RoperDK

Perhaps it is an urban myth, but I find my swollen ankles are not a problem when I drink bottled water instead of ship water. I still drink ship water during meals, but other than that it is bottled water. I haven't changed my food or alcohol choices, so that isn't a variable. I do drink a lot of water and I think the ship's water still contains more sodium than bottled. So, I fall on the bottled water side and I love that I don't have cankles anymore.

ABC is a clear winner for us. Salt mines, flamingos, desert landscapes, amazing snorkeling, cool night life, tons of history. So much more than another beach stop. Amber Cove, Grand Turk, and Nassau are common. Carnival goes there time after time. Yawn. The ABC itineraries are harder to find. The only negative may be that there are more sea days. That's a plus for us. We love sea days.

We were on a 4 day Mariner cruise a week ago. Full spring break mode. There were 2 dedicated crew members serving cones non-stop outside of Windjammer. The lines moved quickly. The crew were like a well-oiled machine. I doubt that the kids and adults could have served themselves that quickly. A big plus was there wasn't a big mess left behind.

We will be D+ soon. We enjoy lunch at specialty restaurants. I assume that you can use the benefit for lunches, too?

Doing a B2B on Royal next month. Was going to prepay to park at the terminal, but I didn't see any way to add the next cruise. Valet was sold out, also. How does it work?

We are thinking of using the trade in value on an already booked cruise. If you use the trade in value of $500, will they just reduce the current booking price or will they have to reprice to the current value? What about an instant cruise certificate? Hoping that you can just reduce the booked cost because repricing wouldn't help at all.

Thanks for the valuable info. If we did spend the night in Biloxi and head over in the morning, can we drop our luggage at the ship (Brilliance) and then proceed to the Fulton Garage? I know this is a Carnival thread, but this will be the first time we sail with Royal out of NOLA and I can't get a good feel for where everything is. Also, when have we cruised with Carnival in the past, we just parked at the port. Is port parking for Carnival not a good option anymore? Thanks so much for your help!

We are searching for a way to safely park our car for a Brilliance cruise in January. We usually stay overnight in Biloxi and then park at the port, but I am getting nervous about secure parking. We are Diamond with Hilton, so a free room night is easy for us. Don't know about timely shuttles though. I sometimes have a gimpy knee so hauling luggage and walking is iffy. Looking forward to your input.

We are looking at doing some longer cruises, either B2B or Journeys. We are Platinum and closing in on Diamond. We've been cruising on Royal recently, but their higher prices are sending us back to Carnival. I know that Journey cruises are top heavy and that we should expect some of our benefits to be reduced. What are the good and bad points about going on one of these cruises?

We don't consistently use the MDR. We do Coastal Kitchen, specialty dining, and an occasional My Time MDR experience for the most part. Other than that, we snack or visit Windjammer. We are downsizing ships because of the crazy prices right now. We are also later diners with 7:30 being the perfect time for us. We just got off Mariner and had late dining at 8. It was a great experience! Our wait team was attentive and remembered our preferences, just like the "good old days". Our My Time dining experiences before had been hectic and disjointed. On my next cruise, we have MTD reserved at 7:30 each night. Should we switch to late? We don't have a lot of MDR experience, so we don't know what the "normal" experience is. Thanks!

Can you combine a future cruise booking with your annual prime free cruise benefit?

Is it good? I love rack of lamb, but sometimes lamb can be iffy.

I've always avoided the UDP because of the quantity of food. On Oasis class, we rely mostly on Coastal Kitchen with an occasional specialty dining meal. We cruise in suites mostly. We are now cruising on older ships without Coastal Kitchen and I was wondering about the value of the UDP. I know you don't have to order a ton of food, but it would be tempting for us. What are your strategies or do you just go for it and not worry about the quantity of food?

I'm talking about the Royal and Carnival back and forth. You are correct that every cruise line has its defenders. However, if I post about Princess or Celebrity on this or Royal's board, the level of responses won't be as ferocious. I've never seen that back and forth on the Princess or Celebrity boards, either.

That's funny, I don't think many Royal loyals think that much about Carnival. They are loyal to Royal, just like others are loyal to Carnival. Those that have tried both are free to compare and discuss and decide what line they prefer. I don't get upset when someone criticizes either line. That's their opinion according to their experiences. I will admit that it does irk me when people defend their preferred cruise line at all costs. I've never experienced anything in my life that was perfect.