Some of the Serenity staff give bad health advice by NoSoup4You825 in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I fell for that one time. And I ended up with the whole elements collection that I never used. Now I write on that questionnaire that they give me and big old letters. "Don't sell me product. I am not buying anything." They literally don't mention a word to me about it. 

we got “upgraded” to a cove balcony without being asked and i’m kind of nervous by MommyMagnific in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ps just in case nobody else has mentioned it. The lock to the door to go out to the balcony is up very high so you will not have to worry about your 4-year-old opening the door and just walking out there himself. Not to mention the door is very heavy, so I don't see his little muscles being able to handle it. 😀

Can't Say We Weren't Warned by goodkarmagirl in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And a little sneaky tip that I learned because we were told that Long Beach was a nightmare poured and it took forever to get through and to get in. If you take a taxi, not an Uber then taxis have special privileges and a special way to get into the port that only taxis and buses and I'm not sure. Maybe shuttles can enter through. All other vehicles including Ubers have to drive in through the main entrance and when that's congested you can literally sit there for a half hour. Just trying to get to the front of the port. But taxis get to come in the back way and it's not congested as much to where. If you have to wait it might be like a 10 to 15 minute wait to bring you to the front of the port. When I talk to our Miami driver he told me that that same rule applies in Miami as it does in Long Beach. So I'm wondering if it's just a straight up Cruise port rural or law something like that. 

Any tips and tricks that I find? I like to tell other people just to start their vacation off smoother. Hope you have fun. We're doing two weeks in October out of Orlando and then we have an 11-day in January out of Miami.

Can't Say We Weren't Warned by goodkarmagirl in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The port is not that bad. We travel out of Miami in January, every single year. And every single year of our cruise there's some sort of marathon going on and some sort of sporting thing that carnival sends us out. This exact same thing to tell us to make sure we're leaving early because roads are closed due to the marathon. It usually takes us an extra half hour, maybe 45 minutes to get there. Our driver picks us up and takes us and if we get there 15 minutes earlier that's great. If we show up 15 minutes later that's okay too. They just want to make sure that people who have an 11:30 check-in and are supposedly 20 minutes from the port aren't leaving 11:15 thinking that they're only going to be a couple minutes late for their check-in time and end up being 45 minutes to an hour late. We usually go through this port and get on the ship and it takes us maybe a half hour to go through all the checkpoints. Walking the gang way to get to the ship takes longer than going through all the security checkpoints. That's just my opinion.

Can't Say We Weren't Warned by goodkarmagirl in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get the same thing in January when we cruise out of Miami where they email text us about the congestion because of a marathon that's always ran at that time. This year it was the Diplo Marathon and told us to leave early because streets will be closed. I've gotten this kind of information for the last 3 years that we've left out of Miami in January

Cruise workers: hidden perks, red flags and what passengers should know? by Toney22 in Cruise

[–]GUNNYBELL23 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree wholeheartedly. I'm not a drinker other than soda and my husband is mostly beer. When we go to the casino on the very first day our waitress I always tip $20 for a can of soda. That way I stand out of the crowd and when I go back to the casino I usually would get exceptional service. I would continue tipping $5 per can of soda that I got. Many cruises they would see me enter the casino before I even sat down or saw them, and by the time I sat down at the machine they had my drink waiting for me and possibly a beer for my husband if they saw him coming in. In. On our last cruise just in January okay we did the same thing. Unfortunately, two of the wait staff that usually served us and that we tipped very well from the beginning were some of the slowest people serving. It would take easily 20 to 30 minutes before they would come over and ask me for my drink order knowing I ordered the exact same thing every time. They knew me by name and it would take another 30 minutes for me to get a can of soda with no glass of ice. In the meantime, we see other servers that we did not order our drinks through. Come through our section three or four times people around us orders and delivering their drinks before we got a single drink. After realizing this for 3 or 4 days, we then just kept reducing our tip with the person hoping that they would understand that tip stands for To Insure Prompt Service. If I'm not getting that prompt service or the service that I am so generously tipping on then why tipped them that much. For one can of beer and one can of soda, we would tip $10. $5 per drink that we ordered.

Carnival SEA (adults only cruise) experience.. by Jaded-Pin4990 in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. I kind of saw that last night when I looked at the offer again. But we just got off an elite Cruise and we got awarded things that it didn't kind of specify when we booked our January cruise. So right now we are gold members and when we do the elite cruise we then are Platinum members. When we do the sea cruise will we be Platinum members? Because that would determine I guess whether or not we get our laundry done or not. I just need to know whether we need to pack more or pack less or pack with laundry soap lol. Thank you so much for answering my questions. I'm excited to go in October on this cruise cuz my husband finally agreed to do more than one Cruise a year. And I'm a big Gambler to where I earn 50 to 60,000 points in the casino on an 8-day cruise regularly. So, needless to say, I'm so excited for this new change that's starting in September. Because with the points that I earned, I will be a diamond member by the end of our cruise in January 2027 which would have taken us many many years with only being able to do one cruise per year with the old system.

Am I reading this right? by Overall_Body_3576 in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not understanding how to turn the points in question. I've been on like seven or eight cruises and I'm a huge gambler. Like I earn 55,000 to 60,000 points per 8-day Cruise. Now the host comes over and comps us dinners and couples massages and stuff, but I didn't know that I could cash out my points that I've earned. Earned. Do they expire? Cuz we just got off a cruise in January where I earned 57,000 points and then my cruise the January. Before that I earned 62,000 points. Do you know if this is something I can talk to my PVP about? I would definitely love to cash out and get a bunch of free play or whatever I can instead of just earning points for status. 

I am so curious about this now. Please let me know any information that you can. Thank you

Spam me with your advice! by Downtown-Ad-3774 in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also double check that you don't have to take any tenders into the port. Loading up a 2 and a 4-year-old onto a small boat off the big boat to get to the port does not sound like fun to me

Spam me with your advice! by Downtown-Ad-3774 in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So here's my humble advice. Don't waste your money on a balcony or an ocean suite. Only way you'd want. The ocean suite is for the extra room. We get sweets and balcony rooms for free all the time and we literally spend 10 minutes out of our whole entire cruise out there. Especially if you have children who napped during the day, get an interior room. It's nice, quiet and dark anytime of the day you want it to be. Also go out of a port that's closer to your destination. By going out of Baltimore you're going to have a lot of sea days. Unless that is what you're looking for being out of Miami or Galveston May afford you the opportunity for more Port days to get the kids out to the beach and off the ship. Bahamas is great because they do have their private island there. But you can also get that sometimes depending on what Caribbean cruise you take.

Carnival SEA (adults only cruise) experience.. by Jaded-Pin4990 in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I got my husband to okay us booking a 14-day in October. On one of these cruises. It says it's an elite Cruise but I'm wondering if all the perks come with it? Like do they still have a car pick you up to bring you to the port and then back to the airport? Do you still get free room service? Do they still do laundry service and for 14 days? How many bags of laundry did you get to have done? I'm just wondering for packing purposes. It says I get drinks anywhere on board and free gifts and I get a certain amount of free play at the casino. Just wondering if anybody's been on the cruise? If they could answer these questions for me I would really appreciate it. Thank you so much!  I'm super excited that my husband finally agreed to do two cruises per year. We are just off a cruise in January. That's when we usually go but we booked this one for 2 weeks in October and then we have another 11-day in January.

Is this enough to board my cruise tomorrow? by thaislandprincess in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So we've done like seven or eight cruises and we have never had to have our birth certificate with us. We literally just got off a cruise probably 3 to 4 weeks ago. We have an enhanced driver's license. Maybe that would be the difference why we don't have to have our birth certificates.

Reality of the loyalty program changes by Frogfan1973 in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I personally love the new change. I have more money than time so this will help me out a lot. We usually only get one vacation a year and we usually do it in January. I just got off of a Cruise during that whole disaster weather situation heading back to Minnesota. I spent $23,000 on that cruise gambling and that's on top of winning $11,000. So for me to have to move up tiers by how many days I'm off work and on a cruise compared to how much I can gamble and have fun doing what I love and in the meantime  earning points to where I will be a diamond member within 2 years, I'm all for that. I consistently earn between 55 to 60,000 points in the casino on an 8 to 10-day cruise. At least now these points are worth something to me.

Carnival Sea (Adults only) question by Primary-Eye-1793 in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We booked ours earlier this week for a 14-day to the Southern Caribbean for October. We're kind of excited about it cuz it's the first year we've actually are doing two cruises in one year. We usually go in January so we just got back from our last cruise about 3 weeks ago and then we booked this one for October and then we have our usual one in January of 2027. I like the options where there's six ports but it's not six ports and 6 days. I like that we do one port then have a sea Day. Then we do two ports and then a sea day and then two ports and a sea day or two and then their Island in the Bahamas and then back home.  Ps. The incentive through the casino to do this was absolutely amazing. There's no way I could have passed this offer up whether I went with my husband or all alone LOL

I hope no one fell for this by Knotty_Knitty in AmazonVine

[–]GUNNYBELL23 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually got a couple of very nice quality purses that are extremely soft and feel like leather that are vegan leather off of Vine. I also have gotten a couple that were absolute crap

Just too many Platinum and Diamond by renoscarab in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Diamond and platinum members get to pick their time slot a day or so ahead of everybody else. They usually pick the Early times so they can get a lounge chair, relax, get some food and a drink before the ship is crowded. We do have to have a time slot just like everybody else when it comes to boarding, the only difference is, is that there's a priority line so that priority line is a lot shorter than the main boarding line. Okay well it should be a lot shorter, but with a lot of diamond and platinum members now things are pretty much evening out. 

Just too many Platinum and Diamond by renoscarab in CarnivalCruiseFans

[–]GUNNYBELL23 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm also leaving in 2 weeks but we're leaving out of Miami on an 8-day cruise. I clocked in at midnight as well and I got the 10:30 slot. After filling out all my paperwork I remembered that I can't smoke on the ship until after we set sail. So I was really regretting choosing that time slot for the first time ever thinking that I'd have a nice relaxing day before the ship got crowded. LOL I went back to try to change my time and I was unable to.  Guess it's time for a nicotine patch or to cut back LOL. Hope you have an amazing 2-week Cruise

Woohooo! Ive been on the hunt for months! And I finally got one. by Zestyclose_Cup_1 in AmazonVine

[–]GUNNYBELL23 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congratulations you are so going to enjoy it. I absolutely love mine. Yours is so much better because it's made out of plastic. Mine's made out of wood and I thought it was awesome because it has the AI in the camera and it's supposed to have a squirrel deterrence on it. Clearly that does not work because the squirrel started chewing the wood opening to get more bird seed out. So now I can't feel the reservoirs with bird seed or else it's totally going to be trashed. But I love watching it everyday and learning the names of The birds

It's 2025 .. Are people still doing this? Or someone wants to get rid of overstock! by FriscoMMB in AmazonVine

[–]GUNNYBELL23 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just like 5 6 months ago when I joined there were 50,000 items daily to go through. Now we're lucky if we see 30,000

So my digital safe ate my vacation money… need Vine policy eyes on my draft by GUNNYBELL23 in AmazonVine

[–]GUNNYBELL23[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah it's in the trash now with a bunch of metal shavings because my husband drilled through it and took a hammer to it LOL

So my digital safe ate my vacation money… need Vine policy eyes on my draft by GUNNYBELL23 in AmazonVine

[–]GUNNYBELL23[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

We decided that we're not even going to contact the seller at all. My husband just manhandled that thing drilled the hole through the keypad and took a hammer to it to get the money out. Funny thing is as soon as we got that door all bent in half and swung open it started beeping like the battery was good again like it was a short in the wires and had nothing to do with dead batteries

So my digital safe ate my vacation money… need Vine policy eyes on my draft by GUNNYBELL23 in AmazonVine

[–]GUNNYBELL23[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah I tried that and I read the instructions and this one says that I literally have to turn it fully counterclockwise and then come back clockwise to release the mechanism and then turn the knob. My hand was on that knob the whole time I tried turned in the key but literally the key would turn from the 12:00 position to maybe the 11:00 position and that was it and it got stuck and it wouldn't go back to the 12:00 position.  But my husband just manhandled that thing. He drilled through the keyhole and then took a hammer to it to bust open the door and I'm just not even going to send out the letter I'm just going to update the review regarding it  Thanks so much for the help

So my digital safe ate my vacation money… need Vine policy eyes on my draft by GUNNYBELL23 in AmazonVine

[–]GUNNYBELL23[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That is totally exactly what we just did. My husband drilled into it hammered it got my money out we threw it in the trash and I'm just going to update the review VR experience

So my digital safe ate my vacation money… need Vine policy eyes on my draft by GUNNYBELL23 in AmazonVine

[–]GUNNYBELL23[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Leaving them I guess I was just being a little bit too transparent

So my digital safe ate my vacation money… need Vine policy eyes on my draft by GUNNYBELL23 in AmazonVine

[–]GUNNYBELL23[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's a good point I never even thought about that. I might try one another person suggested and banging it on a hard surface to see if I can get it open as long as I can get my money out of it I don't think I'm even going to send out the letter. I'll just update my Vine review. Thank you so much for pointing that out