Pellaz

I was thinking an expansion of what they already offer as pay selections would be likely, but I was surprised we hadn't seen anything about the menus. I'd happily pay a few bucks for one if they were as good as the burritos from Blue Iguana. Yumm.

As I mentioned earlier, I've done the BtF Tour on every sailing up to the COVID shutdown, generally one sailing per year from 2012 - 2019. If there was a hold on the tours, I sure didn't notice it.

We're booked on the Horizon in about a month and got an email Friday about the new a la carte room-service menu. It said that as of October 1st, Carnival was adding some options a la carte (i.e., pay for them individually) but would be retaining the complimentary continental breakfast from 6 am - 10 am. Do we have any intel as to what items they're adding "based on customer patterns and demand"?

Yep, this is exactly how I thought it worked. Not only do you have to position the claw in the right spot, but per the second row, the machine is set to only allow enough lifting strength every so often. You have seen something I have NEVER seen, then. Yes, this might be a standard practice. And it might not be that sinister. On Sunrise last February I was heading up to bed on the last night but decided to spend $10 in the "Cash Vault" game -- this is the one where the "S" slides across from left to right and you have to try to get it through the narrow slot. On my fourth attempt...it slid right on through! My first thought was "People NEVER win this. Am I in trouble? But the big cube of cash marked $2,500 fell into the hopper at the bottom. Now I'm thinking "What do I do now? Just...stroll off with it?" But I realized that I had NO room for that giant cube in my carry-on; my suitcase was already down on Deck 0. So I went to the casino cage...and I'm glad I did. Turns out that big ol' cash cube only has $1,000 in dollar bills in it. They showed me that, had I opened it, I'd have seen a card inside that says that, and to bring it to the cage for full payout. After filling in the usual tax forms I finally got 25 $100 bills. If I had just "strolled off with it" I'm sure they'd have found me using facial recognition and stopped me from debarking, since even $1,000 is required to be reported to the IRS. 😄 I'm sure the Cash Vault machine is the same way. I just happened to get very lucky...and it paid for my cruise twice over.

I sailed on the Sunrise in February. $35 total fare per person, so I booked it for two and enjoyed my first-ever solo cruise. We were basically at full capacity and of course, there were long lines for some "customary" places....so the trick is to be a little creative. On embark day, for example, don't go to the buffet for lunch, go up one flight of stairs and go to the Cucina for fresh made-to-order pasta bowls. It's free (at lunch) and NOT jam-packed. For breakfast, if the buffet is crowded, go to Blue Iguana Cantina for yummy breakfast burritos. Also free (all day). Overall I was pleased with the cruise except that the wi-fi connectivity was terrible. I got a credit back at Guest Services for the slowness. Note that this can vary based on ship positioning and satellite coverage. On the last night I actually won one of the $2500 "cubes of cash" in the Cash Vault machine, so the cruise was paid for twice over. Sadly, I'm sure the machine is not programmed to allow that more than once per year, so y'all are probably out of luck. 😄

Yes, yes, and again yes! It was reallly good. And it passed my salad-bar litmus test: they had green olives available. :) Unless things have changed, the veggies and such will be passenger-served in front, and the meat toppings (chicken, etc.) are in the back and served by the Fresh Creations attendant. Word of warning: it can be windy up there in Serenity while the ship is underway...and lettuce is fairly lightweight. 😄 Mardi Gras has Chibang!, which operates similar to Jiji's Asian Kitchen on other ships. Same concept as Mongolian Wok, though: fresh stir-fry made to order. At Jiji's and Chibang!, instead of waiting in a long line* like at the Wok, you sit down and fill out a card with what you want and they bring it to you. Much more "civilized." :) Note: unlike Jiji's Asian Kitchen, which is open on embark day, Chibang! is not...or at least, it wasn't last October. ------- * I don't care about the long lines; I'm a Mongolian stir-fry FIEND :)

Unless you have a large dining group and all want to sit together, YTD on the Mardi Gras is a no-brainer. Not only do you have first dibs on booking reservations for Chibang! and the Cucina (set-time diners MUST wait until after 7pm or so to book), but the two venues are officially considered an extension of your evening dining: your Sign and Sail card will state "Your Time Dining -- _______, Cucina, Chibang" The blank is where your assigned MDR would go (Palm or Flamingo), and it seems to vary based on the sailing. To the OP, good luck! Hope you can make the switch!

I don't remember any problems on the Mardi Gras with Internet speed, not even in our aft balcony. I was really pleased with it. The Sunrise's Internet back in February...not so much. 😮

However, they DO expect you to order more than one lobster tail in the MDR, and provision the ship before embark accordingly. Our server encouraged my sister to order a second lobster tail, and then he "strongly suggested" she get a third. 🙂 During the BtF Tour, the chef de cuisine on the Imagination (may she r.i.p.) told us ten years ago that the record on Imagination at the time was 17 lobster tails eaten at one sitting. The fleetwide record? 22. 😮 😮

Now, if only we could cajole Carnival into dumping that stupid "Here's a bunch of cruise tiles to scroll through-- oh, wait, sorry, you scrolled too fast or something, and now I'm dumping you back at the top of the page again" page layout. How about a simple list? Something a little less dynamic and flashy that doesn't mess up? I've actually given up on looking through a page-ful of VIP deals on Carnival's site because of this. I just use a different cruise website 2 look for the existence of cruises (searchable by destination ports), and then backtrack to Carnival's site to book it (or call my PVP).

This was my observation on Liberty back in 2015 -- lots of stews and mixed-up stuff in bowls with names I didn't recognize and no other info (allergy advisories, etc.) So I called in some help, namely some friends in a band from Sweden*. "I'm just a dumb Yank. What are these dishes?" --But they didn't have any idea either. I remember the burgers near the back of the WJ were dreadful, and I thought maybe the food was modified for our charter cruise. Happily the WJ on the Independence has been much better (and better-labeled). I liked the carved meats section in the back and the salad "island" since I make a mean salad when provoked. I don't recall seeing a Mongolian BBQ place on either ship, though. I'm a Mongolian FIEND and I'm hoping they have something like that on the Freedom next January. The WJ hours were very odd, too, again due to the charter. Closed from 5 pm to 7 pm, but open until at least 2 or 3 am. Same here. Lots of hidden gems to look for in the future! I love raisin bread and very seldom get it. ----- * Therion

On the Conquest class (including Freedom) that pool has sometimes been adults-only in the past...but open to all adults, not based on any cabin-class. More recently it has been open to all (including kids) but this seems to vary. It was by far my favorite pool on the Conquest class as it seemed less "busy." At night the pool would often be empty, or nearly so, and I could swim "laps" -- end-to-end underwater, three times down and back. 🙂 Also, the aft bar nearby was often much less crowded at night (and sometimes during the day), and on a few cruises we established a nice rapport with the bartender there.

Just FYI for those already booked on the Freedom, This 4-night sailing has now been fully chartered for the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise. If you're booked on this sailing, you can expect to receive a cancellation/rebook notification at some point. The charter will be visiting Bimini as its one and only port of call, which is pretty funny since you can almost drive a golf ball between Miami and Bimini. 😄

Remember that its loss, according to the after-incident report, had nothing to do with its nuclear plant? Not viable at all. Nuclear reactors are EXPENSIVE. Between permitting costs and the costs of construction, they'd be prohibitively high. And of course, no-one would take a cruise on one because nUclEaR poWeR Is uNsAfE/dAnGeRouS/eViL.

And quite a few passengers on the Triumph had it MUCH better than "primitive camping," too. Curiously, none of their interviews survived CNN's cutting-room floor.

One thing Royal allows that Carnival doesn't is wi-fi phone calling. Granted, it would probably be a hot mess with Carnival's usual internet connectivity anyway, but I felt like royalty when I got a phone call from home while walking through the Windjammer on the Indy back in 2020. 😄

I can categorically state that I've never eaten puzza at 2 or 3 am. 😄 More seriously, I've certainly had pizza on Carnival at 2 am, since I'm a night-owl. And while there are usually some kids in line at night, there are certainly plenty of adults.

My fingers were tingling in anticipation of posting something like this and you beat me to it. Gee, thanks a lot! 🙂 Before my MG cruise last October I wasn't really sure what this "shawarma" stuff was.* After my MG cruise, I now know what I was missing. Really loved it. I also discovered what "bulgogi beef" is, thanks to the Street Eats kiosk. Yum! Mardi Gras is a diners' delight. So many included/"free" places to eat. -- * although it rhymed with Buck Dharma, from the band Blue Oyster Cult, so I figure it had to be good....

Glad to hear of improvements coming! The incredibly slow connectivity on my Sunrise cruise in February was the only major problem I had with that sailing. (Meanwhile service was lickety-split on the Mardi Gras last October.)

This fascinating topic has come up before, and as I recall our resident (now retired) Chief Engineer @chengkp75provided a professional answer...and can hopefully do so again.

Do you know when they finished it? I looked at Google satellite view and voila, there was the port, with a ship docked.

That's great to hear! They must have added that option sometime after we cruised on MG last October. I'm in Atlanta, land of 500 Waffle Houses, renowned (even unto FEMA's "Waffle House Index") for their 24-hour service...and many of our Waffle Houses now close at 9pm. In one special in-town case, they are now only open from 5 am - 2 pm. 😮 Yea, verily, the struggle is real.

Concur. We've had #9 and #11 in the past and loved that area. Far enough away from the loud bars to be pleasant; not too far from the free/included lunch buffet; and there's a handy set of bathrooms right behind you. Be advised that ship's crew will come by and start cleaning up your cabana 60-90 minutes before back-on-board, so finish your snacks and sodas (or put them in your own bags for later) before then. To the OP, enjoy! There's a REASON why HMC cabanas are among Carnival's most highly-rated excursions.

I came here to post this. The buffet on Lido will be CROWDED during embark, as it always is. Ol' Fashioned BBQ is just one flight up and will normally be almost empty. If the buffet is crowded at breakfast, consider the breakfast burritos at Blue Iguana; there will usually be just a short line.

I'll second the recommendation for Stuart's Cove; however, we did have a poor experience with them last November, with a boat full of snorkelers, snuba folks, and a couple of scuba folks. There were only two crew members available and it was a confused mess. My other experiences with them have been great, although we haven't been able to visit the wreck near Atholl Island the last few years due to sea conditions.