Paelos

Yeah the $5 Craps was in February, so it's likely gone up to $10 across the board. Then again I play in the mornings and afternoons on sea days so I can avoid the late night crowds. They definitely will shift the minimums higher in the evenings if the tables are getting slammed up.

Blackjack is pretty bad if you're playing anything less than $25 a hand. As stated it's auto-shuffle with 6-5, hit on 17, and usually several sucker side bets that will drain you fast. I've yet to sit down at a table with $100 and not get busted out in less than 30 minutes. Slots are all over the place and vary. If you go by the video poker payouts, the average RTP is probably 85% compared to a 92-93% on land. You will have to get lucky to come out on top because the odds don't run with you at all. For craps, they run a fair game on usually a $5 minimum. The issue is that you'll have to fight somebody for a space because it's really the only true fair game on the ship, and even though they will often limit your odds to 2x.

124 Days!

It's a strategy from the cruise lines. Royal is positioning itself or trying to move away from NCL and Carnival as a more premium brand. You can see this with their pricing and their focus on suites in ships. Carnival and MSC are trying to grab the budget cruise market, and NCL is trying to hold the line in the middle. Here's the dirty secret of the pandemic economy, outside of hospitality it was great for a lot of sectors of the economy. Lots of people had more money because in many cases they got paid more and couldn't spend it. That's why inflation is out of control, because the pent up disposable income started to outflow in 2022 and 2023. So the cruise companies are absolutely positioning themselves to grab people in their 30s to 40s who at high earning power with families that have a lot of disposable cash they are looking to put in a vacation. What they are not interested in is older budget cruisers who remember the good Ole days when they could cruise and everything was included. They are interested in enhancing on board spend as That's become their primary margin driver.

This is one of those things we all need to have a collective understanding about though. 15 years ago smart phones had just been invented. 20 years ago we were still feeling the effects of 9-11, 25 years ago the internet was barely functionally a thing yet. Comparing products and services in those contexts or even five years ago before covid doesn't work. Our society and expectations and workforce has shifted entirely about 4 times in that 25 year period which is frankly insane when you think about how fast things have moved technologically in that time as well.

Logically though we can deduce that the guy who is getting a paycheck to be the lead PR mouthpiece isn't going to just say that the program needs an overhaul if it's not being looked at. That would be bad PR to suggest that something needs to change if the rest of the company thinks it's fine. Does that mean they looked at it and think it's fine? Maybe. Does that mean they looked at it, and it's not going to change for a couple years? Maybe. I think it's fair to say they were looking at it though. We can take him at his word on that.

Well I'd disagree with one point, it's absolutely a competition. The three major lines are by very definition in competition with each other and the loyalty programs are part of that. As to whether they need to change, John Heald came out a few months back and said they were looking at it because as he put it "I know the whole program needs a massive refresh." Now he's one voice, but as their spokesman he's a pretty loud one that says Carnival likely sees it as a current issue.

Comparatively to other lines, I don't think Carnival would get enormous pushback if they offered real rewards instead of what the program is now. Their lunches and parties are mild perks compared to what Royal or Norwegian does. I'd take cue from them and do the following: It really boils down to the fact that other lines are giving out more free drinks as a regular perk at higher levels, and better discounts on on-board purchases. If Carnival wanted to start doing more of that, I think it helps the bottom line rathan that hurting it. Example, if you upped limit on Diamond cruisers but gave out 4 free drinks a day, you're getting more cruises out of those mid-tier levels to get there and you're giving a real benefit at the upper end.

Might be time to try a different cruise line, I think you might enjoy one with an older client base.

Put me in the camp that tried the Mardi Gras and didn't like it. The ship is fine, I'm not a fan of the layout or the Grand Central concept the way they try to make it work. The sightlines are frankly terrible and the seating options with the amount of people on board becomes a massive issue unless you want to stand in line an hour before things start. They made it almost 30,000 tons less than a RCL ship that carries approximately the same amount of passengers, so I feel like I'm not going on any new ships in the Carnival fleet for a while. I'll stick to the older models which don't feel overbooked and overcrowded in the common areas.

For the Mardi Gras it was necessary considering how many included dinner options there were. That being said I do like the idea of getting to know my wait staff and getting to know others at a dinner table beyond just my wife and I.

I was on the same sailing and I agree the bbq by my standards as a southern American was awful. The sides were bland, the sauces tasted watery and sugar forward, and the meat was very boring with little smoked taste. We did the lunch and it was so lackluster we didn't ever go for dinner. I agree with you about the items missing as well it was a constant stream of things taking time to get replaced on the lunch service line. It was almost like the didn't expect 6000 people in the ship. Add in the fact they were out of the pig and anchor souvenir mugs and the brewery tours all sold out in the first couple of hours? I found the whole area off putting.

Just got my first casino offer after playing for about 5 hours in the casino and getting about 650 points, I'm mostly a video poker player so it takes me longer. I ended up losing about $200, and the offer I got was 40% off the casino rate and drinks on us while in the casino on my next cruise. Booking an interior on the Liberty in October as an example would be about $500 with the taxes and fees included, plus the drinks for a 3 day weekend cruise. Given that I can split the cost with a friend, I can essentially cruise for $250 for the weekend, and he gets a good deal. Taking into account this is probably a savings of about $100 over normal rates, and then the added drinks, if I drink more than 10 drinks on the cruise for free, it's essentially even. (Not counting what I lose the next time, but then who knows, more offers I guess).

They didn't have any on the Mardi Gras 11-18 February sailing either, I was very disappointed