Can'tWait2SetSail

2 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

Are we going to have to see one of these "XXXX just dropped testing" in every company specific forum every time company XXXX drops testing?....

That's getting old and it's only been a couple days.

I don't find the topic old. You could always not click on the topic and just go on to something else if you find it so boring.

3 hours ago, klfrodo said:

That's why I enjoy the Chef's Table on Royal so much better than on Carnival. Same price but Royal has a Sommelier who pairs a different wine with each course.

They are discussing the Steakhouse not the Chef's Table.

I recently noticed this too and put yes last week, but it is back again. Just did it 3 times but it is still saying to enter vaccination status. Ugh. Hopefully just a glitch

Never had a bad experience in the steakhouse. I think it is totally worth the money!

Cruise without it. Review your bill. You will know for sure what to do the next time.

I have hit it a few times by ending my night in the casino sucking down vodka and cranberries. When the waitress says, "I am sorry, Mrs M, but you have hit your limit" it usually means it is time to go to bed.

Thanks. I will try that.

I cancelled an excursion our cruise this summer that I bought with Carnival gift cards. When I cancelled something pre-pandemic I got the new cards back fairly quickly. Has anyone had any experience with this lately and if so how long did it take to get the new cards? I cancelled over a month ago. Thanks.

If you cruised before and did not have Cheers were you shocked by your bill at the end of the trip? If so, Cheers may be for you. Signed, know from experience

I have been off the boards for awhile so I didnt know about this,  but I just decided to book the Chefs table and was pleasantly surprised when it offered to use some of my OBC to pay for it for ourJuly cruise. It just offered the option. I was just saying to the hubs, we haven't even been in a hotel room for 2 years so I am soooo ready for this cruise and we are doing this experience! July can't get here soon enough!

Last cruise I earned the drinks in casino but had cheers so I asked for something else and did not got squat. There was some heavy gambling on that cruise though. I think it was a 4 day. Other cruises I usually earned the free drinks in casino, but I always have cheers so it is meaningless. I do get decent casino rates so I am fine with this. The next cruise we are going on we booked a casino rate with free drinks in casino, but again we will have Cheers. I am planning on spending my kids future inheritance in the casino since I have not been on a vacation since 2019 and we have 4 sea days so maybe I will get some chocolate covered strawberries.

I just read on the FB Carnival page of a pier runner who was late because they booked an excursion on their own. Their driver decided to stop at her brothers to get some fruit and was chatting with the neighbors and made them late. They had to run their little butts off to get on the ship. Now this doesn't happen all the time, and has never happened to us, but I am older now and have hip issues, so there is no way I could run. 

A lot of these tour operators have not been active for awhile. Who knows what type of maintenance they have been doing on their vehicles, boats etc.? They could be experiencing employee shortages as we are in the US. What if you are on a tour and the bus/boat breaks down and you are stuck somewhere? At least with Carnival, you know they will take care of you. I admit that I am being completely paranoid and/or overly cautious. How long you are in that particular port can also factor in to your choice. If it is a quick visit, say 4 hours, you might want to rethink booking a 3 hour tour. Those 3 hour tours don't always work out as planned. 

I rarely book excursions through Carnival, but do a lot of research online and on the different boards on this site related to the ports. I have done the Cozumel Bar Hop tour before and that was fun. I have not been to the other ports you listed. Right now it is listed at $57 per person and includes a t-shirt. That being said, at this particular moment in time I would not book any excursions unless it was through Carnival.  

Not that it helps now, but I just read that they are working on doing renewals online for the future which would be great!

We had the offer on 2 out of 3 Chase cards and the BOA. My cruise is not til next summer so I just used towards cost of cruise. Also used the spend $500 on amex offer today. Certainly beat the 10% savings at AARP for gift cards, and I love the fact that if the cruise does not happen these will be refunded to the credit cards rather than having the money tied up in gift cards! (Although if no more offers come through before final payment I probably will get some gift cards to save the 10%).

There is a new Bank of America cash back offer as well so check those cards folks!

New to your reviews as well and I gotta say I love your style! Looking forward to living vicariously through you!

We usually research and do excursions on our own and have never had an issue, but for our upcoming cruise I am erring on the side of caution and booking through Carnival. Things are just so wonky right now, I'd rather pay more but have a guarantee that we won't get stranded. 

Loving your review!

We always do YTD. We are not always hungry at the same time every night. As others have said, you can request the same servers, if you like them. With assigned seating what if you do not like your servers??

Have a blast! Looking forward to reading along!

7 hours ago, bigrednole said:

Its not about that. It is about making a statement that onboard spending has skyrocketed. You need to define how that is the case. 3,000 pax per sailing, everything up $1, assume everyone buys 10 things, that's $30,000 in extra revenue. Multiply that by 100 sailings in a quarter, that is $3M more in spending. I am sure it is at least 10x larger than that, but it paints the picture.

That is A LOT of popcorn.

If you travel for a ship's decor than maybe you shouldn't sail her. I did not even notice when I sailed her years ago, but to each his own.

What are they charging now for that used to be free?