Honolulu Blue

The Weekender newsletter is back, and here are some details I found most interesting from it: Botti at Sea 2025 will be fully announced (including the lineup) on January 15. Here's what we know about it so far: The final Botti at Sea 2024 webinar will be Tuesday, January 9 at 3 PM ET Both Smooth Jazz Cruises for 2025 are already 85% reserved McDonald LaBelle is nearly 85% reserved

The "mandatory" gratuities have been increased a couple of times since the restart when Carnival switched to once-a-day cabin servicing. So that answers that. I was always given the morning/afternoon/both option on my Carnival cruises from about 2017 until the shutdown. I wasn't given this option on my Carnival cruise in November. I've never not seen my steward on any of my cruises. Sometimes I only see them once or twice (on non-Carnival cruises)

8 days to go. I got another email from Carnival about this cruise. It's about Platinum and Diamond member limitations. To wit: No priority embarkation or disembarkation Cabins will be ready after 1:30 PM MDR seating requests for dinner are not guaranteed for Diamond guests The first two points I've seen on other Journeys cruises. I can't recall seeing the last one mentioned, though I could have missed it because I'm not Diamond yet. Are any of you Diamonds on this cruise affected by this? How angry does it make you? 😠 There are sure to be lots of P&D passengers on this cruise. I will try to find out how many. Sadly, I don't expect any help from John Heald this time. 😟

Hey hey! I got a badge for this thread! I'm special!! 😁

I've been on the Summit once each year since 2021 and will be cruising on her again in two months. I haven't had any of the particular concerns you listed, though I confess I haven't stayed in one of their balcony cabins. I hope to have another great experience on the Summit soon.

9 days to go. I received an email from Carnival reminding me that we need a passport with 6 or more months to expiration in order to embark on this cruise and if by chance we don't have one, we're asked to call right away. My passport is good and I'll be sure to bring it. I'm not sure if it's Panama or Colombia that is causing this requirement, but it's one or the other - perhaps both.

Good luck for you and your plans. 😍 I'm looking forward to seeing your LIVE. Different perspectives are always good. 😎 I like Emma too. Hudson is especially looking forward to Panama. That darn cat is nothing but trouble. 😬😺

Thanks for sharing. If you see a single guy staring intently at a cell phone or hanging around with a stuffed cat taking pictures, that's probably me. Go ahead and say hi. 🙂 Whatever makes you happy onboard and onshore I hope you do lots of it. 👍

I would sure like a copy of that press release along with an unflattering picture of Fearless Leader LHB. It's dartboard material for sure!

Consulting my Captain-to-English dictionary, I think he means "buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride".

A brief listing of my key dates for 2024, more for my benefit than anyone else's. I apologize for the distraction. Next week - embark on cruise to the Panama Canal area. No music theme. Mid-February - tentative schedules released for both TEC and R&R, booking for TEC 25 available, info about R&R 25 available - perhaps booking available here also? Late February - The 80s Cruise! Mid-March - 70s Rock and Romance! Late March - jury duty ☹️ Mid-April - partying with Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle! Late May - VIP tickets to see Chicago Early August - another cruise to Canada & New England, not music themed (yet) Late August - swooning over DJ Jazzy Jeff, NKOTB, and Paula Abdul Mid-October - cruising from a long way away to an even longer way away, not music themed

This isn't going to be a true answer to your question, but it did make me think. Superficially, I think things are back to "normal" - or at least a "new normal". Certain trends, like bigger ships and an increased reliance on specialty dining, are still ongoing but they were well established before the shutdown. The shutdown shook up the pool of possible crew greatly. Not everyone could wait out 18 months or so with little or no salary. Some of them got employment elsewhere and decided not to go back to the ships. That created a huge need by every cruise line to hire, train, and deploy crew. None of this is cost-free, and it also has secondary costs - like less-experienced crew in many roles causing a poorer experience for the passengers. And, of course, the pandemic and its effects helped cause spot shortages (at first) and inflation across the board. The cruise lines have to deal with them as well as they can. Mainly they've stuck it to the passengers that are willing to stick around. I don't know what else to say except 1) enough crew will stick around and figure out what needs to be done that the experiences will eventually get smoother, 2) I think the very best food will continue to be hidden behind higher and higher pay walls, and 3) I think the more upscale the cruise line, the less they were/are/will be affected by such items.

I live in the Lansing area and so far we've received the same. But we are expected to get some snow next week, though there is a chance that it could be all rain (more likely for your neck of the woods).

Interesting. I hadn't heard that. Do you have a link? I'll read it if you can find one. TIA. 👍

10 days to go. I neglected to take my friend on my last cruise and he almost scratched my throat. 😬 So I'll have to be extra careful to make room for him. His name is Hudson, BTW. But I'm guessing some of you knew that. 🙂

Thanks for sharing your review and notes. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise on the Emerald. I'm not a Princess loyalist, but I've done a few cruises with them, and I think they do some things well, and some... not so much. Perhaps I'll see you on Celebrity sometime.

Much better! Thank you!!

@firefly333 and @ninjacat123, you're obviously free to post in this thread whenever you care to. It's always good to have a different perspective on things. And, of course, I'll try to follow whatever you have to say about this cruise, whether it's in this thread, your own thread(s), or wherever else. Anyway, there are just 11 days to go now. I kind of wish we were leaving this weekend instead of next - it looks like a nasty storm is headed our way next week. 😵

Thanks for posting these. They've been very interesting to review. I have to note that you posted two of the same page here.

Go to the photo shop, find a friendly worker, show them your Platinum card, and ask for your gift. Platinum gifts USED to be left in the cabin. No further comment. 🤬

I struggle to figure out why a trafficker would bring their victim on a cruise. There's a lot of scrutiny of faces and documents involved, which most criminal types would rather avoid. And there isn't much revenue opportunity that I can see. They'd be better off skipping the cruise, traveling a big city directly, and going underground ASAP.

Thanks for the detail. I'm Platinum on Carnival as some of you are probably tired of me saying. I'm also Platinum on Princess (yay). I'm "Nothing" on Royal (I don't want to look up my actual level) and I'm "Almost Nothing" on Celebrity. I've occasionally looked up prices on Royal and compared them to Carnival. I have always found on the routes that interest me that Royal has been more expensive - by a lot. The perks might be nice at higher levels, but I figure I'd have to pay a lot more than I want in order to (maybe) pay less and get more later on. That's a tradeoff that, at this time, I'm not willing to make. Also, my first cruise on Royal was in 2022 on a charter cruise. Charters are expensive, so I can't do too many of them, and thus I have quite a way to go to get to any decent level on Royal. I figure I'd need another lifetime or two to get to Diamond+ there.

UPDATE: I got my deferral. So, a few days after I cruise with @George C and a couple of thousand others on the 70s Rock and Romance Cruise, I'll be doing my time on jury duty. We'll see how it goes.

All my cruises on Carnival have been solo, so I'd be Diamond too if they did this retroactively. It would be nice, but I don't see it solving their VIFP problems.

I'm a Platinum sailer with 60 days to Diamond. My upcoming cruise will add 14 to that, but I don't have any Carnival cruises scheduled, so I don't know when I'll get to D - if ever. For funsies, I'll play off your list to see how different we are: Laundry is very nice, IMHO - especially on long cruises. I don't do sweats, but my clothing consists of lots of T-shirts, socks, and other items of not too much value. I've found the crew does a good job with what I give them, and that's good enough for me. The water is nice I struggle to find uses for the luggage tags I have, so the extra nice ones offered at Diamond is not an incentive Immediate access - would be nice, but I can live with being able to drop off my bags and coming back at 1:30 Specialty dinner - I'd use it, I'm sure it would be nice WiFi - I find myself increasingly purchasing this on my cruises, so this would be nice. I'd always upgrade, since I get limited value out of the Social plan and Premium's premium over value is so low these days (abour $2/day). Cabin cleaning + turndown - I find the turndown of limited value to me The prize scavenger hunt - Yes, I can do without this. This wasn't one of Christine's better ideas. Diamond parties - I'm sure I could design something better than what they have now, but they're of such limited value to me now that I can't imagine them ever adding much to my cruising experience Priority tendering back to the ship - Limited value to me with the ports I like to visit and how I visit them Free drinks - Limited value for me Solo discounts - Lots of potential value, but the devil is in the details