notscb

FWIW, I think this plan is an excellent plan and will help Carnival curb food waste that cruise lines are so well known for. The up-charge if you want a third entree is only $5 for the entree itself, and you can still have as many appetizers and desserts as you want (as well as the other included options around the ship). IMHO, moves like this are going to be much more common among the entire industry. Even if Carnival were to enforce it on all of its brands, it would ultimately set a precedent for other lines to do the same.

This is an excellent point, and OP could probably benefit from forking over the extra for main cabin extra or premium seats to make sure they're far enough forward to ensure the best use of time between.

How far are you flying in from? My recommendation would be to download the AA app, if you miss your connection or it looks like you're going to miss it, the app will let you know and offer you options (most of the time in my experience at least, YMMV). Charlotte really isn't that difficult to navigate- you can get from A-D in less than 20 minutes with the moving walkways.

I think there are many very valid answers already on this sub, and it all comes down to "it depends, and it also depends on how comfortable you are with taking a calculated risk if you choose to fly in the same day of your cruise." Most of the advice given (from the three pages I've read through) relate to: -weather/season you're flying in -current airline cancellation/rescheduling occurrence -cost -backup planning for delays -age -travel experience -specific route you're flying and the flight history I'll chime in with my most recent experience- I flew in the same day as my cruise to Ft. Lauderdale which was a direct flight from where I'm flying out of in NY. The flight runs with a 98% reliability regardless of season. It's also the earliest flight of the day, and an alternate would be available less than an hour from original scheduled departure (but would include a connection). It was also summer (ish). In this case, I chose to take the risk and I'm glad I did, I arrived to the port at 11:00am sharp. On our upcoming cruise, we're flying in two days in advance- mostly because we want a day to explore a new city, and also because its' winter in NY and an entire day that should be traveling could be knocked out due to snow.

Some do! There's a website called day use that is helpful for these and has specific times listed that the room is available for. Most do have better rates than that website, but I know many folks enjoy the convenience of online booking vs calling.

Assume something is going to go wrong on the way to, during, and from your vacation- especially when pairing air + cruise as your trip. If you go in with some flexibility and a good attitude, it'll roll off easier and be much more enjoyable of an experience when something doesn't quite work out the way you thought it might. I can never quite understand the folks who, by the time they walk onboard, are already super cranky and take it out on the crew. If you choose to be happy and choose to be in a vacation mindset, things will go much, much better (and the staff's drink pour will be much more generous, too).

Yes. 100% yes. Especially as a traveler who doesn't have children (or nieces/nephews to take traveling yet), Icon (and other oasis class ships) especially feel too big and there's no amount of money you could pay me to be around that many screaming children. I was on freedom of the seas in May and we docked behind Oasis. It was an interesting experience to see the sheer size of that ship and consider how many passengers were on it. I've noticed a trend with RCL toward inward looking spaces vs. outward- the latter of which is why I cruise in the first place, the former being for the benefit of the bottom line of the company.

The post didn't indicate if the OP chose it or not. But imagine telling someone who isn't able to sleep at night on their vacation that it's their problem and to not bother the cruise line with it as (from your own words) they're "not obligated to do so." guest services exists for a reason, and RCL has a vested interest in helping their customer (especially one who is D+ with them).

I figured as much. It's always a good reminder to oneself that if a business is making a certain decision, the only reason they're doing it is for their bottom line (even if it seems to benefit customers). If all of these cruise lines switch to LNG, i'm wondering if the cost is just going to go up and put them in a similar problem to where they are right now (eventually)

OMG i was hoping you'd notice this post and chime in. I genuinely don't know much about LNG, so I'm glad you were able to provide some clarity. I guess the question becomes how the cruise lines source this stuff to actually make good on an environmental "promise," or do we just accept that it's another form of green-washing and move on?

It looks like (just based on a cursory look at Carnival's website "compare" function): Removed Spaces on Celebration: The Brass Magnolia The Fortune Teller Emril's Bistro https://www.carnival.com/cruise-ships/compare-cruise-ships

can you expand on this? Based on my quick google search, it looks like Long Beach and SF both have had LNG powered vessels at their ports as recently as Sept. of this year.

I imagine that while RCL has a lot of selling points for their newer ships, their price points are just not economical enough for many families for the new product. Carnival, on the other hand, will be offering a brand new product at the very same time for half of the cost which will likely drive some families their way as they look for an affordable way to cruise until prices for Icon come down. From a marketing perspective, Carnival has the upper hand with new product + family friendly pricing over RCL right now.

/thread

It's so interesting to hear folks talk about cabins on these (and other) boards. Some people talk so much about how they're never in the room, but I suspect those folks have never had a private space away from the crowds to just enjoy the setting that the balcony area provides. It sounds like y'all had a great time and got a ton of use out of yours. On my last sailing (RCL) I was upgraded (for free) to a balcony from an ocean view and suddenly wanted to spend every second on it and wasn't so eager to get out of the room everyday.

That's so good to hear! I originally had the option of booking a regular balcony or a cove, and ultimately decided on the cove in the first place for the protection from the sun and to be closer to the water more generally. I go cruising because I love being on the water, and I think I'm going to bypass this "offer" to go for a new experience.

You could always book two connecting rooms, but not all ships have connecting interior rooms. The challenge with connecting rooms is that they tend to be a bit noisier than other rooms as sound travels through the door more easily. Given that you're booking two rooms for 5 adults, I'd recommend getting a bit bigger of a room for whichever room is going to have 3 adults in them. On my last cruise, I walked by a bunch of rooms with doors open while being cleaned and noticed the ones with the bunk beds seemed more than cramped. As the other commenter noted, the 3 that don't will need to be on the same room reservation so they don't have to purchase cheers (if the others want to). Could you get two rooms that face each other (i.e. one balcony or oceanview and an interior)? That way y'all are close without being literally on top of each other? edit: seems like paradise has connecting interior rooms per cruisecritic deck plans

As others have said, I'm wondering what the balcony is going for on it's own right now vs. how much you paid for yours. Other questions: how pone are you to seasickness, as deck 12 can often "feel" the ship moving more than lower decks. Also, what's above/below where they're trying to move you? edit: for $350, I'd almost rather take another excursion or upgrade an excursion than just upgrade my room.

It really seems like an inventory and pricing thing, to be honest. I've mock booked the same cruise (in private browsing) and balconies are going for +$1,000 what I paid for our cove balcony originally. The coves, to me, seem like a really neat experience even if they are lower on deck. $94 to upgrade (total) isn't a bad price by any means, but it's not like they're offering us a suite or junior suite.

Carnival direct doesn't have as many, but Carnival Corp. certainly has many, many ships under different brands that they have already started moving around

That's a fair point for sure. I'm wondering if (for many reasons possibly) Carnival is looking at consolidating home ports at all? I know they weren't renewed in SC and I wonder if they're seeing the economic benefit of moving ships to larger or similar ports.

Tendering not only provides opportunity for a new local tourism based business to pop up but allows ships of all sizes to visit destinations in the Med. that would otherwise be inaccessible to cruise ship passengers. I think that the port cities are well-aware of the industry tendency to build larger, not smaller, so they'll figure out what they need to do to accommodate to keep the tourism revenue flowing.

If you're already sailing on Wonder, i'd think getting a chance to sail on Breakaway might be an interesting experience. I guess it would also depend on if you're trying to gain status with one line over the other (RCL, in this case) and also what ports each ship is visiting. To me, i look for ports before I look at ship, but that's not how everyone does it.

I've never been more sad to see someone else's vacation come to a end. As someone who will be on the Dream in December, this was a great thread to follow, thanks for taking us along!

That just means you're giving off good vibes 😄