Joebucks

Cruised on the celebration earlier this year. Did not notice any issue with the food. Except I agree the cuts of steak were not as good (except for filet mignon night which is absolutely delicious). Amazing that people are still complaining about a $5 3rd entree. Some are really reaching deep to share how much it ruined their lives.

I tell you what. I am much more content grabbing a delicious street sandwich on vacation for $15 vs virtually most other types of meal.

I have done plenty of cruises where we paid less than $100pp per day, and we had a great time. Believe it or not, some people can find enjoyment even if there are backwards baseball caps or the fear of "nickel and dimes." Consumer credit card debt is nearing an all-time high. People will quickly blame their job's pay, but never admit their ridiculous spending habits. I can't even quantify the number of people who tell me "how lucky I am" to go on as many trips as I do. Meanwhile, watching those people buy "packages", "higher quality", "splurges," or however else to want to justify their overspending. Last year, I went to Mexico for a few days. The first words out of most people's mouths was asking about "all-inclusive" I did nothing of the sorts and boy the looks on their faces. Imagine staying at a normal hotel and buying cheap alcohol and tacos out of pocket instead of paying 3x for "free stuff."

Seeing that they are all generally at the "same port", it is not unheard of to walk. Uber is also a possibility. There really aren't many extreme challenges here, I wouldn't think too much of it.

Many (closer) countries take our currency, many take credit card. I rarely find that I need all of this foreign cash. Ports will almost always have services available to grab some if you need it.

Deals do exist, but one of the biggest mistakes is thinking all cruise lines are created equally. When people boast about getting 15% off or $3k back, they often aren't telling you that it's a $15,000 cruise. Don't think a mass market cruise will get you the same. As with most "deals" in any industry, anywhere, it's marketing teams piquing the interest of people who are absolutely obsessed over feeling like they got a deal, without actually getting anything special. I'm a believer that even the luxury lines that you are able to get a "big discount" on have that built into the price to create a price perception.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/28/paper-straws-worse-than-plastic-pfas-study/70702090007/ Paper straws contain more 'forever chemicals' than plastic, study says Just because you do something different, doesn't mean it's as good as you want it to be

In my opinion, people exaggerate the "bigger ships have bigger crowds." Sure there is some truth to it. However, I really think people have a mental block knowing that there are more people on the ship that gets to them more than the actual crowds do. Crowds with bigger ships have more venues and more space. After many Carnival cruises, I felt the experience was getting a bit stale. However, after sailing the Celebration, I find myself itching to go back. The amount of food options dwarfs the smaller ships, and Shaq's and street eats were bit hits for me. Same with the number of bars. Latitudes was a great addition for me. On sea days, we usually spend most of our time in Serenity. This Serenity was big and beautiful, with plenty of seats. I didn't feel any different "connection to sea." I saw it just the same. The comedy clubs were small, but that was addressed with multiple shows. Pizza wasn't any bigger, but had more staff, and faster service than other ships. There are more room choices. More everything. Sure grand central could be rethought, but overall, it was small potatoes.

Rookie move. The pro move is a lobster and prime rib. On my last cruise, I was very surprised at the quality of the prime rib. .....and then the dining staff brought me another lobster anyways. Well I guess I can't waste it!

As you stated eloquently, the experience has continued to change, and will continue to do so. It wasn't all that long ago that "people will stop cruising because of the loss of pillow mints, tablecloths, and fancy silverware." Those things were a blip in the ocean. As much as the old-timers whine and complain about "the things that are gone," the market has overwhelmingly voted with their wallet that these things are not important. Your average cruiser simply doesn't care if the room is serviced two times a day. They just don't. If these services are important to you, they are available on luxury lines. However, few want to pay for it. The loudest voices just want it for free. Dare I say that some people might even prefer the experience of today. Sure you might not have lobster every night, a tablecloth, or hand-and-foot service on your mass-market line. However, some people might find value in larger ships with more entertainment options (for them and their family), that has sufficient dining options, all at a price adjusted for inflation that is cheaper than "what used to be." Now, I might tend to agree with you that I'd have higher expectations on a line like HAL. However, I just don't understand the notion from some that mass-markets are some kind of luxury service.

This point is so undervalued. People act like everything that happens in the world today is law forever. Just like housing. That bubble will pop. The pendulum always swings the other way. There have already been reversals of some cruise changes.

An Old Fashioned is too American for most American bartenders

There's a lot of people out there that make a lot of money. Regardless of who goes on the internet and says they can't afford to make ends meet, there's a lot of wealth out there. Especially in some "high cost of living areas" some people make higher salaries to compensate for higher costs. However, cruising does not increase in price proportionately for them. For me, even as I make more money, I find it hard to spend $10k+ on a cruise. Just knowing what that can grow into and how much enjoyment I can get on multiple trips at a total far less. Perhaps as I get older, have a larger savings, and a desire for new experiences, I expect I will shift there a bit. As I stated before. I enjoy my land trips. But it is crazy to think that they are all somehow superior to cruising now because I found something to dislike about cruising. I actually just returned from a land trip and we had a great time! One of the most annoying parts of them is the time I waste to procure transportation, drive around (park/pay), plan what to do/where to go, buy tickets, etc. Land resorts can't compete in entertainment like cruises do (Vegas can I suppose, but we aren't always in Vegas). Resorts surely haven't grown in entertainment in the last decade or so like cruise ships have. I get that some people are mad that there might be other people on the ship or a large boat ruins their vacation. However, I agree with you. The options these larger boats have really adds a great depth of variety. It's just so nice to be able to walk to restaurants, pools, entertainment, shopping, bars, your room, etc. when you want. You also might go to a town and there may or may not be a show going on that week. A cruise has balanced entertainment to often give multiple options per night. Sure everyone has their opinion on what is good and what isn't. However, I'll take the options anyday!

I continue to do both cruises and land vacations. Let me tell you that the grass isn't greener on the other side. Many hotels/resorts have reduced housekeeping (let alone expecting it twice a day), raised costs, closed their executive lounges, and their food is all over the place in price, quality, selection, etc. Honestly, cruising is still a great value. If you want to find things that were different than they were before COVID, you'll succeed. You can do the same for a lot of enjoyable experiences. It's not the best way to go through life.

With this logic, they should just give free cruises. People will use that savings to book two more cruises!

While, I would be curious to see the sales impact. Although I sincerely doubt there were enough people balking at the $1000 price tag, who jumped on $70, and now are happy with a (guessing) $950 price tag. I couldn't see them intentionally doing this. Aside from another COVID, this has to be one of the bigger headaches for Carnival. Imagine the people complaining on the phone, facebook (can already see this), guest services. Current and future customers. It would likely be a far more effective sales strategy to instead say "we are having a one-time sale on Cheers!" Either way, I think Carnival handled this right. Honoring this price sets a terrible precedent that everyone can jump in and take advantage when there is an obvious error.

I always pre-purchase a few extra beers to keep in the cabin fridge. It's a must.

As with anything it depends. I've seen some things only offered on the ship. Some that made more sense to book through the ship (factoring in travel and whatnot). However, good luck convincing some people that they grossly overpaid because of a fear of missing the ship. Some of our favorite excursions were booked right at the port for a fraction of what it would have cost to book through the cruise line.

Why does the pandemic have to be the starting point? How about decades of erasing manners and values, while creating entitled victims?

It's actually $550. When it first came out at $450, I said no chance in hell. Once I actually learned the benefits, I learned it was a great value. In That $550, there's a $300 travel credit that you hit without even having to think about.

The cruise line credit cards are awful. However, good luck convincing anyone that any decisions made around vacation, in any form, are a bad idea. Chase Sapphire Reserve is my favorite. Includes travel insurance, zero foreign transaction fees, and 4.5% rewards (when redeemed for travel, sometimes higher) on all travel purchases. Not to mention airport lounge access, global entry, 15% Lyft cash back, etc.

I've never been a fan of the square rooms. An extra 2 feet or so on each side of the bed has less utility to me than a longer room which could have more usable space.

This couldn't be anymore deceptive if you tried. The real problem here is Carnival is (now) sold out for last-minute Alaska cruises. The price you were displaying before was likely a suite or whatnot. So yea, if you're looking to book a last-minute Alaska cruise, NCL is your go to. If you want to book one in advance Carnival has plenty of options at the similar price. I also priced out the cheapest NCL 9 day option in October. It is $1750 with the free at sea offers fyi. I'm not getting into whether that is a good deal or not, just what the facts are. I also won't get into how much of a value proposition the Norwegian Sun is either.

Are you really trying to imply carnival is 5x the price of NCL?

Did you really try to get pizza when it was closed, or did you just list every possible difference as a reason you decided you hated it?