RoperDK

Well, I guess there is no answer as to which ship the OP was on.  We were very impressed with the windjammer on Odyssey.  Omelets were made to order.  I enjoyed the meat selection at the grill.  Really enjoyed the steamed veggies, too. I'm a meat and veggie kinda gal.  I don't go for casserole type items, but my DH enjoyed them.  The only complaint I had was that the desserts were bland.  We have only been on Odyssey and Mariner since startup, but never went to windjammer on Mariner for some reason.  I wonder if some ships are more "up to standard" than others. 

Well, I am late to this thread.  We were on Mardi Gras last October, our 25th Carnival cruise.  We had an Ocean Suite and twenty years of Carnival sailings on all Carnival ship classes except Vista Class.  We have our 25th milestone cruise on Mardi Gras next January.  If there is no improvement from our last several Carnival cruises, it will be our last.  We had previously cruised on NCL, Princess, and RCL.  Didn't care for NCL.  Princess was too boring for us, but much better in the service department.  RCL is our go to now.  Food in the MDR and Windjammer is so much better to us.  Carnival does have more free fast food options, which are great.  However, RCL has free pizza and Cafe Promenade or Park Cafe with great free options.  Lately, service is much better on Royal.  Royal's loyalty program and casino program are great.  I didn't have this opinion of Carnival 5 years ago.  It has slowly degraded in quality and that was before Covid.  Royal is overall more expensive, but that is worth it for the cruise experience we are looking for.  YMMV.         

Just now, Mum2Mercury said:

If you don't pre-pay, WHEN /HOW do you pay on the ship?  

It is painless.  It is automatically charged to your onboard account.  If you have OBC it comes off of that.  If not, it goes to your credit card charge for the whole trip.  I have my cruise lines mixed up, so not sure if it is charged daily or at the end of the cruise.  The envelopes do show up and it is your choice whether you give extra or not.

5 hours ago, sandebeach said:

For your Prime cruise, you must book AND sail by the end of March 2023.

Yes, this!

5 hours ago, GCS2000 said:

Yeah we prepaid tips when we booked so that is done as well.  Everything for our cruise is booked and paid for completely.  I'll look around for the casino deal.  I know we will use some of the OBC for laundry while we are on the ship guess maybe give the wife some spa services too.  I'm sure we will figure it out.

 

Couldn't you call and cancel your prepaid tips?  You should get that money back as a refund and then use your OBC to pay tips.  I believe that would work.  

3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Still skimpy on the bourbon/whiskey side. 

Lol, they have my Canadian Club.  What more could you want. 😀 I am easy to please!

Is it just me or does the CK lunch menu seem odd?  We usually have a JS and love eating in CK for dinner.  The breakfast menu seems on point.  However, the lunch menu appears to be a redo of dinner items.  I believe the old menu used to have salads, flatbreads, and sandwiches for lunch.  That would be a more traditional lunch for most.  Is there an "anytime" menu with more traditional options?   

We are in a GS next cruise.  Does everyone tip per meal or at the end of the cruise?  We usually travel in a JS and if we have dinner at CK we usually leave a cash tip on the table before leaving.  We will be eating more meals at CK this time and was wondering what everyone usually does.  In the MDR, we tip extra at the end of the cruise.  Thanks! 

1 hour ago, jerseyjjs said:

In my recent experiences on board Oasis (Sept & Oct) and Symphony (late Nov into Dec), college football was on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and SECnw.   Unfortunately, if you're a Bama fan, they usually have them on the prime mid-afternoon CBS game.   But as far as viewing college FB, I was able to watch them from the TV in my cabin or in Playmakers, but basically whatever the 4 ESPN channels were showing.

The game we are concerned about is the Bama/Arkansas game.  It will probably be on CBS, but I could be wrong.  So glad that we have access to ESPN and SEC to watch.  At least we could follow the score until we get to watch the DVR at home.  At home, we watch college ball all day.  Will be nice to peak in on some games during the cruise! 

2 minutes ago, hallux said:

@RoperDK this is all I found on the official support page - 

https://support.google.com/youtubetv/answer/7193651?hl=en#zippy=

Appreciate it.  Well, I guess it's a no go then.  I may have to look into ESPN+ again.  I have had some success with it on a cruise.  Won't help with all games, though.   

57 minutes ago, hallux said:

Here's what it says - You can't access any programs on YouTube TV while traveling internationally. 

Well poo, that's not good.  I searched on the YTTV site about watching your library internationally and there was no info on that.  Do you know if the international restriction applies to your library also?  It's really just a cloud DVR.  Just trying to figure out a workaround if there is any.

Thanks for all of the input, but now my head is swimming. 🙃 At a bare minimum, I only have to watch one football game and technically, I could watch it from my library after the game is over.  So only the 4K service allows you to watch from your library when you are out of your home area?  I always figured I could use my YTTV from my tablet or phone while traveling.  I can perhaps understand there being issues while on a cruise ship in International waters.  I can do without movies and TV shows during a cruise, but would love to be able to watch college football while on the ship.  I guess I will have to experiment and give it a try.  Love cruising in the fall, but hate to miss football games.

Our next several cruises are on Oasis class, so should be better quality internet. 🤞 We use YouTube TV at home.  As far as I understand it, I should be able to sign on to a portable device over WIFI and watch TV just like at home.  I have been told that there may be issues because the ship doesn't have a US IP address.  I am a bit tech challenged.  We normally don't watch TV on a cruise, but it will be football season after all.  I could use my phone, but will bring a tablet if I can watch local programming on the ship.  I know I can watch it on a tablet at my house, but not sure how many hoops there are to jump through to access it out of our local area.   

We just sailed on Mariner in a GS.  Prior to that, we had only been on Oasis or Quantum class. On those ships we had either been in a JS or GS.  We weren't expecting much on Mariner, but really enjoyed it!  A big plus for us was the Suite Lounge.  Comp evening drinks and such a relaxing atmosphere.  It was open all day with snacks always available.  The concierge took care of a few small issues for us and kept us from waiting in line at guest services.  Breakfast at Chops was great, too.  So nice to escape the chaos of Windjammer.  Free room service from the MDR was nice as was the extra room in the cabin.  Really enjoyed the early escorted debarkation, too.  For us, the GS was definitely worth the extra money.     

34 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

It's worth it to me to only pay $100 deposit and to have the ability to move the cruise without penalty within 60 days of the booking. 

Does this also apply to suites?

On 6/12/2022 at 6:47 PM, RoperDK said:

9 hours ago, mommao729 said:

Is there handicapped parking closer? We don’t have a Florida pass but have our state. still need to be closer. We have an 11:30 check in time. 

If you follow what we did in the next quoted post you will be fine.  The parking deck connects to the terminal via a walkway that is wheelchair friendly at level 2.  There are plenty of handicap parking spots on each level of the parking deck.  If level 2 is full, then take the elevator down to level 2 and go from there.  If you try to enter the terminal from where you drop off luggage, then you will have to climb a winding ramp up to level 2.  People were waiting for wheel chair assist right at the elevator on level 2.  I walked to the terminal entrance with my cane and got wheel chair assist from there. 

 

On 6/12/2022 at 6:47 PM, RoperDK said:

We recently cruised on Mariner from T5.  We dropped off our luggage at the main level and was directed to park at level 2.  It was early check in and there was plenty of parking.  There is a connecting walkway to the terminal from level 2.  If you can't park on that level you can take an elevator down to it.  Easy walk over to check in.  I have mobility issues and I was stressing over it.  At debark, a porter took our luggage to the car.  We payed as we left the terminal.  Again, it was early debark, so less traffic backup.

 

13 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

I've had Amazon Prime for years and have never paid extra for any show.

Lol, it seems like everything I'm wanting to watch has an added fee.

On 6/13/2022 at 7:51 AM, stephiek814 said:

This isn't really an important topic but I am hoping they still show the Thursday night football games while onboard with them being on Amazon Prime this year. Our team will be playing while we sail and we'd love to go to Playmakers for dinner that night to watch. 

21 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Stream them to your personal electronic device over the ship’s WiFi.

Are these games going to be free for Amazon Prime members?  My big beef with shows on Prime is they are always an added cost.  I doubt I'll pay $15 to watch a team that I don't care about.  If the local audience will still get the broadcast, then I wonder how many will actually fork out the $$ to see the game.  

19 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

We subscribe to YouTubeTV, so at least I know worst case I can DVR it or use the FakeGPS app to get the locally airing version live. 

Don't want to get too off topic, but please explain the FakeGPS app for YouTubeTV.  We have YouTubeTV and our home TVs know where we live and we can no longer get our favorite local news.  We moved 30 miles away and we now have a new local area which is in Georgia and we live in Alabama. 🙄  I'm assuming you can only use that app on portable devices?

4 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I would be very surprised if any Thursday night games were shown on a ship this year. Amazon Prime has exclusive rights to these games, with the exception that games will be available in the local market of the teams playing. 

Well, that is good news for the local crowd.  Might not help on a cruise, but I was really disappointed to hear about the Amazon Prime deal for Thursday Night Football. What's next...Hulu for Monday Night Football?  Paramount + for wild card games?  Bad trend IMHO.

We recently cruised on Mariner from T5.  We dropped off our luggage at the main level and was directed to park at level 2.  It was early check in and there was plenty of parking.  There is a connecting walkway to the terminal from level 2.  If you can't park on that level you can take an elevator down to it.  Easy walk over to check in.  I have mobility issues and I was stressing over it.  At debark, a porter took our luggage to the car.  We payed as we left the terminal.  Again, it was early debark, so less traffic backup.

Your cabin attendant is basically the same as a non-suite attendant.  I have found that suite cabins do get a little extra attention.  I ask for 2 ice buckets to help with icing my very arthritic knee and I want a paper copy of the compass.  It gets done in a suite.  There might be pushback in a regular cabin.  The concierge helps with errant charges or reservation issues.  It saves you from standing in the GS line.  They are not your personal assistant and have many others to take care of.  I really enjoyed our recent Mariner suite experience. Just so relaxing.  It can be hectic on Oasis class ships.  

3 hours ago, loman said:

I cruise in the fall so i can watch a little  NFL football to break up the activities .

I like the Allure as i can watch the game in the On Air Club or just outside it at the Starbucks seating in the promenade .

Roll Tide !

I enjoy NFL games, too.  My husband is pretty much just a college ball fan.  I have tried to tell him he can watch and follow our favorite college players once they get to the NFL.  He is slowly turning around.  I agree that watching a game on a cruise is a nice change of pace. Actually, the fall is my favorite time to cruise. Such a conundrum. Roll Tide!   

23 hours ago, constantcruiser said:

Several years ago our family did a Thanksgiving cruise leaving out of Galveston, TX.  It happened to be the last time Texas A&M and the Univ. of Texas played each other, and everyone aboard the ship seemed to be wearing maroon or burnt orange.  The day before Thanksgiving, the CD announced the game would be shown in the theatre AND in the largest bar.  It was a very close game; and on that one day, the ship sold more beer than it ever had before!  So don't give up if you REALLY want  a specific game.

I don't understand why they think that college ball isn't important to folks.  We are Bama fans and won't cruise over Thanksgiving because that is the Iron Bowl weekend.  I would love to cruise more in the fall, but big college games aren't shown like NFL games.  I can't always count on streaming so we try to cruise on off weeks or cupcake games.  That can make scheduling a cruise a bit challenging!    

I have several fall cruises booked.  Harmony doesn't have Playmakers.  Where are places to watch football, preferably college ball.