Joebucks

Great idea. She should go and see 95%+ of the guests having a good time. Then notice a few that feel they were lied to about the type of hamburger buns that were used.

I love how you get to shrug off inflation as a number that works for you. Having actually hired and managed people, I can tell you our labor went up a lot more than 10% over the past few years. As much as everyone is heated and this 2nd turn down is in everyone's face, the DSC pays for a lot more than that.

Can you show an example of this?

In 2017, he did some shows on Carnival

It is hard to remember the names, as there are so many of them. It's not a special event. I can count on one hand the number of comedians I did not find funny. Most of them have been very good. What brought me to my first Carnival cruise was wanting to see Jay Leno live. He was great!

That $50 revenue doesn't come close to paying the cruise line's expenses. Otherwise, these deals would be available to the public. These are targeted offers. Perhaps to lapsed customers, big onboard spenders, who knows.

I agree Royal has the best loyalty plan. The daily vouchers are an outstanding value prop for me. I actually intended to sail Royal for my upcoming cruise. Then Carnival hit me with $1250 (and a $100 off AMEX offer) for 7 nights, in a balcony, on the Celebration. Royal barely has any interior rooms on the Oasis class for that price. Then there's also itinerary and timing considerations. Last year was similar. They hit me with $880 for 7 nights on the Panorama, in a balcony. We had been interested in Mexican Riviera cruise, so why the heck not? I find myself traveling for close to around 30 days a year, which I am very fortunate to be able to do while still working. I don't need all of the extra stuff. As much as everyone fights for their particular line, there's a lot of similarities. Just because something has "free" slapped on it, doesn't mean I am actually pocketing money. But variety is the spice of life. I can certainly see the value of the other lines. I'm hoping to hop on Royal sooner than later. Perhaps one day, when I am Diamond or above, it will make sense. Maybe I'll be bored of it by then.

Some of us understand the environment we're in. What the economics look like. What the average cruiser wants. I don't go in my local restaurant and yell because prices went up and they have less staff. Same with the hotels, and everything else. Those demanding tablecloths and a second set of towels have plenty of options out there. Most of you just don't want to pay for it. You want everything at the same price as 1990s, with all of the new bells and whistles, with luxury service, ignoring the billions of COVID debt. The numbers don't add up. Still, the world revolves around you. If everyone booked only the suites and the Haven, then you can make your noble stance. Few care as much as you do. Meanwhile, us apologists continue to book what is sufficient to us, and we enjoy ourselves. Our whole lives, we watch people who always need to find something to be mad about. We chuckle and shrug at your constant outrage. I could list 20 ways this environment has negatively impacted me. A second set of towels every day isn't even a thought in my mind.

I always love these kinds of educational posts. First and foremost, the conversation stemmed from a lack of 2nd turndown. We already know for a fact that the grass is greener on the other side solution doesn't offer it either. We also didn't get much details of where this cruise package without a cruise (and a lot of the other things) even exists. In the US, it is very difficult to find a place outside of Vegas that has consistent entertainment. Adding in dining doesn't exist. Cruising always gets a bad rap because it's easy and fun to compare like items. Someone gets shot near a crappy hotel? Crickets. An idiot jumps off a ship? SHIP SAFETY?! Hotels have increased fares and fees without service to match, but we all complain about DSC. When literally everything, everywhere has gone up in price. Are is the total value of cruising really that much different now? Or are we comparing a familiar baseline? Everyone wants to blame the cruise lines. What is the solution for their large debt, cost of goods and labor increases? I know, not your problem. You're the poor victim that can't have towels replaced twice per day. Now it won't feel special! Go pay for it if you want it. If you want to be mad at someone, educate yourself and be mad at those who truly destroyed the economy. There was no reason to put cruise ships into billions of debt. Now they are fighting for survival. A lot of you whiners would change your tune if the industry suddenly stopped.

If NCL advertises it, it's not a deal.

The biggest thing that comes to my mind is ensuring you aren't bored/tired/over budget by the time you meet your group. It would be unfortunate if they want to do all of these things, and you're not up for it.

Going to be in Amber Cove. Thinking of going to Ocean World for the day. I usually don't do ship excursions. However, it seems that they want you to buy the tickets from your cruise ship, and they are the best deal. The Carnival site wasn't clear. Is transportation included? Would anyone recommend this place?

When a new CEO takes over a company in financial trouble, big changes usually follow. I couldn't imagine them hiring him in this new role, and virtually nothing changes. I am very interested to see what this brings.

It's not always that we agree, but I think you nailed it here. Carnival ran the Pinnacle project and I believe was going to be the first to have the mega ships. They scrapped it after believing it just wouldn't work. If current builds are any indicator, they work. There's economies of scale, more upsell venues, and people generally want more to do. The few, loud, voices on the internet aren't as crucial as they think they are. If the competition has the bigger and newer ships, that will be tough for Carnival. I do think the Venezia experiment is an interesting one. What kind of interest could particular themes garner instead of mega ships?

The Asian and Italian are much better at dinner than they are at lunch.

Almost been exactly a year. Before that, it was almost two years. Next one is almost up. I used to do about 3 a year before COVID. Gotta get back to that.

I'm certainly no expert on cruise ships. So someone correct me if I'm wrong. However, I don't believe the battleships had 15+ levels to them. These monsters require a different level of structural integrity.

Sometimes, certain things may not be available in time. Imagine trying to have one specific type of hamburger bun always ready in the tens of thousands without any hiccups in machinery, labor, supply, etc. Now do it with a whole ship of various ingredients.

Very peculiar question. Where Puerto Plata has free things to do on RCL, but requires hundreds of dollars through Carnival. Since when is Grand Turk so costly?

I know my views could cause WW3, but it's a huge no from me. I've done it a few times on a 4 day, and even then I felt like garbage. I could count on one hand the amount of people I personally know that would legitimately make the $2,000 for drinks for 2 weeks worth it. Ironically, they're all beer drinkers.

This is good advice. Too many people think the dimensions of coverage are: travel insurance, and no travel insurance. Some may already have health insurance that would cover them. Some even have this and buy secondary coverage, which is often a waste.

I absolutely hate it. Casino bar was a really fun spot.

Thanks for the review. Some are shocked to hear that better dining room food doesn't necessarily make or break a cruise.

Steakhouse. I assume Rudi's or some other spots on the new ships too. I know the casinos used to also have the expensive Grey Goose hidden. A good number of people buy drink packages because they think they're going to drink "top shelf" stuff. Not so much.

I could only imagine the mess cruise lines would have on their hands if they did open. "Idk what happened. The windows leaked (When I left all day with it open), and now I need a new room NOW!"