mz-s

If you're worried about which terminal to select when booking an Uber or something, don't worry about it. Just say Terminal F and when you come out of the tunnel it'll be very obvious where your ship is.

NO, the Cheers package can only be used on the ship.

At least some of the bars keep their large bottles of water refrigerated, so if you want to drink it right then it's cold from the bar.

Those are just examples. The key words are "non-alcoholic...packaged in cans or cartons". Reading is fundamental.

So now any casino rate - even a discounted (but not free) cabin are excluded? Good to know. And that invalidates what I just wrote above.

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/shareholder-information/shareholder-benefit In practice it seems that anyone who is sailing on a "free" casino rate does not get shareholder OBC as well. But a casino rate that is simply a discount but not a free cabin does still qualify. This could change. Note that the rules above state that "anyone else cruising at a reduced-rate or on complimentary basis are excluded from this offer" It's really a matter of time for Carnival to start enforcing the "at a reduced-rate" portion of that sentence.

There is a small straw market sort of thing at HMC, similar to what you find in Freeport although even smaller and more quaint. Fitting the theme of HMC. The last time I bought something on HMC in the market - granted it's been years ago. I was pretty sure they wrote me a paper receipt for the purchase and it was later charged on my S&S account once they got back onboard and processed all the paper receipts.

The fact that they compete on price is simply a fact. I know that many people love Carnival and would cruise on them even if they're more expensive, but Carnival's chosen niche is to offer the best product they can at the lowest price. That is not a slight against Carnival. Walmart competes on price whereas Target competes on experience. Walmart is the biggest B&M retailer the world has ever known. Last I checked Carnival is the biggest cruise line in the world, but that might be changing as Royal has built a ton of huge ships. This is Cruise Critic, if you want Carnival cheerleading might I recommend a page on social media that is run by a certain overweight brit.

Yes, nothing says you have to buy two dinners to get the free bottle...

The problem with that strategy is there is no telling what the stock will be worth when/if that happens. OP could end up taking a decent loss. No way of knowing. It's all about how much risk you are willing to stomach.

They'll know when they see your room key by the color it is.

Speak to your financial advisor about it. Historically Carnival Corp routinely renews the benefit, but it has always been possible that they will allow it to expire at any time. My advice has been and will always be to hold $CCL if you want, but not purely for the shareholder benefit unless you can get the stock cheap (like back when it was around $800 for 100 shares) and you cruise enough to get that initial investment back in the form of OBC quickly. The reality is $CCL "could" go to $0 and you could lose your entire investment. Nothing is guaranteed with the stock market. Carnival Corp could eliminate the shareholder benefit. So you could end up losing your investment. Likelihood of either of those happening? Couldn't say. I doubt you'll make much on the 100 shares any time soon the way the industry is going right now but the stock won't go to $0, and I do think Carnival will renew the benefit but as I said neither are guarantees by any means. If you cannot tolerate that, then I would personally not recommend buying the stock.

https://www.carnival.com/vifp/benefits

Amber Cove is sort of like Grand Turk - Carnival built it and probably has an ownership stake in it, but they don't really operate it.

Those are just examples...surely you don't expect them to list every kind of drink you can bring on? You can bring on 12 non-alcoholic canned or carton drinks 12oz or less each...no alcohol but anything else is fine...

On embarkation day, a small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, energy drinks, juice, and milk), packaged in cans or cartons, may be brought on board and must be in the guest's carry-on luggage. A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12-ounces/354-ml each or less, per person.

https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=2633

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4529/~/back-to-back-cruises

Carnival competes on price, they cannot compete on experience.

It's something the company could solve with not much outlay if they wanted to solve it. I work for a College of Engineering and our undergraduate seniors could solve it for them in a semester. But like you said, it's not a big enough issue to Carnival so it doesn't really matter. That's why I say it will never change so there's no sense in looking for a different answer. It's an easily solvable problem but it's not a problem that Carnival wants to solve. It is what it is.

see link on post #2.

I'm surprised nobody has blamed OP for not pouring water down the dried out drains yet.

Our senses of smell and taste are closely linked.

https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=2633

I understand that is their reasoning and it does make sense. But it is a solvable problem with very little cost to Carnival if they wanted to solve it.