geoffrywillhardt

On 2/13/2019 at 1:02 PM, bridetobe53108 said:

 Thank you for the responses everyone. I am definitely going to reconsider the Pullman, because I think I was not thinking clearly and when we each share a bed with a child in hotel rooms they are bigger than a twin I believe. However, I will definitely be requesting to have it closed up each day, because four people in a cabin is going to be crampped as it is! 

On one of our cruises with three adults and one child it was much less cramped to have it left down all the time. Our son could climb up there when we were in the room and get out of the way and the adults could sit on the couch and chair. We could also toss stuff up there such as bags with things we purchased in port to deal with later if we were in a rush. 

On 9/8/2019 at 2:40 PM, garypolton said:

They only are only allowed to open up a certain amount of partitions on the ship so don't procrastinate on requesting this.

Why is this? 

We have always left our electronics out and never had a problem. Including laptops, tablets, phones, Nintendos, etc.  

On 9/16/2019 at 8:26 AM, Shaded Lady said:

As athlonnx said, you can easily tell if FTTF has been offered and is sold out- it will appear under excursions for your home port but will say Sold Out... it may reappear periodically, nothing you can do but watch for it. If it doesn't appear there at all, then they haven't offered it yet- maybe that they won't offer it at all, as others have said- no Journeys cruises and sometimes inaugural sailings offer FTTF.

Just because it appears and says sold out does not mean that it is offered on that particular cruise. I am booked on the Dec 21 sailing of this year (4th trip for the new ship) it shows sold out and Carnival has already announced that it will not be available until Feb.  

I quit chewing when I figured out that I could pay for the cost of a cruise with how much I was spending every year.

I would just overall describe the chat functionality as unreliable. There were times when I would get a notification and everything would seem to be working great and there were other times when I would be standing next to my wife while we both have the apps open and I could send her a message and she would never get it. If your wanting more reliable chat and are paying for or willing to pay for the social internet package then I would use Facebook messenger. We have started using it and its almost always reliable, but we pay for to social internet package anyways.  

I was actually wondering something similar to this. On our 15 day Mardi Gras that is coming up my wife's birthday is 5 days before the cruise and mine and my sons are during the cruise. I was debating on just ordering her a cake for night one because I felt bad that her birthday wouldn't actually be during the cruise and they might do things for myself and my son. I also was wondering if they would do anything at all considering when we celebrated our anniversary on the Horizon they did nothing (which was fine we were not expecting anything). I feel like I cannot remember the staff singing happy birthday during any of our cruises. Do they only do this during set dining and not anytime dining? We always do anytime.  

I was curious about the benefits of a PVP Vs. TA Vs. Self booking which lead me to this post. I thought maybe there was something I was missing by not going through a PVP and after reading this I don't think there is.  One thing I will add to what has already been said is that for My wife and I, half of the fun of going on a vacation is the research and planning. We are looking at itineraries and mock bookings constantly. Once we get something looking promising then we go into overdrive with research. We look at different ships, dates, cabins, itineraries, events, etc. We also love to change our mind right before booking. We originally were going to book a 15 day Hawaii cruse then got the news that Mardi Gras was doing a 15 day and did a 180 and booked that. I don't think a PVP could keep up with us lol. We also hate to be called and deal with things on the phone. We would much rather just go to the website and handle everything through there.    

We went to the Steakhouse on our first cruise the Liberty. It was fun and the food was good. It was probably one of the ritzier dining experiences we have ever had. For that reason I would say it was worth it to us. For you I would say it will depend on where you are from and what you are used to. We are from Montana and are used to steaks straight from the steer that are amazing. We have a great steakhouse that we go to here that has the same sort of menu but were wearing jeans and cowboy boots instead of suits and dresses. Price is similar per person as well. We probably wont go back unless we check the menu at the MDR and decide its not for us that night and can get into the steakhouse. 

17 hours ago, fyree39 said:

If Carnival says absolutely no string lights, why would you bring them? Please tell me you won't bring them anyway.

The description says "pre-strung" but the pictures show the lights to be built into the branches. Was just wondering if anyone had any experience with these. Did they consider them string lights or not. My gut is telling me worrying about lights is going to be too much of a hassle to deal with but the dad in me is wanting to make sure my son has the full Christmas experience in our cabin on Christmas morning, lights, garland, presents and all.  

On 9/8/2019 at 1:22 AM, DarrenM said:

What on earth is a personal yeti?

 

I have this awful vision of you sitting next to a grossly hairy man.

I'm available for hire as a personal Yeti. I may be "grossly" hairy but I'm also a helluva good time :)

BTW Mens Hairy chest contest winner  

They also have instructive talks on most cruise lines I believe where procedures are spelled out more clearly. On Carnival the talk is called "Fun Ashore". Check your daily newsletter or ask a crew member once on board and they can direct you as to the place and time.    

50 minutes ago, calliopecruiser said:

 

And they're wrong......Being drunk made it easier for them to assault her, but she didn't contribute to her own assault.  A person who doesn't fight back isn't contributing to her/his own assault.  A person who dresses in a certain way isn't contributing to her/his own assault.   A person who doesn't leave an abusive spouse isn't contributing to her/his own assault.  A child who doesn't tell anyone about concerns isn't contributing to her/his sexual assault.   Criminals may take advantage of situations, but that doesn't mean the victim was a contributor to the crime. 

help to cause or bring about...yeah I would say her being drunk helped cause or bring about the assault. Also lumping all of these into one blanket statement doesn't help. They are all different situations.

This is another one of those naive beliefs that don't help. In a perfect world none of these things would happen but it's not a perfect world and people need to be encouraged to speak up, leave, fight back, and generally not be afraid to defend themselves from predators. 

1 hour ago, DarrenM said:

You really believe that someone that has been sexually assaulted is in some way responsible?

 

You genuinely believe that?

 

My only hope is that you are not a high court judge. God help us all if you are.

 

 

answerable or accountable, as for something within one's power, control, or management. Yeah I'd say by definition she she is in some way responsible. It stated they bought her multiple rounds in public areas of the ship. Therefore she was allowing them to buy her drinks and consuming them over a period of time. She didn't go to a crew member and say she wasn't old enough to legally drink, she didn't ask for help. She did have some power, control, or management of the situation. She could have not gotten drunk. We live in a society today where everyone wants to remove personal responsibility in favor of blaming other people for poor choices they made. I do believe the men who raped her should be held accountable for there actions as well, and the cruise line should be held accountable for allowing an under age girl to consume alcohol. The parents should also be held accountable for allowing there child to be unsupervised, like it or not until the child turns 18 she is there responsibility.  But to say that she bears no responsibility for her actions... Come on. 

1 hour ago, DarrenM said:

And I am so glad you are not saying she deserved it.  That will make her feel much better about the assault.

Years of counseling and time will hopefully maker her feel better and cope with what happened. Hopefully she will also use the experience to help educate others or at the very least her children some day as to the ways to avoid these situations and defend themselves against other possible assaults. 

I may sound cold and callous but that is not my intent. My intent is to merely bring to attention the fact that multiple factors led to this happening. To think and teach our children that they should be able to go get drunk without concern or live life in a reckless manner without fear of consequence is naive and does nothing to help them, it only harms them.     

5 minutes ago, Lottacruises said:

 

 

I guess I'll have to unpack the tube then.

Id say bring it, I haven't found any rules against using them in the pool. You can also use them in the ocean. We usually bring a couple of inexpensive tubes to use at the beach and if we don't have enough room to bring them home we just leave them in our room or throw them away. :)

9 Day Europe from Copenhagen to Southhampton on the Mardi Gras could be a new experience for you. It is a new ship which could be a good or bad thing. New and shiny vs New with growing pains if you will. In my opinion this is not likely to be a Carnival "party" itinerary, so it probably wont be very loud and loaded with kids.  

• Kiel (Hamburg), Germany •
•  Goteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden •
•  Oslo, Norway •
•  Zeebrugge (Bruges), Belgium •
•  Rotterdam, Netherlands •
•  Le Havre (Paris), France •
•  Southampton (London), England

Leaves Aug 31 ends Sept 9. 

Give it a look. :)

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Unbelievable what has been posted, especially with how the victim is blamed for their own behaviour and therefore deserved it.

Sorry not sorry but some victims do bare some responsibility for their actions.  Not saying she deserved it, but sometimes if you don't put yourself in a situation to be taken advantage of then you wont be. Its common sense that probably was not taught to this 15 yr old or she made a bad choice and chose to ignore common sense. Regardless she knew she was to young to drink alcohol and drank it anyway which without a doubt contributed to the situation.  

error in quoting sorry 

On 9/6/2019 at 4:05 PM, Lottacruises said:

 

You're right, just like I know they aren't going to let me down the slide with this big ole tube..... advertising!

As you can see from the sky ride in the back thats a vista class ship and the water slides on those ships require tubes. 

I love how everyone talks smack about Carnival and refers to them as an entry level cruise line. Like one must slog through 10 cruises on Carnival before they can graduate to real cursing. I was on a boat one time leaving a "private" island to go back to port at the end of the day when I overheard the people behind me commenting on how they would never cruise Carnival, they loved Royal Caribbean and making other general comments basically saying that Carnival was below them. I found it hilarious because we all came to the same port, went to the same island, swam in the same waters, ate the same lunch and yet the ship that brought me and my family seemed so inferior to them. It was the Sensation a smaller and rustier ship but she still sailed and we had a great time (with the exception of some poor service). The ship they were on had some rust and was an older, smaller ship as well.  

If you want white glove, fancy, waited on hand and foot service then yeah maybe Carnival isn't for you. There are those of us that Carnival is exactly what we are looking for and its why we cruise with them. I would love to try Disney but they are to expensive. I don't mean to expensive as in I can't afford to do it, I mean to expensive as in I don't view what they are charging to be good value for the money. I'm sure one day I will try other lines as well. I'd love to try the flow rider but that one feature is right now not enough to draw me away from Carnival who we have had amazing experiences with. 

I think the TLDR version should be NO and NO, and also would people kindly stop thinking they are better than everyone else, the ship they sail on, the line they sail with, etc are better than any of the others. 

I read Carnivals policy on lighting. It said absolutely no string lights. I found a fire resistant "pre-strung" tree. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these or decorating the cabin in general for Christmas. Do you have to bring proof that something is fire resistant. Do they view fire resistant and fire retardant as different or in the same class? What about individual battery operated lights such as fake candles? 

The last post I found on wrapped packages was fairly old so I was looking for more recent information just to make sure nothing has changed. Anyone had issues with wrapped packages being unwrapped and having to rewrap? 

Last one. Are the menus all the same with the exception of Christmas day or do they do altered menus other days such as Christmas eve? 

Thanks for all the help everyone :)

4 hours ago, clo said:

Found this article.  It's a couple of years old so some may have changed.  You'll notice that they say that if service is included it will be stated.  Maybe two?

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-most-expensive-tasting-menus-2017-4#1-sublimotion-ibiza-spain-33

Number 2 reminds me of a scene from Jurassic Park. 

Here was our view from the Horizon dining room. It was an amazing experience and one of the reasons we chose to go on that sailing. We are also going on the Mardi Gras Sept. Had to sail out of NY again, even though we spent 4 days in the city before the cruise it was not enough. 

Just out of curiosity but for those asking for service multiple times a day what are you expecting with each service. Until reading this thread its not something that I considered so I'm not sure what you want. Is it just fresh towels, bed made in the AM then turned down in the PM? With the exception of towels I think I could live with service every other day. 

Shouldn't the staff strive to provide good service to all in the hopes that they will want to tip? If its forced upon its not really a tip then is it. I know this has been discussed here in this very thread  but in my opinion if they want it to be mandatory to be part of the crews salary then they shouldn't call it a tip. A tip is a reward for services by definition not a portion of salary which is paid by the employer to the employee. If I receive poor service I shouldn't be made to feel bad because I lower or remove the tips. I have openly admitted on a previous post and I'm not afraid to say that on my last cruise I removed the tips. (not trying to sound like I'm bragging just being open) The service was horrible at every turn. Had issues with the state room steward, dining staff, and casino staff. We tried to be understanding but when we moved our issues up the ladder we got no better help or response to the issues than from the bottom. Now I understand this is out of the ordinary and we don't fault Carnival at all. Heck we booked two more cruises with them, but I certainly wasn't going to tip for bad service.  

In my opinion cruise lines giving the staff lists of those who tip bad is asking for trouble. I feel like allowing the staff to give poor service to guests based on past or present tipping would result in overall worse experiences for all guests. Also how does the staff know if that particular guest received poor service on the previous cruse which caused them to remove tips.

I know one person expressed an interest in what factors people considered when tipping, what they thought was good or poor service so I will mention a few of the big ones to me.

Number one, first and foremost is attitude. Its the first thing you notice when a staff member interacts with you. They should always have a smile and a positive attitude. In my opinion there is no excuse to not. If they are having that bad of a day then they shouldn't be working that day. When I say that bad of a day I'm talking about the death of a family member or friend. 

Number two is service speed. They don't have to be johnny on the spot but things need to happen in a reasonable amount of time. Extra points (and tips) for things like not having to ask for refills on drinks. 

I honestly thought there would be more which is why I started numbering but as I thought more about it the main thing is just attitude. Even if service is a little slow I can overlook that as long as the attitude of the staff member is good. 

One question I have, the general rule that I have found for restaurant wait staff is minimum 15% preferably 20%. I have also read that if you can't afford the tip then you probably shouldn't be eating there. I also vaguely remember someone on this very thread commenting on a $1000 restaurant tab. Now I have all faith that all of you can do the math but ill still spell it out. That means a $200 tip.... I have never had and hope to never have a $1000 tab unless its for a huge party of people which is the only way I could consider a $200 tip reasonable. I would assume the $200 for $1000 tab would be for a large party probably with multiple wait staff with the tip being split. Has anyone had a $1000 tab for a smaller table of say 2-6 people? Did you still tip the 20%? This is one case where I don't feel like the % of the bill rule makes sense. I can understand going through a few bottles of expensive wine at a nice restaurant, but does that waiter deserve a $200 tip just because expensive wine is being served over the waiter that is serving cheaper wine at say the Olive Garden. I can see someone saying something about the class of restaurant being basically more expensive to work at as a reason but I find it hard to believe its that expensive. 

Also I have been reading in a few different places that most wait staff makes $2/hr. When I waited tables this was not the case and for all the waiters I personally know this is also not the case. My general rule of thumb is that if your not willing to do the work for the base rate then you shouldn't be doing it at all. This would of course require employers to pay that wage and charge accordingly which in my opinion is fair. 

Also to the point about tips not being taxed, I don't know how that works in different countries but in the US you are supposed to report and pay taxes on your tips. 

Sorry for the long post but after 10 pages of reading I felt there was a lot to say.