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Yeah, had some trepidation about the app originally but after two cruises, I like it SOOOO much better than faxing. Our perk approval comes in in about 48 hours now.

Wife and I were very happy with the new MDR items on Carnival. The crayfish fettuccini was so good, I could have had two plates of it.

I think Carnival's problem with their food is that a great number of their ships have been configured for the old school, Hometown Buffet style of buffet and lots of people now want "food court" style options. You ask, do people who rave about Carnival food, eat real food, is a pretty classless statement. PLENTY of people enjoy Guys burgers, the mexican food and for me, I love Shaqs chicken. But yeah, the buffet is lacking. I even think the deli is lacking. I find the carvery options to be generally good. They've always had good salad bar options and desserts have always been do-able to me. Do the main entree sections fail sometimes....YES. But sometimes I have good options. Some asian noodles were good. The jerk chicken is good. Sorry to see you go but I am sure the other lines will suit your needs in the future.

Agreed. I have no desire for any of the Icon or large RC ships. Yeah, the Port of San Diego couldn't manage a hot dog stand so I doubt they believe there is a need (or desire) for a cruise ship. We get about four of them in the Alaska off-season and that's about it. My biggest issue with Carnival as of late is really just the clientele. On Panorama earlier this year, I told the pool steward about a group of people with a bluetooth speaker playing hardcore rap at the aft pool deck. Now, I am child of the 80's and I have nooooo problem with rap, but I don't want to hear it when I am relaxing with my wife and even more so when there are kids around. But the pool attendant called sec and they told them to turn off the item. My wife was later called a "white bit--" when a person from the group asked what happened to the music lol. Meh, wife said we can start cruising on Holland when we turn 50 so I guess I have that too look forward too. And in the winter, Holland has a ship in San Diego.

Agreed, and plus 1 for the "certain overweight brit" line. That was great. OT, but not sure why Carnival doesn't have a TEAM of brand ambassadors. But the wife and I are pretty firmly imbedded in the Carnival brand since we are in San Diego and they have three ships in Long Beach. If NCL had a permanent ship in San Pedro (or god forbid), San Diego, we'd probably be more in the NCL ecosystem. Do I love Carnival, meh, I could go either way. But I do enjoy NCL ships, I just wish they were more readily available in socal. If I lived in FL, I might feel different.

Well, we generally avoid cruising at spring break time due to the crowds.

Well, going to push back a little bit. Since the covid return, I have had zero instances of bad service on about six cruises, 5 ccl and 1 ncl. Now on CCL, the service in the MDR has always been a crapshoot. But it's more often good that it is bad. And it's never really been bad per se, just usually slow. *In my experience We still routinely compare the cost of a four day cruise to what it would cost to stay 4 days at a hotel in Palm Springs and cruising is still the better value for us. Could it get to a point where we say, meh, lets do a land vacation? Perhaps, but with how we like to spend our vacations, which is just relaxing, I think we have a couple years to go before I am boiled alive. We all make decision on what's important to us and I don't think we are that naïve you make people out to be.

San Diego native and still living here. I cannot fathom why SD is not a "home" port to more cruise ships or why a cruise line would rather go to Catalina (ugh) vs San Diego. But I get it, the Port could not manage a hot dog stand. I interviewed once for a position there and said thanks but no thanks. What a mess of an agency. Never the less, as far as Jade is concerned, I think (sadly) I'd rather go to San Pedro to take Bliss for five nights. I love that ship.

He was GREAT. Try dealing with the dregs of society on a daily basis. He offered her multiple chances but kept stating..." i dindu nufin". He was as professional as he needed to be.

I cannot attest to Virgin's excursion cancellation policy but from some research, they will purchase the excursions with the stolen credit card, then attempt to cancel onboard and try to get cash refund. Evidently it's a pretty big scam.

(In Austin Powers voice) Yeahhh baby yeah.

Yeah, late night snacks are kinda weak but after 15 long islands....a hot dog with lots of mustard tastes gooooooooooddddddd. But really, this is one area I wish Carnival would match NCL and their Osheehans\The Local.

OT but wife and I found it hilarious when Radiance was showing Oppenheimer on deck with a 11pm start time. That's a late night for sure!

My feeling as well. The buns seem to be about the size of a slider bun. I much prefer Shaq's chicken. Probably why I greatly enjoy Radiance over Panorama.

The big matzah ball is that they were previously invited on the cruise by a MSC rep. They said no to the offer as they don't want to appear influenced to leave a positive review\write up. And "Emma Cruises", who is a top vlogger by way of subscribers, has shown on her monetized channel, hours of footage of EU based cruises.

I'm sorry but people who say this is "intrusive" need to grow up. Cameras are filming you everywhere, especially on cruise ships. You have ZERO expectation of privacy anywhere except your own stateroom.

Someone correct me if I am wrong but this is the design for the Vista class...no? Panorama has it as well. I hate that theater. I get why they do it...shows can come out into the audience, turns it into a multi-purpose style room. But not a fan. One (of many) of the reasons I am not excited for our Firenze cruise in May. But perhaps I am making more out of it than I should.

Long Island Iced Tea. But I did drink alot of "The Cruiser" on my last trip.

We're a couple weeks after the inaugural. Gotta say, not that excited from what I've read.

Thanks. We don't like the serenity area though.

In about twenty cruises we've only walked out on one piano bar player. He was talented but he would just talk and talk and talk. The best we've had was on Splendor. He was a young kid and put on an amazing show. The sad thing was that the venue was a shoebox. People were spilled out into the hallway to listen. Then I think it was Panorama or maybe Radiance last year, the comedian also played the guitar and later in the night he came by the piano bar and played a number of songs with the piano player. Was a great time. The feel the venues are often just waaaaayyyyyy to small. Word gets out by the second night and it's standing room only and clearly not big enough for the crowd. Loved the piano bar on the NCL Bliss. It was in their brewery, the District Brew House, with dozens of taps. I don't think I've ever drank so much beer in my life!

I will get to the hot tubs right when they open to get a hour in there without being bothered.

Meh, the cruise lines need to be careful to not be kicked out these ports like Bar Harbor did. Didn't one Alaska city (Sitka) already try to limit cruise ship capacity?

I would not see that happening. As a west coast resident, it would be cool but I feel there are just not enough ports.

Can you take a cruise line to small claims court? My dad sued GM (and won) in small claims court back in the 80s but I am not sure how you would go about it nowadays.