Jamesatgsu

7 minutes ago, DAllenTCY said:

Not so fast.

 

I received this message last September 22, 2020 from Carnival when I requested benefits for my September 2021 cruise on the Panorama:

 

"The shareholder benefits are currently only applicable to sailings through 7/31/2021"....."after 3/31/2021 when the new shareholder benefits are released"

 

 

David

 

 

 

They just renewed through 7-31-22 for bookings made by 2-28-22.

1 hour ago, Butterbean1000 said:

I've never had one, but it sounds extremely unappetizing. 

They come in chocolate & I'm thinking lime, depending on type of frozen drink. I wouldn't describe them as delicious, but I almost always eat a few bites of it. In use, they are definitely better than paper straws, but they can still get soggy and are definitely not appealing once they are, so you bite that part off.

10 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

I believe MSC does out of Florida. There is a cruise review where the guy paid $99 for his cruise and surprisingly it was pretty good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMIclcQ4dx0

 

But being in San Diego, wife and I did the three and four day cruises almost monthly out of LBC. I am glad to here there are not phasing them out.

Interesting. I think when I was looking at MSC it was just 7 day cruises, but I guess I am mis-remembering.

Their ships are more ala carte as you pay for varying levels of service. I haven't sailed yet but want to. They've definitely had the cheapest rates I've seen, but you can go super cheap on Carnival too. I've taken 5 of us on a 4 day cruise for $1000 after taxes/fees. So much cheaper when kids are normally in school.

11 hours ago, scpirate said:

I thought 3+4 day booze cruises was carnivals bread and butter.i might be wrong but who else offers them besides that virgin guy.

Norwegian Sun & Sky had open bar for everyone on board and ran 3-4 day cruises.  That ended shortly before the pandemic, but it was great not having to even scan your card to get drinks and it was truly unlimited unlike Carnival (not that I actually drank anywhere near 15 on any day during my Sun cruise).

In general, Carnival & Norwegian are extremely similar in itinerary, ship designs, and activities. Norwegian is better about offering freebies, but just like Carnival right now, they usually offer drastically cheaper rates without all of the freebies.

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Not sure why you are quoting me. I am booked in sept as I said on vista. I'm well aware of the nov 1st cdc framework. My cruise was booked before the cdc set this latest block to cruises resuming. I'm vaccinated and booked a non refundable suite at a hotel in Galveston so I hope it goes. The nov 1st date has no bearing on my date. All I can do is wait, cant move it without cancelling another booking.

 

So I'll wait it out, but thanks

Just that I would feel way better about November than September, simply because at least that date makes the CDC do something (which could just be an extension of course). 

I'm hopeful for you though. If they do cancel you and you wanted to rebook Galveston, I'd hope the hotel would at least let you switch dates.

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

If its optimist MOST of the fleet will be sailing by the end of this year, and the rest next year, my sept vista cruise sounds in trouble.

One date to keep in mind is November 1, which is when the current CDC framework expires. 

I think they should definitely require the crew get vaccinated.

24 minutes ago, dbrucern said:

I think the hint was when they sent us letters that we had options if booked on cruises through July 3st

Or when they still haven't been able to schedule a test cruise. So basically the CDC has to change guidelines, or cruises won't be able to start until May 20th at the earliest.

19 minutes ago, jfunk138 said:

How realistic would it be to run a ferry to Freeport from Miami?  It's ~50 miles away and gets the cruiseships completely out of the CDC's jurisdiction.

The US could crack down on returning from those places and do mandatory quarantines. I couldn't believe how Americans on those cruise ships that got COVID cases were treated. 

28 minutes ago, asalligo said:

I reject the idea that the CDC is just doing its job at this point. Someone at the CDC or in control of the CDC wants to see cruising as an industry in the US ended. Maybe they always hated cruising and it was a thorn in their side prior to Covid, but they clearly are not interested in it restarting. I hope that Carnival is making contingency plans for a new home port in case the CDC never becomes amenable to cruises restarting with reasonable restrictions in US ports. 

Nobody specializing in disease is going to think putting thousands of people in close proximity for extended periods of time while co-mingling with people from various areas is ever going to think that is a great idea. So sure, the CDC would prefer people not cruising.

I think most likely cruises just aren't any type of priority. Cruising is purely leisure travel. The vast majority of cruise ship employees are not American. So the government has no incentive really to worry about them.

All that said, it is complete BS they haven't allowed for a test cruise or given benchmarks for when they would allow them. 

20 hours ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

The article was saying the cost is less than a penny per straw.  To compare, straws cost 0.4 cents each when you purchase a box of 3000 straws from a big box store.

First website I checked you can buy bulk wrapped straws for 0.0029/straw. I'd guess Carnival paid way less than that. So less than a penny could mean 3-4 times the cost. 

Am I the only one that likes the edible straws? 

They could already be doing paper straws if that was the only concern.

I think it has a lot to do with how expensive these are compared to regular straws. Personally I don't use straws for most drinks, and have a collapsible metal straw to cover when I do want one.

Writing on the wall. They absolutely should be able to sail before August at a reasonably safe level, but the CDC doesn't seem like it wants to do anything right now, and will likely wait until the vaccine is more widely distributed, and then still require test sailings and the same timeframe, which pushes us back to an August timeframe for restart.  At the pace we are going, vaccines should be open to pretty much every adult by the end of April.

On 2/9/2021 at 9:44 PM, pamesacruisin said:

I cancelled a FTTF 4 days ago that I had purchased using a gift card.  Very surprised when Fed Ex showed up today with a new gift card for the refund amount.  Talk about fast!

The FTTF for my Carnival Horizon cruise in August 2020 was just refunded to us...

I admittedly had no idea we hadn't already been refunded.

2 hours ago, Incognito1 said:

Wondering if those who do not mind taking only the ship's excursions have been on many of them? 

 

When we first started cruising, we didn't know any better.  Planning our own excursions has been far better than being crammed into a bus chartered by the ship, or on a smaller boat with tons of shipmates.  Not only better, but far less expensive.  Also, what about those ports where you simply want to walk around or want to see something that the ship isn't offering?    You're just SOL?  Just suck it up? Cruises to nowhere do have their place, but why bother going to a foreign port where you don't even get to see what you traveled there for? 

 

Honest question -- I'm curious what the plans are for people who are okay with the ship-excursion-only plan.

I have and the excursions have been great. 

We're OK with most of the restrictions because it is understandable and beats not cruising. 

5 hours ago, jsglow said:

I've actually found this discussion interesting.  Ultimately,the cruise industry will likely decide whether it makes sense for them to require vaccinations.  They are a private business and will make a decision based on what is best for their bottom line.  My guess is that they will not require them.

Apparently there is a question of legality in requiring that customers show proof of vaccination, which is partially why they are hesitant to require them. 

I wish there was a real way of knowing what is going on between the industry and the CDC. They definitely make it seem like the CDC is just ignoring them.

1 hour ago, asalligo said:

Is there a reason to get the vaccine if I have the Covid antibodies already? Just got my blood test back today and apparently I already had Covid and never even noticed a symptom. I read online that you should, but why is the vaccine going to give me more protection than the antibodies? 

 

Yes, as a booster essentially. That said, I don't think people with antibodies should be getting it until the vaccine is widely available.

I was listening to the podcasts Google News plays for me this morning, and a guy from Pfizer was saying they do expect it to be more like the flu where you would get it each year, but due to how contagious COVID is, it needs to be far move effective than the flu shot is to be successful. The obvious goal is to get herd immunity that ultimately leads to the virus dying out.

6 hours ago, drsel said:

The Carnival marketing strategy department knows very well that people are purposely booking Cruises and hoping that they will get cancelled, in order to get $600 OBC.

 

but they are also smart by keeping the future Cruises increasingly more and more expensive, to compensate for the 600 OBC given freely

FWIW, booking Mardi Gras cruise for Thanksgiving week 2022 is slightly cheaper than the one I booked for Thanksgiving week of 2021 that I made in February of last year.

17 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Cruises cancelled by carnival are still getting FCC. You can't double dip on FCC but could book multiple cruises. Interesting, it sounds as if you're booking hoping to get canceled to save on a future cruise. Interesting strategy 😀 .

If and when they cancel my May cruise, I plan on booking for the first available day for a 7 day in hopes of it getting cancelled to turn my $300 back into $600. My original cruise that got cancelled was an 8 day and we moved it to a 5 day. They still gave me my $600obc, but said if it got cancelled I would only be offered the $300 based on the shorter cruise.

16 hours ago, john91498 said:

 

There's rumblings that we're going to have to wear a mask for the rest of our lives...that'd be scary...

We won't, but I have been curious if we might see more mask wearing in crowded areas and during flu season, similar to what you see with some Asian cultures.

2 hours ago, d-train said:

What about cruise ports like Cozumel, Half Moon Cay or Grand Turk, self contained by the cruise line?

I wonder if we will be able to get off, explore the contained area without paying for an excursion...

"Shore side visits may be also limited to port areas that have no public access." 

So I definitely think Half Moon Cay would be a 100% go, and I assume the enclosed port areas would be as well. It was pretty clear you would not be going beyond the port area without a Carnival excursion.

And Carnival merely said they MIGHT use reservations for cruise ship activities.

2 hours ago, Linda the Book Lover said:

Sadly but no...https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210203/covid-faq-i-got-the-vaccine-is-life-normal-again

 BTW I sure hope it is found that the vaccine truly stops the sharing of COVID-19. My fingers are crossed. Vaccine #1 done and the second one coming up!

 

 

It could on a cruise with everyone vaccinated. The reason it won't return to normal in our everyday lives is that just because you are vaccinated doesn't mean the people around you are.

But FWIW, I bet they'd still require masks and some social distancing.

1 hour ago, asalligo said:

The vaccine is the big question. Will it be required? I asked my doctor to tell me her personal opinion, should I get it, and she said no, that the risks of the vaccine currently outweighed the risks of the virus at my age with no other health problems and that no studies have been completed yet on infection after vaccine, so it might be a waste of time, and this was before all the new strain talk.

   

Part of the purpose for mass vaccination is to eliminate the virus before it can mutate so much as to make the vaccine ineffective.

43 minutes ago, asalligo said:

I think Carnival should be paying their employees and not relying on the passengers for their employees salary and yes I also think that $14 per day per person which equates to $56 a day and $392 for the week for my family is already more than enough and I will certainly take the chance to save a few bucks by paying them early. I always prepay them and do not short the crew, but I will say again this is not a gratuity when expected and auto charged. A gratuity is something extra I give you on top of your salary for an exemplary job, I think it meant much more before it being charged to your account and they were hand delivered.   

Most of us agree, but the model is what the model is, and for what the crew does, incredibly well deserved. Given what they've been through the last year with little end in sight, it just isn't the right place to be thinking about saving a few dollars right now.

I don't think I'd want to do the same itinerary back to back. That has been part of our problem booking because we want to go somewhere new each time. 

Unfortunately the Magic was the 1st of our 3 cancelled cruises last year.

I've changed the names online before for guests in my room. I've changed to completely different people. I'm not really sure how it would even be a problem?