salty dingo

You can trigger the solo supplement if it is a two person room and one does not go because the person not going has their fare taken away as full penalty.

If Carnival got fully paid for two people in a room, it would not seem fair to add a single supplement charge. The no show did not cause any loss of cabin revenue.

Still, I agree with those who say to give no advance notice. Nothing good would come of it.

Rainy day on a cruise beats sunny day anywhere else.:cool:

You could toss them in a duffel bag and bring on like any other luggage. I would not want to carry chairs too far, but if you are planning to take a taxi to/from the beach, that seems doable.

Personally, beach towels are all I need for the beach.

People have a lot of choices for vacation... if they truly don't think the cruise is a good value they won't buy it. If the cutbacks make people choose another vacation, Carnival would reconsider them... my guess is they are cutting back stuff that will not make most people go elsewhere. I'm sure they do the analysis, and if they save $100 with a cutback and only lose $20 worth of unhappy customers, it is a good business decision.

Some people want cheap fares above all else... and are willing to put up with inconvenience. Airlines now sell super cheap flights and do not let you bring even a carry on bag for free. Some people like that... all they care about is flying as cheap as possible.

Pizzeria is open 24 hours. Not exactly the buffet but close.

Fruits, meats, and cheese are not allowed off (same as coming back to the US from abroad) but crackers or granola is ok, in my experience. I'd vote for bringing some energy bars from home. They don't weigh much or take much room and can serve as a meal in a pinch.

As for on the ship, unless there is a special diet that the ship cannot accommodate (and they will try to if you ask) there is no point in bringing food for onboard because the whole cruise is one big free food fest.

We prefer a table for two when we are not traveling with family. We have sat with strangers in earlier cruises, but It's like a box of chocolates... and we do just like couples time.

The 5 Stages of Cruise Addiction

1. First Use – Experimentation with a cruise. Whether the first use is out of a sense of adventure or peer pressure, they learn how the cruise makes them feel at this point.

2. Continued Use – Continued use of cruising, in the case of a person with lots of vacation time, might be out of a requirement or feeling the need to use the time for cruising. For an individual that experimented not too long ago and returned to a cruise, it’s clearer that they like how the cruise makes them feel.

Also, in the continued use stage, a person is likely to notice that they’re not bouncing back as quickly after getting a “cruise high.” This is because it’s taking the brain longer to chemically repair itself and return to normal balance.

3. Tolerance – Tolerance arrives after a period of continued cruising, the duration of which varies among individuals and whatever cruise lines they're using. This is one of the first warning signs of addiction.

Tolerance means the brain and body have adjusted to cruising and it now takes a greater amount of sea days to feel the effects of it. A person that’s developed a tolerance to a cruise might start to notice that the same number of sea days no longer takes care of their needs.

4. Dependence – Dependence is the stage where a cruiser will become physically ill without being on the ship, perhaps even developing serious withdrawal symptoms. There are several biological elements in play here.

Chemically, the brain has become accustomed to cruising that it doesn’t function well without it. This also presents physically, sending a person into withdrawal where they can experience flu-like symptoms unless surrounded by water, as in a bathtub. These symptoms often disappear when they’re able to get a glimpse of ship on the internet.

5. Addiction – With the last stage, addiction, individuals find it nearly impossible to stop cruising, even when they no longer enjoy it or their behavior has caused serious life problems. They might last for periods of time where they don’t cruise, but are unable to stop themselves just when things seemed to be going well.

In Grand Cayman, we once took a taxi to about the middle of the seven mile beach and walked slowly back to the tender, soaking up the ambience as we went. Nice cheap day on the beach.

In Cozumel, Nachi Cocum resort is a great all-inclusive day of relaxing under a palapa, but just walking around town is free and very enjoyable.

Global Entry is only good for entering the US, and not other countries. So the Global Entry is only good for 1 country. However, if you have Global Entry, you also have a passport book so that's irrelevant.

I agree Global Entry is irrelevant for a cruise, unless you end up flying back to the USA. It lets you get from the plane and out the airport door faster, that's all.

It isn't the best way to start a cruise and I agree it's Carnival's fault putting us at odds with the room stewards. I've had push-back on our last two cruises it it just left a bad taste in my mouth.

I haven't cruised in a while and am surprised this is happening so often. If I felt the steward was resisting our preference, or if there was any uncomfortable moment about this, I would just drop a polite note to the Hotel Director.

Our eldest son spent months in the hospital in the last 1 year. His last bone marrow biopsy and scans were clean.

You have much to celebrate! A serious illness is so hard on the family and a cruise is a great way to put it behind you.

Another place to go for complimentary alcohol is the cabin of someone who smuggled in enough to share :cool:

At home, we ONLY get the major networks, so trading them for channels we don't normally get is just fine with me.

Honestly I would not notice if the room had no TV, but DW loves to curl up in bed and watch, while I go roam about the ship watching the sail aways, etc.

...tasty drinks and monkeys!!!

I forgot to ask... how were the monkeys? I've never tasted one.

We took a cab to the Shipwreck Beach Bar and it was great! One of my best cruise days. I would go back for sure!

 

It was a quick cab ride, the restaurant is on a beautiful black sand beach with really cute chairs with thatched shading, good snorkelling, tasty drinks and monkeys!!!

This is probably what we will do also, along with walking around the town near the cruise ship. We have 7 ports to visit and need to be economical about it. We have a group of 4 which is perfect for splitting a cab, and once at the beach you can just be lazy and eat/drink whatever you feel like, and not spend too much.

Never been on a cruise shorter than 7 days. Weekend embarkations mean you only need to take 5 days off work. Your travel expenses to the embarkation port are the same no matter how many days the cruise is, so why not spread that travel cost over more cruise days?

I remember when sushi was freely available along the promenade in the early evenings. A perfect bridge to tide me over from lunch to a late dinner. Now, free sushi is replaced by sushi for sale... but at least it's still available.

Word to the wise... make sure the BC is government issued and not hospital issued. I recently had to respond to a health insurance audit and prove that our daughter is our daughter to the insurance company (don't get me started, but at least I was not alone.)

The only BC we ever had for her was given at birth by the hospital, and it was unacceptable for insurance... had to get certified copy. Not sure if cruise lines accept a hospital BC or not, but I would make sure the BC you're going to use is government issued.

The turn down service is a nice touch. It seems all they do, other than turn down the covers, is add a scoop of ice to the bucket, and put a towel animal somewhere. They are not cleaning the bathroom again. But they would remove room service trays and hopefully take away used towel, etc.

Honestly I would be fine without turn down, but it is nice to come back from dinner to a more tidy cabin. So given the option I would choose both services.

I have found the rooms smaller on Royal, the food better on Carnival and the entertainment no better on either. For now we'll stick with the best value and that's Carnival.

Best value says it all... but value is a personal conclusion. My value may not equal your value. It's good to have lots of choices, and competition drives even better values in the future.

It's subjective - I have never been attracted to a RCL cruise because, in my view, they make the ship the destination. It would not matter which ports it went to because the whole point of the vacation is being on the ship. So they pack more nice stuff onboard, and you pay a premium for that.

We choose a cruise based on the destination. Hopefully we get off the ship a lot and explore the ports. Onboard all we ask for is decent food, a good room location, and we're happy to be there. Having a smaller ship is a bonus.

Lots of other people have different views and expectations. Perhaps if you don't really like going ashore at the ports, or want the latest amenities onboard, then a newer and larger ship would be worth the premium.

We were on Elation many years ago and loved it. I will take a smaller ship over the larger, newer ships any day. With smaller ships you get less people to contend with, and the fares are usually better.

Drones are right up there with fishing poles. Fine to bring, just don't use it while you are on the ship.

From Carnival's website:

DRINKS ON US!

The onboard casino action can get intense, but here’s the deal: we’ve got a plan to make sure it always stays refreshing. With Drinks On Us!, once you earn enough casino points, the cocktails, beer and wine — as well as sodas and other nonalcoholic drinks — they’re all on us, the whole time you’re playing. And what’s more, on Carnival you earn free drinks twice as fast as on any other cruise line… plus you’ll always have full access to our casino bar menu. (See a casino host for details once you’re aboard.)