salty dingo

There are two types of OBC called refundable and non-refundable. An example of a refundable OBC is when the port charges end up being less than you already paid, so they post a credit for the difference. An example of a non-refundable OBC would be the shareholder credit you are entitled to. As the name suggests, the refundable credits can be refunded to you in the casino I suppose, or at the end of the cruise. The non-refundable credits will be forfeited if not spent onboard. When they tally up the charges, they will subtract from the non-refundable OBC first, and items like gratuities, specialty restaurants, drinks, and excursions can be paid out of non-refundable OBC. I have had cases where at the end of the cruise all my non-refundable OBC was spent but I still had some refundable credit left on my account. If the amount is at least $10 then Carnival will mail you a check for the unused refundable OBC shortly after the end of the cruise

This is not what I experienced in my last two cruises, in October and last month. In the Hub App, you check in during the times the dining room is open. Pro tip: the app starts accepting reservations exactly 10 minutes before opening time. While there is an option to request a shared table, it's turned off by default. I ate in the MDR for every breakfast and brunch and was never seated at a shared table - always was sat at a 2-top. The one time that a shared table was possibly required was for the afternoon tea. I witnessed a couple who asked to be seated at a table for two, and the waiter replied all the tables for two were already occupied, and they left.

I know it's a different type of refund but if you have money on your account at the end of the cruise, they will mail you a check if it's over $10, and that check usually arrives a week to ten days after the cruise.

Recently on the Panorama. On debarkation morning the dining room opens for breakfast at 6:30 AM and I recall watching us pull into the harbor and dock during that time. The people doing the earliest self-debarkation were told to meet at 8:30 and were escorted off shortly after that. I was on the bus headed to the airport by 9 AM, at LAX around 9:30. This may not be typical but was my experience.

I recently did two solo Carnival cruises and tried different seating options. The first cruise (actually 2 B2B sailings for 14 total nights) I had the early seating. Carnival made sure the tables I had for each cruise was full of other solo travelers. It was really fun to meet other people and to have someone to talk to at dinner. The most recent cruise I had the Your Time Dining and always had a table by myself. This was also fine, as I brought something to read and entertained myself. The only downside is that there is likely to be a wait for a table. After trying both, I'd prefer to be at a shared table with other solo travelers.

I gave up alcohol a few cruises ago and still have a blast on Carnival. My old routine was to party hard before dinner and after the late dinner seating was over I rarely was feeling like doing anything but going to sleep. Now I am enjoying the comedians and shows a lot more. Also, the deck parties are still lots of fun and I don't have to worry about stumbling as much! So yes, you will enjoy yourself a lot. I'd recommend going on longer vs shorter cruises to avoid the hardcore partiers.

On my recent cruises on Horizon and Panorama it was not open on embarkation day.

This agrees with my experience. I have a November 2024 sailing which did receive the shareholder benefit. My Jan/Feb 2025 sailings were not approved. I'd be interested to know if anyone has had any luck with the benefit for 2025 cruises?

I still have not received a response from Investor Relations about my Shareholder Benefit question. I did download the SharePerks app it seems more convenient that the previous method which involved emailing in a brokerage statement.

Would be a great addition to the Hub app to be able to request a specific serving team. Currently there is only the option for a shared table.

I was on this cruise, and had a blast. It was a solo trip for me, male age 61. I had a nice inside cabin forward on the Lido. It was exactly 7 steps to the door of the "Hidden Deck" on deck 10, so it was easy to check the conditions outside. I flew in to Burbank airport the day before and out of LAX. I took public transportation all the way to the ship and took the Carnival bus back from the ship to LAX. Upon arrival in BUR, I walked to the free shuttle which will take you to the nearby train station. I was the only person there, just called the number listed on the airport website and the driver came right over and took me to the station. The train runs once an hour on Saturday. You can buy a paper ticket at the station or use the app, which I did - fare was $4.50 to Union Station. Then, I switched to the Metro A-Line to long beach. It's very easy and I did not have to walk far at all. The fare for the Metro was $1.75. I got off at the Pacific Coast Highway stop because it was near the hotel, and walked to few blocks. Stayed in a really cheap place named "Travel Eagle" but it was perfectly adequate for me. All this was done with a carryon and a small backpack. I have learned my lesson about over-packing for cruises! The next day I took a bus from in front of the hotel to the main Long Beach stop - Fare was $1. From there I found a Starbucks and hung out, then went to Von's grocery to get my sodas for the trip, and then caught the free Passport shuttle that takes you from downtown Long Beach to the ship. My arrival time was 1:30- 2:00 and I got there at 1:40 and had very little wait outside. Those who did not arrive during their scheduled time were in a very long line outside. I highly recommend heeding Carnivals warnings (they sent at least three of them to me) and do not attempt to arrive earlier than your scheduled time. I breezed through security and onto the ship. I was surprised they didn't open my backpack to make sure the soda was not beer! A dog named Tito was there to sniff you, and he must have done a good job because I did not smell any weed the entire cruise! I had the anytime dining and depending on the time I checked in there was a 20 - 50 minute wait. I got used to checking in a half hour before I wanted to eat and had no issues with the table. I found the food to be consistent with the other Carnival ships I have been on. The ship was nearly new looking! There was still evidence of the funnel and topside work that was done recently but it did not interfere much. They did have part of the jogging track closed a couple of port days while they worked but it didn't last too long. I really enjoyed the comedians. There were four different ones, as they changed them in Cabo. Really funny, even the PG shows. I enjoyed the production shows too, and I saw all three. Debarkation was easy - if you book the airport bus they tell you where to meet and when, and I think we were among the first people off the ship. I was at LAX quickly. At $39 it cost a whole lot more than it did to get to the ship, but I felt it was well worth it.

The best dish I had the entire cruise was the duck appetizer at Jiji. Absolutely delicious!

I sent an information request to investor relations. Will report back when I get a response.

This was my experience too, after ordering from AARP.

After reading the 2023 CCL annual report, I noticed the section on shareholder benefits has been deleted. In the 2022 annual report, the benefit is described on page 5. It seems the Shareholder Benefit is kaput for sailings after July 31, 2024. Previously I had requested shareholder credit for my 2025 cruises and was told I needed to wait and see if the benefit was repeated for the next year. Looks like I'm out of luck! Anyone heard anything about this change?