Steve551

Regardless of what the WHO says, cruise lines operating from the US follow CDC guidance (requirements).

On 7/24/2021 at 3:45 AM, tallnthensome said:

Correct ..... 

I like the "wash-n-fold" perk too.  Cuts down on the number of bags my wife brings

You guys are doing something wrong.... Carnival gave me a new C8 Corvette

11 hours ago, kdr69 said:

Im more concerned about splitting of the gamblers and their money......It will definitely change the dynamics at the tables im sure by taking a group of people out of the mix.

Our local casinos have gone non-smoking. People were upset at first but they are still coming and playing. It's like every cruise you hear players complaining about the high rake. I always tell them then just go to another casino.....wait!  If it's the only show in town the gamblers will gamble. 

I only play poker. Poker rooms on land have been non-smoking/non-vaping for some time.  Carnival's Poker Pro tournaments are non-smoking (held in the conference room). I prefer playing in a non-smoking environment but I play in the Carnival casino regardless.

My dress on:

Casual Night: Slacks & a button down shirt

Elegant Night: Slacks &  a button down shirt

Socks & shoes too 🙂

Don't worry!

According to one of the latest videos on John Heald's FB page there is no difference cruising now than it was 3 weeks ago --- except people are washing their hands more and using more hand sanitizer.

As long as you're on a Carnival cruise you are safe, just ask John. He says that Carnival & Christine Duffy will keep everyone safe. Too bad Carnival hasn't shared their ability to safeguard against COVID-19 with their sister line, Princess.

45 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

Well I still see Carnival as the lowest for ocean view mid ship cabins. I am sure it is not the same for everyone. The next three cruises this year pp per day. Carnival $79, Royal $84, Princess $95 The reason they are so close. None of them have any FREE perks. Any cruises offering FREE anything are usually more expensive. You are paying partially for those so called FREE perks just like NCL charges an 18% gratuity on your so called FREE drink package. Yup the drinks are free but you will pay the gratuities Drink the drinks or not. If they just charged the 18% on each drink you had that would be fine. Now, on NCL. If you do nto want the FREE drink package the price of the cruise will be much lower. Many do not know that. All other lines. FREE drinks have no added expanse. Just a higher cost for the cruise.

True. But with Carnival you pay for the drink package and still pay 18% gratuity. 

As far as fare comparisons go we have a 21-day Panama Canal cruise booked with NCL on the Bliss (4/19/20-5/10/20).  We have a "Sail Away Mini-Suite". Total cost of the cruise was $3,946 for 2 of us. Of course we have to fly to NYC & home from SEA but with taxes & port fees that's about $94 per day/person. That rate is still available 🙂

1 hour ago, Jamesatgsu said:

To a degree I understand that it would be unfair to treat Carnival, Princess, & Holland America equal under the current per night system, since the pricing is different among the brands.

Recently I have found better prices on Princess & HAL than Carnival for the same itineraries. Last year we booked an Alaska cruise with Princess over Carnival because of the price and because they gave our son $100obc (Military Appreciation).  Since that cruise we booked on NCL & RCCL over Carnival.  Even with all of the cost savings cutbacks, I mean environment saving cutbacks, Carnival's claim of lowest rates in the industry doesn't holdup like it did years ago.

8 minutes ago, EmmasNana said:

Royals perks are by far better than Carnivals. At Diamond level you get free adult beverages for a 3.5 hour period every night. In addition you get 3 vouchers to purchase drinks most bars or dining venue in that same time frame if you don't want to go to the diamond lounge. You also get balcony discounts beginning at platinum level (can't always be combined with other discounts)

You get 3 drink vouchers each night (5:00pm-8:00pm). Royal does have a very nice loyalty program. Especially once you reach 80-days. NCL does too. I like NCL's the best, especially once we reached Platinum with them.

45 minutes ago, darth frosty said:

I can see my stateroom for feb's panama canal cruise.

 

I hope this won't cause a delay

 

I know that's selfish, cause obviously someones cruise will be affected due to repairs.

It might. I hope that you purchased insurance...

Forward Cove Balconies.

My wife loves to be close to the water. - to hear the ship cutting through the water.

I like Cove balconies because it saves a lot of money especially compared to some of the cabins we book on other cruise lines.

If the itinerary were the same in most  cases I would pick Royal over Carnival.

We are old school cruisers (20+ years) and enjoy many of the things that Carnival has cut back on.  We have more than 100 days cruising with Carnival so this isn't meant as a put down of Carnival but they have changed a lot over the years - IMHO not for the better.  We will continue to cruise with Carnival but they are no longer our first choice.

This is a little off subject but our favorite cruise line, out of the "major" cruise lines, is Celebrity (mayve that's because our favorite Mediterranean cruise was with Celebrity). . Our favorite ships are the Royal Caribbean Oasis Class - there's nothing else quite like them anywhere.

2 hours ago, HuliHuli said:

But, how much did you have to wager in the casino to get those cruises.  That is clearly part of the cost, no?

I won the Royal Caribbean cruise, which included Ocean View cabin and a seat in their main event, for $100.

The NCL cruise, which included Inside Cabin and a seat in their main event, for $100.

The RCL I was on an Ante-Up Poker cruise.  I wasn't doing well on the cash tables that day so I went upstairs to the casino just in time to enter their $100 satellite. I ran so well that I took a huge chip advantage to the final table. I ended up heads up against a guy who was playing in his first poker tournament. His wife was watching and when he won the first hand she got so excited because she thought he had won the cruise....  I almost hated to win....almost LOL

Won 2 poker cruises for 2019 (RCL & NCL). Next "free" cruise 12/1/19 on the Getaway (except for taxes and port fees). Flying using points = an inexpensive vacation. I haven't figured up the cost per day but it isn't much.

1 hour ago, D C said:

I'm curious as to what aspects of Carnival you like that you fear might not be on Celebrity. 

 

 

Carnival has an insanely loyal following. Kind of reminds me of In-n-Out. Good burger but far from the best.

Been on 19 Carnival cruises, 10 or so with Celebrity, and a few more with Royal.  Celebrity is my favorite cruise line, my wife prefers Royal (because of the Oasis Class ships).

Since we are destination cruisers I would pick Celebrity over Carnival "if" the itinerary were similar. But I would be over-ruled if an Oasis Class ship also had a similar itinerary  LOL

On 9/5/2019 at 10:52 AM, Saturngrl said:

I would hire a Lean Six Sigma Specialist (like  me) for Carnival team members and loyal passengers to identify sources of waste to eliminate.   That would help balance work loads, improve value and continuously improve operations. 

You don't think that Carnival has "experts" of their own? Who do you think comes up with all of the ideas on where to cut service to save money?

On 9/5/2019 at 10:31 AM, bury me at sea said:

I would stop cutting crew and services and instead cut shareholder returns.

 

 

Really bad idea!

On 8/22/2019 at 7:50 AM, roxierox said:

We have not sailed on the Pride since 2015. At that time, there was a vibration that could be felt in the dining room in the back of the ship and there have been reports on these boards of people feeling it in their cabins. I was wondering if it is still noticeable after the dry docks that ship has had since we sailed on the Pride. We are looking at an aft cabin for an upcoming cruise. Any recent Pride cruisers have any helpful input? 

Reminds me of the Beach Boy's song, "I'm getting those good vibrations..."

46 minutes ago, moondog73 said:

I don't understand why people need twice a day.  If you stay at a hotel, you only get once a day.

Hotels don't provide a lot of things that a cruise ship does.  Should the cruise lines only offer the amenities that a hotel offers?

I think that the little things like twice a day cabin service, candies at night, and etc is associated by many as part of the over-all cruise experience. It's because for many years twice a day cabin service was the "norm" on Carnival, like it still is on other cruise lines.

Personally, I'm fine with once a day cabin service.

On 9/5/2019 at 6:37 AM, ParrotRob said:

 

Candies on the pillow, boxed cereal, butter pats AND a plastic pen?!  A PLASTIC PEN?!  Sign me up for Princess right away.  That plastic pen alone is worth the cost.

That's what I told my wife....

1 hour ago, Doggielover68 said:

 

Okay. If tableclothes are a cutback, what do you call the new Hub app? What about the ability to have pizza delivered anywhere on the ship? New ports being built? New ships? New menus?

 

It's called change. 

 

Tableclothes are not hygienic anyway. Lots of people have to handle those before they land on the table. It's much better to clean the table with a sanitizer solution.

 

Also a lot of people complain about the length of time dinner takes and/or the need to wait for a table. This reduces the amount of time it takes in between guests. 

 

I can't believe people are so uptight about a piece of fabric.

 

The horse is dead. Stop beating it.

Let's see, I'm gonna hit the horse one more time....

"What do you call the new Hub app?" I call it the Hub  App.

"What about the ability to have pizza delivered anywhere on the ship?"  I call it a way for Carnival to make money...it ain't free.

"New ports being built?"  Investment in future business...where do you think the money comes from?  That's right, cutbacks LOL

"New ships?"  if they weren't making money with them they wouldn't build them would they?

"New menus?" The old ones were wearing out. They only change once every 10-years or so.

"Table clothes are not hygienic anyway. Lots of people have to handle those before they land on the table." You mean they aren't as hygienic as the napkins (that you wipe your mouth with), or the dishes, or or the silverware, or those jars of butter, or the buffet line, or all of the surfaces of the ship?

"It's called change."  Of course it's change. All cutbacks are changes...

Just finished a cruise with Princess (Carnival's sister cruise line). Tablecloths every night; no one asked me if I wanted morning or evening cabin service, I got both...including little candies on my pillow; they even gave me a plastic pen; butter wasn't in a jar to be shared with everyone, it was cut into little pats; they still had the individual cereals; the list goes on.

Now you're going to say, "Just cruise with Princess if it's so good"...you were going to say that weren't you? I knew it!

On 9/3/2019 at 3:36 AM, ParrotRob said:

 

Just because something's a change I wouldn't call it a "cutback".  Wouldn't a "cutback" entail removing something with some sort of value?  What value are they taking away by changing the way tables are dressed?

Cutback:  an act or instance of reducing something, typically expenditures.

Not having table cloths each evening in the MDR reduces Carnival's expenditures AKA cutback:

The cost of the table cloths;

the cost of cleaning the table cloths;

the cost of handling the table cloths (placing/removing)

Some people "value" table cloths just like some value all the other"small" things that Carnival no longer does.

On 8/26/2019 at 11:13 PM, czexrus said:

Going on the carnival sensation; out of Miami to Nassau on Saturday. Do you think carnival will change itinerary?  

Yes

On 8/28/2019 at 7:52 PM, jimbo5544 said:

LOL, were exactly did you ready this?

I might have made that up  🙂 LOL

If your cruise is extended then so are your packages, at no extra charge.

You won't be charged for the extra day(s) that you are cruising.

They don't add extra gratuities but your cabin stewards & wait staff always appreciate it.

Often times Carnival offers to cover the cost of airline changes, and other goodies.