Djptcp

I totally disagree with the No answers. We have upgraded from Verandah cabins to Neptune suites a number of times, at least 4 times, and have always received the double days for the suite.

I receive the casino offer emails about once a month, just received one a few days ago. We are only interested in the Caribbean and partial transit Panama Canal cruises, so many of the offers are not relevant. My best casino offers are the ones I receive on the last night of a cruise - have much more Free Play and at least Verandah cabins, sometimes suites. The offers that are emailed are for much less Free Play and only Ocean View cabins. We will be sailing on the Rotterdam on a 12-day cruise next month, so will wait to see the offer on the last night.....hope it's a good one!

Even with our prepaid gratuities, we always tip drink waiters a dollar or two, especially when they remember our previous drinks. At the end of the cruise we also leave an extra $10-20 for the room stewards and anyone else who was particularly helpful during the cruise. We also make sure to mention crew by name in our post-cruise evaluations and why.

DH and I are Diamonds and on ou r last two Carnival cruises (Paradise in late June and Freedom in late April) we attended both the Captain's Diamond cocktail party and Platinum/Diamond party on both cruises. We had open bars at both parties on both ships. The Diamond parties are always better because we are also served a wonderful selection of appetizers. There are usually only 20-30 people at the Diamond parties, but it seems like hundreds at the Platinum parties. We have 3 Holland America and 2 Celebrity cruises booked for the next 12 months, so no Carnival cruises in our near future. But we probably wouldn't bother to attend a future Platinum/Diamond party if it doesn't have an open bar.

I have used both the email upsell offers and I have called the HAL Inventory Dept. If I use the Inventory Dept. I wait to call the week before the cruise sails. I usually use both to get a Neptune Suite at a very reduced cost (coming from a Verandah or Vista). I have the deck plans available for both so I can choose where I want to be.

I've been verified to receive the new AARP onboard credit. When I booked a new cruise last week I asked my PVP to make sure my $200 AARP onboard credit was in the booking. She said that benefit is not available to people who book cruises with a casino offer. I was pretty annoyed and verified that with another HAL agent today. I think that is a pretty raw deal. If it's in the AARP benefit description I didn't notice it.

You have to access the Free Play on the slot machines. When I logged into my first slot machine on my last cruise, the Free Play didn't show up. I had to go to the Casino Cage and show them the certificate I received on the previous cruise to show that the current cruise was booked through the offer. They verified that it was and then I had to wait until the next day for the Free Play to show up when I logged into a slot machine.

We are 4* Mariners and love the elegant ships, fantastic food, and wonderful crew.

I got mine approved right away easily without having to show an AARP card. However, when I booked a cruise last week through my HAL PVP I was told I couldn't use the AARP benefit on casino offer bookings! I could use it on new bookings only, but not with bookings from casino offers. Bummer.

Crystalspin - We have received the double days perk every time after upselling to Vista Suites and Neptune Suites from original bookings of Ocean or Verandah cabins. We have either received emails from HAL to upgrade (for a cost) or after I have called the HAL Inventory Dept. the week before the cruises to pay for upgrades. So you are incorrect in saying you must book a Vista Suite on original booking.

We call the HAL inventory dept. a few days before the cruise to ask for an upgrade and usually get one for a nominal fee. Usually a Verandah to a Vista Suite or Vista Suite to a Neptune Suite.

We have had Diamond events with the Captain and Officers only on 5 day or more cruises, never had anything on 4 day cruises.

Passenger name should be same as what is on passport.

We have sailed on the Rotterdam 4 times and loved each cruise and have a 12-day one coming up this Fall. The casino is very, very small and very, very crowded in the evenings. The buffet is very crowded at breakfast and lunch, especially on at sea days. The only times we have had to wait really long times for the elevators are on embarkation and debarkation days. We have not experienced out of order elevators on any of our Rotterdam cruises.

Our boarding passes said that Diamond members could not go to their cabins until 1:30pm. That is the first time we had seen that note on the boarding passes. Although on our last Carnival cruise, don't recall which ship, we went to our cabin upon boarding and no keys were in the mail box by the cabin. DH hunted down our room steward who gave us the keys but said no entering until 1:30. We thought it was a one time thing, I guess not. We also did not receive a gift, first time ever. Not that we wanted fanny packs, but it's the principle of the thing.

DH and I have cruised 72 times since 1994. We are 4* Mariners on Holland America and Diamonds on Carnival. This was our first time sailing on the Freedom and we have both positive and negative comments. Positive: ship was in good condition; our ocean view cabin seemed larger than on other ships - I use a rollator and could push it through the door without having to fold it up; the Captain's Diamond cocktail party with officers was very nice with great appetizers; huge smoking area on Deck 10; friendly crew; embarkation and debarkation were a breeze. Negative: Diamonds could not go to their cabins upon embarkation and there was nowhere to sit and eat in the Lido area; food overall was the worst we have ever experienced on any of our cruises and sometimes inedible; Steakhouse food was just so-so; a lot of rude people insensitive to me using a rollator - people didn't look where they were going and constantly tripping over the rollator (even out of their paths) and knocking into me in the casino. While there were many positives, we will not be sailing on the Freedom again. The main reason being the awful food. We had sailed on Holland America twice just before this cruise and the food on Holland is always superior so it could very well be the Freedom, and Carnival food in general. just horribly paled in comparison.

DH and I are Diamonds and just returned from the Freedom. No Diamond gift, however. Not that we would have cared about fanny packs, but just saying no gifts for our loyalty.

DH and I just got off the Freedom yesterday and we had a nice Captain's Diamond cocktail party with officers. There were about 25 of us there. Great food and great drinks to order. It lasted about 45 minutes. We had the same event on a 6-day Spirit last December. The only time we have had a Diamond lunch was on the Magic a few years ago and it was fabulous.

I mentioned getting my Win/Loss Statement for tax purposes and someone asked if Carnival gave it to me. No, you need to go to the Ocean Players Club website and request it. It is available after Jan. 1st of each year for the previous year. Since Carnival Corp. also owns Holland America I was able to get both for my 3 jackpots.

Thanks for the review. We are sailing on the Glory for 7 days in Sept. as schools will be back in session. 72 cruises overall and first time sailing out of New Orleans. We already have Steakhouse reservations and usually order Steakhouse Selections in the MDR if we don't like the entrees in the MDR on a particular evening. Love the Blue Iguana and want to try the BBQ. We are sailing on the Freedom out of Port Canaveral in 3 days. We live near Tampa, so sail out of FL on various cruise lines.

We will be sailing on Carnival out of the Port of New Orleans for the first time and wonder how long it takes to get to the open seas from the Port? It looks like a really long distance. Thanks.

I have always received an email from HAL anywhere from a week to 10 days before the cruise. If I'm not happy with the cabin assignment location I call the HAL Inventory Dept. to see if there is something better and if there is a cheap upgrade available. Works for us.

Last year I won $8,576 on a penny Buffalo slot machine! I had over 60 free games in a bonus round and mostly buffalo across the screen on every game. (My bet was $2.40 per pull.) Pretty exciting! I was actually paid in cash - expected a check, but no, cash. Last year I also won $1,400 and $1,200 on two Buffalo slot machines on a Holland America cruise. First one in the morning and I moved to the Buffalo next to it and won the second one on it. All 3 jackpots could have played havoc with our taxes this year, but I got Win/Loss Statements that covered more than half the winnings.

Thanks so much for your review. DH and I will be sailing on the Constellation in Dec. '23, March '24 and Dec. '24. We have sailed on about 70 cruises, mostly on Holland America and Carnival, but needed a change. We live less than an hour from the Port of Tampa and Celebrity seemed to fit our bill. Looking forward to new cruising experiences.

We are Carnival Diamonds and Holland America 4* Mariners so lots of experience on both lines and our cruises on both are usually free ones from the casinos. We have sailed on the Rotterdam 4 times and have a 12-day Panama Canal cruise booked on her for Oct. Comparing Carnival to Holland America is like comparing Walmart to Neiman Marcus. While we are loyal Carnival cruisers (closer to home ports while Holland sails out of Ft. Lauderdale and is a 4 hour drive from home) and will sail on the Freedom next month, we much prefer Holland. We sail mostly in suites on Holland and with a Neptune Suite we have access to dinner in the private Orange Club dining room. The food and crew are superior on Holland and the ships are elegant without the glitz of Carnival. Holland has music venues for the evening and some shows, but I'm in the casino most of the time. I think there is probably more to do in the evenings on Carnival. We also prefer Holland as there are many fewer kids on board. We live 45 minutes from the Port of Tampa and Celebrity now has a ship that sails from there. We have booked 3 Celebrity cruises now (comparable to Holland) and look forward to trying a new cruise line.