Despegue

Fantasy was an original Icon and with the best interior decor of all Fantasy Class! The Cats lounge anybody?! 

4 hours ago, kurtmi03 said:

We've bought a few wine packages while still docked in FLL and never paid any tax. This may have something to do with the tickets being handwritten and by the time they are entered into the computer you are well past any mileage limit.

This is exactly what is done. You do NOT put the sale in until 12nm out. 

I need to clarify though that when performing this manoeuvre correctly, one can turn, reduce speed and limit the list so that injury onboard can be avoided, as Safety of all onboard is at all times the number one priority.

also, there are procedural differences between conventional and azipod ( or RR Mermaid , like the Millennium Class, ) equipped vessels .

On 9/3/2023 at 11:37 AM, chengkp75 said:

A "Williamson" turn (actually more teardrop shaped than figure eight), if done at anything over about 6-8 knots will cause a cruise ship to heel over from the turn to the point where loose items like glasses and dishware will go flying, and passengers will be thrown off their feet, and likely result in injuries.  So, first the ship needs to slow, and then turn.  This will take a few miles to accomplish, but does, if properly executed, get the ship back on the exact opposite course line, retracing it's "footsteps".

Well actually, the PRIMARY reason to perform a Williamson Turn (or Boutakov manoeuvre)  is actually to get the screw(s) or pods as far away from the man overboard, and should be done asap, while indeed reducing the speed. Secondary, the manoeuvre will ,at completion , put the vessel on a virtually reciprocal track and theoretically close to the position of the “man overboard “. Mind you, it is extremely difficult to find someone back, especially at night.
This is something that I absolutely insist on during the training of this manoeuvre. In a real-life event, The initial turn must be immediate and without delay . Screw the glasses, sorry.

On 8/10/2023 at 4:18 PM, ONECRUISER said:

Could be worse, some Lines are charging to eat in Main Dining

Please tell which lines? 

18 hours ago, gregma60 said:

You are saying that even if your Passport has your middle name, the tickets do not need to include that middle name.  Only the first and last need to match?

 

-gregma

Correct.

50 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Aligned. The issue I am having is the last letter of my first name is not displayed on the screen and booking, so it technically doesn't match my passport. Never had an issue, but very recently HAL & FE are canceling my flights due to names not matching.

So just a heads-up to anyone that notices their names change and can no longer see their flights.

Don’t you hate it when “computer says no” things happen! It literally makes my head go grey and bald 😉 

Just a little heads-up to avoid any issues and to keep things simple:

both the cruise lines AND ANY Airline do NOT require any Middle name. Just your FIRST and FAMILY name ( Surname) is needed for a valid ticket.

However, the  names that you give the cruiseline/ airline must be identical to the names in the Passport. 

so recap: Middle names are optional and not necessary. 
 

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Closed for business means closed. No one said it was abandoned. Sort of like when Walmart is closed. Geeze you just can't  admit when you are wrong about something.

With respect, this is not correct.

An Embassy closes when the Embassy is no longer functioning and there is no more official representation to the country it is situated in.

An embassy is not a Wallmart.

Haiti itself, especially Port au Prince, is very very dangerous at the moment indeed, but Labadee is as Safe as Disneyland.

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

This is the Ravioli that we had on the HAL Nieuw Statendam in 2023

 

 

This is the Ravioli that we had on the Enchanted Princess in 2022 .

 

None of these 2 dishes have anything to do with Ravioli...the Princess one drowned in Pesto and oil  look like Mezzalune? The HAL “creation” just looks like an insult to Italy.

31 minutes ago, AFS1970 said:

Being that the Venezia was not designed for an American, or even a European crowd, are there different buffet rules in Asian cultures that would account for this design? Are we just trying to figure out our way around something that was not designed for us?

Yes, I was thinking the same. Asian queuing habits vary vastly between countries though. From Survival of the Fittest in India to the extreme politeness in Japan and anything in between 🙃

1 hour ago, amberjohn said:

This is an excellent point that I haven't seen before.  Cruise lines complain about food waste and

have gone as far as charging for additional entries and many complimentary Main Dining Rooms but

they "encourage" people to overload plates because no one wants to wait in long lines (especially if

they have to do it several times with multiple family members). I took 2 Carnival Cruises in October.  No issues in the Buffet, just visited the station of food I wanted.  Hopefully Carnival will get their act together by the time I sail on the Venezia this October.

I am glad that you see my point...😎 In any case, I do not at all advocate creating tensions and even agression amongst fellow guests...

best regards

Captain Tino.

1 hour ago, young_ens said:

I saw a few problems but it was mostly/all from people just turning off their brains when on-board.   So many times I'd be in line watching ahead and folks seem bewildered with the buffet:  "what do I do?". "Do I like this?" "Hun, what do you think this chicken-looking thing might be? (Sign says Masala Chicken....).   

Other big problem is people piling up plates like they're building the Empire State building.  Get a reasonable plate (less food, faster loading) and move on.  If you liked something a lot, go back for seconds (hint, they don't run out of food).  I lost count how many times I saw heaping abandoned plates on tables (actually witnessed a family sit with three plates, kid takes 1 bite and says "this ain't no good" and they all left).   What a waste.....

 

As for popping in: who cares?  Again, lots of food.  I'll ask to sneak in and grab a milk/salad.   A few times I just went around salad builders because they were the ones holding up the main buffet line.    Also, line is too long at 1 buffet section, check other side of that section or go to the other section.

The lining up idiocy is partly to blame for the stacking-up of loads of food, never consumed. If you have to waste 10 minutes every time you want to take something, you will just take all at once.

we go first for a starter or salad item, then we return to the buffet for a soup, then we take a small portion of a main course, then maybe a different item for seconds, but with clean plates so that we do not mix some items which are simply not good together, and then dessert. 
that is the proper way of a buffet! Most people just simply don’t understand that it is not a high school cafetaria unfortunately.

On 8/11/2023 at 2:29 PM, staceyglow said:

I am not sure that all "popping in" is disrespectful. If I don't want anything at the beginning of the line, and there is space for me in the middle to get what I want, why shouldn't I pop in? At the minimum, I should be able to go around someone who is holding up the line deciding between sausage and Canadian bacon when I want neither. 

 

It's basic traffic rules. 

Exactly! This whole lining up at the start of a buffet is simply ridiculous. You take what you need and get out of the area. 

My wife and I used to be found very often on HAL vessels for our vacations ( obviously 😉), but since we are a small kids family, we prioritise the happiness of our small children and choose different more family-friendly lines within the Carnival corp. (Aida is by far the most friendly line afloat).

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

The French side, St Martin has the clothing optional beaches if that is of interest, although there is at least one on the Dutch side. You can also find some great liquor prices.

 

I think of Cozumel as the 51st State, but it has some beautiful water and reefs. Taxis night be most plentiful in Cozumel and they all take kickbacks from the beach clubs to recommend one over another.

 

Amber Cove, Mahogany Bay, Costa Maya, and where Carnival docks in Cozumel are reasonably secure port areas.

Plage Orient on St Maarten is indeed a must do at least once in your life. Leave the prudeness at home and go skinny dip in the Caribbean Sea, you will forever change your mind about Naturism. 

4 hours ago, john91498 said:

 

I thought the same thing, but no, she said the $2,500 was for all 8 months. Gee, that's heartbreaking...

Unfortunately, she omitted to you that the vast majority of her salary comes from the gratuities, and her average salary during these 8 months will indeed be around 2500 USD per month, which is still not that much considering the hard work and long days.

3 hours ago, Linaeve said:

 

This isn't true. When I cruised in 2009 it was 15 drinks total (alcoholic and non included in the total). Was the same in 2017. It's a big reason when my folks went in 2010 and 2017 they took a ton of soda with them (was allowed at the time) in addition to the drink package so they knew they had enough. Perhaps prior to 2009? Which doesn't feel like recent to me. 

With respect, although there was sometimes confusion by some crew, until the Pandemic, the official procedure was that 15 drinks was 15 alcoholic beverages. There are loads of threads about this by the way, and official letters. Emails etc. And also our and many other guests. 

That US phones are not compatible with the Costa app,is actually not Costa’s fault but due to restrictions imposed by the US Telecom companies who think that the USA is the only Country in the World.

14 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

That can’t be right..no way someone employed on a carnival cruise ship is making $250k per year (unless it’s MAYBE the captain).

Also; on the low-end..I don’t think they can get away with paying less than US federal minimum wage of $7.25, since they’re a US-based company. (The employees have US taxes taken out of their checks)

I would wonder if she turned in the $500...as many crew members have told me, any tips they get MUST be turned in, to be put in a “fleetwide” pool.

Being employed onboard a Carnival ship, or indeed any cruise ship except Pride of America currently, has nothing to do with any US tax or labour laws. The vessels are flagged in Italy, Bermuda, Panama, The Netherlands, etc. But not in the USA. 

One irritating thing is the complete confusion regarding the Signature Drink Package and its 15 drinks limit.

it has always heem 15 ALCOHOLIC drinks and unlimited non-alcoholic, but it seems that recently, Corporate has decided that it is 15 drinks total, which is completely ridiculous. ESPECIALLY knowing that Parent Carnival has the same package, Cheers!, onboard their Carnival ships, where for  around the same price, you have a limit of indeed 15 alcoholic drinks but UNLIMITED non-alcoholic, just as originally designed.

I can even claim with certainty that Tasting Table got  most of their text directly from the cruise lines’ Media Office.

It is great entertainment and paid advertising , but nothing more than that. Sorry to burst a bubble.

17 minutes ago, Destiny0315 said:

Just because you haven't heard of Tasting Table doesn't mean anything. They have been around since 2008 and claim 18 million website viewers per month worldwide. Do you have any idea of how many people have never even heard of Cruise Critic? This is NOT a paid advertorial. It covers restaurants on many different cruise lines at various levels that are not linked. Geez, even when HAL is given some positive press there are always armchair critics!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasting_Table

Hahaha, OF COURSE Tasting Table gets paid in one way or another by their mentioned lines! Please do not be so naïve. Just like Skytrax selects yearly “ the best Airlines in the World”... it is all advertisement and really a big scam. 
( yes, I am an Insider in  the Industry, I know what I am talking about)

7 minutes ago, Destiny0315 said:

Just because you haven't heard of Tasting Table doesn't mean anything. They have been around since 2008 and claim 18 million website viewers per month worldwide. Do you have any idea of how many people have never even heard of Cruise Critic? This is NOT a paid advertorial. It covers restaurants on many different cruise lines at various levels that are not linked. Geez, even when HAL is given some positive press there are always armchair critics!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasting_Table

The site should say: the best restaurants on US/UK marketed cruise lines. Trust me, there are more sublime restaurants than Canaletto on the High Seas . 😉 Just one example: Rossini, onboard all Aida ships. Every 2 days a completely new 7 course menu, with market sourced ingredients and dishes that are locally inspired. They are often Michelin Star quality. 
Also, any food served on Le Ponant or Paul Gaugin is vastly superiour to anything found on HAL or other US marketed lines. 

3 hours ago, john91498 said:

Ok, not really a review, just my jumbled thoughts and observations.

 

Embarkation was smooth, we had a noon to 12:30 check in time and got to the dock at 12:15. We were on the ship by 12:35.

They had dogs, but they weren't police or feds. Seemed like they were working for Carnival. They were checking every 3rd or 4th group that checked in. The handlers had to direct the dogs to the bags and the dogs really didn't even sniff any bags.

 

Room stewards were short staffed. Of the 7 nights, they only cleaned our cabin 3 times and didn't get to our room on embarkation till around 10pm. Didn't really mind and when we asked for the towels to be replaced, they showed up quickly.

 

Food in the MDR was a mess. First night, we waited around 45 minutes after we ordered for the food to show up. Luckily, we were drinking, but were getting kinda hungry.

We ate at the steak house 1 night and didn't want to wait on a couple nights and ate at the buffet.

By far, Guys burgers, Pig and Anchor and the Cantina were the best food options.

We were very disappointed at Jiji's Mongolian Wok. Four choices and all of it was premade. Bleh...

 

On a personal note, my wife befriended a waitress in the buffet. She doted on my daughter and said my daughter reminds her of her own daughter. She told us that she was under contract for 8 months at $2500. Wow, that's only $312 a month. My wife felt so bad that we tipped her $500. She looked like she was going to cry when my wife gave her the money.

 

All in all, it was another memorable cruise, but the Carnival cruise experience was just ok... 

Waiters earn on average around 2600 USD per month. That of course is including the service charges/tips. Bear in mind that this is for working very long days, 7 days a week for months on end, and the time at home is unpaid.
Hotel Management positions earn mucho more, up to 12.000 USD per month, which near the values of the ship’s Master...😉.