nascartim

Sometimes you just got to put your foot in the door first. If this is your 1st cruise, you might just have to settle for an interior room, terrible as it is, and than once you've spent a little time in the casino, you can show them what you can do and then your deals will get progressively better. With any luck you might just get that Carnival fairy upgrade call.

Daruma, I think it's a great plan to start at the smaller ships, and then you'll have something to look forward to in the future as you move up to the larger ones. But, just so you know, the 4 day cruise on Paradise is usually the "booze cruise" itinerary. Have done it many times, not saying you won't have a great time, because I'm sure you will, just giving you a heads up since you are leery of the drunks. Once you have a chance to go on the 7 day Legend, you'll see a little difference.

I just applied 2 full gc and 1 partial gc and it worked just fine for me.

I was on in November, will be back on her next week. Embarkation is a breeze. Debarkation on the other hand was a little bit of a slow process. Though we wait up in the lido area as long as we can until we think the lines have died down, well it was a very long line to get off the ship, once off, it's a breeze.

Is Alchemy bar that much better than the Rotterdam bar? I hear nothing but high praises about the Rotterdam. Maybe Carnival felt like the cost to retrofit it wasn't worth it?

The more I think about it, I suppose bar cash would be useful if you are a heavy gambler and want to make sure you don't blow your bar money in the casino. But then, if you are a heavy gambler, you most likely get free drinks anyway, hmmmm.

Or buy 1k worth of gift cards, and use that to pay for your drink pkg. Now that drink pkg only cost you $900, and you have an extra $100 to use as you please. If you do go the route of putting gift cards or money on credit, I would recommend cruise cash over bar cash. Bar cash can ONLY be used at a bar, while cruise cash can be used at a bar or anywhere else on board. Not even sure why anyone would use bar cash, I guess it makes them feel better?

I always just get the printout of my gift cards, and I always use the kiosks at MY convenience, I don't wait in any guest services line. The kiosks can be a little getting used to, but with a little patience and ability to follow instructions I've always gotten the kiosk to work for me.

I personally didn't see any noticable changes. If I did not know in advance of a dry dock, I would have not known any different, and I have been on that ship multiple times. They made some changes to the serenity deck area, removed 1 hot tub, moved another, added more chairs. Added some space to the casino, I couldn't even figure out what it was. Replaced some carpet, I'm not sure where though. None of the changes made will change your cruise experience, most people just get worked up over minute details that most people will never notice.

I use the "Ozark Trail 24-cans soft sided cooler" from Walmart. It has a hard plastic insert that cuts down on sweating. I ask the steward to fill it everyday. It's great for bringing on your assorted 24cans of sodas of your choice. I'll place some drinks in the ice to get them cold then start moving them over to the fridge. It helps to get fridge colder and keep it there.

Just bought 2k dollars worth last week. I never buy cruise cash or anything. It's so easy to monitor your account at any time using the hub app while on board. Somewhere around the last day or so I use the kiosk or guest services if I notice line isn't long(I'm Platinum, so I get to use the special line). I've never had any issues using the kiosk, I've gotten accustomed to using it, and I apply just what is necessary.

I have a different angle of advice. Since this is your 1st cruise with carnival, don't worry about trying to pick the biggest or nicest ship. It's ok to start lower on the totem pole. Your expectations won't be as high, then in the future you can upgrade to a nicer ship and have something to look forward too. If you start off on the biggest ship, your going to be disappointed when you go on a smaller one.

Unfortunately anything you charge to your s&s card will get charged on your acct and will eat into the $450. So if you don't want your gambling to have any affect on that first 450 amount, use cash in a slot machine and build up credit on your s&s card, and only take money out of your "players bank". Once you've gotten past your 450 quota then the rest just gets charged on your credit acct.

I was just on PARADISE, I saw hand washing stations near the buffet area. I don't think they have the man power to cover all entrances to the buffet area for that many hours.

If it wasn't for all of the same redundant questions over and over, this place would be like a ghost town.