RoperDK

Honest question here....how do you get extra ice? We've only been on Carnival once since the restart, but our cabin steward was nice enough to bring me 2 ice buckets and filled them twice a day and also refreshed our towels. I was recuperating from knee replacement and that ice was a godsend. I am healing from hip replacement for our cruise in two weeks and I am going to need ice! Our other cruises were on another line, so we had twice a day service.

Is the casino still open in Grand Turk? FYI...it's a premier cruise.

I love RCL! Different strokes.

You are getting good input on this thread, OP. The Celebration is Carnival's newest ship and should be a great way to try Carnival. Carnival really does offer a "Fun Ship" experience. People seem to be more outgoing and willing to strike up a conversation with you. The crew is more likely to interact and chat with you. Everyone seems to relax and engage in the fun. The food isn't the same quality in the dining room and buffet as Celebrity. However, there are a lot of quick type eateries especially at lunch that offer a ton of variety. They are short staffed and services suffer. The staff is overworked and it shows sometimes.

Would you explain the duck for two a little more for me? Do you just get the duck meat or do they make different dishes with it? If you were at a table with 4 people could you share with the table and then order other items to fill in the meal for everyone?

Do they still have the door hangars or do you call room service for morning delivery?

It will be aired on ESPN, so there might be a chance. Tell your husband to ask if it will be aired and keep putting up a fight. Enlist as many football fans as he can to ask, too. They may have to pay an extra fee to air it, but they do have access to ESPN. The more interest in the event, the better the chances are that they will show it. We were successful on getting the championship game aired on Royal even though they said it wouldn't be available. They even made an event out of it like the Superbowl. Good luck!

Mardi Gras would definitely be more convenient than the drive down to Ft. Lauderdale. Wonder of the Seas sails from Port Canaveral. Have you checked that ship out? We don't usually make it to the comedy shows because we are always in the casino at night, lol. However, I do know that Odyssey has comedy shows. Don't remember the venue's name.

I have been on both Mardi Gras and Odyssey. I preferred Odessey, especially for $2000. There is plenty to do on both. Mardi Gras has Bolt and obstacle course. Odyssey has bumper cars, IFly, the flowrider, and the jumpy thing. Lol, I can't remember the name. I felt the food on Odyssey was better than Mardi Gras.

We are long time Carnival cruisers. Before COVID we were increasingly unhappy with food quality and reduced staffing leading to long lines for drinks and poor cabin servicing. Of course, after COVID things got even worse. While we haven't totally given up on Carnival, we have enjoyed cruising on Royal. Princess is a bit too subdued for us. We have a Celebrity cruise booked and are looking forward to seeing how we like it. I think trying new experiences is a good thing. It helps you find your sweet spot and that does change as we get older and aren't cruising with the entire family anymore.

We have a JS twice next year on Wonder. Haven't heard much about access to Coastal Kitchen for dinner while in a JS. Haven't heard much about Coastal Kitchen on Wonder at all, actually. Any insights would be appreciated.

Following along. We are on the Mardi Gras next month!

Is there a worldwide broccoli shortage? I know they are serving smaller portions, but that is a bit ridiculous. I guess I'll have to beg for extra veggies. I wonder how much is allowed before they charge me extra?

Oh my, trying to nickname that family would definitely not be appropriate for this forum! Too bad for the kids. It really isn't their fault. It is uncanny how once you see them, they are everywhere on the ship.

My best guess is that because this is the Royal forum and therefore most people prefer Royal. Carnival has been making many cutbacks and food downgrades, along with rowdy behavior in the news. I think that 7 day or longer cruises on newer ships are fine on Carnival. They do have a lot of great free lunch options and good pricing.

Lol, she is your "person" of the cruise. You will now see (and hear) her everywhere. It seems to always happen. We give our "person" a nickname. It seems like "Miss Alabama" is it for you. Our nicknames are many times not politically correct. It's so funny that we might not remember which cruise it was, but everyone will remember that special "person".

Lol. I save my towel animals all week and then group them together on the bed and then they give the cash tip to the steward on the last day. After all of these years you'd think the fun of towel animals would wear off.

We experienced that, too. It isn't that way anymore. However, when we were on our last Carnival cruise on Mardi Gras in Oct. 2021 our cabin steward did bring us ice in the evening too because I had knee replacement and needed the ice for swelling. He got a large tip!

People's extra tip choices are all over the place. Since you had already covered the steward's basic gratuity with your daily charge, then I would think $50 is quite generous. There are only two of us and we keep the cabin very tidy, but do request extra towels, ice, and leave a few glasses that need to be picked up. We usually leave and extra $20 to $40. If we have asked for something unusual or more time consuming, then we tip more. Only once did we not tip extra when we received some pretty awful service. Once we start to receive once a day service and the service charge remains the same, I doubt we will tip extra. As far as not acknowledging your extra tip, we have noticed the same thing post covid on Royal. In general, Royal's stewards have been polite, but not overly friendly. This is just our experience.

Started on Carnival Triumph in 1999. Really loved their 50% off military rates and the value product they used to offer. You could get filet mignon every night in the MDR. Things started slipping about 10 years ago. We've been trying other lines and have settled on Royal for now. Our last Carnival cruise will be next month on Mardi Gras. It's a milestone cruise and it is hard to pass up all of that OBC. We will have a good time regardless and try not to end up on YouTube! 😉

Lol, I worked and have since retired in Alabama. Grew up in Miami. Spent 23 years in the Air Force moving about. I do enjoy it here, but I have zero southern accent. A lot of people still say "you're not from around here are you" even though I've lived here for twenty years. 🤣

Lol, we are Carnival old timers...been cruising on them for over twenty years. I defended the brand for many years and felt they offered a good product. Not so much any more...

It seems that removing our "saved" towels happens more often than not. I really wish they would leave them. We do reuse our towels, but more often than not, those left on hooks are still wet many hours later.

This is what I am afraid will happen. Carnival continues to overwork their staff and in turn that staff doesn't try or can't do a good job anymore. Royal needs to avoid this perception at all costs!

Oh my, I have mixed feelings about this. First of all, they don't CLEAN the cabin twice a day. The second visit is for touch up....fresh towels, empty trash, ice, and the elusive paper copy of the daily activities (if available). The gratuity rate is going up and the services offered is going down. We left Carnival because of these guest "improvements". Service on Carnival has become a joke and I would hate for Royal to go down that path. At least Carnival has lower pricing. We can easily do with once a day cabin servicing. We leave everything neat as a pin. That is the way we live at home, also. I do like coming back in the evening to a refreshed cabin with no wet towels hanging around the small bathroom. We cruise in suites, so I guess we won't have any changes. I feel for families in smaller cabins. How do they keep their small space in order? People seem to accept these many cutbacks throughout all areas of the ship along with price increases. We on the other hand are evaluating our future cruising plans.