Panorama: Check-in early due to Spa?

[athlonnx]

So back in January of 2019 I booked the spa for 12pm for the Carnival Panorama on embarkation day (Long Beach port).  Also booked salon service for 1pm.  I checked-in for the Panorama as early as I could on the 90th day prior to the cruise.  The earliest time I was able to get was for 12 - 12:30 pm.  So this creates a problem: How can we be at the Salon and checking-in at the exact same time at 12pm?

 

So I called Carnival.  I was told that they cannot give us an earlier check-in time. The lady advised that we should just arrive earlier than 12pm, and that they will allow us to check-in early.  Reading through other people's comments, I'm seeing that often times Carnival does not allow people to check-in earlier than their scheduled time.  So I'm wondering if what the Carnival representative told me is even true.

 

So, I guess I have two questions:

 

1. Are the people at Carnival ever useful when calling the "800" number?

2. How to solve this being at 2 places at once problem....

 

I suppose some may say that I should just reschedule the spa service.  But whatever happened to the "customer is always right"? Why should I have to change our schedule?

[Zingy2]

Congratulations on your upcoming cruise on the Panorama.  I'm sure you are going to have an enjoyable time.  I'm somewhat surprised the ship is even offering Spa Services that early on Embarkation Day, given the hectic nature and amount of preparation required on board prior to the Muster Drill and Sail Away.  Usually, nothing is scheduled service-wise at the Spa, until after the Muster Drill is completed.  We've never been able/allowed to book anything ourselves Spa-wise, prior to the Muster Drill being completed.  Perhaps things have changed with this new ship coming out.  That being said, if you are unable to resolve the issue with the CCL folks in Miami, you may want to try contacting the Spa Services staff on the Panorama (if you are able to acquire their ship email address.  Hopefully, the folks in Miami may have that information. The Spa Services folks are a Vendor and not affiliated/employed by Carnival.)  If, you are unable to get on board in a timely manner (and if you were unsuccessful contacting the Spa Staff ahead of time), then your only recourse would be to immediately proceed to the Spa once you do board and explain your delay in arriving for your appointment to them.  Absolute worst case scenario would be for you to reschedule.  Good luck in your quest and I hope you have a wonderful time exploring the Panorama!

[PhillyFan33579]

I have never sailed on Panorama obviously, but I have never heard of the spa providing services during embarkation. Usually the only thing going on in the spa during this time are tours of the spa area. We always get a Cloud 9 cabin on ships that have this feature. Access to the thermal suite isn’t technically allowed until after the muster drill. 

 

I would double check to verify the date of your reservations. I have cruised enough with Carnival to know anything is possible. But I find it hard to believe the spa would be booking reservations during embarkation, especially when no one can guarantee when passengers will start boarding the ship. 

 

If you actually have a reservation(s) during embarkation, I would cancel it since there is no guarantee any passengers will be on the ship by 1 PM. 

[dara90210]

I noticed that for our Miracle sailing in November  the spa was booking appointments on the first day too and I thought it was odd.

[Nic6318]

Hi Athlonnx

 

I have been on tours of the spa on embarkation day and have seen people in the spa while they were getting treatments. I always thought they were people that were doing a B2B. There will be many people going through (and saying hi!).

 

As far as getting on in time, I don't know what to say. I gather you don't have FTTF and are not otherwise a priority passenger. 

 

As mentioned, if you arrive early, they may or may not allow you to check in early. This would depend on how the passenger flow was that morning. They generally have a line for people who do arrive early and as the situation permits they will allow them to check in. The problem, obviously, is there is not guarantee as to when you would get to check in. After checking in you would still need to wait till they call your board group. You would likely get on the ship before noon, but not necessarily. As with anything regarding cruises, if there are any delays, you will be affected.

 

A few more things, since you don't have priority embarkation privileges, once you do board the ship, your cabin won't be ready (typically 1:30 p.m.), so you will need to keep whatever belongings such as your carry on, etc. with you to the spa. I also would be concerned that if you do not make your appointed time, the spa may still charge your account. They are a third party business and Carnival may not be able to do anything about the charge.

 

As I said, I don't know what to say, but if I couldn't get written confirmation that there would be no charge if you were not able to board on time, I would consider cancelling. There are often discounted services during the cruise, generally on port days.

 

hope this helps a bit

have a great cruise 

[athlonnx]

Thanks for the info.

 

Note that I have spa reservation on both the Panorama and the Imagination at 12pm on embarkation day, on different dates of course, so it appears that these reservations are common.

[PhillyFan33579]

9 minutes ago, athlonnx said:

Thanks for the info.

 

Note that I have spa reservation on both the Panorama and the Imagination at 12pm on embarkation day, on different dates of course, so it appears that these reservations are common.

 

I assume this is another way to generate more revenue. I can’t fault them for that. But I would be willing to bet a lot of these early appointments will be missed due to the numerous delays that frequently occur when it comes to boarding the ship. 

[Jamman54]

They probably book those early time slots thinking that those with priority boarding would take them. Unfortunately,  an early spa reservation doesn't get you priority boarding. 😎

[bakersdozen12]

15 hours ago, Zingy2 said:

I'm somewhat surprised the ship is even offering Spa Services that early on Embarkation Day, given the hectic nature and amount of preparation required on board prior to the Muster Drill and Sail Away. 

 

I think they do it for B2Bers. I don’t think the early appts are meant for people embarking that day. I once scheduled a mani pedi early on change-around day because my nails were looking like crap after a lot of swimming. Was nice to relax in the spa when everyone else was dealing with the craziness of embarkation. 

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, bakersdozen12 said:

 

I think they do it for B2Bers. I don’t think the early appts are meant for people embarking that day. I once scheduled a mani pedi early on change-around day because my nails were looking like crap after a lot of swimming. Was nice to relax in the spa when everyone else was dealing with the craziness of embarkation. 

 

That’s a really good point. I think the OP is setting herself up for disappointment booking early appointments that she has a good chance of missing, especially when it appears she doesn’t have any priority boarding status. And getting refunds for missed appointments at the spa is far from a sure thing. 

[PhillyFan33579]

3 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

They probably book those early time slots thinking that those with priority boarding would take them. Unfortunately,  an early spa reservation doesn't get you priority boarding. 😎

 

But it gets the spa more money. I can already hear the spa saying it’s not their fault you didn’t show up for your scheduled appointment. 

[lazydayz]

I would either buy Faster to the Fun or reschedule.  Too risky with possible delays in boarding. And the spa may charge for the missed appointment. 

Edited September 14, 2019 by lazydayz

[jb8162]

For the Imagination, there should be no problem, barring unforeseen circumstances. The terminal opens at 10:30 and the ship normally opens at 11:15. If everything goes normal! They have three lines, Priority-FTTF / on time / too early- too late.

Guests are checked in, in that order. If you are there by 10:30 - 10:45 you should have no issue getting on the ship by 11:30. If everything goes normal. Rooms aren't ready till 1:30.

Panorama- This is a brand new ship starting in December 2019. Terminal Times/ Boarding Times have not been finalized yet.

It is a much larger ship and guests normally arrive early (Saturdays) and each line is long at terminal opening time, so they may adjust the time, 10:30 currently. Check in process goes very quickly as long as you have done your online check in.

I would recommend FTTF to be assured to get in the terminal first and to your room early.

Parking may be a hassle as Saturdays, the parking lot fills up quickly because they already have two ships out at sea.

The number of FTTF rooms are limited and based on how many priority passengers there are.

On Saturdays there are quite a few Platinum and above guests and especially with the Panorama being a new ship I would expect a lot of Priority Guests.

Hope this helps

 

[sanger727]

I personally would reschedule to late afternoon or early evening. For me, there are simply too many opportunities for a delay that it would make that appointment stressful. As others have said, the spa is a vendor, not owned by carnival. On embarkation day, carnival staff will be a lot more worried about getting their suite and high level loyalty passengers on. Not getting you on in time for your spa appointment. It makes sense to me that those early appointments are meant more for b2b customers.

[RWolver672]

Hard lesson learned.  Never book anything before you do your check in.  If you keep that time slot at the spa and don't make it, you will be charged for it.  You can take the chance that you can enter the early/late line and get onboard before your appointment.  The other alternatives would be to get FTTF or change your spa appointment to a later time.  This close to your sail date, FTTF probably won't become available.

[Jamman54]

I don't think that FTTF is even offered the first few months that a new ship sails.😎

[PhillyFan33579]

20 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

I don't think that FTTF is even offered the first few months that a new ship sails.😎

 

That is still true. 

[bakersdozen12]

11 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

That’s a really good point. I think the OP is setting herself up for disappointment booking early appointments that she has a good chance of missing, especially when it appears she doesn’t have any priority boarding status. And getting refunds for missed appointments at the spa is far from a sure thing. 

 

Completely agree. Even if she makes it, why would anyone want to start off a cruise feeling rushed like that? Also, how relaxing is a spa experience going to be when you have to lug around all of your carryon luggage and personal items? Personally, I would book either after muster and plan on going to dinner late, or book for the first sea day. But that’s just me. 🤷🏻‍♀️