jsglow

Is your $301 per person? For a 7 night cruise that's $4214. We fly to every cruise and have never been close to that apart from exotics like Europe. If you made me guess, our all in for a standard Miami 7 night might be around $3000+. I've included our cruise fare/expenses, our usual onboard spend, our excursions in essentially every port and our transportation including air/hotel. We get zero casino comps. We typically stay in an OV if anyone cares and we avoid holidays and summer.

The haters will always hate @BlerkOne. We know who they are. I actually think Carnival has upped their game quite nicely since Emeril Lagasse signed on.

Carnival is doing fine. That said, I do believe there will be softening demand over the next few years. The post Covid sugar high certainly couldn't last forever. The good news is that the 2020 storm was weathered. Carnival will continue to pay down debt and has the confidence to expand and maintain/upgrade its fleet.

Carnival does 'dance the ships' occasionally. We actually loved Venezia but could see a scenario where perhaps Vista or Horizon replaces her for a couple seasons in NYC. That strategy does allow Carnival an opportunity of offer a differentiated Italian product in FLA year round.

And as mentioned above, the primary purpose for dry docks isn't to spruce up the ship necessarily. Sure that can be done, especially for large scale public facing alterations. Splendor got 2 new food venues, all new carpet. replaced upholstery, AND all the necessary soundness/safety things customers never notice.

Not really true. Many have posted pics from Splendor where essentially all of the public space carpeting was replaced as well as all of the seat covers in both MDRs while in Singapore. So it just depends. As indicated above, 'routine maintenance' freshens up a ship, but doesn't make it brand new. It's also true that many cosmetics can be done while underway so modest sections of carpet, basic painting, etc.

Correct. But the decision to leave San Juan had zero to do with Covid. Already baked in by the time the bug hit.

100% correct. And some of us also appreciate that any challenge is professionally solved with one phone call. I'd never book 'alone'. (And mine earned her pay twice on Sunday during Covid.)

Yes, they are available upon request.

Right in Carnival's policy is the strong recommendation that you bring a notarized letter authorizing them to travel with you. Doesn't matter if it's not routinely asked for. I would never leave home without that. So easy to do. https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=3409 I was not able to find the actual form on the Carnival website but I bet someone will and post it shortly. There are many available online authorizing both travel and medical care.

I fully support a program where VIFP lifetime points can be sunsetted if the individual doesn't somewhat regularly cruise.

I would actually like it. Not sure how often I'd bid but as someone once said, choice is good.

Different classes of ships with Vista being larger and newer. I'd sail on either but would certainly make my decision about itinerary/duration/price. Also Magic is out of Miami while Vista sails from Port Canaveral. That would influence me too depending on airfare, etc. I do prefer Miami, personally.

@MistyRo76, I think I'd do Bermuda. Don't get me wrong, the Mex Riv is great. But it's way better if you can get to the 7 nights ports rather than stopping two days at Cabo. That said, the 6 nighter is usually pretty cost competitive.

You can do it either way. I personally always pull it up from the App but one can also scan a QR on the table. I actually like the fact that it's on the App for the entire voyage. Sometimes I'll look ahead a day or two and that might influence my decision for tonight. Back in the 'good old days', we'd wander by the MDR during the day to read it outside the entrance. But that didn't give us a clue about tomorrow.

So for any of you Princess fans out there, we have twice gotten Emerald Deck obstructed; once it was an OV. The other time it was an Obstructed Balc. We thought the cabins were great, especially at the price point. We've got to try them on a Spirit Class sometime.

So tell me about those 4Ks. I think I'd like to try one sometime. We're typically Deck #1 Starboard folks on any Spirit.

That gives me an idea Elaine. I may walk down there, knock on their door, and introduce myself so we can compare stories. My hope is it's some young couple taking a much deserved vacation and 'thrilled' that they were able to upgrade from their INT to this 'wonderful' PT. That would make me very happy. 😁

I can certainly see that but the ONLY way to get a Porthole is to book it specifically by cabin number. Said another way, there's no such thing as a GTY PT or 1A, etc. That's not saying that a person booking a INT GTY couldn't be assigned there as an upgrade. Still, practically every time we have had a PT, we've received one or more UpSell offers so there's no doubt those PTs are always in demand.

We get coffee with dessert every night, probably have 150 days at sea in the MDR post Covid, and have never once had an issue. Now it is true that the dining room staff has been trimmed since, say 10 years ago. I discussed the specifics with a very senior waiter some cruises back but have forgotten the details. What it basically amounted to was a certain number of seats being covered by 5 rather than 6 staff members.

I want to add one more tiny tidbit. When the agent called, she had multiple cabins on 3 different decks on a list for us to choose from. We went down the list and I picked our beloved 'bowling alley'. So I'm guessing GTY assignments were not nearly complete.

So kindly understand that my purpose for posting this was that it CAN happen in unique circumstances but I believe should be considered highly unusual. A couple of facts about our cruise and the situation: - sold out; no online availability - my call came from the 'upsell department' in Miami. - the word 'complimentary' was used in the very first sentence. I picked up on that immediately. - the offer was entirely telephonic; there was no indication of any offer via my online portal. - last week, we received an 'Upsell' call (that was decent) that we declined. - I would describe our Upgrade as 2+ from Porthole to an Extended Balc. My sense is that all Upselling was previously completed and that cabin assignments to GTYs might have been in process. I'm also speculating that this particular cruise might have a very limited number of Diamonds. So somewhere a decision was made to offer the cabin to us rather than reward a gambling comp or surprise a GTY purchaser. Hope that provides some additional clarity. It's never happened to us before.

We got one today; a big one. Cruise is later this month. Not going to share any details to 'protect' the Beards. Do note that we are not casino comp folks. Honored they called. I guess loyalty coupled with last minute availability matters. 🛳

As others have indicated, by going over Christmas you should expect a full ship populated mostly with families not so different from your own. In literally hundreds of days on Carnival ranging anywhere from a 4 night Bahamas run to 21 days Europe, I've never witnessed a single 'horror story' alleged in popular social media nor have I ever been served a single 'inedible' meal onboard. (You'll see both breathlessly described by dissatisfied cruisers.) Personally of your options, I'd choose the 6 night Firenze. She's a beautiful ship and you'll have a great time. Have you possibly considered the 7 night 12/21 Panorama run? She is essentially the non-Italian themed sister ship to Firenze and somewhat more representative of the Carnival brand overall. I haven't price compared but that cruise gets you to superior ports beyond Cabo and Ensenada; a true Mexican Riviera cruise. Enjoy whatever you decide.

My recollection is that if you put in Port of Miami various terminal options appear in a drop-down box or something quite similar.