samiam0403

Since the restart of cruising, I've sailed on Carnival, Royal, Oceania, and Azamara. I've only seen the bad behavior on Carnival - 2 grown men fighting while in line at the casino cashier's cage, a grown (very drunk) man shouting at the casino bar staff (and security) because neither they, nor the bar on the pool deck, would give him a new key card after he lost his, a drunk woman spilling her full beer down my back, a 70-80 year old woman on the elevator pulling the back of my dress down and poking at my back tattoo, a multi-generation family parking themselves in the entirety of the outside smoke area with strollers and blaring music for the length of the cruise, grown adults and children/teens randomly sitting on the stairs and blocking the entire stairway while refusing to move, the list goes on and on. Only on Carnival, in my experience. I've cruised with Carnival for about 20 years - I truly miss the Carnival of old, but I know it's likely not coming back. I'll also still cruise with Carnival if the timing/deal is right (like my upcoming Elite cruise to Iceland), but probably not on anything shorter than 7 days. I know the passenger makeup changes every sailing, so maybe it's just bad luck on my part. I hope so, because when Carnival gets things right they put out a great product. But when things go wrong, it's very very wrong - and they don't seem to be in a hurry to fix it. Now pardon me while I don my flame-proof suit...

Interesting that it must be used on a newly booked cruise. I've always used them on already-booked cruises. My last O cruise was in April, and I put my discount on a 2024 cruise that I've had booked since last year. In fact, all but the first one I received have been applied to previously booked cruises. I hope this isn't a new change for O/CAS!

Thanks for posting this! Hubs and I are booked on an Elite cruise in July (free suite, $2500 free play, $200 OBC) from one of my offers, but he receives a lot of his own offers. This post just reminded me to email the casino department to see if he'll get any additional free play. Thanks again!

They did. Marina was definitely restocked, as there were some beverages unavailable on boarding day that I was told hadn't been brought up to the bars yet. Those beverages were available on day 2.

Have just remembered to let you know how this went on Marina last month - these drinks are not included in any beverage package, and there is no discount. This drink menu was at Horizon's bar. I find it odd that Carnival includes Blanton's etc with their drink package, but O doesn't. (Don't flame me - I'm obviously not saying C is better than O in any way shape or form! 🤣)

Thanks for posting that! Curious to see if they have it on board Marina next week. I've never seen Blanton's or WR Double Oaked on board - I've only seen basic Woodford. But I'll be very happy if they do!

Woodford is definitely included - at least it was in December, I should say. But it isn't listed anywhere I've seen for $25. And also wondering where you saw Blanton's? I will be an exceedingly happy camper if O has started carrying it!

Good clarification. The non-alcoholic beer is also not included. It was hit or miss on whether or not the bartenders would include it as a second drink during 2-for-1 happy hours (I had the premium bev package, husband did not.) I don't believe they're technically supposed to include a different beverage during happy hour, but I took it as a bonus when they did!

Just to clarify a few comments made here, you definitely do not need to sail on an Ultra or earn a set number of points on an Ultra before you get an Elite offer. My first Elite cruise was in summer of 2019, and I didn't sail on an Ultra until March of 2020. (And thanks to COVID, we missed pretty much every port and returned to the world being shut down.) I won't do another Ultra (waaaaaay too crowded), but have 2 more Elites booked for this summer in Europe. The Elites are capacity controlled - I was told by the casino folks that they will only book 50 cabins max per cruise.

As a fellow gambling degenerate, most of my offers include DOUE for me and a companion. I really think they're random - my current offers include Elites in a suite with $2500 free play, Ultras in an oceanview with $500 free play, the random assortment of Play My Way offers from a balcony to a suite and from $500 to $1000 free play, and a Hot Streak offer in an Interior with basic DOU and $200 free play. There are some other Australian offers in there, but we're waiting to do Australia in a few years. I wonder if Carnival's just trying to get me back on board after my last 3-day cruise where I actually left with quite a bit of their money. 🤣

True. I just found it odd that I got comments from older women like, 'that's not very country club casual,' or 'so much for country club casual, I guess!' And yes, those were the exact comments. So bizarre. We'll see if i get any comments when i wear the exact same outfit on my transatlantic in a few weeks. 🤷‍♀️🤣

Exactly. Heck, I even got a few comments about being too dressed up on my last Sirena cruise. (For reference, I was wearing a plain black dress with a black sheer poncho covering my shoulders and upper arms.) There really is no pleasing some people. If it meets the published policy, it's fine.

I would just recommend that everyone read the fine print closely on the missed port coverage - certain states of residence are not included. A friend was telling me about all of the money he and his family got back for missing a few ports, and I looked at the policy he used - not valid for residents of Florida. Oh, the cash I could have made on my last few cruises if I didn't live in Florida at the time!

On my last cruise in November/December. Not Carnival though. I miss the days of real butter and bread baskets placed on the table. And the days of freely available late night food (I'm a night owl). This has been a fun thread to read - there was a lot of 'oh yeah! They DID used to do that.'

We were able to buy cigarettes in Horizons when not in port on Sirena in November. They don't advertise it at all - luckily for us, a ship's officer was in the smoking lounge and gave us the scoop. (We had planned to buy cigarettes in our first port, but it got cancelled.)

Just so you're aware, sharing with the drink packages is not permitted. I'm sure some people do it anyway, but if they're caught Carnival can cancel the drink package.

The casino Drinks Everywhere is exactly the same as the Cheers package. It's always a nice perk!

Wow - just checked my upcoming cruise. It's now showing, like yours, $69.95 a day. Glad I bought it on Friday at the lower rate. Wonder what's going on?

First drink on board? Prosecco or sparkling wine, or a mimosa. Favorite drink on board? Blanton's on the rocks or an old fashioned if I can convince the bartender to not muddle the fruit or add club soda. 🤢

I'm a smoker, and I agree 100%. Drives me batty when people light up in no smoking areas. Kick 'em off the ship, I say.

Yes, there are other cruise lines that allow smoking on the balcony. I was shocked when we sailed on our first Costa cruise in 2019 - aft wrap suite on a transatlantic. Spending sea days on the massive balcony with a book, a glass of wine, and a cigarette was heaven. They provided wind-proof ashtrays, but I always used a water bottle filled with tap water to prevent any issues.

I am positively weeping at the fact that Blanton's and WR Double Oaked aren't included in the Prestige Package. Even Carnival includes the Blanton's in their package. But then again, if they were included, Oceania would likely discontinue the beverage packages after my sailing. 🤣

I've done both Elite and Ultra - and like yours, the Ultra was insanely packed. The hosts told me on the Elite that they capacity control them to about 50 guests per cruise (100 with companions). Of course, that was pre-COVID, so who knows at this point. Hoping the casino on my Elites in July and September aren't too crazy.

I've never had one demagnetize on O. It has happened on other cruise lines - one even got demagnetized by the snap on my clutch. Maybe I'm just more aware of it now? But I always have my keycard in a wristlet with my cell phone - I just try to keep them separated by something like the Currents folded up.

Did you sign up for 'In the Kitchen With Jacques' with this description: Help us celebrate the glorious career of our Executive Culinary Director, Jacques Pépin. Regarded in the chef community as the master of technique, Jacques has demonstrated a lifelong passion for culinary technique that inspired this class. Brush up on your knife skills and master the emulsion – the secret to perfect salad dressings. Prepare a collection of delicious dishes while practicing the basic techniques that chefs have learned from Jacques over the past six decades. If so, I would imagine that's just one of the normal cooking classes on Marina - unless you're booked on a special culinary cruise that he will be on?