Indytraveler83

1 hour ago, nlktx49 said:

Not worth the risk, weed or regular cigarettes. Not allowed in cabins or on balconies.  $500 fine for each violation, may be put off the ship at the next port, may be banned from sailing on Carnival in the future according to Carnival's website. Don't know if this is ever enforced.

Thank you for posting this part.  While we've all smelled it and know it is onboard, and people frequently get away with using it, there may still be consequences.  I'd hate for anyone to go in thinking "It's no big deal" then end up on the wrong side of drug charges and consequences that they didn't anticipate.

I live in Indiana (not legal) but am close to both the Illinois and Michigan borders (legal) and for many people, the legal headache and consequences are entirely unanticipated.

26 minutes ago, bananatami said:

 

How do you get a spa pass??

 

I have read some very mixed reviews regarding the Dream.

I had origanally booked on the Magic and an hour after I booked, found out my friend from HS and her family were on this cruise, so I switched. Just hoping i made the better decision.

You can buy one on embarkation day at rh spa if you don't have spa rooms.  I think they around $50/day, so not cheap.

The Dream and Magic are very similar ships.  I'll admit I haven't been on either in several years, so I'm unsure of the condition, but I know the layout is essentially identical.

The thing with this class of ship IMO, is that the common spaces like lido and the buffet can get unusually crowded.  It's my least favorite lido deck in the fleet.  However, the lanai, deck 11 and many other spots offer great, uncrowded private spaces.  You just have to explore the ship and find your favorite spots, as they will likely be different.  

I did enjoy my cruises on the Dream class ships overall, so I wouldn't overly worry about it.  

For the Dream and Dream class ships:

This is one of the most crowded center lido decks in the fleet, and it feels oddly enclosed.  The Serenity retreat is also very windy and a bit sub-par compared to others.

That said, the aft spaces on deck 11 (one above lido) are usually the least crowded, and the back corners have wonderful oceanviews.  Much of deck 11 tends to be quieter and better for relaxing time in the sun, if you don't have to be right by the pool.

The spas on the Dream class are some of the best in the fleet, and well worth the spa pass for just the heated pool.  My favorite trip on the Dream was when we had spa balconies!

This is the second time now I've heard of this very weird situation where a b2b cruiser is supposed to switch rooms, doesn't for some reason, and then someone is left without a cabin.  

Not sure what I'd do or how I'd handle it, but it's clear Carnival has some sort of new b2b problem that they need to get fixed quickly.  

Six months out seems to be when the "full slate" of excursions become available.  You'll likely see some of the very common ones come online prior.

Outside of high demand excursions (like certain ones in Alaska) I usually don't pay any attention at all till about 6 months before.  

You can also go to Carnivals website, look up the port of call and explore excursions there without entering your sailing.  There's no promises that they'll all be available for your sailing, but should give you a good idea of what may be available and what to budget for that port.  

2 minutes ago, TomCruise48 said:

With over 50 Carnival cruises, we have sailed on all Spirit class ships, most multiple times.  We agree that they are great ships.  When we book a Spirit class ship, our cabin selection criteria is different from when we book a Conquest class ship.  We paid extra to be able to select our cabin and now Carnival is selecting it for us.  My concern is that with Spirit being smaller than Freedom, there will not be much flexibility in relocating if we end up with an undesirable location.

 

We are booked through a travel agent, who is a good friend.  In fact our travel agent is the one who booked the cabin next to us.  If things do not work out to our satisfaction, she is not shy about contacting the Carnival sales representative assigned to her agency to achieve a better resolution.

Totally agree with you on those points and that anxiety.  Thankfully our cruises are a little ways in the future, so there's some time to work through any issues.

I was on another thread with someone who booked a suite, and the Spirit has less suites than the Freedom.  Their impression was that these rooms were already sold out on their sailing.  Imagine being the poor employee in charge of sorting that out!

Good luck on the room assignment and be sure to post back how it shakes out.  These mass changes are sort of a new post COVID situation that we haven't dealt with much yet.  Any insight on how any of us have solved issues will certainly benefit others in the same situation!

1 minute ago, soloadventurer said:

Unfortunately we get into NO late on the night before the cruise - but we have 3 days afterwards to explore.

 

Would you all say the drinks package is worth it ?

Three days after is great too!

Drinks package on Carnival is sometimes worth it.  You will roughly break even if you average 8 drinks per day.  Pre-paying before you board gives you a small discount as well.  If you do get it, be sure to enjoy some of the more expensive cocktails at the specialty bars and the more expensive wine selections by the glass.  We typically spend time in the piano bar at night, and happily ordered the most expensive Martinis on their menu when we had Cheers.

If you don't think you'll average 8 or more a day, then no, it's not worth it.  In that case, buying pitchers of mixed drinks or buckets of beer when you can will save you a little money.  There's also daily drink specials as well.

Keep in mind that all adults in a room must buy it, so if one drinks and the other doesn't, it's not worth it.  

19 minutes ago, Indiansbaseball said:

Yes, I got the letter. We cruise every October and this for us was disappointing because it was some of our favorite ports and a new one. I have a call into my PVP to be on the lookout for something to change to, but so far no 9 days at all and certainly no similar ports. Like some have said, we have a lot of time, but I’m bummed. 

There are a lot of ships with gaping holes in their schedules as Carnival settles out the changes.  For instance Alaska in 2023 looks barren, due to the Freedom/Spirit changes, but on March 12 those bookings will open again.

Give it a month or so and check back.  They might have more options by then.  As you mentioned, your PVP will also be able to alert you once new bookings open up.

34 minutes ago, TomCruise48 said:

I don't understand why Carnival is doing this.  They are losing a lot of goodwill with many loyal guests with all of the changes involved.  We received the letter yesterday about our September 2023 repositioning cruise through the Panama Canal being changed from Freedom to Spirit, one port being eliminated, and terminating in a different city. 

 

We booked 2 years in advance to get a balcony on Lido deck with our friends in the non-connecting cabin next door.  We always try to book Lido deck in an area with guest cabins above and below.  Spirit does not have cabins on Lido deck.  We will likely end up separated from our friends on deck 8 with the pool deck noise from above.

 

So Carnival is changing us to an older, smaller ship, will relocate us to a less desirable cabin, has dropped one port, changed the destination, and made no offer for any OBC!  On top of all this, persons in other threads have said that Carnival will not offer a full refund if you cancel.  This change was entirely under their control and very poorly handled.  They are sure making it difficult for us to remain loyal to Carnival.

As for the "Why":

Carnival is trying like crazy to get their full fleet operational again.  The Spirit has been burning money waiting for Australia to re-open.  Something happened internally and they decided that the Spirit needed to come back.

They are also trying hard to get the most efficient ships going and to eliminate the older, cost prohibitive ships (Fantasy class).

A lot of folks are angry about going from Freedom to Spirit.  Don't discount the Spirit class.  It was designed for HAL, and just because it is smaller doesn't mean it is less.  They are some of the least crowded ships in the fleet, and still have some fantastic public spaces.  It may be older than Freedom, but it is only a few years, and at the age of both of these ships, their condition is going to be based much more on when they had their last drydock than when they were originally built.  

As far as the room assignments: it sucks.  I'm right there with you.  Do you have a good PVP?  My own experience has taught me that no matter what Carnival says they can or can't do, a good PVP can pull a lot of strings to make you happy and not loose a booking or future business.  My own has told me to hold tight for my room assignment, and if it's not satisfactory, he will figure something out.  He's made non-transferable deposits magically transfer before, so I don't doubt him now.  

Overall: for me, I'm happy to go to the Spirit, it's really a better ship than you think.  I'm just waiting to get the room situation figured out before I feel totally great about it again.

I'd certainly echo the comments above regarding the Glory.  It'll be a fun ship with lots to do, but don't expect it to be in as good of shape as some of the RCL ships.  Nothing major, but a little bit of surface rust, worn carpet and Vegas style interiors are to be expected onboard the 19 year old ship.

New Orleans is one of my favorite ports to cruise out of, and if you can, try to spend at least a few nights there before the cruise.  

When the ship sails out of the river, it's journey actually takes several hours.  One of our favorite things to do after dinner is to watch ships pass in the river at night, which is sometimes a little foggy and more than a bit creepy.

Very late at night (close to midnight) the ship will start transitioning to the ocean, where you'll see oil rigs in the distance.  At night, all you can see is the flame, and it sort of looks like a path of tiki torches light your way into the sea.

I just saw another thread mentioning a cancellation and they were promised a small OBC as well as a locked in rate that Carnival would honor on a similar cruise.  Did you get such a letter?

If so, I'd try to take advantage of it and see if they will honor the rate lock on a newer, nicer ship.  The Excell (and sometimes Vista) class ships are booking at much higher rates, and now would be a good chance to try one of those ships if Carnival is promising a comparible rate for you.

Trust me, the Carnival Freedom's changes have been a headache for everyone.  I booked a 4J room to Alaska on the Freedom in 2023 (forward facing window by the "secret deck" that is priced at an inside rate) only to have it replaced by the Carnival Spirit, which doesn't have 4J's.  Still waiting on the room assignment that I'll likely need to make changes to.

The reality is that over a year out, and in your case nearly two, changes will happen.  Cruising schedules are still very unstable, and who even knows what ships will still be in service at that point? It sucks, but it's also part of the territory for us planners who like to book these things so far out. 

If I were you, I'd see how far you can get Carnival to take this rate lock, and try to book on a vastly nicer ship, like the Celebration mentioned above.  You may not get any actual money or additional OBC, but you might get to sail one awesome ship at a very low rate.

3 hours ago, icft said:

I think the OP now is "armed" but inferring that it is the fault of the OP for not anticipating odors in the bathroom and studying up on plumbing is a bit much.

Again, eggageraring here. "Study up on plumbing" isn't what we are asking.  Pouring water in a drain isn't plumbing.  Literally a 5 year old could do it. 

Before I ever stepped foot on a cruise ship, I knew the drain trick, I knew to being earplugs, I knew that power outlets would be limited.

And the critism over chengkp75 sharing a very simple tip is crazy. Don't criticize the guy whose been on ships and trying to share info, that's literally the point.  

Are we really at that point that we are going to defend our anger by shouting down knowledge?

6 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

And again, I'll say, it doesn't really matter, it's not a passengers job, we are not ship employees. I know you have a background with that, as a ship employee and it may skew your view/mindset (probably why you suggested it as a easy fix for passengers) but passengers on vacation are not crew. Ship maintenance falls to employees. Period. It's not the OP's fault and if it's so easy the lines should make it part of turn around and solve the problem proactively, if it's so easy.

 

I went to one of my favorite beachfront properties recently and they had wine glasses that were not cleaned properly. Sure, I could have washed them in the sink and dried them pretty easily but I got them replaced instead. Why? I was on vacation and shouldn't have to wash/dry dishes for a premium price. Solutions don't really matter when you shouldn't have to deal with something in the first place. I understand you are simply sharing your experience/knowledge as an employee, but expecting passengers to flush/fill drains and such is ridiculous, anyway you slice it. It's a shortcoming by the line that the OP has every right to be disappointed in. Maybe better training for stewards is in order (like you mentioned), but again, not the OP's fault/responsibility as a paying passenger.       

A quick Google search shows this issue isn't unique to Carnival or this ship.  In about 10 seconds of searching I found complaints of this on Disney, P&O and Celebrity.

I wish it was something that room stewards took care of.  But the fact is they don't, and it's not unique to this ship, this line or this industry.

The question is this: Does a traveler arm themselves with enough knowledge and information to not let tiny, common things ruin their experience?  Or do they instead decide to travel blindly with absolutely no knowledge and be devastated when small things go wrong?

DO NOT get the Caesar salad.  It's some weird deconstructed thing that's essentially three leaves of lettuce and some soggy dressing over it.

The cheesecake is awesome, but HUGE!

The fruit desert seems underrated, but it's actually quite good.  

54 minutes ago, CaribbeanJen said:

It all comes down to personal taste.  
This is what I expected. 😂😂😂

Pictured above is certainly a stretch for any piano bar on Carnival, even the newer ships.  That's a bit more Princess/HAL.

Most Carnival piano bars have the sweeping oversized circular bar, and a nightclub-ish feel to them. 

That said, the colors on this one are about as Farcus as it gets!  

2 hours ago, jsglow said:

I'll sail with you anytime Indy.  And I'll even buy you a drink.

Sounds great to me!  We managed to get in on the Horizon during Halloween for cheap before prices started climbing. Meet you on the Serenity deck? 😁

I'm gonna jump back in here and thank OP for a fair and truthful review of the ship.  Unlike some posts on here, the OP acknowledged the good parts of the cruise, while also pointing out the bad and not exaggerating what that is.

Carnival runs a lot of the older ships at bargain basement prices while skimping on some of the cosmetic stuff.  For most of us, this is the accepted trade off.

However, premium rooms/balconies on these ships can be problematic, as you expect to get an upgraded experience and are disappointed when the "better" rooms really aren't.

I think the biggest take from me is this: The old ships will be a little ugly.  Sail them on a budget, but don't spend extra on premium features as they may not be as good as you hoped.

Well my booking just vanished, so it'll be interesting to see how it comes out!  As others have said, the anxiety is killing me!

I have just two points to make here:

1) Most of the criticism of OP's opinions are not of the observations themselves, but the exaggerations.  Sunshine clearly has some ugly rust, and it makes her a less desirable ship to sail.  But OP claims that this and some distasteful cakes make the Sunshine unsafe, and then goes onto say that she heard from someone that the Mardi Gras isn't in good shape either. 

2) Yes some of us defend these old ships, because some of us can't afford much else.  Not everyone on these boards can afford to sail on the Mardi Gras or go to Princess or HAL.  For some of us, the Sunshine is as luxurious as life gets. The only newer ship I've gotten to cruise on is the Horizon, and that's only due to some INSANE deals Carnival threw my way during the shutdown. 

I drive a rusty truck. It gets the job done, and is perfectly safe, but it's getting ugly.  I'd love to drive a truck without rust, but don't have 40k to throw at a new one. Am I gonna haul it to the scrap yard tomorrow? Uh... No.

So don't tell me that the only way I can have an affordable cruise vacation needs to be scrapped because a little rust was just too hard on your poor senses.  Tell me that it's a budget cruise on a ship that could use maintenance.  Tell me it's rusty, and you didn't like the food.

But stop telling me that the only thing I can afford to enjoy is trash.  It's belittling and makes it sound like those of us that can do better are looking down on those that can't.  

1 hour ago, CGrey93 said:

The last I looked (about a week before being notified of the ship change), both Captain's Suites were booked and 9 out of 10 of the Grand Suites. Very stressful. I completely understand why Carnival is doing what they're doing, but it is still upsetting. If I knew we had the option to change to a different cruise, get a refund, or were guaranteed a price adjustment and OBC, it would at least make me feel some sense of control. I don't want to get all nutty over something that may not even turn out to be an issue, but it is weighing on my mind. I have read where people have been changed with NO compensation at all, and that just doesn't sound right. Can you imagine paying an extra $3500 for a captain's suite and then getting bumped to a Grand suite and being told, tough luck? The price difference for a grand suite and ocean suite is not as dramatic. I think it was about $1000, but still, that's a big deal for us. In our case, the ship, the cabin, the VIP experience, are the point of the trip. I have 8 kids. 6 adopted from foster care. Getting away for a week and being pampered is what we look forward to most. 

Oh yeah, I get where you are coming from for sure!  Hopefully you get some good answers in a week or two!  Please let us know how it shakes out!

19 minutes ago, CGrey93 said:

I am nervous about the swap. I love the ship itself. I haven't sailed on Spirit, but I have sailed on Legend. The ship class is wonderful. My worry is what kind of cabin they will put us in. We had a Grand suite booked. Freedom had 10 Grand suites and 2 Captain's suites. Spirit has 0 Captain's suites and only 6 Grand suites. My math might not be stellar, but even I can figure out that there will be some unhappy campers. Can they really downgrade us and not, at the very least, compensate us for the price difference? I would be disappointed to go from my Grand suite to an Ocean suite, but life goes on. However, if they move us AND keep our money . . .then I would most definitely have a problem. Am I being unreasonable?

I hope everyone on this thread reports back here once they've got their assignments and see how this is handled.  

I totally agree that you shouldn't be downgraded at the same rate you booked.  Honestly have no idea how this situation is handled.  Do they call people and try to figure something out?  Maybe offer a different room/rate or different sailing?

Your also assuming that your sailing was sold out.  If it wasn't, then the problem may not be as significant.

3 minutes ago, Moviela said:

I had book a nice aft extended balcony, and it now shows as TBA. The Spirit has far fewer aft cabins than Freedom, so some ox's will gored. It also appears that the balconies are a tiny bit smaller on Spirit than Freedom.

 

I cannot criticize Carnival for making the change. They had two ships that were not non-performing assets worth hundreds of millions in the South Pacific through no fault of the company. Ms. Duffy made the right decision to move the ships to the states.

 

What is killing me is the suspense. It's a little like having a lotto ticket in your pocket before the drawing. You either have a big win coming, or you get little or nothing. What ever happens I console myself I will be cruising the Panama Canal (old locks a plus for me) satisfying a fascination since childhood about the canal. 

I think the TBA's will be gone after March 12, assuming you didn't book a garentee to begin with. This type of rollover on this scale can't be easy, and the email seems to try and encourage you to not look till then lol.

I totally understand what you mean by the suspense!  That's the killer, even if I'm not upset by the change.  Your also 100% right about the moves.  They are in no position to leave ships idle when they could be in business.

6 minutes ago, farjar said:

 

 

Try signing into your Carnival account and see if the new assignment is listed there.  We were not notified we had to check for ourselves.  Our selected inside cabin is now a TBA.  Talked to a Carnival rep and she could not tell me when we will actually know our new location.  Looks like we are now a "guarantee" even though our Freedom cabin was midship near an elevator.

Right now ou s isn't updated.  However, our email said they'd have things set by Mar 12, so the TBA may be just the placeholder they are using as they migrate things over.  I wouldn't expect they won't be able to say much till after that date

I've never stayed in a lido balcony, but I think with as close as they are to each other, they will both likely experience a similar level of noise from interior spaces.

I do agree that 86's balcony is very close to the pool deck, and may feel less private than the room you selected.  If I were you, I'd stay with your selection (and as always, bring earplugs just in case).