sparks1093

They may or may not lose repeat customers but as long as they are sailing full it's all the same to them. Whenever I've looked at an AI it's always come out more than a cruise but it may be the dates I'm choosing.

Too late to edit but in looking at airfare any savings on the cruise would disappear in paying more for flights. Oh well.

As with anything else I've read mixed reviews and when I've been in the market to book haven't found a cruise with them that was the same or cheaper. Carnival still meets my needs so I have no qualms booking with them at all. (I will book cruises with other cruise lines if the price is right, which means equal to or less than a comparable Carnival cruise.) ETA: So I looked at those three options for Feb of 2025, which is when we have another cruise booked with Carnival. First, none of those companies cruise out of the US which means I would have to fly to a Caribbean Island to take the cruise. Second, of the two I was able to do a faux booking for (MSC and Costa) MSC was less because it included the drink package, but Costa was more. A lot would depend on how much the airfare was to those islands but we'll see.

You mean the total cost of the trip, total cost of the cruise is $3000. What you pay over and above the cost of the cruise is entirely within your control and what you pay over and above the cruise fare has nothing to do with your cruise experience.

It certainly can be normal, especially this close to sailing. The summary page only has to show what the least expensive cabin is in the lowest category.

It's the way markets have always worked. All that really matters is am I receiving a good value for my vacation dollar. Until that answer is no I'll continue to sail with them.

There are 4 choices, there is a Spanish omelet hiding under the Eggs Any Style section.

I suspect this will soon be a topic for JH to discuss.

4 choices of omelets is enough for us, although I usually choose the steak and eggs for brunch. (If I wanted an omelet I'd probably order the veggie with a side of ham.)

Well, the OP did ask for opinions.

The thing to remember about pickpockets- they don't pick blindly. They know exactly what their target is before they swoop in. They know this from observing their marks. If you carry your passport and don't flash it around they'll have no idea where it is and won't target it. As I understand it most passports are stolen because they are kept with other valuables, such as in a purse or camera bag.

It could be anything, including the brand of food that is used by the ship. There is a reason that there are so many varieties of items at the grocery store.

OP, as the comments indicate a lot depends on where you are sailing to. We leave our passports in our cabin safe unless a local requirement exists for us to carry them, mostly because we carry a bunch of stuff with us ashore and having one less thing to carry is a good thing. We typically sail to the Bahamas or in the Caribbean and since our cruises are closed loop as defined by the government we've even cruised without passports. There is no right or wrong answer other than do what you are comfortable doing, it's a personal decision (unless of course it is actually required).

If something were to happen to your passport and you needed to apply for a new one at an embassy/consulate the copy serves as proof of citizenship. I carry a photo of ours on my phone that is saved to my cloud. Certainly not a game changer as long as your passport is safe.

I read it the same way that you do, but the main take away is that someone may be able to afford more of a cruise than they realize if they take the time to total it all up. A lot depends on one's starting point. If one is only sailing in interior cabins on one of the main stream lines they most likely won't be able to make the jump to Oceania, but they very well could "move up the food chain" and be able to sail on Princess or Celebrity. If, however, someone is sailing in suites on a mainstream line and paying a premium for a "ship within a ship" experience then they just might be able to make the change to Oceania once all of the things are totaled. It also depends on what one is paying for on their current line. If they aren't buying the drink package then getting an included package isn't going to do much for them. If they never eat in a specialty restaurant having those options available won't mean much for them (for example, we've eaten in specialty restaurants twice in twelve cruises). As @CDNPolar points out it can be difficult finding out what one has to pay for with a new cruise line and that too needs to be factored in, somehow. Of course if one is perfectly happy with their cruise line this is an exercise they don't need to participate in. But for those who want to try different lines it does open the door to possibilities that they might not have realized were there.

Some does depend on what one values but one can certainly compare cruises leaving from a particular port on a given itinerary for a specified number of days or nights and then decide if the difference in price is worth it or not.

To clarify, I said that I found a more upscale line, not a premium/luxury line. Think Princess or Celebrity, not Oceania or Seaborne.

If they didn't do their research then I don't feel bad for them. In my subsequent post I did point out that the net daily rate does come in handy in comparing cruises of different lengths. But if each cruise being looked at is the same length all I'm concerned about is the total (after factoring in what one cruise lines includes in the fare, of course).

This.

Too late to edit, but if one is comparing cruises of varying lengths then knowing the net daily rate would certainly have a purpose, since it gives a more accurate unit price. Focusing on the overall total is only good if one is comparing cruises of the same length.

I found it interesting that in the movie The Perfect Storm they showed a USCG aircraft doing an airborne refueling, in the middle of a storm no less. I never researched whether such a helicopter had refueling capability (although I doubted that they would attempt it during a storm, so I figured the scene was more for dramatic effect anyway).

Every craft or vehicle that uses fuel has a maximum range it can go without refueling. Even nuclear powered Navy vessels need to be refueled, although certainly not as frequently.

Why focus on "net daily rate"? Just focus on the overall total. I don't really care what I'm paying each day, I'm more concerned with what is coming out of my pocket. By comparing all of the costs (i.e. the things that I know that I'm going to be purchasing) I have found that more upscale lines are indeed a possibility for us, so one day we might book one. (And many don't mind the things that you do so the smoky casinos and crowds aren't something to avoid.)

It mirrors society as a whole.

I would suspect that the further in the rearview that COVID becomes the more we will see CD's including Quest.