Honolulu Blue

In addition to disputing all the relevant charges as @DallasGuy75219 mentioned, I'd try writing an e-mail and a snail mail letter to John Padgett in Santa Clarita. Explain to him what you explained to us, give him all the details, suggest a resolution, and give him as many ways to contact you as possible. On the off chance that he takes pity on you, it almost certainly won't be him that does the contacting, but an underling that hopefully resolves this. No guarantees, but it might work. You never know. I'm sorry this all had to happen to you. I hope you get this straightened out. Please follow up if that happens.

Yesterday Princess released a list of several 80s themed cruises. I'm most intrigued by the ones in April 2023 - one on the Ruby Princess from Galveston (5 days), and one on the Discovery Princess from San Pedro (4 days). I'll keep it top of mind and see which one works best for me, then I might pull the trigger. Stay tuned.

Well, well, well. Princess has been busy rebranding some of their cruises as 80s and comedy cruises. Hidden in one of their e-mail ads that was sent to me is a list of new and old themed cruises, all sailing from the USA. This is the new list of 80s cruises by date: October 19, 2022 - Sapphire Princess, 4 days, Los Angeles RT (San Pedro) November 8, 2022 - Diamond Princess (insert dramatic music 😵), 5 days, San Diego RT January 11, 2023 - Regal Princess, 4 days, Ft. Lauderdale RT February 16, 2023 - Discovery Princess, 4 days, Los Angeles RT (San Pedro) April 9, 2023 - Ruby Princess (insert dramatic music 😵), 5 days, Galveston RT April 22, 2023 - Discovery Princess, 4 days, Los Angeles RT (San Pedro) And this is the new list of comedy cruises by date: September 6, 2022 - Royal Princess, 5 days, San Francisco RT November 10, 2022 - Discovery Princess, 4 days, Los Angeles RT (San Pedro) December 17, 2022 - Discovery Princess, 4 days, Los Angeles RT (San Pedro) February 25, 2023 - Royal Princess, 5 days, San Francisco RT April 11, 2023 - Royal Princess, 5 days, San Francisco RT I'm pleasantly surprised by the big push Princess seems to be making into the themed cruise game. It's quite a variety of embarkation ports, dates, and itineraries. Perhaps one or more of these will be of interest to you? I know I'm intrigued by a few of them.

Thank you for asking a more interesting and less divisive tipping topic! My opinion is that it doesn't make much difference either way. US$ are a bit more universally useful, but Euros will be more immediately useful - depending on how long the ship stays in Europe. Sadly, and I'm sure you know this well, C$ is inferior to either for tipping purposes on this particular voyage.

I did the California Coastal thing on the Majestic in April and the Internet wasn't half bad. I got 3-6 Mbps downloads and it was steady enough for me to stream at 480p without hiccups. We went from San Francisco to Ensenada and the ship was about 70% full at that time. I'm going to go on a limb and say it'll be all right when you sail, so go ahead and order it. You can scream at me if I'm wrong. 👹

My modest suggestions for less busy dining on mainstream lines: On sea days, breakfast in the buffet tends to be less busy before 9 AM Lunch in the buffet usually closes between 2:30 and 3:30. If you go after this, the whole area won't be crowded. It's a great time to grab a drink or some ice cream. And if there's food nearby, you can bring it in and eat in peace. Dinner after 7 PM in the buffet is usually less crowded There might be restaurants or cafes with outdoor seating; it's worth a look at the deck plan to find out You can also take buffet food outside; some ships make this easier than others In the MDR for dinner, you're kind of stuck with crowded conditions. I've heard late seating is a little less popular than early. For flex time dining (whatever it's called) in the MDR and specialty restaurants, either early (6:30 or before) or late (8 or later) tends to be less crowded

Thanks for sharing, both of you. This seems to be a first for both cruise lines. Paxlovid seems to be slowly and unsteadily making its way onboard cruise ships from the big three. One wonders (but not too much) where they're getting their supplies from.

UPDATE: I'm adding stories of CC members who recently reported availability onboard their cruise ships - one Princess, one Celebrity, and two Regent Seven Seas. Further details are in the individual threads and posts:

Thanks for sharing your experience. IMHO, testing has its place. I'm not aware of any test that would test positive less than two days after catching the virus.

I'm glad things worked out so well and that you shared your story with us.

Thanks for the perspective on what it was like in years past and what it was like on another cruise line. I hope you have a good time with the modern horse racing, because I'm sure it will be on your Journeys cruise in January, but I think it's very unlikely it will be by the pool.

I don't know about frog racing, but I've done several Journeys cruises in the past with plenty of "horse" races, and I think I know why they don't do them more widely on other cruises. First of all, there's a parimutuel element to the betting on the "horses", but I don't think the house takes a cut. In other words, it doesn't bring in revenue for Carnival. And second, it's resource intensive. The ones I've seen have either been held in the main theater or the aft theater - both of which are used a lot. And they have at least two entertainment staff running things. It's fun, IMHO, but I can understand why they don't do it more often.

Ashley Kosciolek of The Points Guy had a nice article on some of the entertainment options around Lido that are being phased out and introduced. Take a look: Carnival Cruise Line ends bellyflop and hairy chest contests (thepointsguy.com) . The two big cuts are in the headline. I don't remember the bellyflops, but the Fun Times and my past CDs used to hype up the hairy chest contests a lot. I've never participated as they're not my thing. So, is it true? No more hairy chest contests post-pandemic? Let's confirm this! Several new entertainment options around Lido were listed. I'll bullet point them; you can read the article for brief details on them: Red's Challenge Guess That Groove Groove for St. Jude S-pool-ing Bee Dolphin Race Alphabet Soup Synchronized Swimming Perfect Partners My notes... I'm surprised Groove for St. Jude is listed, since that's not new. I think it's been around since I've been cruising (2014). Guess That Groove is a music competition for groups. For certain eras, I could solo it and take on most comers. It's still of interest if I could find a suitable group. And I've heard of frog racing (on Journeys cruises only these days), but these RedFrog challenges are totally new. And now I ask - have any of you participated in any of these new items? How were they? You can point me toward a trip report if that's easier.

Sorry, I missed it. My interpretation is that the protocols are current for sailings through the end of the year, but they can change at any time - even for those that changed today.

I don't see "end of year" in the letter that was thoughtfully provided a few posts above this one. Perhaps you got a different one? Based on how much these protocols have changed in the past year, I'm skeptical that this is the final answer - even for the announced changes.

It sounds good to me. Those that don't understand the theme (and there will be some) don't matter. I think they had one of two Bon Movies tribute bands on all the 80s cruises they had last year, so I think it's likely you'll get one on this one.

Thanks for sharing. I'm sorry you had to experience this. Your experience was better than some that I had heard about on other cruise lines. My eyebrows are raised at the offer of just FCC for your days in isolation. It seems that elsewhere at other times you'd get a full refund for those days. Anyway, I'm glad you survived and get well soon. 🙏

That's why I like Carnival and look forward to boarding another cruise from them sometime. Obviously, neither you nor I like the extremes of this, but as long as others let me have my fun in the corner over there, my ability to care about what others do is weak. JMHO. I'm trying to remember cafeteria food from my university days ((disk drive click & whirr)). As I suspected, my computer spits out the answer that Carnival food anywhere >> dorm food most days. I don't blame you for your irritation with customer service lines. I wouldn't stand in a 30-minute line. If the issue isn't urgent, I'd wait until the next morning, when the line will almost surely be shorter. I can't say that I've ever had to deal with Guest Services on the last evening of a cruise, when thelines (as I've seen and heard about) are often the longest.

@MattVegas: Thank you for your review. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise with Carnival. Not all cruises suit all people. I've heard about rowdy short cruises on all the main cruise lines. And I've recently started to hear reports that Royal is starting to more loosely enforce their dress code policy/recommendations. So, the other side of the tracks may not be so great either. But I wish you well with whatever travel adventures you come up with in the future.

Thanks. Found it. I guess they'll add this one and the 80s one on Diamond to their themed cruise master list. Also, I want to note that this is about two weeks after the Discovery's big Love Boat themed cruise. There's too much time in between for a comfortable B2B, but I wonder if anyone will do both of these?

Which sailing was this? Thanks. I'm having trouble finding it. They did a few comedy sailings last year and one this year in the UK. They had more comedians (two or three instead of one) in the main theater, more comedies on the VOD, and some other comedy-related stuff I can't recall. Be sure to give us all a trip report!

FYI - a few Carnival cruises do require a booster. From Carnival's Have Fun. Be Safe. page at https://www.carnival.com/Legal/covid-19-legal-notices/covid-19-guest-protocols?icid=advisory_cruisehealth_040122 : The following voyages require fully vaccinated guests, ages 12 and older, who are more than 6 months past the last dose of their initial vaccine series to be boosted in order to sail: Carnival Pride® and Carnival Celebration™ Europe – All 2022 departures Carnival Splendor® 23-day Carnival Journey (Transpacific) – September 6, 2022

I'll get to this quote from the commercial in a bit, but first @RSS from SF, thank you for posting the link to that commercial. I've seen Celebrity and NCL commercials that were similar. OK, back to the quote. I was overwhelmed by the heavy feeling of irony. Certain passengers onboard certain sailings of the Diamond, Grand, and Ruby Princess ships had something "happen" that stayed with them "forever", as in "the short remainder of the rest of their lives". 😵 I'm sure this is NOT what Princess intended, but something I immediately thought of. Maybe I'm just weird. 🙃

Two CC members were offered Paxlovid after they tested positive - one about 3 weeks ago, the other about 2 1/2 months ago. Neither of them accepted their ship's offer. Both, interestingly, were on Princess ships. Here are the posts and threads with their details:

What a small world! We were on the same cruise! My recollection of it was a little different. Considering they added the theme onto the cruise only two months before it sailed, I thought they did a pretty good job with the theme. There was a fair amount of 80s music in the background, there were some extra 80s movies on the VOD (including Christmas movies from the 80s!). We had Rich Girl, the tribute band for Hall and Oates; and Slippery When Wet, the tribute band for Bon Jovi, in the main theater on separate nights. Both were very good, though I'm distinctly NOT a BJ fan. We also had the comedian Carlos Oscar perform one night in the main theater. His show wasn't particularly 80s-themed, but I thought he was quite good. The other two nights (it was a 5 night cruise) there were regular Princess shows that appealed more to the usual Princess crowd. There was also several sessions of 80s-themed trivia, which I happened to win twice. 😁 I saw a few people decked out in their 80s finest, which was fine with me. @PRINCESS Sweet Pea, I hope you're taking notes. Between what I described in this post, the screen capture I put in my last post, and what other people have said, that's likely what you're going to get. I've made other plans, so I'll have to miss this one. Have fun!