RockHoundTX

The jewelry store on the ship is almost never cheaper. The main reason to buy something in the islands is that they have more selection. If there is a specific, rare watch you want, likely easier to find it in the Bahamas than in your local jewelry dealer. For watches specifically, shop ahead of time to get a baseline on pricing. Especially look at places such as Sam's Club and Costco before you go. My sister was on a cruise and wanted to by a Tag that has an MSRP of something like $2300. After a ton of negotiations, one dealer was willing to "sacrafice" and sell for $1800. She called me from the store in cozumel (via Internet) and I was able to find the exact same watch at Sam's Club for somewhere around $1550. When it comes to gemstones, I would never buy outside the US or on the cruise ship. I am an expert in the "rock and gem" industry and I can't count the number of fraudulent and mis-represented gemstones I have seen. I am sure that if I had my tools with me, I would find even more. Even with things like tanzanite, at least 10% (and probably way more) of what is sold is not real (lots of lab-grown) and probably 30%+ of the "untreated" is absolutely treated. This is just based on what I can see with my eyes. There is at least another 30%-40% that I would call "questionable". On a trip several years ago my mother wanted to buy a tanzanite necklace. It completely drove me crazy. Finally found one that I was "pretty sure" was real. I think the sticker price was something like $800 and the "asking price" was $500. I think we finally walked out with it for $140. I tested it when I got home and was happy to see that it was actually tanzanite 😉 On several trips, I have had someone show me the "great deal" they just got. In one case the stone was clearly a fake. In several others, all I could do is politely say "wow. That is really pretty" while knowing that they just spent 3x - 4x what they should have. I think there have only been one or two times where I went "wow. That is actually a fantastic deal". One final point is that "duty free" does not mean "tax free". There are a ton of posts here on Cruise Critic where folks bought expensive items and then had to write a check to the government when they got back to port. I think I remember one post saying that if you spent over a certain amount that the ship is required to submit the purchase to customs prior to getting to the US port (the person was flagged when going through US customs).

Probably the same reason my family goes on Carnival even though we all prefer RCCL: money. In our case, over the last 18 months Carnival has been 30%-40% cheaper for the exact same itenerary. For that $$ difference, I am willing to give up my Diamond perks and settle for bacon every other day. Unfortunately, the MTD on my last two RCCL cruises were not that good (and the lunches on Carnival are still much better than RCCL). I completely sympathize with the OP. It sucks to spend big $$ on a cruise (especially if you spend extra for a UDP) and it not live up "average" expectations based on a base-line of pre and post-Covid cruises.

I have been cruising since the 1980s (I was a teen at the time). I have seen quality and service go up and down several times. From my experience, the early 2000s where the peak of "quantity and choice". This seemed to be especially the case as the Liberty and larger class ships came on-line. Quality has always been variable. I have been on B2B cruises where the quality was great one week and terrible the next (a new head-chef took over on the 2nd cruise). The exact same dishes went from hot and flavorful the first week to warm and bland the second. Any insinuation that the cooks don't matter is completely preposterous. Over my last 30 or so cruises, I would say that Carnival has a much better lunch but RCCL has better dinner/MDR. I have had two experiences where the food was "OMG!!! This is incredible.". The first was in about 2016 on a "reduced capacity" trip on LIberty where the ship repositioned to Freeport for work on the thrusters. On that trip, we had lobster and lamb chops in the Windjammer! The next was a post-Covid trip a few months after cruising opened back up. There was not as much variety or "specialty foods" but everything was cooked perfectly. The Prime Rib in the MDR ranked in the top 3 I had ever eaten (and I have eaten my weight in Prime Rib at some of the best restaurants in the US). I have only had the food be "totally inedible" on one cruise. On that one (on Carnival), about half the cooking staff were in quarantine. Oil literally dripped off the food and I ended up with food poisoning (along with numerous others that were on the Roll Call). Of my last 5 cruises across both Carnival and RCCL, the MDR food has been drastically under-whelming. My first two cruises in 2022 it was due to supply chain issues and the chefs were trying to "make do with what they had" (i.e., onion soup without onions, tomatoe sauce used in dishes that were supposed to have cream sauce, etc.). On my last 3 cruises, the quality was just poor (lower quality meats, frozen instead of fresh dishes, etc.) compared to what I would call "cruise industry average" over the last 5-10 years. Food is the primary "enjoyment" on a cruise for my wife and myself (mainly since we very seldom eat at restaurants and on a cruise we don't have to cook). We currently only have 1 cruise booked for this year (and that was because we booked it early last year). With prices being twice what they were and food quality being disapointing, cruising is no longer the "cheap and enjoyable" vacation for us that it has been over the last 10-15 years. I watch these posts mainly to see if quality is improving yet (looks to be a resounding "no") to know if I should tell my wife to start looking again. Eventually, the quality will improve since the market will demand it (just as it has a couple of times over the last 30 years).

Considering how much money I have seen people spend in the casino, $20k for a suite is absolutely nothing. I watched one person on Quantum loose over $46k on a slot machine in about an hour or so. Started with $10k when I walked up, burned through that. Pulled out a $20k ticket, burned through that, and pulled out another ticket with another $26k on it. He was playing $97 per push (and I think there was a double or triple function so sometimes close to $300 per button push). He mentioned that he was not concerned since he had won something like $50k on a jackpot the day before. Found out later that he was a really famous celebrity (host of a "major" TV show in the UK). Watched another lady on Liberty play two of the high-roller machines at once at max bet. She was getting hand-pays about every 10-15 minutes. The attendant would bring out a stack of $100s 3+ inches high. After every hand-pay, she gave the attendant $100. She had over 100,000 points the first night. By the 3rd night she had something like 550,000 points (she had over 300k on one card and 250k+ on another). Not sure what she had at the end of the cruise (million plus?). I talked to one of her relatives that said Royal flew out the entire family in a private jet and that they were staying in the two top suites. Said that they did this 2-3 times a year. I was on another cruise where Stevie Wonder and his family were in the big suite (he came out for pictures the last night of the cruise).

This is a great point. Unfortunately, it goes WAY beyond this. I was at a high school sporting event and listened to a 15yo girl bragging to several other teens about how much money she had made on OnlyFans (an 18+ adult site). Evidently, she had made enough to pay for a new car!!! There is just so much wrong with this situation and it all starts with the parents (or lack there-of).

Wow. Then you are lucky. I have only been on about half that many Carnival cruises (all 7 day cruises) and seen some pretty wild things that I have not seen on other cruise lines. I have absolutely no desire to ever go on one of Carnival's shorter (3-4 day) cruises. That being said, I have been on 2 Alaska Carnival cruises and they were extremely mellow. On most carribean cruises I feel a little old but on the Alaska cruises I was definitely on the younger side. I would not worry about an Alaska cruise at all. Carnival usually has a naturalist on these cruises that is very informative. Only down-side to the Alaska cruises is the price (usually 2x or more of a carribean cruise).

My wife used to check prices daily. Now she checks maybe once a week just to see if prices are still stupid high. Prices are 2x what they were before Covid (and 2.5x the prices we booked 2 years ago). At least for us, cruising is no longer the "relatively inexpensive vacation" it used to be. Add in the little things like increased gratuities, cost of parking (it more than DOUBLED in the last 12 months), etc., and the "all in" costs is even more. Combine that with all the cut-backs and the "value for dollar" just isn't anywhere close to what it used to be. For the last 10 years, we were averaging about 4-5 cruises a year. This year it will only be one (since we booked it last year before the steep price increases). That cruise is now 3x the price of what we paid. Instead of cruising this summer, we are taking a road-trip for our family vacation this year (at a fraction of the cost). Hoping that at some point the supply/demand flips and cruising becomes affordable again for those on a retirement budget (once both Carnival and RCL have paid off their debt since own stock in both ;-).

I have done 4 RCL and 6 CCL in the last two years. Diamond on RCL but did more CCL since they tended to be 30%-40% cheaper for the same itenerary for a family of 4. Both RCL and CCL have been short-staffed on every trip since the covid lock-downs. As others have said, lunch is better on CCL with Guy's Burgers and Iguana Grill (plus the gellato bar). On average, RCL has been better in MDR but even MDR quality seems to vary greatly week to week on both cruise lines. Last year food quality on both lines really depended on what happened to show up on the dock that week (supply chain issues) and which of the cooking staff were in covid quarantine. Regardless, food quality and selection on both lines over the last 12 months has been way down relative to pre-covid (funny enough, just after the lock-down ended, the food on RCL was fantastic. But then it nose-dived for the last 2 RCL trips and has been consistently "average" to "disgustingly bad" on CCL). So why do I prefer RCL? I enjoy all the activities during the day: rock climbing, Flow-rider, ice skating, etc. CCL has Sky Rider and Rope Course but these are pretty boring after you have done them once. CCL has basically centered their entire "afternoon entertainment" around trivia, trivia, and more trivia. aaaaugh. Most of their night-time entertainment is comedians (but RCL seems to be going this way as well since it is probably way cheaper than the real acts they used to have). As for the stage productions, it really comes down to the performers. Some of the best singers and dancers I have seen on a cruise where on CCL (2 years ago). Unfortunately, the worst singers and dancers I have seen were also on CCL (same ship back in December. The word my kids used most often was "cringeworthy"). CCL has much more energetic cruise directors. You may like this or hate this. The late evening CCL deck parties seem to be more fun that the RCL promenade parties at least for my family. Overall, if they were the same price (or even 10% more expensive), I would go with RCL 100% of the time. Unfortunately, both RCL and CCL are currently pricing trips at 40%-50% more than I am willing to pay. My wife checks prices daily and for the last few months the prices have been 2x what we paid pre-covid and 2.5x the "great prices" we got over the last 2 years. With overall quality WAY down (and prices WAY up), currently only have 1 cruise (on RCL) booked.

Because we have teenage kids and have to sail during "peak" times the last few years, we got decent prices but not any of the spectacular deals some have seen. Over the last 15 years we have done about 30 cruises between RC and Carnival. While we tend to prefer RC due to the activities (rockwall, ice skating, flow-rider, etc.), the last 2 trips were on Carnival since RC had already priced us out of the market. The "value for money" of our last few trips already had us questioning how much cruising we would be doing in the future. While we had a "good" time, it was far from the "great" time we typically had pre-Covid. There were just too many distractions: understaffed, lower quality food, closed venues, way less time in each port (maybe just a Vista issue?), etc. We have another Carnival cruise coming up and this is the first time that I am not excited to go on a cruise. If the prices go up any higher, I expect that we will quit cruising until the kids move out. For a family of 4, there are a ton of good land-based options (especially when driving) at the same or lower prices compared to what we are already paying.

During the school year when there are not a lot of teens, they sometimes combine them but probably not during the summer. I have teen kids that have been on about 30 cruises. Pretty much everyone shows up the first night and splits off into about 4 groups (2 Circle C and 2 Club O2). In each age group there will be kids that stick strictly to the program and then a second group that splinters off and does nothing program related. By the second day, these groups tend to subdivide even further into groups of 4-6 kids that then hang out together for the rest of the cruise. As a general rule, the older kids tend to not like hanging out with the younger ones (you will see this even within Club 02 where the 16/17 year olds tend to shy away from the 15 year olds). Interestingly enough, my experience is that it is the younger groups that tend to cause the most problems (the older groups tend to stay to themselves and spend 50%+ of their time just hanging out either in someone's cabin or at one of the lounge areas). Circle C tends to have a lot more "activities" (such as making bracelets, trivia, etc.) so no need to rush up the Club 02.

Just piling on. Yes, any cruise from Dec 17th to Jan 5th will be completely sold out. I have sailed with my kids on Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. When it comes to kids, Halloween is the least (since most kids in school), Thanksgiving next, and Christmas by far the most. You should expect the number of kids to be roughly 20% higher than what you saw at Thanksgiving with a very large majority being middle and high-school aged. At least here in Texas, it is easy to get Elementary and Intermediate kids out of school for a few extra days for a cruise but Middle/High School can usually only go during Christmas or Summer Vacations (my son had college classes over Thanksgiving week so that was not even an option this year). Did the Christmas cruise on VIsta last year and it was a complete mad-house. The kids-clubs were completely over-whelmed and were kicking kids out. That means packs of 10-13s and 13-15s roaming the ship. I have kids (who have been on 20+ cruises) in both of these age-groups and it was by far the most chaotic cruise I have ever been on (but partly since that was the peak of Covid last year and the ship was WAY under-staffed). As mentioned above, expect more "multi-generational" as well. That means more scooters, more people needing to take elevators (which becomes a double-wammy with the kids riding elevators for fun), and just everything being a little "slower" than normal.

I have sailed on Liberty close to a dozen times. As others have said, it is definitely showing its age. Expect things in the room to not be perfect: stuck shower doors, non-working frig/cooler, TV that may or may not work, etc. The big screen over the pool has not worked since probably 2019. That being said, it is not a bad ship. I actually like the lay-out better than most of the bigger ships. It was supposed to have had a major re-fresh during Covid but that never happened (they just did the bare-minimum refresh required). The ship's staff can vary from fantastic to just "average" depending on what week you happen to sail. Liberty has always been a "trainer" ship for the bigger ships so get more brand new workers than some other classes. This was particularly evident pre-Covid (you could have HUGE differences in crew and "feeling" between B2B weeks). Post-Covid I am not sure it is as big a deal since every ship I have taken over the last 18 months has been understaffed. If it has the itenery that you want, go for it. It does not have all the flash, sparkle, and gimmicks of the bigger ships but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

I just about fell out of my seat when I saw the prices even with the discount. Holy moly. I guess I am just too used to the Galveston parking prices over the last 20 years. Started out in the low $40s, then the low $50s in about 2010, and then in the $60s a few years ago. I think I paid $64 for my two 7-day trips earlier this year (but looks to be somewhat more for my upcoming cruise). Looks like there is just not any competition yet at that end of the strand (and I am curious what Royal is charging for drop-offs from the independant parking places). One of the major benefits of going out of Galveston has always been the relatively cheap parking relative to other ports.

LOL. As a born-n-bred Texan, I fully understand. I actually had this conversation with the buffet "head chef" on a cruise out of Galveston. One evening (pre-Covid) he was walking around asking how the food was. My comment was "Some is pretty good, but why does all the local Southern foods taste absolutely terrible? You give it a recognized Southern name but then sever something that isn't even close.". His comment was "Well, we hear that a lot. I would love to change it but I can't. Every recipe we make and every ingredient we get is dictated by someone in Corporate. Even the length of time and temperature is specifically dictated. We don't get to choose. I can add a little more or a little less spice but that is about it." What really boggles my mind is that I have yet to have pecan pie on ANY cruise-line. They all have something they call pecan pie, but in every case is more like an inedible, dry pecan custard or something (i.e, uses some sort of flour based custard instead of corn syrup for filling). I have been to 49 US states and 30 countries and have yet to come across this "dessert" any-where else. It seems to be exclusive to cruise ships. Only answer that I ever got that even remotely made sense was "corn syrup is too sticky to use on a cruise ship. You won't find it in any desserts or dishes.".

The issue is that someone is likely already assigned to those 2 cabins. If you have a Guarantee, the process is that Carnival will try to get the folks in those cabins to upgrade. If they do, then they will assign you the cabin that opens up. If they do not, then you are in luck. Basically Carnival will upgrade you for free to a better stateroom than what you paid for (just have to realize that what Carnival calls "better" may not meet your definition of "better" but you can cross that bridge when you come to it). TBA (to Be Assigned) is what all Guarantees say until the room number is actually assigned. Calling at this point is likely not going to help. You are a month too early to panic.

There is nothing to worry about. It is not uncommon to get a room number 3-7 days before you actually set sail. Also had one trip where I was not assigned a room number until I was boarding the ship. If you booked a Guarantee Havana, that is what you will get. Not having a room number until the last minute is just one of the draw-backs of booking a Guarantee room (and thus the reason it is cheaper since Carnival can slot you into what-ever room is available after the upgrade fairy has visited everyone else).

Magnets come in varying strengths. You will see claims of anywhere from 100 pounds up to 1000+ pounds (with 300-500 pound magnets being the most common "beginner" magnets). The magnet itself is maybe 3 inches in diameter and 3-4 pounds. These "strengths" are generally measured as how heavy a perfectly flat metal plate can be lifted (and most manufactures then double that since the magnet technically has 2 sides even though only 1 side is usable). In the real world, almost nothing is a "flat sheet of metal" so a 300 pound magnet can typically bring something up that is maybe 20-30 pounds. If a 300 pound magnet sticks to a piece of rebar, it can be "unstuck" fairly easily with a little force (it will most likely just slide off the end of the rebar). However, if you stick the magnet to the flat metal wall of a cruiseship, it is going to be HARD to get it off (practically impossible to pull it straight off. You have to leverage it to get one corner up and then it will come off pretty easy.). The "line" is actually a very heavy 8mm-10mm nylon rope (typically 50-75 feet long) with a tensile strength of 1000-2000 pounds. When magnet fishing, the biggest problem is not getting the magnet stuck to something, it is getting it hung on an underwater tree-root, rock, etc. It is pretty common (but potentially dangerous) to have to tie the rope to a vehicle (or winch system) to get it unstuck. It really sucks to loose a $100-$200 magnet 😕 Most magnets are lost because folks forget to put red locktite on the screw-in eye-let or tie a bad knot in the rope. There are a ton of great videos on YouTube for those that are interested.

You would be amazed at what you can find. At any major saltwater fishing pier, I bet their are a dozen fishing knives and pliers lost every week. These tend to be made of stainless steel so survive in pretty good shape in saltwater for quite a while. In freshwater lakes, pretty common to find whole fishing poles (rod and reels) especially around boat docks. If they haven't been in the water for more than a month or so, just rinse them off and you are good to go.

Most people typically keep the magnet it a specially fitted box whe carrying it. The box has about an inch of padding on the outsides and about 1-2 inches under the magnet itself (and the top tends to have a eyelet that is 1-2 inches tall). When in the box, it is safe to carry the magnet and it really doesn't stick to anything.

I also like to magnet fish (fun activity to do with my son). However, there is no way I would bring one on the ship. Why? Magnet fishing really doesn't work at most ports that RCL commonly visits. First, you can't magnet fish anywhere near the ship. Every single cruise dock I have been to (probably 30 different ports?) has the yellow "do not cross" line and they are pretty quick to tell you to move when you do pass it (just to take a picture or maybe look at a school of fish). Second, it is really hard to find somewhere to actually magnet fish. There are practically no publicly accessible piers in most locations. Closest thing you will find is maybe a small foot-bridge over a small creek/drainage ditch (and you definitely do NOT want to be magnet fishing there). Third, the water is clear (and warm) in most locations. As such, if someone (typically a local) see something metalic/shiny in the water, they will just swim down to it and check. Finally, if anyone sees you throwing a magnet around any of the carribean islands, they are likely to get REALLY upset. You have to remember that many spots have coral/sea fans/etc just a few feet off the shore. Throwing a magnet can easily damage these. DON"T be that person. Magnet fishing makes sense in the US since: 1) the lake water is dirty/cold so things are "lost" and not retreived, 2) tons of public fishing piers or boat launches where people loose stuff, 3) lots of bridges that have a pedestrian walkway on then, 4) we tend to be richer so loosing a $10 knife or pair of pliers is a "oh, dang" moment and we move on (while most island locals would do everything possible to retrieve the same thing), and 5) most piers are made of wood and not concrete that get beaten up by hurricanes to expose lots of rebar that will hang up your magnet. Hope that helps.

It really depends on security. A few years ago we did a bunch of trips on the same ship with a week or two in between each one. Became friends with several of the staff (includign the head Chef) and started bringing on Krispy Kreme donuts for them (since the donuts on RCL totally suck). Had zero problems bringing them on twice and then was stopped cold the third time. We were told "the rules have changed" and absolutely no outside food was allowed. We sat at the security line and ate as many donuts as we could and then started handing them out to whom-ever wanted them in line 😉 Security was not amused. As for ports, we have brought on-board a ton of packaged foods (sugar, coffee, honey, etc.) with no problems. However, we have seen security make people throw away any food that contained meat (hamburgers, tacos, etc.) or had visibly recognizable fruit pieces. Just depends on the mood of security that day. RCL is consistently inconsistent.

Yes. Personal experience in May on Vista. It is all done via their computer screen so it was automatically tacked onto my card as soon as the bartender submitted the order (as well as on the receipt). The "free drink" limit was $10 but cocktails (at any bar) start at $10.50 (and $12 at the Alchemy Bar). Glad to see that RCL is not doing the same and has raised the RCL free drink limit to match.

I can somewhat speak to both points being discussed. First, I think the largest hand-pay I have seen is somewhere around $30k. It was roughly a 3-4 inch stack of $100 bills. But in this case the lady was a REALLY high roller and fed them back into the "high $$" machine pretty quickly. She was getting $10k+ hand-pays about every 30-40 minutes. Per her nephew, the cruise-line basically took care of everything tax and customs related and escorted the entire family onto and off the ship (on top of flying the entire family to the cruise to begin with). As for the folks talking about just opening up a foreign bank acount, this is typically a pain. I have worked outside the US a couple of times and really hated all the paperwork and time (usually a week or two) required to do this. More importantly, when you fill out your Federal Income Taxes there is a specific question on "do you have a foreign bank account?". When you answer "yes", then you have more forms to fill out. Not something I would want to lie about since the US government pretty much knows about your foreign assets from most allied nations (again, one of the reasons there is so much paperwork when you open the account). It is only when you have an absolutely obscene amount of money that things get interesting. I did work for one financial institution where the minimum account balance was $100M (ie, think Saudi prince, etc.). When backups of the account data were moved (maybe due to a large hurricane heading toward the island), the pilots moving the data had a special life insurance policy. If they had a problem, they were required to ditch the plane into the sea outside of US juristiction. At no point could this data ever enter US soil.

Not sure about that. Have that exact issue on Carnival where the "free drink" is actually a dollar short of actually being free for any alcoholic drink/cocktail. I would not be at all surprised.

Sounds like you are new to living on the coast. If you did not come up with a plan, a back-up plan, and a back-up to the back-up plan 3 months ago, then you are behind the 8-ball. By early June you should have enough food, water, and other necessities to last a few weeks. The second that the TV weathman says "potential hurricane in the Gulf", there is a mad rush on the supermarkets, hardware stores, and gas stations. Figure that for any location on the Gulf of Mexico (from Texas all the way to Florida), you will be in the "5-day cone of uncertainty" for a tropical storm or hurricane about once every 2 years or so and thus something to get used to. I have been on cruises when there was really bad weather (hurricane, tornados, wild-fires, etc.) and the folks from those areas had a miserable time. Most were worried about their homes, friends, pets, etc and tended to not have a good time. Hopping on a last-minute cruise is probably not a good idea. Hopping on a cruise out of Tampa would be a particulary bad idea since waves are likely to be "interesting" throughout the Gulf. I have been on 3 cruises with 20+ foot waves and can say most folks do not enjoy them (LOTS of green faces even on some of the biggest ships). If you don't already have a full tank of gas (plus maybe another 5-gallon tank), then you should do that now. Some gas stations WILL run out of gas. Worse yet is the grid-lock on the major evacuation routes. What would normally be a 3-4 hour drive can turn into 24 or 48 hours (check out what happened when Houston evacuated). When this happens, cars start running out of gas and the delays just feed on themselves. Most folks I know that live on the coast have a grab-bag with all their valubles, medications, and important docs. They have a vehicle with a full gas-tank, 2-3 days of food in a cooler, and a map of the back-roads to a Walmart or other large shopping area about 50-75 miles in-land (assuming that they don't have friends or relatives they can stay with). Once an evacuation notice is made, they hop in their vehicle and go. Once they get to their destination, they look for sturdy structures to use as a wind-block (concrete buildings, car wash, etc.) and away from trees that may fall. Stay safe. (By the way, my great, great grandfather was the Founder of Bradenton: William Iredell Turner)