RollingMeadows

Greetings, Tribe. It's been a while. I have a question that maybe some can help with.

I want to take a friend on a cruise. I live in southern California and she lives in Michigan. She has MS and COPD but can still travel. She's not on oxygen. I'd like to meet her at a port and the two of us can hit the cruise ship the next morning. 

I'm trying to find the best way to get her to a cruise port from either Muskegan or Grand Rapids. I don't want her to have to change planes too often. As I'm not from the midwest anymore, is there a member or two of the tribe that can help me get her to her most convenient port? I'll fly anywhere to meet her, so it's not big deal where we cruise out of. I'm looking at Carnival since I have some loyalty swag coming my way. Makes laundry easy.

I think I'll spend a few hours catching up on Sid's meat.

Reasonable contractions in these economic times. Gotta stay profitable. 

Absolutely. Some adults my give the parents of these kids the side-eye, but there's no accounting for taste.

This is an expense to the line I would expect to dry up in the near future. Nice while it lasted, but my expectations are changing in the current economy.

We didn't use it on our cruise in May. I doubt I bother with the app. It's not like I'm climbing on a cruise ship every week and I don't like having apps hanging around my devices that I rarely use.

I ask myself the same danged question every time I board an airplane. At least I'm not waiting for some weakling to stow her luggage.

We do it every so often, the last time on the Panorama. It's a tasting menu and is absolutely a marvelous experience. I say book it, Dan-O!

I thought the problem with plastics is they never fully degrade. The plastic becomes the size of a molecule and hangs around inside our bodies.

In any case, complaining about Carnival not keeping up with Royal, in this instance, is grasping at straws. 🤪

17 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

A similar situation for me occurred on Star Princess.  I was seated at my desired sized/shape table for 6 with a family of 5:  two parents and three children of various ages, two of them mid-older teens and one an early teen.  I wondered how that was going to be.  Turned out it was wonderful!  The children were perfect ladies and gentleman and were able to carry on conversations with adults well.  The kids would get done with their dinners before we three adults did, leave for their evening activities, and Mom and Dad and I could continue to talk and linger over dessert and coffee.  

We have been pleasantly surprised in this way as well...on Carnival. Yes, lovely people cruise all lines. lol

My hearing has gotten bad enough that I prefer a table for two. Tables for 4 are awkward and any more than that it becomes difficult for me to carry on a conversation. Getting old ain't for sissies.

Anyone with a riff raff comment has never been on a truly AI cruise. We've been on all of one and had another booked before Covid hit and the line (Crystal) went under. There is no service on earth like that of an AI ship. The passenger to crew ratio is more like 3-1 than 50-1, or whatever it is on a family cruise line.

I won't bother going into all the differences I noticed on my single week-long fancy cruise, but it is a really wonderful experience and worth the cost. If you never do it again, you can at least say you were treated like royalty for a few days. I'm so sad to see Crystal go. It was an affordable experience for us, though it sure isn't for everyone.

I've been looking at other luxury lines to see what we can/want to afford and the prices are pretty far out there. I think I'd rather put the money into a new car. lol Still, this type of cruise will forever be on our radar and if I see something on RSSC, Seabourn or Silversea that piques our interest, I'l book it with only a moderate cringe of financial hesitation. It's a big $$$ step, that's for sure, but it was absolutely worth it to us.

P.S. We have sailed on Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland and Crystal. We have a Celebrity cruise booked for this December. We used to sail exclusively on Carnival. Now we're excited to play the field and try anything new.

Brilliant review! Do you by chance teach science?

As a recent solo cruiser, PT are the perfect option for me. I find I don't use the balcony, but my husband loves it. PTs fall into that super-duper sale category, like $20 per person per night. I figure the party will soon be over and the PTs will have some kind of upcharge attached to them. I'll enjoy them while I can.

16 hours ago, pattycruisealot21 said:

Have you guys seen ladies with long dresses on gala night lately? I Know before it was a thing but not sure if its been so much lately. Do you guys think that a long dress for the gala night is too much? With Covid I haven't had a chance to use it so I was thinking of wearing it for our next cruise.

I still see a lot of long dresses, though I don't know that they'd be categorized as gowns. Some gowns, some fancy sun dresses.

15 hours ago, Skippy said:

He only has basketball shorts. 😅

It's Carnival. Do whatever you want, which people end up doing anyway. (IMO, going with just basketball shorts on formal night is rude, but again, this is Carnival and people do whatever they want.)

I have a solo booked in a couple of months. That will put me 14 days from Diamond. The next cruise I have booked is a 14-day Alaska cruise on the Miracle. I'm not sure if I'll be Diamond from the beginning of that cruise or not, but I think we're going to squeeze in a 4-day on the Radiance before Alaska just to be sure. 😍 

I just left a tipping thread. So many passengers remove tips that perhaps this is a way to get them back.

I'll be on her again in a few weeks. Even with all the hiccups I'm excited to get on board and mingle with the masses.

I started cruising just about 10 years ago and I know the experience has changed quite a bit in that time. I no longer even own a long dress and have drastically decreased the amount of jewelry I pack for any vacation.  If anything, it's very liberating, though I do miss the excitement of buying a new dress for every new cruise. 

Do you still pack in the same way today as you did when you first started cruising? What do you do differently? As mentioned, no more fancy gowns and jewelry. I will bring up to four pair of shoes but really do try to keep it down to two pair on a seven day cruise. I don't need as many clothing choices as I once felt I did. I repeat wearing something; do laundry or send it out; mix and match my wardrobe. The cruise we took last month, a seven day Mexican Riviera, was the lightest I'd ever packed. It's something I see doing more often, this under-packing.

42 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

All of these things used to be standard on Carnival, and they still are on other lines. While Carnival has consistently devalued their product and lowered their standards of service they've expected us to pay more and more gratuities. That is the point.

Carnival changed their business model and cruise experience years ago. Where've you been? I complained loudly about the changes along with everyone else. Now I've learned to love the the changes and look forward to my Carnival trips. We cruise lots of lines, so we can cruise in any style we want if Carnival isn't classy enough for us.

1 hour ago, ChattTenn said:

Carnival and other lines hire a bunch of cheap labors and we (cruisers) are paying wages for their peoples and they call it as tips.  

"Cheap labors" have names like I Made and Beverly and Roland and Gede, etc. They are not "cheap labors". They are people who left their wives, husbands, kids, parents behind so they can send money home to their families. I'm happy to put their kids through college so they can find careers outside the service industry. Americans just can't fathom this need and instead make the Beverly's and I Made's Carnival's problem while we complain to Albert that our luggage hasn't arrived yet and we're Platiunum. I'd rather hug Albert or Sidjay or Maria and slip another fiver in his or her pocket. Or buy Ingrid from guest services a coffee on her next break. I am so grateful to be in the position I am today and try to show my appreciation to those from more humble roots. Even if I had to save for 18 months to get on the cruise ship, I'm not going to do it at the expense of those people caring for me on board.

IMO, and you know what they say about opinions, if you're not willing to tip, you should probably stay home. If tips are too expensive you should probably stay home. If you don't think tips are earned you should probably stay home. If you think those being tipped make way too much money you should probably stay home. I understand cruising is expensive, but to take food out of the mouths of the recipients of those tips is probably the most inconsiderate thing one can do, regardless of your country's tipping policy. The recipients of your tips have an average minimum wage of $7 a day at home. Considering what the lowest income earning passenger on Carnival makes as compared to those who are cleaning your toilets and scraping the food off your plates, I can't believe people would be so cheap as to prevent those service providers from getting extra for those lousy chores, like cleaning the bathrooms right next to the pool. If you want the tipping charges to be rolled into the cost of the cruise, then please do travel on a line with those things included. But don't climb aboard a line that doesn't include gratuities and expect the employees to be happy that you're wealthy enough to cruise, but not wealthy enough to tip.

I never paid any attention to offers because we can never seem to travel before the offers expire. I discovered great VIFP rates and only knew this because I'd keep an eye on these pages. I booked a solo rate in a PT cabin with $200 OBC for just over $500 all-in. I can't vacation for a week anywhere that inexpensively with room, board and entertainment included. IMO, the best rates are the ones you can book close to sailing. DH retires next year and I suspect we'll be taking advantage of these sales when they pop up.

Pepsi. And that makes me extremely happy because I can have a Dew. Read it and weep, Coke drinkers.

Uh-oh. Do I detect a positive Covid test in this review? Looking forward to the next installment. 

Anything that looks like a mashed potato. Nom nom.

I've read every word and have loved your review. I miss the little ships and hope someday to sail on one again.