Posts Tagged ‘Carnival’

Avoiding Post-Cruise Sticker Shock on Carnival

Sunday, January 8th, 2012

Here are a few tips for new (and old) cruisers to avoid spending land mines on your cruise:

  1. Avoid making calls from the ship.  Wait til you get to port to make calls home. I know you will be excited and want to share, but ship to shore calls are EXPENSIVE.  $6.99/min to US and $9.99/min for international calls.  I met a school teacher that shared with me that on her first cruise she made the mistake of making a “few calls” and was surprised at the end of her cruise with a $1,100 phone bill.  Sounded ridiculous until I did the math and realized that 22 minutes of talk time a day on a 7 day cruise will ring up a bill that size.  If you absolutely need to make a call home while at sea, you will be better off using your cell phone, which on most carriers will charge you approx. $2.00/min (contact your cell carrier for their rates).  On the other hand, if you wait to get to port, you can find Internet cafes and some shops that will charge you less than $0.10/min using VOIP (Internet phone).  This is available in every port of call  including  Cozumel and Progreso.
  2. Drinks will add up quickly, so beware.  Also, keep in mind that not only alcoholic drinks will cost you, but also any bottled drink including water and juice as well.  Coffee, hot tea, hot chocolate, lemonade, iced tea are all available in the Lido Deck Restaurant, 24/7 and are complimentary.  If you are a “soda”-holic like myself, there are unlimited fountain soda packages available for $6.00/day/person ($4.50 for kids). Note that given one can of soda is $1.95, if you plan on drinking 3 or more sodas per day on a 7 day cruise, you should consider buying this package.
  3. If you enjoy fine wine, another way to save and control costs is by bringing your own wine.  You are allowed one bottle per person at embarkation and can enjoy in your cabin at no extra cost.  You can also have your wine at the restaurant for a $10 to $14 corkage fee (depending on the restaurant.)
  4. Transportation to and from the port can be expensive if you are not informed.  Know a little about the ports you are visiting before your cruise and it will help you plan to get around safely, efficiently and for a reasonable price.  Another good way to save is to share transportation.  Making friends with people on your cruise, BEFORE your cruise can cut transportation costs and open up opportunities to enjoy excursions you may not have even known existed.
  5. Get to know the ports you will be visiting (eg. Nassau and St. Thomas) to avoid wasting, not only money, but more importantly time.  Port visits allow a finite amount of time to enjoy the port of call, so if you go in with little to no information there is a good chance you will waste time and overpay.

I see it a lot in cruise forums, people advising new cruisers not to over-prepare.  I agree to a point, but preparing for the cruise can and should be part of the enjoyment.  Have fun with the preparations.  Make friends.  Have a great cruise!

—————————– Update/Correction  —————————–

From Carnival’s FAQ section:

For our guest’s convenience, the ship’s telecommunications network offers direct dialing via satellite from the staterooms telephone. This is available 24 hours a day regardless of the ship’s location. This service is closed on the final day of the cruise at 4:00AM. The rate is $1.99 per minute, and charges are billed to the guest’s on board Sail and Sign Card.  Since all communication is via satellite, the charges apply to all calls including calling cards, credit cards, 800 toll-free numbers  and collect calls.

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Posted in cruises | 2 Comments »

Seattle, WA: New Port Guide

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Seattle, like many of the great cities around the world has its share of nicknames: “The Emerald City”, “The Espresso Capital of the World”, “Birthplace of Grundge”. But for us cruise lovers it is more importantly known as the “Gateway to Alaska”, as many Alaskan cruises depart from Seattle. As a departure city, Seattle caters well to its cruise guests with two cruise terminals in close proximity to one another: Smith Cove and the Bell Street Pier.

Seattle’s culture, restaurants and numerous cafe’s are but a few of the things that make a visit to Seattle so enjoyable. The ease of getting place from to place also adds to the pleasure of being is this big, little city. And with weather which is better than you might expect, given Seattle’s notoriously rainy climate, you will really have a chance to soak in all the city has to offer. Also, a vibrant sports town, Seattle’s fan base is so rabid that during a playoff game last year, the roar of the crowd during a game clinching touchdown run, actually measured on the Richter Scale. So whether you are taking in a game, having dinner in the Space Needle, watching the fish fly through the air at the Pike Place Market or simply sitting down to a nice espresso, Seattle is a jewel of a city.

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Posted in cruise travel, cruises, meetoncruise | No Comments »

Vancouver: New Port Guide

Sunday, November 6th, 2011

Canada Place - Vancouver, BC, Canada With almost two-thirds of a million residents, Vancouver is the third largest city in Canada. It is also home to the largest port in western Canada, with two bustling cruise terminals: Ballentyne Cruise Terminal and Canada Place Cruise Terminal. Roundly considered one of the world’s most livable cities, Vancouver is truly one of the most naturally cosmopolitan cities you will ever visit. Influenced by Asian, Irish, Portuguese, Greek, Indian and more recently Latin American immigrants, Vancouver is defined by this magnificent cultural quilt.

Vancouver’s undeniable natural beauty make it a very desirable tourist destination, but it is also one of the most prominent embarkation ports for Alaska cruises for all major cruise lines. Only 3 hours away from Seattle and with a major airport serving international flights, Vancouver is a wonderful place to begin and end your cruise vacation. As one of the only cruise ports that you can snow ski in the morning and golf in the afternoon, Vancouver can offer very diverse experiences. So whether you hop-on a tour bus or take the SkyTrain to all parts of the city, you won’t run out of things to do.

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Posted in Alaska, cruises, Port Guide | No Comments »

Baltimore, MD – New Port Guide

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

Baltimore is known as “Charm City” because as any Hon will tell you, each visit to an attraction or neighborhood is like collecting charms for a bracelet.  A key port city in each major war on American soil, Baltimore was also the birthplace of the National Anthem of the United States of America, which was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 from Fort McHenry.  Not only a historical destination, Baltimore is a vibrant city which is only enhanced by its proximity to Washington D.C.  Because of this Baltimore is a unique and exciting cruise port.  With one of the most diverse lists of possible cruise destinations from a Northeast embarkation port, the Port of Baltimore’s variety for the cruise passenger and excellent attractions within driving distance makes it a most desirable location to departyour next cruise.

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NEW: Video Tours of Ships and Staterooms for Carnival Cruise Ships

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

Carnival Cruise Line LogoDid you know that balcony stateroom 7380 on the Carnival Magic has a gorgeous view of the whirlpool on the Lanai Deck and is above the Red Frog Pub? Well, it does, check out the video! To help you research the perfect ship and cabin we’re happy to announce that NEW this week on MeetOncruise, we’ve added Ship and Stateroom tour videos to each Carnival ship. Simply click on the link for each ship and you’ll see a variety of stateroom and ship tour videos.

Check out Carnival Ship & Stateroom Videos →

Of the hundreds we’ve added, here are some of our favorite ship and cabin tour videos:

Cabin 2225 on Carnival Conquest

HILARIOUS cabin tour video of suite 7249 on Carnival Victory  (guaranteed to make you LOL)

Cabin 8435 on Carnival Triumph.

Also, for each ship, there are ship tour videos of the interior and exterior areas. If you are planning a cruise, these videos will be very helpful.

We’ll be adding the other cruise lines soon! What do you think of the new videos? Let us know in the comments below.

Meantime, here are the links for each of Carnival’s 24 ships.  Enjoy!

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Posted in cruise travel, cruises | 1 Comment »

Jacksonville: Gateway to the Get Away

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

Jacksonville is the biggest city in America (by land area). I bet you didn’t know that. Heck I didn’t know that a week ago. Did you know that it is known as the “First Coast”? Yeah, I didn’t either.

Well… what do you know about Jacksonville?

Jacksonville may just be the biggest city you know nothing about. It is a lot like the itineraries that leave its port: not extravagant, but convenient and fun. With 20 miles of beaches, a nice downtown, nearby historical and nature attractions, Jacksonville offers a great place to start and end your cruise. Carnival is the only cruise line operating out of Jacksonville, but that is not to say that there isn’t much cruise activity. Three, four and five day cruises to ports in the Bahamas and Key West are plentiful and did I mention fun?

Learn more about Jacksonville on the latest MeetOnCruise Port Guide. For those of you who are very familiar with Jacksonville share some quick tips, so we can find all the best in Jacksonville.

 

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Posted in cruise travel, meetoncruise, Social Media, travel | No Comments »

Can I Bring Alcohol on my Cruise?

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

alcohol in carry on bag
Everyday, without fail, someone will find MeetOnCruise.com by asking/searching some version of the question – “Can I bring alcohol on my cruise?!”  You can substitute the word alcohol for beer, wine, champagne, liquor, booze…the question is essentially the same. Clearly, this is a popular topic:)

Additionally, yesterday I guest hosted a #Cruisechat discussion on Twitter and posted the following tweet:

Fact or Fiction: You can bring a bottle of wine on your #cruiseship. #cruisechat #cruise

The answer is – it depends. Every Cruise line has different policies on guests bringing alcohol onboard. So, to alleviate some of the confusion, we’ve summarized each of the Cruise Line’s policies here for you.

Note, finding specific information on cruise line websites can be like looking for a needle in a haystack  - trust us!  Which is why we did the homework for you and published FAQs (e.g. what is included in fare, gratuities guidelines, cancellation policy, etc.) on most of the major Cruiselines’ profile pages on MeetOnCruise.  For example, here is the FAQ page for Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, MSC and Disney.

Now, for the answer to the question – Can I bring alcohol, liquor, beer or wine on my cruise?

Cruise Line Policy
Azamara Club Cruises Yes, you may bring your own favorite liquor, beer or wine for private consumption in your suite or stateroom. If you wish to consume your liquor, beer or wine in any shipboard restaurant, bar or dining venue, each bottle is subject to a corkage fee of $10.  Note, wine at lunch and dinner is included in your cruise fare. More info here.
Carnival Cruise Line No beer or hard liquor may be brought onboard for consumption. However, one bottle of wine or champagne, per person, is allowed on embarkation.  $10 Corkage fee applies for consuming in the main dining room, $14 at the steakhouse.  More info here.
Celebrity Cruises No beer or hard liquor may be brought onboard for consumption. However, two bottles of wine per stateroom are allowed on embarkation, subject to corkage fees. More info here.
Costa Cruises No food or drink purchased on land may be brought aboard. More info here.
Cunard Line Guests may not bring liquor of any kind on board during embarkation. However, guests can bring liquor aboard that is purchased at ports. Also, one bottle of wine or champagne per person is allowed during embarkation. A corkage fee of $15.00 U.S.D. per bottle. More info here.
Disney Cruise Line Alcohol is permitted on board, but must be hand-carried on board in a day bag and/or carry-on bag, the dimensions of which cannot exceed 22″ wide, 14″ high and 9″ deep. Corkage fee of $15.00 per bottle applies. More info here.
Holland America No beer or liquor may be brought onboard for consumption. However, wine and champagne are allowed on-board. A corkage fee of US$18.00 applies. More info here.
MSC Cruises No, guests are not allowed to bring alcoholic beverages onboard. MSC offers several Champagne, Fine Wine and Beverage Packages. More info here.
Norwegian Cruise Line No beer or hard liquor may be brought onboard for consumption. However, wine or champagne is allowed on embarkation. Corkage fees range from $15-$30. More info here.
Oceania Cruises Yes, guests may bring aboard beer and liquor at embarkation (or from port of calls) , “but not encouraged”. Beer and liquor brought aboard must be consumed in the staterooms only. Guests are allowed to purchase wine at a port of call and bring it onboard, limited to three bottles per stateroom. A corkage fee of $20.00 per bottle applies for consuming wine in a public area. More info here.
P&O Cruises No beer or hard liquor may be brought onboard.  However, wine or Champagne are allowed on embarkation.  £10* corkage charge applies to consume in the restaurants.
The number of bottles you may take on will be at the port authorities’s discretion. More info here.
Princess Cruises No alcoholic beverages may be brought onboard.  However, passengers are permitted to bring one bottle of wine and/or champagne per person on embarkation. A $15.00 per bottle corkage fee applies for consuming in the dining room or restaurants.   More info here.
Regent Seven Seas Guests are allowed to bring aboard spirits, wine and champagne, however each guest gets two bottles of spirits in their in-room bar and wine is complimentary with supper as part of their cruise fare. More info here.
Royal Caribbean No. Guests are not allowed to bring alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages onboard for consumption or any other use. More info here.
Windstar Cruises No beer or liquor may be brought onboard for consumption while onboard.  However, guests may bring wine and/or champagne purchased from ports of call onboard for consumption. A $15.00 per bottle corkage fee applies for consuming in the bars or restaurants.

A few notes / caveats:  Many cruise lines have beverage packages (see this post: Drink packages on a cruise) that are worth looking into. Most of the luxury cruise lines such as Seabourn, Sea Dream, etc. provide complimentary spirits and soft drinks (included in the cruise fare).  And finally, this information is current as of 3 months ago when we researched each of the Cruise Lines’ websites.

What did you think of the above info?  Anything surprise you? Let us know in the comments below!

Bottoms up.

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Posted in Cruise 101, cruise industry, cruise travel, cruises, How to, travel | 6 Comments »

Carnival Steaks Don’t Sail Free

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

“I thought that the steak and lobster were included?!” Get ready waiters on Carnival Destiny, Triumph and Victory, you are going to be asked that quite a bit over the next three months. This is because Carnival has decided to run a “test”. They are testing out  “offering some of the most popular selections from its steakhouse menus in the main dining rooms on three ships that don’t feature steakhouses” for an extra charge of $18 per entrée. Hold on… does this mean that cruisers are being nickled and dimed again? Fuel surcharge, pay for soda, pricey adult beverages – where does it end?

Sure, that is the knee jerk reaction, but forgive me if I try to inject some reason to the discussion. Carnival is actually bringing options to Destiny, Triumph and Victory that are currently available on its other ships in their steakhouses. Destiny, Triumph and Victory don’t have steakhouses, so to give the passengers on these ships some premium entrée options, they will be offering them in the main dining room. Seems innocuous enough, so what is all the hubbub? More options are usually well received, but if you take a tour around the Internet you will soon notice people are upset. You might even say they are having a cow (sorry, couldn’t resist.)

The problem here is perception. When you are on a cruise, you arrive at your dinner seating, order your dinner, eat your food, and go about your evening. You don’t wait for the bill, calculate a tip or pull out your wallet. It’s one of the wonderful things about cruises – It’s included. Carnival’s steak test asks the cruiser to make decisions and open their wallets where they had not before. When they do this, they warp the norm and cause the cruiser to ask what’s next. Will the prices gradually increase? As the entrée options catch on will the quality of the included items decrease? Are all meals going to be sold ala carte? The truth is that it doesn’t matter what the answer to these questions is because the perception has dictated reality – this is not a popular plan.

Hugely successful companies like Carnival don’t make moves like this without calculating the public relations hit. They have either surmised that the customer cutting into the 9 ounce prime filet mignon or the 18 ounce prime rib chop will love the options and drown out those complaining; or they figure they will just steamroll past the noise to the other side where people just get used to the options and forget why they were worried about them. After all, they aren’t exactly trailblazing here. Royal Caribbean started offering extra charge menu items two years ago in their main dining rooms.  So if you are worried or offended by the $18 Maine lobster or Surf and Turf, get used to it because something tells me steak is going to pass the test.

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Posted in cruise travel | 3 Comments »

Free Cruise?

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

Have you ever been surfing the Web, in search of nothing in particular, when your mind starts to drift?  You start having thoughts of being somewhere where the sun warms your face and the breeze wafts through your hair.  You drift further in your mind’s eye as you picture yourself laying on a lounge chair by the pool, drinking a festive beverage with one of those little umbrellas.  It’s a lovely moment until your mind drifts back to reality.  Thoughts of the economy and your tightening budget drag you out of your own personal nirvana.  You sigh and think to yourself: “If they were only giving away cruises for free…” Ah, the “Free Cruise”. The Holy Grail of the mind vacationer.  Does the “Free Cruise” really exist?

Well, if you type the phrase “free cruise” into the Google machine, you get quite a few search results.  Plenty of sites offering free Carnival cruises, free Norwegian cruises, free Royal Caribbean cruises, etc.  Unfortunately, a whole lot of those results are links to shady, spammy sites offering you all kinds of wonderful cruises and all you have to do is… be a sucker.  One quick way to know that these are scams is the list of search results itself.  Notice that for every site offering a free cruise, there is atleast one telling you to avoid the “free cruise” scam.  This is one of the great things about the Internet, it polices itself.  If there are 10 scams out there, there are 200 articles warning you against those scams.  The trick is to recognize what looks too good to be true and then search for the articles warning you of the scam.

The other thing that should give you pause, before packing a bag with your favorite Hawaiian shirt and sandals in it, is common sense. Cruises are fantastic and often sail at or near capacity, so why would anyone give away something that doesn’t have trouble selling?  If you where able to stay awake during your economics or social science classes growing up, you’ve probably heard the saying: “There is no such thing as a free lunch” (poll: is quoting Milton Friedman sucking the fun out of a cruise blog… hmmm) and that’s just lunch.  Lunch can be delicious, but let’s face it, it’s no cruise.  Heck, in theory, wouldn’t they be serving free lunch on this free cruise?  So if there is no free lunch, I think it’s safe to say there is no free cruise.

So what is the moral of the story here?  The “Free Cruise” is not so much the Holy Grail, as it is the Nigerian Prince generously giving of his riches, the abominable snowman (or chupacabra, for my friends in the southwest) joining you for a stroll in the woods or the politician that keeps his/her promises… they just don’t exist.  I believe it was Sophocles that said it best: Beware of websites bearing gifts! (I may have paraphrased, but you get my drift.)

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Posted in cruise travel, cruises, travel | 2 Comments »

Is Your Vacation Dollar Safe?

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Many residents, industries and planned vacations (not to mention oil soaked wildlife that is lucky if it gets a dish soap bath) lie in the wake of the Gulf Oil Spill disaster. The way that the tourism industry has reacted to the spill runs the gambit: from closing their eyes, with a nothing to see here attitude, to getting out in front and showing webcam evidence that there is nothing to see here… yet. Some hotels in Florida have not only uploaded live feeds to show their beaches tar-ball free, but have even adjusted their cancellation policy to accommodate worried prospective guests.  Ability to adapt to circumstances is what separates surviving industries and businesses from those that experience death by emaciation. So what has the cruise industry done to show its flexibility to meet and alleviate its customer’s fears… remember above when I mentioned industries closing their eyes?

While my frustration festers with this oil spill and the cruise lines inaction, I decided to investigate accommodations of cancellation fees for cruises, like the ones made by the aforementioned hotels. What I found is that not only were there no accommodations being made, but cancellation policies, across the board, border on unfair. (I also discovered that finding information on cruise websites is not easy, but that is a discussion for a different blog post.)

If you were to book an inside cabin on a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard Norwegian Epic in mid September your cruise fare would be $679 and your deposit amount would be $250 (37% or total fare, in this case) per person. You might ask: “Why are you mentioning the deposit fee?” Well, because according to NCL’s Cancellation Policy: “Cancellation fees will begin immediately once money has been applied to the reservation.” This policy also states that if you cancel 75-30 days before your cruise, your cancellation fee is your deposit.  Ouch!

Now I don’t mean to pick on NCL because Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has the same policy and Carnival is only $50 less, but the point is the same: In a time when there is uncertainty and perceived inconveniences for cruise passengers, either effectively communicate that the ports of call and shipping lanes are unaffected or relax the cancellation policy in a show of good faith.

The truth is, however, the cruise lines, such as the above mentioned, as well as, Princess, Disney, Costa… will not change their policy. Instead they will continue to advise their customers to purchase travel insurance to cover the costs of any cancellation that comes about because of unforeseen circumstances. While I echo this advice, I will add that it is important for anyone purchasing a cruise to know their cruise line of choice’s cancellation policy and know their travel insurance options before they purchase.

Cruising continues to be one of the best value propositions available as a vacation option. The variety of things to do, see, eat and drink on a cruise is relatively unmatched for your vacation dollar, but it is still your dollar. Protecting your investment with vacation insurance is a good step, but the best step you can take is getting informed.

Here at MeetOnCruise.com, we are trying to help by offering not just a forum with a long semi-comprehensible thread, but a community of travel experts, cruise enthusiast and future ship mates that you can interact with and hopefully answer questions you might have. We’ve recently added a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section to each cruise line (including the above mentioned, as well as, P&O, Holland America, MSC, Celebrity and more to come) in the Cruise Guide section of the website. This FAQ section will hopefully begin and add to the conversation in this community and help you, the cruiser become better informed. Let us know what you think about this new section and if there are some other questions you feel should be a part of the FAQs. Let us know and we will research the answer and consider for inclusion in this section.

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Posted in cruise travel, cruises, meetoncruise, travel | No Comments »

Epic Overshadowed by King James

Friday, July 9th, 2010

In a week when Norwegian Cruise Line brought home to Miami their newest, biggest, most innovative, most ballyhooed ship in their fleet, Norwegian Epic, they were upstaged a day later by an acquisition made by Carnival CEO, Micky Arison. This acquisition though does not float, except in slow motion, but stole headlines none the less. LeBron James is now a member of the Miami Heat. You think the people of Cleveland are upset? What about the good folks at NCL? All the drama leading up to their new baby’s arrival and it doesn’t even get the front page. The anticipation of a basketball player making a decision took those headlines and the actual decision will not share the headlines anytime soon in Miami.

In an entrance that was not as traffic stopping as Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, Epic created its share on Macarthur Causeway, the road/bridge that connects Downtown Miami and South Beach, and runs parallel to the Port of Miami. As Epic made its turn in the port to get into proper docking position, it, for a  few brief minutes, blocked out of view the American Airlines Arena, where the Miami Heat play. Looking back on it, it was an unfortunate visual metaphor for NCL’s plans of grabbing headlines with a triumphant entrance.

Don’t misunderstand, Epic, Miami is very happy that you are here. You bring the Magic City 4,100 passengers and 1,700 crew members weekly to stay in her hotels, eat in her restaurants and shop in her stores. You are big, you are exciting and you are beautiful (well at least on the inside). I was there to watch you come in to port and you definitely created a buzz among those lucky enough to watch you dock. So, NCL, don’t feel sorry for yourself and don’t get an inferiority complex. Yes, Mr. Arison has stolen your thunder, but look on the bright side… at least you’re not Cleveland.

I’ve posted posted some pictures of Norwegian Epic coming into port. Unfortunately, I learned that if you forget the battery for your camera, it won’t take pictures at all. Luckily Blackberry had the foresight to add a camera to their phones. Enjoy.

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Posted in cruise industry, cruise travel | No Comments »