sparks1093

On our last cruise I left one of our carry on bags on the bed and we didn't realized until we checked into the pre-flight hotel. Once we arrived at the port city we made a stop at Walmart to buy what we needed (including a new carry on bag).

And if you notice a sewer smell in your cabin try pouring a glass of water down the drain under the toilet. Chances are the trap has dried out. I've only sailed in one handicap accessible cabin and obviously this may not apply to every accessible cabin on every ship on every cruise line but it did not have a raised threshold in either the shower or the door (and the bathroom floor and cabin floor were the same level). Water that got onto the bathroom floor did get onto the carpet in the cabin. One of the main reasons we don't book guaranteed cabins, to avoid being assigned to another accessible one. (And it is a personal cruise tradition of mine to stub my toe at least once per cruise on the doorsill.)

My office has been paperless for years now but I'm still not at a point where I want to travel paperless (of course I mean papers that have to be printed out, which seems to be the OP's main concern). Some things still need hard copies such as passports and drivers licenses and proof of citizenship. When COVID vaccine proof was needed for the cruise we took last November it needed to be the original document as well. I like having backups for things if they are available at no/low cost and printing things out fits that definition (as well as having pictures on the phone).

DW likes to have several drinks before turning in and this is the easiest way to achieve that. We could have made do with wine (there are 5 of us going) or with beer purchased pre-cruise but she does like her rum.

We're sailing in April and it's not there yet for us. I suspect it will be after Dec 1st since that is the date that is mentioned.

One could leave the curtain open and in essence extend the shower to the entire bathroom. I know how DW would react so I won't personally attempt it.

Said every large comedian at every comedy show😁.

For us a lot depends on how often we can cruise. We can cruise about once every year-year and a half and a balcony fits into the budget nicely at that frequency. If we were only able to cruise every 3 to 4 years then we'd probably splurge and get a suite each time (we are sailing in a suite in April but we are celebrating a milestone anniversary so we are splurging). If we could sail several times per year then we'd likely have to choose an ocean view or inside in order to be able to afford it. When I first went to sea it was in a very large inside "cabin" with a lot of room mates, so I'm not as particular as DW is as long as I'm at sea.

My shower at home is 38" by 38" and the showers on the ship are slightly less than that, 30x30 sounds about right. I used to take a tape measure with me on cruises to measure different features but never thought to measure the shower.

Oh good, now I don't have to worry about any work arounds (bringing wine when we board, buying beer for the cabin, etc.).

I know that regular OBC is available before the cruise for online purchases through Funshops.

Oh, okay, when the message said it doesn't appear in cruise manager it led me to believe it couldn't be used pre-cruise. Thanks for the info!

Subject to interpretation for sure, but the first definition that pops up for "should" is used to indicate obligation, duty, or correctness, typically when criticizing someone's actions.

That answers one of the questions that I had right after reading this thread- is the credit available before the cruise. If I am reading this correctly it is not, but I am sure that DW will have no trouble disposing of $100.

The sticking point for some is that this is part of US federal law, previously quoted. While it is the law it is a law that is not enforced but there are some that feel it should be. But as you mention this does affect freedom of speech and as others have mentioned it does impact religious beliefs. As a vet I support these basic principles of American life. Also as mentioned this is one of the reasons that I served. Is it time for the Flag Code to be removed from law? That is above my pay grade. I do understand what someone means when they say that the CD is a representative of Carnival and that as such they should put their personal opinions away. That is between the employee and the company and it is entirely possible that the CD acted the way the company directed him to. I have no way of knowing either way, but no matter what I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

If I were traveling on a cruise filled predominantly with citizens of another country (thinking an Australian cruise) and they had a veterans gathering I would not expect to hear the Star Spangled Banner but would be honored to be recognized as a vet.

Since I hope to be a shareholder pretty soon I appreciate this thread.

I haven't sailed on Princess yet but have noticed a decline in quality in a large number of products (included lower food quality) and services since COVID reared it's ugly head. Service due to staffing issues (either not being able to hire enough people or having to hire unskilled people) has also been noticeable. Food supply issues are affecting our local grocery store. I say that to point out that until society as a whole returns to some sense of normalcy we might want to wait to hold a cruise line to a higher standard for experiencing the same issues (and from what I've read these issues do cut across cruise lines).

This has been the case for all of the ships that we've sailed on with Carnival.

Kind of the point behind the whole meme. 😉

No need to wrap your head around anything, different strokes for different folks. My sons book insides because they save them money. I book balconies because DW tells me too, but I could just as easily sail in an inside in order to save money.

Well said. I personally take pride in saluting our flag but I can understand why others don't, even if I don't agree with their reasoning.

This is what happened to us and we received our Gold card at embarkation. There may not be much difference between Red and Gold, but you can't get to Platinum without being Gold first.

Carnival has the right to interpret their policies as they see fit and while they are being chastised for not taking action the fact is they did- they did an investigation and took action. It's not the action that many would support, but based on the facts they gathered they made a decision. How about this situation- you are sitting there, minding your own business and someone comes up and out of the blue starts punching you. You defend yourself and fight back. Under a strict reading of Carnival's policy you would also be subject to the same penalty as the aggressor. Would anyone perceive that as fair? While the drunk wasn't the one that threw the first punch he did provoke the other four, while being drunk on top of it all. I personally don't have an issue with Carnival's handling of the situation- they did investigate and acted based on what their investigation discovered.

It all depends on the cruise line and how they handle this situation. On some lines (Carnival) they get to keep any extra tips, on others they have to put it all in the pool. My personal philosophy is this- if a tip (or extra tip, in this case) is warranted I leave it and then I don't worry about what happens to it because I have absolutely no control over that.