Following Booking Reservations Question

[MMfan14]

Once you are booked, what reservations on Carnival must now be prepaid in advance, e.g specialty restaurants, spa, excursions etc. Thanks for any help on this.

[MMfan14]

Let me clarify what I originally wanted to say. I have booked an upcoming cruise November 2020 and wanted to know what does Carnival make you prepay before the cruise. I read that the steakhouse has to be prepaid, but what about other reservations on the Carnival website? 

[joepeka]

The only post booking reservations required to be paid in advance (that I'm aware of) are shore excursions and Fun Shops purchases (alcohol, treats, decorations, etc.) . We've never booked the spa in advance so I cannot speak to that. Pretty much everything else can be purchased once on board although possibly at a higher price (Cheers!, wifi, etc.).

[joepeka]

5 minutes ago, MMfan14 said:

Let me clarify what I originally wanted to say. I have booked an upcoming cruise November 2020 and wanted to know what does Carnival make you prepay before the cruise. I read that the steakhouse has to be prepaid, but what about other reservations on the Carnival website? 

No, unless it has changed very, very recently, the steak house is not a pre-paid reservation. I'm sure I will be corrected on this if I am wrong. 

Edited December 10, 2019 by joepeka

[MMfan14]

 Passengers can now book specialty restaurants online for specific dates and times without having to wait for a confirmation -- but they also have to prepay.

[joepeka]

6 minutes ago, MMfan14 said:

 Passengers can now book specialty restaurants online for specific dates and times without having to wait for a confirmation -- but they also have to prepay.

OK, so this is new to me. Is it fleet wide or ship specific? If fleet wide, then you can add it to you pre-sailing costs.

[FTLCruiseGal]

The only thing you need to pre-pay is your trip and taxes.  Everything else is optional.
 

Shore excursions, spa reservations, specialty restaurants, can be booked ahead of time and paid for at time of booking.  Same for Cheers.  You can pre-pay your gratuities, but you don’t need to.  If you book any of these after you step on the ship, it will be billed to your sign and sail account.  
 

If you order decorations, drinks, snacks, souvenirs, etc. through the Fun Shops, that is also paid for at time of purchase.  I have never done these, so I cannot comment if you can get these items from the Fun Shops after the cruise starts.

[MMfan14]

Thanks for the replies. Things have changed since I last sailed with Carnival. 

[1025cruise]

Carnival is slowly rolling out pre-paid reservations for specialty restaurants due to a large number of no-shows and extremely last minute cancellations. The advantage is that you can confirm your time immediately.

[coevan]

53 minutes ago, joepeka said:

OK, so this is new to me. Is it fleet wide or ship specific? If fleet wide, then you can add it to you pre-sailing costs.

 

 

you do not need to pre pay the Steakhouse, they rarely are full. We have made reservations on the ship and also have shown up at the front door like any other restaurant and have never been refused service. They have Steakhouse "kiosks" around the ship soliciting reservations as well.

[xitappers2bx]

1 hour ago, MMfan14 said:

Let me clarify what I originally wanted to say. I have booked an upcoming cruise November 2020 and wanted to know what does Carnival make you prepay before the cruise. I read that the steakhouse has to be prepaid, but what about other reservations on the Carnival website? 

 

Steakhouse is only prepaid if you choose to prepay. You can also just make reservations by e-mailing the steakhouse for the specific ship and then just charing it to your S&S card.

 

Nothing is forced to be prepaid except gratuities if you have my time dining.  I like not charging huge amounts to my credit card and I hate traveling with a ton of cash, so I try and prepay for as much as I can ahead of time . 

[bury me at sea]

9 hours ago, xitappers2bx said:

 

Nothing is forced to be prepaid except gratuities if you have my time dining.  

I believe this may apply to another cruise line but as fas as I know Carnival does not require pre-payment of gratuities for any reason, including dining choice.