DallasGuy75219

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I might add that in the ole days of cruising there was very little 2-top dining  The norm was that nearly everyone was at larger tables, often with strangers, made new friends, socialized at dinner, etc.  That was a big part of cruising.  In fact, DW and I are still good friends with some folks we met at large MDR tables back in the 70s and 80s. 

1 hour ago, scottca075 said:

The "old way" had some advantages, like meeting new people, but if you cruised enough, you always eventually got stuck at the table with the boorish man who tried to dominate the conversation and have a story to top every story someone else told.

^^^This^^^

Hated being forced to eat and make small talk with strangers 1) with whom I had nothing in common, 2) with children they couldn't control, and/or 3) who eat at a snail's pace with no considerstion that they're holding up the rest of the table.  

Not my idea of an enjoyable vacation.

9 minutes ago, thundercrack said:

Hi, looking for advice.  I have 3 rooms booked for April as below, with the primary bookie the first person listed:

Room 1 – Me and Wife

Room 2 – Daughter 1 and Niece

Room 3 – Daughter 2 and Daughter 3

 

Daughter 2 is no longer able to go on the cruise (just had first baby last night).  We booked this cruise almost 2 years ago with pretty good rates.  Rates are now 3 times of when originally booked.  Looking for suggestion on how to handle. 

 

Do I rebook the cruise for Daughter 3 as a solo and just pay the new rate?   Do we just have Daughter 2 be a no show and if (and from what I understand, it is a big if) guest services calls to tell us we need to pay the new price do it then.

 

Any other options besides these two?  Appreciate your responses

If rates have tripled, your best bet is to let D2 be a no-show.  Like that Carnival can't re-fare that cabin.  They'll just keep D2's half of the fare, which will be less than the increase in fare to rebook that room with just D3.  D2's taxes and fees should get refunded, but it's anyone's guess as to how and to whom. 

41 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I care more about taste than presentation (which is generally lost on me) and since very cook considers himself/herself to be an artist I would expect some variation. The key is being true to the recipe itself (I know that in my own kitchen I use the recipe as a general guide, but then I am only cooking for two and not thousands).

When I'm talking about presentation, I mean for example @Saint Greg's pastalaya with no meat, my fried chicken salad with only a handful of chicken tidbits, or the spaghetti carbonara that is sometimes served with too little sauce.  If they were referring to the standard photos and/or cared, they would see that they're not preparing the dish according to standard.

1 hour ago, Grace61 said:

I went on the app, and tried to find a place to make a request, but didn't find it.  I can see choices on queen or two twin, dining times, or allergies.

Since you mentioned allergies... the Dietary Requests section of online check-in on the website (not the app) is where you can request distilled water to be delivered to your cabin at no charge.

21 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Tried the chicken roulade tonight and enjoyed. The jambalaya pasta i tried as an appetizer twice. On jubilee it was light on the meat. On spirit it had no meat.

 

Sounds like my fried chicken salad on Glory... about 9 tidbits of chicken on an entree salad.  I wound up ordering a second entree for some protein.

I wish Carnival could get their MDR consistency right.  They're supposed to be using standard recipes across the fleet, and at least when I took the Behind the Fun tour many moons ago there were pictures at each galley station showing exactly how each dish should look when plated.

On 2/15/2024 at 8:01 AM, Yehootu said:

What's the difference between Waitlist vs Sold Out. Is it the number of cruisers on the Waitlist? 

I suspect they have a historical average of how may reservations ultimately get canceled, possibly down to the itinerary or excursion. Once they get to that number of waitlisted passengers on a excursion, they call it sold out because it's not likely anyone else they add to the waitlist will actual get a seat.

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

I suspect  it may be a way to stop people from going in and out too many times, thus the cooling off period.

Exactly. When Princess Prizes first came out, someone here said they planned to spend a substantial amount of time tapping in to unlock their door then closing the door, rinse and repeat over and over again. 

On 2/12/2024 at 8:00 AM, mz-s said:

The Bahamas and Nassau knows for example that there are very few ports that can accommodate the super ships that the mainstream lines are building these days. Nassau is one of the few. And The Bahamas has most of the private island destinations. Perfect Day isn't going anywhere, even if this extra tax doubles in cost. If the ships leave Nassau behind because of the tax there's not many other places they can stop, especially not all those ships all at once.

Plus there's no other foreign countries that the 3 night cruises from Florida can get to overnight.  Looks like the next closest ports are in Turks & Caicos, Haiti, and Dominica Republic.  Those are a full day sail from South Florida, so at that point your 4-night cruise has a single port. None of those ports can take as many ships as Nassau, and the only developed port in Haiti is RC's Labadee.

Between that and all the private island investment in the Bahamas (plus Celebration Key being built now), the Bahamas really have the cruise lines by the you-know-whats, at least under their current operating model, and they're starting to play their cards as if they know it.

4 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

Same for the cabanas. We are going to HMC on the Vista in April,  and there are still over 10 of the regular cabanas remaining. They have been available for almost a year. They used to sell out quickly. $700 is just too much for most people,  including us. 😎

I can remember when those rented for $200.  But $700?  That's more like RC prices at (the much nicer) CocoCay.

37 minutes ago, tidecat said:

I booked it fairly close to my sailing (about 4 weeks out), but it was because a slot had opened for that final sea day - every other day was sold out and had been for at least a month prior.

It's only held on one sea day, usually the last sea day, so if it was showing sold out on other days that's just a(nother) Carnival IT issue; it was never actually available on those days to begin with.

Now the new birthday breakfast I presume will be held on a different sea day.  My guess is that when Carnival realized people (especially with kids) will pay $10-$15 pp for essentially the same food in the MDR but with added food coloring and silly names, they figured, "Hey, let's see if they'll do it a second time on the same cruise if we just change the theme."

1 hour ago, tonit964 said:

This happens to me too when I put in 2 guests but when I change it to 3, the available rooms show up. I'm not sure why this happens but it's very annoying.

When availability is wide open, they don't want people booking 2 people into cabins that sleep 3 or 4 (i.e., they want to save those for people booking 3 or 4 guests).  Once all those 2-person cabins are reserved though, they don't always release (at least timely) the remaining 3- or 4-person cabins to be booked online by someone needing a cabin for 2, so the website will only offer guarantees when booking a cabin for 2.  That's when you have to call in so someone can see all open cabins (not just 2-person) and hopefully book you into a cabin that sleeps 3 or 4.

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Sometimes it is passengers arriving and our terminal doors are already locked.  A manager will radio up to the check-in area to see if it is still possible to get the late passengers on-board.  The ship usually has a officer present in the check-in area, especially just before we close down.  If the officer says we can get the late passengers on, the manager at the door will make sure that the late arriving passengers have their citizenship documents/IDs all in order and then we get the passengers up to the security screening asap, then thru check-in and then on to the ship.  Over the years there have been a few times that check-in was already shut down, and the late passengers were checked-in onboard.  As long as we know their citizenship documents were okay, the ship can check them in.  It's rare, but it has happened.

Happened to me on Princess out of Southampton (UK) last summer, when United had their operational meltdown.  My flight arrived at Heathrow 3:20 late and I missed the last Princess shuttle to Southampton.  Princess EZair told me to take a taxi to Southampton and the ship would reimburse me, which they did... all $400 of it.  When I arrived, check-in was clearly over, and there were just a handful of agents left.  They radioed the ship to see if they would let me board; they asked if I had a US passport, and I did, so they let me board.  They ran all my bags through the carry-on baggage screener (probably just for security theater); I hurried to board the ship, all my bags in hand; and the ship pushed back about 15 minutes later.

In hindsight, no one physically checked me in onshore or onboard, but the agents had radioed my cabin number to the ship, so presumably someone on the ship checked me in without me being present.  But I am certain that no one ever checked my passport🤭

And yes, I did have travel insurance and also booked airfare through Princess, which guaranteed to pay for me to catch up with the ship at the next port.

But I agree the port agents did everything they could to get me aboard, when it would have been easier just to say "Sorry, boarding's over."

2 hours ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Carnival puts some reserves on their books for this incident.

The GAAP criteria for recording a contingent liability are that it's probable a loss has been incurred and the amount of the loss is reasonably estimable.  As the women went to the resort on their own, not on a Carnival excursion, it's not likely a loss has been incurred, therefore there's no contingent liability to accrue.

6 hours ago, BobbiSox said:

Pretty sure it's not Maine Lobster. Almost no one gives that away anymore. Some of those 'warm water' lobsters are awful. 

The complimentary lobster on the second elegant night is Caribbean spiny lobster.  

6 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

They actually moved tables together to accommodate the whole group?  I've never seen that!

11 minutes ago, john watson said:

This was a fixed dining first seating arrangement.

Since there is no more first/second seating, they may be less inclined to do this today and more inclined to seat the group at multiple tables in the same area. 

One of the problems with moving tables together like this is that every 4-top you push together reduces the MDR capacity by two people (because people can't sit at the two sides that are put together).  At best they may do this at the very beginning or end of service, but not at the 6:30-7:30 rush hour (or whatever the high-demand time is) when they are already short on seats for all the people who want to eat at that time.

Carnival made a fleetwide announcement (I believe at the same time they started charging for more than two main courses) that lobster would always be on the second elegant night on 6-8 day itineraries.  

On most of these itineraries, the second elegant night is on a port day, and it seems like fewer people eat dinner in the MDR later in the cruise, so presumably they are saving money by serving less complimentary lobster than on the first elegant night.

5 minutes ago, skynight said:

In this case it's best to just pay the $14.99 for the meal or he can also purchase individual items. In his condition I don't see why any one would object to him bring the food he enjoys. Just ask the waiter before you go.

If he's special needs, they may even be willing to bring him something off the MDR menu (or whatever alternative foods you may have arranged from the MDR).

6 hours ago, So_Tweetie said:

I trust you were able to deduce my point from my apparently flawed commentary. 

Try again. This isn't a stock trading or investment forum. 

16 hours ago, jsglow said:

And the big signs on the closed fire doors say the same thing. 

Before the COVID shutdown (and the resulting staffing cuts) the signs listed the exceptions for Diamond,  Platinum, and FTTF.  I guess some non-priority pax saw that and thought they could sneak in too.

Now the signs says cabins will be ready at (usually) 1:30 and don't list any exceptions. So theoretically the only people who know they can drop off luggage before 1:30 are the actual priority pax who were notified by email.

On 1/24/2024 at 4:35 PM, CrazyTrain2 said:

The standard package is a marketing gimmick for the brochures and data aggregators to make Princess cruises look cheaper by comparison.  

All the mass market lines exclude gratuities from their advertised fares.  Unless they simultaneously all decide to include them in advertised fares, the first line to blink and include them loses because their prices are now relatively higher than competitors who exclude them.

9 hours ago, So_Tweetie said:

Correct - we were told the only thing they could serve us without charge was water. They will sell you a soda and tell you that the $25 onboard credit for the "inconvenience" of sailing out of Galveston should make up for it. I am honestly surprised they haven't changed this policy since November when I was onboard. 

 

I have been on many sailings out of Galveston on RC and can confirm that the drink packages work from the moment of boarding - they do have a limited menu which is what Texas law does actually stipulate. Princess has made up their own rules, that don't even align with what their parent company CCL does in the same waters. 

Texas law does not stipulate a limited menu. It does stipulate that alcohol sold in Texas (including Texas waters) must be be bought from Texas wholesalers and have Texas excise tax paid on it.  Cruiselines choose to serve a limited drink menu in Texas waters to minimize the amount on Texas-purchased alcohol they have to buy and stock.

CCL is not the parent company of Princess. Carnival Cruise Line and Princess are both subsidiaries of Carnival Corporation.

On 2/15/2024 at 10:35 AM, Cruzn Fool said:

Quick question that should be simple, but I haven't seen the answer anywhere:

 

I know we are allowed to bring a bottle of wine onboard with us but I haven't seen anywhere if we are allowed to bring a wine bottle opener?  We are bringing our two bottles for in room consumption, not for the dining room where we would pay a corkage fee and have them opened.  Do we need to get the stateroom attendant to provide us one?  Or, if we are allowed to bring one onboard, do we bring it through security at the terminal (I know for an airport that would be a no-no) or pack it in our checked bags? 

On 2/15/2024 at 11:48 AM, Steelers36 said:

Supposedly, if you have a simple type of corkscrew with a relatively short helix screw, you should be good thru TSA.  But each agent can do their own thing and a long time back I had a supposedly good one taken.

I have kept a simple pocket corkscrew in the carry-on bag I take through airport security and on cruises for years.  Never had an issue with either.

TSA policy explicitly allows corkscrews with no blade, so if an agent tried to confiscate it I'd have appealed to a supervisor with the TSA website pulled up.  As for carry-on luggage for a cruise, one of my corkscrews came from room service or a steward on Carnival and has the Carnival logo.  No reason for port security to confiscate something you can readily get from the cruiseline once aboard (but then again port security often seems to be lacking in common sense).

13 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I'm not even complaining about if the ship is already scheduled. I'm talking about I've booked it and thought I locked in the price. Idk about hotels. If i paid at the time i booked the hotel, i also cant imagine getting there and them saying i owed more. New bookings I can understand adding it. But not if you already are booked at a price you have in writing. 

 

 

and I get it, I'm in the minority and most say it's fine to add on charges after I book and it's too late to cancel. Lucky I only have 2 this year going there. Some out of florida I'm sure had many more affected.

 

The example above says royal shouldnt absorb 3500, if 3500 booked, but the ship wasnt all booked when this was added on, only affects those who booked ahead this year. Just my opinion. As noted above hits jan 1st this year. 

Yeah we get it, you've said it 3 times already.  If you don't like it, you should probably stop booking because the contract of carriage says they can pass the increased port fees on to you even after you booked and paid in full.  But complaining on here isn't going to do a thing to change it.

On 2/11/2024 at 1:24 PM, Butterbean1000 said:

 So totally agree.  The industry has turned the focus to the ship being the attraction and not the simplicity of just sailing and visiting foreign ports.  I am sad to see this.

You do realize that Carnival started that 50+ years with their Fun Ship philosophy?

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

Oh my god no fanny pack? The humanity! 

She can have mine.