Woody14

18 hours ago, Kirk Gillespie said:

I just left the Doctors office and i have Covid. I called Carnival Cruise line and told them and asked them to move my sail date and they said they wouldn't and i would lose my money. So I will be on that ship I just called my friend that owns a shirt shop. I will be wearing a shirt that has "i have COVID and Carnival would not change my sail date." lets see how this goes over.

out of curiosity what date were you originally scheduled to sail?

22 hours ago, 3Sisters said:

 A typical waiter in the US that heavily relies on tip at an average sit down restaurant will make $5.50 an hour plus tips, and these employees will heavily rely on their tips. In fact, if they don't get a tip, they could end up making less than the minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour. 

Firstly I am a Canadian so I apologies in advance but does not a minimum wage mean that is the lowest you can be paid? 

In Canada they have to pay you at minimum the minimum wage.   So a waiter in most cases minimum plus tips.     Now the tipping culture in Canada has changed a lot in the past 10 years and more an more are relying on that to take minimums to a livable wage but it has never been the case to actually bring you up to minimum wage.

I could not imagine any cruise company wanting to take people through the Suez at the moment with all going on there.

14 hours ago, DonGod said:

First time on NCL - to Europe on the Escape leaving Venice on 5/16 (but I have been on a LOT of cruises with another line).  What is with the vague itinerary information for getting on and off the ship?  I am a total planner and I want to know beforehand when I can get off the ship and when I have to be back on the ship.  I was told by customer service that is varies and to listen for announcements and check the daily, printed information.   How am I supposed to plan and maximize my days (in advance) if I don't know yet?  I thought the advertised itinerary in my vacation summary was the point of reference and contained accurate information but I guess not?   

So for example...."arrival" time in Rome is 6am.  When can I expect to get off the ship?    "Departure" time in Rome is listed as 7:00pm - but then I saw something somewhere that says you have to be back two hours before 7:00pm which would really mean 5:00pm.   So which is it?      Why can't they just label the departure time as "Back on Board" and be done with it? 

Any other expectations that I need managed?  😆

   

 

 

generally speaking when you arrive in ports it will take about 30 minutes to get cleared and set up for you to get off the ship.   Back on board time is also generally 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time.

Out of curiosity what line have you sailed on that lists the time you will get off and back on with the itinerary?  I ask as every cruise line I have sailed it is always the port arrival and departure times.

2 hours ago, 3Sisters said:

@Woody14 The Sound of Music sing along just has me cracking up. I'm picturing a cruise crew doing a sing along to these songs and I can't do it without laughing. You surely travel with a wholesome group. Are you a Sound of Music singer? As a person who doesn't participate in the nightly themes, I find it hard to envision you sining "Do, a dear, a female dear." Do you have a cruise group that you sail with annually? I usually cruise with family or random groups, but I don't have a consistent crew to cruise with. Out of everyone we sail with, I always love cruising the most! 

I am definitely in the no sing group.     

Generally it is just family I travel with but I am hoping to expand that but so far I have not found the right people to travel with.   What the right people look like .... I am still trying to figure out.

Ironically I am doing a cruise out of Rome this summer and after the trip we are spending a couple of weeks after the cruise touring part of euroupe which includes a bit of Germany/Austria time and my family has booked a sound of music tour.

21 hours ago, 3Sisters said:

@Woody14 I would imagine it's fun to travel with others who participate in the themed nights! I guess you could say I don't participate, but I do enjoy the parties. I love the white night too. It's pretty easy to wear white and stay up late for a pool deck party. It's cool to see everyone wearing the same color. I love the ABBA music, but I don't want to sing it. It almost sounds like you cruise with a karaoke crowd! Are you and your crew a karaoke gang? Now I can't get the ABBA songs out of my mind. 

no to karaoke for my crowd but sing along ABBA or Sound of Music and there is no holding them back.       They are more the large group singers than the solo stuff that karaoke would bring.

1 hour ago, Michelle S. said:

I just read that the Bar Harbor, Maine town council has approved a daily limit of cruise passengers to 1000. I think the cruise lines should find another port that welcomes the cruise industry.

The bigger ships are going to have to.  With that size limit it will only be the smaller boutique cruises hitting Bar Harbor

23 hours ago, 3Sisters said:

@Woody14 Thanks for that. What are some of your favorite themed nights? The white nights and the 80's nights always tend to be a favorite across the board. Do you typically dress up for the occasions? I try to plan an outfit that follows the theme, but I won't go out of my way to wear a costume. The parties can be lively and seeing others dressed for the occasion can be so fun! I also love a good piano bar and the themed music that is associated depending on the evening's theme. 

Oooh!  you are asking a loaded question.   Me personally I am not really in to the theme nights so much, but the rest of my family who I travel with are more in to them.   their favorites are silent disco and white night.    If there is a sing along ABBA night they are in to that too.

try this website https://www.saintgregtravel.com/  he has one of the best lists of the comings and goings on carnival.    he has all the shows, cruise directors, piano bar schedules so likely he would have the theme night parties too.

What are your thoughts on best cruise length?

I am in the camp of 10-12 days although I have never tried longer than 12.

17 hours ago, Cruising Caribbean said:

 Would you do a world cruise at some point? 

Would I, very interested.    Budget might come in to play on that one.

So far the longest cruise I have done is 12 days (really like the 10-12 day range)

On 3/1/2024 at 10:06 AM, Kendall James-Vargas said:

When cruising with a budget, what cruise line do you typically choose? Have you considered a transpacific voyage? It could potentially cut the flight costs in half, but I know those itineraries are few and far between. 

Unfortunately for me I am married to a school teacher (who still has a few more years to work) so therefor we can really only travel at a few select times of year.   This limits us in a few ways as well as impacts the budget.   I would be very interested in a North America to Europe or Australia cruise but they go while school is in session.        We are doing something out of the ordinary in we are doing a European Cruise in May but this took 2 years of planning to get the leave from work et all.

As for cruise lines.  Celebrity is our favourite but is not always budget friendly.    Our past cruises have been on Celebrity, Carnival and Royal.  The May one is also on Royal.     For budget I enjoy MSC as well.         As noted previously it is destinations that make the big decisions for us mostly.    I generally try to get at least 1 new place on each cruise, must admit this is getting tougher now that I have been to about 50 different ports.   There are still a few places left so we can probably do once a year until my wife retires from teaching and then try a few of the off peak times and places.

On 2/28/2024 at 10:20 AM, Cruising Caribbean said:

 Are you an annual cruiser? 

I am pretty much moving (maybe have moved) in the direction of an annual cruiser.  Started cruising in the mid 90's and the first 4 were 5 years apart, then it moved to 2-3 yrs apart and now it is every year (last year actually more than 1).    I enjoy cruising a lot but I don't really like going to the same places over and over again so it can be challenging to get the right cruise in the limited budget I am working with.     It does not help being on the west coast of Canada so unless I am going to Alaska (done 2x) or Mexico out of LA (also done 2X), there are significant costs for flights to factor in.    This years cruise is to Europe and man were the flights is expensive this year.

16 hours ago, FJB said:

What happens when the kids come along and push multiple floors multiple times?  Wife and I were just talking about “smart elevators” last nite.  We haven’t experienced them yet, but if they are similar to “smart phones”, I say no thank you.  Life is getting to complicated.  

with the smart elevator you push the button outside the elevator and there are no buttons inside.    so it pretty much deters the kids pushing the buttons thing.        The  big challange for many is that the just get in expecting to push a button and since they can't it causes them grief.  they have to go to wherever the elevator is going and then get out go to the panel select where they want to go then wait for the elevator that it tells them to wait for which will go where they want.

4 hours ago, Cruising Caribbean said:

@Woody14 I didn't realize the Dutch way was a cheap one. I may be Dutch in my ancestry then! I would likely splurge on an e-bike if the weather was hot like the Galveston summer is!

I am not sure the 'Dutch way' is always the cheap one but it is definitely value oriented.    That said it would not be the Scotsman cheap which several of the people I know of that are Scottish seem to be proud of that part of their heritage.

This is not a new policy there have been hours where it is open to kids since my first cruise on Celebrity in the 1990's

14 hours ago, Crsr22 said:

Wondering if anyone knows of a cruise line that allows drinking at 18 with parental consent in International waters? Not sure if this is really a thing. 
 

generally drinking ages vary by region you are sailing and cruiseline (to an extent).  Sailing out of the US it is 21 but if you are sailing out of Europe, Australia or South America the age is different.    

14 hours ago, euroguy said:

@3Sisters @KeithG @Woody14Since we are sharing here are a few offers I've received recently.

You can read all the perks for each ... wondering when the free suite offers start 🤔 

3 of the offers are for free balcony, free drinks everywhere on ship plus casino cash

#1 extended sailings 37 different cruises from 10 to 22 days

#2 over 200 sailings of 7 to 10 days

#3 hundreds of sailings $1500 on board ship credit

#4 premier cruise

 

 

 

I might actually have to start spending money in the casino, there are some nice offers there.   

On 2/10/2024 at 4:38 AM, KeithG said:

@Old Cruiser @Kendall James-Vargas

Thought I would attach a screen grab of what I see on the deals page right now

 

it does say up to . . . being I never book at the suite class I wouldn't get that, but did you click on it to see what the OBC was for a balcony?

once you board go to the main dinning room and speak to them at the entrance.   they can likely get you all fixed up.     do this early don't wait till dinner time.

I agree with not going August as you still have a lot of kids out of school so many families on cruises at that time.  I would recommend mid September to early Nov (definitely before US thanksgiving) as best chance for slightly better pricing.

fountains no except for in the gym (and maybe the kids area if I remember rightly).   Yes to water stations, in the buffet and on the pool deck you will find them as well many of the bars (especially on deck) have water dispensers.

it is stated in the FAQ's on the move up page that you only get the points for your original booking.     That said how many of us actually read all the details and FAQ's on these things?   I know many have been burned by this.

On 1/19/2024 at 12:46 PM, Cruising Caribbean said:

 

@Woody14 It's great to hear you felt safe in Galveston. I'm impressed at how bikable the city must be. There are many cities where biking isn't as accessible. Biking in Galveston summer must have been very hot. I'm sweating just thinking about it! You walked your carry for 30 minutes in the summer heat. I'm becoming more and more impressed. I don't think my husband could convince me to do that. I don't think he could convince me to bring a carry-on only either. I'm turning more and more into a high-maintenance person as I write. Wait, did you rent manual bikes? I assumed you rented e-bikes! 

the 30 minute walk was morning but it was till pretty warm.

yes to the manual bikes - I think ebikes would be the way to go but this was my wife's idea and her dutch heritage came out (she wanted it to be cheap).  

Galveston was a very nice place to visit.  We were there in summer so it was very hot.   Galveston was bigger than I expected but the main historical shopping area was what I expected.   Using bikes was great we were there for 3 days it was perfect to do some exploring through some of the historical walking tours and get from our B&B to all the points of interest.

We got off the ship and hauled our bags (we were traveling carryon) the 30 min walk to our B&B - we had made arrangements with them to drop off in the morning as check in was not till afternoon.        We then had about a 5-10 min walk to the bike rental shop.   We did that before 10 am on day 1.   We spent all that day and the next 2 exploring the area (or as far as we could get on bikes in the heat).   We dropped off the bikes on our last day, walked back to the B&B got our stuff and our uber to the airport.