BTHodgeman

7 minutes ago, AmBear said:

Again if you read the RCL site the exception is only for health and religious reasons so don't get caught drinking on ship if you get the exception!

Can you provide a link to the portion of the RCL site that says that? I'm not trying to be smart, but I called last week and the agent made no reference to this nor does the confirmation e-mail reference it. 

3 minutes ago, AmBear said:

My point originally and afterwards is the 'posted price' is lower at Carnival. I'm sure both lines have sales, and the final price could be lower at either, at any time, including when you buy, pre-cruise, or during the cruise. As far as I know, RCL requires both to purchase as of 2018! There is an exemption you can get pre-cruise on RCL if you have someone in your cabin who can't drink any alcohol because of religious or health reasons! I'm not sure what RCL wants in proof, but they say it must be arranged pre-cruise. One area the Carnival pkge is better for big drinkers is there is no 15 drink cap per day on RCL that Carnival has!

I have not seen it on sale on Carnival before. Both lines “require” that all adults in a cabin purchase it, but as I mentioned I a previous post, Royal is flexible and allows non-drinkers to buy the refreshment package simply by calling. It also doesn’t have to be for health or religious reasons. Carnival does not make that exception. 

Any work on whether she got Coca Cola Freestyle machines? I haven’t seen the guy update anywhere. 

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 8:18 PM, Moz said:

The RCCL ships are far nicer as far as decor.  Food is about the same except as one person said the comfort food eg Guys burgers and Mexican food bar which are excellent.  The biggest difference is the entertainment and clientele.  If you enjoy raunchy comedy and below par shows in the theater you will do fine.  Lots of baseball caps and men in tank tops in dining rooms if that makes a difference.  Also a louder crowd in general,  The staff on Carnival are very friendly and the ship is spotless.  We were once avid Carnival cruisers but have moved on due to clientele.

I haven't made it through all the pages of this post yet, but I will add that I've never noticed the described clientele on any of my Carnival cruises. In the main dining room, we have really only ever observed people with jeans/slack and t-shirt/polos/dress shirts. I don't recall ever seeing a pair of shorts of a tank top , except at the buffet on the pool deck.

But, I guess here's my thing: I don't care what people wear. It doesn't impact my dining 'experience' in any way. I care much more about the service and food quality than what others are wearing on their vacation, and I will never understand why others care so much about what other people wear.

By the way, we are taking our first Royal cruise in two weeks. Maybe the stark clientele difference that some people on these boards obsess over will finally reveal itself...

Also, here is how I would compare our pre-cruise experience so far:

1.) All cruise lines are in the business of making money, but many things that are free on Carnival are not on Royal (Guy's Burgers vs. Johnny Rockets, free ice cream vs. Ben and Jerrys, free late night food options vs. Playmakers, etc.)

2.) Shore excursions through the cruise line are more expensive. Now, we rarely book directly through the cruise line unless we have less than 8 hours in port. But at places like Labadee, the single zip line is $94. In almost any other port, you can do 3-4 hour zip line courses for around the same price. Also, a clamshell rental is $45 vs. a normal beach umbrella rental of $15-20.

3.) Royal's booking process/website/check-in/cruise planner is a disaster. The website has major issues. We couldn't see our final balance online, couldn't make any payments online, etc. Cruise Planner is a better interface, but it has spotty availability. Carnival's website just seems to be more stable.

4.) One major plus is that Royal is flexible with the drink package. I drink and my SO does not really, so we've never been able to find value in spending $100+ a day on drinks for me. Royal let me purchase one Deluxe package and one Refreshment package, which is a really nice compromise.

5.) Royal seems to have a broader selection of itineraries and destinations. Carnival definitely seems to target the "mass cruising" market, with lots of either short cruises or cruises that go to the same places (i.e. ships from Orlando, Tampa, Miami, New Orleans, and Galveston all seem to go to Cozumel every sailing! lol). We like to experience new ports, and Carnival is introducing enough new ships/repositioning ships, and offering enough Journeys cruises to keep us happy so far!

Brent

1 hour ago, sunnyv said:

If you don’t have the internet, the phone app probably won’t work.  If you use your Starbucks card stars will still accumulate.

However.. the barcode in the Starbucks app is static. If you take a screenshot of your barcode, you will be able to use it even if you don't have internet at the time. Their register processes the transaction - not the phone being used. 

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

I don’t  understand why they ask you to bring your seapass card though.

Well, it does say "Key Card" vs. Sea Pass... That makes me wonder if it's in a private corridor and intended for crew, and somehow made its way into the public app?

The 'sale' runs very frequently. If your cruise is out far enough that they couldn't book it, it will definitely be on sale again before you cruise.

Also the price you see, is the "final" price. You do not get an additional discount off what is showing. So even when it's not BOGO 50%, but instead is a "Pre Cruise Discount" or "20% Off!," you will probably see the same price in Cruise Planner.

For my cruise, the price has fluctuated by $10, but every time it has been on sale, it has been $49. (Prices vary between ships and sailings.)

4 minutes ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

 

I questioned it - didn’t think it would happen. Poster said it was downloaded from Royal Ap - deck 7.  Will check out when I sail. 

Just looked at the deck plans for my upcoming cruise in the Royal App and there is no indication of any public facilities on deck 7 except the library. 

4 minutes ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

 

I questioned it - didn’t think it would happen. Poster said it was downloaded from Royal Ap - deck 7.  Will check out when I sail. 

Just looked at the deck plans for my upcoming cruise in the Royal App and there is no indication of any public facilities on deck 7 except the library. 

We are sailing on 3/15 with the same itinerary (although, our port order and times are a bit different than yours!).

Looking forward to reading your live review and learning all about the ship before we sail!

15 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

Sigh, best price I've had and got it at for Indy next week was $49 - it went up to $52 but then came back down to $49 but no lower.  I expect because we're in spring break timing but no worries, I still feel we got a better price and it's paid for!

Similar. I've seen my sailing (3/15 Navigator) range anywhere from $49 up to $59. I am currently booked at $49 and hoping to see some of the prices that others have mentioned in other discussions. Some have said that a week or so before sailing, they have gotten it as low as $39.

11 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

So why do people need laundry on vacation? 

I have used laundry facilities on longer vacations. For example, we did a 14 day trans-Atlantic cruise and had to pack for essentially three seasons and unpredictable weather at sea...

During that cruise, we did laundry one time mid-cruise because we had to bring a little of everything.

Considering the ship is moving to 3/4 day itineraries in the near future, that would be very odd. Very little need for anyone to do laundry on a 3-4 day cruise...

54 minutes ago, twangster said:

 However I don't see the comparison to the Pearl's pool deck.  

Agreed. The Pearl's pool deck looks like it's from the 80s and very boring. Navigator's actually looks pretty nice to me. Worth noting that the entire pool deck will look different once all the lounge chairs are added!

6 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

You want the Bar Manager.  Ask any bartender once onboard and they will fetch the Bar Manager for you.

Thanks Bob. I was really hoping to talk to/e-mail someone ahead of time, so if we have to change plans or make adjustments, I can get in touch with our large group ahead of time while everyone has e-mail. 

As usual, I appreciate your insights and help. 

Hello! I searched before looking, but what I found didn't work. 

For our upcoming sailing on Navigator, I am hosting a Pub Crawl. We have very high interest, and I would like to connect with the food and beverage director/manager ahead of time to make some arrangements and ensure we are not being a burden on the bars we plan to visit. 

Does anyone know the e-mail addresses for this person on Navigator? I found an e-mail address of nv_fbmanager@rccl.com, but I just get an auto-reject.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Brent

It's not directly next to the cruise terminal, but we really like the Sandbar in Cocoa Beach. We make a point to go there anytime we're in Cocoa Beach.

It has a really nice nighttime beach vibe. They generally have live music, and their food is really good. I am told that if you like coconut shrimp, theirs are the best you can get! They also have giant mugs of beer for like $3 and you get to keep the cheesy plastic mug.

Brent

1 minute ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Actually, I meant, "Where did you  see that Navigator was getting a branded Starbucks?"

Ah - got it. It's on the deck plans and in the Navigator Dry Dock thread, there have been a few pictures posted of the Starbucks. It's on Deck 4, opposite Boleros right next to the casino.

1 hour ago, CazV said:

Promenade Cafe will still serve speciality coffees. 

Good to know - thank you!

Does anyone know if the Promenade Café has good iced coffee and/or cold brew coffee? That's pretty much all I drink - so if I can only get that at Starbucks, I'll definitely cancel the card. (Based on others' feedback, I am leaning that way anyway since it's the same cost on board.)

First time cruising with RC, so learning all the ins-and-outs like I'm a brand new cruiser!

Thanks for all the help!

2 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

Where do you see that?

 

The card is one thing that I have never seen discounted.   It is the same $31 plus 18% on board as it is in your Cruise Planner.

 

If I were you, I would cancel it and wait until you board and can investigate your concerns before purchasing it there.

In Cruise Planner, if you click on the item and then scroll down to where you'd add it to your cart, there is a link that says "Additional Terms and Conditions apply."

What it brings up seems to apply more broadly to all beverage packages, but there is one sentence (above) that seems specific to the coffee cards.

Brent

Hello -

I pre-purchased a coffee punch card for my 3/15 Navigator sailing. It looks like the coffee shop on board has been 'upgraded' to a Starbucks, and the terms of the coffee punch card say that it is not valid at Starbucks locations.

"Specialty Coffees do not include any beverages served inside licensed Starbucks® stores/cafes"

If that's the case, where on board can I even use this card? I've read the previous concerns about sometimes being charged 2-3 punches per coffee, and that paired with not knowing where/if I'll even be able to use the card has me thinking of cancelling it.

Thanks!

Brent

I'm not sure if they'll have this for the first sailings out of Port Canaveral, but on the Vista Mediterranean and TA itineraries, there was a book in each cabin talking about the ship. I know a lot of people kept that book as a souvenir, and I read after the cruise, that Carnival pretty much expects people to take the books.

For the TA, there were tons of itinerary-specific shirts, photo frames, etc. that you could buy in the Fun Shops, but nothing was given away for free.

The Vista also had, what I would consider, the best staff and CD assigned to the ship. Most of the entertainment staff that started on the Vista as now Cruise Directors on other ships.

Shark and Ray's with reef snorkeling! Hands down best snorkeling I've done. Plus feeding the sharks and rays!

+1. This is the best cruise line excursion we've done! Such a fun excursion.

After my last cruise (May 2017), I e-mailed guestcare@carnival.com and asked them to send me the cruise satisfaction survey. At that time, they told me that the survey was 'temporarily' not working, but that appears to still be the case.

In that e-mail, however, they did ask me to provide feedback/recognition, so I was able to recognize the crew members who went above and beyond.

As others have said, eating Keto on a cruise is actually fairly easy. You'll have to make some adjustments (no farm-fresh eggs, fewer full-fat sauces/creams, lack of free-range meat, grass-fed butter, etc.), but overall, you can eat high fat, low carb on a ship and stay under 20 carbs. Hitting your macros may be difficult, but your body can handle that for a week.

Drinks are an issue - but the same issue at home. Stick with light beers (Carnival has Mich Ultra) and vodka or other carb-free liquors with calorie/sugar free mixers (soda water, diet soda, etc.).