mz-s

I guess I'm struggling to understand why Carnival would have to pay US payroll taxes for ships that are not flagged in the US, on crew that are not US citizens, with a company that is not incorporated in the US. I know Uncle Sam will always get his due. But what is he due here? Other than the ship docks in the US for a few hours every week, it has nothing to do with the US and Carnival makes sure of that.

It's called Cellular At Sea and it is obscenely expensive. Most of the time a carrier's international roaming packages do not include use on the ship. That is billed separately. It would probably be cheaper to eat the penalty and cancel his fare (and whoever else doesn't want to go because he can't) vs. pay roaming fees to be on the phone that much.

The price they quote you is pulled out of their behind, based upon how much they think you're willing to pay.

$7 per pizza is borderline extortion IMO. Almost as bad as the $5 PB&J. Carnival's prices for room service are downright punitive.

I mean they have them plenty of places, we don't have to buy everything on Amazon.

Yeah my wife and I always eat in the MDR on Carnival. Basically every night. While the food quality has seriously declined on the buffet in my experience, the same is not true of the MDR with some notable exceptions like the striploin. The portions may be smaller, I can't say for sure. I don't carry a food scale with me. But the food and service is as good as can be expected on the cruises I've been on lately.

I do think that the automatic gratuities should be rolled in to the base fare. I think that would be a competitive advantage for whichever of the big 3 lines does it first. I don't think it will affect the service that guests receive onboard. There is still a chain of command, still a strong drive for results, and guests will of course still be able to tip individually if they choose to for exemplary service. I don't think tipping should be expected or customary in any line of work. It should only be for exemplary service. But that's not the reality of where we are right now as a society. I hope we are at an inflection point and tipping culture is on a downswing generally, but time will tell.

Yes, but that 000 was gone as of the COVID restart. It was there like I said 2 cruises before the shutdown (although of course none of us knew what was to come). As part of the restart the 000 position on the roulette wheel was gone. Thank goodness! I don't know if they were just testing the 000 on the Sunshine or some other ships or if it was a fleetwide change - either way, it was reverted.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the machines, I just like that with a shoe there's a natural break every 20 minutes or whatever to stand up, use the restroom, etc.

You can always go in to the app and pre-book your ride so that you'll have a driver waiting for you. You're correct a lot of drivers won't go that far, but even if you don't pre-book the app will eventually find you a driver. You just might have to wait a bit.

Generally you're not going to qualify for Elite after one cruise. Anything is possible, especially since Carnival's casino doesn't follow a set formula for comps. But it's unlikely.

You're calling JH a liar? I know this is a source of a source but I can attest to reading the exact same words on Heald's facebook page back when he mentioned it so it is a direct quote. https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-offers-details-on-how-gratuities-are-shared/99286

I'm not so sure about that because crew are never shown a list of who has removed tips if we are believing what JH says. In any event it doesn't matter. People should do what they want with gratuities and tipping. The money will be split or it will be kept. Once you hand it over to Carnival or the crew you lose control of it at that point.

No but they were still doing the 50th celebration. Once the 50th ended they started this new promotion is my understanding.

The casino does a lot of ship-specific things to test before rolling out fleetwide, or cancelling. For example just before COVID (like 2 cruises before the shutdown) on the Sunshine they had a 000 position on roulette. It's been reported here that on some ships there are no more $6 tables, even Fun21 was $10 minimum on their ships and sailings. Depending on guest reaction, these changes will either be cancelled or rolled out fleetwide. As of September 2022, Fun21 was still a shoe-based game on Sunshine. I played it a ton on that cruise. I have not sailed Carnival since so I am not sure if that's changed. Like you, I like a shoe-based game. I don't count, I wouldn't want to anyway (I have no allusions about beating the house). I just like that there's a built-in break every little bit to stand up, use the restroom, etc.

They've added those tables at JW since I was there last May! Looks good. I want to see the new Nassau port in person. I have heard it's very nice and seen pictures/videos.

Bummer, man.

Carnival doesn't publish a formula or threshold for anything except Drinks On Us, and even then only for slots. I don't think they publish thresholds for any other offers. I am sure there is an algorithm but it's anybody's guess what it actually is.

We must remember this time last year there were still some restrictions although they were quickly being lifted on a weekly basis and a lot of people were still in wait and see before they wanted to cruise. This year it's a free for all. I wouldn't expect any deals until at least Labor Day, if not after. With so many families now homeschooling or in remote schooling, the traditional school calendar travel periods seem to be a thing of the past more and more.

Ah, well same difference. I haven't used the Carnival card in years. My wife and I standardized on a different card and eventually closed the Carnival card.

Carnival hasn't really had a meaningful sale in quite some time now. The 50th anniversary kickoff last year was probably the biggest most recent sale that I can think of offhand.

You can pay for gift cards with whatever method of payment the vendor accepts. The "Carnival card" is just a Visa card so any place that takes Visa should accept it right?

I think that would be a great use for them. What I would do is put a credit card on your S&S account at checkin, and once you're done with all purchases go to the kiosk or guest services and redeem the gift cards. Your credit card isn't actually charged until you disembark so this will not result in any charges on your credit card, just temporary holds. That way you don't have to visit several times during the cruise to top off your account or deal with gift cards that have already been loaded but you didn't end up spending (Carnival can't reload a gift card that's been spent).

Gift cards is a bigger discount, because the points on the card I think only add up to 2%. But keep in mind when you buy Carnival gift cards you are basically giving Carnival cash, so when you have an issue you will have zero recourse and are fully at the mercy of Carnival's customer service. Many people use gift cards with no problems, but there are several reports on this board of people who have bought excursions or whatever with gift cards, and had to spend hours on the phone and weeks of time to get their money back when they decided to cancel the purchase.

My understanding is the ships are pretty much full until fall, so other than a few isolated cruises don't expect to see too many offers.