edrussell

Perfect, I will park in your driveway and we can car pool....

I consider 'free' a fully COMP'd base fare. Taxes and port fees are always going to be charged. With Carnival we also get the 'deposit' back in OBC.

Far late to the party here, but wishing you all the best the rest of the way on your sailing. From a fellow Ontarioian.

Fair enough statement @mz-s and you have your opinion on the matter. I was asking for firsthand accounts and was going to take them at their word. You consider it useless information, I don't. Not like there is anything dependent on what a few people post in an online message board. If a few people post similar experiences then I can chose to do what I will with that information. Some people actually post accurate information about their results. I know I do. In fact take meticulous records. I have pictures of my point total before and after ANY session in the casino. I also have an accurate accounting of my bankroll before and after a session and can share that anytime. Sure it is only my word, and I fully recognize many people either stretch the truth or flat out lie, but some don't. Cheers, all the best.

I know, I was more hoping for first hand experiences and the 'norm'.

Still new to the casino on Carnvial as we have mostly sailed on RCCL (hosts on RCCL are bloody awful and invisible), how many points usually get their attention? Enough for an ASK of a steakhouse dinner maybe?

Full transparency that is above our normal range. I took a chance on a hundo in a 777's machine and ran it down to 14, then all the way back up over 1000 in about 30 minutes. Was a nice run for sure.

Our first and only sailing on Carnival thus far was a 7 day last Sept. We were COMP'd on the sailing (interior room) via Carnival status match that my wife applied for. So no play of any sort with Carnival before that sailing. We gambled slightly above our usual pace, but nothing too crazy. We had fewer sessions (exclusively slot players) but played at a higher spin (9 per spin) and did very well overall. Came out ahead for the trip. Ended up with just shy of 4000 points. There has been an avalanche of offers since. A mix of interior, oceanview, balcony etc. We are currently booked on 5 Carnival sailings into 2025! Super pleased with the COMP value.

Such a refreshing thread to read as opposed to the countless threads with people just whining and complaining about the smallest possible things they can find. Thanks for posting it.

Pool during the day, Miami Vice Afternoon, Coors Lite Evening, Crown and Ginger

You have to do your best and pick a sailing based on dates, ship, itinerary etc and then hope for the best. Even weighing all of those factors you occasionally win and you occasionally lose. Best case do your research and pick a ship with a decent amount of adults only areas that you hope you will enjoy. We just got off Wonder OTS (Feb 11-18) and there were definitely more kids than we expected but we did our research and knew Wonder had a great Solarium we hoped we would enjoy and boy did we! We used the pool deck sparingly and that was enough for us. Apart from that we frequent bars and the casino etc which are largely kid free. We don't mind the little buggers (our only child is grown and we now have grandkids) but we do acknowledge they can be a pain in the ___, especially so when parents don't parent. That said RCCL is a family line so there is that. You can always go the route of adult only lines, or roll the dice and hope.

Definitely no attack from me and in fact I'd actually agree with most of your observations. Full context we have 7 RCCL cruises under our belts with ships ranging from Wonder (most recent cruise) to Enchantment and Grandeur. We have 1 Carnival sailing (Venezia) and we have 6 more Carnival sailings booked with NO RCCL cruises. The primary reason being we sail via Casino COMP and the offers from RCCL are terrible lately. Specific observations from your post ring true with us, comedians, no comparison whatsoever. We've never really seen any comedian on RCCL that comes even close to Carnival. Not even close. That said though Carnival prides itself on comedians and they are up front about it. I believe RCCL only puts on comedy out of a feel of necessity rather than desire. Pizza (yes, yes VERY subjective I know), but the pizza on Venezia was lightyears above any Pizza I've had on any RCCL ship (most recently the pizza at Sorento's on Wonder was downright terrible). Rooms, well I strongly feel that is going to end up being more a factor of the ship itself than anything else. Food in the MDR, our experience on Venezia easily matches any RCCL ship and in fact tops many of them. The check in feature via the APP on Carnival makes My time MDR experiences so much better. People do get so emotionally attached to 'their brand' and that is 100% natural. We've never been overly loyal to one brand, especially so as the loyalty rewards mean little to nothing to us. The C & A program on RCCL seems to garner a lot of emotional attachment and to each their own but I'll never get that. Truth is both brands have something to offer and if one doesn't work for you, the the other might. All that said though until you actually get out there and sail both of them you can't make an educated comment on them, especially in a comparison.

Petty squabbles notwithstanding, there was no mention of this on Wonder on our Feb 11-18 sailing and in fact we had some deeper discussions with a more senior member of MDR staff and this topic came up in a round about way. Personally I think this would do wonders (pardon the pun) of fixing the cluster that is my time on Oasis class. Is there any reference to this anywhere besides rumor?

With Royal's use of a dynamic pricing model the closest you are ever going to get on beverage packages or specialty is an educated guess. Even with that educated guess pricing fluctuations can come out of nowhere. Best route is to take that educated guess and pick your cruise. Then buy whatever you want early on RCCL and cancel back as prices do fluctuate. That of course means you've already chosen your cruise. Depends if you are more or less risk averse.

Snagged it at 43.99 on our Wonder sailing a few weeks ago. Given that the pools and ocean were cold, the heated pool alone was worth the scratch.

Didn't find it crowded at all, no more than any Oasis Class anyway. Then again I don't mind crowds. We didn't stand in a line all week; well one line at El Loco Fresh for maybe 5 minutes. We had reservations at the MDR for My Time for 6:45, we had already been in contact with a maitre d who kept our table so we walked through the line and went right straight in each night. That definitely helped. We learned that from Oasis on our sailing last year, to make a contact in the MDR. We only went into the Windjammer twice and each time it wasn't that bad. No issues with children but then again we expect children on RCCL. If we wanted a child free cruise we'd sail another line. We LOVED this sailing and plan on doing the same one next year.

We just disembarked Wonder on Feb 18, and dined every single night of our 7 nights in the MDR. We aren't picky, we will be honest with food quality and while we also don't expect 5 star in the MDR on RCCL we do expect good food. We received that in spades. Of the 7 nights maybe 1 each of app/main/dessert was not up to par. Food was hot, seasoned well and perfectly timed. One in particular (I know this isn't food related, but it does relate to our overall experience) I arrived with my trademark whiskey already in hand and asked our server to have a replacement drink arrive right after our mains. Well it did just that, almost to the minute. Food elsewhere was fine, note that I say fine. Not fantastic, not awful, just fine. Windjammer for breakfast was OK. Our only disappointment was the pizza in Sorrento's. Just not good. Then again I am not a pizza lover anyway. We've noticed a distinct uptick in the food on Wonder comparing it against our last RCCL which was Grandeur in May of 2023. If we compare Wonder to Oasis on our last sailing on her there was no comparison, Wonder comes out ahead by a million miles. Food is so subjective though. Then again some come on here just to whine and complain no matter what they are served. To each their own I suppose.

Since I started the thread it was the right thing to do to come back and report our experience. As I had mentioned earlier we had a chance to get it cheaper and didn't, then it came back to 43.99 which we grabbed. We were onboard Wonder and Odyssey was also at Coco Cay. We got off the ship about 9:15 and were in Hideaway Beach by about 9:30 (we walked slowly and eventually grabbed the trolly). There weren't many pool chairs left but we happily grabbed a set of loungers with umbrellas on the beach and near a beach bar. The second we stepped into that heated pool we knew we made the right choice! It was heavenly as we knew Oasis Lagoon was cold. Also the ocean wasn't exactly warm either. Grabbed some drinks and took in the views along the wall. We spent most of the day in the pool, but did wander the area and went over to the on the rocks bar and listened to some live music. The DJ was definitely playing music and right between the swim up bar and the booth it was loud, but totally bearable for us. YMMV on that. There was more variety in food options inside Hideaway beach as well (seafood pizza was a hit for me). Lots of bar service and plenty of loungers. It was 100% worth it for us and we will go for about 45 PP or less during the cold weather months. During the warmer weather Oasis Lagoon will work for us. To each their own but I think they did a fine job with this area and I hope it stays just as is.

I am going to be there next Monday as well.

Has anyone that has actually BEEN THERE (not just watched a youtube video) comment on the ability to get out of earshot of the louder music?

On the 3 Royal Up we have won they all were 10 more than the min. Now they were won when ships were not sailing at full capacity. Since most of our rooms are interior casino COMP we roll the dice on Royal Up and still follow the same bid strategy. 10 more than min. If they win, they do, but we don't count on them.

My wife has issues about 50% of the time. I usually attribute it to her drinking her face off on our cruises.

Dropped back to 43.99 on our Wonder sailing for Feb 14. Just grabbed it. Will report back on our experience.

58.99 for our Wonder OTS sailing in 16 days. Can't remember how much less it was at other times but I think around 30 or so PP. Should have snagged it then. The heated pool alone might be worth it. Although a bunch of reviews I've watched it is clear the DJ is louder than we want.

RCCL is riding HIGH on Icon, star etc no doubt. Charging whatever the hell they want on these ships. They can and they WILL continue to get big bucks on them. They will sail full. Families will be happy etc. However, how many times per year can these families afford to sail? What about older ships in their fleet? Etc. Make no mistake RCCL is going NOWHERE, but I strongly feel they are treating a large number of their 'loyal to royal' folks, including gamblers poorly. It will catch up to them in the long run. I bet even money that the TC required to hit Prime soon goes up as well. Truth is once we get used to the Carnival experience we won't go back to RCCL. Is what it is. Maybe they couldn't careless and that is understandable if we don't hit their radar anymore.