bobbyandali

One time in Cozumel we had 6 ships. More important than the pure number of ships... is when your ship docks in relation to the others.

Ours was the last to arrive. We had rezzies for Sanchos. Everyone we talked to when waiting for  taxi asked us. No worries. 

We got there... and we were on the far, far, FAR end of the beach. Took forever to get any service, had any drinks brought to us, etc. 

We ended up basically spending most of the day by the pool and just getting drinks from the pool bar. 
 

I'm not sure what they could take away on some ships... maybe a salad bar lol.

But any buffet place - land or sea - that has cook to order stations like that... it's always a wait. Just the nature of the beast. 

This is what happens when people don't tip / remove tips. They get replaced with service charges.
 

There will be a day in the not so distant future where the auto-grat on the rooms is replaced by a service charge that can't be removed. 

We've ordered bottles to the room before. When we first started doing it, the Yeti tumblers weren't really a thing yet... we would bring those big "Bubba" 32oz cups with lids. 

Make a drink in room. Go do stuff. Go back to make drink in room when needed.

Nothing wrong with that. 

The last couple of times we have done Cheers both for convivence and for variety. 

On 6/12/2022 at 9:50 AM, timbom said:

Have recently taken cruises on RCL and Holland where tip structure is same as on Carnival but on these lines receive far better service. 

 

 

But what about the cruise fare? It's much higher on those other cruise lines than Carnival... that's where the extra service is coming from...

Tell him to drink a rum and pepsi every 5 min for 30 min. After that, he won't know the difference!

LOL. If it's a huge deal, bring a 12 pack of coke on board and just get a shot of rum and ask the bartender for a glass of ice. 

You can also bring onboard a new 12 pack of coke at every port stop.

Of course now you gotta bring a can of coke to the bar but if you are desperate enough... 😃

1 hour ago, sfaaa said:

Happened on every Carnival cruise I had been on. Particularly bad on last sea day. It disgusted me so many cheapskates wanted to stiff the ship crew.

Anyone who has been on 2-3 Carnival Cruises knows the two days to avoid Guest Services if you can:

Embarkation Day 

"Posting of Gratuities" Day

On 5/9/2022 at 12:27 PM, ScottsSweetie said:

But now that the ships are not sailing (seemingly) at that reduced capacity, the amount of staffing does not appear to be adequate. Carnival themselves have admitted staffing issues as the reason for closing the pizza place for several hours a day and ending afternoon tea on cruises less than 7 days. If they can't hire the staff then they absolutely should not increase capacity.

No one in the industry expected that in May 2022, the US government would continue to have the visa problems that it is having. Many of these fares were paid months ago. Should the cruise lines - all of them - cancel fully paid reservations at the last minute due to staffing issues? Or... let everyone board that has paid and try to make the best of it? 

This issue will improve once the US government gets through their backlog of Visa applications. Which will likely take a while. 

On 4/22/2022 at 3:40 PM, HakunaMatada said:

Carnival sent me an email with the following content:

 

"Please allow ample travel time to ensure prompt arrival within your pre-selected Arrival Appointment. Since parking garages may become full, we encourage you to consider making alternate transportation arrangements that will allow you to be dropped off at the cruise terminal. "

 

Are they telling me that non cruisers can park there and it may be full?

No... but places like Fulton can be used by non-cruisers... and since those may fill up... that may force more cruisers into the port garage. 

That was Jazz Fest weekend which is a big tourism weekend. 

When are you going? They have over 1,000 parking spots for the two ships Valor and Glory. Plenty of room. And worse comes to worse, they could divert you to the next door Julia St garage, also owned by the port, which is used for Royal / Norwegian, neither of which will be back until the fall. 

When we went in November with the kids, we played cards and board games with them in the library. There were a few different tables of various sizes... some sat 2, 4, or 6 people. It's actually pretty quiet in there. 

It seems like the liquor selection - and value - on board has really declined in recent years, along with Carnival branded merch. Those are the two things I look for. In their place are more emphasis on jewelry, accessories, and perfume. 

It wasn't that long ago when you could get 4L of the flavored Bacardi rums for $34. Now it's rare to find more than one flavor online and it's roughly 3 for 38... which is the same price as in most of the ports... and they have better choices. 

I think Mobile's future, after the 11 month suspension, is as a part time port. 

Not enough business there to put a ship there full time. Maybe an October - March season makes sense there. 

3 hours ago, tidecat said:

Any chance NOLA loses the short cruise business to MOB, but keeps the longer cruises?

I was on Valor in November and I was stunned at the fly-in traffic for that 5 night cruise. 

But what people were doing were flying in two nights earlier, check out NOLA, then 5 nights on Valor then head home. So a week vacation.

Not sure Mobile can compete with that. 

We've been on Valor before and will be back on her in 10 days. 

I liked all the American / military touches on the ship. 

It's not huge ship but plenty of things to enjoy and do. And after not having been used for 20 months... hopefully will be clean and fresh. 

We will be on starting on the 20th. Any good liquor specials on the onboard ships or in port that you noticed? We really like to stock up on rum when we go!

I once did 9 days before.

I do know someone that used to (this was several years ago) show up at the cruise terminal, bags packed, and would try to book right then and there. I'd say every 3 times he did it... two he was told sorry, and one he got a TREMENDOUS good deal.

With security, COVID, etc, probably can't do that anymore. 

On 8/21/2021 at 6:03 PM, Brkintx said:

I am not sure about the other maps and platforms, but Waze will route and reroute you to avoid traffic delays, including through shopping center parking lots, side streets, etc., all based on live conditions…  Waze is now owned by Alphabet, so my guess is that the features everyone loves most will likely be integrated into Google Maps at some point…  from my perspective, and for me, it eliminated the need to check or alternate routes or traffic anywhere before / during a trip…  

We live in Louisiana and what we usually do is drive to somewhere between Lake Charles and Beaumont the night before. Wake up and drive 10 to Winnie then south to the coast and along the Bolivar Peninsula, across the ferry, and over to the terminal.

Benefits of this route are it's less mileage, no chance of I-45 traffic, and you get to take a ferry which is cool.

Drawback is there is no Buc-ee's on this route...

On 7/29/2021 at 5:40 AM, mondello said:

Cheers from Galveston starts at 6:00am on Day 2 due to conflict with Texas tax/liquor laws. Alchohol must be from Texas with proper tax paid. I've read that when ship hits international waters that they switch over to (apparently) duty free alchohol. Regardless, Cheers is day 2 from Texas and NYC.

There are a couple of different issues.

One - when in Texas waters, you can only sell alcohol purchased from Texas distributors. This is of course more expensive for Carnival then wherever they normally source their alcohol from... so there is a limited alcohol selection until they leave Texas waters (when they can start selling from their normal non-Texas stash).

Two - Texas laws cause issues with the concept of a "pay one price" alcohol package. This issue would no longer apply after the ship leaves Texas waters... but my guess is there is some sort of point of sale system with having the package kick in later in the day after the boat leaves waters. 6 am is probably when the point of sale system rolls over to a new day.

Note that Royal Carribbean does the same on the first point... but apparently isn't worried about the second. 

I passed by Glory on way to office this morning around 730. Locally they are saying new departure time between 10 and 12. Pilot is/was on board, but may have to swap out pilots (they have duty time limits) but not a huge deal to do that. 

Leaving by noon should put them into Costa Maya on time on Wed without much issue. 

14 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

In the near background there is a small boat passing Glory on her port side. I can't tell what type of boat from this clip but is moving too swiftly for a tug.

Pilot boat perhaps? 

I'm trying to figure out where Glory was going. Aren't the ships at that pier side by side, not front to back? Why was he making that maneuver? 

18 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

Since your cruise is when most schools are on break, there will be a lot of kids like yours running around. Shorter holiday cruises tend to attract a rowdier crowd. 

Here is your problem. Carnival Breeze and Disney Fantasy will have A LOT of families on vacation. Had you mentioned a Celebrity or Princess ship, I would think differently. 

Right, so my question is... if we have kids, and those boats have a lot of kids, and they all go to Sanchos, how is it? 

I'm not worried about their being a bunch of kids at Sanchos if my kids are there and having fun. I'm more concerned about drunken issues at Sanchos... and maybe if it's more families that won't be an issue? 

Wow... did the driver hear you trying to find someone to split a cab with? 

I make it easy. It's $17 so we give them a $20 bill and tell them have a great day. 

We will be in Cozumel the Monday of Thanksgiving week, on Carnival Valor. Has anyone ever gone with their kids to Mr. Sanchos? I know they have the extra area with water trampolines and such. We have 2 daughters, 8 and 11. Both like pools and beaches and my youngest might like the trampoline area. 

We went over the summer (wife and I) and it was a loud, drunk place to be. But there were 5 boats in town and it was the week of July 4th. When we go, there will be 3 boats there (us, Carnival Breeze, and Disney Fantasy) so wondering if fewer boats (one being Disney) and being in November instead of summer might make for a calmer crowd. 

Thanks for any help you can provide.