Joebucks

Minus the new, grisly, steak cut, I've always enjoyed beef on Carnival. The breakfast filet was always very good. The flat iron at dinner was acceptable. As many others said here, the short rib is a must. I've generally liked the Prime Rib as well.

Most of the chefs are of Indian background. The food they eat is completely different than 95% of the items they are making. They do a fantastic job though because they are highly skilled in culinary arts. This may be unpopular, but they could run circles around most "cooking styles". It sounds like they just aren't given the proper ingredients to make this slop.

People tend to throw out NCL because they have the "solo cabin and fare". In the times I have priced this out, it is rarely any kind of savings. Since they are so limited demand is higher. It's also an even smaller room if you could imagine. I'd focus more on finding a line that offers what you as a cruiser, not a solo cruiser, would find important.

I cruised the Panorama in January. I would mirror in that the food was quite good. I guess it is possible it took a complete spiral in two months. I'd wager that's not really what happened though. I just returned from Cancun last week. It was an enjoyable trip. There are pros and cons to any choice in life. I find it interesting you use the words tourist trap for cruise ports. To me, Mexico is by far the most aggressive tourist trap. I prefer cruising. Not that what you say is completely untrue, but it depends. There's also quite a bit of the typical classism in these types of discussions. "Those elites at corporate are all evil." Sometimes you have good leadership, sometimes you do not. Sometimes, the people are disconnected. However, the public also doesn't get nor really care about any of the context. What exactly DO you do when your business is billions in debt? Sure the internet has all of it's great ideas, usually involving spending more to solve the debt.

Lots of bold assumptions here. There absolutely are supply differences between frozen and fresh potatoes. Imagine you were in charge of supply for the week and let's say fresh potatoes were $75,000 and frozen were $40,000. https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2022/08/08/potato-shortage-could-mean-higher-prices-stores-restaurants/10264591002/ The current weather-related shortage comes in addition to a recent downward trend in potato production. According to the USDA, the country's production fell on a year-to-year basis in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, potato production in the United States was 7% lower than the average production in the preceding five years.

I'm actually shocked Carnival doesn't have self-serve soda. Fountain soda is cheaper than canned soda. Not only that, but it frees up bar labor to serve more alcoholic drinks, which could possibly bring more margin. I have a hard time thinking of any business that serves cans for these reasons, and maybe more. It also sounds like the machine has measures in place to automate against abuse.

I have also never seen Cheers discounted on its own. In the past year or so (maybe more, I don't know) Carnival has finally introduced bundled fares that include Cheers. I don't know if they are as freely available to the public as NCL's offer, but I and others have certainly got them. The times I have looked at them, I recalled it being about 40-50% cheaper to do that than to buy it the traditional way.

I was referring more to NCL + Free at Sea and the misconception that it's "free". Included offers can definitely save you some money vs a la carte, but they certainly are not free. Carnival also has included drink offers that are generally cheaper than fare + Cheers (and NCL's offer).

Personally, I find it to be a pain to keep having to get up to get a piddly pour of alcohol. My drink of choice is a bourbon neat/on the rocks. The ones they pour are barely worth going to the bar. I can pour myself a nice drink the few times I am already in my cabin per day, that will last a while. Then when I really want, I can grab a cocktail or so at the bar. I also find it amazing how much people are drawn to NCL's "free at sea" offer when that fare is often double that of a similar Carnival cruise.

Most corporate announcements of "responsibility" have something to do with profit. It's the same reason there is no 10 drink punch card. They don't want people finding this is all they need. Instead, we all need that $1000 Cheers package for "peace of mind."

It will certainly make it a lot harder for people to jump into threads and boast "I disconnect" or "I leave my phone in the room". Never fear, your phone in airplane mode is still disconnected from the outside world. There is nothing more convenient about making reservations in person and by phone call vs a phone app.

I love my 6pm MDR service. Our wait staff is generally fantastic and we are eating appetizers within 15 minutes of arriving. Can never please everyone. For some it is too fast, for some it is too slow.

Is this the comedian cutback thread? Back in my day, we watched Richard Pryor with filet mignon snack plates!

Check-in day is a zoo regardless. We like to check in at 1 and go straight to the room.

I almost always use Uber and Lyft for transportation (which ever is cheapest). My only exception is coming back from Canaveral. There is not enough Ubers waiting around that area and it is a far trip. It is better off to book a shuttle to the airport.

I don't claim to be an expert. However, from what I've seen, most of these plans will cover evacuation from the Caribbean just fine. Those "million dollar" flights if they even exist, are like remote islands, far away from the US.

Typical outcome. Scum people cause trouble. They are never held accountable. People demand "something be done" so they don't ever encounter a minor inconvenience on "THEIR VACATION". Expecting that the action only impacts people who cause trouble. Outcome ruins it for everyone. Nothing is solved.

Two different ways to look at it. 4.6 drinks is a great way to oversimplify it. I mean, who couldn't do that in one day? But how many couples will both do it, every day, with the most expensive drinks on the ship? That's why I posted 93 cocktails. That's a real number vs 4.6.

I would absolutely love to do a cruise around the Philippines. There are so many absolutely beautiful spots that are better than the spots people cruise to today. I believe there could be a strong "demand" but the business isn't viable. It's a far flight from a lot of places. They also don't have the infrastructure to handle cruise ships. I remain hopeful that one day, when we figure out supersonic flight, it will open up more places for more people.

This is the answer that everyone needs to accept. You don't need to know the exact reason so you can play judge and jury and decide how much it ruined your life or deserve in compensation. However, I also believe they should let you cancel without penalty.

This one bothers me for sure. The 1 liter of whiskey is the best alcohol deal on the ship IMO.

To put it in perspective, that's 93 $15 cocktails.

Edited

The rest of the Oasis class was never this cheap because lack of "class leading". I was certainly not expecting Celebration to be so cheap. Mardi Gras was 50-75% more and during a period of lower demand. I had to jump on it.

You're already spent thousands to get your free drinks. You might as well tip the extra $2 to get drunk faster and forget the money you're spending.