DallasGuy75219

In general, OP needs to drastically reduce expectations for Carnival if the comparison points are Oceania, HAL,and Celebrity. 

I don't have an answer, but you at least need to state whether you're asking about the 4 or 5 night itinerary. 

1 hour ago, memoak said:

In the old days there were the laundry rooms before they started to lock them up at night 

"I don't think that noise is a washing machine out of balance."

5 hours ago, SCX22 said:

If it's the latter, you should have stopped while you were ahead.  It's completely normal for first and middle names to be mushed together when booking through EZAir. 

This is extremely common on tickets booked with all kinds of third-party travel agents, not just EZAir, i.e. boaading pass reads LAST, FIRSTMIDDLE instead of LAST, FIRST MIDDLE.  Even happens when booking directly with the airlines sometimes.

OP would have been fine leaving the issued as issued. EZAir should have told that to OP rather than changing the name (whether with or without fee).

37 minutes ago, pe4all said:

I think what I was trying to say in this thread is "be an educated consumer."  Do your research and make sure you like what is being offered, and the location. (and price, of course)

Right... less experienced cruisers will probably consider a midship cabin on a high deck an upgrade but not think about what's directly above or below that cabin.

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

That isn't why I tip and if a bar tender said that an extra tip would make him bend the rules in my favor he wouldn't receive an extra tip from me (and yes, I realize that most people would tip extra).

I didn't say that's why you (or anyone really)  tips.  But it is one of the natural consequences of a compensation system where individual compensation is primarily based on tips.

1 hour ago, salty dingo said:

Recently on Panorama I requested cranberry juice for breakfast and they wanted to see my card. I had enjoyed free cranberry at breakfast on prior cruises. 

It's not included in the list of complimentary juices on the MDR menu in post #6.

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

That last day thing is only for ships without brunch (is that still a thing?) and has been part of it for a long time. It's nice they increased the payout to $16, previously it was $10

I don't read it that way...

"One (1) complimentary specialty coffee, soda or alcoholic beverage with a value no greater than $16.00 + gratuity at Seaday Brunch. On ships where brunch is not available, a complimentary beverage will be offered at Breakfast or Lunch in the Main Dining Room. Redeemable on the last day of the cruise. Alcoholic beverages may only be consumed by adults of applicable legal drinking age."

Seems like if they intended it to apply only to breakfast or lunch, they would have said, "On ships where brunch is not available, a complimentary beverage will be offered at Breakfast or Lunch in the Main Dining Room, [comma] redeemable on the last day of the cruise."

In any event, I'm not aware of any ships that don't have brunch at all.  I know on longer itineraries with multiple consecutive sea days they will do separate breakfast and lunch instead of brunch on some days.  But I don't know what the exact criteria are... maybe on longer itineraries with 3 or more consecutive sea days (like transoceanic repositioning cruises).  I know that on closed loop US cruises with just 2 consecutive sea days, I've only seen brunch served on those sea days.

Let's get real... tips grease the wheels for any bartender (whether on a cruise or on land) to bend the rules in the tipper's favor.

19 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

 

And it was also not an option for us as the complimentary beverage at sea day brunch (for Platinum/Diamond).  

The VIPF T&Cs have gotten more specific... "One (1) complimentary specialty coffee, soda or alcoholic beverage with a value no greater than $16.00 + gratuity at Seaday Brunch."  I don't recall them previously being this specific so as not to mention juices being included, but the intent is probably to exclude fresh-squeezed juices.

Also, they've slipped in this new restriction for the free drink at SeaDay Brunch... "Redeemable on the last day of the cruise."  I'm certain this was not previously a restriction, because I've definitely gotten my free brunch drink on the first sea day.  Carnival is really getting slimy making these benefits more difficult to use.

https://www.carnival.com/vifp/terms-and-conditions

7 hours ago, scpirate said:

Drinks in the souvenir cups are over $20 somewhere around $23-$24 if I remember correctly.

Cheers excludes anything sold in a souvenir cup, so those are already off the table as it relates to OP's question.  If they will serve an otherwise $23-$24 drink in a regular glass, though, I'd expect that price would be $20 or less.

4 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

How do you make it a Love Boat with separate beds?

The steam room?

17 hours ago, suekel said:

I've heard stories of people going to Guest Services in their PJ's and not leaving until something was done.  I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.  

And bringing their pillow and sheets/blanket and sleeping in front of Guest Services until the problem is addressed. 

5 minutes ago, mz-s said:

Most of the time it is issued either as slot credit or funplay chips - not as S&S credit. Some ships may still be giving cash (and that is cash, as in a $20 and $5 bills that you can spend on anything) but those are few and far between now.

I have not been on Venezia, but I'm 99.9% certain Carnival would have put the new touch-screen S&S/player bank modules in the slot machines when they converted the ship from Costa to Carnival.  Those modules allow a separate promotional bank that you can only gamble with and not cash out.

If Venezia has those modules, the are giving slot FreePlay as credit to be used on the slots, not cash. 

55 minutes ago, ahahn078 said:

Lastly, if you're not a frequent gambler, is there a possibility of having this transferred to non-refundable on-board credit at guest services?

Absolutely not.

13 hours ago, mz-s said:

Carnival seems to be changing "gratuity" into "service charge" in their systems as time goes on. Not sure why.

8 hours ago, salty dingo said:

My guess is that some may view "gratuity" as optional, and could try and opt out of paying it. A "service charge" on the other hand implies it is mandatory to pay.

7 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Many people do think a "service charge" is just fine but a tip...oh, heck no

Calling it a service charge (not tips or gratuities) also encourages people to write in additional gratuities if they don't think they've already been charged for gratuities.

Crew appreciation paid through Princess is pooled across the entire fleet (so that staff aren't penalized for being on ships homeported in countries without topping cultures--where a larger proportion of customers pull their gratuities).  So one less customer paying into the tip pool makes an infinitesimally small (probably less than a penny) difference in the gratuities that ultimately get paid out to your steward.

7 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

I was surprised being that at no point did anyone look  close enough to see either my arrival appointment at terminal entry or anyone else's  in the Priority Line (just the Diamond logo).  When we got to the in front of the Diamond/Suites. we all just pointed to "our box" and they handed everyone their own boarding card, they didn't check our assigned Boarding Group number.  I was A01 in both cases.  They also sent Plats/FTTF to a separate area out of sight.  

I've noticed the same thing, they're more concerned about my Diamond status than appointment time. Maybe they're unofficially going back to the old process of letting priority guests check in any time they want, without announcing it to everyone else in order to keep the integrity of the appointment system for them. 

28 minutes ago, Ranyw said:

I wonder if the midnight snacks are more cost effective vs the deli and say, guys opening up for a couple of hours at night?

Definitely Guys, with the cost of beef.

For everyone fighting over who gets what boarding group.... each letter is associated with a 30 minute check-in window.  You get A, B, C, etc. based on your check-in time, not based on your priority status. 

On 3/15/2024 at 6:58 PM, TheMichael said:

I think that’s what Princess is banking on. 

The entire change from $50 to $60 per day was just a money grab... add inclusions that 90% of cruisers don't want (exercise classes and "premium" desserts) and start charging for things that used to be free (Alfredo's/Gigi's, OceanNow, room service delivery, and medallion shipping) to increase overall demand for packages and try to justify the $10 price increase.

13 minutes ago, carnival03 said:

Thanks for this - it seems like it's all changed in the past ten years. When's the official check in time for normal guests? The cruise planner says we can check in two weeks prior to the cruise date - is this taking into account the two days earlier with FTTF or no?

Diamond, Platinum, and Suites can check in online and select an a arrival time 16 days before the cruise (48 hours before everyone else).  And I don't see the early check-in period listed a as a FTTF benefit, so actually it looks like you won't be able to check in online until 14 days before the cruise.

1 hour ago, carnival03 said:

Bumping this...

 

We're cruising out of Baltimore in three weeks. Haven't cruise with Carnival in 10 years. We have FTTF. 

 

I'm not sure what our arrival slot will be (check in is not until next week), but let's say we don't get the earliest slot, can we still arrive at the earliest time since we have FTTF?

No.  FTTF lets you check in and pick your arrival time 2 days before people without priority.  Officially, Diamond/Platinum/Suites/FTTF who show up earlier than their scheduled arrival time will have to wait until that time.  It varies from port to port, ship to ship, and sometimes even sailing to sailing whether this is actually enforced, but you if you show up early you're taking a chance on not being allowed to check in until your assigned time.

27 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Yeah on the Magic they were mostly breading and gristle. Very little actual meat.

Carnival calls them chicken tenders on the menu but is too cheap to buy actual chicken tenders/tenderloins.  Similarly they serve the meatball sandwiches on hot dog bugs instead of a hoagie or sub roll.

On 3/4/2024 at 12:56 PM, Wishing on a star said:

I am usually a 'girl who wants to have fun'...

But...  ducks????

On this I am a 'curmudgeon'...    Sorry....  

I see this like any other thing when there are those who think they can make their own use of a general public space.

I guess I don't really care about your duck, what it looks like, where you are from, etc...

I guess people just think they have to 'leave their mark'.

My motto is Leave No Trace.

If a cruise line wanted to organize hide-and-seek events on certain days...  go for it!!!  

But, I see this differently.