DallasGuy75219

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I wouldn't exactly call it forethought. Royal had been eating Carnival's lunch for 10+ years with the Oasis class because Carnival initially refused to compete with Royal and NCL to have the biggest, most innovative ships. Before the Excel class, every newbuild after the Fantasy class (except the Spirit class) was basically the Destiny class with more decks and/or length added. Only when Carnival finally realized it couldn't compete with Royal and NCL, so had wound up competing on price, did Carnival attempt something innovative with the Excel class. Except they had missed out on 10+ years of premium pricing compared to their competitors and wound up taking deliveries during/after the biggest operating crisis in modern cruising history.

"Up to a whatever" means based on availability you could get up to that category at the time of booking. On a popular/more heavily booked sailing though only a lower category will likely be available, if any cabins at all with that offer. I guess you could get upgraded by chance, but it wouldn't be based on the fact that you had booked an offer "up to a whatever." It's definitely not a guaranteed upgrade if you weren't able to book "up to a whatever" in the first place.

It happens, especially on ships where the steakhouse is the only specialty restaurant.

No one ever said the fare was fully refundable.

Work in other venues that are currently understaffed.

They have late (assigned time) dining so won't be checking in on the app.

Having to staff the MDR for full table service and the galley one less hour. Sending people to the already crowded Lido deck for an hour of possibly cheaper food, although with the recent cuts I'm not sure whether brunch or Lido food is cheaper for Carnival.

They may offer FCC as a goodwill gesture but are not required to. Carnival is consistently inconsistent; anyone's reply with their own anecdotal experience is no indication of what Carnival will do in this case. So they really need to call Carnival themselves, the sooner the better (under the circumstances, of course) so that if internal approval is required there's time for that to happen, vs. being considered a no-show.

Waived for comp cruise offers, including offers where the "fare" is a non-refundable deposit to be refunded onboard as OBC. Whether two people pay $100 each or one person pays $200, the impact is the same in that it all comes back as OBC. Happy now?

Probably because it still has lunch (i.e., not traditionally breakfast) menu items.

No, not now. But I don't see it very far off with the way Carnival has been trying to cut its food cost lately... shortened hours, smaller portions, cheaper cuts of meat, closed stations, more items with upcharges, complimentary room service only for continental breakfast...

For now, until the next round of cuts when they start charging for extra entrees.

Yes, single supplement has always been waived. Last casino cruise was February. Going next month and September, October, and December 2023.

I tried it once after the old George Lopez inspired menu went away. I found it really dry, to the point of being almost inedible. Apparently they forgot to soak mine for 12 (or even 2) hours.

That's the difference. I get casino offers; when I go alone Carnival covers the single supplement. If I book a casino offer with a roommate and I no-show but roommate still boards, that puts the roommate in OP's situation.

Cue the announcement... "Due to lack of guest demand, we're replacing brunch in the MDR with brunch at the buffet, on all days except debarkaton/embarkation, to accommodate guests who said they'd prefer longer breakfast hours at the buffet." Gets rid of another full service dining option and eliminates a separate lunch menu on the buffet every day (and associated procurement costs). Plus fewer people will be inclined to eat breakfast and lunch if it's billed as brunch and has the same items at both meal times. Damn, I could be a Carnival bean counter!

Did you or spouse get the casino offer?

Yeah, I'm generally opposed to upcharge a la carte items and surcharge restaurants onboard, but I'll pay for oysters on the half shell at Seafood Shack and would probably try this for $6.

Carnival Diamond here. Their constant cuts and cheapening of the cruise experience, going back way before COVID, have pushed me to Diamond Plus with Royal and Platinum with Princess (Elite after the cruise I literally just booked). Now I only sail Carnival to try a new ship, travel with one specific group, or combine with a family visit to Louisiana because only Carnival has ships in New Orleans year round.

It wasn't that they ran out of something and substituted one dish for another. The entire menu was wrong (and wound up being served on the next leg of the B2B the following week).

Exactly. Even if it was/is pandemic related at some point, Carnival is never going to go back to the way it was if they can make the short-staffing work by overworking the crew even more and attracting new guests with lower expectations and/or who don't know what they're missing.

The shrimp and grits might be something I'd actually pay for, if done well. I had it out of New Orleans when Carnival was doing the "Port of Call" specials each night in the MDR, and it was pretty yummy.

You can use the coupon without eating brunch. Just stand at/near the front of the MDR and stop one of the bar waiters working brunch to order your drink.