CruizinSusan70

The OP obviously had set time dining. If you wish for a table by a window and you have YTD, as long as you get to the podium early and a window table is available, it should not be a problem.

That will only happen in fantasy land. NCL is certainly doing something right with how their newest ships in the Prima Class set booking records with the Prima and the Viva. They also have 4 more in the pipeline coming out in 24-27, which is 3 more than Carnival has coming out.

Do you realize the potential of the amount of people within a three hour drive radius of NYC?

Which can be found at the new Latitudes Bar on the Celebration.

Can't make that blanket statement. It all depends upon the comparison of ship to ship, date to date and cabin to cabin. And of course a bottom line comparison after factoring in Cheers, airfare, specialty dining discounts, etc. If you're a bare bones cruise only at the cheapest price possible consumer, then Carnival or MSC are usually the best deals. If you factor in the peripherals, the bottom line price can get a little murky.

It doesn't really matter how many sailings you have with them. They are a big business and the bottom line is that they could not care less about you. Their marketing strategy for years has been to cultivate new blues and turn current blues into reds. If they truly cared about keeping you around then they would have a better thank you for your loyalty by tweaking their VIFP program. What you get from Carnival as you move up the line is an absolute joke compared to what you get from Royal and NCL.

After 40 cruises in the Caribbean we're the exact opposite. Primarily cruise on the newest ships that various lines offer or a class that we have not sailed on yet such as RCI's Quantum, which we'll do in April. Choosing based on ports will be a deciding factor once we hit areas we have not cruised yet, such as everything across the pond.

Not all reservations on future Carnival cruises have non refundable deposits. Currently have 15 cruises booked (5 on Carnival) and only 4 have non refundable deposits (0 on Carnival).

Only you can decide. If you want a relaxed experience that is more adult oriented, then the Regal would be the choice. It's an eight year old ship that went into dry dock five years ago. You sailed on the Royal Princess four years ago. If you had a good time, then the Regal should be your choice if you wish to save money and cruise on something you're familiar with. If you wish to pay the extra to cruise on the Celebration, then stick with what you have. You can always keep the Sun Princess in the back of your mind since it will be coming out in 2024 and will be Princess's first ship based on the Excel platform.

The Beyond, their newest, would have been my top choice, followed by the first two in the Edge Class, the Apex and the Edge. Have sailed four different classes on them over the past 27 years on 7 different ships. Comparable to Princess.

Is it a free upgrade or will it cost you money? Also, you're gaining cabin space with the upgrade, but losing balcony space. Regarding noise, you'll have the Havana Bar below your cabin, so you could hear music at nighttime.

Do you really think they care? If you don't like the assignment then you'll have to cancel and pick a different date that you may get an acceptable cabin.

Jeff, when is the surgery scheduled to get your tongue removed that is currently planted firmly in your cheek?

How did you get a freebie since you've never sailed on them? And which ship is it? There's a difference between the M Class, S Class, and Edge Class.

If you have a 1000 limit on a cc, 200 leaves you with 800. Since I will infer that these people are not flying, 800 should be more than enough money for a hotel for one or possibly two nights, money for gas and money for meals for a family.

What's the big deal? A $200.00 hold on your cc that never goes through should not be a problem.

Regarding the refund process with gift card monies left on your account, things have changed. Carnival used to send you a refund in the form of a plastic gift card via two day FedEx. They now send you an egift card via email the afternoon you disembark.

No pitchers, no tubes, no buckets, no fish bowls, no oversized drinks at pig n anchor, no floaters. But you do have 15 drinks to enjoy over the course of a day.

To the OP...if you're going to use your laundry perk, be advised that the wash is done in hot water and dryed on high heat so don't clean anything that could shrink.

Since you've never cruised on RCI then you're not familiar with their dynamic pricing policy. Regarding shore excursions, drink packages, specialty dining, and wifi, basically all of the peripheral purchases, the pricing is not set in stone. It fluctuates depending upon which ship you're on, when you sail and how long your cruise is. They are the only cruise line to have this policy. The best pricing of the year on many of these items is usually during their week long Black Friday sale, but as usual YMMV.

Cucina was a really great value when it first debuted, only 12 bucks. Still is at 18, especially with the tomahawk pork chop. The choices, entrees and sizes have changed on the Excel Class, but it is included as part of the MDR.

Carnival logic...🤔

Fully aware of that, but the overwhelming majority of families that would have unruly kids go to early set time dining so their precious little darlings can eat early. Over our 28 days on the MG this year did not have any problems regarding this situation since we had YTD. Maybe we were just lucky and hopefully we'll avoid any unruly kids over our future 33 nights on the Celebration.

I wasn't talking about being stuck at a table with families during early set dining, I was talking about being stuck in a dining room with families. Even if we're at a table for two, adjacent tables with unruly kids can ruin the experience. For this reason we have never had early seating on Carnival, was always late back in the day before YTD was an option. And I am fully aware that the YTD option we prefer limits us to 2 ships, since at this point the rest of the fleet is currently in our rear view mirror and all five of our upcoming Carnival sailings over the next 14 months will be on the Celebration.

Or you can go to the set time dining room and be stuck eating early with all of the families or stuck eating late when you don't get done till 915 or later. No thank you, give me YTD with the option of the MDR, Cucina del Capitano, Chibang or the Pig n Anchor, all on my schedule as soon as we check in on the app. And if by chance it's a 20 minute wait, that is why there are multiple bars for a pre-dinner drink.