jasong38501

As a cruiser who was exclusively Carnival until last year before trying Royal, I don't really see much of a difference in the two brands. Royal seems to take better care of their ships and the main dining room food may have a slight edge. I think Carnival excels in their free food options and nightlife. But overall I think they are much more alike than different and would happily book either brand again. I just happen to be receiving MUCH better casino offers from Royal right now. I think you would have a great time on Odyssey.

7 hours ago, RFerrington said:

We disembarked at Labadee today.  Business as usual.  

Geeeze, the amount of bickering I had to sort through just to find out this information was stupid. Thank you for actual information. 

Love this review. I agree with most of it looking at it as a frequent Carnival cruiser who is new to Royal. I think Carnival does a much better job trying to provide the same experience on their older ships as you would get on the newest. While Royal has "amped" some ships, Carnival has a similar initiative called "Funship 2.0". It has been completed on their entire US based ships. The only exception is the Luminoso they recently transferred from Costa. 

I'm currently booked on only Royal because the casino offers are better for me right now on Royal, but I would be open to either company in future. 

So I am a bit late to the game of watching this, but are we thinking Wonder will come down to Miami for the short cruises when Star gets to Canaveral? That would fit with the Freedom schedule above.

Loved the cove balcony on the Dream. We were forward, one of the first 3 or 4 cove balconies on deck 2 and never heard any noise above us. 

Not terribly surprised to see Carnival Corp make a move with some of their capacity they had dedicated to China pre-covid. Pretty excited about some new options. Do we know if the sailings on this brand within a brand will count toward Carnival's loyalty program? They have been so resistant to expanding it to other brands such as Princess or HAL, hopefully they will allow these nights to count.

I love the map with the real time locations of the other Carnival ships. I always wondered why they weren't displayed on the screens on other ships that show the map of your location and speed and all that. Maybe I am just a cruise nerd but I am always on the lookout for other ships when I am at sea.

While I agree Fort Lauderdale is a great port to sail out of, I don't really have an issue flying into FLL and Ubering down to Miami if the flight is that much more appealing than what is offered at MIA. It's still a closer transfer than flying into Orlando and sailing out of Port Canaveral or flying into Houston and sailing out of Galveston. 

5 hours ago, JP350 said:

Thank’s for this it really puts it in perspective, and I think I might go with vista. Would you say that the vista class is sub substantially better than the dream class because that is about 75 dollars cheaper out of Galveston for the same ittenary.

I would say both classes have their plusses. If you are more interested in specialty dining restaurants then the Vista class is better. If you are more interested in the shows and the comedy club the Dream class has larger theaters for both. The Dream, which I'm assuming is the ship you are looking at out of Galveston is my favorite ship. And my last cruise was on Vista. But my next cruise is on Horizon. You can't really go wrong with any of the three in my opinion. 

37 minutes ago, CruiseAdict218 said:

John said in the days ahead her new name would be revealed, hopefully that means this week or next. 

I am more than a little baffled that they have already started work on her and we still don't know anything. I would have thought they would have at least put a few sailings on sell by now. At this rate she will be finished and no one will be booked on her.

9 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

True, but has there ever been a time in the 50 year history of the company when a ship has ever done 7 day cruises every week of the year to the same 3 ports?  This is what will happen with the Jubilee going to Cozumel, Costa Maya and Mahogany Bay.  Some sailings reverse the order, but it's still repetitive for 52 weeks.

I know that the new ship sailings will carry the sales for awhile, but things do have to eventually change with the itineraries and the length of cruise. 

That is literally what Panorama is doing for like the next 72 weeks.

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Haven’t been to HC but definitely will if I book NCL one of these days. Here’s are a couple of pics of what the new port is supposed to look like.

 

Here is a picture of the progress they had made as of three weeks ago. 

8 minutes ago, Beezo said:

So somewhat back on topic - Has anyone heard any updates regarding Costa Magica to Carnival? So quiet!

She is sitting off the coast of La Spezia, Italy. She has been there for a while along with Costa Pacifica.

I was just on the Vista three weeks ago and she looked great. Absolutely nothing on that ship would be anywhere near what I would call run down.

Since you are on a ship with Jiji's I would go for that. It's only on a few ships. We thought about it a few times on my Vista cruise a few weeks ago but all the times we wanted were booked up, so I would say book early. Teppanyaki would be a good option if you want some entertainment with your meal, but again it fills up so book early. 

2 hours ago, shof515 said:

Because of the Escape is at the pier , the Encore is now docked at Carnival Amber Cove port area which is near Puerto Plata

 

The Carnival Horizon ship was suppose to dock at Amber Cove today and now it appears they can not is a few miles away from the harbor

Amber Cove can handle two ships and Horizon appears alongside now. Can Puerto Plata only hold one ship? Just curious if Escape being there means it's full or if NCL isn't ready for another ship to dock there yet while they get the Escape situation handled. 

4 hours ago, Abr155 said:

What a pro tip!! Thanks! I’m also thinking a smaller ship may be good for our daughter’s first cruise! We’ve done real small (Victory) and mega ships on different lines. Maybe this will be a nice in between!

If you mean the Carnival Victory, Legend is smaller than Victory was.

I've had one of those deluxe oceanviews on Dream. They definitely make getting ready easier with two adults. I can only imagine with a toddler that bathtub would make a huge difference. 

9 minutes ago, Jareds_mommytoo said:

You are in the wrong month.

Your date isn't under that because your cruise isn't going to those places. If you are going on Nov 19th you are going to San Juan, Amber Cove and Grand Turk. You have to look at that trip.

On 3/10/2022 at 9:39 AM, Tallyfins said:

I am looking to do a Christmas cruise with my family and wanted to take one of the newer ships with all the different dining options, onboard activities, etc. We have hit all of the itineraries in the Caribbean, so I would more like to enjoy the perks of one of the newer ships as opposed to a specific Caribbean location(s).  I am also interested in staying in the other rooms they offer (We have stayed in Inside, OV, Balcony, and Suites - see the ships we have previously sailed on below in my Signature). I am interested in the Suites, Havana, Family Harbor, etc. based on recommendations. We would want to leave from one of the FL ports (Port Canaveral, Miami, Tampa).

 

 

I think you need to look at either Mardi Gras or Celebration if you are looking for the newest ships from Carnival with the most offered onboard. However I think you should also look that the Havana offerings from Horizon. It has a larger Havana pool area than the other two I mentioned. Once I have it narrowed down to a few cruises I always go to Carnival's website, click on explore and ships. Then you have the option to compare I think its up to 3 ships and see what options might be missing that are specific to your group. Everyone's interests and priorities are different so I think that will help you a lot.

On 3/6/2022 at 7:17 AM, tidecat said:

Kind of surprised to see Mobile only get seasonal service, but that likely means the extra service to Alaska for the 2022 and 2023 seasons will likely be permanent.

 

I not sure I see where they would be getting a third ship from if they go back to Australia with two ships year around. It would be a decrease of service that what was originally planned this year with Freedom and Miracle. Spirit is smaller than Freedom.

5 minutes ago, icft said:

That was pretty much my point. These are not really gratuities but are just an itemization of one charge. In this case they are itemizing part of employee compensation. As I noted, we just consider it part of the ticket price.

 

But I disagree that every expense that a company has on the ship is going to be paid for by the customer. If that were the case no cruise company would ever go bankrupt. They charge what the market will bear and succeed or fail on whether or not that at least covers expenses. One way to convince passengers to fork over more money is to label part of the charge "gratuities."

But it's not an itemization of just another charge when this one is able to be removed. I can't go down to guest services say "hey take $1.67 off my bill because I didn't use the soap in the shower tonight". 

8 minutes ago, icft said:

I don't think the cruise lines are in lockstep on any charges.

 

We always do prepaid gratuities and consider them part of the ticket price. If the price goes up it goes up. If the overall deal is worth it we sail. If not we don't. The idea that the gratuities are actually gratuities is belied by the fact they charge you - you don't offer. It is just Carnival having you pay part of the employee wages. They might just as well itemize your share of the cost of bathroom soap, linen service, etc. and charge you for those things also.

As a customer you are paying for all of the employee wages... and all the other things you mentioned. The only difference is currently some of us are paying a higher percentage of that because we don't remove our gratuities. But at the end of the day, every expense that a company has on the ship is going to be paid for by the customer, so I am not sure what you are referring to as "Carnival having you pay part of the employee wage". The only difference is what it is called.

4 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

It will just make more people remove gratuities IMO. I saw a video by the Lido Loca guy about removing gratuities and was surprised by the large amount of people in the comments who say they remove them and feel they are too expensive already, on top of 18% for pretty much everything else. That was a two year old video when things were rocking and there wasn't as much price pressure on the basics in life. It's irritating to think a bunch of folks are paying a lot less by removing tips, pretty much a $100 PP savings if they remove them on seven day. For a family of five that's nearly $500. Some even mention waiting until you eat your final meal in the MDR and check your bags and other tips to evade poor service as a result of removing them. The system is clearly broken IMO. I thought the consensus here on CC was more universal than it was. That apparently, isn't the case at all. People are much more hostile to system as it is.   

 

I think something will eventually give and they will find a way to have them included. It''s obvious by the huge lines at guest services that people don't like them and more and more are removing them. Not sure what the answer is but this whole system seems to be a mixed bag of those who pay, those who don't and those who reduce them much lower. Raising prices will only effect those who pay and not the other two groups. It will also convert some in the former group, into the latter two groups.   

I just wish they would call is a service fee and make it mandatory. Just wrap it into the port fees and call it a day. If anyone feels the need to tip extra they will still have that option.