geaux_aces

Nope. Mardi Gras class only has inside, ocean view, and suites without a balcony in the Family Harbor section on deck 4, which is the lowest level passenger deck on the class.

Vista class has cove balconies in the Family Harbor section. 

1 hour ago, MonaCD said:

I haven't been on a whole lot of cruises. It's been 5 years since our last cruise and 8 since we last cruised on Carnival. But, I have just had it confirmed from friends who cruise quite frequently, there are no strictly enforced dress codes. Not in any dining room, specialty or otherwise. I haven't heard of anyone being turned away from any dining area because of what they were or were not wearing. Maybe if they were wearing a bathing suit but I don't know. If someone has recent first hand experience of being turned away from a dining room on a Carnival ship I would be interested to hear the reason.

I can confirm having been turned away from the Steakhouse on Mardi Gras last year. My then 15yo son was wearing nice shorts and a button-down shirt. We were told he could not enter wearing shorts. We ran to the room quickly and changed. No big deal, but it did happen. 

Until a few weeks ago, our last few cruises had been on newer ships. We really like the toned down, resort style designs of the newer ships. We were back on a Joe Farcus designed ship, Carnival Freedom, a couple weeks ago and thought the design was really showing its age. Of course, design is subjective, but we certainly prefer the new look. Everything I've seen from John Heald's videos on the Radiance look like improvements to me. 

19 hours ago, kapcruiser said:

Does horizon have washers and dryers available?

Every Carnival ship other than Mardi Gras has self-service laundry. 

7 minutes ago, stellarose said:

we have set dining but want to do one night of specialty  .can we?

you can, but only after a certain time at night. Guys, ChiBang, and Cucina is open for YTD to grab a table (no reservations) in the app just like they do in the MDR. Set time dining people can go to those places as walk-ups later in the night.

as long as you are vaccinated you can.

4 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

Knowing what I know about large businesses, there are probably a lot of things they are looking at with this "test". I'd doubt that dispersing the crowds are that high on the list of variables, but could be. Especially as they learn about this class of ship.

 

I'd wager to say they are looking highly into how it impacts price perception, customer satisfaction, fare prices, etc. How it stimulates booking in a rough time for the industry. What the food and staffing costs look like. How it impacts other spend on the ship. And probably even learn a few things they didn't anticipate. It's pretty crazy how many included food options there are on this ship. I don't think I've ever been on a vacation that even came close to this.

 

We all know that a $500 fare + $100 food cost is looked at differently by customers than a $600 fare that includes food cost. 

What's funny is that you and I are saying very similar things, I was just saying it from the perspective of the customer not the company. Crowds being spread out and not having to wait in line for things like food is a big part of customer satisfaction, price perception, and staffing costs. Have you been on Mardi Gras?  I just don't think there's reason to have built a restaurant like ChiBang with so much space if you're going to charge for it. I think Carnival always anticipated moving to this model with the new ships. I guess only time will tell.

1 hour ago, nimiq said:

So if I book for December these might all be at charged at that point ? 
 

Thanks 

Carnival hasn't said how long it will last. Having experienced this dining arrangement last month, I can say it's a really good value add. Also, I think it's working out very well for Carnival. If the goal is to more evenly disperse crowds around their biggest ship, they'll need to keep this up.  Personally, I'd be surprised if they don't keep it. 

I think they're working through the backlog and the wait time is getting better. It took 4 months for us to renew this summer. 

Here are some screenshots I took when we sailed her a few weeks back. May not be the full menu.  We only did Seaday Brunch once.  There is an overwhelming number of places to eat on Mardi Gras!

4 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

I have wondered how it will work getting tests for two people with consecutive appointments. Would we need to drive around the building and switch drivers for the second person so they'd be the one at the drive thru window side?

 

I'm guessing not the case, or you'd have mentioned that. Do they do both tests at one time, or the driver then the passenger?

When we did the drive thru test Rapid at Walgreens we didn't even have back-to-back appointments for all 4 of us (we were something like 10:00, 10:15, 10:45, 11:15), but still let us do them all at the same time.  They labeled all 4 tests and had us self-administer before passing them back through the window.  We got 4 tests done in under 5 minutes.  Results were back within 30 minutes. 

1 minute ago, Ohio Bucki said:

Did they make a copy or scan the documents?

So in the new Port Canaveral Terminal you check it at one of many round bar-top style tables. Each table has a Carnival Rep all with iPads. Could she have scanned my docs with that iPad? I guess so, but I never saw her do it. Seems like the docs were given a cursory glance and handed back to me. Our passports were scanned with a reader on the iPad.  I even remarked to my wife after being checked in that I feel 100% certain I could have faked all of those documents and been fine (this is not an endorsement to do so, just a statement of my opinion of the process). 

1 hour ago, quattrohead said:

Are you all 100% sure this test is acceptable for cruising ?

We got our tests done today at Walmart/Quest and CVS, both are Molecular lab test (PCR / NAAT)

They say 1-2 or 3 day turn around.

Sweating bullets here.

I realize YMMV, but after our experience on the Mardi Gras 2 weeks ago, I'm now convinced that everyone on CC is way over stressing the testing requirements. Yes you need a test, but there is no way they looked at our 4 tests long enough to see anything other than our names, the date, and the word "negative."  I can't even promise they looked at close enough or long enough to even check that out. I handed the Carnival rep all 4 tests and all 4 vax cards and had them back in under 60 seconds. 

Very similar experience for our fam of 4 at Walgreens today.  Had 4 appointments spread across the morning but they tested all of us at once. Minimally invasive compared to other tests I’ve done.  Email with results within the hour.  Something went wrong with their system and I got 45 emails with our results, but WHO CARES THEY’RE NEGATIVE AND WE LEAVE TOMORROW 😃.  Doing 2 days at universal before heading to Mardi Gras!

6 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Land hospitals are overflowing. Where would you put an additional ship load of covid patients?

What possible science exists to insinuate a “ship load” would need hospitalization? 
 

Vast majority are vaxxed, all are tested, and most cruises are 7 days or less. With those parameters, there’s no reason to believe a mass outbreak would occur or require large numbers of hospitalizations.  

As long as you’re vaccinated, ID Now is accepted.  

17 hours ago, twangster said:

I did not have any plans for Costa Maya today.  I usually head to the little town close by and find some place along the beach to hang out but with the requirement to wear masks outdoors in Mexico and since I have a number of stops here in the coming months I wanted to enjoy this new ship while I could.

 

I spent a few hours in the morning updating this thread and checking out more areas of the ship.  

 

I had another reason to stay on board and I was holding off from any adult beverage while I waited.

 

First some lunch...

 

 

And then...

 

 

 

Sorry if this has been answered, but is it $15 per ride (coving person in front and back) or $15 per person ($30 for two to take one ride)?

5 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

"Free" upgrades only happen when the original booked cabin is removed from service for planned or unexpected maintenance (plumbing leak, trashed, smoked in, etc).  Upsells happen when Carnival needs your originally booked cabin, most frequently when minor children need to be placed near parents.  Since not that many kids are sailing, no need to entice you to move with an upsell offer.  

Fully understand this is typically how it worked in regular times. I received numerous upsell calls (some good deals some not).  These, however, aren’t normal times as the ships aren’t sailing full which almost never happened before.  I’m happy with the room we have book on MG, but would consider a good offer to upgrade. 

10 minutes ago, devinc said:

 

This was us.  April to Aug.

Same. April to August

24 minutes ago, DivaAAC said:

I was checking back on this post to see if there'd been any upgrades offered.  I'm on the 10/2 sailing for Mardi Gras and I'm hoping that the opportunity to upgrade comes up

 

Obviously, nobody replied to my post and I haven't heard of a single person being offered a free/cheap upgrade.  That's surprising since there are a lot of upcharge rooms that are still bookable on my Mardi Gras sailing in 10 days.  

2 hours ago, tm_aw_love said:

I think you may have misunderstood Movielas post. They were stating that the ship is not new. Then stating that it has been 2 years since she went into the water,  as in she was launched 2 years ago, not that she was out of the water for 2 years. 

Gotcha.  My mistake.  Apologies.

32 minutes ago, Moviela said:

It's not a new ship. It has been 2 years since she went into the water.

I agree with the conclusion of your post (stuff breaks, deal with it), but it's overstated to say she hasn't been in the water for two years.  These ships were never turned off.  They sailed all over the place for the past year and a half.

Panorama is likely experiencing the same her sister ships, Vista and Horizon, have experienced in the past.  All 3 have had "max speed" malfunctions. I was on one of the cruises out of New York that had it.  Port times change, but at least it's still sailing!  They'll get it fixed in a week or so. 

40 minutes ago, Ellaleah said:

I have booked 3 Cloud 9 Spa Interiors on the Celebration.  We have2 people in each.  Should my grandson prefer to stay in his patents’s cabin,  I was looking at the Cove Balconies, which appear to have a sofa.  I was hoping this meant that they open to a bed.  TA. Told me that these are sofas and do not open as these cabins are intended for 2 people.  Does anyone have a suggestion?  It appears that they could not be in a spa cabin.  I looked at balconies thinking I would then buy them spa passes.  A lot of those indicate that they are only for 2 people.  Your experience would be helpful. ThankYou.

There are numerous cove balconies on that ship that will have a pull out sofa bed for a 3rd guest.   None of the 12 cove balconies dedicated as Spa Balconies sleep more than 2, but just down the hall there are several.  However, Carnival may not book you one unless you're actually going to book 3 people in it.

Anything on the linked ship map with a single dot or a star sleeps 3.

5 minutes ago, mrak said:

 

I am platinum and I want first boarding! lol

 Is this Eastern Time? haha

So if you're platinum, then it'll be 16 days out.  You shouldn't have any problem competing for the earliest spot.  Yes, it is Eastern Time.

29 minutes ago, mrak said:

Anyone know what time the check-in selection goes live? For instance, if check in is available Nov 4th, is it at the stroke of 12am on the 4th? 

Yes, it is exactly at midnight. I did it this weekend for our Sept 4 Mardi Gras sailing.  We got the earliest time slot by being online right when they dropped.  I'd suggest skipping ahead in the check-in process to secure your time then go back and do the rest.