KarmaCruisers

Previously we were burning about $1500 a day in the casino (ie: 7-day cruise, we’d lose $10,500) we finally realized the casinos on the ships must be crooked because we’re frequent Vegas travelers (once a month or so), and we play a LOT (7 stars with Cesar’s) and the majority of the time, we lose in a weekend is $3000; for the same amount of play we do in the ship casino. weve got some offers for balconies with DOU(everywhere for two). But it still costs $100 per person “deposit” plus all applicable taxes, port fees, and gratuities. So for a 7-day carribean cruise it’s $880 for two people out-of-pocket, to even set foot on board.

Cremains?

I can verify this…but it’s only my phone. Our cruise friends in the next cabin, have been working fine the entire time…I think it’s GOTTA be based on data usage (I get a LOT of push notifications from work emails/slack/calendar/etc) and it goes on what must be a DHCP lease..as it’ll go away for a few hours then come back and barf up all my notifications, and once again allow me to iMessage.

Interesting; as a network engineer; I would assume it’d be all internal network traffic (for the hub app to work) but maybe they don’t have an “internal” network vs “prod” facing network. also; the wife has the WiFi package and is getting a consistent 30Mbps. with this notifications loophole; I’m actually able to respond to work without having to pay for it..kinda neat.

So we’re on the Celebration right now; NO WiFi package..and we’re able to use iMessage without a problem (both to text our friends on this ship AND people back home) ALSO, notifications are coming through for emails(gmail) and slack. I can’t actually open the specific apps to see them; BUT, on my Lock Screen I see the notifications perfectly (it’s how I have it setup so I can see slacks and emails from my Lock Screen) but my Home Screen icons also show the number of new emails I’m getting. the weird part is, the WiFi (my wife has it) works GREAT! (25Mbps)..so I wonder if carnival neteng fouled up a setting, when they were going in and allowing less throttling; they ALSO inadvertently toggled on to allow some other things to come through. in any case; it’s a good surprise.. just posting for others info

I’m on the celebration this weekend..I’d be curious to see if *any* of the bars have blantons. I’ve never seen it even listed on a carnival ship..can you tell me where you saw it on celebration?

I’ve been on a lot of carnival and princess ships..none of them stock that good bourbon. (And you nailed the great value bottles with that list there!)

On a related note..I’ve got a ton of “free” cruises… having to pay the $100 “fee” (yes I know it comes back as OBC) PLUS all the port fees; taxes and the gratuity..especially on an Alaskan cruise..comes up to about $1000.

I guess with offshore stuff you’re pretty much right. I’ll keep gambling to Vegas from now on.

All slots, and yes, like I said, I got absolutely destroyed. On the second night, a casino employee (I won’t use the term “host” because in a normal world they wouldn’t qualify for that title) approached me and offered me a $36 comp for two, to Cucina..immediately after he gave the same comp to my neighbor who had ~3300 points (I had ~7000 at the time). FWIW, here’s my “play cruise repeat”’ offer I got

Is the freedom really finally getting its tail fixed?

We were booked on an offer that included: OV room; $500 free play + cheers package (we don’t drink booze really though, so the value is lost on us)

Well; if youre playing black chips, I sure as hell hope you get a bounce-back!

This was a 3-day cruise. also, I walked through the casino many more times to look (nothing else to do when you’re broke and a degen)

Got a “cruise play repeat”..50% off next cruise. Lol, wow. I think the real problem was; I only played MAYBE 3 hours total in the casino. (I was betting $5 a spin on dragon and lightning links, and I basically slot-tourney-style tap, when I’m on tilt, so I would burn through $500 in like 8 minutes((100 spins))) I think they want people to gamble a minimum of four hours a day (they don’t care about theo or points; just TIME)..and I don’t have the patience to sit in a casino for four hours a day; while on a CRUISE. (Vegas is an hour flight and I can sit in a casino all day long)

I enjoyed it (other than losing $9100 haha) we like guys, iguana, and Cucina, and it’s easy to get away for a long weekend..so; it works..but it was definitely ridiculously packed. EDIT: aside from meals and casino time; we stayed in our room and watched movies. (And of course went into Ensenada for good seafood )

I walked around and looked at people playing machines and looked to see if anyone was playing black chips

Sage advice, you’re most likely right.

A dinner at Cucina ($36) as far as I could tell (and I was looking) I earned the most points on the cruise. (The closest other person was high 7000’s)

Just getting off the Radiance; from a 3-day weekend cruise. Lost $9100 and earned 8965 points…I’ve literally never not gotten some kind of “Come Back Soon” offer..and usually I only earn 1000 points per day. (Went on full monkey tilt this weekend) That’s CRAZY! Is carnival trying to tell me..they no longer want me?

So we’re on the radiance right now..quite literally this is the entirety of the buffet on the Lido deck, captured in one shot, from above (Cucina Del Capitano)

Your VIFP is definitely a factor; once you get platinum or Diamond, they know you’ve “paid your dues” and give you a better rate.

The buffet on the radiance is a sad joke. BUT it makes up for it by having Cucina, Guys Smokehouse, and Big Chicken.

I almost can’t believe my eyes…the only explination is Carnival finally got the stuff together and upped their bandwidth..OR, not many people got the WiFi package (and this ship is LOADED!)

I’ve been on almost all of the carnival ship classes (excel coming next month) and I like all of them except: Spirit Class - only two dining choices, on a 7+ day cruise!? Vista Class - poorly designed guest areas (seems like a size 12 foot shoved into a size 6 shoe)