Tom-n-Cheryl

13 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Corporate expects a certain ROI from each entity. They are separate. 

Nope - same bucket, anyway you look at it!

6 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

It's all Carnival Corp, but the casino and cruise line are separate. 

Not really - it all goes into the same eventual big bucket!

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

That's via casino marketing, not Carnival marketing. The people who actually pay for Cheers should protest, as it means they can wait even longer for their drinks.

It's all Carnival, accept it 😉

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

Yep. Carnival isn't interested in a bidding war for fickle customers who need enticements.

They are a lot more generous with their "Drinks on Us Everywhere" "bribery" program though. 😁

I recall, pre-Covid, the only way to get (what was essentially) free CHEERS was to book an Elite cruise. Now virtually all my casino offers include it. I will say, that is a carrot worth several hundred!

Tom

We've enjoyed it three times on the Reflection, and will be back for a 4th time tomorrow evening! We didn't see any kids during our prior meals there.

I found the food to be very good - though sometimes, when it's busier, the service can slow a bit (understandably).

Tom

On 4/5/2024 at 4:14 PM, kwokpot said:

You mean Urcomped reps? Yes, when booking through them you are asked about your gambling budget.

I sailed through them once - and, due to circumstances, played way less than my average. Needless to say, that didn't go over well - but mainly resulted in termination of contact/offers from them for years. They've since started emailing me again.

On 4/5/2024 at 4:14 PM, kwokpot said:

 

 

We have been traveling on casino comped cruises for over 10 years, averaging 6-12 cruises every year, all comped. My spouse just turned into our accountant W2-Gs over $140,000 for 2023. 

 

 

I assume you had some documented losses to offset that?

--- 

Regarding BCC, I used to get 60% off suites, now I'm down to 5%. I think, however, booking though them yields a refundable deposit?

I just called them this morning, as the Sky Suite I had booked on the Beyond for later this year (for 1 of 2 legs) went from $9,300 to $4,700... that was quite the savings, just for a phone call !!

Tom

20 minutes ago, icft said:

Am I the only guy who ever used an Osborne computer? Everyone seems to have had a TRS-80 but no one lugged an Osborne to work it seems. I lugged that thing all over Houston doing audits; my left arm is larger than my right to this day 😜 (keeping right hand free to open doors).

Quite possibly !!

The TRS-80 was the "biggie" on my Christmas list one year. Only years later, after realizing the adjustment for inflation, did I realize how big an ask that was of my parents.

Late 70's, I was that kid in high school who was in the chess and computer clubs... yeppers...

Tom

2 hours ago, aborgman said:

...

 

Some people cruise Carnival for perks... and Carnival wants those cruisers because Carnival wants any cruisers who turn a profit, no matter what they cruise for.

 

Some people cruise Royal for perks... and Royal wants those cruisers because Royal wants any cruisers who turn a profit, no matter what they cruise for.

 

 

 

Lest we forget those who

> Cruise Carnival as they would NEVER sail with that "uppity" Royal Caribbean

>Cruise Royal Caribbean as they would NEVER sail on that "Walmart cruise line" Carnival.

Yep - people cruise for almost as many reasons as there are cruisers !

Tom

40 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

I've been on the internet since before the first graphical browser (NCSA Mosaic)..

(Mentally) going back to my internet beginnings. We'll, I should back up a bit and admit that my first computer was a TRS-80... early model (4K ram, cassette recorder/drive). I never went as far as to build a kit computer though. I subscribed to BYTE magazine (should have kept issue #1, lol). HECK, why didn't I keep all that stuff... and my baseball cards too ! ! !

Tom

On 4/26/2024 at 4:24 PM, jimbo5544 said:

Would that be a Milwaukee Mule?

I can't say I've ever heard of that 🙂

Tom

34 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

Are there actually people out there who have never cooked a steak?  

 

...

1 minute ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I haven't 🙃

But then I wouldn't pay for it on a cruise ship either

Us CC'ers, we're a diverse group - with a shared obsession. 🙂

Tom

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

It's even worse than that because a lot of drinks, like a Long Island Iced Tea, have more than 1 shot of liquor in them.

You could get a ~12 oz Miller Lite with a splash of alcohol, or get a can (nearly 20 oz) of Hazy IPA at close to 7% alcohol. Apples to apples it ain't.

Tom

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

It truly never ceases to amaze me what cruise lines will come up with to charge their passengers.  Equally amazing is what people will pay for.  (myself included!)  Some of the onboard stuff is just busy stuff to use up OBC.  This one for $60 to cook a steak....  Isn't the Lawn club grill meal on a whole cheaper than this?  

Ugh... heading to Melting Pot this afternoon for a birthday (to pay to cook my own food). I'll keep a smile pasted on my face - LOL

Tom

27 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

Well isn't this a fun thread, thank you all!

 

You got me excited to try to use our Sous Vide again. My wife and I didn't have very good luck our first few times, I think one of the issues was our steaks were not thick enough. I have to get over making mistakes as I learn, but that is a tough one as it was ingrained in me as a child, "we do not waste food."

 

I'm sure we will figure it out as we both love to cook.

Has anyone tried fish using your Sous Vide?

I don't think I've used mine in perhaps a year. They do work great for roasts, and a rib recipe I tried. The last one I tried was a major fail. As it turned out, the recommended temp for the beef roast recipe I went with was right at the low cut-off point (long/slow cook), and instead of a tender and succulent roast (hey, it may have been, but)... we managed to brew up a potent batch of lactobacillus - it had a very pungent odor when I opened up the bag. I suppose if this had happened during the year or so after I had COVID, I would have been unaware!

Tom

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

 

I agree that Royal has better benefits and the amount of "included" drinks in that scenario would be sufficient for me, without a drink package.

 

With that said, passing off a suite on Royal Caribbean as a sort of savings is where you lose me. 

I wasn't proposing that as being a savings, but it does come with some other perks as well - that some people will value, others not. Having a dedicated suite restraunt for THREE meals each day (no silly "brunch") is something we enjoy. Reserved seating at shows could be handy - we've used that a couple of times, allowing us to come shortly before a show a get a decent seat vs. having to arrive way earlier.

Again, there's a cost to everything.

Tom

34 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Next time you should give grilling your steak cold a shot to see if you notice a difference.  I totally understand some are just set in their ways, including people who perpetuate the myth that you NEED to pour oil into your boiling water for pasta.  The claimed purpose of the oil is to prevent pasta from sticking together, but we've learned that's not true and therefore wasteful.  Heck, even for steak the myth of, "sell the sizzle, not the steak", was coined in the 30s, we now know it's better to let the steak rest which means it won't be served sizzling unless some additional steps are taken and are rarely done (think ruth chris).  You're Vegas steak most likely wasn't served sizzling, correct?  Isn't science great?

I can't recall how that steak was served, other than it was ordered rare (probably an issue given the fat - should have allowed more to melt away)! But, the casino was paying for it, so it was "free"... LMAO...

EDIT - oh, regarding cooking the steak cold, my first job was at a mall steakhouse (York Steakhouse) as a broiler chef. I easily had 10,000 steaks under my belt before I was 18 - all cooked cold. My favorite was a #4 - a hamburger (rare), and I'd trek over to the salad bar and grab thousand island dressing. Granted, that was mass market steak to be sure.

Tom

5 minutes ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

When we began sailing Carnival I took my four cup travel coffee pot and it was confiscated.  One day at a meet n greet I asked the captain about the coffee pot rule and he said he didn’t even have a coffee pot in his cabin.   Carnival went through a period some years ago where they had several fires onboard.  I suspect that added to their ban of coffee pots, etc.  

Next, they'll be removing all the funnels from the fleet  😄 

Tom

10 hours ago, billc23 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a steak similar to that at Prime (Bellagio), and honestly found it toooo marbled (fatty) to enjoy. I never thought I'd say that, but !!!

Tom

On 4/23/2024 at 8:08 PM, kwokpot said:

I'll tell you here for free.

1) Buy a nice ribeye steak

...

I picked these up at Walmart (yes, you read that correctly) a couple of weeks ago, and broke in our new grill. These steaks (brought to room temp, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper) were as good as they looked - and that doesn't always happen. 10 out of 10 !! -- oh, and a generous portion of horseradish !!

Tom

3 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Princess has a limit.

 

Not only could some resent paying for something they don't use, they could resent subsidizing those who do 

Oh, and they do - that's been brought up more than once!

Tom

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

To some, all of this is important.  To me….meh.  We cruised on Celebrity Aqua class and had included drink package.  To be honest, not really a big deal and certainly recognized that the price difference made it that way.  Others may have a different view.

Yep, for everything, there is a price to be paid (sometimes in spades)!

EDIT -  OH, and I've never approached the 15 drink limit anyway !

Tom

4 hours ago, Nathan Graveson said:

A few pictures from various sources…

 

 

Man - I wonder how thick the concrete under the ship must be !!

Tom

11 hours ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

I used to do this all the time - stop at 14 and buy the rest until I was done for the night and then get #15.  But over the last few years they say you can’t even buy.  Only loophole is the free drink they add to your account for the plat/diam party on excel class.  

I can't recall, do any other lines have daily limits?

The thing I like about Royal is that, by being Diamond with them, they put 4 free drinks on your card/account every day - to use where you please. In addition to that, booking in a suite, I can get wine/beer throughout most of the day in the suite lounge - and, from something like 5-7pm (or 8?) they'll include mixed drinks in there too. With that scenario, I'd be hard pressed to consider adding in a drink package !

Celebrity is much the same - though booking a suite with them generally includes a premium beverage package to begin with, so...

Yep - to some degree, the cost of those "included" drinks on both of those lines are built into the cabin pricing. I can see if someone is not a drinker, that they might feel they're paying for something they're not receiving any benefit from.

Tom

48 minutes ago, Kteacher said:

Our last port day is Cozumel. We did an excursion through the ship- Small group Mexologist for the day Margaritas and traditional small bites. I think we paid about 90 pp, and thought it was well worth it. The excursion included 5 full size cocktails plus one shot, chips and guacamole plus a plate of snacks as well as a full size lunch entree. After lunch we had an hour to swim in the infinity pool that overlooked the dolphin pool. The drinks and food were delicious and it was well run with air conditioned taxi bus transport both ways

 

 

I've really been enjoying your very detailed review!  We'll be onboard 5/3 for a quick 3-nighter ... giving a Signature Suite a try. We really enjoy the Reflection. I was sad to learn from Sini & Liz that, on our cruise at least, the Lawn Club Grill will not be open for lunch (two days, two ports), so no specialty burgers for me. I was, on the other hand, pleased to see that they're going to have The Porch open those two port days (we're not planning on visiting Nassau or CocoCay). 

Mexologist - I like that!

I'm kind of a lightweight, but I don't think I could manage 5+1 drinks then a swim, LOL !!

Tom

1 hour ago, RoperDK said:

Someone could also turn that around to say that Carnival bribes its upper tier cruisers with the laundry perk.  The "free" laundry that Carnival "gives" to upper level cruisers is a consideration for some to book Carnival.  It's all just perks to me. I don't label them differently depending on what cruise line I'm talking about.     

I'd have to be very much in need to utilize their laundry service. We've used it on rare occasions, but don't send them anything you value (or don't want whites to turn slightly grey, etc).

The fact that they now have the guest request/seek out most of the perks was a smart move. So much of the junk they give is something I'd either trash or give away anyway.

Tom