Happicruzrr

I have tried all but the elite (never earned an invite) and have decided never to do another.  When they first started them the gifts and contests were awesome and the amount if invitees was small. The last ultra I went on was terrible. Hundreds at the parties and jam packed casino, prize was a bottle opener and $300 in fun play, and thr contests were few and small prizes. You had to be a major player to get the hosts attention or a good cruise offer. Now we avoid them. If we see one is happening on a cruise we are considering,  we try to book a different one. 

Booked 6 cruises on the jackpot offer and wife booked 6 so we can bring friends. We gamble relatively little per cruise, but we cruise at least 6 times a year so annually it adds up. Minimum bets in slots on low variance machines to maximize churn. 17 free cruises in a row. With 9 more freebies booked in the next 18 months. Between credit card points from casino charges (which we then cash out for cash), and the money we make from selling our friends killer deals on our free cabins, we literally come out few thousand ahead every year by cruising. Tough work, but somebody's gotta do it. 

9 booked...fortunately all free except port taxes. Carnival, Princess, MSC and Norwegian..2 Europe. 1 Alaska, 6 Caribbean. Only way to avoid a dreaded triple digit countdown. 

My wife and I booked 2 cabins under a free casino offer for September and invited another couple. We each had a free offer so we booked 2 cabins and will bring one each guest. Now they can not come and we want to bring 2 other people. Final payment has been made. Anyone have experience trying this? 

Most industry news sites, and my experience,  says bookings are way up, and most sailings seem nearly sold out for the remainder of this year. Perhaps its propaganda. 

Apply using the shareholders form regardless of rate and you will most likely get it regardless.  We have 8 complimentary cruises booked with carnival and princess and the gave the shareholders benefit on all of them and said they are being lenient due to the covid situation. Just DO NOT use your pvp to book. They will not get you the shareholders obc. 

Less than half of the contests, many open to all players not just premieres. You can take your gift as cash credit instead of the gift. Only one night did they have a large giveaway (free cruise). No more chance of the captains suite cruise at all. Personally,  I wouldn't go on an Ultra if it were fully comped unless I planned on avoiding anything to do with the casino all week. I'll be on a getaway premiere next week and hope it's not similar. If so, I'll play my fun play money while waiting on a drink or two every day and spend my time in the spa and serenity deck. 

Well I'll give an update in a week when I get off her again. Maybe it's just because I swim in a different lane than the crowds. We usually have to wait at least one night to get seated on a window in the MDR and didn't at all have to wait for all 7 days, and we have had to settle for inferior seats in Serenity and this time we had our choice of great clam shells or hanging beds whenever we went. Our cabin had zero issues, but perhaps it had been more recently remodeled.  I'll brace for the worst. 

Had literally the opposite experience in November,  with two exceptions.  The bad...casino too cramped so although it was an Ultra I just didn't play...saved lots of money and left with all my fun play and gift money. Also the comedy club is insanely small and poorly designed.  However, absolutely no problem with cleanliness, our cabin, or crowds. Serenity deck always had wonderful seats available.  The thermal spa was almost always empty. The MDR had absolutely no wait, empty tables, and great service for dinner, brunch and breakfast.  Going back on the Sunshine in 48 hours and I'll be curious to see if things took a sudden change for the worse. We have a spa balcony this time and have had them on other Carnival ships (12 different Carnival ships) so we know what to compare it to. 

I'll be on with you Saturday Mouche. Also our second time on Sunshine.  My only disappointments is a small poorly equipped thermal spa area and comedy club definitely is too small, but that didn't keep me from loving every minute of it.  My favorite is still the Vista. 

There is just a priority boarding indication. Ultra is a casino thing, not a Carnival thing, which is actually different companies. We have given up on Ultras after our last one. There were so many ultra guests, about 500, the casino was so grounded and the ultra party looked like Woodstock.  The gifts were ridiculous and the $300 big gift did not make the ordeal worth it. The old ultras were great. Currently,  not so much. We're out. Enjoying our comped cruises with NCL, MSC and Princess this year after our last premiere with Carnival next week. 

To me the CD is like salad on the buffet. Nice to know it's there, but I'm never going to use it. That being said we have come to like MarQ who moves around a lot, and our least favorite was Matt Mithchum on the Vista when it was in Europe.  

Sadly all are not as good on the sunshine as on many of their other ships, but the correct way to go if you're doing just one is the steakhouse.  I don't think this decision should be about "value", it should be about romance and impressing your love interest. Step it up and take her to the chef's table. Girl dont want no scrub. 

With this card, I make money cruising.  Let me splain... I book premiere cruises, no fee for charging in casino...I charge $10000. Take it in cash. Take it home and deposit it immediately.  Near cruise time the card gave 5 points per dollar spent on Carnival.  That gave 50,000 points and a sign and sail bill for $10,000. They give 1.5 credits for Carnival expenses over $1,500. So it pays a $750 credit. That is more than I pay for my cruise, layered with $500 cash I get from the casino,  it's a nice way to cruise free and make some money.  Btw I dont actually play much in the casino.  Got on the premiere list years ago and they never seem to take me off. 

Once we tried the thallosotherpy area on the magic, we won't sail without the weekly pass again. In fact, next week we just went ahead and booked a spa room being we know we would buy the package and it wold havery been the same price total and now we're right near the spas with a private elevator.  I visit 3 to 5 times a day. Btw- I'm a  floater on day one, but by chocolate melting cake number 5 (aka day 2)... I settle in nicely. Now getting up off the heated stone loungers... that's a different problem. .

They must be loading them in phases. I got an email earlier today with a "countdown" saying mine would be available in 11 hours or so.

I received the same countdown timer. I'm very surprised some people have apparently been able to book already

My wife and I received our Ultra offers on Monday. Yes the Horizon has a few dates, as does the Vista.

A sincere thank you for blessing us with such a valuable review. We sail on Fascination in about 3 weeks. Got two porthole cabins for $60 each from a casino offer, and 2 free airline tickets from a credit card offer. Wondering if you can share any insight into the first night. A 10 pm sailing is certainly unusual for us. Don't know how dinner and muster would work. Also, did you check in, leave your bags, and leave the ship?

Thank you again. I am SO excited after reading your review. We sailed on the Vista when it was brand new in the Mediterranean. That did make the smaller ships a little less exciting, but we still love every day. We always try to treat a less fortunate couple to a free cruise with our casino offers and we feed off their excitement. Even a small and older ship, to someone who hasn't been blessed with the opportunity before, is an amazing sight.