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Charades at 3:15 in the atrium!!!! Always fun.

For those interested, here's a link to the stream of the launch the other night. The payload was 56 Starlink satellites, the ones that cruises are beginning to use for internet service. The stream around T minus 30 minutes has some photos of how the small satellites are all stacked flat to fit into the second stage rocket that separates from the reusable first stage section. The first stage is the part that returns to earth and lands upright on a drone ship. They are launching these every few days so hopefully we will be able to see the arcs from cruises throughout the year.

Yeah I probably shouldn't write comments at 4 am.

Hopefully not the case anymore but I hired a Lyft in October 2021 from the port of Galveston to hobby airport and it was $175 - surge pricing. This was back when a party of 4 had to use Lyft XL or whatever it is called. The taxi stand had about 15 families waiting and we saw 1 taxi pulled up in 20 minutes. Hopefully more drivers now.

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If your hotspot is from T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T etc, it's probably relying on the cellular network for service and may work when sailing near land or while in ports but will probably not be able to find a connection in the middle of the ocean. If you are sailing near another country, you may need roaming service which may cost more depending on your hotspot service plan, so you may want to check with your provider before using it.

Well, I'm not from the Great White North myself and I wanted to give it as a gift, but yes I think that would work.

What would be even cooler than that is a lapel pin of your absolutely awesome Canadian poutine Venn diagram logo. Where can I get one of those? Asking for a friend, by which I really mean yours truly because I really want one.

It's ridiculous. We usually look for a day spa in a port where we don't have any other special plans. Costs are maybe a quarter of that.

That's so brilliant it's almost diabolical. So elegantly simple. Well played!

But seriously: If you have the wifi package, maybe use WhatsApp?

Not Cruise Critic forums. A lot of people here are often talking past each other, so I suggest staying in touch using some other means of communication.

Thanks, this is an informative report. Did you partake in any entertainment or listen to any live music? If so, what are your thoughts about them? Thanks for posting!

Now that we can schedule our reservations in advance, my strategy will be to have a leisurely brunch the morning of embarkation and then make our way to the port in the early afternoon, when hopefully the crowds in the port building will have subsided and our room will be ready.

Thanks for all the details. Very helpful to see which shows can be booked in advance. Great report so far, very much appreciated but please don't let it keep you from enjoying your vacation!

What I was trying to say is that I like the idea of booking in advance. I might feel differently if everything is full when it's my turn....?

I was hoping they would show Carnival Legends, the old show where they got guests to play Sinatra, Elton John etc, but I didn't see it or maybe I missed it? That was fantastic and I really miss it. I wasn't really a fan of the Carnival 2.0 rebranding.

That's a lot of people doing a lot of waiting. Once they roll out advance show reservations, is there any reason to board early? My preference is to check in around 1pm but I can show up earlier if there is a benefit to it.

Also it was a bit confusing making dinner reservations online when I didn't know which night the shows would be. I might have booked dinner during a show, hopefully it will be easy to plan entertainment around dining or vice versa.

Well, one "feature " could be selling tickets.....? I hope not Even though I'm in steerage without any status, I prefer knowing which shows I will be able to see in advance to having to arrive early to port and race to book on the app. I prefer to spend the morning in Miami and check in later after the crowds subside and my room is ready.

Can you please post a link to that thread? I could not find it from your profile. I would be interested in seeing the Fun Times (Capers?). Thanks!

I'm one of those weirdos who likes mustard and ketchup.

I don't know the answer of how the different cruise lines came to different conclusions but I've been in situations where reasonable people can draw different conclusions from the same information. Also, here are a few reasons that potentially could sway things in different directions. (Just brainstorming here. I fully admit these are ideas I pulled out of my a$$ and they could be completely incorrect so no need to be harsh.) My last cruise was on Carnival in October 2021, and most of the staff we interacted with said they were long-time employees, whereas people on this board report many new employees. That is anecdotal information but if in fact NCL has had to onboard comparatively more staff recently, NCL might think they need more practice managing crowds. Different people have different relative opinions of different risks. It's possible that NCL management assumed that their customers being in a crowded room together was less of a risk than their employees not getting that crowd management practice. Maybe the difference between NCL and Carnival/RC is that with many guests using the free-at-sea package, NCL has less to lose by closing bars etc , whereas if most Carnival guests are paying by the drink, they view the first afternoon of the cruise as a time when people are very apt to buy drinks. In any case, It is not surprising that the new in-person muster these first few cruises with that new policy didn't go well. I hope they learn from their mistakes and work out the kinks. Thinking back to when I last went on a cruise with an in-person muster drill pre-pandemic, I remember it being mildly annoying but nothing like how people have been describing it here. Hopefully they will get things ironed out and if they keep the in-person muster policy, they won't have so many arbitrary and onerous rules and it will take less time.

Most of the Carnival sailaway parties I have seen have been led by the cruise director or maybe other entertainment staff, who are naturals at getting people into a vacation/party mood, and feature line dancing etc. You can find plenty of videos of them on youtube.

I would eat at le Bistro because I enjoy French food and it's so hard to find in the Western United States. I'm not aware of any French restaurants within 500 miles of my home that would cost less than $300 to eat at. I really wish they would offer foie gras as an appetizer though, and would be willing to pay extra for it, because foie gras is so delicious simply spread on a piece of crusty bread without a pesky filet mignon in the way. Has anyone been successful in ordering off the menu at le Bistrot or any of the other specialty restaurants?