Count me and my Hubs, Howard in. Hopefully after the meet-up, I will convince my SIL Tessa and my Brother Gary to join us.

Cheri

Becky: There isn't a kids rate, it is the same. The good part is that if you have them in the same room with you, it makes your room rate per person lower.

Plum: The price is for all 5 nights. (Pretty good deal, I think!)

I have more answers for everyone else, but I have to eat lunch. I will be back on later.

Steph
 

Steph,

I have 3 kids.. can we have 5 people in a room? 

Thanks Steph! I am working on it. I really want to go.

Ohhhh... me me me...lol is it nice to pull your child out of school to go on a cruise for a week?  HELL Yeah...

Ok one more question for you, can you get an itineray of the on board activities for kids and the prices... Kayti will be 11 (how wrong is that) and I would have to have options for her. It doesnt have to be exact, just a round about so I can decide if it would be ok to bring her along...  thanks

Ok, another dumb question... is this inclusive?  Meals?  things like that.  I have never been on a cruise or thought of doing this.  Just trying to get expenses figured out.  

 

Bren,  My mom and dad took Lauren and another grandchild on a cruise and they said the the rooms are very small.  They were not like hotel rooms, they were tiny rooms with bunk beds for the girls.  They beds then had to be pushed in during the day inorder to have room to walk around. 

They are typically not like the rooms shown on the "love boat" =P

That is why we will be looking at getting ajoining rooms.

I dont know if I can deal with them in another room, Im a freak like that.  the ajoining rooms... can the between door stay open all the time? 

 

I should add that my oldest will be 16 then, so hopefully it wont be a problem.  I'll just have to keep him away from Lauren and Liv. LOL 

Brenda, ajoining rooms can have the door left open.  Both rooms have a door to the next room and then both rooms leave that door open.

I just looked (google) and most rooms on the ship are 185 sq ft.  so they are not too tight, but smaller than a hotel.  I guess the idea is that when you have a whole ship to explore, you are rarely in your room.

 

 

I'm getting the cheapest room, because all I need it for is changing my clothes and laying my head down for a couple of hours. I'll nap around the pool. Too much to do, to sleep.

Cheri

I hope we get a HUGE turn out... All MPIXers unit... be there or be square...

just thought of another dumb question... do we need Passports? 

My husband wants to know how much time we'll be doing classes or whatever that he'll be waiting around for me.  He's scared of being out on the open water, so I think he's looking for excuses not to go!

Mmm . .this sounds good . . .airfare will be probably skyhigh, but hey . . .
so, since my wife is very afraid of flying -
I'm looking for one/two/three girls to bunk with me in balcony room.

PS - I don't bite.

*giggle*

Okay...I will try to answer all the questions I can remember! LOL

Bren: You would be MISERABLE with 5 people in a room. I would highly suggest 2 rooms for that. (How old are your kids again?)

The passport question...just to be safe, we are going to say that YES...everyone needs a passport. Even if you don't actually need it, it is sooooo much easier to get through everything if you have one. But I am pretty sure that it is MANDATORY starting next year. So plan on getting passports!

As far as how much time we will be doing classes....that is totally up to you. You can participate as much or as little as you want. If you want to just come and socialize, feel free. If you want to participate in the classes, you are more than welcome to. I am thinking the 1 day we are at sea, we will have a couple hours of classes and then we will probably be doing photo shoots at each port. There should be plenty of relaxing time. We will also have a few social events and then the final day, we may meet back up in the conference facilities for 1 last wrap up meeting.

Kids activities are numerous!!!! Here is a link to the onboard activities:

Carnival Destiny Onboard activities

The great part is that you can get your kids setup with activities in their zone while you do what you want to do and then you can get them later when you want some family time. They will have so much to do and will have a great time not being dragged around by Mom and Dad.

 

That is all I can remember right now. I will try to answer some more later.

 

Steph

 

PS: I am so stoked that everyone is excited about this! I think it is going to be great! 

Classes?????

 

I plan on laying on the deck, roasting like a chicken turkey, somebody please bring timer and butter!

Tommas....if you are the roasting turkey....who will take the best picture of you?!? You are the food photographer!

Like I said....classes are OPTIONAL! LOL Feel free to just enjoy the trip and hang out!

Steph
 

I had the same question as Patty, is 25 days really enough time for people to decide?  I know personally that DH doesn't even get to schedule his vacation for the year until November of the year before, so we won't know for sure until two months before if he could go.  I am definitely planning on it, but things change.  AND we will have a lot of new members in that time, will they be able to get in on it, too?

Are you going to get models for the trip?  Will we have an additional expense for that?

You can count me in for now, but things may change.

For those asking about the 25 day deadline:

We talked to the travel agent today and that is Carnival's deadline for group bookings, so there isn't anything I can do about that.

We will be able to open up for more registrations in about 9 months. The rates will probably be different at that point since it is only 10 months before the cruise and it is subject to what is available at that point.

Sorry that the timeline is so short, but I wanted to make sure that we would be able to get plenty of rooms, so booking early is a good thing.

I really hope we can book up a TON of rooms and have a huge party....MPIX STYLE!!!

Steph  

Bren: Here is what I learned from cruising in December.

The meals are all included. Don't quote me on this, but it looks like 24 hour room service is included and there is a 24 hour pizzeria on board.

On the cruise that we went on in December, we were able to buy a pass for unlimited soft drinks for the entire cruise, so that saved us a lot of money. Alcohol is definitely extra and it isn't cheap!

Be careful of the extra ship charges. It is so easy to just put it on your ship card and then the end of the week comes and you have to pay up and it adds up FAST!

A few things that we wracked up extra charges on: Shore Excursions, Bingo (everynight!), Casino, some Alcohol, Tips.

One thing you can do is prepare for the tips for your housekeeping/server/busboy. The standard is $50 per person for the whole cruise. If you get room service, plan on having some cash for a tip.

You will need cash for shopping off the ship.

You can keep it reasonable....IF you are careful! Just be sure to watch what you charge to your ship account. It can add up fast since it is SOOOOO easy to do! LOL

Steph  

I just called carnival to ask basic questions.. the food is inclusive, all you have to pay for is alcohol. 

We WILL  need passports. 

then got disconected

Stephanie - how much is the penthouse? 12 people can sleep in it! I'll pitch in for 2 people!

Actually....Shan and I may be getting a suite so that we can have Boudoir shoots in the room (with models...not me! LMAO) and get togethers.

I honestly don't care about having a big room, but we wanted to have enough space for people to stop by!

Steph  

can you tell Im really working on this? lol 

for us it would be

$1700 for the cruise

$1500 on air fair (basing on todays fee's)

plus extras and if we have to stay in a hotel in Miami for any overnights. 

or

we get a one way car drive half way stay at a hotel, and then drive the rest of the way.  That will be $260 each way so it will be just over $500 plus a hotel for a night. 

So either $3200 or $2500 depending on how we travel. 

Plus spending money. 

Hmm