groundloop

I and my family caught Covid on a cruise a couple of weeks ago. My wife and I are both vaxxed and double boosted and for us it was definitely worse than any cold or flu and I'm still not totally over it. I hear that modified boosters should be available soon which should help. For those who are unvaxxed it's just as bad as ever, with the saving grace being that doctors and hospitals have gotten better at treating it. That's not surprising. While not technically the correct way to approach it I think I'd have taken some test kits and if positive self isolate in my cabin.

It's no guarantee, but test after test has shown that masking helps tilt the percentages in your favor.

Absolutely correct. Canada isn't messing around.

I got off a cruise a bit over two weeks ago and all three of us caught it. All of our symptoms were considered "mild" (we're vaxxed and boosted), but it still wasn't a pleasant experience, I'm just now getting back to normal. My daughter had a tracking app on her phone and she had at least 6 notices of close encounters with others who had tested positive while on the cruise. In hindsight I wish we'd have masked up while in shows, clubs, elevators, etc. As far as any changes to vaccination policy, anything will just be pure speculation until Carnival makes an announcement.

Couldn't have been as bad as New Orleans when there's an even at the Convention Center.

Some countries may still require proof of vaccination to get off the ship, we had to show either our vaccine card or else a photo of it on our phone in Costa Rica late last year. That situation is in constant flux, so just be prepared. Once on board you should get notifications as far as what's needed at each port. Follow those guidelines and you'll be good.

That's good to know. Mobile is the closest port to me but in the past they just haven't had any itineraries that caught my eye. With the Spirit going to Mobile next year I've booked an 8 day on Spirit and we're really looking forward to it. I agree on New Orleans also, have cruised out of there twice and both times it was a mess.

As I'd mentioned earlier, I was on Magic for my first post-Covid cruise last September. I noticed the same thing, just a lot of little items that needed repair. Burnt out light bulbs in the atrium, a broken drawer in our cabin (although thankfully it was still functional), the fridge wouldn't get cold (although that's pretty common on most Carnival ships). I'd have thought basic stuff like that could have been sorted out during the shutdown. But hey, it sounds like Magic has invented a new sporting event for the rowdier crowd - Early AM fights.

I just got off my first Holland America cruise, and yes, you'll be disappointed with what you find on Carnival's in-room television. In addition to the TV offerings on Carnival being horrible compared to HAL, the TV itself will be a big disappointment to you. It's almost like putting a television in the cabin was an afterthought. (maybe the Vista or Excel class ships are better, haven't been on any of those yet).

Why's that? The catch all excuse, labor shortage?

If they had a 10:30 AM arrival time they must have had a very early boarding group. In every one of my 6 post startup cruises the ports have been totally lax about allowing people into the terminal regardless of assigned check-in time but Carnival has strictly enforced boarding groups.

Which port are you sailing out of? We'll be on Miracle this September out of San Francisco to Hawaii, my first time ever in California and really looking forward to it. On the rare occasions when I have to fly to a cruise I always allow a LOT of time both before and after. I've been on too many delayed airline flights, and I've also seen a few cruises that are delayed getting into port and/or debarkation takes a lot longer than usual. Just before the shut down, for instance, Elation got into some really rough weather and we were close to 4 hours late getting into port.

Oh, but I bet the CD did a bang up job on the PA pushing bingo card sales. 🤣 Out of curiosity, who was the CD. I was on Pride twice last fall, I really doubt if it's the same CD we had since I thought he did a pretty good job. OH, speaking of in-room television offerings, we did our first Holland America cruise a couple of weeks ago and I was really impressed by all of the free offerings they had on TV which included on-demand movies.

I'd never heard of that..... It's good to know that Carnival is being proactive on this.

I've been through this one time in the past, Carnival insisted that the person who has the offer a cabin is booked under must sail. If not then the booking is re-fared at full price. They absolutely will not budge on this.

In this instance that seems to be the best option. The only way to add people outside of your cabin to a steakhouse reservation (at least that I've been able to figure out) is if you're paying for everyone.

We got off Eurodam last week, my first time with HAL but a dozen cruises with other cruise lines. We had "have it all" plus some on board credit to spend so we did all three restaurants. The choice amongst the three of us was unanimous - Tamarind was the best for both food and service.

In my most humble opinion Carnival could do a lot better at communicating with guests, especially these folks who are new to cruising. Something more substantive than constant reminders to buy bingo cards.

I just got off a cruise on Holland America, my first with them - I liked embarkation with them much better than Carnival. They have a sort of built in FTTF. Guests are assigned arrival times, which I was put-off about at first, but the upside is that once you board you can go directly to your cabin. We arrived a few minutes before our assigned time, had about a 10 minute wait to get in the cruise terminal, and after that breezed through check-in and were on the ship. Our cabins were ready for us so we dropped off our things and got on with enjoying the rest of our cruise.

That is the best and easiest solution.

It's an interesting theory, but I just don't see it happening. My guess is that they'll use those two unique ships to offer a more high end experience.

Very good point. I almost always see quite a few people barging past the closed doors who don't feel like rules should apply to them. They just get in the way of the crew and slow things down. Just find a comfortable spot and relax for a bit until cabins are ready (or do as the OP and avoid the wait altogether by grabbing a later boarding time).

1. Your vaccination card is all you need. You can optionally use the VeriFly app to speed things up when you check in at the cruise terminal, but it's not required. 2. Sadly NO, internet service on Carnival ships is pretty bad. 3. No. 4. Yes, there are designated smoking areas out on the deck. 5. You don't absolutely need a passport to sail, but most experienced cruisers take them. 6. You might or might not get away with that. One option is to pre-purchase a bottle of liquor for your cabin from Carnival, it's a bit on the expensive side but you don't have to worry about getting caught. 7. Cruise insurance covers a lot more than just the trip to and from the ship. What if you needed to be sent to a hospital in a foreign port, for instance. Most experienced cruisers agree that travel insurance is a good idea. There are many options out there other than the insurance offered by Carnival. I cruised on Valor this past February, I think you'll enjoy the experience.

(sigh)..... I thought this thread had died peacefully several months ago. John Heald explained quite a while back that this policy was a result of needing to dedicate extra resources to the additional cleaning requirements for cabins. It had nothing to do with anything in the terminal. (Personally I wish Carnival would take a look at how their sister company, Holland America, assigns boarding times and then allows guests to go straight to their cabin the minute they board. I just got off my first HAL cruise and it was a much smoother embarkation process.)

Our first post-restart cruise was on Magic last September, she was at around 60% capacity then (and at times it seemed like a ghost ship, but in a good way). Now Carnival seems to be filling as many cabins as they can sell, so no more ghost ships. And yes, for the muster drill just watch the safety video on your TV as well as go to your muster station (there's a map on the inside of your cabin door) to watch a quick demonstration of how to put on your life jackets and get checked in.