sparks1093

It's been awhile since I've checked in with a BC but I don't believe you need the certificate at check in.

Which is something for them to certainly consider but what does that have to do with affordability? And my comment about land border crossing is directly related to your comment about travel out of the country and was made to show that all travel out of the country isn't created equally. It would be nice if we could pay for passports through yearly payments but alas, the total needs to be paid all at once. A lot of people don't have the means to travel the world so getting a passport wouldn't change that. And to circle back to your statement about an aborted cruise yes, it does happen but I've yet to read about a US citizen not making it home. There might certainly be delays involved but they do make it home. Would a passport prevent those delays? Yep, but like I said that's something to consider.

If they aren't advertising the fare then I'm not seeing it and Carnival wins by default.

From Canada? Not likely but a ground ambulance would work in any event.

Still haven't figured out why this gets you so wound up. If someone chooses to cruise without a passport it has no affect on you at all. For many it's not affordability at all but not wanting to spending money on something they don't need for the type of travel they can do. I can leave the country by taking a left out of my driveway and driving 8 miles and to cross the land border I can choose to use an EDL or passport card and no cruise line lobbied for that. For many of my neighbors that's the only foreign travel they'll ever do so they see no need to get a passport.

That is my understanding as well.

For a US citizen if you've lost your passport and need to apply for a replacement at a Consulate/Embassy the photocopy may be used as proof of citizenship for your application. Other than that I can think of no use for a photocopy. OP, millions of people every year travel on closed loop cruises (defined as a cruise ship leaving and returning to the same US port and traveling entirely within the area defined by the WHTI) with something other than a passport. Our first few cruises we used birth certificates and photo ID's since it would have cost us $850 or so for passports. We are cruising in April and one of the families that is going with us is getting passports, not because they are needed for the cruise but because it is so much cheaper to fly from Montreal to Orlando that even with the passport expense they still save money (heck, I know another family did the same thing and they weren't leaving the country, they were vacationing in Florida). Every traveler should use the document that works best for their individual travel situation and that is going to vary.

It only stands to reason that a family of 4 is going to spend more onboard than a solo and since it's primarily onboard spending that drives profitability so much that is going to influence how they sell and market their cruises. When we book our cruises we decide when we want to cruise and roughly were we want to cruise to, then we start comparing prices. Since we have started getting the Cheers package every sailing I will even include that in my comparison (so if a cruise line includes their drink package I will add that into Carnival's fare so I am comparing apples and apples). We did find a Celebrity cruise for 2025 that fit the bill that was only slightly more than Carnival (around $200 or so) which we booked. Unfortunately Celebrity ended up changing that ship's home port and cancelled that cruise. When I looked again they were $800 more. We all have to book with the line that makes the most sense for each of us.

I stopped listening to Heald years ago. Still, business isn't a cut and dried thing, there are many moving parts and it's all connected. Since Carnival has much more information than you or I do about their operation I must give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to them running their business. As I've said many times as long as they give me a good value for my vacation dollar I will continue to sail with them.

I've done it both ways, tipped extra and not left a tip and haven't noticed a difference in service at all, it's always been top notch.

Eggs can be ordered over-hard at the omelet station and in the MDR.

I've read many threads for Royal and Celebrity of the oh the humanity type especially regarding Celebrity. According to many they are sinking to the bottom by being less exclusive. Fortunately there is a cruise line for everyone.

You snipped the most important part.

After reflecting on it our last two sailings were over 100% capacity (Glory this year, Legend last). I didn't do the math so I don't know how close they were to 110%.

Other cruise lines charge much more than Carnival does and it doesn't seem to slow them down, but I seriously doubt they are making that much on water sales. The target for sailings industry wide is 110% so it would stand to reason that is Carnival's goal as well.

As far as I'm concerned the bacon can stay on bacation if it means a solvent company that keeps fares low and offers a good product.

Um, everyone is raising prices on everything, in case you've not noticed. Carnival is raising the prices on everything to prevent from having to raise fares too much. I am totally fine with that.

You can call insuremytrip as well, but typically 100% of your non-refundable fare is covered (look at trip cancellation and it should give an amount per traveler which is half of what you put in for trip cost).

Not sure about the wine but they do have some that are pricey by the glass that probably moves wine into your third paragraph. Drinking solely beer might be a challenge though to make Cheers worth it. We tend to mix it up throughout each day and get a variety of drinks. First time we had a package I tried every drink I'd ever heard of and found a few new favorites.

They wouldn't need to bring the wine and they wouldn't have to schlep liqour from their room either. We used to do the exact same thing until I actually did the math, but we both drink and that does make a difference. But according to the calculator 3 wines, 2 cocktails and 2 coffees save $95 per person.

From any bar as well.

"I won't benefit from having the drink package because I don't drink that much". Maybe. Maybe not. There are drink calculators that one can use to determine whether or not this one is true for each individual, such as Drink Package Calculator - Cruise Spotlight. Many drink packages offer things to drink other than alcohol and it can all add up.

You said that your wife doesn't drink much, but the Woodford is $165 from Fun Shops, that's almost a fifth the cost of Cheers (no pun intended). Have you used a drink calculator (like this one https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator/ ) to actually see if you would save? If you each drink 3 glasses of wine, 2 cocktails and 2 gourmet coffees per day (average over the course of the cruise) then you could save money. You'll have 22 shots in your liter, which is 3 cocktails per day right there for you alone. (And of course Cheers covers mocktails, frozen cocktails, soda and bottled water as well so adding any of those in just makes it better.)

I can also fully understand her position. I can also understand the position of a business owner who has suffered smash and grab robberies with no consequences to the perpetrators. Or the car owner who suffered a hit and run and has been without their vehicle for months with no consequences to the perpetrator (our personal situation, FWIW). Unfortunately this is our society today, no consequences for personal behavior no matter how egregious it is.

I used a hip flask. Ordered a soda and poured a shot in multiple venues.