mz-s

Carnival is letting maintenance on their ships really lack. I used to think it was no big deal until I sailed on a Disney ship. Carnival competes on price and part of that is their ships are not in the best shape. Think Red Roof Inn vs. even a mid-tier experience like Fairfield Marriott.

That probably explains why they're replacing them with standard tubs as time goes on. Too much work for their ever-decreasing cabin steward crew.

We all have hobbies or interests or whatever that others may find pathetic I guess. Live and let live. I just walk right past the Carnival photographers because my wife and I have all the cruise photos we could ever need, though we will sometimes pose for a gangway photo at a new port of call.

You can visit guest services and adjust the percentages of your gratuities goes to each area. It is worth mentioning that many of the same workers who serve in the MDR also serve sea day brunch, lunch on Lido, etc. So while you may not eat in the MDR for supper - you're still being served by many of the same workers when you eat at Guy's, Lido buffet, etc. It's rare that I meet repeat crew these days, mostly only when I sail on the same ship within months (they'd still be on the same contract). Regardless, just because I may or may not have removed grats on my last cruise doesn't mean they can immediately pocket or distribute the tip I hand them this cruise. They would still need to hold on to it to see what happens this cruise.

We are cruise enthusiasts. Half of the ship is blue or red card cruisers who may never sail again, or may not sail again this decade. Those photos are heirlooms to them, and they are the target market.

I'm sure those ~70 cabins added to Elation over the past few years are really felt, especially during high season when the ship is sailing at over 100% capacity.

It sounds good until you think about it and realize it makes no sense at all. I can give a cash tip to my steward on the first day, but not remove the gratuities until the last evening. So my steward holds on to that cash tip throughout the cruise to see if I've removed my gratuities or not? And I assume he keeps a Rolodex for each cruise where he tabulates which guests gave him which cash tips, so he can correlate who removed autograts and who didn't once the list is published.

https://www.cruzely.com/cruise-line-drink-package-calculator/ https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=2633

I don't doubt it's suspicious and I agree that an inquiry should be launched. I just don't feel it's my place to speculate.

I don't think it's prudent to speculate on such matters, personally.

Even so, there's no accounting for taste.

Fig leaves can be quite stylish I'd say.

Well I would wager you're rather unique in that feeling, people getting dressed up for portraits goes back hundreds of years before photography even existed.

The only reason Carnival still has elegant night is it sells a lot of photos. They don't really care what you wear otherwise. Just buy the photos, folks.

My understanding is you don't even need to be playing to win, they don't filter the list of names by who is actively playing.

Indeed, weather changes frequently. And the bigger the ship the more it is affected by the winds. Carnival makes a lot of money off shore excursions so it is absolutely in their best interest to make every port of call, 100% of the time.

The bag does not have to close. It just can't overflow. So yes you can fit a lot in the bags!

During the thick of COVID and during the initial restart, they were easy to work with regarding rebookings. I was even able to move a deposit from a further out cruise to a last-minute free getaways cruise offer during that time with no fees or anything. I have an Alaska cruise booked for 2024, granted booked with a reduced deposit, that I wanted to move the deposit to a different cruise. Nothing doing. Since the deposit was only $100, any changes to that cruise would forfeit the deposit (a $50pp fee eats that entire deposit). Their flexibility seems to have been flexed from here on out. So I'm going to end up losing that $100 since we likely won't be going on that cruise no matter what happens. Oh well, not the first $100 I've lost...

Mum's the word. Nobody is supposed to be served more than 15 drinks a day, but nobody is going to question your extra few drinks unless something happens that causes them to look into it.

Elation just got out of Dry dock less than a month ago, actually.

Carnival blocks Wifi calling. If you are able to use it on Carnival's wifi plans, good for you and enjoy it while it lasts. But that is not most people's experience. I have never been able to get it to work and I have had several carriers over the years while I've cruised on Carnival. What carrier do you use with wifi calling on Carnival?

With a closed loop cruise, your passport is generally only needed to prove identity at check-in unless something goes wrong. For that purpose as long as the passport isn't expired you're fine.

you can go to guest services after your gratuities post to your account and ask them to decrease the share that goes to dining/entertainment and increase the share that goes to housekeeping.

I'm pretty sure you can buy them, they just can't ring them up under your drink package. Did they tell you that you couldn't buy them?

No, the platinum perk is only for bags of laundry. Steaming or pressing is a paid service.