Tom-n-Cheryl

Well, they've already trimmed costs associated with some of the "gifts/perks" by requiring you to go on a treasure hunt to find them. Most of it is junk anyway, but I did like the nifty new wristband !! Tom

With Carnival, in my case at least, that was Michael Bayona. He was a friendly POC, who often would go that extra mile and was able to "make things happen". I think he left their Players Club a few years back. Tom

The S-class CS has a sectional couch - with one part (Of the "L" shape) facing the ocean. That just leaves the other section facing either forward or aft. Tom

Enjoy a Muffuletta for me at Emeril's !! Tom

That's why I feel that total, and onboard, spend should come into play. There are those who get free (casino) cabins, and only risk a few hundred in the casino. Then, there are others who still put a lot of money into play... or spend a few thousand in the jewelry store, etc ! Many moving parts, to be sure! Tom

The VIFP program update rumors have been swirling for the better part of TEN YEARS. Whatever they end up doing, and whenever, it will be anticlimactic - of this I'm quite confident ! ! ! My vote for a new tier is for Double Diamond (or Unobtainium)... with a free specialty dinner each cruise and deeply discounted (or FREE) CHEERS and Internet. Then they'd be talking my language! Carnival probably has $200K+ of my vacation dollars, but I do appreciate the bottle of water... 😉 Tom

How nice would it be if they'd just apply the discount when booking online?! Seems it would save a ton of hassle. (not holding my breath) Tom

Casino rate... and managed the Celebration for October for about the same! I didn't know how long those offers would last, so I piled on. Plus, I was able to convert our existing Celebration ABC sailing to a casino promo and scored $2,000 OBC... WOWZA Tom

We had the Prima booked for 2/26/23, very nice cabin - but, at $14,000, decided to jump ship when push came to shove! Instead we booked the Mardi Gras again for that week (aft corner excel) for a steal: ~$2,500 including CHEERS! Tom

Okay, sorry I have no idea what you're talking about. Mine is a simplistic level of investing.

I'm sailing on the Allure in 2024 just for the Park Café roast beef sandwich!

I've never sailed MSC, but did look at a few dates (three nights out of Pt Canaveral) in early '23. Yacht club cabins were between $3-4k. Instead, I booked a 3-nt Allure in early '24 for under $2k in a GS. Tom

One thing not mentioned, when comparing the Sky Suite and a Celebrity Suite, is that a Celebrity Suite will get you a few more CC points. That's minor, but nonetheless a factor to consider. I agree with another poster who indicated that the Celebrity Suites on the hump definitely have a better balcony. The ones on the aft of the hump go first, as they aren't blasted with as much wind as the front ones. I was saddened to see that Celebrity has renamed the S1 aft corner Sky Suites to Sunset Sky Suites. This basically means that the Blue Chip Club does not offer (me) a discount on those, as they will on a "regular" Sky Suite. That minor shift meant the difference between $4,900 and ~$11,000 on a sailing I was contemplating for 2024. Tom

Yep - because the Silhouette is a lot nicer ship!

Yes - for a Perfect Day 🙂 Tom

This just presents another buying opportunity. If only I could "ride the waves" (I need a Magic 8-ball)!! Tom

With the right tools - we could just open that window up !!! 😉 Tom

That makes sense, and I've seen that before when I go through the "Offers" section of my profile. It might only show inside or balcony cabins (and all the others are greyed out). However, when one tries to book just using their VIFP#, you'd think that they'd want to show you every category available, especially the higher cost ones! EDIT: OH - Welcome to Cruise Critic !!! Tom

I'll have to look when I get back home in a couple of hours! Tom

Well - this was quick! On 12/10 I went in and cancelled the dinner reservation where I had inadvertently booked for just one person, and then rebooked it for the two of us. Today, five days later, FedEx delivered a card with $42 on it from the cancelled reservation! Tom

Which is why our B2B 7 nighter worked out better than a single 14 night sailing. And, we received an extra $50 off each week owing to the B2B (which I wasn't even aware I could request, or that it existed, until someone on CC clued me in)! Tom

I had the link, but can't put my hands on it... Anyone out there have it handy? Tom

They actually give you a number of points equivalent to one additional night (of whatever category you're staying in). Tom

If it goes through, glitch free, and you get a confirmation - and it shows in your planner, I suspect they'll honor the price. I used gift cards on all of mine (10 nights total I think), and all appears OK. Tom

They still have some old clunkers w/out a suite lounge? lol !! Tom