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I don't know if it is just us, but for a while now when we book a cruise we no longer get the confirmation email. The cruise shows up on the Carnival site though. So, if you don't get the confirmation email go to the web site and copy down the booking number. You may need it later if their site wipes your bookings and you have to reenter them.

Looking forward to this. We will be on Glory right after you.

I'm a bit tired of folks accusing others of punishing crew by adjusting tips. Somehow they seem to think the customer is the employer of the crew. It is not the job of the passenger to compensate the crew. That is the job of their employer. If the crew is being underpaid that is solely the fault of the employer. If it makes you feel worthwhile for once in your life to take on the task of ensuring adequate pay for crew, without the benefit of knowing their pay structure or amounts, then that is your problem Don't expect normal people to just blindly throw money at a situation when they don't have access to the facts of the situation. If, as has been stated, stateroom attendants are now providing half the service to twice the cabins then, if they were still receiving the same amount per room they would be getting twice the "gratuities" they previously received for the same amount of work. That would not appear to be justification for increasing the gratuities. If they are not receiving the same amount per cabin then that is on the employer and part of the unknown to us process of compensating the employees. From the passenger point of view, all that is known is that service has gone down but the suggested gratuity has gone up. Anyone who resists that is not punishing anyone. History says certain people will now say how cheap I am. The simple fact is we prepay gratuities and we don't care about the gratuities. We just pay them as part of the cost of the cruise. As far as we are concerned they are not gratuities, just part of the bill they have split off as a separate item so they can advertise lower cruise rates. If we come to dislike the total cost including suggested gratuities then we just won't buy. But the guilt trip guys should be recognized as trying to feel superior by putting others down.

You will find that longer cruises generally have more civilized passengers with the shorter cruises tending to booze cruises. We sail on Glory regularly and we have been impressed with the work they put into maintaining the ship since its wet dock in early 2022 (where they refreshed most all the public areas). When the Dream was in New Orleans we sailed it regularly and Carnival did not maintain it at all so we find their care of the Glory a pleasant surprise. The Valor has a higher rate of stupid. More folks fall overboard or start fights than on Glory (we cruise Glory once a month September through March or April and have never seen or heard of a fight or overboard on one of our cruises).

When we first started cruising on Carnival we booked suites. After a few of those we switched to balcony rooms mainly because we got tired of hitting our shins on those tubs. We found we could comfortably fit in the balcony rooms and have stayed with them since. As for preference. I prefer showers but my wife likes a long soak in a tub. But she had no use for those Jacuzzi-style bathtubs because they are too small for a long, comfortable, relaxing soak. Perhaps worst of all is the jets are too high to blow bubbles up your...

Yes, but in early photography the brag was "I can afford a picture just like the rich and famous." So they mimicked the rich and famous. It is pretty pathetic these days for "I can afford a picture" to be your brag. Before photography even existed the brag was "I can afford a portrait." These days it might not be so pathetic to have a good oil portrait as your brag and if you are going to shell out the money for that you are darn sure going to look your best.

I'm not generally for folks wearing bath robes outside their cabin but years ago (back when your bath robes were waiting for you in your clean cabin and 11am) I gave a thumbs up to the couple who came to the old (outside) muster drill wearing bath robes, slippers and life jackets.

I think I'll pass in favor of the "Keelhauling Experience" activity.

I take it you have never been to Fashion Week. 😉

You're living dangerously 😁 The most common response around here is "it's my vacation; I'll scratch my butt, spit on the floor and kick the cat if I want to."

I think a TA or PVP is the way to go for new cruisers but once you get the lay of the land booking through the Carnival web site is just fine. We prefer booking ourselves on the Carnival site mainly because it is usually in the evening that we get around to thinking about things like cruises. We'd rather get it done while we are thinking about it than wait till the next day.

The difference is they are longer cruises that go to ports further away that are therefore less frequented by ships sailing from whichever departure port you are using. For example the Glory out of New Orleans does a 14 day journey cruise that does a partial transit of the Panama Canal. Usually the Glory goes no further south than Roatan, Honduras.

That's how much they care. Good chance you never hear back.

LOL! I, at this moment, have on a pair of those socks in a box (wife is a bit behind on laundry).

I once found it a bit touching. These days though I'm more excited about the next days stop at the Waffle House in LaPlace on the way home and having my first real breakfast in a week. Real bacon cooked as it should be. Real hashbrowns cooked as they should be; real eggs fried over easy as they should be; real toasted bread still hot as it should be; etc.....

We were on the Glory last month. Apparently while we were cruising they did the video announcing more security. That had already occurred on the Glory. Pairs of security personnel were always wandering around. It didn't feel like a prison ship. The security folks were at ease, chatting with each other, smiling and responding in good cheer if you said "good morning" or whatever. Not at all like the militarized, always be in control showing who is the boss U.S. police. We liked having them around.

Even at my age I learn something new every day. I never dreamed that suitcases would become as contentious as tipping on CC.

The cruise lines are not the first to make the transition the cruise lines are now making. Until the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 airlines were heavily regulated. Among other things the government set the ticket prices. The prices were set quite high as the airlines were regulated in the first place in in the 1930s to protect and make strong the new industry. One of the goals of regulation was a financially strong industry. The result was that airlines could only compete against each other by providing better service. Being old enough to have flown in those days I can tell you flying was a true pleasure. You were given personal attention and great service. The smallest seat would now be called first class. Not that many flew so airports were not zoos. There was no overbooking. If your flight was delayed or cancelled there was no question the airline would take care of you. Then, in 1978, (I had been in college studying regulatory economics until shortly before so I followed it closely - the first industry in the U.S. to ever be deregulated) the game changed and the airlines began competing on price. It was about the only thing they could compete on. While the industry was deregulated as much as it could be there are still effective restrictions. Airports have only so many gates and there is a process for getting those that puts all airlines mostly on level footing. There has always only been so many aircraft manufacturers making only so many designs. Now a lot more folks can afford to fly, but flying is a bad experience. Competing on price ONLY always and everywhere results in a diminished product. Cruise lines have a bit more they can compete on though. Ship designs, service, entertainment, ports of call etc. are all areas where competition can exist. Unfortunately service and food quality are areas all cruise lines have picked as cost savings areas while rock climbing walls, surfing rides, roller coaster rides and premium dining are areas they have picked for competition all while pushing larger ships that are cheaper to operate. Carnival in particular has chosen to compete mostly on price and seems to be more closely following the experience of the airlines - a lot more can cruise, but at some point they run the risk the service will be so bad nobody wants to.

Years ago a CD said something that I have always found to be true: Make your plans, then take half the clothes and twice the money.

I love the ease of disembarking these days with the facial recognition. I at first hated, but now love, using the app to make brunch and dinner reservations and being able to see our account summary at any time.

Lanyards?

I just found it unusual for one to be wearing the same shirt in a profile pic as in a random pic from a cruise. Kind of a "what are the chances?" thing. I bet the profile pic was from about the same time at the posted pic but I still find it mildly amusing. Then again I have been told my sense of humor can be strange and your reaction leads me to believe I will be the only one to get a chuckle out of the rare actually occuring.

@kwokpot I looked at your profile pic and your pic in post #9 above. Favorite shirt? 😁 I like it though.

Change is a constant. The problem is that in the cruise industry the vast majority of changes mean the passenger gets less and is treated worse. Some folks are happy with that, some not so much. Debate won't change the feelings of either.

Did they only put the "No Jogging" signs in the topless area?