staceyglow

Consider booking an ocean view. Still have all the scenery at a more reasonable price. When I have taken Alaska cruises, I choose to hang out on the top deck during the most scenic parts of the cruise. that way I could have my choice of all 360 degrees of views as opposed to only the view from a balcony.

What's your point? To frighten the OP? I didn't say that I was absolutely certain there was zero crime in Mexico. That article say that they apprehended the suspects, so there are two fewer criminals on the streets - streets that are nowhere near where Carnival cruises.

My favorite memory has to do with a crew member. Our head waiter, Robert, was from the Philippines. When our young son saw the country on his name tag, he said, "That's where Manny ***** [the boxer] is from! I love him!" Robert was a great server and over the cruise, we heard many stories about his family. It was his last cruise before going home, where he had a son who was born during his current contract that he had not yet seen. "I am so excited I can't sleep!" On our last port day, he handed our son a DVD and said, "I was in port today and there was a guy on the street selling these Manny ***** DVDs. I got one for you." I was so touched. 15 years later, my son still talks about it.

But you can certainly add those to the pile of reasons one should think carefully before buying gift cards.

Honestly, as a business decision, yes. It's the way many, if not most loyalty programs work. There is a decent chance that people like you might not "branch out" so much if they knew they were going to lose status with Carnival. Having people continue give business to your company is the entire point of a loyalty program.

Not sure that is true. Why would there be laws requiring a company to throw someone out of its loyalty program? Most laws like that favor the consumer. For example, in most states in the US it is illegal for gift card balances to expire. And to be honest, I wish Carnival had a rule like that, especially in regards to the folks who made Platinum under the old, easier-to-achieve rules. If you sail Carnival less than once every 3 years, are you really that "loyal"?

If there is one near you, Culver's has the best fish sandwich hands down.

Definitely a reason to switch to another cruise line. The last time I played mini-golf on Carnival a couple of months ago, they used real golf balls. I don't know what the story is with your experience.

Right. But I believe the OP was concerned about safety, and I wanted to clarify that third party excursions are no less safe as Carnival excursions.

We have booked a number of third-party excursions. Again no issues.

I have been to Mexico many times since the restart. I have had no safety issues whatsoever and have not heard of any other cruiser (or other type of tourist, for that matter) having safety issues.

What flatware was reduced? I certainly haven't missed it. If I need a utensil that they don't have (like a steak knife or spoon for my dessert), they automatically bring it at the same time they serve me the food.

Carnival should stop everyone trying to board with a scooter, measure it, and compare it to the cabin they have booked to make sure it fits. Then they need to strictly enforce the "no scooter parking in the hallway" rule. That would solve things pretty quickly.

The only thing that the app provides on future cruises is a countdown clock, so really it's NBD

Not in my house, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Who is going to treat the stains, wash them, and iron them after every meal? Not me.

Shhhhh! 🤫 Now everyone will want to hang out there!!!

I don't frequent McDonald's very often, but when I do, that's my go-to order. And unless it's a Friday during Lent, they usually don't have any premade, so they have to cook it fresh for me. And the McRib comes and goes based on pork prices.

A little while back, John Heald posted a picture of the crew's mess. It had a big sign listing all of the available entrees, which, of course had many items from the cremembers' home countries. Some of them sounded really delicious! I propose that they should have a "crew favorite" menu item every night. The supply chain is already in place for those dishes, and it would just be a matter of preparing more on that night. I think it is also a nice way to bond with the crew members and a good topic of conversation you can literally have with any one of them: "I see that the crew favorite on tonight's menu is the shawarma. Have you had it? Is it good?"

Not sure it's the comedians' call. I agree with others that they need to put comedians in the larger theaters more often, especially when they are drawing such large crowds.

Based on all the problems I have seen people have with Carnival gift cards, I don't think I will ever purchase any. It seems to be a lot of hassle for a 10% discount.

Most of the restaurants these days that have white tablecloths charge more for dinner than Carnival charges for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, entertainment and lodging for the day.

Actually, I believe the opposite could be true. I have known people who were obese and very picky eaters. The issue is that the foods they don't like are the healthy ones (vegetables, fish, low fat dairy, etc.). If you don't like the healthy foods and have plenty of opportunity to eat the unhealthy ones full of carbs and fat, it increases the chances that you are going to be overweight.

I believe that Holland America uses "Nieuw" (New) in front of the original names, such as "Nieuw Amsterdam".

I apologize for being insensitive. But the truth is, over 98% of Carnival's cruises are for 2 weeks or less (I did the math), so perhaps there isn't the demand for waxing that is necessary to make it worthwhile to add to the menu of services.

Me too! 🤣