mz-s

You should check with your carrier because a lot of plans these days allow roaming in Canada for free. So you would only need to worry about roaming charges when on the ship itself, you don't want to connect to Cellular at Sea because that is very expensive no matter what plan you have.

Pretty much all your Q's are answered by Carnival's Cheers FAQ: https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3525/~/cheers!-beverage-program-q%26as As far as the 18 year old - no alcohol will be served to them at all.

Some of them I believe are trolls. People with nothing but time on their hands and want to see if they can get featured on JH's page.

I vote Freedom out of Canaveral. She is a bigger ship than Sunshine yet holds the same number of guests so less busy. She does not have all the upgrades of Sunshine but I personally wouldn't care about that. Sunshine is the second oldest ship in the fleet and at this point she is like an old beach motel that was nicely remodeled about 10-15 years ago but never touched again. If your family is the kind that likes the rock climbing walls etc on Royal then maybe ignore my advice.

"If it moves, salute it. If it doesn't move, paint it." is the motto of the Navy I have heard.

My wife and I usually find a bartender on the first night just as the casino is opening and make friends for the rest of the cruise.

Citation needed.

I was on Sunshine in February - basically 60 days from her drydock - and other than the fresh hull paint you would have never known she was drydocked. Carnival is really letting their ships go right now. It's a shame.

I really can't believe they're willing to give in on their signature funnel design. They should have kept this a Costa ship like the other ships (the "Costa by Carnival" collection).

It's not getting the funnel, is it at least going to get Guy's Burgers?

You should check with the pit bosses or casino hosts if you are interested in your eligibility for comps.

The casino pays the gratuities on your behalf when you get things comped, FYI. But nobody will complain over an extra tip.

Ripped a gash in my foot from a hole in the deck and need a tetanus booster, but I AM ON A CRUISE SO I AM MAKING THE MOST OF IT!

I would say that you either booked a casino rate without realizing, or this is a new venture for Carnival - in which case I would have expected to hear more about it.

If you were gambling, it's likely you earned drinks on us as a result of your gambling. After you attain so many points, you get drinks on us for the remainder of the cruise.

Not everyone but it does seem like they've been more liberal with handing out drinks on us than before COVID.

"Yes I got a horrible splinter and cut my arm on the rusty window sills, I need a tetanus booster but I was on a CRUISE! A CRUISE PEOPLE!" "Yes my burger was ice cold after waiting 30 minutes for it, but I make the best of being on a CRUISE!" "My retirement is in jeopardy because I bought a lot of $CCL and it's in the crapper but I get $50 every time I go on a CRUISE!" "Yes Carnival doesn't give me my shareholder benefits anymore because I get discounted rates but I AM ON A CRUISE!" "No bacon anymore, but that's OK I don't want to risk botulism when I am ON A CRUISE!" "The guests down the hall from me beat the crap out of each other last night and our ship had to be escorted into port by the Coast Guard. But that's OK, I am on a CRUISE! MAKE THE BEST OF BEING ON A CRUISE!"

Yes, Carnival is tarnishing their brand with things like this and countless other things as we are talking about in the "long lines" thread.

I think it's worthwhile for us to discuss what Carnival is doing poorly as well as what they are doing well. That is how things improve. Just throwing up your hands and saying "well if you're not 100% satisfied then leave and never come back" as you seem to be, is not productive.

It's so much more than the service issues, if you would have read my post and understood it.

Far more than long lines. The long lines are just part of the ways Carnival is devaluing their brand. They are becoming more and more the "Dollar General" of cruising. Everyone knows the reputation that Dollar General has these days with dirty stores that are out of everything, overworked and too few employees, etc. Carnival's attitude of "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead" is doing damage to their brand. They do not have enough crew to adequately support every ship at full capacity. Damn the torpedoes, overwork the staff we do have until they are near their breaking point. Full speed ahead, let our paying guests wait in long lines for a hamburger and close the few late night food options we do have, leaving only pizza open. They do not have enough vaccinated people willing to cruise to fill all their ships at sustainable prices. Damn the torpedoes, sell the rooms at cut-rate prices to fill the ships. Full speed ahead, we'll worry about the fact that we've devalued our brand when and if we ever see profitability again. These cut rate prices are filling ships with people who fight and smoke pot. Damn the torpedoes, we'll cut rates more to fill the ships hoping their onboard spend makes up the difference. Full speed ahead, we'll ignore the fighting and pot smoking until it gets so bad that a ship has to have a Coast Guard escort back into port.

I do worry that Carnival is doing immense damage to their brand on several fronts. But realistically I'm not sure they have any choice.

1 - Tablecloths are gone for good now. They used COVID as the excuse. 2 - I agree Carnival could do so much more with the app if they wanted to. 3 - I think they want to try to appeal to all ages, so some nights they'll play family movies and others they'll play adult (but not that kind of adult) movies. On one of my sailings they played Encanto and the new Aretha Franklin biopic, those are two I remember anyways. 4 - Yes, Carnival rarely changes out the shows they play on their ships. In the past they had to wait for drydocks to change out the props and decorations, but now that everything is just costumes and the LED backdrop I don't know why they don't change them more often. 5 - I think Carnival and Hasbro severed their relationship a few years ago, before COVID. It didn't last terribly long.

My understanding is if you do have to pay for a test, you can file the charge with insurance and get reimbursed. Even those eMed/telehealth tests are eligible for reimbursement. I do not know if every insurance plan participates, I only know that mine does.

On the cruises I've been on where it's offered it's usually advertised on banners in the elevators.