ontheweb

Yes, it has been that way for years. In 2010 we were looking for a cruise in Alaska. We found 3 on our TA's website that fit our criteria for date and itinerary. The Princess one had the highest price listed online. When I called our TA, he gave us quotes on all 3, and the Princess one ended up the least expensive and the one we took.

You are not alone!

Call TD Ameritrade. Have them fax the information to Carnival. Tell them to also black out your account number and also put on the cover page the necessary information (cruise ship and date and your booking number and of course your names.) Or if they can't do the extra things, have them fax it to your TA if you have one, and he or she could do it with the extra information needed. If they won't do that, you could ask to be sent a paper copy. I'm sure that would be no problem for them.

And you think somehow that that is good news for Carnival?

And it's hard to be down on a day that the stock market went up so much!

Convenient, since our booked cabin is on deck 9.

Would you say that that is the same for all pier staff, possibly part of their training? I know different airports can be very different. One year I was in a walking boot since several weeks before our land trip I had a broken ankle. At the Newark airport when I mentioned that my walking boot had a LOT of metal, they almost fought over who was just going to walk me through and no need to take it off. In the airport in Amsterdam, without a smile what was said when I said the same thing was "Can you take it off?".

And you no longer need to make sure you have the proper bills to stuff the envelopes with.

Tipping for exemplary service may very well have been the way it started out, but presently it is expected unless the service is truly awful. And one can still tip extra in appreciation of exemplary service.

And adding the tips to the fare just might put the passenger into the next higher monetary catergory for insuring their trip. So this system in addition to benefiting the crew also can benefit the cruise customers.

Sounds more like an excuse they made up to justify penny pinching than a real reason.

Correct, not a hard concept to understand unless one is looking for an excuse not to leave tips. 😊

Is there a place on one of the decks where you can walk entirely around the ship?

Not the same thing, but I once physically lost my DL while we were off the ship in Fort Lauderdale. (We were supposed to carry it.) At security for reboarding the ship, I explained, and they let me back on. Of course, I did have my cruise card which would have had a picture loaded to it. I did get a new copy after we got home. And later someone must have found it since I later received the original in the mail.

We had a hurricane affect our cruise in 2004, and could not get back to Fort Lauderdale for 2 days. At one point the ship's Captain took us closer to the storm so that passengers could get cell service to call their families and/or travel agents and/or airlines. It was not terrible, but the seas were somewhat rough. DW (who never misses a chance to swim) swam in the pool in the morning, and there were huge waves. By the afternoon, they drained the pools.

Good to hear from someone in the know. And wishing good luck to the OP.

Yes, that is also what I remember, 3 choices.

However, they would not let you book Cirque and say no to the dinner making it free entertainment.

In fact, IIRC, the only distinctive thing about the dinner other than the included entertainment was that there were less choices than a normal dinner.

Technically true, but the only reason we booked that was for Cirque, so as far as we were concerned that was what the charge was for.

And even if the ports were in the US, it would not be the Jones Act that applied as that applies to cargo ships. It would be the PVSA (Passenger Vessel Service Act).

It also can matter if there are more ships than there are docks. We were once in Corfu with there being 3 ships and 2 docks. The ship we were on was the one that ended up having to tender.

When we were on the Epic, reservations were needed and Blue Man Group was free. However, Cirque d' Soleil was not free.

Is the theater large enough? I know that is a problem we found when sailing on Princess. It does sound like it might not be as you post how quickly it was packed. Do you need to purchase tickets in advance (like we did for shows on the Epic)?

Yes, of course they look at both the positive and the negative in the report. I was alluding to they don't look with rose colored glasses at the few possible positives as some in here do.