sparks1093

I just purchased trip insurance for our cruise in April. $150 for the two of us. It covers the air portion of our trip and provides much better coverage than what Carnival offers. I can't remember what their plan costs for the trip, but I know that it is much more than $150. (And Cancel For Any Reason coverage does nothing for me. If I am cancelling then it is for a covered reason.)

Bacon is available, but not at a price Carnival is willing to pay without having to make another cutback or raise fares. They have it available onboard, but not in a quantity that allows it to be served at the buffet every day. Food is a large expense and trying to eliminate waste reduces that expense. @DramaQueen22's post is spot on- if you buy something and it spoils before you can consume it all you will not buy so much the next time. The same thing applies if you prepare it and don't eat it all.

Exactly. Many fishing boats will freeze their catch because they spend so long at sea filling their holds that it is the only way to get the fish back to port without it spoiling. It is possible after reading the description of what HAL offers that they are sourcing locally caught fish that hasn't been previously frozen, but their description does not rule out that some of what they source may have been frozen at sea after being caught. Virtually every type of fish and seafood at my local supermarket bears the words "previously frozen", because that is the only safe way to get it to northern Vermont from wherever it was caught. (This reminds me of a scene from a movie [but not the title of the movie but I think it starred Walter Mathieu] where the character was debating with a store clerk about the term "fresh frozen". According to the character, if it's frozen, it isn't fresh. And he was right.)

It isn't highlighted like everything else and is rather hard to see but it is there.

I'm sure that there is a coffee bar on Magic but haven't been so can't help with that. I know that on many ships there is a small coffee bar on Lido where you can get specialty coffees. Not sure about the limit on waters, most people just grab a bottle when they get a drink, which is what we will typically do.

You have to put that money in your player bank and then play a slot machine for a spin or two. Then you can cash out your player bank. If you wanted to skip that you could pay the fee (3%?) to receive the cash.

We found the offerings in one section of the buffet the one time we looked. The rest of the buffet had other things available (not that we made note of what else was there).

Don't know, have never been to the buffet for dinner. I've read many times that the main entree's in the MDR are available in the buffet.

Exactly and you can go back as often as you want to if you are of mind to (or just take a small spoonful if all you want is a taste).

I think that is exactly what people were doing, ordering 3 or more just to try a bite of each. Add it up and it does, well, add up.

I used the word "taste" as a figure of speech.

Which is exactly what the reaction would have been if you had tried to file a complaint with a police department. Since they don't do that for more serious infractions it is highly unlikely they would do it for this one. Yes, the guy was a jerk and out of line, but getting someone to do anything will be fruitless.

Exactly, none of those changes (and they are simply changes, made to make the cruise line as efficient as possible without unduly raising fares) severely impacts the overall cruise experience. We had just as a good of a time on Glory this past April as we did on Pride in 2012.

Just pointing out there is a difference between a tail and a whole Maine lobster.

Maybe. But by waiting you will probably be limited in what cabins are available.

Yes, customs and immigration are too different animals. I know that here on the northern border if someone attempts entry whose immigration status is questionable the agents at the port of entry have to call someone with the expertise necessary to sort things out.

A 3 to 4 ounce lobster tail is a taste and if that's all I'm eating I could put a few away. They are only ok to me, because I live in New England so I'm spoiled by Maine lobster.

I haven't read the replies but here goes anyway. If I were your friend I wouldn't want to leave the US until my status was finalized. It's just not worth the potential hassle. If you want to take them to a warm place consider flying to one of the US territories. If you just want to be on a ship a Mississippi River cruise. Or just take them some place in the US so they can learn about their new home, there are hundreds of interesting places to see.

I can understand how you feel but at the same time I think you are tilting at windmills. This is a minor crime that won't result in police actually doing anything and the person that did this is unlikely to learn anything at all. If it were me I would just let it go because any result achieved is not going to be worth the effort.

Many live to eat, some eat to live. There is a difference.

Probably a matter of finding a supplier with acceptable pricing. In other words, Carnival could have all of the bacon they want if they don't care what they pay. I know that there are some people who would be willing to pay more in fare in order to have bacon, but I'm not one of them. We had bacon for dinner- from a pig that we purchased from a local farm and processed by a local meat processor. All other bacon is good of course, but it isn't as good as what we normally eat.

They used to have door hangers but now I believe you have to call. We haven't had to order breakfast room service lately.

Government agencies might but I seriously doubt that the cruise lines do.

Even if it wasn't heavy handed it was damaging to the hospitality industry as a whole.

They won't open them all since you won't be drinking them all at once. (I suppose they would if you asked, like if you bought the bucket as a round, but typically buckets are purchased by one person for one person. And no, the bucket doesn't count against the 15 drinks per day limit.)