travelplus

On 1/21/2022 at 10:55 AM, LHARTWICK said:

Same here for sure!!!  Only exception for us is I wish the testing protocol would end at some point, but it's probably here to stay for a while. I chuckled out loud at "We are not going to try to predict when this current situation will change" in the notice I received.   Hands up - we give!!!  🤷‍♀️  Bless their hearts!  I do appreciate all the lines are doing to just survive at this point.  They're in a tough spot.  We plan to keep our current reservations in place.  I'm sure quite a few will opt for the refund.  

How about move back the protocol to 3-5  days for vaccinated  and boosted passengers after Omicron pending no other variant exists and offer a $100 OBC thank you for following policies.

I am now even more confident about my Feb 26th Panorama Cruise. Heck if people cancel it would mean less crowds and I won't hopefully have to contend with the crowd who does not support the policies.

Also if no one is in the cabin next to me I will ask my Cabin steward or Guest Services to open and remove the balcony partition for a larger balcony and see about bringing a lounger 

I hope casinos are non smoking as a result. 

On 1/21/2022 at 10:05 AM, groundloop said:

 

Not at all surprising.  I don't mind, if I need to get tested and mask up to get on a ship so be it (especially if it means I can go to the casino without smelling the stench of stale smoke).

Agree 300 percent! We don't need the smoke from the casino at least not me.

The front public  decks on various floors.

On 1/18/2022 at 6:38 PM, sanmarcosman said:

Yes, last week I was aboard for the Jan. 8th sailing and we did the original itinerary and we arrived in Cabo at 10am and departed at 7pm which was very nice. Getting into Cabo at 630am when the town is fast asleep and the last tender from the dock departs at 130pm is no fun.

 

Find me a Bar that opens at 6:30 AM🤣 Please don't judge me but whenever I fly early in the morning I visit the airline lounge and kick back with a tequila .

On 1/18/2022 at 7:08 PM, Markmom18 said:

Yesterday I bought 2 Cooking Classes onboard.  Used a gift card.  My hubby is golfing in Mazatlan. So I signed up & added another class for another day. Switching the itinerary means I need to call & cancel. More wait time on the phone … sigh …  😒

 

The class offered for Mazatlan is now cupcakes 🧁!  
🤣🤣  no thanks —  have made ‘a jillion +’  in my lifetime. 
 

🛳🛳

Bobbi

Do not cancel just yet Bobbi. I was told by resolutions to wait about a week or so and then call in. They are fixing everything.

I've booked a non Carnival.excursion in Mazatlan for $50 . A small group tour of the City with lunch. They are totally on the ball with the itinerary.change. This port I was not too happy with what Carnival offers and if I do not like the offerings in other ports I will gladly use them. I paid $10 extra for insurance and they will refund me for any reason .

They guarantee us to get us back to the ship or they will pay us to catch up..I do not think I can name it here but I am sure you can find them.

9 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

I got a call two days before our cruise and saw the 305 area code.  It was Carnival offering a Spa Suite for $350.  We had a Spa balcony booked and thought "why not".  Loved it!

At that price there is no deliberation.

On 1/17/2022 at 3:29 PM, pinklucky61 said:

Got offered an upgrade too, but we have balcony cabin next to family. Darn family!😆

Glad you could take advantage of it.

Family can walk off the extra pizza if they were really desperate to visit my upgraded suite! I would move and be like sorry folks🤣

I am on the Feb 26th Cruise and all looks good to me

5 hours ago, jedishan said:

Everyone complains that it’s a shorter day.  It’s an earlier day, not a shorter day. It’s still about 8.5-9 hours in port.

I love the earlier day. Here is why:

After 3:00 PM we have over 30 hours until we get to Los Angeles to party and as I do not have to be at LAX on the day of departure a late sleep time is not really detrimental. I get time to see sailaway then I can stay up late. The next evening I have Cuchina Del Capitano maybe somewhere around San Diego area. I would love a delayed arrival into Long Beach as I have an overnight Hotel at LAX because of my flight schedule change.

20 minutes ago, dcsham said:

We had the original itinerary on the January 8 sailing, with Puerto Vallarta last. One thing I noticed on the last night heading back to Long Beach was a strong smell of fuel oil aft in the Havana Bar while we were under full speed. Pretty unusual from my experience. Maybe the engines weren’t handling the full steam very well. 

Oh fiddlesticks that can't be too good on a new ship.  Just imagine if it were your $95,000 brand new Porsche at full speeds!

2 hours ago, smellywax said:

Didn’t someone say they had the original port itinerary a week ago? For our December 24th it was Cabo last just like it has been but I thought I read here that a couple weeks ago or maybe even a week ago, it was back to Cabo first they went??? We plan on doing a redo and ours also has Cabo last just like our December cruise.

Cabo is at the end as of now 

Looking forward to my Panorama trip next month. They just flipped flopped the itinerary and all my pre purchased Shore Excursions do not line up. I am sure it will be fixed.

1 hour ago, jakers said:

The ports have been reversed since October due to propulsion problems. They probably thought that they would have the problem repaired by your cruise. The only thing that is different between our October 16th cruise and our upcoming January 29th cruise is that they have extended the time in Cabo by one hour. We are now departing at 3pm. I agree that two sea days at the start of the cruise is better because it gives you more time to decompress and enjoy the ship. Take advantage of the Sea Day Brunch. Once they rearrange the ship tours to the new schedule, then the available ship tours will show back up on the planner.

Excellent.. Yes I love the idea of the leisurely  Sea Day Brunches  For me the itinerary change is actually a welcome treat unlike other itineraries. Also Puerto Vallarta gets extended by an hour.     I wish Carnival would have just stuck with this itinerary from Day 1 of the Panorama.

Just a few minutes ago I saw that they reversed the Ports for my Panorama Cruise. I love the new itinerary with two sea days, three port days and then a sea day before coming back to LA. For me  i really do not care the order. What I see in my Planner is that all my shore excursions are messed up meaning that they do not coincide with the days. I imagine that over the next couple of days things will even out .I do not see any shore excursions in the planner. Anyone with prior experience on a flipped itinerary? I have an independent tour in Mazatlan that will switch out the day if its available or refund my money. 

Also  I was able to move my stateroom up to Deck 9 Forward about 7 rooms down from the "Secrete Deck" and staircase up to Deck 10. I  will be standing there on sail in and sailouts(: . I love my new location and its easy access to the Lido Deck, Pizza, Blue Iguana and easy to get down to dining and up to the Serenity Deck.

I just renewed my Global Entry for another five years and have the new card in my wallet. When I arrive into Long Beach do I just show the Customs Agent my Global Entry Card or do we go through the Biometric screener?  Also can this card be used instead of my Passport? I mean I don't mind carrying my Passport as they say you never know if you need it to fly home in an emergency. 

Thanks

2 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

Good point!  Can't answer that, I guess it was one way the virus spread as quick as it did. Even more so now with others refusing to test regardless of whom they infect.

But we do know that ship had Cognac onboard.

No testing in 2019. I am all for testing,masking,vaccinating and boosting. If a test was available to me then I would have taken it.

Vulnerable and elderly passengers needs to reconsider cruising or travelling especially now during Omicron. 

Remember to consult with your Doctor.

. I care so much about our elderly and immune compromised individuals .

I was sailing back with my Father from Barcelona to Tampa on the 2nd leg of our B2B Med Cruise .

Got the worst most painful sore throat, coughing and sneezing. I thought it would clear up. It was painful as heck but I still managed to enjoy the Diamond Happy Hour and Drinks.

As a responsible cruiser I informed Guest Services as my Father caught it too and other passengers .They sent us to Medical when it did not improve.

I asked for a ZPack,Breathing Treatment and Cough Medicine. Theh did not give my Father a Zpack. No quarintine as at the time we did not know about COVID. I sure has heck enjoyed my nightly Cognac. I did not lose my taste. I fotced myself to eat . I have a high tolerance for pain. 

I went to sleep early at night but did not miss any shore excursion.

I have not gotten sick or tested positive with any COVID variant ,travelled to Vegas in October 2020, went to Hawaii and Israel this past year.

I am fully boosted and Vaccinated. 

If what I had was COVID I hate to say I enjoyed myself and could not fathom that in just a few months people would be stuck on cruise ships.

Man that aft view of us leaving Lisbon with a painful  sore throat and a Cognac will be a lasting memory.

On 1/9/2022 at 7:11 AM, ddled said:

if the symptoms are as mild as most report including my family, I would have to be dying before I would report my self. I can quarantine myself in my cabin, and at least have that. I imagine the true numbers of people positive on each ship are way higher than reported. Not a good scene.

Exactly right. Even the CDC says not to go to the ER for mild symptoms for testing.

On my November 2019 Royal Caribbean  sailing I got sick with a bad sore throat that did not clear up. It could have been COVID as it. was from Europe to the US . After awhile I went to the Medical Center and got a ZPack,Breathing Treatment and Cough Syrup.all for $150. No quartintine 😁. Other people were sick. I drank Cognac every night at the Diamond Happy Hour.

15 minutes ago, RWolver672 said:

 

We prefer the breakfast buffet over the MDR for several reasons.  More choices, more relaxed, not having to wait for you food to be delivered.  Take how little or how much you want instead of what they  give you.

I  am the polar opposite. I will go to the Buffet for some pastry and the rest in the MDR. SeaDay brunch is where its at along with balcony room service,Guys Burgers and Blue Iguana.

I just wish there was a way to get Breakfast Burritos delivered to my balcony.

1 hour ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Not nearly to the extent that Carnival has.

 

And that "unlimited open bar" was beer, house wine, and a limited selection of their bottom shelf liquors for 3-4ish hours each evening. On the Royal board most actually people prefer the replacement of 4-6 daIly drink vouchers to use anytime, anywhere (including private islands) for any drink up to $13 over the daily happy hour fight for swill in the diamond lounge.

 

Carnival would have cut the free drinks entirely or slow-rolled to some practically meaningless benefit like the Past Guest Party turned the designed-to-fail Fun Farewell Party turned here's a bottle of water for your loyalty.

 

Carnival is worse than Royal in terms of loyalty. If you are Elite on Princess you cannot status match. I am Diamond on Royal and Elite on Celebrity. While Diamond Plus would be cool I am totally happy with Four Free beverages loaded daily and Happy Hour. On Celebrity we get Elite Happy Hour,Daily Coffee House Breakfast with Mimosas and Bloody Marys, Elite Happy Hour with unlimite

d drinks,free laundry.

We also get Gold MLife anc starting in February resort fees are waived for direct bookings. 

Why oh why cant I get 29 nights credit on Carnival for sailing 2 weeks on Cunard and Princess. It costs absolutely nothing to extend Red or Platinum .

The cost of Royal is not that much more . Come on Carnival you cut bacon, no free Champagne on the Captain's Night or Farewell party. The least you can do us give us free beer at Red Frog!

I status matched Hyatt to Explorist and on MSC thanks to Royal.

I think Carnival needs to rethink loyalty. Their benefits were created by some AI robot..,2 free bottles of water that can be had for $4. Not free juice or Coke that Emerald gets on Royal? No discounts on laundry. Self laundry yea right like I want to work on vacation Seems good. on paper but in reality I use the send your laundry service.

How about waiving Room Service fees for all Oceanview and above cabins for all VIFP members? 

Let's be "Kosher" shall we? LOL