groundloop

WHY Carnival do you allocate so many good cabins to groups of 3 or more ?!?!?!?! I just took a look at the Journeys cruise that was recently announced for January of 2025 out of Mobile. For the aft balcony cabins there were 14 that were available only to groups of 3 or more, and 6 which were available to doubles. Now, approximately a week after that cruise was put on sale there are 13 out of 16 of the cabins still available for 3 or more, and only 3 out of 6 that are available for doubles. What started me on this rant is that I jumped at the chance to book that cruise since it's an itinerary we haven't done yet (Aruba and Curacao) and we prefer aft facing balconies whenever we can get them. I would have liked to be on deck 6, halfway between the dining room on deck 3 and Lido on deck 9, but I wasn't allowed to book any of the aft balcony cabins on deck 6 because they were all allocated to groups of 3 or more. 🤬 Of course we'll survive, but I just don't see why Carnival limits the availability of these cabins to couples.

And that small minority of people happen to be the ones who complain the loudest. I felt like the art on Pride was very well done, it seems that the cruising experience is being 'dumbed down'. Not too long ago John Heald fielded a complaint from someone whose family was seated near the David statue at the steakhouse..... these people consumed their entire meal and after the fact demanded a refund because they didn't approve of the classical art.

THIS particular issue, in my most humble opinion, is a result of messy procedures Carnival has in place. Why should it be so difficult to issue _ME_ a refund (via an e-gift card) for an excursion which _I_ purchased while logged into _MY_ Carnival account?

We've been on Pride twice, and once on each of the other Spirit Class ships. This is my favorite class of ship, I think you'll like Pride.

Yes it was. What the FunShops rep told me was that since the cruise was booked through a travel agent they had to do a manual reconciliation (or what the heck ever it's called) to make sure that the replacement e-gift card didn't go to the travel agent.

I don't believe so, just tell Guest Services that you want extra room keys.

As with the other responses, my cruise was booked through a travel agent but excursions were purchased directly from the Carnival website. It just doesn't make sense (to my feeble little mind anyway) why getting a refund from a purchase made directly with Carnival should be so complicated.

Yep, I already have one booked. Mobile is the most convenient port for me so I'm glad to see Carnival adding a bit of variety.

THIS^^^^^ I had this issue a month ago. I had received an email stating that my refund was being processed, and then............. nothing. I wound up being on the phone with someone in fun-shops for 54 minutes, but it finally got taken care of. The rep I talked to explained about about the "manual intervention", but this is really something Carnival needs to improve upon. Besides giving customers high blood pressure it's costing Carnival a lot to have employees spending time dealing with this.

I'm sure placing books you've finished in the library would be much preferable to leaving them for your cabin steward to deal with.

Yep, I totally agree. I'm not a big fan of the Conquest Class, I liked the cruises out of New Orleans better when they were on Dream.

There are around 15 or so regular balcony cabins (not obstructed view) available right now. Not surprising because final payment is coming up in a couple of weeks.

We were on Sunshine a couple of months ago. Really nothing out of the ordinary except that the ship was FULL (although that's the new normal), and I much prefer cruises longer than 5 days. The theatre is smallish, only two decks, so if you want a good seat for shows you better get there early. All in all it was a good cruise.

Am I correct in assuming these are casino offers? (I don't gamble and have gotten exactly zero worthwhile offers in the past year).

I sure wouldn't base my decision on which ship to book based on the whale tail, that'll have zero influence on the enjoyment of your cruise. With that being said, we were on Freedom for Thanksgiving last year and were very disappointed, if that would have been our first time cruising it probably would have also been our last (we've been on 15 cruises now with another 8 booked through next year). It was extra crowded for Thanksgiving and Freedom just didn't seem to handle the crowds well, there were long lines for everything. There was also a distinct sewage smell in the hall not too far from our cabin. To add insult to injury we debarked at a different terminal than where we got on the ship and had to be bussed back to our cars and that was a disorganized mess (I later checked the Port Canaveral port authority schedule it looks like Freedom is the only ship Carnival does this with - the red-headed step child so to speak).

Log into your account on the Carnival website after you get back from your cruise, sometimes they have 'recent cruiser' deals. From what I've seen those deals apply to just a limited sampling of cruises. And if you do end up booking a cruise on that promotion the rate would apply to anyone in your cabin.

Neat. Hopefully I can sail her someday.

Same here. If they let us take our friends / family / someone I just met to the priority water shuttle then half the ship would be there.

Does anyone know if Carnival has released their entire transatlantic schedule for 2024, or if there might be more to come?

What I was taught, and still believe, is that a headline should be a short summation of the main point in the article. The point about getting reader's attention has become a thing in recent years with certain news organizations that put profits over accuracy.

Yep, that wasn't a very accurate headline (I took Journalism in High School). However, there was a minority of passengers who were more worried about themselves than saving the lives of the 24 people on that small boat. I just don't get how some people can be so cold, self centered, and have such disregard for the safety of other people.

You'd think they'd have put them in the library for everyone. My wife and I both love to relax on our balcony with a good book, and most of the time when we're done we donate them to the library.

If that happens again call security, that's the only way it's going to stop. Once people hear about folks being fined and/or put off the ship they'll be far less likely to bother us with their stench. Also, in 15 cruises on Carnival I've never seen a fight. Closest I got was watching someone get told off by his wife after he fell flat on his face sh#& faced drunk on embarkation day before sail away.

I've had luggage waiting for me when we were able to go to our cabin at 1:30 and I've had it not arrive until after dinner. They have to move thousands of pieces of luggage and there's just no way to know when it will show up.

Carnival either gets serious about keeping pot off the ships or they lose customers who don't want to smell it while relaxing on their balconies.