staceyglow

Once on a cruise, our cabin phone rang. DH answered, and a person said that they had "a very important message" for me. My heart was pounding as I took the phone. Who was trying to contact me on a cruise? Was one of my kids seriously hurt? Did our house burn down while we were gone? No - the message was that they were offering me, completely randomly, a $50 credit towards any spa service. It took me a long time to get over being upset about that.

Why would you need this information? My guess is that all of the crew members - especially the department managers - are going to be exceptionally busy. Are you planning to contact them for things another staff member can take care of, or to bother them about things they can't do anything about?

Yes, because they don't have a liquor license and can't sell you alcohol. That's not the case with a cruise ship.

Just curious - what was the vaccination status of those who came down with it?

I don't have a problem with this. I always thought it was tacky to bring your own drinks into the MDR. You wouldn't do it in a restaurant on land; why would this be any different?

There is really no advantage to booking Spa services ahead of time unless you have a very specific time and date in mind. It has been my experience that they start offering specials a couple of days into the cruise. And as other people have posted, getting refunds if you change your mind can take awhile to get posted to your account.

I have seen on several occasions where a large party will "camp" for a big portion of the day (or cruise, even) in a prime space. Even if there are only a few members of their party present at any given time, they spread their things over multiple tables, chairs, etc., so no one else can use them. Wherever you guys decide to meet up, please be respectful of the other passengers' needs regarding seating and space. 🙂

Don't worry. No one is forcing you to eat it. 🙂

I interpret it as the hours are variable, not whether they are going to have it or not. And it makes sense that each ship would have discretion about how late they keep it open, just as they have discretion on how late they keep bars open. A two-week Journeys cruise probably doesn't have many people awake at 2 a.m.; why should they waste food and crew resources if almost no one is still up? A 3 or 4 day cruise is going to have far more people up very late, and my guess is the late night food options will reflect that.

I don't play the slots. I play a very little bit of video poker, preferably Jacks or Better. At least there is some skill involved and I know exactly what the odds are. That's probably why there are so few video poker machines available on Carnival cruises.

Or you can just have the kiddos wear their suits under the clothes on embarkation day.

We are actually going to Australia first, doing a 9 day cruse, then on to SIngapore, where we are taking a 25-day Transpacific back to LA and hitting a bunch of stuff on the way back, including Hawaii. So at least we only have to fly one way.

If you can't book them, no one can book them. Just keep checking back. As for that other matter, well, you can always join me back in coach. That's how I am flying to Australia and Singapore in 2024. 🙂

Even though I am an early boarder, by the time I find my cabin, drop my luggage off, explore the Prominade deck, and have my lunch, it's pretty close to 1:30 anyway. If you want to escape the -"chaos", do what we do and head up to Serenity. It's usually pretty deserted during the first 3-4 hours of embarkation day.

Maybe they don't have contracts with tour providers that go that far out. A lot can happen in ten months. One could also ask why anyone would need to book excursions that far out. Very few of them sell out, at least not until you close in on the sailing date. Booking a little closer to the sail date reduces the chance that you will change your mind and have to chase down a refund. 😊

No. It is drop and go until 1:30.

It has been my experience that staterooms are usually open until the steward is completely done with them. Then they close the door and put the key cards in the slot. If this happens to you in the future, try to track down your steward and ask for the keys. If you can't find him/her, go to guest services. You are Platinum; you get to go into the expedited line. 😁

Looks like everyone here has discovered that cruise lines use dynamic pricing. 😊 The goal of every cruise line is to sail completely full at the highest possible fare for each passenger. If a ship is filling up more quickly than anticipated, they raise fares. If bookings are lagging, they lower them, and this happens continually. Sometimes a cruise that is traditionally more expensive than a similar one on another line will lower its fare so its fare is below the "cheap" cruise line . One can't assume that Carnival (or any other line, for that matter) is always going to be the best value in every case. If you are looking for the best deal, you have to compare all of the mass market cruise lines every time. And keep checking until you actually book.

Yes, it's a request, not a requirement. But as a frequent traveler, I can tell you that if you pack prudently, what Carnival is requesting is usually plenty. More than that, and it's just more stuff to keep track of. I get it if you need the space for medical devices, etc., but no one cares if you wear the same outfit to the MDR more than once.

Bed bugs, in theory, can crawl into a suitcase from just about anywhere in your room. Think of it this way: If bedbugs were a significant issue on Carnival ships, there would be WAAAY more threads about it on Cruise Critic. 😁

IMO, life is too short to worry about stuff that is very, very, unlikely to happen to me. I could also get killed in a car accident on the way to the port, but I don't worry about it. I would rather take my chances and not live my life in a constant state of anxiety.

It has been my recent experiece that the embarkation time slots are at 30-minute intervals, starting at 10 am.

Based on what I have seen regarding where and when these fights typically take place, as long as your 11-year-old niece isn't in the nightclub at 3 a.m., she should be fine. Also, I don't recall that in any of these incidents, anyone was harmed except for the people directly involved in the fights.

Same here. Once I was playing by myself and I came in second to a team that must have had ten players, At least when I when, there's no dilemma about who actually gets to keep the trophy.

Were there any fights in the first 24 hours?