supaflyrobby

3 minutes ago, NotJohnHeald said:

 

Based on my experiences, I would be more surprised that the sports bars were showing March Madness games instead of The View. 😄

I find that "the view" has any audience at all a disturbing harbinger for the devolution of humanity. It extends far beyond a mere lack of critical thinking ability and instead rises to the level of pathological and willful ignorance. 

On our broader issue here, I just want to know that with the dollars I shell out that I can have some reasonable assurances that jackasses won't gain a foothold to the point that it could potentially ruin our vacation or in a worst case even potentially endanger a family member. If people don't know how to behave in public or mommy did not hold them enough as a child? Sorry, but that is their problem. Carnival needs to have standards in place and those standards need to be enforced, and egregious violations should result in potentially being removed from the ship and/or never being allowed to return to another Carnival cruise. Carnival might be worried about their bottom line here, but I can assure you the consequences of inaction may well be far worse in terms of long term revenue projections. 

Normally I would not bother but our cruise in July is for our 5th wedding anniversary and our 3 year old will be joining us as well. My mother was complaining the other day that we have not had any professional photos taken of us since right after our daughter was born. Since we will be dressed to the 9's for elegant night anyway, I figured this might be a golden opportunity. Pre cruise packages range in price from 300 to 750. Worth the extra money? 

31 minutes ago, hard_eight said:

And drug dealers, I've seen Ozark

Yes, and those pesky Langmore's of course. 🙂 

5 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

I've never been to Missouri and didn't know there were shores.  Lake shores?  

Yes, roughly 1100 miles of shoreline, and the lake itself is around 55K acres all told. Though It's a reservoir technically and not a lake, and It's especially popular with the boating crowd on account of its massive size and depth. 

I live in a part of the country well noted for its propensity for attracting partying and heavily intoxicated visitors. We get on average 5 million visitors per year into this county, and it is a constant balancing act for the powers that be to prioritize maintaining order vs. not wanting to come off too punitive and potentially dissuade people from coming. Carnival now seems to be facing a similar dilemma. 

Last summer here was especially crazy from people being cooped up for so long, and damn near 10 million packed our shores. We locals were pretty pissed before we even hit June, and eventually the state police who patrol the waterways and the county Sheriff got the message and started arresting and charging the people who were acting like idiots. In fairness this posture turned policy did not have much impact as far as number of incidents or calls for service from law enforcement. The offenders were just being held more accountable now. 

In our circumstance as cruisers, it a sad commentary on humanity that some people just can't seem to have a good time without being a problem for the rest of us. Carnival is clearly worried that further incidents will be a PR disaster and a real killer on their bottom line. I personally am 100% OK with people being confined to their staterooms to sleep it off, turned over to shore law enforcement, or whatever else might be necessary if they can't act like grown ups. 

And if they lose some business from this stance? Who cares, as ultimately this is the business you do not mind losing. 

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-gets-strict-with-new-message-for-passengers/94558

I can report that on the Paradise they were on point as of less than a month ago. I absolutely love those fries. To hear that a change has been made in this regard is quite unsettling. 

32 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

I can verify from personal experience that this is the case. While nothing in your boarding documents will show the OBC from Barclay's, it will be on your Sail & Sign account when you board. I hate not having documentation of it, but it does work and you just have to have faith that it will be on there, which it always has been for us.

Thank you for providing your experience. I also hate not having documentation. The 10% credit back for shore excursions came instantly, so I figured the same would be the case for OBC, but this is not the case. I guess I do not have a huge issue with this, but I do think Barclays needs to offer more clarity. 

I ran into the same problem the other day.. Error message said it was too close to the day of departure, which is ridiculous since our cruise does not leave until Jun 12th and here we are in February. It did still allow the purchase of beer and wine, but no hard alcohol. 

Just thought I would share what I know as this was maddening getting someone to cough up a definitive answer from customer service at either Barclays or Carnival. I booked our cruise 13 months out using this card and used the card often for large purchases in the interim to stockpile fun points. Including the new cardmember bonus, I managed to bank $450 in on board credit for our cruise coming up in June. Thought this would be a nice little cushion for our trip and allow us to splurge a little. However the credits were not showing up on my account on carnival.com, which was maddening. The 100$ in credit that I got for booking the cruise itself was showing up however.

After lots of emails and phone calls I finally got someone at Barclays (after having my request 'escalated') to tell me that OBCs obtained from use of the Carnival Credit Card will not show up on your account until after you arrive at the ship. I guess have no huge problems with this, but it would be awesome if this was explained with transparency as many people might like to use these credits to make pre-cruise purchases too. 

How handy, this is just what I was looking to give some feedback on here it is on the first page of the Carnival forum. I am new around here so I am still familiarizing myself with the nav, UX, etc. I own 250 shares of CCL and while they certainly do make the process of getting the on board credit a pain in the ass, they did finally pony up my credit as of this AM. 

40 minutes ago, tutumomickey said:

Supaflyrobbie I hope you are still following and can enlighten me. I have been trying to get a first hand account from someone travelling with a child under 5 but, have yet to get a response. How long was the wait at the terminal for your child's on site test? Was it truly 'complimentary'? My daughter is afraid we will waiting hours before my granddaughters are tested and allowed to board. Looking forward to your review. Hope it includes excursions and maybe how they verified your child had been on a Princess excursions in port. We have all Princess excursions booked but want to know if we could maybe shop a bit in port before reboarding. If you can answer any of this, thanks for your time.

We got her tested pre cruise, though it was a bit more difficult for her than it was my wife and I. She actually turned 3 on the second to last day of the cruise. None of the drive thru places would test anyone that young, and both CVS and Walgreens were a no go for anyone under 3 also. We ended up having to go through a place called Quest Diagnostics and this one was not free. It was 60 bucks. 

I was honestly much more concerned about how she would handle the trip than I was the Covid test. She had never even been on an airplane before, let alone on a boat in the middle of the ocean. I was envisioning all these nightmare situations involving her screaming bloody murder on the flight and having similar meltdowns onboard. To my amazement, she was as cool as cucumber. She was better than she was at home even. Granted I had some help in the form of a loaded tablet with paw patrol and cocomelon as a crutch, but both my wife and I were in disbelief on how stoic chill she was. 

She did not receive a medallion like my wife and I. It was basically a credit card with her info on it, but it functioned in the same way. It was scanned every time she entered and left the ship and we had zero problems disembarking at any port. The only difference with Victoria, the lone Canadian port, was that we had to have her passport. To be perfectly honest, with the exception of the train ride in Skagway, there was not really a lot going on that would appeal to kids her age at the ports. I would recommend the Discovery center, which is I believe on deck 17. Here they have everything a kid can ask for to play with, and it is a chance to interact with other kids around their same age. Our daughter loved it, and would get excited every-time we got off the elevator and she realized where we were. 

Overall, from what I have heard from others, the cruise was noticeably devoid of young children compared to other cruises. Our daughter drew attention and collective "awwws" everywhere she went with us on board, and she soaked up all the attention like a sponge. 

I suspect you might be just like I was. Sort of overly freaking out about things before game time. So I get it, but I suspect your little one will be just fine. Kids are far more resilient than we give them credit for. 

9 minutes ago, Maharley said:

Which ship?

This was Discovery Princess, sailing out of Seattle on May 29th. Though I am filling away all of this helpful info posted by others for future reference. While I do not consider it essential to have cigars while on vacation, it is certainly a nice perk that I enjoy. 

Also, one more thing that I forgot to point out earlier, but the selection of cigars at Churchill's on Discovery left much to be desired. Only one side of the humidor was occupied by inventory and selection was hardly what i would call robust. Since I am not a regular cigar smoker I am unsure if the various supply chain and inventory issues effecting other industries has had an impact on cigar manufacturing, but I thought it was worth pointing out. 

7 minutes ago, stuprince said:

First off, appreciate the Monty Python reference!

 

You said test within 48 hours, if I have read the Princess site correctly, if you are vaxed and boosted, you can do it within 72 hours.  

 

 

 I am pretty sure it was 48, but I am not certain. In any event the wife and I went to one of those drive thru places on Saturday, the day before. They gave us useable results in about 10 min or so, they billed my insurance company and that was the end of the story until we got to the cruise terminal where pandemonium ensued. 

My alter ego, Bigus Dickus, did not make an appearance until several hours later, after properly lubricated with scotch. 

12 minutes ago, memoak said:

Cigarettes have never been banned in Churchills. At least not up to 6 years ago when I quit smoking

So is Churchills a lounge on all Princess ships? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I am a noob here. 

Just now, memoak said:

Well that picture was not taken in the casino so I don’t understand

I am saying that I do not know if it was permitted in the Casino or not as I never tried it. The pic was just to show Churchill's 

53 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

This matches what I had read about a Princess ship.  I have to laugh at the Churchill's reference (it sounds like a lovely place to smoke a cigar in the evening) because I've read over and over that cigarettes are not allowed there.  The cigar smokers don't like the smell ... I always wonder how on earth they could smell the cigarettes over that truly horrid cigar smell!! 🙂 

 

Winston Churchill was legendary for his cigar consumption during his life. In the majority of public images of the man he can be seen with his trusty stogies. He developed an affinity for the La Aroma de Cuba variety and received regularly shipments from Cuba up until his death. So it makes sense the lounge would pay homage to the man. As to the smell, my wife hates it and always has, which is part of the reason I partake so rarely, but on a vacation the time seemed right. But yeah, a great deal of cigar snobbery was in play in the lounge, not dissimilar to how some people are with wine. 

57 minutes ago, memoak said:

 

But you cannot smoke cigars in the casino only in Churchills unless Princess has totally changed all their rules

This I can't comment on as I was only in the Casino once for all of 5 min, at the cage with my Wife to collect her Bingo winnings. Though this would certainly make sense. 

we went with the watch, option, which was an additional 30 bucks for my wife and I. My problems with the device onboard aside, this worked perfectly from a wearables perspective. I wear a smart watch on my left wrist 24-7, so I just wore the princess "watch" on the other. 

I am not a frequent cigar smoker, maybe a couple of times a year, but on Discovery Princess I did partake on a couple of occasions. Smoking is permitted in only a few places. The first being in the Casino, and the second I stumbled onto accidentally as I was wandering around. It is an outdoor covered area on the rear of the ship, and I want to say deck 16? Can't recall exactly. It did have waiter service though. 

The best spot was an indoor lounge called Churchill's which was almost hidden, tucked in the back on deck 7. Here they have a large humidor with cigars to purchase, an attendant to cut cigars, give you a light, and fetch drinks, and a much more cozy environment. I smoked a couple of cigars there and after 10 PM all the other cigar smokers migrated to the lounge as well. It was a great spot to have a nightcap, enjoy a cigar, and chat with other guests. Not surprisingly considering the clientele on the cruise, much of the conversations were of the cigar aficionado variety and lots of folks brought their own onboard with them to smoke. 

I just got off the Discovery Princess on Sunday and I must say that the Medallion was one of the more frustrating aspects of the cruise. It seemed to only work intermittently, though my wife's seemed to work just fine. After waiting in line at guest services for an eternity due to frustration, they took it off my band and the employee took it to the back to supposedly "reset" the device. It then worked fine for about a day until I had to disembark and then it refused to turn the reader green yet again. They looked up my room number and let me off the ship anyway, but it was still annoying. 

As a concept, I think the Medallions are a fine idea, and likely represents a nice step forward for the industry, but like anything else in life a novel idea is only valuable if it works. Clearly this is not the case as I spoke with several other people with identical problems. 

Here is a copy of the test I used for boarding of Discovery Princess. Well, actually it was a QR code that was scan-able which directed to this page. 

Though as mentioned the guy looked at it for all of 2 seconds at most, as I then handed him my wife's phone with the same thing. 

Thanks for the valuable advice. Alaska was actually our first ever cruise. I joined this site to post my review of Discovery Princess (which is still pending) but we had such a blast I have already booked our next cruise for 2023. Booked it literally the day after we got back 

6 hours ago, nini said:

I am so sorry It was so chaotic for you and everyone else. Our check in at Southampton on the Emerald on May 9th was very quick and detailed. The clerk first asked for was our covid test and vaccination records. That was the most important thing on her mind.

Honestly, In the grand scope it was not that big of a deal. As annoying as boarding was it’s amazing how quickly the memory of the encounter fades from your perspective once you actually get on board and get into full vacation mode. 
 

Discovery Princess is a gorgeous ship, and we were blessed with some pretty amazing weather during our ports too. 

I had to deal with this issue recently, as we just returned from Seattle after sailing on Discovery Princess on the 29th to Alaska. You can submit your vax card beforehand via the "ocean ready" app months before cursing, and we did, but the actual test you need 48 hours prior to sailing if you do not want to be fee gouged at the pier for 80 bucks (though it appears someone has made a nice little side hustle business out of this process). 

There were dozens of places near our home that would give us a test on the spot for nothing. And since all Princess requires is an antigen test, you should be able to knock that one out before cruising no problem and with limited hassle. 

Though I will say this much, on the day we arrived in Seattle the additional time required to check the added documentation turned the check in process into an absolute nightmare. There was no green line, blue line, or any line. Just a mass of people corralled into various winding and roped off lines. You try sitting in a line in a chaotic and noisy environment for well over an hour with a 3 year old with you. It sucked. Bad. I was ready for about 10 cocktails before I even got on the ship. Though while we are on the subject of our daughter, kids under 5 are omitted from any Covid requirements, with no exemption required. 

Staff members checking your documentation are not at all discriminating. They just want you gone and out of their face ASAP. I probably could have photoshopped a complete fabrication and marked my name as Dr Bigus Dickus and he would not have noticed or cared. Just an FYI. 

On the cruise itself, pretty much nobody other than staff members were wearing masks. 

40 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic, SupaFly 🙂

Why thank you kind Sir! I wish I would have discovered this forum prior to my first cruise as opposed to now after its conclusion. However, I got back from Seattle from my Princess Cruise on Sunday and I have already booked my next one on for 6 days in 2023 on Carnival Paradise out to Tampa to the Western Caribbean. So yeah, I would say I have now officially caught the bug.