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13 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I dont get casino deals. Not to be mean, but hearing someone else got a great deal I cant get is part of what has pushed me to rcl. I still have more loyalty pts on carnival but my most recent cruises seem given over to gamblers. Carnival says they are a family cruise, but more and more they seem to be a gamblers cruise. Yes I know all lines give deals to gamblers  it's just not as obvious or seems as big of a percentage.

 

2020 rates were still low, but not in 2021.

You obviously missed this thread under the casino forum. 166 pages long about casino offers on RCL. LOL!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2142470-offers-received-from-club-royale-royal-caribbean/

12 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'll be so glad when we finally resume cruising and the protocols are known so the endless conjecture is ended. 

Couldn't agree more. 

3 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Um, I sail Carnival but have no trouble accepting the truth and the reasons. Doesn’t hurt my feelings .... Why do you think Carnival might not require vaccines? Because they don’t believe in them or because their passengers will put up a stink? Answer is obvious and so what if it is? 

Unless you are in on the meetings with Carnival Corp on why they come up with decisions it is only your opinion. There's more to it than just potential customers putting up a stink. Some people are allergic to the vaccine, some had serious side affects, some (under 12) aren't even able to get the vaccine. Maybe Carnival didn't want to exclude those people from cruising. 

16 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Yes, Carnival customers are “different”. Go sail Princess, Holland, and Celebrity and the passenger demographics are way different .... While those on the other lines support the vaccines and any requirements to sail, Carnival knows their base will be full of conspiracy theorists, naysayers, anti-vaxxers and many many who will whine about a vaccine requirement which would be bad for their business. Different mentalities from different line demographics .....

And yet here you are on a Carnival forum complaining about Carnival cruisers. It's a good thing that you have different lines you can sail (when cruising actually starts) with Carnival guests being so bad. 

*Sorry Caroline, was quoting while you were locking/unlocking the thread.

7 minutes ago, bamaone said:

 

I'm not sure why you would want to buy a bucket of beer if you have cheers. But I think the 15 alcoholic drinks a day/person is enforced whether you buy it or use cheers. 

This is not true. If you buy a bucket of beer they should charge 1 to your cheers. I have bought a bucket many times without them even charging the one to my Cheers. 

5 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

One of the included amenities for guests in excel suites (Mardi Gras) is a complimentary Bottomless Bubbles package. I see on Carnival.com that it's a value of $8.50/day.

 

I don't see anywhere an option to upgrade to the Cheers package, which is $51.95 on its own. It would seem reasonable to offer excel guests the ability to upgrade for the difference between the two packages ($43.45/day). I called and spoke to someone at the Diamond desk and asked about that - no such option (she was actually rather uninformed in general, for someone who they have answering that line, IMO).

 

Hey while they're at it (they aren't, they're understandably preoccupied right now!!) perhaps they could add a Cheers package discount for Diamond guests. For that matter, perhaps it's time to look at updating the VIFP program. Take NCL for example, we're Platinum with them (4th out of 6 tiers in their Latitudes program), which could easily be reached after 5 week long suite sailings (or 10 non-suite weeks). Some of those benefits include:

 

> Dinner For Two At Cagney's Or Le Bistro With A Bottle Of Wine (per stateroom)                        
> Dinner For Two At Moderno Or La Cucina (per stateroom)                        
> 60 Free Internet Minutes (w/Platinum)
> Chocolate-Covered Strawberries (per stateroom)                        
> Behind-The-Scenes Ship Tour

 

With our reaching Diamond with Carnival, we enjoyed a (one time only) benefit of dinner in the Steakhouse. That was appreciated, but that's it - once and done. Perhaps Carnival could add that higher tier that's be discussed on the boards for a few years. Or, perhaps they could add the ability to pick up extra VIFP points booking certain promos or suites. All sorts of options there! WHY do they show (and it's been this way since the beginning of the program) a total for CRUISE DAY POINTS and VIFP points which are THE SAME? Obviously, there was some initial thought given to having cruise day points be your number of cruise days, and VIFP would be a higher number based on... ??

 

Obviously - we need to get sailing first and foremost, and then down the road we can hopefully look forward to some other options or updating of their past guest program.

 

Tom

 

 

I like how some of the land based casinos do it. You earn "tier" points (like VIFP level) but you also earn some type of "cash" that can be used for food or shopping. So basically VIFP would be based on days sailed, but they could have another "cash" type option you could earn based on type of room, money spent on board, etc that could be used to pay for Cheers, steakhouse, photos.......You could even base the "cash" earning on VIFP level. Diamond earns an extra %10, Platinum %5, Gold 3% or whatever. 

35 minutes ago, sassy~one said:

Hi there, on my next sailing I have the cheers package.  Not much of a drinker, but I do have some questions.

Do I get a sticker or something?  Can I get a soda and a bottle of water at the same time?  Is the tip already included in the price of the cheers?

I also have never followed the 'bar open' info, so is there always a bar open?  Any input would be great, thanks. 

You should get a sticker for your sail n sign card.

Tips are included but you can always tip more for good service.

5 minutes between drinks.

44 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

"It's been so long since Carnival cruised," I miss muster drill.

Me too! That means I would of had a couple of buckets of beer in the sun and checked out the slot machines in the casino by then! LOL

2 minutes ago, camper49 said:

Casino offer..free inside cabin & drinks on us while playing in the casino...do u have to get 1500 points ?

No. You have it from the start.

8 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

You didn't specify a timeline.  I gave three examples of info shifting over the course of the pandemic.

 

So, define a timeline of where you have observed a change that you'd like explained by new info (or lack thereof).

Sorry Prog, I was referring to the new guide lines from the CDC and Tom saying change is good with new info. Everything gets lost in between the two year olds name calling. 

What exactly is the new information the CDC has that people (vaccinated) don't have to wear masks now vs say last month. 

11 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

My observations of three big ones:

 

COVID-19 is not spread as easily as thought via surfaces.  (At first it was thought that could be a primary vector.)

 

N95 masks are not required by the vast majority of the population, a simple two-layer cloth/fabric mask will suffice. (It turns out it is more practical for the infected person to wear the mask to minimize spread via droplets vs the non-infected wearing a "supermask".  The CDC did not recommend masking up early on to avoid the mass-panic buying of medical grade masks needed by front line workers.  And as we saw this past week, we see what stupid panic-buying fools the general public can be.)

 

Those who are vaccinated have a very low chance of getting any serious symptoms on the off-chance they do get infected, and a very very low chance of infecting others, especially if asymptomatic.  (At first it wasn't know how well the vaccines worked at stopping the spread.)

None of those are really new information. 

27 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Changing recommendations based on new information seems appropriate to me. This is the government we're talking about here - so don't expect perfection!

 

Tom

While I agree that changing based on new information would be appropriate, exactly what information has changed?

And, not directed at you Tom, the name calling on this forum is quite ridiculous. Amazing how some people always have to do that when they don't agree with someone and it sure seems to be one side more often than not. It takes away from the point they are actually trying to make when acting like a 2 year old.

12 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

You guys must all be big casino spenders to get free cruise offers.  I best I can get is a discount, free drinks while in the casino, and maybe some OBC.

It's not always about how much $ you put in. It's about points earned. You earn 1 pt for every $2.50 you play in a slot machine on Carnival. If you put $100 in a slot machine and lose every spin you will get 40 pts. The thing is you don't lose every spin. Sure, you may not win $5,000 but you do win along the way. So that 40 pts could turn into 100 or more depending. 

For us the casino is part of the cruise and we budget for it just as people budget for specialty dining, pictures, excursions, etc. 

3 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Nope dont get them. Just kinda makes me mad tbh that some are sailing so cheap. Makes me want to avoid carnival when I find I'm on a big casino play off. I hit the biggest one early nov 2018? I think, and 800 of my closest friends, all the casino players were priority. Jealous. Just makes full price harder to swallow. I do my gambling in the stock market, the casino never appealed to me. Maybe that means carnival and I arent a match any longer. That last casino cruise was not as good. 

I wouldn't say they are sailing cheap. I'm sure they spent way more than the cruise cost in the casino. LOL 

All the cruise lines with casino's offer the players something to get them back. It's not just Carnival. 

We are both platinum and get casino offers but we usually try and avoid the sailings that are premier or ultra just because of how packed the casino can get. 

31 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I checked on ncl boards and see a thread asking if anyone sees any deals. Lol maybe we should start a thread like that here except I dont think there are any. Maybe its just going to cost more to cruise. Most of mine I'm ok with the prices except a spring break oasis friends group. It's a group rate I can cancel but it's pretty hard to swallow even to meet cc friends. 

 

Maybe cruise prices will stay this high. I may be cruising less at these prices. 

There's some pretty good casino offers out there. I know that doesn't do you any good if you don't have them. 

18 minutes ago, asalligo said:

I am in Orlando, so I cruise all Florida ports. I also prefer Port Everglades over Miami as everything about Miami feels like a hassle. My Favorite ports in order. 

 

Jacksonville: I just love the fact that nothing else is around this port. Unfortunately it sails pretty bad itineraries often. 

 

Port Canaveral: Easy getting into, easy parking, nice terminals. Also often has bad itineraries.  

 

Tampa: Decent port access and great itineraries for me, I love Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Honduras. 

 

Port Everglades: Not too hard to get to and great itineraries with decent hotels next to the port. 

 

Miami: So hard to get into Miami, just so much city around the port, but of course it is Miami, Itineraries are awesome, cruises are cheap and hotels are plentiful. Longest wait I have ever had in a Florida terminal though. This may become my favorite port though if Brightline completes their Orlando to Miami cruise port route.   

I think it makes a difference if you are flying or driving to the port. For us ease of getting to port would be:

Miami - Stay right at Bayside and 5 minute Uber to port

Tampa - Short Uber to port also

Fort Lauderdale 

Port Canaveral

Only because we can fly directly to the first 3 (haven't sailed out of Jacksonville so left that out) but with Canaveral we go to Orlando/Sanford and then drive over to Cocoa Beach area. Not that it's a bad drive or anything and we actually have friends that will pick us up so we don't need a rental. Just takes a little longer is all. Don't get me wrong, we love going out of PC. It's just a little less convenient getting there. 

16 hours ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

We booked using a promo from the casino for a free balcony room.  I don't remember what the rate code was.  Is there anyway I can find out through our booking if the free drinks in the casino are for both of us?

If you still have it under your offers you can find out or you could call and they should be able to tell you. 

1 hour ago, camper49 said:

Drinks on us ...while in casino...I have that in my offer...would that include the other person in the cabin as well? (Hubby in this case)

If it is for both of you it will state "for you and one travel companion". If it doesn't say that it's for you only. However, I have found that if your hubby had the same offer and you take it with you they will honor it. We get the same offers all the time but only one of us can book so I'll just print out the other offer and take it with me to the casino. 

22 minutes ago, skridge said:

Your choice is screwing it up for everyone that just wants it to be over.  Because of your choices we are going to be dealing with this for many years to come.

We were going to be dealing with this for years to come regardless. Its a virus. You aren't going to stop it.  The vast majority of the most vulnerable have been vaccinated now. We have treatments that work. We have had thousands at sporting events that didn't turn into a "super spreader" event. It's time to start opening things up.  For those that don't get vaccinated I can respect that and it is their choice weighing the risks. At the very least cruise lines should be able to operate with vaccinated crew and guests without all the restrictions.  You and your alter ego like to sit there and tell everyone how to live, blame one group if people for a virus spreading and its beyond ridiculous. 

And now we can cue up your "millions of dead" comment. But first, yes it sucks that so many have died from this virus. There wasn't enough known about the virus at the start and it cost lives. Now we know so much more and have vaccines to help, thus the deaths and hospitalizations have dropped significantly.

23 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

Not true.  Did you see a manager with an angry eye watching closely workers around buffet area to make sure everything is served properly?  Now picture a safety officer doing the same routine to cruisers: walking around a dinner table with a stick (like in the "Wall" movie), and striking each individual on each occasion of disobedience when trying to move a rag down or even around of air intake area (AKA a nose).

Sounds more like a nun back in the day! 🤣

13 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

I have these same, plus "All In Australia" QA1.  I think the bottom four in our list are not even worth looking at compared to the rest.

I agree. I'd even throw in my ultra offer with those 4. No where nears as good as the other casino ones.

41 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Isn't that the truth - debarkation day eventually cometh !

 

We've only enjoyed one B2B, and that was on the Sensation - so a 3+4. Would really like to have the time to arrange a longer one at some point. 🙂

 

Tom

We are doing are first B2B (8 day and 6 day) in March thanks in part to Covid. Haven't used much vacation time over the past year so have saved up quite a bit. We said about 2 years ago we were going to start doing B2B's. Coming from Maine to Florida for 2 or 3 cruises a year adds up with flights, hotel, etc. We got $1600 in OBC on the 8 day so hoping the casino will be a little nicer than last time! 

4 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

The analogy I can think of is that is it like a rainy session at the race track during practice/qualifying, and all the teams are hanging out in their garages/pitlanes, instead of running cars because they are afraid of crashing in the wet.

 

If the first team to go out there crashes it is just going to make it even more cautious for everyone else.

 

So no-one wants to be the first cruise (yay!) but then have problems (boo!).  It would be instant fodder for the petri-dish naysayers.

 

 

But the rain will stop before they go out of business......LOL!

Honestly, there is no reason not to have a ship sailing. Start with all vaccinated (crew and guests) if need be but lift all the stupid restrictions while on the ship if everyone is vaccinated and follow local policies (mask or whatever, up to each port of call) for individual ports. Of course then comes the problem of proving someone is really vaccinated or not. 

I just wish one of the lines would get a ship sailing. Nobody is going to know anything until someone actually sails. 

2 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

"You can't coach stupid"

I don't know about that. I've seen some parents doing a pretty good job "coaching" there kids!