cjnix29

not to hijack, but I am rethinking my hotel choice and one requirement for my husband is that there is a decent place to run.  Any suggestions?

Thank you so much for your replies!!  So much great information!!! Thank you!!

I have searched, but havent' been able to put it all together....here' s what I'm thinking....with the horrible flight options from Indy, it looks like I'm going to have to book a flight that gets in really late two days before our cruise.  So, probably looking to book an airport hotel, so we can just head to bed.  We do want to see a little bit of Seattle before we get on the ship.  Unfortunately, our touring day will be July 4.   What is the wisdom in just staying two nights at the airport hotel, on touring day, take a cab or uber to Pike Place Market?  what else can I see within walking distance, easy touring from there? and then cab back to hotel?  Never been to Seattle before.  And having a horrible time planning this, it is all so expensive!  Thanks.

On 8/3/2018 at 8:42 PM, mooseman52b said:

We booked the July 5, 2019 Ovation Alaska cruise :cool: We are in balcony 13540.

We are on this cruise too! First time on Royal and first time to Alaska!  Can't wait!!

I would book deck 11. We were on 12, and not only did we get the hot hot sun, but when it was raining, there was no cover. And it rained for about half of the days we were on the ship.

We enjoy the spa balcony, but only DH goes to the spa. So, we generally don't get one. BUT....I would NOT recommend getting one on 11, there is no cover on the balconies on 11. We had one on 11 a week it rained A LOT! Made for limited use, for sure!

looking at a cruise out of Canaveral, flying into MCO. Is there a preference between renting a car and taking an uber to our hotel in Cocoa Beach? And then, to get to the port, not sure if our hotel has a shuttle, but are ubers available there as well?

I really just wish they would cut out the auto tips and increase cruise fare by this amount and pay their people a real wage. Stop the madness!!

I like that it is laid back, and Carnival doesn't take itself too seriously. It's a fun cruise line, for a good price. Their ships don't have all the million extra things some of the other lines, do, but they all go to the same places. Every time I price out cruises for the times we want to go, Carnival always comes out on top. I don't have a ton of choices of places to eat, but I also don't have a ton of extra charges for places to eat. It works for us.

I agree with the fan app! If you need it just for the noise, like we do, the app works great for it! It's free, loud, and you are already taking your phone with you!

yep! just booked MSC Meraviglia out of Copenhagen 6/2019! So excited!!!!!!

Thanks so much for this!! I had not figured out another place to get discounted carnival cards, since I can't get them from Verizon anymore! I'll take the 10% savings on my cruise, for sure!!!

Couldn't believe the news reports from the last few days with military rule. Likely a blessing for those who live there but nowhere I want to vacation...

 

Hmmm.....government run media? They tend to use fear and intimidation to control the masses...just like dictators...same rules....

These warnings are coming from the British and Canadian governments.

Thought I would update...my original TA finally managed to find our original booking number, but only on her TA system, not through any emails, as those really did all disappear! So weird. But...she found it, and we managed to get our $225 future cruise credit. It was more than I thought, so that will come in handy. Thanks for the suggestions.

trying to decide which one to rent. the water here doesn't look like typical Caribbean water, the beautiful blue, so thinking maybe we won't enjoy it as much? But do like the idea of getting the water sport rental included. Pool seems like it may be just a loud party, not sure if that is what I want either, but would at least be a place to go of our own. Thoughts for pros and cons? Thanks!

yeah, I've checked every in box, out box, trash box, all my email addresses. It is so completely bizarre! But isn't it strange that Carnival can't pull anything up at all? We managed to find the cancellation confirmation for my sister, so we are trying to work backwards from that. But not optimistic!

Yeah, not sure what is going on with the former TA. She was a friend, and it's gotten weird. Booked with a ta this time too, but I agree, it's probably much better to just do it self serve. Cruise was for this past October, and we canceled sometime this summer, I think. School schedule changed. I am just shocked I can't find anything in my email box! I'll check CC, thanks for that tip.

They have completely disappeared from my inbox. My sister's inbox, my travel agent's email. I can't get a booking number anywhere. Carnival apparently can't pull it up either. I booked a rate that would have me forfeit 50 pp, and then the remainder for a future cruise credit. I can't believe Carnival can't find it with all the information we have given them. Frustrating!

You would think that, but apparently, it isn't. It's as if the booking number has completely disappeared.

We had to cancel a cruise we were supposed to take in October. We booked early saver, or easy saver or one of those. We lost $50 pp, but then were supposed to get the remainder of our deposit in a future cruise credit. Well...We can't find it anywhere! I am booking with a new travel agent, and when she calls, nothing comes up at all. All of my emails about this cruise have disappeared from my inbox. Even the ones I sent. My sister was going, and she can't find any of hers either. We both had to cancel. I contacted my old travel agent, and her info has disappeared too. She had to call to even get my sister's information, and that took awhile to get. Our reservations should have been linked, but there is nothing! My new travel agent calls and then they tell her that it can only be retrieved through the old agent. What is going on? We have never had any kind of credit like this before, and it is just crazy that it doesn't follow your loyalty number. Anyone have any suggestions? We should have about $200 in credit that I would hate to just lose. It shouldn't be this hard!

Ok I wondered when I started reading this review if you were the people I snorkeled with at Nachi! Sure enough!!! So hello....from the woman on the Magic that was Oh So Sad to have to leave so early! ;-) Great to read your review!!

we were on that sailing too. We actually liked Flik, did not like 88 keys....that one was just weird to us. enjoyed the rock show. We liked the live music they had all over the ship, and really enjoyed the brass trio. We were disappointed with food and dining service, but we had a great time overall. In Costa Maya, we just got off the ship and walked around. In Roatan, we booked Victor Bodden tours....can't say enough good things about that. In Belize we did the Altun Ha and city tour, and in Cozumel, we went to Nachi Cocham. Great holiday cruise!

Thanks for your insight! I just looked at the port schedule, and there are only two ships in port when we board, so I think we will be Ok with the rental car shuttle.

Reading reports of back ups, etc., wondered if instead of taking the alamo shuttle to the port if we should just take a taxi from the hotel instead? DH does not like to mess with a mess, and if I can avoid it, I have to hear less complaining!! We are staying at the Hampton Inn in Cocoa Beach. What would be the least amount of hassle?!

Thanks for the insight, Kim! I have the Vista booked for next October and have been wavering on whether or not to switch ships. Some of the things you brought up are the things that have concerned me. Do you think some of these will get resolved with more time in the Caribbean? Did you feel like there was a different vibe between Havana guests and the rest? I often wondered, on NCL with Haven guests, etc., if the rest of the population feels like inferior passengers.