Pellaz

Also need to add: free room and board, free medical for the crew, and the cruise line pays for crew repatriation to their home country. Not sure about RCCL, but on CCL if a crewmember opts to stay in the U.S. between contracts, they are paid the equivalent of what the air travel would have cost. Crew are not charged for room and board while on ship. The menu in the crew dining room might be better than the passengers'. It rotates every 28 days aboard CCL ships, as opposed to every 8 days for passengers. Crew ARE charged for access to wi-fi, but get a discount.

This topic came up in the Royal Caribbean forum. Carnival may be the only cruise line that port-blocks Wi-Fi calling, where it is wi-fi at your end on the ship, eventually goes to the telco switch and out to the world as a conventional phone call. Royal Caribbean, for example allows wi-fi calling. The possible reason given for Carnival blocking access is that they have an agreement with Cellular At Sea. A pity; when my phone rang in the buffet restaurant on Royal with a call from home, I felt like a king. 😄

YES, indeed! On my 2nd Carnival cruise, our oceanview cabin wasn't receiving any air conditioning; the air wasn't being dried or dehumidified, even though it supposedly met CCL's temperature standards. I had to make several visits to Guest Services before the situation was finally resolved*, and having FTTF saved me AT LEAST 60-90 minutes that first night. It might have saved our entire cruise. 😮 --- * I threatened to invoke the Carnival Vacation Guarantee; they moved us to the only available stateroom on the ship...a balcony. .

Whew, if they offered the Mongolian Wok (or, y'know, any Asian stir-fry) for dinner I'd be ALLLLLL over that.

I'm curious as to why the Valor's man-overboard sensors didn't detect him going overboard. The Conquest-class all seem to have the sensors; you can identify them by looking for the word "FLIR."

Holy moley, really? I tried their steakhouse back in 2020 as part of a dining "deal" they had and I didn't think it was all that great...oddly enough, I thought the steak in their Italian specialty place was a bit better. 😮 I heard a rumor that Royal gives you a free night in their steakhouse on your birthday, and it just so happens that this coming January.... 😉

So true. And I've found that Carnival's practice of having three elevator banks on their ships, as opposed to Royal's two, makes for less walking overall on Carnival, even beyond the relative sizes of the lines' ships.

Keep in mind that shipboard sodas cost $3 or $4 apiece. If the OP thinks they'll be drinking more than 3 sodas in an entire day, then it's worth it. The included souvenir cup and the presence of Freestyle Coke machines just makes it a no-brainer, IF you intend to drink sodas...in my case, Raspberry Diet Cokes. 😄

Also curious if Carnival was allowing wi-fi calling or if it was still (seemingly) port-blocked. When last I sailed on RCCL, wi-fi calling (send and receive) WAS allowed.

Happened on the Majesty (r.i.p.) back in 2011, the first year of our heavy-metal cruise. RCCL was told that this would be a hard-drinkin' clientele, and they obliged by stocking 20% extra beer and alcohol than for a normal 4-night cruise. Unfortunately they offered the drink package that year. They ran out of beer by noon, the day after sailing. 😄 The one-and-only port stop was Cozumel. Upon arrival they purchased a lot of beer for the return voyage. And I mean a LOT. Lesson learned: For all subsequent sailings, they have no longer offered any alcoholic drink packages, and any unsellable cabins (due to muster capacity) have been used for emergency backup beer storage. That last was only a rumor...until I saw it with my own eyes two cabins down from us, whence a crewman wheeled out a bunch of beer on a cart and rolled it off with a grin. 😄

Probably NO beers, or very few. Cruise lines are quite strict about alcohol consumption by crew, and if found with a BAL too high, they are immediately dismissed. And unlike normal end-of-contract, where the cost of seafarers' repatriation is borne by the cruise line, if a crewperson is dismissed for cause, they must bear the cost.

Same here with us on all recent Carnival cruises, although we chose evening service because we liked not being potentially awakened by the steward in the morning...although they almost never knock when the room is occupied anyway. They somehow know when you leave and return. They're ninjas, I tell ya! On the first day, we DO ask for daily ice replenishment mornings and evenings...along with tipping a crisp $20...and we nearly always get it. (The one exception was when our steward had shore-leave at the port that day and he apologized profusely...until we told him it was fine.) lol, in my recent experience on RCCL I've gotten towel critters on maybe 30% of the days...tops. A bit disappointing, unless you actively hate towel critters. Couldn't help but contrast that with Carnival, where the towel animals join us in the room virtually every evening; my friend Kathy then preserves them on one of the shelves until the last day and gets a group-photo. 🙂

Well, they cost that much to purchase outright a few years ago, but most eateries leased them for $300/month instead. (Around me in Atlanta, Zaxby's routinely has them and Burger King often does, as well as scattered and smothered Wendy's locations, Six Flags Over Georgia, etc.) I will sometimes choose a drive-thru based on the presence of a Freestyle machine at that restaurant (there is a model adapted for drive-thru use) , so in that respect, the extra cost might be slightly -- VERY slightly -- worth it. 🙂

It hasn't changed appreciably that I've seen (MG in Oct. 2021; Horizon in Oct. 2022). Same options as they've had in the past. I like the pulled pork butt and the beef brisket the best. Note that it IS open for lunch on embark day as well as on sea days; something which a lot of people seem to overlook.

We were once-and-done on the Mardi Gras in October 2021. Some of our items were mis-plated, and my friend John's ribs were so burnt you couldn't stick a fork into them. The host came over, saw them, and took a photo of them so he could shame the chef. 😮 MY food was okay and was plated correctly, but we went back to eating dinner at the MDR and the Cucina after that experience. The place can also be pretty loud with a band performing there. We opted to sit over on the Hero's Lounge side to avoid the loud horns, which might have thrown things off a bit.

THE most important thing about the muster/safety drill is for passengers to know where to go. In a pinch, most people would be able to figure out how to don a lifejacket, even if it's just from watching someone else doing it.... ...But you've gotta know where to muster so that, if there IS an evacuation/abandon ship order, or in the case of Grandeur OTS, a muster-to-the-boats order, you can be at -- or be led by muster-station personnel TO -- the boat boarding area. Many people might not realize that nice, often-quiet outside deck below the lifeboats is where you'll be taken from, say, the main theater or the nightclub or the restaurant, since many muster stations are now located inside the ship as opposed to outside in the heat, etc.

Lol, I was (only halfway seriously) wondering the same thing. Heck, that speed is really good for direct-wire cable, let alone a cruise ship at sea!

Judging from some of the well-known cruise ship disaster responses, the crews responded well in those emergencies. Costa Concordia: crew did not panic*, tried to get everyone off safely, several were honored later for their bravery and selflessness. Carnival Triumph: nearly all accounts said that the crew responded admirably to the fire emergency initially, and to the onboard hardships later. Grandeur of the Seas (2013): crew responded calmly, lifeboats were lowered on the davits; evacuation was not ordered although the entire back of the ship was charred and the guests were ordered to muster. This news report gives a shout-out to CruiseCritic: ----- * excepting Captain Schettino, of course .

And last time I checked, the Bikini Tiki Bar at Junkanoo was TripAdvisor's #1-rated attraction on all of New Providence Island! 😄

Dropped in to post exactly that. The Freestyle machines are a game-changer (and at a per-unit purchase cost of $60,000, it's not surprising). You have SO many options with the machines...when they work and when they are routinely refilled with flavors. Where else can I get a Raspberry Diet Coke? 🙂 Considering the package comes with a nice souvenir cup and access to the machines -- as opposed to having to visit a bar and getting a soda from a grumpy bartender who feels he's wasting his time on a non-revenue transaction -- at $9/day it's a no-brainer. I'll be getting it on our music charter cruise in January...where alcoholic drink packages are not offered at all. 😮 The only drawback is carrying that souvenir cup around everywhere on the ship...and inexplicably, Royal doesn't sell a cup-holder for them. They'd make an additional mint if they offered an over-the-shoulder or baldric-style cup holder like amusement parks have. I just wear a string backpack and put the cup in there.

Huh, sounds like an interesting and "different" snorkel excursion; I'll definitely give it a look if/when it appears on our Cruise Planner. As an aside, Grand Turk is one of my favorite port-stops anywhere. Nice and casual, no pressure, nice beach (and surprisingly good snorkeling) right there by the pier. If I have the money, I'll retire there. 😄 Our music charter on the Independence actually went to Grand Turk a few years ago, which was HIGHLY unusual since GT is a Carnival-built port. The great folks at Jack's Shack remarked that it was one of the largest ships they'd ever seen there. 🙂 I'm not THAT wealthy, so I'll probably have to settle for a merely gold-PLATED cart. 😄 Oh, I prefer the more low-impact ports and private islands. I've never set foot inside a Diamonds International. 🙂 I make an exception for the Margaritaville at Grand Turk because it's just THAT nice of a facility, with its big free pool, plentiful free beach loungers and umbrellas, etc.

At one time before the construction you HAD to wade through a crowded area with "overanxious" vendors, which I think was the straw market. It was...annoying. Yep, my only concern at Junkanoo has been leaving our belongings on the beach unguarded while we went into the water. Back in the good ol' days you could go over to Atlantis and walk in as far as the Royal Towers lobby ("The Great Hall of Waters"), but now you get stopped at the exit from the Crystal Shops unless you have a wristband or a hotel key. I just fly over and stay at Comfort Suites for a few days every November -- much cheaper than staying at Atlantis itself and you still get full access to Atlantis and Aquaventure. As for Cabbage Beach, I'm not totally sure how to get to it aside from going through Atlantis...despite the fact that it is a public beach.

Yep, sounds about right. I'd really love it if they offered snuba, but I gather they don't. I've noticed snuba excursions have largely disappeared from itineraries...or at least, from MY recent itineraries. Golly, a Bahamian crew in the Bahamas? Who'd a thunk it? 😄 Interesting that you can snorkel inside the wreck. Oh, it wouldn't surprise me if Nassau ends up being better than Bimini for me, also. <mantra> "Well, at least it isn't Freeport." </mantra> 😄 Thanks for the advice. If I can get a few friends together we may well pool our funds and rent out a golf cart. It's something I haven't quite gotten around to doing at Grand Turk.

Yep, and probably with a ping time well over 100 ms (a tenth of a second) since the signal has to make two round-trip transits to a geostationary satellite. Carnival isn't using Starlink AFAIK, at least not yet. However, Royal has been gradually rolling it out on their ships. Current posts on the Royal board have been saying around 9 Mb/sec, which is pretty good for shipboard, but nowhere near the 92 Mb/sec speed the OP got on the Celebration. I should have thought to do speed tests on my recent sailings. Speed was fast enough on the Mardi Gras in October 2021, absolutely terrible on the Sunrise last February, and quite good again on the Horizon this past October. On the Sunrise the wi-fi was SO slow [how slow WAS it? Well, I'll TELL you] ...it was so slow that virtually nothing would load and I ended up receiving a full refund at Guest Services. From the sheepish smile the GS officer bestowed on me, I was far from the only person to drop by. It was by far the biggest blemish on an otherwise very good cruise.

The short answer: No. The slightly longer answer: Negative. 🙂 Carnival will be HAPPY to take your money and hope you don't drink more than 6-8 drinks per day. BUT as others have said, you may well save some money if you buy it in advance; we always do.