bamaone

Don’t know the wine list but we were getting the free bottle and our server  suggested we upgrade to J Lohr. It was a good recommendation.

Call it what you want but the employees are there to earn money. If they can earn extra money by showing a little more attention to a particular passenger that’s what they’re going to do. For that matter, who wouldn’t do a little extra for higher pay? Isn’t that why we work? For the money 

57 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Carnival Spirit has a Red Frog Pub and therefore Fish Bowls.

 

Carnival Spirit is supposed to cruise out of Mobile next year.

 

BAM!

Well done

4 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

I like that better. 

I’m trying to figure out how Alabama got involved.

7 hours ago, Ellaleah said:

I don’t have nearly the cruise history that you seem to and I really enjoy your knowledgeable posts.  

Now that's funny. Thanks for the laugh. I feel better.

1 minute ago, TheSeagoer said:

So the test with an expiration date gets a 15 month extension date to expiration makes you wonder if the test is valid.

Being honest,  I don’t really care. I just need a negative test to get on my cruise. 

Most test expiration dates have been extended. Binax  is the first 2 listed. 15 month extension.

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list

2 minutes ago, jetsfan58 said:

The end result revolves around available cash and the degree to which the first line creditors believe in the Carnival Brand. They will continue to offer sporadic "discounted" deals because still only about 15% of the total US population has ever cruised.

 

Why would they walk away from that potential cash?  

I agree it’s great to lure new customers with more affordable pricing. But at some point you have to make money or you don’t survive. Carnival is so far in debt  right now they’re having difficulty making payments. They may not be able to wait out a turnaround without price increases to cover operating cost.

On 7/28/2022 at 9:26 PM, Lane Hog said:

Uh, it's more like You don't understand airline economics... 

I've worked for over 35 years in the airline industry, most of it in operations and management, and currently do so from the worldwide operations center for one of the five biggest airlines in the world.

Cancellations cost money. 

You have to pay another airline to carry your passengers and/or put people up in a hotel. 

You have to pay the crew regardless if the flight operates.

You have to pay the people who need to rebook and reticket customers on alternate flights.

The ripple effect of not sending a crew and airplane where it's expected to be can screw up operations for an entire day or longer, costing even more money.

That all adds up pretty quickly, which is why cancellation is a measure of last resort.

It's simply not done to save money

If you go back and read the thread you’ll see we are talking about canceling flights that are not effected by any of the cost you mentioned. But thanks for giving us your company talking points, even if the don’t apply. 

10 minutes ago, jetsfan58 said:

 As a result Carnival should not have to raise prices for us to continue to enjoy their family fun filled products. 

Carnival is paying more for everything that keeps their business going. Wages, fuel, food, and materials. How can a company survive with negative finances?

9 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Over 50% of my cruises are on Carnival and once again they are second to Royal.  Don't know if you've ever been on the Royal boards, but to them Carnival is a joke, just like when the comedians and CD's on Royal also make fun of Carnival.

Why do you care so much about a message board with anonymous individuals posting messages that have a different opinion than you?

After reading this entire thread I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way to avoid this situation in the future is to never have a nation wide lock down of any kind ever again. 

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

All this talk of oil here, a subject I follow closely. Anyone watch the cnbc special inside exxon. 3 board members got elected to their board anti oil who are trying to shut down oil. Another issue is no new refineries have  been built here in over 40 years. One of the remaining got converted in 2020 so capacity is even tighter. 

 

One of the biggest issues with the green thinkers is that they don't actually think. They have no idea how many things depend on fossil fuels (petroleum) that we use in our everyday lives. A barrel of oil is broken down into many different products. Each barrel gives specific quantities of those products. In other words you can't produce one without the other. So if you reduce gasoline production, you also have to reduce every other product made from a barrel of oil by the same percentages. Click on the link and see for yourself.

https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/video-of-the-day-life-without-petroleum-based-products/

18 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

 

No, they're not canceling flights to save money.  Flight schedules change constantly due to a variety of factors (available crew, available airplanes, runway construction, and customer demand just to name a few).  Your actual flight times probably won't be locked in until 20-31 days ahead of departure.

 

No doubt flights are changed for reasons you mentioned. But if you think they’re not also being canceled for cost savings you don’t understand how economics work.

4 hours ago, DrSea said:

With the US technically being in a recession with 2 quarters of negative GPD growth, how do you think this will affect cruise fares? 

According to our leaders, we’re not in a recession. We’re in a trans session. The GPD growth identifies as a positive. You know, 2 negatives = a positive type stuff.

It's not Carnival. It's the airlines. They're cancelling flights to save money. I've had mine changed 2 times in the past month. I'm expecting a couple more before September. You can't expect Carnival to supplement your dogs kennel service or pay for a hotel room when they had nothing to do with flight changes. 

12 minutes ago, JP350 said:

Bc it’s their brand and a company’s brand is their entire business. What’s the Luminosa going to look like next to the miracle and splendor in Alaska it’s an embarrassment to be honest.

Because it doesn’t have a whale tail or orange life boats? There’s no way you really care what color the life boats are. The Luminosa will look just fine next to other Carnival ships just as other cruise line ships do. The company’s brand is cruising  and that’s what they are providing. I absolutely do not see anything embarrassing about another great looking ship sailing with the Carnival name.

I’m amazed at all the crying comments over a ship being added. The whale tail does nothing for the ship. So what if doesn’t get the full paint job since it may only be temporary. I say great job Carnival trying to do what it can to keep its company going.

17 minutes ago, RD64 said:

Upgrade offers should not be an expectation - they may never arrive.

They’ve never arrived for me. I’m not even sure they really exist. Could be a big hoax.

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

The whole market is doing poorly with cruise stocks quite possibly doing the worst, and yet the most positive thing you can say is that other cruise stocks are also sinking?

 

Here you go, what cruise stocks are doing:

 

Cruise stocks lead S&P declines as cost increases, capacity concerns build | Seeking Alpha

Buying opportunity at a discount!

2 hours ago, Bostwick girl said:

I agree with Groundloop, internet on Spirit was very bad! My first time purchasing internet, but our grandson & wife were having baby while we were gone and wanted to be able to FaceTime to see baby. Bought the value package. Pretty much the only time it was usable was very early in the morning. After a day or two I quit even trying! Should have asked for a refund, but didn’t! Hopefully it would be better on the newer ships. This was the end of March this year.

 

When you say not usable are you referring to Face Time use or all internet like email and text?

53 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

Weren't you able to pick what your dining choice was at time of booking? 

That’s not really an issue at this point. 

Keep up the Carnival booking! I rarely think cruise lines are a good investment other than for OBC but with CCL stock being so low recently I had to load up on some extra. 

53 minutes ago, pe4all said:

I find that disgusting.  It just punishes everyone included in the grat "pool." 

I remember my first cruise in the early 80's on the Dolphin Cruise Line. We had to put cash in envelops for each individual and the cabin steward  picked them up on the last night. The next day at breakfast our entire waiter crew were completely different individuals. Very unfriendly. It didn't occur to me until later that the people at my table (8 others) probably didn't tip appropriately. I still feel bad thinking about that day.

9 hours ago, pengu1n said:

We haven't been there before, and have been to Mahogany Bay many times, so not a bad switch!

Wait until you get there. You’ll miss Mahogany Bay.