Eli_6

Not all Carnival cruises embark/debark from US ports...

I have never had anything extreme, but I have been there a couple of times when it was pretty chaotic.

This is a useful article: Can You Take Food Off a Cruise Ship? - Cruise Mummy

Also, sometimes there are long bus rides before you get where you are going. When you are traveling with kids or someone who gets car sick or someone with blood sugar issues, it is just common sense to have pre-packaged food with you.

I think that depends on where you are debarking. Not all ports are foreign countries/ports from your embarkation port.

I know there was some question about what FFTF gets you and whether it changes your arrival appointment--i.e. whether you can arrive any time or still have to arrive at your appointment time. I just checked in to my cruise where I purchased FFTF and it says "Boarding Group FFTF" on it. It also has FFTF on my luggage tags and boarding passes. It does, however, have my arrival appointment time on it, though, and does not say "Priority" or FTTF under that so I do have some question as to whether if I arrived before my appointment time they would let me board at the port or not... Although, in my case, I was able to secure the first arrival time anyway. (I want it to get off the boat fast at the end of the cruise so my husband can work that day so it is worth it to us to buy it regardless of if it only gets us on the boat a few minutes early.)

I also like the idea of the tumbler better than carrying around a goofy looking fish or the giant fish bowl.

That's what I was wondering about, too. Once we buy the tumbler, where all can I take it to get refilled at? For example, will they refill the 16 ounces (at the 12 ounce price) at the atrium bar? What about the Serenity Bar? The dining room? I would assume it can't be refilled at Alchemy since those are craft cocktails.

In the UK this summer, we would grab an orange or a banana for our kids on the long bus rides, but I don't know if you can do that when going from the US to some other countries. I know in one port I have even seen dogs sniffing for fruit and seen them asking people to open their bags.

I think so. I have sailed from Galveston many times. The only time we arrived later in the day (like 1:30), we literally walked right on the ship. However, that was pre-Covid.

Never mind! Just got an email from Carnival with the new deadline. I guess it took a bit for the system to process the change.

The final payment on my cruise is due tomorrow. I wanted to wait until Monday to make my final payment because it starts a new year for my credit card for $ accumulation. (It is on anniversary of the card rather than the 1st of the year and if I spend so much, I get a friend fly free ticket...which, for the past two years, I have redeemed a free business class round trip ticket to Europe for my "friend" which has saved me quite a bit. I have already hit the dollar amount for this year so I want this big purchase to go to 2023-24.) So, I called Carnival and asked to delay final payment until Monday. They said fine and said my new payment deadline is Monday, Jan 23rd. However, the old payment deadline of tomorrow is still showing on my booking online which has me concerned. If for some reason my new payment deadline somehow didn't get recorded with Carnival, how quickly will they cancel that booking? I do not want to call Carnival back again and explain all of this again. I already feel like I am being an OCD "miles" person as is. EDIT: Never mind. Just got an email from Carnival with the updated payment deadline. I guess it took awhile for the system to update.

I would go with deck 8. That would be too close to the hull, etc. for my taste. Although, if it is a bigger room, that might change my mind.

Is this at all the bars or just the Red Frog and Blue Iguana? That seems like a good deal since you are basically getting 33 percent more every time you get a drink plus you are getting a glass to take home. One time we bought a souvenir fish cup (looked like a fish) on Carnival and that was a good deal (same thing where you got 16 ounce for the price of the 12 ounce), but I have no idea where it is now and it seems like we probably lost some of the pieces to it because it had about 4 pieces you had to keep up with...fish head, fish tale, cup inside and straw.

That little blurb under the woman holding the frozen drink is misleading. The actual "1 bottle" policy appears to not have changed.

From the above article: “State law and TABC rules prohibit any practice which could reasonably be interpreted to allow or encourage overconsumption of alcohol. This includes “all you can drink” packages or other promotions which allow unlimited alcohol for a buy-in price. These standards would apply to any alcoholic beverages served or sold within Texas territory, including any waters over which Texas claims jurisdiction. Once a vessel is outside of Texas territory, the state’s laws no longer apply.” I have lived in Texas my entire life. I am a Texas attorney (but I am not your attorney). I was the social chair and later President of my sorority in college and planned many parties. Even back then some 20 years ago, we could not charge a flat fee for "all you can drink." As long as I have lived in Texas, that has been the law. Maybe NCL skirts the law in some manner or another or simply hasn't gotten busted, but that is the law and I don't blame Carnival for following it. Maybe NCL starts the drink package on the first day after they are in international waters. Maybe they don't allow drinks until sail away and it doesn't take that long to get to international waters. Maybe they simply risk getting fined if caught.

Someone posted on a relatively recent thread they were late getting back in to port in galveston because of these issues so...I am thinking not.

Oh man, if they could actually get this up and working where my husband could depend on reliable internet, this would be a complete game changer for our ability to travel!

Following this thread as also likely booking this cruise. Just waiting to get spring break dates finalized.

Or maybe Carnival attracts a crowd more likely to over-indulge from a psuedo "All you can drink" package so Carnival management has decided to not risk this occurring in Texas water where they might lose their ability to serve alcohol completely should something go wrong.

I have no idea how NCL gets around the law then, but the law in Texas is that you can't have "all you can drink" packages. Technically, neither package is truly all you can drink. Maybe NCL is simply more comfortable with pushing the limits than Carnival or less concerned about being sued or getting fined by TABC. Or maybe they don't worry as much about it since they don't sail as much out of Texas. Carnival has three ships going all the time out of Galveston.

NCL probably doesn't market it as an all you can drink package and therefore somehow gets around it.

The laws in those states do not allow "all you can drink" packages to be sold purportedly because it encourages excessive alcohol consumption. You can still buy alcohol by the drink. The alcohol doesn't have to be Texas alcohol. It just has to be sold from a distributor licensed in Texas. All types of alcoholare sold in Texas. I suspect all the alcohol they have on the Galveston boats is from a Texas distributor because that is where they get their provisions...i.e. the port of Galveston.

Hold the front door-- people actually thought the corkage fee was for removing the cork??? 🤯

OP might also consider Princess, Cunard or HAL. Those "Carnival" brands are probably more on the level of Celebrity while Carnival is more comparable to Royal Carribean or NCL. I have really been wanting to try Cunard, but I think they only have three or four ships so haven't even found a sailing/itinerary that works for us.