mz-s

Carnival's social plan is now $10+ per day and you can't buy the social plan for just one or two days, it must be for the whole cruise. So depending on how many texts you need to send/receive and how long the cruise is, paying for Cellular at Sea may be cheaper. It's up to each individual person what works best.

https://www.verizon.com/plans/international/international-travel/cruise-and-inflight/

Good advice, not only do you have guest services noise all night but the activity from the smoking area. That would be tough to ignore.

Carnival in name only - they still say Costa on the hull and they’re not even painting the funnel, let alone putting a whale tail on.

I have never heard of the parking being full at Port Miami. This is not the first 6k passenger vessel to berth at Port Miami.

Bizarre

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6519/~/beverages Gatorade yes, vitamin water no.

Two orders today is roughly equal to one before COVID. They have reduced the portion sizes significantly. But as you said you can just order more. Not a huge deal in my mind because the food is also not as good so I don't want to eat as much as before.

Gratuity is included when you purchase your Chef's Table tickets. Any tip above and beyond is optional and not expected, so there is no customary amount.

I have many complaints with Carnival since the COVID restart. Chief among them is the food. The quality has nosedived. I am fine with the portions frankly, a lot of food is wasted and folks can order more if they want more as you discovered. But the quality of the food is just subpar to put it mildly. At least the cruises are cheap.

After eating a Carnival "striploin" I will never complain about an Applebee's steak again.

That guy's full time job was defending his group's chairs. Incredible way to spend "vacation" isn't it.

Yeah I reject the notion that you get better drinks or whatever with a tip. You should tip because you appreciate the service, not to get anything in exchange.

Carnival's dining rooms are not Applebee's? Could have fooled me. They weren't 10 years ago, but nowadays it's a dead ringer.

Only free if you have never lost money in the casino.

To me this seems like a nothing story - nothing new here - the policy is unchanged and I recall the policy being posted on my Fantasy cruise in 2014. As with every other Carnival rule - it’s meaningless if its not enforced. Where is the evidence they’re suddenly going to enforce their rules? I haven’t seen any.

During the initial restart you were treated as a pariah if you asked for a paper menu, or asked to check in at the desk vs. use the hub app for either. But now the crew are more willing to go back to normal. In fact on my last cruise they brought menus a few times without us even needing to ask (and we were ATD seated in different sections - it's not necessarily that they knew we wanted a paper menu). Perhaps due to fatigue, or perhaps due to them being ready to go back to normal as well? Not sure.

yes and I get casino offers but those cruises are simply prepaid, not free.

speaking of a combination of breakfast and lunch - has anyone eaten one of the burgers at brunch? I keep meaning to but never do!

I believe the USB ports on the Mardi Gras are USB-A, 5V 1A and I doubt they'll change that for the Celebration because everything has already been set up for that spec. But yes as @vwrestler171said we will know for sure when Celebration sails next month. If you need to charge devices faster (or if you want USB-C PD for a tablet or mirrorless camera etc, a mains to USB multi-tap is invaluable. Anker is one brand I highly recommend that makes things like this.

Well it's mostly academic because the Spirit class is going to be around for a long time to come, I think they'll live longer than the Fantasy class because they have more balconies and suites which are important today. But even Elation and Paradise have several more years.

Tendering is fine at ports of call, but I meant more for homeports like JAX or Tampa. They cannot accommodate ships larger than Fantasy or Spirit class.

Wow I'm surprised Carnival's wifi was good enough to be able to stream video. That's good to know!

You know I agree I think Conquest class is a great size. They just need a little TLC at this point and a little updating most would say (although I personally disagree, I like the decor - but I do admit they need more dining options to bring them up to snuff with the competition). Hopefully Carnival can update them without shoving tons of more staterooms in them and removing public spaces like they did Destiny class. Sadly, however, that won't do much to help Tampa or JAX - they can't accommodate a Conquest class ship at this time.

Verifly has never been required for a Carnival cruise. It's entirely optional.