

Since you seem very difficult to satisfy on Carnival, perhaps you should attempt to locate a totally non-smoking line. I'm sure there will be other problems, as there always are....right?....but people smoking shouldn't be one.:D

On Carnival Dream, 31 October 2010, our first sea day, I won $9,000 on a penny slot machine that I had fed about $5. This was just before 9 a.m., with only a handful of players in the casino. My husband had to leave the casino to notify a ship's employee that there was a winner who needed assistance. Within 10 minutes we were swamped with Casino personnel. Of course we were issued a W2-G as a reminder to claim the winnings on our tax return. I always had thought the big winners occured when the casino was busy...no more! On our last sea day (miserable weather...doors blocked due to gail force winds), I hit on the same bank of machines repeatedly throughout the day, netting $1200 for that day. DH and I had to split the cash in order to go through customs upon departing the ship. (Limit of $10,000 pp cash) Before, I had never been a winner of more than $100 or so. This was definitely a lucky and fun cruise!

Jim, I am so enjoying your Live from The Freedom thread. Although, as much as I usually enjoy seeing your food photos...I'm trying not to look this time. Trying to drop a few lbs prior to my Halloween Cruise on the .....EEEEEK....Carnival Dream! Your reviews just may encourage me to try RCCL again. Enjoy your cruise as much as your can. Your next cruise will be much easier and more enjoyable. Take care and God Bless.

Claudette

I was planning to try lunch in the MDR today but they are closed. I am guessing they only open for lunch on sea days when there are plenty of people on the ship.

 

So I headed to the Windjammer, once again in a cheeseburger mood.

 

Here is my plate when I set it on my table. some assembly still required...:D

 

 

One of the "secrets" to RCI hamburgers is to pick a burger from the very bottom of the tray because they are sitting in the juice and will be very moist.

 

To the burger, I added cheese, mayonnaise, pickles, and tomatoes.

 

I added cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, tomatoes, and pickles to the hot dog.

 

Here they are moments before final assembly.

 

 

Note that I added a bowl of Creamy Broccoli Soup to the table. The soup was excellent, so were my custom made hamburger and hot dog!

New ship, old ship.. A category 9 is a category 9. It just means you'll have a bigger balcony. I think we can all agree that the deck plans are not to scale. I'm not saying that I would be happy if I was in your position. I'm just saying that, legally, Carnival doesn't have to do anything for you guys because, technically, they have delivered what is in the fine print, which is a balcony that is 50% bigger. And, to repeat what has been said, they don't care, at least right now. Because, if you cancel your reservation, there will be people lined up who will pay the price for that cabin.. All Carnival ships sail full. The demand is higher than the supply, even in these times.

I wonder how many other Carnival 9a's don't have a wrap balcony? Hummmm. I, like so many cruisers now, am not loyal to one cruiseline. I want a very nice cruise, itinerary and cabin for my fare spent. Sometimes I'm budgeting; sometimes, I'm not. I'm not 'stuck' with Carnival, but thought it would be nice to sail them again on one of their new ships on a 9a. It won't affect me one way or another if they reclassify these 9a categories on the Dream, deck 8. I'm not interested in a 9a without a wrap balcony, period. I have plenty of time before final payment to cancel. It's not about size. I've only sailed in balcony cabins (yes, guess I'm spoiled) and the size really does not matter. What does matter is the view from an aft wrap. I would think it's a matter of integrity for Carnival to want to rectify this error or assumption or whatever one wants to call it.

Kudos to everyone on CC who call attention to these particular cabins! Thank you!!

I read your post a few times and I'm not sure if I understand it. But if you booked a 9A cabin, your balcony will be 50% larger than a normal Cat. 8 balcony. Your cabin may be bigger, or smaller, or the same size. But your balcony will definitely be bigger. By 50%. I'm gonna say this one more time, with emphasis.. A Cat. 9 cabin is like a Cat. 8 cabin, except the balcony is a little bigger..

Kujobie,

Sorry if I wasn't clear so my point was missed. I booked two 9a balcony cabins on deck 8. Now that the ship has sailed....I'm finding these are not wrap balcony's. For some odd reason, I was expecting them to be wraps as shown on the deck plans. My disappointment lies in the fact these are not wrap balconies as depicted. Thank you for your emphasis, but I am quite aware of the square footage of the 8 and 9 category cabins and know where to find that information. But being a new ship, this information was not available to me at the time of booking (many, many months ago); we all booked according to the deck plans/configurations available to us as published by Carnival Corporation.

I read your post a few times and I'm not sure if I understand it. But if you booked a 9A cabin, your balcony will be 50% larger than a normal Cat. 8 balcony. Your cabin may be bigger, or smaller, or the same size. But your balcony will definitely be bigger. By 50%. I'm gonna say this one more time, with emphasis.. A Cat. 9 cabin is like a Cat. 8 cabin, except the balcony is a little bigger..

Kujobie,

Sorry if I wasn't clear so my point was missed. I booked two 9a balcony cabins on deck 8. Now that the ship has sailed....I'm finding these are not wrap balcony's. For some odd reason, I was expecting them to be wraps as shown on the deck plans. My disappointment lies in the fact these are not wrap balconies as depicted. Thank you for your emphasis, but I am quite aware of the square footage of the 8 and 9 category cabins and know where to find that information. But being a new ship, this information was not available to me at the time of booking (many, many months ago); we all booked according to the deck plans/configurations available to us as published by Carnival Corporation.

We have booked both 8th deck 9a corner 'wrap's for the 20 Mar 1010 Dream cruise. Haven't cruised Carnival in a while, but thought we would go back for the Dream cruise and especially since the 9a's were available. Seems that we always were in a cabin beside the 'wrap 9a's', admired the huge curved balcony's and was excited to book these cabins with our friends. We're changing now. I think Carnival was deceptive in labeling this cabin as a 9a when we all know they have 'wrap balconys'! We will probably just forget about cruising on a new Carnival ship and go back to our favorite line cruise now. Shame on Carnival. I was told by my TA that 'everyone want's the 9a's now, that's why the fare is more'. I have worked with this TA long enough to know that he would have informed me if this 9a was just a regular balcony. Every Aft cabin on Carnival on which we have sailed has been an 'extended cabin'....yes, nearly 50 percent larger anyway.

I love Cruise Critic for getting the facts!

Won bid for $61 for one night pre-cruise, 4 star, dntown Ft Lauderdale. Bid same last night for a second room, same criteria, won again for $61. We usually win a bid for under $80 or so for the Grand, but this will be fine. We stayed at the Renaissance 6 months ago for a pre-cruise and it was just fine, but miss the Grand's wonderful balcony overlooking the port. I like to see my ship coming in!