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Last I recall parking at Hilton was over $40/day...

Haven't cruised in almost 15 years -- will I be disappointed? Yes

It is the Golden Restaurant and I agree with everything you said 🙂

Agree with what starstruck05 said. I would add that we first tried YTD because we hated the location of the Platinum Restaurant (the one at the back of the ship that has set dining times). We have stayed with YTD ever since. The problem with the location of the Platinum Restaurant is limited ways to get there which results in crowded conditions and inability to get elevators. The only ways to get there if you are on the deck 3 level are the one set of elevators or the stairs. There is no way forward on that deck. The dining room and the lobby for the elevators and stairs are isolated, an island unto themselves on that floor. You don't want to get there a bit early. If you think elevators can be packed you will be amazed how packed that little elevators/stairs lobby can get with people waiting for the dining room doors to open.

Thanks for the update. I'm glad to hear things were good. We sail Glory a lot and, while the cuts have hit it (particularly food quality) the crew has generally made things work. We were disappointed with Glory on our December cruise, but our January cruise was our best since covid. We'll be back in a few weeks and your comments have upped the odds our December cruise was a one-off. What made the January cruise especially good was the fellow passengers were all great. So your comments about that is a good sign. Edit: I just noticed your cruise was the one right after ours. As we were getting off you were getting on. So nice passengers two cruises in a row!

Same boat for me. Apparently someone coming up to his partner and saying "God you're ugly" doesn't bother him. Apparently when stepping to get off the elevator when the doors open and finding a few guys walking in so stopping expecting them to let him by he is instead told to "get out of the way" it doesn't bother him. I have seen both these things on recent cruises and even though I was not involved it bothered me. I can't and don't want to understand those who it doesn't bother.

Let me fix that - You are grumpy! 😇

I think I have entered the Twilight Zone. Here I am just hoping they still serve food on my next cruise and you guys are talking about sample baskets????🤣.

Try not to poop on a nurser shark this time...

Just my opinion, but I think you just had bad luck. Unfortunately with the cutbacks bad luck happens more often these days. I recently did a comment on our December cruise on Glory and more recently on our January cruise on Glory. Two significantly different experiences on the same ship one month apart. A recently new (to us) problem that you touched on is the condition of cabins. Back when there were cabin Stewards the Steward was responsible for the condition of the cabin and had the authority to get things fixed. Apparently the Stateroom Attendants of today are only expected to clean certain surfaces, make the beds, know your name and bring robes and ice if requested. No one is responsible for the condition of the room. Passengers are now responsible for reporting problems. We have noticed telling the Stateroom Attendant about problems rarely produces results. I don't think they have any authority to make the maintenance people do anything. But customer service has been Johnny-on-the-spot for us, though not always easy to contact. On our last two cruises we arrived to cabins with unacceptable problems that were quickly rectified once we contacted customer service. Boorish fellow cruisers has become a fairly constant problem since covid. I noted in my comments on our January cruise that it was one of our best cruises in a long time greatly because for the first time in a long time everyone we came across was courteous, polite and friendly. That was a first for a post-covid fully booked cruise (the masked post-covid cruises still had civilized passengers) and made all the difference. One thing we do avoid is cruises of less than seven days. There are fewer boorish passengers on the longer cruises in our experience. We recently booked our first cruise on NCL. When talking to the Personal Cruise Consultant he asked what we were looking for on NCL different from Carnival. We told him housebroken passengers. See how your next cruise goes. We also are contemplating the possibility cruising in current conditions may no longer be something we want to do and are taking it a step at a time. So far the pluses outweigh the minuses, but the gap has narrowed.

Two possibilities: One, some of the more recent Carnival cruisers are onboard. Two, It's Virgin. But they are not perfect. The guy charged with cleaning the creases where the wall meets the floor dropped come cleaning supplies.

After our December cruise on the Glory I did a post “Glory Catches Up” covering our experience on that cruise. This past Sunday we got back from our latest Glory cruise and I thought I would compare it with the December cruise. Many of the disappointments of the December cruise were not encountered on this January cruise. Namely: Embarkation was a breeze. They allowed Diamond and Platinum folks in the priority lines. The drink stations were always stocked; none of the no spoons to stir your coffee or no coffee cups irritations. The eating places always had utensils. The food in the MDR was served hot. The shops were fully stocked with booze and cigarettes to buy. So many small irritations disappeared while the pleasant aspects I noted (steak and cheese sandwich, working internet and especially the great bartenders) remained. Disappointments that remain: Drink waiters in the casino are often nowhere to be found. They still send you to cabins with unacceptable and obvious defects. On the December cruise they sent us to a room with one of the drawer looking things on the lower couch front hanging half off. When we reported it they fixed it, but it was obvious so why wasn’t it already fixed? On this January cruise the headboard (or whatever you call that upholstered pad on the wall at the head of the bed) was grossly dirty (pic below). We reported it and they replaced it. But there is no way a person could have made that bed without noticing the problem. Why wasn’t it already fixed? The pic gives you the idea, but in person it looks worse. But the cruise was great. We had the best cruise we have had in a long time. The crew were wonderful as always but the biggest improvement was the fellow passengers. Since covid Carnival has attracted some boorish passengers but on this cruise everyone we encountered was polite, considerate and friendly. That more than made up for any Carnival shortcomings.

The key is not where you sail from but where you sail to. We just got back from a cruise out of New Orleans on the Glory that went to Key West, Freeport and Nassau. It was the coldest cruise we have ever taken. The reason is that Key West was the southern most point of the cruise. On the Cozumel, Belize, Roatan run the first night will be New Orleans weather, if it was cold in New Orleans then the first sea day might be long sleeve shirt weather but after that cold is not a problem. On that run you are going straight south from the get-go. Swimming will not be a problem though Cozumel can feel a little cool in mid winter - more morning air temp than anything.

I think visiting the Wet Lizard probably had more impact on your memory than age will someday... But you your memory is correct!

As long as they have a corporate Margaritaville or Senor Frogs I see no need to go further.😇.

I don't know anything about that company, but do have a suggestion for something to do. If they still have it as a Carnival tour we once took an excursion that simply went up then back down the Belize River. It was easy and relaxing with lots to see.

Tendering is a real hassle as far as timing. That is greatly eased if you are on a Carnival sponsored excursion, so at tender ports we only take Carnival excursions. They make sure you get off the ship at the right time and get back on time.

Looking at our past boarding passes the first boarding pass we got with a boarding time was in February of 2016. But, pre-covid Diamond and Platinum could ignore that and arrive anytime they wanted. While, in theory, they have restored priority lines for Diamond and Platinum I have not heard that they have eliminated the post-covid rule that everyone had to come at their boarding time. I say in theory because, despite having that email from the Carnival President saying Diamond and Platinum again had priority boarding, for our December 11 cruise out of New Orleans they said only suite and faster to the fun got priority boarding. So it is a real mess these days. Even if you get Carnival's rules straight there is every possibility the folks at the terminal are following their own rules.

Y'all think Southerners talk funny? Bless your heart.

I don't remember the start time. My sleep hours at home are go to bed between 1:30am and 2am and wake up 9:30 - 10 so their something like 6 or 7am start time I didn't even consider. But I do remember the noon end time. Like I said, saying anytime after 10 has worked for us. But it is a shame I have to set my alarm clock on vacation when I don't at home. At a hotel they don't tie me to a time. We just put out the do not disturb and they come after that is gone. It seems like Carnival could do the same.

Not talking down but there is a significant difference just as there is a significant difference between an attorney and a paralegal. Both are good, honest work (well... attorney...) but one has a much larger scope of service than the other. Most lines no longer have stewards. A steward in the old days (and I know things have changed and won't go back and I'm not asking for that - just explaining the difference) was a prestigious position with significant responsibility and authority. They were responsible for the room and the guest's lodging comfort. In that system they were the person you tipped and they in turn tipped out those whose behind the scenes work enabled them to carry out their responsibility. That gave them leverage to get things done in addition to their formal authority to get things done. Note that they were responsible for the room. You were not sent to a room with broken furniture in those days. The steward noted any problems and had them fixed as they occurred since they looked for anything out of order everyday. They were responsible for the guest's lodging comfort so they didn't just bring fresh towels and clean, they observed. If the guest usually threw off the blanket, for example, they might offer a lighter blanket or if you came with a baby they immediately offered the requisite items. They didn't ask when you wanted the room cleaned, they observed your habits and movements did their thing while you were out. They were a true wonder. That is a far cry from today's change towels, make bed, vacuum and get out. Today's stateroom attendants are essentially room maids with the added responsibility of knowing your name and bringing ice each day if asked. Both are honorable occupations, but they are vastly different in their scope of service.

I said it is just a minor irritation. I was just trying to explain that it is not just a once a day v. twice a day issue.

We are not happy with the "Stateroom Attendant" (they no longer have Stewards, just maids) situation but it has nothing to do with once a day or twice a day. It is them trying to force us onto their schedule, and it keeps getting worse. We sail mostly on the Glory. Our sailing season is September to April and we did three cruises thru April of last year and so far have done three since September of last year. Starting in September we are no longer offered evening service. It is "I clean between x (with x being some obscene early time) to noon. What time would you like me to come?" So far we have done fine with saying anytime after 10 and putting the snooze sign out to cover the few times we are not out by 10. But we resent them trying to put us on a schedule for their convenience. They are now little different than motel maid service, but motel maids don't try to dictate your schedule. So, do we like it? No. Is it a big deal? Not at this point - just a minor irritation. But it does make the gratuities game even more absurd. Do you tip the maids at the motel? Before the attack dogs come, we prepay the cruise gratuities and consider it part of the cruise price. The gratuities are just Carnival itemizing employee pay but they don't include it in their cruise price to keep the advertised cruise price down. We are not going to hurt the crew because Carnival chooses to play games.

It's a crapshoot in the casino. It depends on how many drinks waiters they put out on the floor. Post covid waiters came frequently; that is until more recent months. In the last five months or so our experience has been you have to track them down and tackle them. I would be tempted to say it is a cost cutting measure, but pre-covid it was not unusual for there to be few waiters on the floor so it seems they have brought back that pre-covid irritation. You are supposed to be actively playing for them to take your order but as someone mentioned previously once they get to know you it is a different story.

My view is the one I stated in the old "Carnival CEO plans to raise prices: "we are way too much of a value" thread I said: "I think for the Carnival brand the “get you on board to sell you things” approach will become more intense to raise revenue rather than raise cruise fares to raise revenue. On our latest cruise we were bombarded with sales pitches for things like a wine package which was new to us. The cruise director spent a huge amount of time on the announcements promoting shore excursions, spa treatments, photos, jewelry sales and the like. I expect an increase in the prices of things like specialty dining and drinks packages and photos and spa treatments more than increases in cruise fares. The food is bad in the main dining room? Then go pay for a specialty restaurant." I think that is what we are seeing. They will keep the advertised price low but do all they can to increase the on-board spend via hard sells and price increases for everything not in the base cruise price. They will probably increase base cruise prices a bit when they can, but the main thrust is the add on items.