CruizinSusan70

You can order a second entree at the steakhouse, but I think there's a $20.00 up charge attached.

Better watch out Tom, I've gotten ripped for saying that the Princess buffet is inferior to X since they have no cooked to order items like the Edge Class ships do at lunch time.

Hello all. This is Susan & Gregg from Southern NJ. By the time this cruise rolls around, it'll be my DH's 30th on Carnival and we'll redeem his milestone bonus, which is 25% OBC based on the cruise only (no taxes) of his portion of the fare. You earn this once you've sailed on Carnival 25 times and you can redeem it on any cruise afterwards starting with your 25th. There are subsequent milestones at 50, 75 & 100. Looking forward to sailing on a ship that is unlike anything else in the fleet until it's sister ship debuts on the west coast. Prior to this sailing, we would have sailed on either the Mardi Gras or the Celebration for our last 9 Carnival cruises. So it'll be different sailing on a Vista Class ship equivalent again. This will be my DH's 64th cruise and my 47th.

In general, at the steakhouse you could order an appetizer, a salad, a soup, an entree, 2 sides and a dessert. If you wish to exchange salad or soup for another app, that's ok.

Yes, we each have two credits. Princess will be getting an extra 8.50 plus 18% from us for the agnolotti I will eat. The servers are not going to be hovering over us to see who eats what. We are entitled to 4 prix fix meals and on top of this we will pay for 4 entrees. Princess will be getting extra money from us with each visit. I am not expecting any problems with this at all. Besides, post 634 stated that sharing was allowed on board.

Surprised to hear that. The lone time we were in the YC back in 2018 on the Seaside there were YC butlers with signs that escorted YC clients back onto the ship and we totally avoided the massively slow lines to get back onboard.

That's a 20% gratuity or $2.40 per chocolate chip cookie. Hopefully it goes over with a thud. We're just worried about the almond and chocolate croissants.

Works for us. My DH will get the 3 course four times, and I'll get the basic 8.00 pizza. Of course things could change in the next 11.5 months, but if they don't our solution is what I stated above.

I doubt it, some smart a*s barracuda probably stole it from him.

We currently have 5 booked on Carnival, 2 different B2B's on the Celebration and 10 days on the Venezia next May. The cruise after that is when my DH finally hits Diamond and our Carnival bookings with be sporadic at that point. We like to cruise on new builds and Carnival may not have another one till 2030.

Since you prefer the suites Tom, that's a cool $200.00 extra in OBC.

That's where we will disagree Jimbo, We think the Plus package on Princess is the best thing value wise. For 60 bucks, we get everything I mentioned in my previous post. We don't care about wifi, but Cheers, tips on Cheers and regular grats on Carnival would run 86.80 pp. So we're saving 375 by cruising on Princess with the Plus package versus cruising on Carnival. We like the Excel Class ships and we'll be on the Venezia next year for 10 days, but with no new ships in the pipeline for the next 5-7 years, they don't have much to offer to us in the short term in the way of new offerings. We'll see how the reviews are for the Jubilee, but the one lone time we sailed out of Galveston was not our favorite since the airports were far away and the shuttles were expensive.

We did a total of 25 days on the Prima, 11 last year and 14 this year. Liked it very much. But since we're not thrilled about having to embark from San Juan on the Viva, we'll wait until the Aqua comes out and probably sail on her in 2026 from whichever port in FLA she'll embark from. She should also be slightly larger and that will enhance the experience quite a bit.

Carnival charges 42.00 for their steakhouse. RCI charges 65 for Chops, before their "discount". If you get a black friday 30% discount at Chops, you're still paying 45.50, which is more than what Carnival charges on an everyday basis. You'd need a 35% discount at Chops to be the same price as what Carnival charges every day. The price point on the drinks package on our Wonder OTS sailing next year is based upon a starting price point of 105.00. Even if we got a 40% discount, which never happens, it would be 63 plus 20% for grats. Cheers is 60 plus 18% for grats every day on every ship if purchased ahead of time. This is why we dislike sailing on RCI because of their games. If it wasn't for the upgraded entertainment value they have, we would never sail on them occasionally like we do.

Carnival is straight forward with their peripheral stuff. You get a 5 dollar discount on Cheers if you purchase it ahead of time, but all of the other stuff is the same no matter what ship you're on or when you sail. On the other hand, RCI has their dynamic pricing policy which fluctuates. The "sales" that you see are all nonsense. You may get their best pricing when they have their sales at Black Friday, but in general it's all a game with them. They are the only cruise line to operate that way.

RCI has a dynamic pricing policy, unlike any other cruise line. What they charge for excursions, drink packages, specialty dining and all other peripheral stuff is determined by the ship you're on and when you cruise. If you're on an older rust bucket during shoulder season, you may get a reasonable rate. If you're on a newer ship during a popular sailing time, you'll pay through the nose for the stuff. At Black Friday they may have some sales to ease the pain a bit, but it's all based on supply and demand. They need to recoup the billions bled during the shutdown and we as cruisers take the brunt of it. We are on the Wonder of the Seas in April. The waterpark is available at a 5% discount @ 141/day. The Coco Beach Club is a 5% discount @ 236/day. The 3 night dining package is 20% discounted @ 132. And their beverage package is 20% discounted @ 84 per day + 20% gratuity added. We had a Coco Beach reservation on an Oasis sailing that got cancelled because of Covid. We had paid 65 pp. The fact that it's now over 3 times as much is beyond highway robbery.

We sure couldn't and because of the major price increase in the past 5 years with YC accommodations, MSC is now in our rear view mirror. Princess at this point is our main cruise line and we're really looking forward to the Sphere Class ships (Sun & Star). They are based on the same platform as the Excel Class, yet will have 2000 less people on board.

We did Alaska for the first time this year on the Majestic Princess for 14 days. Liked it so much we're going back in 2025 for a 7/9 day S2S with a day off in between. Discovery Princess and NCL Joy.

Glad to see that you took the blinders off and saw what the competition is offering. Many Carnival devotees only cruise on Carnival and never consider any other line. It's their vacation money of course, but there is great value in the packages offered by HAL and Princess.

You're saving 300 bucks pp on the price of the packages over a 7 day cruise. That gives you a lot of flexibility price wise. Many cruisers keep blinders on and don't know what Carnival's competition offers. Was just trying to educate.

As has been reported, check in is at the 14 day mark. Platinums and Diamonds are at the 16 day mark. Now this is for check in, not embarkation. Check in could start at 930 or 1000. Depending upon how quickly the previous cruise zeroes out will determine what time that embarkation starts. It could be as early as about 1045, but it's usually 1100-1115. Wedding parties, suite passengers, Diamonds, Platinums all go on first. Then FTTF and then general boarding.

Variety is the spice of life. If you normally get Cheers, for the price you pay including gratuities, you can also get wifi and regular cabin grats and still save money on Princess. Their plus package is 60 bucks a day. Gratuities are 16, wifi is 15, so thats 31, leaving you with 29 for their drinks package including the tips. The same package on Carnival would cost 103 (Cheers, tips, wifi, gratuities)

The Ruby Princess is doing 11 eleven day cruises and 1 twenty two day cruise to Alaska from SF in the 2025 season.

Princess, Holland America and NCL are all open for 2025 Alaskan season. Just booked a 7 day on the Discovery Princess out of Seattle, followed up with a 9 day on the NCL Joy, with a day in between to visit my daughter. Princess and Holland America have been renowned for being the best lines for Alaska.

First of all, day one out of NYC you would not be paying for it. And even if you have 3 port days, you're back on the ship by 5 and if you stay up till say 1100, that gives you 6 hours of drinking. If you have 1 drink per hour, you're ahead of the game. And if you bring a cooler with you, you get unopened beers the two days before HMC and keep them in your frig. You then get ice and take them to HMC with you. Problem solved. So, in actuality, it's not a waste of money.