angelsfort

and I'm confused about why you feel the need to comment on a thread that is obviously not for you. If you're not interested in participating in a gift exchange then don't participate. Pure and simple. the gift exchange is not a "be all end all" type of event... its simply a fun addition. Not all gifts are going to be good and not all of them will be bad but you go into it already knowing that and you set your expectations accordingly. Even for the gifts that I wasn't super excited about, it was still fun to come back to the cabin to find a gift waiting. Not everyone has the same kind of budget... we set our gift exchange with a minimum $ but no max $, so everyone could get whatever they wanted. Some obviously went above and beyond with their gifts and others went to the dollar store and filled their cart with things that "fit the bill" - and again, you sign up for the exchange KNOWING that there will likely be both types of people in your group. And as Momof3cruisers stated, it's also fun to walk around the different decks and see the door decorations and creative ideas other folks have come up with.

I'd be interested in seeing where you got these "stats" from... where did you get the information that Carnival is the industry leader in numbers of people jumping overboard?

We did a gift exchange on our last cruise... some of the items we received were: (we had 14 cabins participating and most chose to gift to all cabins) small hand sanitizer bottles little glass bottles with beach sand and sea shells inside framed image of the ship we were on (was a holographic frame with ship name cut in cardstock around it) duck keychains rubber ducks plastic cups with lids/straws and our names in vinyl on them chapsticks (many... in multiple flavors from different cabins) fridge magnets from the city/town the gift giver was from drink coozies glow sticks (bracelets, necklaces, etc) sunglasses (in carnival colors) USB charging port shaped like a chili pepper night lights mini-towel animals (made from baby washcloths) letter initial resin keychains (the first initial of each cabin participant) small sketch book with colored pencils bottle of cajun seasoning from one of our New Orleans participants (YES!) Carnival pen / pencil set ginger tea bags very strong hook magnets (in carnival colors) for the cabin walls/doors candy spiral notebook with pencil yellow highlighter I'm pretty sure that I'm forgetting some stuff (and if I think of it, I'll come back in and add more to the list!)

seriously! This world is going to be filled with a bunch of people who have NO immune systems because they've used so much hand sanitizer and lysol to kill every living cell around them... their bodies will have no chance of ever building up any immunities to germs. I'm just waiting for the reports to come out about how eating hand sanitizer has harmed their organs (cuz if you have "washed" your hands with sanitizer before you eat, you ARE eating that hand sanitizer!) on the subject of hand sanitizer, did you know that it DOESN'T kill all the germs? Here's some info direct from the CDC's website! WASH YOUR HANDS PEOPLE! Hand Sanitizer and Wipes. Soap and water remove certain germs that hand sanitizers don't kill, including germs that cause diarrhea such as norovirus, Cryptosporidium, and Clostridioides difficile. Soap and water also remove harmful chemicals like pesticides and heavy metals.

simple solution folks... when you go to get your own water, bring an alcohol wipe and wipe down the spout of the dispenser... chances are they didn't touch the INSIDE of the dispenser with their cup so you're good. seriously - it's your own responsibility to protect yourself. They aren't going to be able to police every single thing on board and you need to take ownership of your own safety. Wash your hands before you eat (yes, wash them after you get your food too - you're touching the same tongs & serving spoons as everyone else is... )

before I give an answer... I'd like to know what the "bonus points" can be redeemed for? 🤣

not me rushing off to find this thread about Guys fries...

We just cruised on the Liberty a few weeks ago and had a dry erase board on our door... every morning I'd update the board with a new question for folks. Usually by the end of the night, the board was full with all sorts of silliness. It was awesome! We also had extra strong hooks that we stuck to the doorframe and hung keychains on them for folks to grab (amazingly, they disappeared slowly... we didn't have anyone just grab them all !!)

the first one that comes to mind, for me, is going to Port Canaveral just before cruising started back up again and watching one of our beloved ships come into port and dock. It was only getting fuel, no passengers but just seeing that ship got me so emotional and excited. There was still hope that things would return back to "normal" and we would cruise again. (and we did!!) the second one is my favorite... when my daughter was maybe 9 or 10, we did the "Stingray City" excursion in one of our ports (I can't recall which one, at this point) and we took this small(ish) boat out to the sand bank they called "stingray city". about 15 minutes into the journey out there, we went through a squall - violent winds, water whipping up everywhere. Everyone and everything on board got completely soaked and we were terrified that the boat was going to capsize (it didn't). My daughter was holding on for dear life and I was holding on to HER to make sure she didn't get rocked /tipped out of the boat... I had a death grip on one of the railings with my other hand and was getting bashed by a buoy. It lasted maybe 5 minutes (if that) but it felt like an eternity! We came out the other side of the squall and everyone looked shell-shocked as they pulled out their now soaking wet cameras and cell phones, their towels and change of clothes for after they swam. We made it to Stingray City and had SO MUCH FUN that all of the excitement from our trip there was completely forgotten... my daughter and I were fortunate, we'd left our phones in our cabin and only brought our water cameras (designed to be under water), we didn't bring towels cuz we figured we'd dry off as we cruised back to the ship. it's one of our fondest memories and favorite stories to tell!

Wow. This was a fun thread to read through! I am shocked that people still believe ANYTHING that is reported in the media anymore. They report whatever gets them ratings... it doesn't have to be the truth!! (and more often than not, ISN'T) And yet there are so many that just say "baaaaa" 🐏 and take everything reported as truth. (do your own research people!)

my point was in direct response to the comment from dolphinsfan246 where they said "Supply and demand. Mardi Gras has way more rooms to fill, and a lot more competition in Port Canaveral. Liberty doesn’t have much competition in the 7 day market from NOLA, and less rooms to fill. I’ve learned over the years you can generally get better deals on the bigger ships because they have more rooms to sell." was adding to it- that the Liberty can charge more because they no longer have the same competition in NOLA that they had in Port Canaveral. Mardi Gras will still have that competition and therefor needs to lower their prices a bit to compete with the other ships / lines that sail out of PC.

the Liberty is changing home ports in December 2024 - she's going to start sailing out of New Orleans. so that takes the competition in Port Canaveral out of the picture.

I appreciate your opinion, of course - but I respectfully partially disagree with you. I'm in multiple cruise groups on another social media platform (FB) and there are quite a few crew members in my groups who are always very supportive of the little "trinkets" and encourage folks to bring them on board - many crew members save them and bring them to their children when they are able to get back home (especially those silly little rubber ducks! which I will ALSO be bringing on board with me!! LOL) as far as the ingredients sitting around just in case someone gets a "hankering" (LOL) - I fear you are correct but I hope you are not!! (I know that on several of my shorter cruises, they've had escargot available in the specialty restaurants (for a fee) and my hope is that the Liberty has a similar set up)

here are the snails... in case you were wondering! 20230407_121558.mp4

We're going on the Liberty next month on a 4 day... do you think that I'll be able to get escargot in the MDR any night? I plan on asking, regardless!! (just wondering if anyone else has tried... and what their experience was) I've also made some little resin snails and I plan to bring those along with me - in an attempt to bribe the serving staff into making it happen! LOL (I'll still give them to them, even if the answer is no... I'll just be sad.)

hometown magnets keychains rubber duckies mini flashlights nightlights drawstring bag if kids are involved,throw in some beach toys glow sticks / necklaces I'm organizing a gift exchange for our cruise group in May - and I've already begun making some gifts for it (I'm a tumbler maker and do resin arts as well - so I've made some little duck magnets and keychains to both hid and add to my gift bags. I've begun designing some tumblers for our MDR serving staff as well as our cabin steward, LOL all will also be Carnival and duck themed 😁 )

we prefer the inside staterooms - I like that they are darker during the day and that napping is quite nice! As others have said, you aren't really IN your cabin very much except to sleep (and does it matter if you've got a view of the ocean when you're sleeping?) inside cabins are more affordable (you can spend the extra $$ on souvenirs!!) too I would keep the inside stateroom on deck 8 - and use that as a "base" for any future cruise decisions. If you find that you really weren't in your cabin much, then you're golden - and can pick inside staterooms from now on... BUT... if you find that you were actually in the cabin frequently, you can then decide if it would have been nice to spend time gazing off into the distance over the ocean.

here's another one from back in 2007!! my daughter was only 4 years old at the time... we had disembarked and as we were driving away from the port (and watching the ship fading in the rearveiw mirror) I suddenly got this sinking feeling in my tummy. I asked my cabin-mate if she had by any chance picked up my daughters little bear from her bed and put it in one of our bags... her answer? NO! OH CRAP!!! (please note that "crap" is NOT the word / language I was using) I didn't even think to pick it up out of her bed this morning to put it in our luggage. Here's a little background info on "Baby Bear" it's a Ty Beanie Bear, he's Tan with a plaid ribbon around his neck... and she got him from her daddy when she was just a year old. When she was 18 months old, we lost her daddy in a tragic accident. This bear is VERY special to us... its one of only a few items that we've got to remember him by (that he gave to her personally, that is) she sleeps with Baby Bear (and one other stuffed animal, also from her daddy) every night. Okay, after I realized that we had left Baby Bear in our cabin, I did a quick U-turn (probably illegally) and headed back to the ship... I told my friend that we weren't going to tell my daughter what had happened until we knew what the outcome was going to be... I parked in the bus parking and left them in the car as I ran back to the terminal... I got stopped before I could go inside and I had to explain to the lady that my daughter had left her bear in the cabin (I said "my daughter" but I think it was just as much my fault!!) and we were quite upset about it. The lady got on the radio to the lost and found department... she told them that we were looking for a lost BROWN teddy bear that was left on the FLOOR of our cabin... OMG!!! I kept telling the lady "he's tan, not brown and he wasn't on the floor... he was in her bed... he'd be mixed in with the covers!" but that woman wouldn't call the lost and found person back... so then she tells me that I can't wait there, that I have to walk across the road and wait on the other side... and she'll signal me when she finds something out. Okay, so I walk over there shaking my head, just knowing that they aren't going to find our precious little Baby Bear because she gave the wrong information. 15 minutes go by... I'm pacing... fretting... FINALLY!! The lady waves me back over... I walk up to her and she says "They found the bear, they are bringing it down now" YIPPEE!! yAHOOO!!!! And what do I do?? I start crying like a baby! geez!!!! I'm sure the people around me were thinking I was some kind of mental person because I was crying about a silly bear... They made me go back across the road to wait again... and after another 5 minutes she calls me over again and hands me our little Baby Bear. I go back to the car and get in and then hand Baby Bear to my daughter... it takes a minute, but then her eyes get great big, and she takes a sudden intake of breath... and says "Momma, did we leave Baby Bear on the ship?" I told her we did and she just hugs him and hugs him. "Momma, he was probably scared when he saw us leaving our room without him... he was probably saying to us "wait, wait, what about me?" but we didn't hear him and then when we didn't come back he probably got very sad thinking we were gone forever" (she's 4 by the way) she got me tearing up again... The rest of the cruise was AWESOME!

spending time with my daughter on the ships - doing silly things together and making people look at us weird. on one cruise, she put on a bright pink mustache and wandered around the ship with it... then we stopped at the atrium where they were doing karaoke - she wanted to do it too but we were too late to sign up - so she went to the deck above, at the top of the stairs behind the karaoke singers and began to dance... at the end of the Karaoke session, the DJ said thank you to all that had participated and then did a special call out for the Karaoke DANCER - everyone cheered when he said it!!!! she's 20 now and does most of her cruising with friends instead of her mama... I miss those days!! But I also do have to admit that it's nice to just be able to do "grown up" things when cruising now!!

I don't have an answer to your question but it seems like an awfully good one! Hopefully my comment will bump your post back up to the front page of posts and someone will answer for you!

I'm very curious about this "Sonia's Jerk Shack" that you mentioned! Can you tell me more about it? My boyfriend and I have a cruise in May (for my birthday) and I plan on forcing him to go to Ardastra Gardens while we're in Nassau. Sonia's Jerk Shack sounds like it might be a good place for lunch while we're there too! I've been many times but he's never been to Nassau, so I'm hoping to make it fun for him. (we're not interested in shopping, Atlantis is only mildly appealing for the aquariums / tour of the hotel - we aren't "beachy" people (during the day LOL) We're likely just going to wander around the city exploring.