ProgRockCruiser

We purchased Chef's Table for our upcoming cruise, and paid $80+grat pp.  So that was good to lock in when we did, I suppose.

We'll do it once, but I doubt we'd do it again, even at that lower price.  For $150 or even "just" $129 (plus grat), nah, probably not ever again.

5 minutes ago, ARcruisin2 said:

but... I think i have read in reviews that if you are platinum they can board early with you and that you can bring them as a guest to the special party, right?

Well that's certainly true: all members of your cabin or cabins (if multi-cabin booking for a family) can board together with the earliest priority.  Same for attending P&D parties - that would be harsh: "Sorry honey, I know you're my spouse but you're still only gold, you can't attend this special party for P&Ds. Bye!"

16 minutes ago, john91498 said:

Sneaking on gummies is no worse then sneaking on alcohol.

Except, for the umpteenth time, alcohol isn't illegal in the ports, but CBD is illegal in some ports.  It doesn't matter what you think, it doesn't matter what the USG says about the legality of zero/low THC gummies.  What matters is the ports.

They don't want you bringing on alcohol because that impacts their revenue.

CBD impacts your ability to return to the ship after being arrested in a port, and may impact Carnival's ability to return to that port if deemed not enforcing enough.

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

There are plenty of blogs online where people write 5000 word essays on what they pack for their cruise that were probably written by Chat GPT, complete with dozens of Amazon affiliate links to the useless crap they recommend.

Oh, there have been endless annoying sites like that since long before Chat GPT!

I have an active list in my Notes area of my Phone for this reason.  It gets added to every now and then.

There's lots of silly things that become quite annoying if you forget them:

Depending on what footwear you have for embarkation day, you may need: sandals, flipflops, sneakers/runners, dress shoes, and the appropriate socks to go with.  My wife has occasionally arrived at our vacation to suddenly realize she packed no socks or stockings, because she's wearing sandals as usual.

Beyond clothing (remember swimsuits!), pajamas (if that is important to you), chargers/adapters, and sunscreen/aloe/bandages, a few other useful items are:

• little zip lock bags for who-knows-what
• plastic grocery bags or similar for wet clothing that doesn't dry before you have to debark
• Lint roller/remover
• sunglasses (esp easy to forget if coming from an area or weather where it ain't sunny when you leave the house)
• glasses cleaner (esp if you wear prescription glasses)

But yeah, poke around online, you may get reminded of stuff I would never need to bring but is essential for you.

59 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Perspective is everything.  Cruising is evolving.  These behemoths (RCCL Icon of the seas) cost 2 BILLION dollars. Got to sell a whole bunch of rooms to make that work out.   

One sailing leased out to Dr. Evil should cover it, right?

13 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

I was mostly talking about the same old tired argument of alcohol being legal but marijuana is not. Everyone thinks they have some new and genius revelation when they point out that fact I suppose.

OK, right.  I concur.

3 hours ago, GotMINI said:

Was hoping to get a few bucks off beverage plan... 

Lol, Carnival hasn't done that kind of promo for Cheers or Bubbles in years and years.

Carnival will put things on sale or advertise specials to lure you in when they feel bookings need a boost.

Evidently they do not feel that is the case right now.  :shrug:

Apparently Carnival is doing quite well - I seem to recall John Heald saying that 2024 bookings are filling quite quickly.  We don't see the numbers of course, so there is no way of knowing whether they are 90% full and normally would be only 75% full at this stage, or some other set of numbers.

20 hours ago, fyree39 said:

This type of punishment is hypocritical. Celebrate alcohol and drinking to excess, but nothing else is allowed.

12 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

It really is like a broken record on threads like this.

Which part is the broken record?  That part that the foreign ports don't allow the product, regardless of how legal or harmless the product may be?

Pax occasionally get "surprised" that it is illegal for a civilian to wear camouflage in certain ports. Carnival let's you onboard with it, but repeatedly reminds you of the local port laws regarding it.  Nonetheless, every now and then someone who didn't hear or read any of the multitudes of warnings gets marched back to the ship by local authorities for wearing camo.  And then they complain endlessly about not being warned.  🙄

Now imagine if Carnival allowed CBD on-board, but warned you to not take it off ship in the ports (a la camo).  And some dumbo "accidentally" takes some into the port and gets caught.  In many ports I bet the response is not to be returned to the ship, but instead go straight to jail, do not collect $200.  And we'd never hear the end of it from the "poor soul" who didn't realize it wasn't allowed.

On 11/25/2023 at 9:36 PM, rizkeeper said:

I was on the cruise, not sure if anyone mentioned what the joke was, but I was on the lido and recall him saying something like, ‘we are going to have fun, you’ve been waiting many months for the cruise and if you are not ready to have fun you can dive off the back and swim home’…it got a good laugh, if that offended anyone, well, they are miserable people.  

It doesn't matter who onboard was offended, if anyone, what matters is the beards saw/heard the video, and not too long ago someone jumped from a Carnival ship and presumably drowned.  There are just certain jokes that are a no-go.

The last thing Carnival needs is word getting out that their CDs joke about jumping off the ship and then someone actually jumping shortly thereafter.

11 hours ago, Knights on the Beach said:

 

 

 

I recognize those rocks. That video was recorded either by the boat ramps near T3 where Mardi Gras docks or just past there in Jetty Park. The Mardi Gras goes by that whole area on the way out of the port. And yes, you can often hear the announcements, music, etc. on land there. In fact, we live on the beach just about a mile south of the mouth of the port and if the wind is blowing the right way, we can hear it from our balcony.

Ah, I just saw this reply.  OK, sounds like we are in agreement with the evidence presented, lol.

On 11/24/2023 at 4:23 PM, stobe1 said:

 

🤷

 

Maybe except Mardi Gras uses the new pier and doesn't sail past Fishlips or those restaurants in that area. The turning basin she uses is before those areas if I recall correctly

That's true, but the video shows the Mardi Gras, and it is sailing eastward with sun shining from the WSW or so.  I now see that it wasn't a restaurant, it was just the ground level along Jetty Park - you can see the big "riprap" shoreline.  So I still think the video is legit.

37 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

Im sure the sound was recorded on board and they used existing video of the ship from land and just overlayed the sound over the video. Im no TikTok expert but I think thats what happened here. This happens with TikTok and YouTube videos all the time. 

No, that sounds like it was recorded from Fishlips or Rusty's or some other restaurant along the channel there in Port Canaveral - you can hear the wind crackling in the mic.  And yeah, you can definitely hear the Lido announcements as the ship goes by.

3 minutes ago, jsglow said:

I don't want to get too far down any HR path but it is possible that by 'voluntarily' leaving he retained some financial incentive such as his accrued bonus or something. I suppose we'll never know.

Indeed, probably a case of "if we fire you we have to admit why and make a big uncomfortable deal out of something stupid you said, so how about you 'resign', keep some benefits/bonuses, and we all put this behind us?"

2 minutes ago, ray98 said:

I assume it has something to do with the TikTok that went around over the last week where he made some joke about 'jump overboard if you aren't having a good time' at a deck party.  Carnival may take offense to that since it seems to happen a good bit.

If he did indeed make that joke, then yes, termination is warranted.

22 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

She is scheduled to go up River to Portland on December 2nd.

13 hours ago, Luckysll said:

Local tv news just had a story on the ship and said she is expected to be ready to head to Portland on Sunday. 

7 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

Wow, that would be way ahead of schedule, thank you!

Well, I'm suspicious the "local tv news" got the day of the week correct, but forgot to state the "date".  Dec 2 is a Sat.  So maybe she is scheduled to leave Victoria on Dec 2 (Saturday) and arrive in Portland on Dec 3 (Sunday).

But, fingers crossed!

So you are pirating bandwidth from other passengers (whatever you don't use they can!) and want to know how to fix it when it stops working?

1 minute ago, Jelly_Toast said:

I run hotter than my husband.  We typically keep the house around 76ish in the summer.  I would be more comfortable around 74.  I probably am not the best judge of temperature so I will defer to his opinions which were that some spaces were comfortable enough for him, but he also found some areas to be much too warm. Based on your lizard-people status you're likely not going to find yourselves uncomfortable everywhere but I found the entire experience to be vastly different than always bringing along a jacket to most areas on the ship, which is what I typically had to do on previous cruises.

OK, thanks!  Appreciate the response.

15 hours ago, janice2348 said:

We booked a forward suite on deck 12 (on NCL Jade)  in 2018 as an upgrade. Not only was the pitching motion more pronounced, we could hardly use the forward deck because it was so windy. I think the OP made the right call to decline. 

I'm a bit confused, I went to look at the deck plans for that ship and deck 12 has the spa up front, and no cabins on that deck?  Maybe deck 10?

Anyway...

We had a forward extended balcony on Mardi Gras, Deck 14, and we could stand outside just a couple feet back from the railing and feel almost no wind, even at "full speed" into the wind.  At the railing you felt it a bit more.  I don't know exactly what Carnival did in designing the front of the XL class, but they must have rented out a wind-tunnel from a Formula 1 team or something...

2 hours ago, Jelly_Toast said:

I was on Vista last week.

2 hours ago, Jelly_Toast said:

Overall: bleh. Would not cruise Vista again.

Ouch.  OK, that's a fair assessment.

Out of curiosity, when you say it was warm/hot on board, are you the type to usually have the AC at 70 deg F (or lower)?  My BIL is visiting and we've had to drop the house AC to a compromising 74 deg F for him - we like 78-ish Deg F, and rarely find any indoor space "too warm".  Our friends call us lizard-people, and say we live in a terrarium.  They might not be wrong.

1 hour ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha. I am very tolerant and respectful of everyone and their opinions and my opinion is that this issue is no different than alcoholism and if you need to take it on a cruise and can’t do without it you should seek professional help.

Regarding CBD products (with no THC required), which was the product in question for this post: your argument is invalid, because many people have prescriptions or doctor recommendations for retail-available low/no-THC CBD to treat conditions, and they want to take them aboard but can't / shouldn't.  This isn't akin to an alcoholic that can't imagine existing without drinking, this is potentially someone who is taking a pain-management treatment on doctor's order.

So while there are recreational users of "CBD gummies", there are many who aren't.

In fact, I bet that the number of truly prescription/doctor-recommended users of CBD products (that in theory need no THC content) far outnumbers the people bringing on "low/no THC" CBD products for recreational use.  The "recreational users" will be instead smuggling on high THC products, because that's what they are looking to enjoy.

If you are referring to pot smokers or users trying to specifically take high-THC products on-board, then I will simply respond that many recreational users may not need the products, but are willing to take their chances to "enhance their enjoyment of the cruise".  And that's their choice to run the gauntlet, and they will have to reap the consequences if caught.

17 minutes ago, aborgman said:

Profiling (and discrimination), as long as it isn't based on membership in a protected class - is 100% legal.

 

They couldn't ban someone because of race, religion, gender, disability, national origin, etc.

 

...but thing like political affiliation, hair color, eye color, young age, etc. are not federally protected classes, and anyone can discriminate base on them (they shouldn't, but they legally can).

Well, I suppose so, as written.

But: I would gladly argue, if I had red hair, that banning me and all other red-haired people because of said red hair is because of potential Scottish/Irish heritage, and is therefore "national origin" based.  Any physical characteristic that is "associated" with racial or national affiliation is subject to falling afoul of that.  So although being "red headed" isn't a protect class (yet - the UK may be moving towards that), it has many echoes of profiling and discrimination, and I bet there is a shed-load of lawyers who'd love to jump on that bandwagon.

But if you try to roll on a giant beer-keg-sized tub of conditioner, you might get some interesting stares...

😉 

22 minutes ago, pajazz28 said:

Are frozen drink with alcohol included in the 15 drinks on the Cheers package? 

 

Any single drink under $20 with alcohol is included in your count of 15, including spiked coffees.

Doubleshots cannot be ordered under Cheers, but will count towards your alcohol limit of 15 regardless.  (Not sure if counted as one or two drinks.)

Buckets cannot be ordered - similar to Doubleshots - also not sure how they count.

Unspiked coffees, water, etc are not included in the 15 count.  See the Cheers page on the Carnival website.

3 minutes ago, pajazz28 said:

Going on Carnival Celebration and i have a question about boarding times. If yuo get a late boarding time and show up early will you be turned away? 

Probably at this stage.  They've been trying to enforce arrival times so that the terminal area doesn't turn into a circus.

If you show up "earlier" (not super early) and there is no crowd then they will possibly let you through in the "wrong time" queue.