notscb

Yay! I'm excited to follow along on your next journey!

OH MY GOSH. That is nightmare fuel for me, especially when you were about to go on vacation out of the country and were going to be essentially out of reach. I hope you and yours were okay and still able to enjoy your trip!

Geesh. This response is definitely not the vibe. The window they give is generally like 6 hours long. Can you not give them a 15 minute window where they can clean (sometimes even less time) in 6 hours? I find your assessment of once per day servicing in relation to the increased gratuities absurd. Yes. We do leave cash at hotels for a tip. It's customary to tip many folks who work in hospitality. Further, on cruise lines, your tips aren't made "more absurd" by only having once per day room servicing with how many folks are "cut in" to the tip pool that you might not even be aware of. I'm genuinely confused when you say "they no longer have Stewards, just maids." Are you trying to talk down about them by this comment?

When you checked out, did the gratuities get added separately?

Where are you seeing this? The tip has never just been for the cabin steward- it's split between the steward, the host in the dining room, your serving team and a whole bunch of guest-facing employees around the ship. $40/day isn't out of line considering what tipping landside is, too.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Sad

We paid $45, and the page they linked says $48/per adult.

I was able to watch netflix/tiktok/youtube on the Dream a few weeks back. It varies widely ship to ship, but yeah, Carnival probably should have considered upgrading to Starlink before upping the price considering they already hiked it back in September.

Where are you cruising to? For us, our verizon unlimited plan covered us for some data + unlimited talk/text while we were in Mexico and covers a bunch of other countries- it might be worth exploring if you travel frequently. Verizon also has a travel pass program where for $10/day ( i think) you can get temporary (24 hour) service- I can't remember if the Travel Pass program only covers Canada+Mexico or if other countries are included, but might be worth looking into.

On the dream, TikTok was relatively fast with the premium plan, and YouTube as well. YMMV, as ship wifi can be really hit or miss depending on traffic, time of day, itinerary, age of network infrastructure onboard, cabin location and your physical location on deck. When I was on RCL in May, the wifi worked great everywhere except for my own stateroom. On Carnival Dream in December, it was great and fast everywhere.

That's the reason we did a Carnival excursion as well and that peace of mind when we were an hour+ from port but with other Carnival passengers meant that we knew we'd be back on time. Belize City, and the tourism village proper doesn't really have anything for tourists to "do" nearby so I'd definitely suggest taking @Homosassa's advice and going with the Carnival excursion if you have the ability to do so.

Glad i'm not the only one who noticed that. Also claimed to have crew members onboard recorded, makes me wonder...

The primary one being you haven't been very specific as to what you'd like her to take note of. These boards are just a very, very small sample of folks who are more likely to discuss challenges or problems they have cruising because that's the literal point of being here. I'm still looking through this thread looking for what your exact feedback to the CEO would be.

I'm wondering what you're talking about here- we got off of the dream a few weeks back and had an amazing vacation. What problems are you hoping she would see, specifically?

That might be an oversimplification given the sheer amount of flights that were cancelled during the busiest travel time of the entire year.

How do these annual policies work? Have you ever had to make a claim- just wondering if they increase your premium if you make a claim in like March and need to again in September or something.

Sure, but us making assumptions about their circumstances when Southwest cancelled 2,500+ flights in an instant is not really the best way to go about participating in this discussion. I feel for OP- not everyone was aware that SWA was melting down and even if you were, how likely were you to find a seat for your whole family on another airline that didn't break the vacation budget bank? It's a weird choice to scream "bUt PeRSonAL ReSPonSiBiLiTY" when there's been no responsibility from the C-Suite at a major U.S. Carrier, which impacted thousands of peoples holiday plans.

I'd suggest some sympathy in your own post. If you were in OP's position and lost out on a fully paid vacation because a major U.S. carrier cancelled nearly 70% of their flights and ceased operation, you also might come here to vent and voice frustration. Personally, I think OP should file a complaint with the DOT and keep the vouchers but don't use them for anything where there's a deadline- or do and travel the day before. In this case, traveling the day before wouldn't have even helped when SWA cancelled three days worth of flights in a matter of minutes. >Carnival had no disruptions, it's not their issue. I don't read this post as OP blaming Carnival for anything.

I'd suspect the 17 hour drive had something to do with it, but interested in OP's response as well.

100% agree. We had a mid-ship cove near the mid-elevators (but just outside of being under the galley) and it was amazing! Being so close to the water while at sea and having that private space be shaded was a huge plus.

And I've heard that the newer Oasis class ships go even harder at the inner-facing spaces vs having the outward facing spaces like the new Mardi Gras, Celebration and Jubilee have. I personally hate the cruise line private island experience. I know i'm in the minority with this one (and others want different things out of their vacations), but it's another way the lines force us inward (especially in our spending) vs expanding our horizons or opportunities to engage with other cultures or activities.

We just got off of the dream on 12/17, and while I haven't done a full review post yet, I hope i can help 🙂 Pro- the cruise director and his staff are on point and fantastic. They really elevated the experience. MarQ, you are a legend! Pro- The ship is well-kept and is big enough to have plenty of options of activities at any given time Pro- we could always find a deck chair, clamshell (havana area) and at night felt like we had the whole ship to ourselves at times while on deck (in certain areas). It's a bigger Carnival ship but still has a small ship feel. Pro- food was good! Buffet had some lines but the upstairs seating area was always very quiet and relaxing. Con- Elevators can be confusing, deck layout can as well. Not all decks connect fully forward and aft. It doesn't take long to get used to, but there's a learning curve. Con- Galveston was FREEZING when we arrived, like, 40 degrees. It was quite the shock from when we got there (it was like 65-70 or something) and we were not prepared.

Curious, what's the major difference? I'd think that all being equal (havana), the newer ship would be the easy choice.

I understand what you're saying, but I doubt they're "regretting" it as RCL (and as another commenter mentioned, MSC) both have new ships that are LNG-powered. It's where the cruise industry is heading (unfortunately, really- from what I understand, LNG isn't much more economical nor is it much more environmentally friendly as the lines make it seem to be).

There are plenty of TA's who would be happy to take your call and help you if that's the route you're wanting to go. *carnival's website is definitely not solo cruiser friendly, nor did they really build in enough interior solo cabins on their newer ships* In my experience, prices for travel tend to drop right after the holidays and I've gotten some great deals during those first few days of January. YMMV.