Lee Cruiser

That's not always the case. Sometimes the cruise itself may be a little cheaper, but when you figure in all the other costs, it may not be. My wife and I had a trip planned in November to the Smoky mountains. We also looked at a five day cruise. We were trying to decide which we wanted to do, so we did a full budget for both. When taking into account all expenses like travel, pre-cruise hotel, tips, and other extras the cruise was going to be a few hundred dollars more and one day less. This also didn't include any excursions. For our other trip we included an extreme meal budget, a couple of shows and other entertainment expenses.

We've cruised five times since the restart. One thing that is definitely better is muster. It is so much better than before. Hopefully this stays. It will as long as people listen and stop trying to ignore it. Some things are worse: Food quality. Although this was also a trend before, it's definitely gotten worse. There are still decent options but overall it's gotten worse. Platinum and Diamond benefits, especially having room ready upon boarding. Before the shutdown my wife and I would go back to our rooms before noon and unpack as soon as our luggage arrived (usually by 12:30 or so) and then relax (sometimes take a nap) before muster. This allowed us to avoid the chaos between noon and when rooms were ready for everyone. Now, that is no longer an option. Only one time out of the last five cruises has our room been ready upon boarding.

Bummer. But that's still more than on other ships.

She will be fine as long as it is valid when she is traveling. Carnival recommends that it be valid for at least six months, but it is not required.

My wife and I like the PG Comedy shows. One of the things that we really liked about Mardi Gras was the abundance of comedy shows. There were more PG shows than any other ship and over 50 total shows during the week. Two questions about comedy: 1. For those who have cruised on Celebration: Is the amount of comedy on Celebration similar to that on Mardi Gras? 2. For those who have cruised other lines: Do other cruise lines have both PG shows and R-rated shows, or just R-rated shows?

YES!!! One of my favorites. We had our last piece on our Vista cruise back in September. Didn't get it in January. Is this same cake still on the paid room service?

You're just the only one who has commented. There are lots of people who obviously love it. I see many people ordering it every cruise. Enjoy your cruise!

Have a great trip! We were on Mardi Gras last year. It's a wonderful ship!

I’m a fan of the shakes as well.

Thank you!

I guess that can be said about other desserts as well. It sometimes varies quite a bit from ship to ship.

We definitely love chocolate as well, but not the melting cake. At one time we would order the room service chocolate cake at least a couple of times on each cruise. We also like some of the chocolate cakes during lunch.

No, certainly not trolling. To be honest, I’ve been thinking about cruising a lot this week. It’s why I’ve posted more this week than I have in a while. We were supposed to be leaving out tomorrow on Mardi Gras, but had to cancel a while back due to the timing of our grandchild’s birth. First time we’ve had to cancel one in over 20 cruises.

Just curious to know if anyone is like my wife and me. We hear lots of folks raging about the chocolate melting cake, but we are not fans. We have tried it a few times throughout the years (mostly on our first few cruises), but it is not something that we are wild about. My wife makes a chocolate cobbler that is similar, but tastes much better. In reality, we are not impressed with many of the desserts in the main dining room. We usually skip dessert at dinner. We do like some of the cakes at lunch, but those can be hit or miss depending on the ship.

Certainly wouldn't be a bad thing for all of those ships, especially since that's apparently all N.O. is going to get. Though, given Carnival's debt, I'm not holding my breath that it is going to happen anytime soon.

We like Cucina as well. Unfortunately Cucina isn't on the Conquest ships.

Don't know much about the rooms on that deck, but if you can take the stairs, you will be glad. The elevators on Mardi Gras, especially the mid elevators are small and stay busy. Having eight elevators there actually just makes it worse as people who are waiting in the middle will often get passed by people who just walk up and jump on one of the end ones that open. You will be glad you are able to take the stairs.

I'm not really sure what that has to do with anything. I have a graduate degree and I wouldn't pay the older price of $200 for a cabana rental, much less what they are asking now. I've never really had a desire to rent a cabana. I don't see it as a "right", for me it would just be a ridiculous waste of money. I would rather put that money towards another cruise. The last few times we've been there, the cabanas were rarely used. People would put their stuff there and go off and do other things.

All three of our cruises for this year were booked with the 50% off offer from last year. However, we had to cancel our Mardi Gras cruise for next week due to the timing of our grandchild being born. It was kind of hard to do since it was such a great price. Since we cancelled, we've been looking at a November cruise on Valor and it's costs more than the Mardi Gras cruise we cancelled and our Jubilee cruise in September 😒. Right now we have the fewest cruises booked than we have in several years.

Demand has definitely picked up. My wife and I were looking at a November cruise to replace one we had to cancel for next week. We needed one out of N.O. on Valor, but the cabins that we prefer have been sold out for a while (about two months). The only ones that were available were in higher noise areas. This was not around Thanksgiving, so we were kind of surprised. However, we looked today and there was a cabin that had opened up in our favorite area, so we put it on hold. This was after a couple of months of checking. We still have to decide whether we will complete the booking or not because it is a couple of hundred higher than we normally pay. We have two cruises booked for next year and have been looking at one for our September cruise. We also noticed that Mardi Gras is very pricey, so we are looking at other options. Not sure these prices will subside anytime soon.

Definitely fair points. I will agree with you on that. Probably a poor choice of words on my part.

You and I disagree on that one. I think it's the very definition taking advantage of someone. Back when there was a run on toilet paper there were people selling toilet paper for double, triple and even more times than that of the normal price and there were people buying it. The people who were buying it at that price were being taking advantage of by those selling it. Just because someone is willing to pay a high price doesn't mean they are not being taken advantage of. Carnival is taking advantage of the fact that there are people who will continue to pay for the "luxury items" no matter how high they go. As long as people keep paying it, Carnival will keep raising the prices.

Anyone can eat there. It's not just reserved for YTD. You have to wait in line there as you cannot reserve on the app.

We always choose YTD and love it. We typically reserve our table as soon as the app allows, which is usually 10 minutes or so before the dining rooms open. We've never had to wait on a table. One of the things we loved about Mardi Gras was the different dining options. The only one we didn't like was the barbecue. To us it's just not really that good and you do have to wait in line there as you couldn't reserve on the app there. We still ate in the dining room four nights, including both elegant nights. Next time, we will probably eat more at the other venues and less at the main dining room. The tables there seem closer than an other ship.