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MadManOfBethesda

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Posts posted by MadManOfBethesda

  1. Please forgive me if this is a stupid question or one that has been discussed previously. My wife and I have been cruising for 40+ years, but haven't been on a HAL cruise since 2009, so I am unfamiliar with the current ships and their cabin categories. We just yesterday for the first time started looking at cruises for July since we didn't have anything booked this summer, and we came across a 10-day HAL cruise from Reykjavik to Amsterdam on Niew Statendam that is very appealing. The price is also appealing at $1,049/pp for a verandah cabin. The next category up is a Vista "suite" at &1,699/pp, but a cursory review of the deck plan and the associated cabin categories has led me to believe that there really isn't much difference between the two, save for a little extra space (32sq.ft.) and perhaps a better midship location.  Is that correct? Are there really no added benefits for this so-called "suite" even though it is roughly 60% more expensive? Not counting taxes, port charges, etc., a veranda cabin is $2,098 and a Vista suite is $3,398. Would I really not be getting anything else for the additional $1,300 other than 32sq.ft. of cabin space?

    • Like 1
  2. On 5/17/2024 at 2:31 PM, mistertomatoe said:

    Got $300 back on $750 or more. Two times between family members. I'm so tempted to go on my first HAL.

    That's the one I received as well ($300 credit for spending $750), although it can only be used once, not twice. I haven't been on a HAL cruise since 2009 when my wife and I took a 30-day South Pacific cruise on the Ryndam, but coincidentally just this morning, we talked about booking a 10-day Mysteries of Iceland & Scotland cruise on Niew Amsterdam in July since we don't have any cruises booked right now until October.  Thank you very much Mr.Bill for creating this thread and saving me (and others) $300!

     

    On a somewhat related matter, in addition to this $300 statement credit, I believe I'll also receive an additional $200 obc from the AmEx Platinum Cruise Privileges program for booking a verandah cabin or Vista suite. I may even be entitled to a $100 CCL shareholder credit, but I'm not sure what the current rules are given than most of my recent cruises haven't qualified since they were all so-called "free" cruises booked through casino offers..

  3. 12 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

    What I posted was from the app on the Glory transatlantic. I did not try ordering anything from them. There was also a gluten free brunch menu. 

    If that's true, then I'm more technologically challenged than I thought, lol. I had no problem accessing the Vegan menu at dinner each night, but never saw the brunch one.

  4. 2 hours ago, HangryGrl said:

    This is no longer true with the roll out of the new Vegan menus last fall.  Tons of options now.

    Interesting. Have you seen these brunch menus?  Because unlike at dinner, they weren't on the app when I sailed on Venezia over Christmas or on Glory's transatlantic that I disembarked yesterday. And the waiters seem unfamiliar with these new Vegan brunch menus too because I was told that they didn't exist and that I couldn't so much as get a veggie burger.

  5. On 4/30/2024 at 9:10 PM, Drew B 58 said:

    I haven’t sailed since Carnival introduced their new vegan menus.  I have found the dinner menus and the breakfast menu, but not brunch.  Google was no help.  Does anyone have a photo?

     

    Thanks!

    AFAIK, there is no special Vegan menu for brunch. In fact, you can't even get a veggie burger in lieu of the beef burger. The seaday brunch is a complete waste of time for Vegans.

    • Like 1
  6. 2 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

    And you're on a TA Journeys cruise with a mostly older experienced crowd? Wow! :classic_cool:

    Yes! I'd expect such behavior from twentysomethings on a Spring Break Caribbean cruise, but not so-called mature adults on a longer Journeys cruise. On second thought, I wouldn't even expect such behavior from them either.

     

    I even saw one fifty-something woman get up from her table and walk up to the serving line carrying her fork and just pluck out a meatball [or some other round meat object] and walk back to her table with it. I even made direct eye contact with her and said loud enough for her to hear: "Are you f'n kidding me?!" Didn't faze her at all.  That was actually the point at which I had had enough and got up from my table and approached the Carnival employee to ask why they permitted this ridiculously unsanitary food frenzy when the buffet was supposed to be closed.

    • Like 1
  7. 5 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

    It may be disgusting to you, but plenty of people do enjoy the buffets. We now prefer the buffets over the MDR because service has not been consistently good since Covid. Cold food, missing items, not getting ordered drinks, two hour meals, etc. Just got back from 14 days on the Vista, and never ate in the MDR except for the Diamond Lunch. We didn't starve. To each their own. :classic_cool:

    The food may not be disgusting, but the behavior of the clientele is. I am currently on Glory and what I witnessed in the buffet line yesterday was almost beyond belief. Yesterday was a port day in Bermuda and my wife and I returned just after 3pm, so we went upstairs to get a bite to eat and we happened to grab a table right next to the serving line. As the buffet hit its scheduled closing time of 3:30pm, staff placed signs all along the cafeteria-style line stating that the buffet was now closed. Additionally, they removed all the ladles and serving spoons from the food items.  Did that stop the late-arriving passengers from getting food? Absolutely not! In fact, it became almost a feeding frenzy as passengers were doing whatever they could to get some food. This included using their own little forks and spoons and dipping them into the food items, and then handing them to other passengers who arrived at the line without their own utensils. Some were using their hands to grab at the cakes and other dessert items. I even saw one man use his hands to tear off a couple of hunks of turkey from what remained of the bird. I was absolutely appalled. 

     

    I finally went up to a Carnival employee who was standing there watching all this and asked why she didn't try to put a stop to this clearly unsanitary customer behavior. Her response was that they were just going to throw all the food away anyway so it didn't matter.

     

    Needless to say, I won't be going back to the buffet for the remainder of this cruise. But then again, the food in the MDR hasn't been great on this cruise either, so that only leaves me with pizza, the deli, and room service, lol. BTW, I don't want this to come across as a general Carnival-bashing comment. This is my 4th Carnival cruise in the last 12 months encompassing 53 days of sailing, and the first 3 cruises were great. We also have a 25-night transpacific cruise coming up this October on Panorama, so I'm hoping that this has just been a one off, and that we'll have better food and better passengers on that cruise.

     

    If not, it is going to be a very looong 25 days. 

    • Like 4
  8. 44 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

    The idea of being crammed in a tiny space like that and being forced to participate is enough to make me cringe. A lot of people like to watch Quest and not having room for them is a good reason not to have it.

    Quest is scheduled for tonight in the Ebony Cabaret Lounge [Comedy Club Venue] on Glory's TA cruise.

    • Like 1
  9. 14 hours ago, staceyglow said:

    So, because a certain rule isn't enforced 100% of the time on 100% of the ships, it's okay to ignore?  The OP was looking for guidance on getting a scooter with her interior cabin.  I would never advise anyone to simply disregard a written policy, especially when the safety of other passengers is involved.

     

    And I would certainly not be shy about reporting scooters left in the hallway for an extended amount of time to ship security.   The first time I saw it, I might give the person a little grace and assume that they had just popped into their cabin for a few minutes, but after that, maybe not.

    WTH are you talking about?? Please point to where I said it was okay to do this. Go ahead, I'll wait....

     

    All I did was report that the policy wasn't being enforced. At least not on this cruise because it has been the exact same thing every night for two full weeks. Wheelchairs and scooters parked in the hallways overnight, starting in the early evening. Not only that, but I even pointed out that in one of the cases, they didn't even bother to fold up the wheelchairs and created even more of a safety issue by taking up even more of the hallway.

     

    So maybe next time you should make a better attempt to understand a poster's comment before jumping down their throat because you misinterpreted what they wrote.

  10. On 4/20/2024 at 11:04 AM, staceyglow said:

    I don't know how long ago it was that this happened, but scooters left in the hallways are expressly forbidden.  It's a safety hazard.

    That may be so, but it is not being enforced. On my way to my cabin last night, I counted three Carnival Glory branded collapsable wheelchairs in the hallway outside of interior cabins (only two of which were collapsed), and one red collapsable scooter.  And that was just on the port side of one of the passenger decks. No telling how many "expressly forbidden" safety hazards are occurring each night on all the decks combined.

  11. Yes, I am aware of that language on CCL's website. However, there is other language from Carnival's website that seems to contradict that. The info in the below link specifically delineates each and every PepsiCo beverage offered on CCL vessels, including all the ones that are included in the Cheers! package and those that are not. If you scroll to the bottom of the list, you can see that the two Muscle Milk protein shakes are the only two products specifically identified as being available on the ships, but not included in the Cheers package. Beverages | Carnival Cruise Line 

     

    It's for the above reason that I thought that Muscle Milk did not appear to be included in the Cheers package. And while I have never gotten the Cheers package because I always have DOU through the casino, I have had a similar drinks package on another cruise line and that package did not include protein drinks because the drinks are apparently considered "food." Be that as it may, since I am currently onboard Glory, I took the opportunity to walk over to the Java Blue Cafe and confirmed that Muscle Milk is, in fact, included in the Cheers package so I stand corrected.

     

     

    • Like 5
  12. 9 hours ago, kwokpot said:

    Since Fairlife is in plastic bottles you won't be able to bring it on board.You can bring on Protein drinks in cans or cartons, like premier protein in cartons.  Up to 12 cans/cartons.

    As another poster mentioned, if this is for a medical reason, special needs can authorize an exception to that limit. But I would strongly recommend bringing a copy of that authorization in writing to show the security personnel when checking in. I received authorization to carry-on three twelve-packs of Ensure High Protein for a Carnival cruise last year, but security said they didn't know anything about my authorization and wouldn't let me through with the Ensure until I produced a written copy of the email.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  13. 10 hours ago, kwokpot said:

    There's Muscle Milk at Java Blue Cafe. That's the only protein drink available on carnival ships. I'll check they price for you.

    I'm currently on Glory. Muscle Milk is $5.25.

    • Like 1
  14. 13 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

    But you are okay with playing with safety onboard?

    First of all, as I mentioned earlier, I wasn't even aware it was against the rules until I recently read about it here on CC. And consequently, I never even tried to conceal the fact that I was bringing a kettle on board. Secondly, and as others have pointed out, other cruise lines with the same wiring on their ships allow kettles.

     

    And finally, passengers are allowed to bring curling irons on board. Perhaps you can explain how bringing a kettle on board is "playing with safety", yet a curling iron with a much higher wattage heating element is not. And if you can't, you probably shouldn't lecture others on safety.

  15. 3 hours ago, mz-s said:

     

    That doesn't prove anything other than they haven't found it in your bags yet. And it makes sense because they're mostly looking for booze, weapons, and drugs.

    What a strange comment.  Where did you get the idea that I was trying to "prove" anything? MagnoliaBlossom made a declarative statement that Carnival would confiscate kettles brought on board and I replied that based on my personal experience over the past year that that wouldn't necessarily happen.  I'm not sure why you have a problem with that. I didn't write that CCL  authorizes kettles to be brought on board, or even that Carnival would never confiscate a kettle if a passenger attempted to bring one on board. All I basically said was that Carnival wouldn't necessarily and 100% automatically confiscate one if you attempted to do so.

  16. 16 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

    Nothing with a heating element is allowed in the cabins, with the exception of curling irons. Etc.   It’s a fire hazard and they will confiscate the item if you bring your own onboard.  It’s a huge complaint of mine against CCL because I love to have a cup of coffee on the balcony each morning.

    Not necessarily. I've been on 4 Carnival cruises in the past 12 months (and am currently on one now) and it's never been an issue. And I've never made any attempts to hide it at embarkation or in my stateroom because to be perfectly honest, I didn't even know it was against the rules until I read a similar thread here not too long ago. I bought mine on Amazon a couple of years ago and have taken it on every cruise since (about 8 cruises in all across 3 lines: CCL, RCL, & Celebrity.) Sometimes I have it in my carry-on when I board and sometimes I pack it in my larger luggage. But either way, no one has ever said a word to me about it. (Not that that makes it right; only that they aren't necessarily going to confiscate it if you bring it with you.)

  17. 14 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

    Different embarkation today. After security and checking in, you were required to pass through the liquor store to get to the ship 🙂

    Yes; one of the nicest aspects of embarking in Barcelona.  I picked up a bottle of Licor 43 on my way to the ship and my cabin yesterday afternoon.

    • Like 2
  18. 15 hours ago, broberts said:

     

    Putting the onus to communicate on the stroke victim seems particularly removed from reality. 

    Exactly. It is one thing to blame the late eight for missing the ship, it is quite another to exonerate NCL's actions with regard to the 80-year-old stroke victim.  After all, what is the purpose of the cruise line requesting that passengers provide emergency contact information that includes the name, relationship, and telephone number of a person to be contacted in case of emergency if the cruise line isn't going to bother to actually make that phone call? And that doesn't even address the issue of whether the stroke victim would have been better served by remaining on the ship until she could be debarked at a larger mainland facility rather than what São Tomé could provide. And the ship's doctor didn't even make that determination. According to an article linked earlier in this thread, it was the ship's nurse who made the decision.

     

    I have no problem at all with NCL leaving the late eight behind, but in my opinion, they really dropped the ball with regard to the stroke patient. 

    • Like 2
  19. 12 hours ago, shof515 said:

    NY is my homeport. on all of the cruise lines i sailed out of the terminal, no one checked or enforce the check in time 

    Interesting because I've only sailed out of NY one time (12/23) and my experience was similar to that of the OP's.  I was in two exceedingly-long lines before reaching CCL's check-in area. (The first was out on the sidewalk just to hand over our luggage, and the second was the security line.) Once I got to the Venezia check-in line, I was directed to the exceedingly-long late check-in line since we were now outside of our 30-minute window. 

     

    And no, contrary to your alternative theory, the regular check-in line had not closed as people were still being directed to enter that line if they were within their window.

  20. 8 minutes ago, Surfnsnowboard3 said:

    My wife and I are going on this cruise as well.  Have you been on a Transatlantic before?

    Yes, probably close to 10, including two last year: Carnival Pride from Tampa to Barcelona in April & Celebrity Reflection from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale in October. And now this year in addition to the transatlantic on Glory in April, we're also doing a 25-night transpacific cruise on Panorama in October from Singapore to L.A.

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