staceyglow

Honestly, if you are cutting it so close that you are worried about making it onboard in time, I would either get into town the night before or not go. Even if you think you will be able to make it, what if there is unexpected traffic? What if your plane is delayed?

Apparently, you aren't familiar with what is involved with managing a gargantuan project like building a cruise ship. Most steps have to occur in a particular order. There aren't "work arounds". For example, say you were building a house. You discover that there is a big concrete shortage, and as a result, you can't pour the foundation until several months later than you wanted. What's the workaround? You literally can't work on the rest of the house until the foundation is poured. Believe me, no one is more upset about this than Carnival. They are losing millions and millions of dollars in revenue, not to mention having to dole out FCC and dealing with angry cruisers. They wouldn't have delayed the launch unless it was the only option.

Yes. Not until you board.

Are you saying that you don't think your daughter will enjoy Circle C? My kids loved it! Being able to go to more of a teen-type club made them feel a little grown up.

Don't believe everything you read I have been on eleven Carnival cruises since the restart. I have sailed out of 4 or 5 different ports, on everything from a 3-day party boat to 14-day Journeys cruises. Smelling marijuana smoke has been infrequent, if not rare for me. I have had more of a problem with cigarette smokers, and DH and I have not been shy about reminding people of the rules. That usually shuts it down. I am not doubting that there are cruises where this might be a problem, but there is no way that it is all the time on every ship. And if you don't take steps to correct it, it won't get better. Complain to the steward. Complain to guest services. Go home and complain to the company. I like cruising Carnival and I will be damned if I am going to let smokers ruin my fun.

Just one of the many reasons to book through a PVP. We just email or call her about price changes and she takes care of all the details.

If you want to read on the ship, bring some books and leave them in the library when you are finished with them. Personally, I have left a few on Carnival ships, but mostly I download 4 or 5 onto my Kindle for free from my local library. I never run out of reading material.

I am not sure it is safe to assume that the menu for the Celebration inaugural cruise is standard, or even if there is a standard 14 day menu. 14 day cruises are infrequent enough that I wouldn't be surprised if they gave th the onboard chefs a little more leeway in menu planning.

I believe they also get charged by the port based on how long they are there.

Ever seen the prices for bottle service at a nightclub? It's unreasonable to expect a place that sells liquor by the drink to sell you the whole bottle at the liquor store price. That being said, we were regular buyers of bottled liquor from Carnival in the past, but we won't be doing it based on the current prices. If others do, more power to them. I am all for Carnival making money as possible off of other passengers. 🙂

I don't think most people cruise Europe to take advantage of ship dining and entertainment options. We had some great food in Italy and Greece before the cruise and at the different ports, and after day-long shore excursions visiting all of the sights, we were too tired to take advantage of much of the onboard entertainment. We would see one show or watch the band in the Red Frog Pub for a little while, and we were in bed early.

I am not sure what you are talking about. The Pride, one of our favorite ships, was in Europe last summer. In any case, I am going to guess there are 2 primary reasons. 1. They don't need a 6,500 passenger ship in Europe because the demand is not there. 2. European trips are all about the ports of call, so you don't need all the fancier onboard stuff that a newer ship has.

Anything you get from Carnival is a gift. They can't control the weather, and contractually, you aren't entitled to anything.

Or trip insurance.

I can't read lying in a Serenity clamshell or on a beautiful beach at home.

If all you are going to be doing is checking emails and using messaging, you don't need the premium package. I have used the internet service on at least a half-dozen different ships with the basic package, and have never had a problem.

We have used Facebook messenger often with the basic plan,

From Carnival's FAQs: Connecting Personal Devices to Stateroom TV'sGuests are not permitted to connect Digital Cameras/Camcorders, DVDs/VCRs, USB sticks, iPods, Nintendo/X-Box Play units with the television in the staterooms; all connection ports are disabled.

I suppose you could just pay for the kids now, and straighten it out once you get onboard at the excursion desk. That way your kids will have a reservation.

You would have to buy the social media plan for her and anyone else she would be communicating with if you want immediate responses. Otherwise she would have to occasionally kick you off the plan to log in and see if you messaged her. The messaging through the app is only $5 per person.

I only do that if I smell cigarette smoke and if it's them, I remind them of the no smoking policy as nicely as I can.

That's 100% on Kate Winslet. She wouldn't let him on the floating door with her.

So then they aren't equivalent, and then one is not entitled to a refund of the price difference.

Not only does Carnival put a markup on the excursion it offers you, they also buy them from the tour operator at a discount. If you buy the tour directly from the operator, more of the money goes to the local business, which might be another reason to bypass Carnival.

I wouldn't. It is their day off, and nothing is going to change between now and tomorrow.