jimbo5544

Again, not the point of the thread, but if they choose to give away their money (in the casino), so be it. Counting it the same as hard earned dollars spent on cruises is totally different. I do not have a problem with them getting comped, just should not be counting the same as booking cruises. There are times when I get a cruise severely comped or free, it does NOT count towards my numbers. Same for other revenue. Everybody contributes, I spend more on rooms than others, so what. All that said, it is their ballgame and their ball, they can do whatever they want. I am fine with it yesterday, fine with it today and will be fine with it tomorrow.

Enjoy your cruise, let us know your thoughts when you return.

Interesting post. Thanks. You are a perfect example on Carnivals plan of home ports.

Fair summation. Caveat emptor.

I did not know. Thanks for the info. Hopefully she will be saved before that happens/.

Think you missed the point….

Some things never change

Did not want to get off topic (even though it is my thread). That said, my view is what I stated. People choose to gamble, just like we all choose to cruise. My view, the perk should be for what EVERYONE pays for. JMHO…

I think their (Carnival) motivation is pretty clear. We have done this MANY times and never had an issue where we did it.

Wait a minute, FB is not factual? Thought all those fact checkers took care of those things….

When it was put in place I bet that number was just fine. Oh, by the way, those people pushing 1,000 days are called casino rates. IMHO, they should not even be in the program

And the price of eggs in Jamaica went down by 13%, same relevance.

That is all there is right now, but there are changes coming

Be careful what you ask for

I get it. If I were a betting man (I am not), I would think we will see something this year. Time will tell.

On his morning post on his FB page John again talked about future changes to the loyalty program that are in the works by Carnival brass and that the first will start on next weeks cruises (after 7/25 I believe) having to do with opening up the timing for the Gold/Plat/Diamond drink from after 5pm on last cruise day.

While only semi related, still have hopes that the USS Untied States gets refurb and be able to tour it. Having it near the cruise port would add to the experience.

Op, the message is that the way to cover for this in the future is travel insurance, It is is low cost and there are many options (cruise line or external) that can cover you for exactly the scenario that happened to you (some include all costs to get you to the cruise ships as well). While it is an expensive lesson to learn, hopefully it will protect you and whomever you cruise with in the future. Enjoy your future cruises.

No dog in this fight (do not really think there is a dog fight….but the point is valid). They have shown they can add homeports (seasonal at any rate), they do it all the time. As for Elation and Paradise, they will end their cruising time when the business case says it is time, where is TOTALLY open. All that said, nothing may change, but if Carnival has shown us something, it is they are extremely open to adding seasonal homeports if there is a business model to do so. By far more than any other cruise line, their model is to establish a homeport to support new cruisers with cruising opportunities that might not be able to or want to travel great distances to do so.

Ahhh, get it now. Thanks

At least for now, 6, 7 or 8 days are the only way to go on Excel class ships. Our experience is there is no difference in the crowds on these types of cruises. Agree that WHEN you cruise does make a significant difference as to the experience.

Not sure what OV deck is.

Carnival (as does most lines) dock at Kings Wharf. There is a ride (either water or land) to downtown Hamilton. The island offers a lot in terms of exploring, but it is a very sophisticated island compared to a Caribbean island. It is also very pricey. While I do not know, I would say buying soda on land there would be al least expensive as on the ship. Only basing that on land trips we have done there.

Well they def are a third party and can be expensive. By default we-look at the cruise line excursions, just easier and there is some added security. That said, our experience has been that Viator is way better than something like Kayak, and they offer a breadth of offerings most at reasonable pricing and have always been very reliable.

That are pretty darn good.