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Here is what I would do two adjoining rooms (or at least close to each other)-  one of them with four bunks (unless 6.5 & 4 can sleep in the same bunk)  if the cruise line requires an adult in each room -- then book it that way.  But for the actual cruise - mom and dad share a room for 2 and the four kiddies are in the other room.  Nobody is going to be inspecting to make sure that everyone sleeps in the correct room.

I don't view this as a math problem as a question of will this enhance my vacation or not.  

If I buy the drink package, by my nature I am going to be determined to get "my money's worth"  even if that results me spending the entire trip with a massive hangover.  

OTOH, if I don't each time I buy a drink I will feel a pinch of guilt for spending so much for something so overpriced and while I will buy some drinks, the watching prices to a small degree will undercut the vacation experience, whereas if I had the package, I would not have to think about the price of each drink. 

So there is no perfect answer. Each one has its downside.  However for me and my level of alcohol tolerance and my determined desire to make sure I not only beat the house on any drink package but beat it by a wide margin.  I have concluded that no drink package is the better of the two options.     

I don't like the system.  IMHO the cruise line should pay their employees.  And the cost of their employment should be included in the fare.  I feel the same way about restaurants.  If I could snap my fingers and change the USA system to the Australian system, I would.  But I can't.  So I tip the waiter at the restaurant and the ship crew, as per current standards and not stress over it.   

First off let me reiterated DON'T follow the advice without consulting your pediatrician.  These are talking points to discuss with the pediatrician not a substitute.  

I am assuming from what your wrote, that you do have use drugs on car trips and are looking for alternatives that won't make her sleepy.  

Whatever options you are considering using at sea should be thoroughly  tested at home first.  If she has a negative reaction to an alternate non drowsy version of a drug.  Best that you learn that when 911 will summons an ambulance and not at sea.

Likewise ginger candy might work, might not.  (check with your doctor before trying) but better to find out it doesn't when she starts  screaming, "mommy pull over I am about to puke"  and you can pull over than find out when she is at sea and you have no way of stopping the motion.   Likewise with bands.  

If nothing works, she might be better off spending a week with a relative or friend.  

2 minutes ago, HangryGrl said:

 

 

I believe if you have an actual allergy they prepare your food in a separate kitchen so that would limit the cross contamination issues more but I think that is why they want you to order ahead of time also.

Even if it isn't a different kitchen it is more convenient to isolate the three or four desserts with non dairy whip topping, before adding whipped cream to the rest and contaminating the equipment.  At least that is how we do it with guests at home with various food allergies.       

5 hours ago, BlueRiband said:

.   You have to weigh one inconvenience versus the other. 

I would think the "inconvenience" of having a meal that was specially prepared for you delivered to your table would be significantly less than the "inconvenience" of needing to hunt down someone who knows the ingredients of each item on the buffet then hoping the permitted items didn't suffer cross contamination by someone using the wrong service spoon.    

2 hours ago, SRF said:

Only entree is limited on RCI in the specialty restaurants.

 

And in Giovanni's, pasta course is not the entree. 

 

Although, with the size of the portions, I am not sure how one would each much more than one of each course. 😄

 

1 hour ago, dogs4fun said:

No kidding!

I guess if you have set a goal of seeing how much weight you can gain during the cruise.  Although that is rarely a goal. 

I did have a coworker that got ready for a "biggest loser" competition by over eating (even moreso than normal) for the month between him and his friends deciding to do this and the start date of the competition.  His logic was he had a better chance of winning if he started off 200 lbs overweight rather than 175 lbs.     

Yeah, Crystal is a different beast with a very different business model.  And certainly can see where a solo traveler could find value in paying their higher rates.  And how offering a 30-40% single supplement would make finical sense to them.   They don't need two people buying drinks and spa treatments to make money.  And while the food savings of having only one mouth to feed is minimal savings, only having one person drinking alcohol is an actual savings.  

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 10:32 AM, soonernstlouis said:

Just to clarify, in order to get OBC credit the minimum Carnival stock investment is 100 shares.  At the current stock price, that equates to over $5,000.  

 

So not only would this decision not be for everyone (affordability) but should never be considered for short-term investing since a 1% stock price decrease between purchase and sale would wipe out $250 of OBC.

Might want to recheck that math.  A 1% decline of a $5000 investment is $50.  You would need an almost 5% decline at the  current price to wipe out a $250 OBC.  A 1% decline would wipe out the $50 you get for short cruises.  

I agree with you in principle that it is still a very risky short term investment particularly if you are buying on margin or if such a purchase would require incurring tax (on the sale of other assets) or would mess up the diversity of your portfolio. 

This purchase does not make sense for someone who plans to buy the stock, take one cruise, and sell the stock. A "triumph - style" disaster would not only ruin your vacation but could also greatly decrease your net worth.  

OTOH if you have $5000 to spare and plan to cruise at least annually over the coming decades and (this part is really really important) feel Carnival Corporation is a solid investment even without the OBC component, this could be a smart move.  Although if you have $5000 just lying around you might be a Seabourn customer rather than Carnival.       

On ‎6‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 3:53 PM, hubofhockey said:

 

Not to hijack this thread, but I am disappointed in Royal Caribbean.  I purchased a future cruise credit for $200 and didn't know at the time that it's not combinable with anything.  I want my money back, but they say it's not refundable.  That's kind of a scam.  I can always get OBC from a travel agent and will never use it and never get my money back.  Maybe I need to make some calls.

Just out of curiosity what exactly do you pay to get what?

I mean if they were offering a future cruise credit of $200 for the cost of $100, I can understand buying that.  Or if you give us $200 deposit now towards your next cruise we will give an OBC of $100, I can understand buying that.  And I can understand why neither of those offers would be combinable with other offers.  

But if you spent $200 to get a credit on a future cruise in which they are not giving you anything extra.  Why would anyone do that?  I would fight that.  And not allowing it to be combinable (when they are not giving you anything in return) might violate the  2009 law governing gift cards.

On 5/24/2019 at 10:14 PM, Hlitner said:

Being crumpled (also love the term) is generally a problem of one's own making.  Consider practicing what I like to call, "crowd avoidance"  although I guess "crumple avoidance" might be an appropriate term.   When others are "rushing towards the gate" you should be relaxing in a comfy chair, deck lounger, etc.  Once that initial rush is over you can calmly exit the vessel without being crumpled.  And it is the same on the ship.  Consider that if the Lido buffet opens for lunch at noon, there will be a crowd for the first hour and you might be "crumpled."  So when most are waiting in queues, crumpling (do love that term) each other, etc., you would be relaxing in your deck lounger with a good book (possibly about anti-crumpling strategy).   Perhaps an hour later the queues will be gone, the largest passengers will be stuffed, and then you can simply go to lunch without being crumpled.  

 

Hank

Safe to assume I won’t be seeing you at Walmart for the opening on Black Friday.

It can take a couple of hours for your luggage to show up at your stateroom.  So I suggest carrying on your bathing suit (assuming you are planning on hitting the pool) and what you plan to wear for dinner.  You very well could get your luggage sooner....but I think the safe plan is to figure it will arrive while you are at dinner.

I would suggest not waiting until you get on the ship, but discuss your food allergies with the line in advance, not trying to just find stuff once you are on board.  One option would be to request your main course meat meals be kosher*. But this is something you need to request several weeks in advance.  

Kosher food can contain milk, but milk and meat can not be mixed so if you get kosher beef or chicken — no milk.  These meal are prepared in advance of the cruise and then frozen. Kosher fish meal could contain dairy unless it is Parve.  And this trick will fail miserably if you are attempting a dairy free pork chop. 🙂. 

Likewise you could request some vegan food.  

And even on the ship requesting a meal with your requirement for tomorrow will be easier for the chef to prepare you a specific meal than asking at dinner time when all the food is already prepared.

20 minutes ago, calliopecruiser said:

No, that's not what my thinking is........My thinking is that I don't care what their balance books say about solo travellers, and I look for a company that is willing (if not wanting) to treat me like a valuable person who is not half as valuable as another person because I am travelling on my own.  I'm not claiming that they shouldn't want two people in my cabin to spend twice as much as I do - they can want whatever makes them (and their stockholders) happy.  However, I am saying I will not play their game of valuing myself by their rules, and I will protest with my wallet.  If necessary, I'll find another place to play - I'm not bothered by that idea either.   I will never choose a cruise if it costs me double the per person rate for a cabin, though I would pay it if my friends were on that cruise and I wanted to join them (i.e. I'm willing to pay the money, but I won't choose to pay the money). 

Certainly your choice not to cruise.  What I think you will find is that the only time you are going to find cruises with a relatively small single supplement is on cruises that they can't sell out without offering discounts.  

Cruising is probably the least efficient holiday for a solo traveler.  Go on a Disney cruise you will pay the same as two people (or close to it) Go to Disney World and you will pay for 2 beds, but only one when it comes to food and admission tickets to the parks.  

But many aspects of holiday charge just as much for one (or very close to it) as they do for two:

Cabs generally charge the same with one or two passengers.

Car rentals don't give a discount if you are solo.  

Hotels (at least in the USA) charge pretty much the same for one or two  (or very close)

Food, drink, entertainment and some transportation you will pay half of a couple.

On a cruise you will pay for two in the cabin.  But all exertions, airport transfer and other optional items you will pay for one.    

7 minutes ago, calliopecruiser said:

Some hotels do charge less for a single occupant, either in a smaller single room, or even single in a double room.  I've seen it fairly commonly while searching accommodation options in Europe. 

 

And the less laundry to clean, and less wear and tear on everything from flooring to plumbing, etc.  That's why the thought of paying double just gets my hackles up, irrespective of the actual amount of money involved.  Yes to a supplement, no to a supplement of 100%. 

 

The food savings, less sheets to wash is pretty marginal.  Plus, I think you a missing the big picture....Assuming each person spends the same amount of money drinks, excursions, spa treatments, art auctions, casino etc.  They are going to make half as much per room on the double room.  Your thinking is by going solo you are costing them half as much in food at the MDR, their thinking is you are spending half as much in the specialty dining rooms.   

In the USA it is extremely rare to find single hotel rooms for less than a double.  And most of the mega cruise lines are USA based.  

I am not saying I like it.  But I understand the pricing structure.  

11 hours ago, PerfectlyPerth said:

 

Can safely say in all my decades of cruising solo (and also very occasionally with friends) - I, and my friends, have never set foot in a casino and never will, the spa has never interested us, and nor have the shops! None of that is why I go on a cruise. And the majority (actually all of them) of my cruising couples friends and family also don't gamble, shop or 'spa'. Our interests are the ships themselves and the destinations.

 

The specialty restaurants are still quite new (to me) - in the 80s and 90s it was the main dining room or nothing! I do occasionally dine in them these days and spend money if its a food style I particularly like.

 

Reread what you wrote.  Then ask yourself, "if I was the CEO of a cruise line how much effort am I going to put into attracting PerfectlyPerth to sail with us again?" 

In case you are missing what I am saying:  Every cruise line knows exactly how much each type of traveler racks up in on-board expenses.   If singles as a class spend less on drinks, casinos, port exertions, premium restaurants, spa, shops etc than couples than the cruise line has a strong incentive to want couples over singles. 

And then even with in the class, lets say the top 15% of singles spend on board $350+ per day, but you only spend about $25 a day. 

Take a wild guess  who is going to get the email "Congratulations as past single cruiser of XYZ lines we have a special offer exclusively for you.  The regular double occupancy price for cruise ABC is $1299 pp double occupancy.  But we have a special offer if you reserve within the next 7 days you can have the cabin as a single cruiser for only $1300.  Yes, that's right a $1 dollar single supplement.  But there is more, we will include a $150 OBC and rather than our normal policy of giving singles double points, for this cruise offer only we will triple them.   This offer is not transferable and only applies  the named rewards member." 

I will give you a hint:  You are not going to be on that email distribution list.  But the singles who spend $350 per day will be.  There is a reason why one of my sisters is constantly getting free hotel stays at the local casino, despite her claim she doesn't gamble very much.   

20 hours ago, Cruise NH said:

 

I'm sure they will gladly store your luggage until check in time while you go explore the city.  We do it all the time...sometimes we're even surprised with a room being available!

I agree with this.  It sounds like you are worried about dropping off you bags too early.  I have dropped off bags as early as 7:15 am and the hotel held them until the evening.  In once case they were even waiting in my room.  At first the desk person would  assumed I was checking out and wanted my bags held.  But they were okay with holding them until the afternoon check in.

 (It is not a “norm”  to drop them off that early, but I needed to attend a conference at the last minute and no hotel had vacancies for the entire week, but a few different ones had a room for one of the different nights, so I made it work)

I appreciate the suggestion I might find NCL more to my liking dress code wise.   And in general I agree with the principle of find the cruise that fits your style rather than expect the ship to adapt to your liking.  However, the only reason for me to choose Cunard over other lines is I don't like to fly, want to go to Europe, and Cunard has the only east bound transatlantic cruise that works for my travel window.  I have a choice of HAL or Cunard for the return and am choosing HAL for several reasons. 

I am most certainly asking what is the absolute minimum requirements per Cunard. 

From reading several other dress code threads (and in particular this one https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2667044-todays-dress-code-quiz/)  It is quite obvious that there are many cruisers who feel that Cunard's standards are too low.   And while everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion.  My question is not: "do you personally feel that Cunard should or should not allow men to remove their jackets during dinner?"  Rather it is: "do they?"  

For example, it sounds from an earlier post that Cunard finds a denim jacket to be a suitable substitute for a suit jacket, but the poster of that replied does not.  I am not particularly concerned by what each individual cruiser thinks the dress code ought be, only what it actually is.  BTW, I would never wear a denim jacket as a suit coat.  Of the several jacket pictures only the first one and the one in the next post are ones I would consider wearing as a sport jacket.  But if Cunard finds them acceptable, I have never been bothered by what others wear as long as it is clean and doesn't smell.   

I am not anti-dressing up.  I just don't like eating with my jacket on, I find it uncomfortable.  And the dress code is not make or break for me taking and enjoying the cruise.  And I can always use the method of remove my jacket and if the waiter says something, choose at that time to either put it back on or leave and head to the buffet.  

However, I do know two women whose attitude that if you are wearing a two-piece suit and remove the jacket the look is too informal but if you are wearing a three-piece suit and remove the jacket the vest is fine to keep the look classy.  I don't know how widespread that attitude is, but if Cunard has a similar attitude, then that would certainly be reason to pack a three piece suit rather than a two piece suit.  So knowing that in advance would be helpful.  

I am not advocating for a change of the dress code, just want to know what it is as currently required by Cunard.  I will stay within the requirement, but I am not leaving my jacket on if not absolutely required, because some cruisers have higher standards than the cruise line.       

Cruise ships price like hotels, by the room.  Granted they advertise price per person, but basically that is just half the room rate.  

To be completely unambiguous the OP’s inquiry is about removing his jacket in the dining room both for formal and gala nights.

Still unclear, if this would merely be frowned upon by some other guests (like the woman who wore red to a black and white event) or would get thrown out (like how not having a jacket won’t get you a table)

2 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

Very unusual at dinner. Perhaps more common in the Queen's Room.

I am okay with it being uncommon. Many times I am the first to remove my jacket.  (although others often follow, not wanting to wear it, but also not wanting to be first). I am okay with being the only guy with his jacket off at dinner,  so long as I am not at risk of a head waiter coming by with a stern “Sir, gentlemen are expected to wear their coat at dinner” 

If i won the lottery, I would still stick with inside cabins only.  Nothing beats being rocked to sleep in the middle of the day in total darkness.

Call me weird, but if inside and balcony was the same price, I am requesting inside.  

thank you all.

I don’t mind dressing up (actually I kind of enjoy it). But unless the air conditioner is set to “arctic” I normally remove my jacket rather early in the evening and drape it over the back of the chair and spend the evening just wearing shirt and tie (and possibly vest/cumberbun) for most of the evening.  At all weddings, bar mitzvahs, retirement parties I have been to that has been perfectly acceptable.  (once photos were over) But none of them had a web page with a  dress code.  Is doing this okay on the ship?  Or are you expected to keep the suit jacket on?

Thanks.