Cruising 101

[jgmpuma]

My wife and I have been on several cruises over the years and after a 14 year hiatus we have booked a cruise on the Valor leaving from New Orleans on August 8, 2022 to Cozumel & Progresso. The cruise will include our 50th anniversary. We have some catching-up to do.

 

1. We are vaccinated x 2 with one booster, and have the cards to prove it. Do we need anything else?

2.  On our last cruise I bought an internet package that was expensive and the reception was slow and spotty. Has this improved?

3. Are there any plans available that would allow us to use our cell phones.

4. I am an occasional smoker. I know the cabins and balconies are out, but are there smoking areas on the Valor?

5. We have passports. Will they be needed?

6. We like to mix a drink in our cabin while dressing for dinner. We have a Rum Runner. Will it be found?

7. Should we but the trip insurance offered by Carnival? We live about 20 minutes from the port so no concerns with cancelled or delayed fights. I'm not sure what it covers.

 

Any other tips/advice would be welcome.

 

[groundloop]

 

1.  Your vaccination card is all you need.  You can optionally use the VeriFly app to speed things up when you check in at the cruise terminal, but it's not required.

 

2.  Sadly NO, internet service on Carnival ships is pretty bad.

 

3.  No.

 

4.  Yes, there are designated smoking areas out on the deck.

 

5.  You don't absolutely need a passport to sail, but most experienced cruisers take them. 

 

6.  You might or might not get away with that.  One option is to pre-purchase a bottle of liquor for your cabin from Carnival, it's a bit on the expensive side but you don't have to worry about getting caught. 

 

7.  Cruise insurance covers a lot more than just the trip to and from the ship.  What if you needed to be sent to a hospital in a foreign port, for instance.  Most experienced cruisers agree that travel insurance is a good idea.  There are many options out there other than the insurance offered by Carnival.

 

 

I cruised on Valor this past February, I think you'll enjoy the experience.

Edited June 26, 2022 by groundloop

[Purvis1231]

You good on the vaccines. You may want to consider using VeriFly that way you do not have to show the cards (but have them just in case.)

Internet is still slow- we bought the middle package just for the last day it worked ok for Facebook but that was about it. 

Passport helps getting on an off the ship a little easier. 

We buy Travel Guard insurance. 

We got text messages and Facebook Messenger messages while in airplane mode with only the free internet but most cell phone companies have cruise plans-  ATT is $100 per phone for unlimited text and calls- we did not purchase it. , 

Edited June 26, 2022 by Purvis1231
typo

[Purvis1231]

8 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

1.  Your vaccination card is all you need.  You can optionally use the VeriFly app to speed things up when you check in at the cruise terminal, but it's not required.

 

2.  Sadly NO, internet service on Carnival ships is pretty bad.

 

3.  No.

 

4.  Yes, there are designated smoking areas out on the deck.

 

5.  You don't absolutely need a passport to sail, but most experienced cruisers take them. 

 

6.  You might or might not get away with that.  One option is to pre-purchase a bottle of liquor for your cabin from Carnival, it's a bit on the expensive side but you don't have to worry about getting caught. 

 

7.  Cruise insurance covers a lot more than just the trip to and from the ship.  What if you needed to be sent to a hospital in a foreign port, for instance.  Most experienced cruisers agree that travel insurance is a good idea.  There are many options out there other than the insurance offered by Carnival.

 

 

I cruised on Valor this past February, I think you'll enjoy the experience.

Agree except for the phone service- most companies now have shipboard plans. We just got off a ship and noticed many people using their phones. Our company AT&T text us when we got onboard a $100 per phone for unlimited text and calls, we did not buy it but others told me it worked fine. Our plan did included Mexico but we have problems with it. 

[CruiseMGM]

Just wanted to mention you'll still (unless I haven't heard "new" news!) need to provide a negative, medically observed Covid test result taken within 2-3 days of sailing.

 

I gave up on trying to "smuggle" liquor aboard, too much stress! On our last cruise (our first with Carnival), we pre-purchased a bottle of rum and Sprite, and also a 4 pack each of OJ and cranberry juice. The combination (rum, sprite, OJ and a splash of cranberry juice) makes for a nice, sipping-on-the-balcony drink. For our upcoming cruise, the OBC paid for almost all of that PLUS a steakhouse dinner reservation for my birthday! 😄

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[habc]

Trip insurance:

 

On my last cruise I met a woman whose husband had a heart attack on a cruise. They were transferred from an island back to Miami by helicopter. Unfortunately the husband died but she was left with a tens of thousands of dollars medical bill for the hospital on the island and the helicopter back to the states. No trip insurance.

 

in April my friends went to Greece. At the airport on the return trip they tested positive for Covid-19 which meant they couldn’t fly. They had to spend 10 extra days in Greece, which sounds great until you’re  confined to a hotel room. Luckily they did have insurance.

 

I’m in NY and carnival insurance isn’t offered here, for my upcoming trip I had to buy mine from Allianz, I would not risk going without insurance again.

[havanadaydreaming]

Highly recommend getting to port departure city day before embarkation. 

 

We fly every other month and seeing quite a bit of cancellations.  Even to tourist heavy areas.

  

[Badfinger]

26 minutes ago, havanadaydreaming said:

Highly recommend getting to port departure city day before embarkation. 

 

We fly every other month and seeing quite a bit of cancellations.  Even to tourist heavy areas.

  

 

I think that is a bit overkill for a person who lives 20 minutes from the port.....

 

[tweak89]

8 hours ago, jgmpuma said:

 

6. We like to mix a drink in our cabin while dressing for dinner. We have a Rum Runner. Will it be found?

 

 

I'm curious, do you bring the allotted number of wine bottles with you?  We bring sweeter wines and sprite/ginger ale to make what are essentially wine coolers.  No sneaking needed.  

 

On the couple of occasions that I've done it I've never had any issues sneaking in liquor (in a small plastic flask) but it's just a small amount for 3-4 drinks.   I've never tried the rum rummers.  The bottle cost from Carnival is bonkers and we don't need a full size bottle anyway.

 

[BoozinCroozin]

I would not buy Carnival trip insurance. There are plenty of other places that cost less and provide better coverage. If you travel frequently, there is a company that sells annual trip insurance. I don't have time to find the thread, but someone showed they slipped and fell getting back on the ship. Had to be taken to the hospital for ankle surgery. It was like $15k payment do immediately, hotels, getting special flights, and tons of other things. You'd have to see what they went through. If they had to take a private medical flight back to the US, the price skyrockets. In the end, it is better to have insurance and it is not just for the flights. Carnival's or any cruise line for that matter is selling cheap low coverage insurance at a premium price because it is "easy" during booking.