Honolulu Blue

That's a good start. I'm not surprised it didn't get a response if it wasn't addressed to a specific person. I still think Mr. Padgett is the person you want to talk to. Jan Swartz is now John's boss, since she got a promotion during the pandemic. 🤐 Arnold Donald is Jan's boss for another five days before he heads off into the sunset. I doubt he'll authorize anything significant in his final days. Josh Weinstein is taking Mr. Donald's position. He might be interesting to contact; maybe he (or his assistants) wants to fire up his underlings by pressuring them to correct their past misdeeds. You can send your chosen executive(s) a copy of the same letter you already sent, if you have one.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I'll note that Carnival no longer sails out of San Juan. 🤬☹️

You're welcome. A couple of more targeted notes: Your best bet for a country theme (and dancing) on Carnival is to sail out of Galveston, though it still might get overwhelmed by the other types of music Cruise Critic has helpfully posted an article about the country-themed cruise I was thinking about: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=4445

True, true. I wasn't cruising when Carnival used to hand out FCCs, but that had to have been even better than today's welcome back offer and yesterday's future cruise bookings.

From Carnival's COVID-19 FAQ's at https://www.carnival.com/Legal/covid-19-legal-notices/covid-19-faqs: Where can I get a COVID-19 test? For select sailings departing through July 31, 2022, a limited number of antigen tests for vaccinated guests will be available at the cruise terminal on the day of sailing. Advance reservations are required, and availability is on a capacity-controlled basis. A non-refundable payment of US$100 per person will be collected by the testing provider at the time the reservation is made (major credit cards and debit cards accepted). Guests who schedule their test for the day of sailing must still arrive at their arrival appointment. To make a reservation, please use the link designated below for your departure port. (this is the link for Baltimore) -> https://www.docgo.com/carnival

It's called a "welcome home" offer as @wemjamreminded us. Login to Carnival, go to your profile, and head to "My Offers". If you've taken a cruise recently, it should show up. It is tied to your VIFP account, so if by chance you don't have one, you wouldn't get this offer. And it may not show up as the default if you're logged in and looking for cruises but not specifically this offer. It might be beaten by some other current sale or offer.

As others have noted, the future cruise desk (the way to book cruises onboard) has been gone from Carnival for several years. I'm surprised no one has reported on its replacement - when you embark, you'll get a code for a special rate (maybe - YMMV) and $50-100 OBC per cabin. It expires two weeks after the cruise ends. This does have two advantages over the old way - you don't have to rush to book anything during the cruise, and you don't have to stand in what could sometimes be formidable lines.

@busymumofthree: Thank you for sharing your story. The details of the quarantined partner of an isolated patient were especially interesting, as those rarely get reported. Get well soon, as appropriate. P.S. The U.S. CDC has recently trashed its cruise line requirements and released some new recommendations. Changes are possible for all cruise lines to make things less punitive in the future.

The OP's original question has been answered, so I'll just give my opinions and get out. I've posted some threads on here asking for notes on CD X or Y or Z. It's not so much that I care about them or that I want to be buddy buddy with them, it's that I want to get a feel for how they operate and can adjust accordingly. Even though I keep to myself most of the time, I certainly notice who my CDs on Carnival are because of their announcements and because I'll see them around the ship at various events. I can't say that I've had a bad CD yet. I also haven't had one that were so outstanding that I'd book a cruise just because they were hosting. My CDs on the non-charter cruises other than Carnival have been more anonymous to me. And that's OK for them, and me.

I saw another article on CNN that explained better than I could why I'm doing this musical journey now, while I can: Why this summer marks the twilight of classic rock - CNN .

From the CDC at Cruise Ship Travel During COVID-19 | CDC : Pre-embarkation Testing If your cruise line does not have a testing requirement, get tested for current infection with a viral test (no more than 3 days) before boarding a cruise ship, regardless of your vaccination status. Get your test results before you board your cruise. If you recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days, testing is not generally recommended unless you have symptoms. People can continue to test positive for up to 90 days after diagnosis and not be infectious to others. Check with your cruise line regarding their specific policies, including if you need to provide a copy of your positive test result and a letter from your healthcare provider documenting that you recovered from COVID-19. If you or your travel companions have COVID-19 symptoms or test positive at embarkation, the cruise ship may deny you from boarding. If you are allowed to board, you may be required to isolate or quarantine, depending on your symptoms and test results.

All true. If there was a "substantial" risk that cruises from my chosen cruise line(s) wouldn't go, I wouldn't book there either. But as I explained earlier, I don't think CCL is at that much risk right now.

I'd better update you (all one of you) on what happened with this concert. The concert went as scheduled, but I did not attend. To make a long story short, I wasn't feeling it and decided to stay home. Oh well. ☹️ I cried as I watched Billy Joel, Def Leppard, and Elton John all parade through Comerica Park in the past few weeks. 😞 Again, oh well. Maybe I'll get a chance to see them some other time. While I'm here, I haven't heard of any new artist announcements for either the UDC or TEC lately, but The 80s Cruise did announce their partner hotels for the cruise. They had a special rate for lodging before the cruise. Since I had to stay overnight somewhere between my cruises, I chose one of the hotels to crash at overnight. Maybe some of the acts will have a party there or an impromptu jam session? Or maybe I can corner one of my favorites from back in the day and get an autograph or a little one-on-one conversation time? ("Mr. Loc! Mr. Loc! Will you pleeeeeze sign my T-shirt?!?!?!") I read a little article on CNN about why I choose to have musical adventures on a ship rather than on land. Here it is: Splendour in the Grass: Acts canceled as Australia's largest music festival sinks into mud - CNN

That OBC should be just enough for a ceramic dalmatian and a Flokati rug. 😃

@kcmufan: Thank you for sharing. I'm sorry this happened to you. My modest suggestion is to send a snail mail letter to Princess President John Padgett in Santa Clarita. Yes, I'm asking you to type out your story (or better yet, write it out in longhand), find an envelope, find a stamp, stuff the envelope, affix the stamp, find a mailbox, and send it. I've had decent results getting responses this way when I've done this for past problems. If nothing else, it will get rid of some of the stress and anger you're feeling.

It is extreme, I suppose, if the only purpose of arriving two days early is to reduce the odds of being late. But most port cities have interesting things to see and do just in case you arrive on time. Spending an extra day or two there isn't necessarily a bad thing if you can spare the days.

@Cruisernewbie44 Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm sorry you had to catch this virus, but I'm glad things were handled relatively well.

As others have asked, what kind of dancing do you want to do? If you want disco dancing, there's a themed cruise for that If you want country-style line dancing, there's a themed cruise for that If you want ballroom dancing, I think my colleagues have covered this one If you want various kinds of freestyle dancing at various times, I'll suggest Carnival. They have the Groove for St. Jude, various sailaway parties, a nightclub, and a small area that can be used for dancing in the atrium. If you want to learn a certain style of dance, many mainstream lines have dance classes, though which styles of dance they teach is variable If you're a fan of silent disco dancing, I know Celebrity offers this; perhaps other cruise lines do too Most of the mainstream cruise lines and some of the others have nightclub spaces at night where you can dance until everyone else drops (might be surprisingly early on some lines - I won't mention which ones 😛) Many cruise lines have space that's friendly for dancing and sometimes they'll have live music there to facilitate such action Good luck in finding what you're looking for.

Most of the time Brand Ambassador John Heald will give information on one ship per week, including the number of expected passengers. This will be posted on his Facebook page just before sailing.

OF COURSE THERE WAS A TIME DURING THE RESTART THAT SHIPS WERE GREEN. Cruzely.com has an instructive graph. They've been tracking cruise ships and their cruise ship status since August 2021. Here it is:

The daily rate for Premium WiFi was $25 per day (24-hour period) just before the shutdown. I haven't checked on any ships since then, and they announced an increase for many of their WiFi plans a few months ago.

Nope, not any of them. I couldn't work them into my schedule. ☹️ Eventually I'll get back on Carnival, even if I have to pay a little more.

@ineed-a-vacation Thanks for the review. I like your attitude! I'm sorry your family caught the virus. It's super contagious and near omnipresent. Get well soon. Virtual hugs for all. I'd give you a real one if we were in the same neighborhood, but... I've got enough souvenirs. 😁 And the same for all of you who picked up something on this trip. I hope it's not too serious, take care of yourselves, and get well soon.

Thanks, Hank, for starting this topic. It's been interesting to read all the replies. I could write a very long response, but I'll just go with this - if I were forced to cruise on ships with set time dining where I had to be placed at large tables, it is likely I would not have started cruising at all. I would certainly have done many fewer of them.

It sounds like you got my offer! I'm glad you could use that offer for three separate but linked cruises. I was wondering about that. I did have a single tax, but it only boosted the base fare from $30-50 to $50-$100 per cruise. Bon voyage!!