Itried4498

Imagine the outrage if every business added auto gratuities to “reward” the employees who worked behind-the-scenes. Your total at Target today includes $16.43 in auto gratuities, which will be distributed equally amongst the staff! I realize cruising is some people’s happy place, but we wouldn’t accept this in our daily lives and I’m not going to tolerate it here, either. I could careless if staff knows I removed the gratuities — I generously directly tip those who enhanced my vacation and if the cruise lines need me to subsidize the wages, then add it to the cruise fare and let me decide.

Believe it or not, the end game of cruise lines is to make money. There’s no federal mandate requiring vaccinated cruises - they’re doing it because, as they’ve indicated at recent earnings, they’re meeting passenger expectations. Pre-Covid, the lions share of cruisers were older, well educated and came from households with high discretionary incomes — a demographic that largely supports the mandate. I live in South OC, CA near the coast, among the wealthiest areas of the country. A large, noticeable faction of the local population still chooses to wear masks, because again, some people still take Covid seriously, whether you do or not. Some y’all need to get out of your “zone” in rural Texas and recognize that businesses chase the big money. And there’s a lot more money to be spent from those living in places like SoCal and NYC than Lubbock.

That’d be a potential death spiral to their business. Prior to the pandemic, cruise lines revenues were disproportionately from high spending seniors. But many haven’t returned to cruising because, you know, they’re the most vulnerable to Covid and many still take the disease seriously.

Nice report. A couple random thoughts: - Obviously PV and Cabo are the headlining destinations on this itinerary, but Mazatlan is heavily underrated. If you followed the blue line, it would’ve brought you into the historic downtown. Cops are always stationed through the blue line when ships are in port. The beach is also a short walk from port (you can also get there via historic DT if you’d like). The beach is beautiful, usually uncrowded if not deserted and is touted as having the longest continuous walkway alongside it (20+ miles IIRC). You could’ve also got a day pass at a nearby resort for about $20, which is fully redeemable toward food and drink. - The port times for Cabo suck but this is because it’s going to feel chilly headed north year round, so the two sea days are timed headed south. That said, there are a handful of itineraries where Panorama stops at Cabo first. Eliminating Mazatlan isn’t going to change this - it’d add an overnight at Cabo, and tendering ain’t cheap. When Carnival dropped Mazatlan a decade ago or so, they added an overnight at PV as well as some yucky PVR - Cabo - Ensenada runs (Ensenada sucks). - if you want an extended stay at Cabo, the Miracle is operating a handful of overnights on 5-day itineraries from LB. - if you want to stay in Cabo, now is a good time to go. For example … The Grand Fiesta is one of our favorite hotels, but for two adults it’s climbed to $600+ Per night for a standard room during the shoulder season. This year they have rooms for about $200, which is a great bargain IMO.

It's always been portside. The Fantasy-class ships use to be allowed to drift, so both sides would face the island at some point, but they are anchoring the Radiance.

Glad you enjoyed it! You’ll have a great time - cruises from Los Angeles are chilly most of year, but August is the perfect time to go!!!

I’m aware of the historical division between the entertainment and production show staff. As I wrote in my OP, I was merely speculation. I couldn’t identify any other shows performed by the Showgirls staff, so that means they work twice per week. Usually production staff is contracted for 5-6 nights per week. For comparison, the ice show cast performs four nights per week, and participates in the open skate two other days. As a cost savings measure, Cruise lines have moved toward including hybrid productions and itineraries from Los Angeles are often the red headed stepchild (since typically no other ships from the same line cruise to those ports).

I'm assuming you rushed / skimmed my posting, because your response isn't even close to the points I was making.

Historically, the lion's share of cruise bookings come during "wave season" (traditionally mid-January into mid-March) -- this is when cruise lines offer their best deals. A summer 2013 CNN article notes that Carnival's cruise fares were at record lows, as the cruise line saw mass cancellations in the aftermath of the poop cruise, and summer was already traditionally a very slow booking period. I can't find anything more recent, but I doubt those trends have shifted much. Into mid-April, Carnival had perpetual sales (some targeted, some open to the public) featuring historically low cruise prices. This included travel for peak summer and Christmas/New Year's. Unquestionably, this contributed to their 'best booking period ever' and boosted occupancy enough that the industry's fares could stabilize. But while summer may be stable, the industry keeps pushing cheap fares for fall. I keep getting offers on the Radiance/Miracle (inside) for $30 - $80pp, for pretty much every itinerary from post-Labor Day to Thanksgiving. Last week, the Panorama was priced at $90 - $120pp on several sailings during the same period. It's not just Carnival -- Princess has several voyages to Hawaii from LA/SD for sub-$1000pp. The website that's most known for tracking cruise prices notes that we're still seeing historically low fares regularly for fall travel. Pricing soars come 2023, as the industry is hoping for a turnaround, but don't be shocked if/when the sales are extended into 2023. But to point at a snapshot of pricing and insist things have returned to normal is simply basing an opinion off a fallacy.

We just completed our first ever RCCL trip as well. We live in Southern California, so Carnival is the primary option. We’re also frugal, and Carnival’s usually the least expensive option 😊. Last week, we traveled on RCCL’s Navigator of the Seas B2B as it was significantly cheaper the Carnival Radiance (which operates an identical itinerary) – at least at the time of booking, which was literally days before departure. I’ve give my thoughts, but here’s a few things to keep in mind: we are frugal, and rarely purchase spa treatments, upcharged food or beverages onboard. Since the re-start, we have traveled several times, but only on the Panorama. We have not yet traveled on the Radiance, but we are scheduled to do so come fall. THE SHIP & ITS AMENITIES – An easy win for RCCL. The ship was far more upscale than any CCL I’ve been on (I haven’t been on the Mardi Gras). Although it was nearly 20 years older than the Panorama – Carnival’s self-declared flagship before the Marid Gras was delivered, I would far rather be on this ship for a week. Much larger pools and especially hot tubs, several of which were covered which is a bonus considering it’s often cold on the itineraries performed out of Los Angeles, and plenty of space to lounge in the sun. The water slides (one with a raft, the other coaster-like) and wave rider were a huge bonus. THE STATE ROOM – An easy win for Carnival. The towels, mattress, and linens on RCCL were about what I’d expect at a cheap hostel. The mattress pad was also very discolored and worn out – it should’ve been replaced a long time ago. And while I realize room size will vary by ship, I’ve never experienced a room as small as the Navigator’s on Carnival – but to RCCL’s credit, they made good use of the space and created more storage than Carnival. Their live TV was superior to Carnival’s (news, sports & children’s programming) but Carnival has complimentary on demand movies whereas the Navigator did not. The Navigator did have a couple corny made-for RCCL movies, and RCCL still records and shows marque events on the cruise, whereas CCL stopped. SERVICE – Very similar, but slight edge to RCCL. They were far more prompt with our request for maintenance and state rooms are still cleaned twice daily by default. ENTERTAINMENT – Both have very similar entertainment programs, but I have to give the edge to RCCL – theirs are more thought out and far more elaborate. And that’s considering there are no true production shows (besides the ice skating) on the 3/4-day Ensenada itineraries. (INCLUDED) FOOD – Carnival has an awesome brunch menu at the MDR and plenty more included options for lunch. Royal still has a 24-hour hour snack counter, where you can get pizza, sandwiches, fruit, and dessert. After 9PM on Carnival, you can enjoy the deli for another hour or pizza until 1-3AM. Royal has superior (and themed) buffets but MDR breakfast and dinner options were similar, as was food quality and overall choices. I did miss the 24/7 ice cream and cake station on Carnival, as well as Guy’s burgers. Royal has Johnny Rockets Express, with a similar charge as you’d pay at any Johnny Rockets. Royal did have a full selection of fruit juice all day long, whereas Carnival is limited to lemonade. And while they both use the same juice vending machine, I noticed Royal was using local, quality orange juice. APP – Edge to Carnival. I like checking in for my MDR table, and proceeding when it’s ready. Even with a reservation, I had to wait 15-30 minutes for my table with RCCL. OVERALL – To be honest, 90%+ of the experience is the same on either line. I’d go with whatever line was cheaper…

There's a difference between outsourcing and hiring a third party to manage and/or assist with managing. It does not appear the casino is outsourced: the casino employees (off the ship - executive management, marketing, etc. & on the ship) work for Carnival (Corporation). The player's club is owned and operated by Carnival. The slot machines are owned by Carnival. Several years ago, Carnival invited its top slot players to a slot tournament held on one of its Princess-branded cruises. The slot tournament was managed by a company that oodles of casinos around the country use to manage similar events. It appears Carnival hires third parties to manage some aspects of its casino operations, and pays these companies either a fee and/or commission. But Carnival does not outsource its casino operations in exchange for a commission, as the OP suggested.

Again, all the evidence points toward the casino being operated in-house (perhaps through a wholly owned subsidiary). -Carnival Player's Club website notes that the Club is owned and operated by Carnival Corporation. -The 2019 press release I mentioned earlier name drops the execs Carnival Corporation hired to manage the casino marketing & operations. I looked up a few on LinkedIn, and all list Carnival Corporation as their employer. -A press release from 2017 discuss the investment Carnival Corporation has made in purchasing the latest & greatest slot machines. A Press release from 2008 discusses Carnival Corporation's trial into electronic gaming tables (never saw this, so probably didn't last). -A press release from earlier this year discusses Carnival's partnership with BetMGM to offer sports betting & "igaming" on its domestic itineraries. No doubt a third party would be happy with the igaming arrangement

I'm pretty certain the casinos are owned and operated by Carnival. I don't know the ownership structure -- it could be through a separate entity -- but I'm pretty certain that ultimate ownership leads to Carnival. Carnival's corporate website has oodles of press releases, including one published in 2019 promoting the explosive growth in gaming revenues after it invested heavily in human resources a decade earlier by hiring away a bunch of management/marketing veterans from Caesars and elsewhere. Among other "evidence," the Carnival Player's Club website notes that the Club is property of Carnival Corporation.

That’s a de facto blog posting that paints a rosy picture of the industry using a lot of quotes but without a lot of facts. Wall Street clearly feels differently, and investors (as a whole) aren’t bias, they just want to make money.

There are oodles of adults-only resorts throughout Mexico & the Caribbean, most of them 4* and 5* and selling at a premium compared to their family counterparts. In fact, in recent years many traditional resorts have siphoned off portions of their property and/or expanded to create adults-only sections (often marketed as a separate property, or at least a hotel-within-a-hotel). So it'd be foolhardy to suggest such a market within the cruise industry would not exist. But this is -- excuse the pun -- uncharted waters within the cruise industry. Such project could lead to colossal losses if two brand new, high-capacity luxury ships are used during a time of turbulence within the industry. It'd be far more sensible to designate and market select itineraries as adults-only, and build up from there. There are routes in the Carnival network that could probably support a dedicated adults-only ship. The 3/4-day Ensenada cruises from Long Beach, for example -- this is not a sun cruise (it's cold most of the year); historically the weekend cruise attracts party people and the 4-day seniors looking to gamble. Prior to COVID, two Fantasy-class ships operated the itinerary - one of them could've potentially been desigated adults only.

If Carnival designated specific itineraries as adults only, kids' areas would become dead space. If Carnival designated a specific ship to perform adults only itineraries, they could reimagine the kids' areas. If word spread that the kids clubs were becoming venues where adults could have some fun ( 😉 ) on adults-only cruises, it'd do more harm than it's worth...

Alcohol is -- by far -- cruise line's biggest money maker, but casinos are second. In the 1990s into the 2010s, free and low-cost gambling day cruises from Florida to nowhere grew averaged 20 - 40 daily departures. Most of these were on small boats, but they generally included a buffet, live music and various entertainment (including some short production-quality shows). Some of them were on full sized cruise ships, like the SeaEscape (in the early to mid-90s, then again in the early 2000s). Carnival itself operated occasional low-cost cruises to nowhere (I can think of from Los Angeles, Tampa and Baltimore), but they were overnight. Increased (enforced) regulation plus swelling port fees largely killed this market, but some same-day and overnight cruises still exist. Cruise lines generally rebrand / resell third party excursions (with some additional perks), but the commissions are small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, especially considering the resoruces dedicated to selling.

There's no way Carnival is going to regularly operate a 5,200 capacity ship as "adults only." If Carnival were to operate adults-only cruises, most likely they'd designate specific dates as such. If they were to launch a regular itinerary, it'd be with a revived Fantasy or Spirit-class ship that has half the capacity as the Costa ships. ...and Wall Street basically blamed it on overcapacity. The concern is that cruise lines may be filling ships, but not at the same per passenger revenue pre-COVID.

I'm sure you're not alone with your opinion of Mey :); one of us thought she was trying too hard. That said, I loved her because she was highly energetic and gave 100%. On Thursday, shortly before the 80s show, we saw her in the casino, rushing toward an employee entrance bright faced and screaming (in Spanish, presumably) into a phone/walkie talkie. Moments later, she was happy-go-lucky Mey on stage, giving 100%. Based on her comments, I'd guess she's in her 40s if not 50, which would make her older for a new CD and would partially explain why she's trying so hard. Nonetheless, turnout to various entertainment was poor and if she can't get it to improve (no matter how hard she tries), she will be held responsible. I forgot about the comedian. We saw the closing adults only show Sunday night, but skipped the other performances (I'm not certain if it was the same comedian for the 4-day cruise). It was obvious he lost the audience as he turned to toilet humor to try to regain it, but comedians are always hit or miss IMO; even the best can present material that's not well received. When we traveled on the Carnival Panorama in early May, one of the comedians totally tanked that the audience heckled him (never acceptable IMO - just leave)... and he's had numerous specials on Comedy Central over the years that I've loved.

Most Americans associate cruising with fun, sun, tropic, exotic, etc. Nassau and Freeport yield this, even if they're notorious tourist traps. Meanwhile, Ensenada tries to be a notorious tourist trap -- it's literally an ugly/ slummy city, featuring odd smells, aggressive young children vendors, horses carrying American tourists down busy streets, pick-up trucks painted as and making train sounds, etc. The 'beautiful, world class' beaches long featured on Ensenada marketing material have been closed by the Mexican government (!!!) due to unsanitary conditions. If you want a decent mediocre beach, you'll have to travel 45+ minutes to Rosarito (and the ride won't be cheap). The cruise lines know this -- every few years we hear about a brand new deep water port coming soon, featuring world class beaches and shopping.... Different strokes for different folks but the "ice show" is a high-quality production, created for RCL by a third party, featuring highly skilled performers. It can compete with any traveling production show I've seen. Meanwhile, Showgirls appears to have been created in-house, and rather than using production staff, appears to be using entertainment staff. Like I said before... they were singing out of key + out of harmony, costumes fell apart, a dancer fell, etc.

The Venezia has slightly more capacity than the Panorama. I can't imagine Carnival putting either ship on the 3/4-day Ensenada cruises. Status quo, the Radiance and RCL's Navigator (which re-entered the market in the COVID era) have 3x the capacity that the Inspiration (which performed the route for nearly a decade) did, and 33% more than the Inspiration and Imagination combined (the latter operated the same itinerary but Th-Sun, which attracted a lot of non-locals). Both Radiance and Navigator have struggled with occupancy this year... The Miracle? Maybe, but Carnival would be doubling the capacity... I wouldn't be shocked if the plan is to move the Panorama and use the Veneiz, as Carnival believes LA would be the best fit for its product. I also wouldn't be surprised if Carnival's hoping the Asian markets rebound by 2024 and they can cancel these movements ... 🙂

We completed a back-to-back on the Navigator of the Seas yesterday, which was both our first back-to-back cruise as well as our first cruise with Royal. What follows is a narrative of our trip, although there were tons of activities and food we did not try out! I thought it might be helpful to some planning a trip. DAY 1 (Friday): We booked our cruise literally days in advance (thank you to all the great advice we received from this forum!), and as this is a weekend cruise, the remaining arrival appointments were early -- but I had to work a full day, so we arrived at the cruise terminal shortly before 2:30PM. The final half-hour was extremely stressful (as if navigating LA traffic isn't stressful enough), as we received a push notification at 2PM saying 'government regulations require all passengers to be onboard by 2:30PM.' But when we arrived at the cruise terminal, there were literally hundreds of people waiting, and several dozen people arriving -- I was told this was common for the weekend cruise :). We were told there were about 2,300 people on this cruise (and 2,800 on the prior). We had a nice lunch buffet, then enjoyed the sail away party. In our opinion, Mey was a FANTASIC cruise director -- well-engaged, extremely highly energetic and gave it her all! Absolutely amazing, and quite remarkable considering she's probably older than the average CD (although it doesn't show :)). Anyway, her dancing was a lot more provocative during this sail away party than the next. As the sail away party was ending, the ship slowly began cruising toward San Diego. On this particular cruise, from the time we boarded, the pools and hot tubs were completely filled, the line to El Loco Fresh stretched through the adults only section and a large group of people knew the sail away dances, so presumably for many, this wasn't their first cruise on this ship/itinerary. After a lovely dinner, we saw the "ice show," and then attended the 70s party. The "ice show" well exceeded our expectations -- similar in quality to a traveling production show. The 70s party was very fun! Afterward, we had a snack (watermelon) at the Promenade Café and went to bad. DAY 2 (Saturday): This is a sea day. The coast of California, stretching into Baja Mexico, historically is blanketed by cloud coverage during the summer months (referred to locally as May Grey, June Gloom, No Sky July, Fogust). This cloud coverage has been decreasing in recent years (leading to historically comfortable temperatures to swell), but has been in full swing this year. Thus the ship circled the area around San Clemente Island, searching for sun and using the island to shield minimize the winds. So it ended up being a slightly chilly day, but was still very enjoyable. We had breakfast and lunch in the buffet, sat in the pools / hot tubs for several hours and enjoyed the Belly Flop competition. We checked out the slides, but waiting in long lines in the chilly air wasn't something we were interested in doing 🙂. We had another nice dinner, then caught the Showgirls production show. It was interesting and enjoyable, but very amateurish. I wasn't sure if this was playback or live singing, but either way it wasn't very good -- at one point, three performers were to sing presumably in harmony, but they were way off. I have no idea if this was intentional or not, but it was pretty bad. I'm not familiar with Royal's entertainment, but I doubt this is a true "production" show, staffed with experienced entertainers. On the second cruise, the show's cast did a choregraphed dance routine in "flash mob" style right before the sail away party. They all looked young & American and I pondered if they were part of the entertainment crew that did the 70s/80s parties/etc. That would make sense -- the "ice show" cast performs their show four nights per week and assists with open skating on two other nights... Showgirls is done two nights per week -- what else does their cast do? After a very leisurely day, we went to bed. DAY 3 (Sunday): We've been to Enseanda many times and know that's probably the worst port to visit in North America. It's a city, not a tourist trap, and is served solely because no touristy Mexican port can be reached on a 3/4-day cruise. It seems like every couple years, a plan to turn Ensenada (or create a replacement port nearby) into a tropical destination is announced, but nothing materializes. We debated whether or not to get off the ship and decided we would, just to walk around the port area. So, after getting up late and having a late lunch, we spent a couple hours touring the cruise port area, which had weekend markets set-up to greet the Navigator of the Seas and the Carnival Radiance. After returning to the ship, we went to the hot tub (yes, we were lazy) and then to an early dinner. The ship cruised nearby the coast, providing some beautiful views during dinner. We took a quick nap (as I mentioned, we were lazy) and then saw the 80s show, which was absolutely fantastic! We tried our luck with the slots for an hour, then called it an evening. DAY 4 / DAY 1 (Monday): We booked guaranteed rooms, so we had to change rooms. This was a minor inconvenience; even if we had stayed in the same room, we were required to check-out of the current cruise / get cleared by immigration by 9AM, and were asked not to report to our staterooms until after 2PM, not to interfere with cleaning. We entered the lounge with the rest of the B2Bers shortly after 9AM, were taken off the ship around 9:30AM, and returned 15 minutes later. Soon after, general boarding commenced. We toured the ship, as there was little else to do -- the pool deck didn't open until after 11AM, the lunch buffet at 11:30AM and our special B2B lunch at 12PM. A neat thing to experience once, but a large waste of time to be honest. If I were to do B2B again, I'd probably exit the ship early, go to work, and return late. There were over 3,100 people on this cruse -- so 800+ more people compared to the weekend cruise. Also, the crowd on the weekend cruise was nearly exclusively from SoCal, but people came from all over on this one (although I'm sure the lion's share were from SoCal). And compared to the weekend cruise, there were a lot more families, including tons of high school graduates celebrating. At 12PM, we went to the special lunch in the MDR. It was a very nice touch, but there were only 3 options for each appetizer, entrée & desserts, and of the 9 total options, 8 had been on the previous nights' menu. Had we known this, we would've dined at the buffet instead. The B2Bers were on one side of the dining room, whereas the Key Program was on the other. Presumably, they had an upgraded menu. While eating lunch, an announcement was made that state rooms were ready, so after we finished eating we changed into our swimsuits and hit the pool deck. Boy, what a change from Friday -- the loungers, pools and hot tubs were empty and remained so while we were on the deck. I'm guessing most passengers were first time cruisers and unaware they could immediately enjoy the facilities. After 4PM, the cast of Showgirls performed a flash mob-style dance routine, then Mey lead the sail away party. There were very few participates watching or dancing, and after three songs, a visibility annoyed Mey - who did her best to build a crowd - gave up and left. The ship then once again began cruising toward San Diego. Since we ate in the MDR earlier, we opted to go to the buffet for the evening (our one and only time eating at the dinner buffet). I believe the theming was "French" but there was tons of variety and we were full before fully exploring every station! We spent an hour in the casino, enjoyed some music in the lounge, then went to bed. DAY 2 (Tuesday): This was a sea day, and very much replicated Saturday. Similar ship course, similar weather, etc. We lounged around the pool deck all day, caught an early dinner, re-watched Showgirls, re-watched the 70s dance party and then attended the Girls vs. Boys interactive show. We didn't stick around for dance club portion, and instead headed to bed. Only a small crowd showed for the second showing of Showgirls, and the 70s dance party had about half as many people watching as Friday's. DAY 3 (Wednesday). This was our first visit ever to Catalina Island. A round-trip to the Island from Los Angeles runs about $75 round-trip these days, so this definitely added value to our trip. Getting off the ship wasn't easy -- I went to pick-up a tender ticket mid-morning, and was told it'd be after 12PM, so we enjoyed a long lunch at the buffet and waited for the crowd to thin. We left mid-afternoon, so we only had a couple hours to explore, which was fine with us. Catalina Island is absolutely beautiful, and we plan to return soon! It was a long wait to get back to the ship. We then cleaned up, enjoyed a nice dinner, and re-watched the "ice show" (definitely an underrated production!). Afterward, we headed to the theater to watch the Love & Marriage Show - probably our favorite interactive long-time cruise favorite. What a MAJOR disappointment! The crowd was lackluster... I'd bet there were fewer than 100 people in the audience. They initially struggled to find participates (the "experienced" couple was married 20-something years), and the ones they did find were terrible -- they mostly avoided "naughty" questions, and played the ''I wouldn't change a thing about my partner - s/he is sooo perfect' game. We look forward to this show, and I would've never anticipated walking out on it, but that's exactly what we did. Mey tried her darndest, but when the response to the question 'you're on a deserted island.... which of her relatives do you least want to see' is 'I love all people, and her family is perfect, but I'll say mother-in-law because even though it's not true- I love her - it's what you want to hear.' --or-- 'yes, he farts a lot, but how is that a bad habit? Everybody farts, some of us release gas more often then others, and it depends on what you eat and your environment. It's totally healthy, it may not smell good, but there's nothing wrong or annoying about it.' Again... thank you for working your heart out Mey! After the show, we went to bed. DAY 4 (Thursday). The ship returned to Ensenada, but we treated this as a sea day. Apparently so did pretty much everybody else :). We spent most of our time on the pool deck and braved the wait and enjoyed the waterslide. It was great fun, but the water is cold! Afterward, we had dinner, packed our bags, enjoyed the 80s show again and tried our luck in the casino for an hour before heading to bed. DAY 5 (Friday). On Monday, we departed an empty ship and walked through an empty immigration hall at 9:30AM. Today, we went to the breakfast buffet at 7:45AM, left the ship at 8:30AM... and finally cleared immigration at 10:30AM (and there was a HUGE wait behind us). I can only speculate that Monday's crowd was eager to get to work, but today's crowd wasn't in a hurry. Fantastic week nonetheless! Some final thoughts: - We thought the food was very good/excellent. I had only one meal I would consider to be poor the entire week. - The service was outstanding! - The ship's public spaces are beautiful -- you'd have no idea this ship is approaching its 20th birthday. The staterooms, OTOH... the rooms were well though out but clearly well worn. We had maintenance issues with both rooms -- the refrigerators weren't working in either room (anything you put in the fridge remained at room temperature) and a light was out in our first room. In the second room, the sink was clogged and the air wasn't working (in the first room, we'd put the dial in between hot & cold; in the second room, we'd crank it as cold as possible and the room would still feel warm). They addressed the light & clogged sink, but not the other issues.

Lots of possibilities... -- It's scheduled to enter service in Long Beach in Spring 2024. That's a long time from now -- equivalent to the entire duration of time that's eclipsed since the start of the pandemic. Perhaps the European market rebounds much faster than Carnival anticipates, and the transfer is cancelled (they're not being re-branded, after all). -- Costa by Carnival could be based out of San Pedro, utilizing Princess (owned by Carnival Corp.) staffing and facilities. -- The Firenza could be used to open new itineraries. In the past, Carnival has identified year-round service to Hawaii, seasonal service to Alaska and extended Mexican Riviera itineraries for potential expansion. In the late 2000s, it announced Southern Mexican Riviera itineraries, but ultimately launched service from San Diego instead as reaching Long Beach was too much of a stretch for a 7-day itinerary. Perception of crime quickly killed the service, but there's renewed interest in the region today. The southern ports could be combined with the northern ports to create an extended itinerary (more than a week), which Carnival identified as an area for growth. -- The Firenza could absorb the itineraries of the Miracle, Radiance or even Panorama -- Carnival may feel that the Italian ambiance would be most welcomed in Los Angeles. -- IMO, Carnival isn't going to give-up year-round, week-long itineraries into the Mexican Riviera (currently performed by the Panorama) or the weekend itineraries to Ensenada. The Ensenada cruises are largely booze cruises, so I'd be shocked if the Firenza took those over... Time will tell...

Have a wonderful trip. Just we warned that while it’s been hot in Los Angeles, that June Gloom is turning into No Sky July along the coast… so don’t be surprised if the sun isn’t out in full swing (and it feels chilly) on your first day, and it feels windy and cold on your final day. Don’t be deceived - make sure you bring plenty of sunscreen.

It doesn’t matter which airline you travel with in the current environment — they’re all experiencing operational difficulties. I’ve traveled on hundreds of flights with Spirit over the past 20+ years, and beyond a small window where they had operational difficulties several years ago, nearly every single flight had been uneventful. BTW - had the delay been 2 hours, the OP could’ve told Spirit his/her trip was in vain, shown the agent his/her cruise itinerary for proof, and Spirit would’ve flown him/her home and refunded the ticket.