ryanpatricksmom

I actually think it's a good idea. It's one of the areas where I think Disney excels, and I believe that it sets the tone for the entire cruise. If you lure people in at the beginning of the cruise, they will be more likely to partake of entertainment options from that point on. The Disney sailaways definitely create a sense of community amongst the passengers and are a much better way to introduce the staff than the far less interactive "Welcome Aboard Show".

I notice a new cutback every time I sail at this point. Sometimes it's very subtle like when in the casino you used to receive cash back on your card incrementally...now it stops after you reach the "Drinks on Us" benchmark; sometimes it truly frustrating like waiting all evening for something billed as a "Mexican Buffet" that used to be an assortment of Mexican foods and desserts, now only chips and salsa. We're sailing NCL in April, which will be our first departure from Carnival in awhile. We're sailing 10 nights in a mini-suite including the drink package for $3,500. That's probably about on par with Carnival prices, we just usually sail free thru the casino, so for us to venture out there has to be a motivation. For us it's the cutbacks. We'll see if after that free beats new experiences.

We sail her in a couple of weeks, and I've been amazed at the number of negative reviews. We experienced the same phenomenon leading up to our Sunshine sailing, and that turned out to be one of our best cruises ever! Every now and again I experience frustration on a cruise (which can be caused by either fellow passengers or staff), but I've never had a cruise where the bad outweighed the good. It has to have something to do with expectations, that's all I can figure.

Another thing that people should be aware of is that even if you buy the faster option, anything that streams is blocked, so if you have your e-mail thru Xfinity or some other cable provider you won't have access to e-mail.

It wasn't working the week of June 21st either, so I'd say it has some issues.

I've never thought that the savings were worth buying it on board and lugging it home in any fashion. Certainly not worth the extra weight in my suitcase if I'm flying. If you can only buy a couple of bottles duty free what do you save, 20 bucks at most? I'm always surprised that they sell as much as they do.

I've never received an e-mail for the staggered boarding, and likely wouldn't take it to heart, but I can tell you that I've sailed the Pride a lot and the parking area never opens before 11 a.m. The earliest that we've ever boarded was around 12:30. We usually try to arrive around 11:15 to 11:30 and that works pretty well. There's absolutely no point in arriving early morning to board.

The easiest way to earn free cruises with Carnival is to consistently lose, LOL!

I have two freebies that I can use from a land Casino right now that I'm not going to use, plus some VIP premiere offers. Frankly, though we're treated very well by the Casino staff, I'm fed up with the lack of cooperation from the VIP Casino Services prior to sailing. Basically I've been told that so long as I use the land Casino vouchers, they won't be offering me Bounce Back or Casino cash. I'm going to hold out and wait to be lured back with a better offer. The Premiere offers are nice, but the dates are restrictive, so I'm tired of being frozen out of the Bounce Back offers. We are sailing again in June and without another cruise booked, I refuse to book another until I get a free cabin and my choice of dates.

Don't go with Disney expectations, that's for sure. Having said that and having sailed both, I prefer Carnival for a whole host of reasons. We recently sailed the Sunshine for the first time (although we had sailed the Destiny twice). I would discourage anyone who wants to spend the day sunbathing or has to have the front row for a show from booking her, but other than that, I can't think of a single negative. We had an absolutely fantastic time, in fact, I found the Freedom to feel more congested overall than the Sunshine. We've cruised so often now that we generally don't look forward to the shows and the doctor outlawed sunbathing for me long ago, so I would sail her again in a heartbeat.

If you do a b2b out of Baltimore, are you required to pay for the 2nd week of parking? You pay up front, so if you don't move your car, how is it handled? Just out of curiosity...

 

 

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That's a really good question that I hadn't even thought of...and we've contemplated extending our cruise a time or two so I should probably find out, lol! I think that they use different colors of paper to print the passes that you display on your dash each week. They would likely notice that you had last week's "pass", but I doubt that you can pre-pay. Maybe they expect you to walk off, pay, and exchange your pass. I would ask someone in the cruise terminal as opposed to the parking folks....I've never exactly gotten a warm and fuzzy feeling from the girls that collect the parking fees.

We're getting ready to sail her for the FIFTEENTH time in June!!!! She's our home away from home....can't wait to see her with the upgrades. We flew to a couple of different ports while she was gone, and our cruises were great, but nothing beats a half-hour car ride home after you get off of the ship!

Having now sailed both (the Pride many times, and the Sunshine only once, but just recently) I'd say that you can't go wrong now that the Pride has received the 2.0 upgrades. I prefer the layout of the Spirit class ships for ease of navigating the ships and the Comedy Club, but I also thought that the Ocean Plaza and the Havana Bar on the Sunshine were a huge plus. We loved the Sunshine and never felt the crowded feel that others have complained about...though we never tried to find a deck chair on a sea day either. The food on the Sunshine was outstanding, and offers a few things that the Pride still does not. I'm looking forward to sailing the Pride post-upgrades in June and I expect that we'll find her improved in that department as well.

We were on the Sunshine for an 8-day last week. Not sure if it's the way we cruise (times we go do stuff, where we do stuff) but we didn't think the crowds were any worse on the Sunshine than any other ship. It honestly reminded us a lot of the Fantasy. The only issue we had with the other people on the ship was the number of them that were grumpy

We were on the same cruise, and I felt the same way. There were crowds at times, but never overwhelming....in fact we felt more crowded on the Freedom. Sorry you met up with so many grumpy types, we actually met a lot of very nice people this cruise. I also have to say, there were more polite teenagers this cruise than I've ever experienced in my life!

There is. It's officially the kitchen for Ji Ji's, that's why you can't find it. They offer a Mongolian Wok n/c during lunch.

New cutback for those who use the casino. After 1500 points the $5 cash back reward you get for each 500 points stops. I guess they decided that once you reach "Drinks on Us" no more perks for you!

I don't know if I would leave Carnival entirely (we haven't actually paid for a cruise...by the traditional method anyway....in quite some time), but I would alter my behavior if they discontinue the Drinks On Us program. DH and I both have an embarrassing number of points each cruise, and frankly, if I'm going to buy a drink, I'll either walk my tush over to the Alchemy bar and get a much better drink, or pour one in my room from Bon Voyage. While I'm doing either of those things, I will be distracted from playing the machines, and be more inclined to engage in other activities...so lost revenue to them (or very occasionally to me, lol!). We've only had one winning cruise in the last 8, so I would take it as an omen.

We'll be doing the Eastern route on the 20th. We have a Regatta booked in St. Marten and a catamaran sail to St. John from St. Thomas. We'll be exploring San Juan on our own. The ports are all repeats for us, so I just picked a couple of excursions that would be a little different.

I'll do a review of the Sunshine when I return (no pics though, sorry).

I wrote a thread a while back about my experience, but I'll give you a quick recap. I think Cheers would be great IF you are going to spend a lot of time in specialty bars, are happy with the cocktails offered under $10, or are a beer drinker. It was a big PITA for me because I like floater shots in my frozen drinks and single pours in a doubles glass....neither of which were allowed.

This cruise we decided to order the liquor and soda package for each of us thru Bon Voyage so we'll start with 2 bottles and 12 sodas for an 8 day cruise. We also have free drinks in the casino, and we spend a lot of time there, so that also factors into why it's not really profitable for us to use Cheers.

We'll be on the Sunshine so we will likely drop some $$$ in the Alchemy Bar since we haven't tried that yet, but all in I think that we'll spend less than we would have using Cheers....especially for an 8 day.

They are now requiring that you agree not to take your Bon Voyage liquor into the common areas when you purchase it, which is a recent caveat. Unless you're actually carrying the bottle around or drop dead drunk, I can't imagine it being an issue, but it is something to think about. We always put our purchased and Casino drinks in a Tervis cup anyway, so it would be nearly impossible to distinguish where the hootch came from.

Every now and again I'll put a little something (that I don't need a full bottle of) in my suitcase to some variety to my cabin drink (flavored rum for example), but we've pretty much strictly done Bon Voyage for years now.

We've only taken advantage of one of the free Premiere Offers because for the last couple of years we've each received a freebie from a land-based Casino which we could use for any sailing. When we sailed last time we did a B2B on the Fantasy, each of us using one of our freebies. I called Michael before we sailed and was told that because the booking was not initiated by Carnival we would not be entitled to any cruise cash whatsoever. It seemed counter-intuitive to me, because however the cruise was booked, you would still think they would want to encourage us to be in the casino as much as possible.

Long story short, karma is alive and well because while we were ignored by VIP Services, we ended up winning enough throughout the 10 days to pay for all of the ancillary costs (hotel, airfare, etc.), our Cheers! program, all of our onboard purchases, etc. Also, the Casino Host treated us to massages, and a host of other treats as usual (that they haven't cut back on).

In the past, we've been offered the free cruise thru Carnival and cruise cash....but left with a hefty Sign and Sail (and lots of American Express miles, LOL!).

When I read reviews I tend to look for very specific information....things that will directly affect me. For example, our next sailing is on the Sunshine (which has tons of negative reviews), I have read most of them, and the biggest complaint is probably a valid one. The theatre and the comedy club are too small. Fortunately for me, that's not really an issue, because I rarely attend the shows. For someone else it could be a big deal.

After our last cruise I posted my experience with the Cheers program, while I felt that it was balanced it did lean to the negative. The reason that I posted was so that people could adjust their expectations and choose accordingly. Information that I would have liked to have prior to buying the package.

I'm getting ready to sail on my 24th Carnival cruise and I haven't had a single "bad" cruise yet. I have had some disappointments, and a few disorganized messes along the way. There are things that I would heartily urge people not to participate in, and other activities that I would endorse...but a good review provides information so that the reader can form their own opinion.

I'm pretty sure it would violate some sort of health department/legal issue to have employees serve you anything that Carnival didn't maintain control of from the get-go. DH is a gin and diet-tonic drinker as well, and we do the Bon Voyage thing and bring tonic. We use our Tervis cups whenever possible, but for those times that he doesn't want to be bothered he has to go with the full calorie version. Fortunately, I prefer rum and diet sprite, so I'm good to go wherever, lol!

The last time we booked an excursion in Freeport our bus filled with smoke and the driver kept going, lol! They did take the vehicle out of service after they dropped us off at our destination (we saw it stranded on the side of the road), but it was a nightmare, especially for those in the back of the bus. It didn't leave us with a warm and fuzzy feeling for Freeport transportation companies, and your story just confirms that experience as a "one and done".

Hey, Maryland neighbor, thanks for posting! We're sailing on March 20th and it will be my first time on the Sunshine, but we have sailed the Destiny twice. I'm so looking forward to the Alchemy Bar, and the fact that we have a cabin on the Promenade deck that we can basically crawl to if need be.

Just keep bringing it up and they say enough is enough and stop allowing it.

For the relatively few passengers on board who are doing a B2B, they are highly unlikely to change the current behavior. We got luggage tags in our room after the first leg...not exactly on top of the situation. The idea that they would actually go to the trouble to create a program to identify the B2B passengers to catch the very, very few that would be buying liquor for the second leg is a bit of stretch.

At that point, any one could politely ask another passenger to buy the liquor for them. Problem solved. They will never ask pax to pick them up in the morning, they already have created too much mayhem with self debarkation.

Our secret is no secret, and it's in no danger.