Purvis1231

Right, I understand that. ( should had said there was no tip charge in the gift shop- they charge for every product.)

We were on a cruise a few weeks ago and were not charged in the gift shop. There was a line on the receipt to add a tip.

For some people the idea of holding the ship is a value. It happened once for me. I was on an excursion that was many miles inland and the bus was caught up in a minor accident that cause it to be an hour late returning to the ship- thankfully the ship waited. Other value is the connivence gathering on the ship or nearby on the dock, the fact that folks on the excursion desk have firsthand information about many of the excursions, and if something changes with the excursions you can be informed while on the ship. One example, I once had a non-Carnival excursion booked in Cozumel. We had to walked about a half mile to the meeting point at a local hotel. We got there and nobody knew anything about the excursion. We waited and called the company we booked with who referred us to another company who final sent someone to the meeting point who told us the excursion was cancelled. We were able to book another tour enjoyable with the same folks but it cost more.

Last week it was a $11.00.

It depends on the excursions. As I mentioned I have received several price matches. There are many Carnival excursion where there are no eligible matches. I personally, have also taken many non-Carnival excursions but some people prefer to stay with Carnival.

Carnival adds value to the excursions so that is why many people are willing to pay a higher price to stick with Carnival.

On our recent cruise, there was roast turkey several days on the buffet- it was good.

I have done the excursion price match several times. I each case it was initial denied but eventually Carnival gave in. The only except to this is when we did the request while on the ship- it was approved right away.

We just returned on 11/22. The drill was not digital- it was basically non-excitant. We had to meet a staff member to let him scan our cards and that was it. There is a video on the Hub app but we did not have to watch it. I hope first time cruisers got a better drill.

I was an early advocate of mask and vaccines but after three years there is no evidence that either stop the spread. I hope they do help and I personally got use to wearing a mask and got my vaccines but stopped after three. Right now, China is having a record-breaking outbreak but thankfully, it looks like the virus has lost most of its sting. The most recent statistic I read indicates most deaths are among the vaccinated, hopefully this is because of their age and preexisting conditions but honest research needs to be done on this.

Embarkation: We had the 10: 00 check in time. We dropped our bags off at 8:45 and then waited until about 9:15 for the parking garage to open. After parking we proceeded to the door of the port. We waited with others outside until about 9:30 when they allowed those with the 10:00 check to enter the building and begin the check in. We had passports and completed the check in within a few minutes then headed to security. We had a carry on with can drinks and medical supplies. Last time the opened this to hand check it but this time we breezed through the x-rays and were sent to the waiting area. While waiting we brought some lanyards and snacks. Boarding began around 10:45, we did not have any special boarding but were on the ship shortly before 11:00. Cabin: We had a standard ocean view cabin on deck 2-midships. It was clean and ready at 1:30 with our luggage by the door. The room steward did a good job cleaning and keeping the ice bucket full, but we had to ask him to provide a sharps container although we had requested this in advance. We had to ask him to replenish the paper products and soap and shampoo within a few days of the cruise and we had to get our own drinking glasses. Overall, we enjoyed the location of our cabin, but it was very noisy from the stabilizers due to heavy seas at time. One night it was rocking so bad, we were in the cabin but 7:00 and only left out to get some pizza. The weather was disappointing during the cruise but we know that it out of anyone’s control. Entertainment: We enjoyed the music and trivia in the atrium although I was disappointed, they did not give out any ships on a stick (I have at least one from every Carnival cruise I have sailed.) I did get a couple of medals. The main stage shows were mainly music without any lights, dancing, or other aspects we were expecting. We did not attend the comedy shows. Food: We are not hard to please so we found a lot of food we enjoyed but skipped the steakhouse, BBQ, and seafood shack. To us Guy’s Burgers are ok but after embarkation day, we did not go back. We did miss the bacon and mushrooms from the toppings bar. Most days we ate breakfast in the MDR, the food was good but the service was lacking in some respects compare to what we were used to in the pre-pandemic world. Things like varieties of pastries, bread, butter, jelly, and drink refills were not readily available as they were in the past. I know some of this is to reduce food waste but when I asked for a small glass of juice they served a tall glass. Unfortunately, many people did not understand about checking in for meals on the app so there was a large crowd waiting especial for the seaday brunch. The Your Time Diner service in the MDR was better, we had the same excellent head waiter each time. He knew our names and drink preference. It seemed people understood the online check in better for diner so there were few people standing around waiting unlike in the morning. The food was good but little was rememberable. We did eat one night in the buffet and found most of the foods from the MDR were on the buffet but overall, we preferred to table service in the MDR. Ports: Our ports were Cozumel and Progreso. We enjoy these ports and have been to them many times so with a 75% chance of rain, we did not book any excursions. Thankfully, the rain held off at the ports, so we went in to do a little shopping and to look around. We almost booked a last-minute excursion but decided to enjoy ship with fewer people on board. My wife and daughter did do spa treatments on the Cozumel port day since they had a $50 discount card. Embarkation went smoothly especially since we had passports and they used facial recognition but we were selected for a physical passport check but that took just a few minutes. There were a few bottlenecks leaving the ship such as the waiting for the elevators to the parking garage. It took us about an hour to leave the ship when called to get to our car. General: There were a lot of kids on board some people complained they were too rowdy but personally we did not see anything unusual for a pre-holiday cruise, but we did see some loud and somewhat obnoxious adults. My teenage daughter had to have the internet, so she purchased the middle plan. It worked fine for her to snap at her friends, but other things did not work that well.

Well I hope no one plans to bring a bomb!

You are right, on our last trip there was a big back-up getting off the ship.

Yes, I have seen them making people pour out their cups and looking in bags while exiting the ship and there are signs and intercom announcements that bring alcohol off the ship is not permitted.

IT is funny that there are many complaints on Cruise Critics about Carnival not allowing people on Cheers to buy drinks in excess of the 15 included drinks. At Half Moon Cay, Carnival allows this but people are not happy.

May or may not work. Generally. They do not serve unopen beers and now the crew is activity looking for people trying to smuggle alcohol off the ship.

Even at $10 it is still cheaper than water at most any other type of resort, so it is not deal breaker, is it?

Okay, is sausage gravy a make or break item on a cruise? If so bring some of this:

I typically use a credit card while a fairly low limit for the easy and for the fact it is better to put someone else's money at risk while traveling. With the low limit scammers cannot hit me for that much. I do have a card with a high limit just in case something happens.

It is funny the Asian staff have learned to cook Italian food but not American Southern food? Which is more difficult?

Right the biscuits and gravy are terrible but there are the can pork and beans on the buffet!

Right, I never see anyone other than myself tipping in cash.

I read that Grey wasn't planning on cheating so I should have said anyone instead of you. On my last trip there were custom agents in the port to pay the fees. The fees vary since the states have to get in on the action too. In Galveston it was $1.50 per pack over the limit.

My phone was on airplane mode but remember these days you cannot turn your phone off since you need it for the Futtimes, schedules, menus, and messaging others with the ship's app.

Why would you want to get around customs? Lying to a federal official is a crime- just pay the few bucks and go on without risking more trouble.