mz-s

I think if you look at the programs that a lot of airlines, hotels, and even cruise lines like MSC have right now. Their levels of rewards are based upon spend over time, not necessary lifetime loyalty. So to parlay that to Carnival, if you go on three 7 night cruises on a newer ship and stay in a balcony or better over two years, you may be Platinum for the next year or so even if those were your first cruises ever with Carnival. But if you haven't cruised in 4 years you might be Red or Gold, even if you have 80 nights history with them.

I think the buffet coffee has changed over the years. Before COVID at least i remember it being very strong and acidic, I could not drink it. I would get heartburn to my kneecaps. But lately it's been good. Do you notice the same? Maybe it's just that my taste has changed.

I carry on Reusable Starbucks Cup style tumblers with straws on every cruise, have for years. The slap bracelet koozies work great on them.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Carnival's program move into more of a "what have you done for me lately" type of program, like many others. Meaning your level of recognition is based upon your spend in the past short amount of time - a year or two for example.

It is interesting to think about what it's going to look like when COVID testing is fully over, my guess is getting FCC or money back from a cruise at that point will be up to your travel insurance. The cruise lines will no longer let people cancel and get FCC "just because" they have COVID.

Carnival's process for claiming the positive test FCC has not changed despite the loosening of pre-cruise testing protocols for guests. It's all in black and white on their website. https://www.carnival.com/legal/covid-19-legal-notices/covid-19-refund-cancellation-policy

That's true for now but won't be true after labor day.

My point is people asking questions like "well why isn't your dog near your husband, what if he goes into a diabetic coma right now" are none of your business. A disobedient or dangerous "service dog" needs to be brought to the attention of the ship crew ASAP. And Carnival needs to do some investigation as to why that dog was allowed onboard. I am not disputing that. I am disputing why guests need to get involved in the issue beyond reporting it to crew. YES there are ways for Carnival to weed out the illegitimate "service dogs" and allow legitimate working dogs. Carnival just has to care about the issue. And the way we make them care is to bring it to their attention.

It's all a charade and has been for quite some time...before Omicron we could say the testing was working to keep COVID off the ships. But now the virus is just too prevalent to be stopped or slowed. The good thing is - pretty much everyone on the globe has had COVID in 2022 so we all have some level of immunity, whether vaccinated or not.

Virgin just released their perks program, which is a precursor to their actual loyalty program. https://cruiseradio.net/virgin-voyages-100-dollar-bar-tab-credit-through-new-perks-program/ Nothing to do with Carnival, just mentioning it here since it's related to the topic of discussion.

I have been in the Bahamas several times between Halloween and Easter and it's still fairly warm. The water might get chilly but the air temps will be comfortable if not warm.

They've been teasing and discussing changes to the VIFP program for years. I recall JH talking about changes on his Facebook page (not announcing any changes, just saying that they're looking at things they could change). I imagine they had planned to announce changes by now but COVID threw a wrench in those plans.

gatekeeping tacos? oof

Surely you can come up with a better nickname for your spouse than that!

An unleashed dog is one thing obviously. That should never be a thing anywhere outside of your fenced in back yard, let alone on a cruise. Outside of that though unless someone has received training to detect what is or isn't a service dog and is in charge of approving or denying guests requests, I don't see why it's any of your business.

The interesting thing is they serve baked potatoes on Lido still. But in the MDR they've removed them and even on elegant night with prime rib, you get half a horribly dry and overcooked potato with a little cheez whiz smeared on top.

Serving a sausage patty instead of a beef patty with that would kick it up a notch I'd say.

Any idea which ships serve Guy's breakfast?

I know you don't post here often so we'll cut you some slack this time. I'm sorry but this is a critique of Carnival and despite the name of this website, such are met with personal attacks. Please be sure to add the following sentence to your post and try again. "But hey, it didn't ruin my cruise - besides a bad day on a ship is better than a good day at the office!" ((in case this is not apparent my post is a joke but you will be surprised how vitriolic some posters here can be when any aspect of Carnival cruises are criticized, no matter how small the criticism))

The liquor you purchase from the fun shops for immediate consumption are like 4x the price of the duty-free bottles in the shop.

If you don't buy anything extra then you won't owe anything. There aren't any surprise charges. Well the only thing is while you are still in US waters, you will be charged tax on your Cheers drinks. So maybe 50 cents or so per drink.

There is a QR Code in the staterooms that goes over VIFP benefits, but come to think of it I don't think I've ever scanned it so I don't know if it explains how to redeem these things or not. Incidentally I don't know if Carnival has the wrong email address for me for things like this, or if I've unsubscribed somehow, but I rarely receive emails like this. My wife gets them all and we travel together so it's fine though.

There was some crew noise during docking operations as two staterooms away from me was the area where ropes are deployed. But at other times, no. It was one of the most quiet rooms I've ever stayed in. Because there was only one or two staterooms past mine, very little traffic in the hallway. I always like staying far fore or far aft as it does reduce through traffic a good bit.

I think the email is only mentioning benefits that have changed recently. The laundry service is the same as it's always been.

I always get them from the bar too. Actually I sort of like this better than when they were delivered to the room, because when you get them from the bar they're usually cold.