First time on a Cruise - have lots of questions

Anybody know if the Carnival Legend has been retrofitted with one of
those "movie screens under the stars", or whatever they call them? I
saw some reviews saying it didn't have this, but then someone said a
bunch of Carnival's ships got them in 2008 and 2009. I'm kind of a
movie buff, and I LOVE going to drive-ins and watching movies outdoors,
under the stars.

I really like the "theme" of the Legend, and if it has the screen, I
think I'll focus on this ship. If not, still thinking about Victory or
Liberty.

quit bad mouthing Carnival!!!!!! We have done 11 cruises with Carnival
and love all their ships . Went on HAL to Alaska and will NEVER go on
HAL again...we are in our late 60's and felt like we were in a floating
funeral home most of the time...no one was even in the
casino....nobody...was awful!!!! So...CARNIVAL it is for us....we can
sit and watch everyone or find a quiet place and sit.

On 6/7/10 7:00 PM, Ohioguy wrote:
Anybody know if the Carnival Legend has been retrofitted with one of
those "movie screens under the stars", or whatever they call them? I saw
some reviews saying it didn't have this, but then someone said a bunch
of Carnival's ships got them in 2008 and 2009. I'm kind of a movie buff,
and I LOVE going to drive-ins and watching movies outdoors, under the
stars.

I really like the "theme" of the Legend, and if it has the screen, I
think I'll focus on this ship. If not, still thinking about Victory or
Liberty.

Not sure whether Legend has the screen, but it's one of the newer design
Spirit Class ships that they also use for HAL and Cunard. Most consider
those the Best of the Carnival ships. Victory and Liberty are based on
the older Carnival Density design hull, and are much higher density
ships (more crowded, longer lines, etc.).

--Tom

In article , Ohioguy
wrote:

Anybody know if the Carnival Legend has been retrofitted with one of
those "movie screens under the stars", or whatever they call them? I
saw some reviews saying it didn't have this, but then someone said a
bunch of Carnival's ships got them in 2008 and 2009. I'm kind of a
movie buff, and I LOVE going to drive-ins and watching movies outdoors,
under the stars.

They don't have the screens on that class of Carnival ship.

I really like the "theme" of the Legend, and if it has the screen, I
think I'll focus on this ship. If not, still thinking about Victory or
Liberty.

Isn't the Legend the one with urns all over ship?

The Victory does not have the screen. The Liberty does have it.

--
Charles

Frank from Deeeetroit wrote:

On Jun 6, 11:43*am, Tom K wrote:
On 6/6/10 10:52 AM, Frank from Deeeetroit wrote:

Do it your self and call the cruise line, you will
receive the best service at the least cost. Spend your money on the
ship and on shore excursions.
snip

Frank

Cruise lines do not give you the "least cost" if you book with them.
All the cruise lines do is give you the same price as a travel agent
would get you, and they keep the commission that would have been paid to
a travel agent. *But what you lose is having someone look out for
getting you possible upgrades and who will keep an eye out for price
reductions (what's the chance that the cruise line will call you and say
that there has been a price reduction and you're getting a lower cost?).

--Tom

Tom is correct

Tom, We found that if we book our cruise through a web based discount
agent, then call the cruise line for advice, offers, shore excursions,
etc. this offers the most service to our needs than dealing through a
third party.

I have done this too and it worked ... until there was a glitch and
then there was no one looking out for us.

Specifically, I booked a specific cabin for back to back cruises
because my husband did not want to transfer rooms. And because I had
a discount agency with no one looking out for me, the cruise line
upgraded us on the first part of the cruise. They would not put us
back in our original room. Instead they "upgraded" us to a room on
the same deck so we wouldn't have to move so far. Except that was a
room under the kitchen and they started rolling metal carts around at
four in the morning right over our heads - impossible to sleep.

We do the looking out for ourselves by dealing directly with the
cruise line. Our method has worked well for us, to the point of one
of the cruise line agents calls us and has offered a last minute
cruise special that was well below any advertised rate by a discount
web-site or cruise line.

We have had this too, except that the 'specials', weren't really
specials. "Upgrade" from an inside cabin in a prime location low in
the ship to higher up in the ship. "Upgrade" for an additional fee.

Once a relationship is made with a cruise line, they wan you back.
All they care about is leaving port with a ship that is s close to
full as possible.

No - they want your money with the least possible effort and time on
their part. They don't care whether you are on the ship or not.

Oh, no one mentions the huge last minute discounts offered to local
residents of the beginning port of the cruise just to fill the boat.
These discounts are only learned by talking to our fellow cruise
guests.

My agent gets me those discounts when they apply. Plus I know about
them, and not by talking to fellow cruisers.

Charles wrote:

In article , Jeff
Gersten wrote:

For instance, if they went to Bermuda and he was happy exploring caves
while she did beaches and shopping, each of them would come out ahead.
They could share their experiences later over diner.

Anyone into caves is not going to think much of the Bermuda caves. When
I lived in southern Indiana I did a bit of spelunking in smaller caves
and also visited some of the larger tourist caves in Kentucky. The
caves in Bermuda are small and are basically tourist attractions.

There is a quote about this somewhere to the effect that the item is
not especially good in it self, the surprise is that it is there at
all. There are caves in Bermuda and Barbados -- not something that I
would expect in either place. So no they are not really spectacular
caves as caves go. But the ARE caves. And kind of on the idea that
any dive is better than not diving and any sailing is better than a
day at the office, there ARE caves in Bermuda and you can go into
them.

Ohioguy wrote:

I would suggest checking cruises from NY, New Jersey, Baltimore,
Virginia or The Carolinas to avoid air fare. Even Florida would be
drivable, saving money and hassles. Whatever turns you on.

Harry, thanks for the suggestion, I'm looking into it. I think
Florida is just too far, though, considering that I can fly down there
for $94 one way.

My husband refuses to fly anymore because of the hassle. So we do
drive. But if you don't mind flying, I think you can fly SW into BWI
for cheap.

Someone said that room service on the cruises is free. Is that true
for all cruise lines, or just for some of them?

The food is free - sometimes you tip the person who brings it a small
amount. Sometimes they are in and out so fast that you can't

For tipping, I read that the cruise line automatically sets aside a
certain daily amount to take care of that. Can we tip with cash if we
prefer?

Yes but it is much easier to have it on the bill and just give a
little extra to those that you are particularly appreciative of. Some
cruise lines give you envelopes to put voucher slips in and you can
add money to this as well. The charge takes care of some people that
you never see (or not to tip anyway) like the servers at the buffet.
If you take the service charge off the bill, I have been told that the
people that you do tip have to give the money to the tip pool and
don't get to keep it. I don't know how they enforce this

I tried calling a local travel agency that I saw in the strip mall by
the movie theater, but the message on the telephone said the number was
disconnected. I drove by there, and although I could have sworn there
was a sign up just a month ago, there is nothing now but an empty spot.
I figured it would be nice to have someone local, so I could stop by
to talk to them. Strike one, I guess.

I would NOT use either a local travel agency unless they have a cruise
specialist or an online discount agency. Use a real cruise oriented
travel agent (not John Sisker, but any of the others will be good).

On Sun, 06 Jun 2010 07:21:05 -0500, George Leppla wrote:

I'm beginning to think you are still trolling.

My bet is he isn't going to be booking with you anytime soon.
--
Ari's Fun Times!
http://tr.im/hrFG
Motto: Run, rabbit, Run!

If you've been on a cruise line before, do you get lower rates? I
noticed several of the websites asking this, and my wife has been on
Carnival before. However, that was back in 2001, and she doesn't know
the passenger # or whatever they are asking.

On Jun 8, 1:35*pm, Ohioguy wrote:
* *If you've been on a cruise line before, do you get lower rates? *I
noticed several of the websites asking this, and my wife has been on
Carnival before. *However, that was back in 2001, and she doesn't know
the passenger # or whatever they are asking.

Yes, there is often a past passenger discount. Call Carnival's past
guest program (number on their website) to see if they have a guest
program account set up for her and, if not, whether she can create an
account based on their record of her having sailed (I think they
should be able to access data re her 2001 sailing).

Diana