sparks1093

We typically cruise once a year so any changes that occur usually go unnoticed by us. The only time that I notice is if it makes these boards and I haven't seen notice of anything in a while. We had a great time on Glory this past April and none of the changes that had been implemented tarnished our enjoyment in any way.

You can only get one at a time but I believe they will leave it unopened if you ask (or at least some will).

This has been our experience.

Exactly.

The trouble with stickies is that the answers get buried in pages and pages of posts and people don't want to be bothered browsing for the answer (just like they don't want to be bothered going to Carnival's website and finding the answer there). Since most threads about Cheers are clearly labeled as such in the subject line they are easy enough to avoid.

For credit cards it's not that big of a deal and it all seems to work out. I got off of one cruise and it took several days for the final charges to appear on my credit card.

We lost one cruise to COVID but I can't remember the details other than we did receive a full refund. We recently booked a Southern Caribbean cruise with Celebrity for February 2025. A couple of months after booking Celebrity changed the homeport for our ship and cancelled this itinerary. We rebooked with another line for a cruise that is one day longer and that visits Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Sorry to hear about your mom's health issues.

According to post 58 it's! $89.99 per person but that would be before dynamic pricing.

That triggered my memory and since we've started buying Cheers we've stopped buying the 12 pack through Funshops because water is included with Cheers. Grab a bottle every time you order a drink and it's not long before you have enough to take ashore.

Ships can take on water in port, but I don't think that it's a common thing. As a former sailor I look at the things that are hooked up to the ship and I don't think that I've seen any potable water hoses (not that this observation is definitive given the relatively small sample size), but ports charge extra for this service and since the ship can make plenty of water to meet their needs there isn't a need to pay for it. (Of course, if a ship has to stay in port longer than a few day they might have to onload water since they probably don't make water in port. @chengkp75 this is a curiosity thing so if you can enlighten us I would appreciate it. I hate guessing.)

For most passengers it's not that big of a difference. At least for this particular passenger (although there are many in this thread who have stated that Cheers doesn't save them money, so I'm going to take a leap and say Royal's prices wouldn't save them money, either). I'm not going to drink more on a Royal cruise just because there is no limit and the limit on Carnival isn't that big of a deal to me. Factor in the likely fare difference and it becomes even less of a deal. (I will say that if someone is sailing on Royal watch, watch, watch those drink package prices. Royal uses a dynamic sales system and they will reduce the price of the package if sales are lagging. I was able to snag the drink package at a price less than Carnival's.)

Since I was the one that brought it up, I will agree that all cruise lines sell their drink packages to make money. I was simply reminding everyone of that simple fact- the cruise line is not selling it to save the passenger money, even if it does get marketed that way and even if some people are able to save money.

And 10 years previous to that a lot of men still wore a suit to a professional baseball game.

The bottled water is purified spring water.

The only islands I'm aware of aren't part of a typical Carnival itinerary (Cuba and Martinique).

The only insurance that might help is Cancel For Any Reason. Lacking travel documents isn't a covered reason for most other policies.

Likely a combination of both factors. As I said, the important thing is they are open. Federal Government Shutdown FAQs | Representative Dwight Evans (house.gov) WILL IMMIGRATION APPLICATIONS STILL BE PROCESSED? Visa and passport operations are fee-funded and thus are not normally impacted by a shutdown. Immigration court cases on the detained docket will proceed during a lapse in congressional appropriations while non-detained docket cases will be reset for a later date when funding resumes. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will retain the vast majority of their employees during a shutdown.

If you are sure Will a Government Shutdown Impact Passport Services? - The Passport Office Blog. (And whether they stay open because they are fee funded or because they are an essential service the critical thing is they remain open, with limited exceptions.)

Yep, biggest can of "you can't make us" available.

It has long been the practice in all travel markets that the traveler is ultimately responsible for meeting all documentation requirements. They did not need to send out the email, but they did as a courtesy and 30 days is enough time to obtain a passport, even if one has to pay extra to expedite. The definition of a closed loop cruise is actually "a cruise that departs from and returns to the same US port and sails entirely within the area covered by the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative". A cruise that leaves New York and goes to Europe and returns to New York is not closed loop because it goes outside of the area covered by the WHTI. Same as with the cruise you booked. The ports aren't within that area. I know that this isn't the answer that you want to hear, but it is what it is. And a quick look at the FAQ about documentation shows this: For cruises that begin and end in the same U.S port, the following WHTI-compliant documents are acceptable for cruise travel. Please note that if the cruise visits Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama or Greenland, a passport (valid for six months after the cruise ends) is required. (Emphasis in the original.)

Since the passport part of State Department is fee funded I think they will still be open.

Another thing is that the estimate is just that, an estimate. State Dept. likely expects that the vast majority of passports will be processed in a few weeks and that only a small percentage will take the full estimated time of 11 weeks.

I think that most people figure out that they are looking for an average. Everyone will have different amounts and clearly Cheers isn't for everyone. But it is worth using the calculator to determine that. And the last thing to remember is this- Carnival sells the Cheers package to make money. Period. If you happen to save money good for you, but that isn't their concern. They are pretty good at figuring out what works and doesn't work for their demographic.

As I demonstrate in post 61 even a "moderate" drinker can receive value from Cheers, one needn't consume alcohol all day to do it (and keeping in mind that one needn't consume all that is listed to get value). And of course it is possible to get by without buying any beverages, making do with what is provided. If it makes sense to purchase it, then it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But folks who don't think that it does make sense should still use the drink calculator to determine whether it does or it doesn't based on what they are likely to buy onboard. https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator/

What is this "unspent" of which you speak? DW is completely opposed to "unspent".🤣