NCTribeFan

Thanks for the Katakolon info. I'll have to think about it. We're going to Taormina on a private tour. Looking forward to that. Not going to Mt Etna but I do love a volcano! Getting close to having all our arrangements lined up. Only think left - I think - is our tour in Rome the day before embarking. I just know I want the Colosseum and Forum. Not even sure I need to go inside the Colosseum. I just want to be there! Couldn't care less about the CD unless they're horribly annoying, especially when they think they have to say a little "catch phrase" every time they make an announcement. Gets really old after a few days. And if I have to listen to ANYONE sing Margaritaville, I may jump overboard.

While I like Freedom (and the other Conquest-class ships I've sailed), I prefer the Spirit class. I'll be on the Pride in a couple of weeks doing a B2B2B (RT Rome/Rome-Lisbon/Lisbon-Tampa). There are 17 ports in those 32 days. Doesn't give much time for lectures until we're on the TA portion, and by then we're past all the really interesting ports. The Spirit class has the best space ratio of any Carnival ships. When you're on a ship for that long, having less crowding makes a difference. I haven't yet been on a HAL TA (am booked next April for the TA + 2 5-night sailings after). They have great lecturers on their Hawaii and Alaska sailings. I expect there will be some on Rotterdam. FTR, a day stop in Bermuda honestly isn't worth the effort. Bermuda needs at least 2 full days to do it justice.

I'm thinking of doing this tour. I just hate the idea of going all this way and not seeing the ancient sites. But I'm also not a fan of the big-bus tours. Is the entry to the ruins and museum not included in the excursion cost? Did you have any time to spend in the town?

Well, my ex is English. Have had pasties many times in England. No idea why that one is a Michigan pasty but I'll try it. So disappointing about no loungers on the Promenade deck. Seriously, have never seen cruise ships that didn't have them out there. I'm going to request a "sensory bag" to see if the noise-cancelling headphones make it so I can sit somewhere and block out the noise. That's my issue with the other areas. Background noise makes me anxious and that's not how I want to be on a cruise.

Yep. I used to get better offers when I just played slots. Now that I play both slots and Roulette, my offers aren't as good although I can play sometimes for a few hours on a $100 buy in at the wheel. One thing about MSC - they add your table play to your card the following day so you always know where you stand. It shouldn't be "that" subjective. I'm not a high roller and I'm not a loud player. The Roulette wheel is a bit more subdued than the Craps table. Shouldn't be penalized for that.

Enjoyed the violin trio on Pride in January. Different group but I imagine much the same. I'm taking eMed tests with me. I could maybe get a PCR test the morning before I fly (10/8, sailing 10/11) but I'll be too stress with all the other things involved in the travel. And even if I got the test then, I wouldn't have the results until I'm in Rome. Pastry? Looks like a pasty to me. I've had Cornish, but Michigan? How odd. May have to give it a try. Hard no on the buffet. I'd def go to Bonsai if I missed MDR. It was excellent last time on Pride.

I think I'll give it a try. I haven't been diagnosed as being on the spectrum (I'm nearly 70 and it was virtually unheard of when I was young). I could use some noise-cancelling headphones since there are virtually no quiet places on Carnival ships.

No plans in Mykonos or Santorini. Both new ports for me. Got my hiking poles today. At my age, I figured having a little added stability to walk around Ephesus and Pompeii would be a good idea. They're tenders. Don't fall for Carnival's dumb-down use of Water Shuttle. New(ish) menus will be nice on a long sailing. So, this is a Premier sailing? Is the casino packed? With so many port days, I've been a little concerned that I won't be able to donate as much to the casino as I usually do. Well, there are all those sea days on the TA, but I need to get my Roulette entertainment in nightly.

Thanks. I'm actually interested in seating on the Promenade Deck outside. You know, where you go to muster. I practically live out there on HAL ships. Nice padded loungers. Both beach towels and blankets out there for the Alaska sailing. On Pride in January and there was nothing out there at all. Not even the typical wooden bench with the ship's name where they store extra life vests. Very disappointing. And Serenity was packed and not at all serene. Could be different in Europe. I imagine by the time we get our sea days on the TA (in early November) it may be too cold out there. So, more people packed indoors = more noise and crowding.

This is helping me get (even more) excited about my B2B2B coming up in just under a month. I saw most of the sites in Rome while on a private tour on the Vista inaugural. But didn't get to see the ruins. That's my plan for 10/10 - to see the Colosseum and the Forum. I believe I asked this of someone who sailed earlier this summer from Dover - do they have any loungers out on the Promenade deck? I don't think I've ever seen a ship that had absolutely NO seating out there. Although Carnival is all about FUN FUN FUN, sometimes I just want to sit somewhere quiet with a book and read and/or look at the water. Being on the ship for 32 days, and having interior cabins, it would be nice to have somewhere to retreat with no crowds or blaring bad pop music. Sure hope those roulette wheels are going to be nice to me this trip. 😁

Is boarded? Yeah, probably about 2,000 passengers. 😉 If that itinerary stops in Greece, I'm pretty sure they'll be checking test results. My pack of BinaxNow tests should arrive today. I'll take them all with me to do my pre-test on 10/9 or 10/10 for the 10/11 sailing.

You should probably ask your GP. I only rarely take 1/2 Meclizine just prior to sailing. I don't like the side effects of any of the seasick meds (even Meclizine makes me drowsy and I don't like to combine that with alcohol). I start taking Ginger Root capsules 1-2 days prior to sailing and take them every a.m. and p.m. during the cruise. Take with lots of water. Google seasick remedies for plenty more options.

I'll be on her for 26 nights starting from FLL next April for the re-vamped Anniversary TA sailing plus another 10 nights. I sailed Koningsdam and really loved the ship, so I expect I'll love Rotterdam also. And I upgraded to Club Orange (for the 16-night TA; added the following 10 later as separate casino bookings and can't do CO since they're 2 5-night sailings). Really looking forward to having that separate dining room! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Glass in the spa area is just something that shouldn't happen. Just like in the pool areas. Anywhere people may be walking around barefoot just isn't somewhere that glass should be allowed. There are so many places on a ship to sit and have a drink. Yes, on the rare occasion you can even find somewhere relatively quiet (I know that's difficult to do on a Carnival ship). Leave the spa as a last, lone refuge from the party atmosphere.

Saturday's menu looks like one where I could happily order at least a half-dozen dishes.

Have a separate, dedicated area on the first 2 days where CS/IT can help the dozens of people who can't seem to figure out how to use the app or access their wifi. That's the vast majority of people at the service desk the first few days. I also was ignored in the CO line. Because they all were helping the helpless with their phones. Yes, bring back chilled fruit soups. And book exchanges.

Not all. I paid for Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam. Zuiderdam Alaska was free inside cabin. I'm paying for the Rotterdam TA. The two following 5-night sailings are, again, free inside cabins. My friend, who I finally convinced to try HAL, was on just the 5-night portion of the NA sailing. She spent time in the casino, but didn't drop thousands and thousands of dollars. After that one sailing, she received an offer and they joined me on the 2nd leg of the Alaska cruise. In a free verandah. So, if you care to join in on the casino offers, it really doesn't take much. Even if you "only" get offers for insides, you can upgrade. And, no, I don't particularly want to pay for extras just because I'm sailing on a good deal. But I understand why the upcharges are happening. People just get so upset when anything changes but life isn't static. Companies have to adapt. That's just the economic reality of it all.

Guess I'm in the minority here. Things change. We should be so very aware of that these days. I have no problem with people paying "extra" when they get extras. FTR, my Pinnacle dinners on NA and the first leg of my Zuidy B2B were excellent. The first on Zuidy was a really good steak. The second was a rather sad, small, overcooked lobster tail. Supply chain issues. With the price of lobster these days, I'm mildly surprised you can get it anywhere without a steep upcharge. I can't even make room for dessert (took a cheese plate to go), let alone eat multiples of anything. But that's me. I did get my Mariner discount on Rudi's on Zuidy, which surprised me, since it's considered a pop up on that ship.

I got the gnocchi on Zuidy and was not impressed at all. If I bother with the Chef's menu next time, I'll definitely try something else. If I knew what day to expect it on our 1-time itinerary, I'd book Tamarind for that night. That bridge gives me sweaty palms just looking at the pic. Seriously. I have a major phobia about bridges over water. Going up, how do I know, FOR SURE, that there's bridge over the crest? Just no!

I was curious about this. I did a B2B on Zuidy in Alaska the first 2 weeks of June. When I go to the app and look for statements, it shows the two separate weeks because they were two different booking numbers. But if I try to view the 2nd week's statements, it says it cannot be viewed. When I tried to open the first week's statement, sure enough, the entire two weeks was shown on that one statement. I have a B2B2B next spring that each leg comes with various OBC. I'll be sure to double-check and make sure everything appears when it should.

You cannot get the draft beers available elsewhere on the ship. I know. I've tried. Multiple times. Even when there is a bar right next to the casino that has it, if it isn't at that casino bar, they can't go fetch it. And IIRC, many/most of the casino bars don't have any draft at all.

@Tom-n-CherylYou think the free Diamond steakhouse dinner is pathetic? So do I! As a solo cruiser, who has paid 200% to Carnival for years, I asked whether I would get two dinners. After all, if 1 person is Diamond, the dinner for the couple is free. Nope. I just get it for me. Yet another way that Carnival totally screws over their solo sailors.

Great to read they're doing something about the Serenity Deck. When I was on the ship at the end of January (in the Caribbean), all the sheltered seats had stuff on them. And I'm an early riser. Unfortunately, it isn't serene at all on those sailings. It's just an Adult Party Deck. 😑 I expect that by the time we leave Lisbon for the TA portion of our B2B2B (on 10/30), it may be too cold to get any use out of it anyway. Still, I may be tempted to just wrap up in several beach towels and sit there to read anyway. I don't suppose Carnival has any blankets on the pool decks in the colder-weather sailings, do they? I loved that HAL had both beach towels and wool blankets available in Alaska. Is there a string trio on the ship now? They played at the atrium bar in early evenings. We'd go there for our before-dinner drink and enjoyed listening to them. So much better than the guy with the guitar.

I much prefer FLL because I can fly SW (no baggage fees!) on an easy 2-hr nonstop. I muchly dislike the Miami airport. I dislike flying to Orlando to sail from PC even more. Flights full of screaming kids going to/from Disneyworld. And then there's the long shuttle ride to PC. I'm not at all happy that Carnival no longer has a single ship in Port Everglades. I vote for Tampa! HAL's ships should be able to navigate there. Carnival has a Spirit-class ship which is much like the Vista class.

Carnival's loyalty program is pretty pathetic. I rarely use any of the perks. Carnival already has loyal cruisers. I don't know why everyone seems to lose their minds when Carnival does an interesting sailing once a year when there are other cruise lines that do the same or similar interesting sailings all the time. It's like they don't even consider sailing another line. Many of those lines offer much better loyalty perks. So why should Carnival offer more perks? There are already so many Plat/Diamond on the ship that the priority tender is a joke. So is boarding. I haven't sailed Princess, but I've been sailing HAL a lot more recently. They offer some real perks in their loyalty program. You earn one point for each day. You earn double points for suites. You earn points for your onboard spending. When you book under their Have It All fare, you get perks for that as though you purchased the dining, drink package, wi-fi separately. When you reach 3*, you get tangible perks, like discounts on wine packages, specialty dining, logo items in the shops, spa discounts. That discount increases are you reach 4 and 5*s. Tangible rewards. I reached that 75 cruise day credits to become 3* after 56 actual cruise days. That's how they should revamp the loyalty program. Holland-America-cruises-Mariner-Reward-Chart.pdf