ksmcdonald

Strange, we were on the Escape last March and there was a $15 upcharge ($16.88 with tax) to eat there.  We were surprised when they told us that.  We had the dining package.  Then , on top of the $16.88, there was an upcharge for lobster.  

I wonder if this has  changed?  The above post indicate that there is no charge.

I think I found it somewhere on these message boards for my specific ship.  I just googled "Carnival Pride maitre 'd.  If you can't find it that way, just call Carnival and ask for the email address.

2 hours ago, evandbob said:

 

Perhaps roulette too?  21 Black.

umm...21 is RED 😉 on the roulette wheel!

I had emailed the maitre d' for our upcoming cruise March 22nd for a round table on the main floor of dinning room.  Here is his response.

Request put on file, reservations do not reach the ship until 4 days prior to cruise.

Thank you.

Ken.

Ken Byrne

Sr. Maitre D’

Carnival Pride I Carnival Cruise Line

On 12/10/2019 at 9:34 AM, RjayB said:

It is listed, they just word it as "Priority check-in and boarding"

https://www.carnival.com/vifp/benefits.aspx

Thank you!  I guess I wasn't aware that Priority Check-in and boarding meant we could go straight to our room to drop off carry-ons.   If the doors to the hall way are closed, do we just open them and walk through to our cabin?  This is first cruise with these perks and I don't want do something we are not supposed to do.

On 12/9/2019 at 7:32 AM, Retired_to_Cruise said:

You will be platinum from the first day on that cruise. You do not need FTTF.

 

Could you tell me what exactly a Platinum status gets you?  I will be Platinum next cruise and I'm not sure all the perks that I will get.  I looked on the website, but it doesn't say anything like, you can go straight to your cabin and drop off carry-ons etc.  FTTF mean 1st to board and your room is ready, correct?  Basically, if I read the FTTF perks, is that the same as Platinum?

But remember, Cheers includes soda and bottled water for the days you don't plan on drinking, so you have to factor that in as well.  Also the specialty coffee for every morning.  Also the Shake Spot that sells milkshakes is included with Cheers (you can even get a shot of vodka or rum in the milkshake with Cheers).

1 hour ago, daisymay1960 said:

 

I was only going on what I had read from other posters , We don't think its worth it for us , as we may have the odd day of having a few drinks , I doubt it will average out to many a day , I don't drink sodas or the coffees although the other half does . I may have a drink in the day , but 4 out of 7 days are port days . I am just aiming to hope I dont exceed what I would have paid if I had bought the package .....I will however cry everytime  I have to pay over $12 for a drink though !

 

I know what you mean!  We go back and forth every cruise whether we should get the Cheers or not.  My husband drinks a lot of soda (no coffee) and that with the bottled water kind of make our decision for us.  We've even got the spiked milkshakes at the Shake Shack, which we love!  I guess it comes down to us just not having to have that stress you mentioned everytime we want to order a $12 drink.  It feels more like a vacation when everything is included.  Also, when we don't have the package, I tend to tell myself, "you don't really need that frozen drink by the pool" whereas when we have the package, it is stress free when deciding about that drink!  It just give a different vibe to our cruise, even if we just break even at the end, we are still ahead because we didn't stress about it!

16 hours ago, daisymay1960 said:

I am sure break even is much higher then 4 drinks 

My drink of choice, Cucumber Sunrise at the Alchemy Bar, $10.95 plus tax = $12.91 per drink.  Four of those is around $52 dollars.  To me, that is close enough to break even.  A couple sodas, specialty coffee, glass of wine with dinner and a bottled water added to these 4 drinks is way past breaking even.  

Is the $119 you refer to a day?  Or for the whole cruise?   Carnival is only $51.95 per day when including tax and gratuities around $61 a day.   Not sure where you are getting $119.  Typically, the same as RCI, on Carnival you need to drink 4 drinks a day to break even.  And it includes drinks valued at $20 or less.  You must wait five minutes between drink purchases and have a 15 drink limit per day.

6 minutes ago, AlexandNessa said:

 

 

I agree with you.. I too will no longer pay restaurant reservations in advance due to a bad experience. Two years ago, I booked Moderno and paid in advance. I had the receipt and the credit card charge to NCL to prove it. NCL made me jump through hoops onboard and it still wasn't fixed. The ship claimed they were never forwarded the payment from NCL (and this was my fault). I wound up contesting the charge on my credit card. Never again. 

 

Regardless, as Two Wheels stated, they stopped the Ocean Blue upcharge a while ago, and this is what it looks like in myncl. 

 

 

Come on NCL, get with the program!  They probably stopped the $12 upcharge because the eliminated lobster there, just like everywhere else on NCL ships.  My husband and just decided Carnival is our cruise line of choice.  We used to like NCL, but with so much of their "nickle and diming", no lobster, change in drink package (no water included in package, which is insane!) we just decided that we are making the switch!   We have three Carnival cruises booked for this upcoming year!

Has anyone had experience with the Travel Protection you add on for $25?  My elderly father just booked a cruise and he told them to put that on if it was only $25.  My question is what does it cover?  Can't be much for $25.  I've searched these boards and can't seem to find anything on it.  What exactly does it cover?

In my experience, I never booked the upcharge restaurant in advance because they charged my Visa at the time of booking and I wanted to use my OBC to pay the upcharge or $12.  I called and they said if I make reservations online, you pay the additional $12 upcharge at that time.   (if you were eating at steakhouse, just use a dining credit, no charge to make your reservations.   If you eat at Ocean Blue, $12 additional charge in addition to using your one dining credit so Visa needed.).  Not sure why they didn't charge you the upcharge when you made your original reservations.  Seems maybe they noticed their mistake as they were reviewing your account.  Still, they should of called you before using part of your credit from wifi to pay for your dining reservations.

When we boarded the ship, went straight away and made  our Ocean Blue reservations and paid with our OBC.  

If you are checking prices on the Carnival website, it will automatically remember the last VIFP Club  number or Past Guest number that has been entered.  Your computer's cookies does this automatically, not Carnival.   I change the Past Guest number back and forth from mine to my husbands to see which one has the better deals.

It is on the screen that says "Tell Us About Yourself" while booking.  If no number is put in, then you will not get any discounts.

We've been cruising Carnival lately but I do say I miss O'Sheehan's Irish Pub on NCL ships.  It is always open 24/7 and had a full bar menu of appetizers, soups, sandwiches/burgers, Shepard pie, desserts.  You actually get to sit down at a table and be waited on, no standing in long lines.  You can also eat a full breakfast there instead of fighting the Lido buffet or doing the drawn out main dining breakfast.  Kind of in between buffet and main dining room.

On the Sunrise on our Journeys cruise they did have one night of the old midnight buffet, but the line was so long!  We waited about 45 minutes and still hadn't reached any food yet.  Then they told us it was closed before we even made it up to the food.  What a waste of an hour, then we had to go get pizza, which that line was really long as well because people were giving up on the buffet line.  They should just eliminate the buffet if they are only going to keep it open for 1 1/2 hours, not even enough time to feed everyone.

Where will the Sunrise be from today until Monday morning when we sail?  Will it just stay in port or go on a 2-3 day cruise?

My uncle lived in Miami and we would go visit him every summer.  As a form of entertainment, he would take us all down to the cruise port and we would board a ship that was sailing that afternoon.  We walked around, had little finger sandwiches and punch (for free!  always excited us as kids).  Then they would blow the horn to let everyone that was not sailing it was time to get off the ship.  We didn't even know anyone sailing, just went down to the pier for something to do and see how the other half lived!

My first cruise in 1978 there was only a breakfast, lunch and dinner seating (early and late).  If you missed your assigned time, you didn't eat until the next meal time.  No Lido deck buffet, nothing to snack on at all, although they did have a midnight buffet.  Also remember at the "Captains Party" the captain shook hands with each guest as we entered the lounge.  Free drinks at that party were whiskey sours, martinis and wine.  Dinning room food seemed so much better back then.  Maybe it is just a case of nostalgia.  They had a lobster thermidor that I still remember to this day!  Breakfast started out with a half of a pineapple, sliced but still sitting on the shell.  So sweet and fresh when all I'd ever had was canned pineapple up until that point.  

On 5/19/2019 at 2:32 PM, Sauer-kraut said:

 

I don't think Carnival uses GSC as it is a privately owned island by Norwegian.

I stand corrected, it was Grand Turk that we missed.  Regardless, Carnival compensated us well for missing a port.  NCL, not so much.

That is strange that it showed your on-line check in complete when you never went back in to update your Passport information.  Earlier in the year, I waited to enter my passport info until I could go home and dig it up.  Two weeks later it was still 80% complete, waiting for me to go in and update my passport.  Maybe Carnival has a way of seeing if you cruised previously, they now fill in that info for you.

On 5/12/2019 at 8:56 PM, newpherchris said:

I was on the second sailing and took a lot of pictures. I've posted a link to a shared folder of some pictures of the ship in a new thread, but I'm including the link here: Click here to review the pictures.

 

I had a wonderful week and would highly recommend the Sunrise. 

thanks for the great pictures!

22 hours ago, newpherchris said:

It's located where is say 'chopsticks' below. At some point the name must have changed. They had three breakfast options and three lunch options daily. I observed several repeats after a couple of days. Pho soup was definitely on the menu for several days. It's NOT like the Mongolian Wok, where you select your stuff and hand it to the chef. You basically tell them which of the three items you want, and you get it in a small bowl. I recall some roasted pork soup thing with rice noodles and a similar chicken option. I tried the pork option: it was quick, tasty, and very salty. (There are a few condiments like miso paste and roasted sesame seeds that you can add yourself.)

 

etc. 

 

 

Thanks for the information!  Can't wait to try it!

15 hours ago, newpherchris said:

or a bowl of noodle soup at Lucky Bowl with little or no wait. Lucky Bowl had quick but weird breakfast offerings

What exactly is Lucky Bowl?  I've never seen a Lucky Bowl on any of the Carnival ships I've been on.  Is it at the buffet?  or separate like the Seafood Shack?  Just curious what other kinds of food they offer.

5 hours ago, Bookbug53 said:

They never ran the first day's drinks into Cheers. I have sailed from there a few times. Urban legend. As explained previously other cruise lines do have their drink packages but they are limited by brand and type while in NY. Carnival also does not charge for that first day and lose the revenue from the sale of Cheers for the entire day. Evens out fairly well. It all has to do with taxes.

You are 100% wrong!  I've said out of NYC:

Carnival Splendor - 2014 - Cheers drinks WERE included on first day (drinks charged then took off later)

NCL Breakaway - 2016 - drink package good for first day

NCL Breakaway - 2017 - drink package good for first day

NCL Breakaway - 2018 - drink package good for first day

Carnival Horizon - 2018 - Cheers package NOT good for first day, they only charged 7 days  instead of 8 for pkg.

NCL Escape - 2019 - drink package good for first day

Carnival definitely did include drinks on first day of Cheers as far back as 2014.  No urban legend!

4 hours ago, Stick93 said:

First it’s not urban legend because in 2013-2015 from NY the cheers package included day one. They sold it after the ship left and they retracted the sale price of drink minus the taxes. I was there - saw it, did it and remember it. 

 

As as for the math if it equaling out - I could. It tell you. If the break even point is 4-5 drinks and most people who drink on vacation will usually drink heavier the first day - I think they are ahead. If you don’t drink like myself then they lose. 

 

The other cruise lines lines don’t limit their drinks either out of New York. I have sailed NCL and Royal and always had the same liquor in port as out in the sea. It cost the same to sell a drink regardless of the brand and taxes collected according to the price. 

I will second that Stick93!  I also sailed out of NYC on 2011 and 2014 and both times we could use the Cheers package the first day.  Like you said, they just took the drinks charged that day off the bill.  

I also sailed out of NYC on the Horizon last year and they would not let the drink package start until the next morning.  Granted, they didn't charge for the first day either.  It was an 8 day cruise and I paid for 7 days of drink package.

I've also sailed out of NYC on NCL 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and was able to use the drink package on the first day, just paid the sales tax.  

It is possible for Carnival to do it, unfortunately they just choose not to.

On Carnival you have to wait until the day after sailing.  We just got off NCL and they let us have package drinks as soon as we got on.