FLSteve11

Oh, how incorrectly you deduce.

 

It has been this particular subject, this thread, that I have been most vocal. To me, when I see those filthy stained loungers, I begin to wonder... that if Carnival crew, staff, and officers are blind to this particular dirt, then what other items to they overlook?

I think this is more an issue of the Dream though. While the Splendor was in worse shape then expected when I sailed her (considering it was shortly after drydock, I realize now it was just to get it nicer to move it out of fleet). I have never seen loungers like that before. Clearly someone on the Dream isn't doing their job properly. That doesn't mean it goes on to the entire fleet. The Breeze when I sailed her was spotless, and it's the same class of ship.

This will be their first cruise so we'll see. I'm less concerned about the youngest because he's outgoing but my 9 year old is shy so he may be harder to convince to try the camp. It doesn't help that they'll be in separate groups because of their ages.

 

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The biggest thing I will say is get them to go the first day then (or second if it's too busy embarkation day). Since all the kids are generally new and don't know anyone, most make their friends for the cruise right away and it can be hard to get into an existing group then if they're shy.

This is for any cruise lines camp. I found Carnival does a good job with their kids groups, so I think they'll be fine even if shy.

Steve, I don't disagree with you. Let me clarify what I meant to say on those points.

 

We do like the vouchers and it is a great value added perk. I was saying how it came about and expressing my thought that RCI might be planning to leave Diamond with this perk and take away the lounge access. Just a theory and it may be wrong. I would not be shocked if it happens.

 

I don't hold anything against suite people either (unless they are the dreaded "suite snobs" :D) but I would resent RCI reducing loyalty benefits to give to suite guests. To me, that is like saying "You have been loyal to us for many years and spent a lot of money with us. We would love to continue your rewards that we gave you for that, but this other guy just gave us $2500 more for this cruise."

 

On the last point, that is what I meant. The RCI Diamond is roughly the same number of "points" but the Diamond rewards seem to be of more value.

I agree with the you, and with the suites and the loss of benefits (though, I believe technically it was a suites lounge first, and then they opened it up to loyalty members). My guess is like yours, and a few others, but that it will be the concierge lounges that will be lost to D+. The Diamond lounge will be the "loyalty" lounge for Diamond and up after that. It's already happening on the Oasis/Quantum classes (with the suite lounge instead of a concierge lounge for suite guests, and a Diamond lounge for others). I think it's been a fair trade off with the drink vouchers, at least for us, as we only have 2-3 drinks anyway. In fact it's easier being able to get it around the ship. So long as there IS a lounge, we're fine with it. (I do like the 24-hr Capuccino machine in there I have to admit :) )

As for the overall topic (being a carnival forum :) ), I don't find any benefit worth booking a cruise line for exclusively. We have benefits on a few lines now, but that's because we liked the variety of different lines and ships. Yes, they're mostly the same, but there are differences in ship designs, activities, shows and especially dinner menus. We'll count the loyalty benefits in our decision for a cruise, but it's down the list in importance and more towards what we'll get out of a cruise overall. I've never had an awful cruise, just some are better then others, and don't have a line we won't sail. (Though been trying to get my wife to try HAL, that's more because of general demographics and how they treated my in-laws).

I can respect all of that. I would say that based on our single Carnival cruise we cannot make a blanket statement that the staff is more friendly, wait staff better, guest relations better, or anything along those lines. We found things to be pretty similar. I do know that all of those things have varied on our RCI cruises from ship to ship and even on the same ship with staff rollover. I expect that would be the case on all lines. We have never had what we consider a bad cruise on any ship although we have had isolated issues on several but no deal breakers.

 

Another thing I would add along the lines of the loyalty program is that RCI does tend to change the benefits for better or worse fairly regularly. They tend to give perks and then later on remove them and possibly replace them with something that may not be of equal value. An example is that in PC they have a really nice departure lounge. On the large ships Diamonds can no longer use them because they say they have to many suite guests. This alone is not a real big deal, but it is something that you had but no longer have. The 3 drink vouchers are something that came into play when they wanted to exclude Diamond from some of the dedicated lounges and gave a "compensation". The upside is that on some ships you get both. I get the feeling that RCI would like to eliminate Diamond from the dedicated lounges altogether and leave them for Diamond+, Pinnacle, and suite guests. They think they now have "too many" diamond cruisers. The strategy seems to be to make more benefits for suites (even if it is a first timer) and jack the prices way up on those. That is fine until you start to take away things from people who have stayed with the line over many years. By the way, it seems to me that RCI Diamond seems to equate to Carnival Platinum since RCI has more tiers in the program. I will say that if RCI takes away enough from Diamond to make it so that the value added is not there we would probably take more Carnival or even NCL and MSC cruises.

 

I completely agree with the first part. You really can't compare cruise lines when you've only sailed one or two ships on them. We've had varied cruises on all the lines, so much depends on the ship, the staff, the circumstances, the chefs, etc. I tend not to make blanket statements on lines unless I've seen something that occurs on more then once cruise, or is a regular things on them.

As for the second, all the lines change their benefits. Norwegian just did a complete overhaul of their loyalty program just this year. Celebrity redid theirs just a couple years ago. Lines add in or take away benefits at various levels for various reasons (generally, for changes in what clients want or use, and for cost reductions). Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad. (I actually like the 3 drink vouchers, as I can get a free drink in the theatre before a show, or at some activity during the hours available). Suites are big ticket items, so even if I rarely sail in them (not worth the value to us generally), I don't hold anything against them getting extras for the high cost they pay. (That's different on Carnival, as they don't really do suite benefits, unlike other lines). And while Carnival Platinum/Royal Diamond might be similar in structure, the benefits on Royal at that level surpasses Carnival's.

We have been loyal to Royal over the years. For many years it was not about the perks, they were not that great at the lower levels. We just enjoyed our first cruise with them and went back. We figured since we liked the product just go with it. Now that we are Diamond the perks are much more meaningful. We have the private lounge at embarkation but that is not a big deal. The biggest are the Diamond lounge on most ships with open bar, snacks, better coffee, concierge (bypass guest relations for most things), 3 free drink vouchers per person per night that can be used anywhere, and a $200 balcony discount in addition to any other promotions. There are other things but they are not huge. We just cruised with Carnival and we enjoyed it. We will probably do more. Mainly, the ships are different but the overall experience is similar. I always compare cruises for the week and itinerary that we are looking at and do not always find that Carnival is cheaper. A couple of examples: We were looking at a repeat on Sunshine when it is in PC but the per night cost of a balcony is actually higher than Oasis balcony out of the same port for the weeks we looked at. That is without our $200 discount. Frankly, if the cost was the same we would choose Sunshine We also want to go on the Ecstasy out of Charleston but every cruise there is more expensive that a similar cruise on Majesty out of PC for the same week. the difference is more than enough to cover travel and hotel to PC. Plus, we would get the mentioned perks on board the Majesty. I short, we would like to cruise with Carnival more but we have to take the dollar value of the Diamond perks into account. The $200 discount is significant and the Diamond lounge and vouchers are enough to make it unnecessary to get a drink package. That is pretty big.

 

I am not knocking the VFIP program at all. I am just saying that a higher level of perks tends to "trap" you into staying with a certain line when you get to a point where they add up to real $$ savings. It is a mixed blessing. We cruise as often as we can, but always on a budget. We have to weigh inside cabin vs. balcony, travel costs, and of course cruise fare. I continue to shop for Carnival deals and we will be back when it fits our budget and schedule. It would be a long time before we could make Platinum on Carnival so we cannot factor in VFIP into the equation at this point except for the discount offers we get in the emails. By the way, those discounts are better and more flexible than what we get from Royal's C&A. Those tend to be targeted to specific "hard to sell" cruises.

We sail quite a few cruise lines, and mix and match them at times. Royal is the one we've sailed about half the time, as we've enjoyed them the most. We like variety, and generally we will look over all the lines when looking at cruises. One benefit is it gives us the wide variety of cruising options, both in ships and itineraries. As for the loyalty benefits, we do factor them in, but don't live by them. To us, they're part of the value of the cruise. Price, itinerary, ship, benefits, etc. (probably in that order). All of them come together for the value of a cruise to us. The VIFP doesn't really give a lot of benefits compared to other lines (a bit more at Platinum, but we're gold), whereas our Diamond Plus benefits on Royal are excellent (might be best in the industry). So when comparing cruises, we factor that in. But we definitely do not let us get ruled by them, they just add to the value of the cruise in comparison.

As for the Ops question. We cruise Carnival generally on price, but also wanting a laid back cruise that has fun activities.

Cagney's is excellent. Moderno is excellent. We love Le Bistro.

 

La Cucina is basically Olive Garden at sea. Teppanyaki is like any hibachi place you can go to at home. Just my $0.02.

Couldn't that statement hold true for any of the restaurants? Cagney's is like any steakhouse, Moderno like any Brazillian steakhouse at home, etc.

If you cancel, I would think you get the port charges and taxes refunded (I believe someone probably mentioned that already), so unless it does get repriced you should be fine with that.

If you cancel one person, does the remaining person than get the double points for sailing solo?

As pointed out it could have been moved to a group booking, which changes the deposit. We booked two balcony cabins with Next Cruise in November for upcoming October. When our TA moved the booking to her agency group we had to pay up the full deposit.

I would think they would tell you if they moved you to a group booking. Can you still do price drops on a group booking on Royal? Or are you now part of a group locked into that price? I would think you should also see more perks if you are now in a group so they would tell you about that.

My DD (13) has been on many cruises, and she is hit or miss with the camps. I find a lot of it has to do with the makeup of the kids when she goes, as well as her mood on what she wants to do. She usually does like to go to shows, and eat dinner with us, even if she goes to the camps. Generally she likes the Carnival camps though (NCL is the one she almost never goes to, except once, and didn't like MSC's) more then usual, so they do a pretty good job of entertaining the kids at them. If they've done them on Royal, they'll have no problem with the ones on Carnival.

Thanks! Next up is Disney in November. I'm not super thrilled about the price tag, but with kids aged 7 and 5, I believe that the time to give Disney a try is now.

 

After that, I would really like to try NCL and Celebrity. I've priced out the Celebrity Edge a few times but can't get myself to put a deposit down yet since it's so far out. I've also been looking at the Norwegian Escape when it moves to NYC. I think that it would also be neat to try a Haven stateroom.

 

And yes, I will most likely write photo reviews on all of them [emoji6].

 

 

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We did the Disney Dream (sister ship to the Fantasy) with my daughter when she was 10, and she loved it! I would say it was also one of my favorite ships. Yes, the price is quite a bit more. But there are a lot of touches and things you get on it. It also has a very large adult only area (more then most ships I've been on). Hopefully they still have crap legs and shrimp in the buffet at lunch yet.

If you want a cheaper one for Celebrity then the Edge, go with a Solstice class ship. They're very well laid out. For NCL, go with a mega-ship, especially with kids. I really liked Escape so definitely would recommend trying that one out.

I'm with you, and many others, you really experience so much more when you try out different lines. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. Eventually you find what it is you like and will have favorites, but I never want to get stuck on one line all the time myself. (I guess I like variety)

Every bar I went in on Magic free poured my drinks. Of course that may have had to do with very generous tipping but even that didnt work on Royal. That was just one small reason of many of why I was disgruntled with Royal though. This past cruise on Freedom of the Seas was just over the top with price hikes on everything, nickle and diming, mediocre service and just an overall feeling of paying more but getting less. All my RC cruises before that were top notch and pretty much perfect.

 

Anthem of the Seas is an awesome ship from what Ive seen and heard. I love the Quantum class

Maybe that was something with the Freedom then, with either the Captain or Hotel Director being strict with things. I haven't had them doing measured drinks on my cruises. They pull out the bottle, pour some in, and go to the next thing. I've also not had weak drinks (outside of past guest party drinks, where they generally are on all ships). I have found different ships handle things in different ways, some better then others. Food is a prime example. I've had the same menu item on different ships, and sometimes it's great and sometimes it's not. It depends so much on the chef, more then the cruise line.

Those words are rarely adhered to. The only consistent dress code I see applied is wearing long pants in Le Bistro and the one 'formal' MDR. I can't imagine a hostess getting into an argument about how overly faded your jeans might be. Just doesn't happen.

 

NCL is freestyle and their applied dress code is as well. If this bothers you, NCL might not be the line you want to sail.

We've seen pretty much the same thing. Although Bayamo (on Escape) requires long pants as well.

So you are freely admitting that Royal intentionally gouges its guests because "hey we know they will pay it!" Got it :)

 

I use to order Bloody Marys and other mixed drinks on Royal Caribbean all the time and never paid over 10 bucks for one. Suddenly in what seemed like overnight, they raised the prices on ALL their alcohol 40-50% and started measured pours resulting in weaker drinks for a lot more money but also tacked on an extra 3% gratuity on each drink for the cutback :rolleyes: Yeah, that left a terrible taste in my mouth and I remember the uproar on the forum over there too. I could go on and on over what I noticed on my last Royal cruise vs the one before that in only about three years but I wont do that.

 

I just choose to leave and take my business elsewhere, for now. :) You know, vote with ol wallet thing. Their ships are beautiful, their entertainment is second to none. Thats about where it stops for me though as far as being "better"

I admit Royal does smart pricing if they can get people to pay that. I don't think it's gouging. From living in NY, Miami and now near Ft Lauderdale, it's actually pretty reasonable pricing compared to the places I've drank in regular pubs and restaurants. Carnival doesn't do it not out of the goodness of their heart, but because the people who generally sail them won't pay it. I haven't noticed weaker drinks when I sailed them last year, they were pretty strong. (Not counting the past guest parties, where generally they're not that strong on any line).

For regular drinkers, it doesn't even matter as they just buy the drink packages anyway, so individual price of drinks don't mean a lot. For the frequent (Diamond and up) cruisers they get free drinks in the evening, so it doesn't matter a lot to them either, as that's when they'll get their drinks. For everyone else they're just buying a couple of drinks and the price difference is negligible.

Every forum has an uproar over cutbacks going on. They've been going on for years. You've only noticed it only on Royal so far because that's the line you sailed on multiple times. I've seen it on Royal, Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, as I've sailed on all of those quite a few times. But then, the price of the cruises has gone down as well in general, so it's all relative. Disney is the only line I haven't noticed it on, but you pay a lot more to sail on them.

When a Bloody Mary goes from around 10 bucks with grat included to $14.16 in what seems like overnight, I call that more than just "a little more" but hey, at least Im not over there trolling the RC forum complaining about it every.single.day like some losers do here when it comes to Carnival. If Carnival can sell an even better Bloody Mary four dollars cheaper, why cant Royal? Oh thats right, they have to pay for those new monstrosities someway :) Ive seen nothing improved on RCI over the last 5 years as I dont sail on brand new ships. Ive seen a lot of cutbacks in food quality and other services though. Yes, that is MY opinion of which I will voice from time to time especially when there are anti Carnival trolls here trying to blow smoke up my ass on all things Royal Caribbean. The reason my posts are Carnival vs Royal is because thats the only two I have experience with. My apologies if there is a problem with that.

Actually with the Bloody Mary, it's really the other way around. The reason Carnival sells it cheaper is that, generally, their clientelle won't pay the $14 for a Bloody Mary, whereas Royal's will. If Carnival could sell it for the same price, they would. If people on Royal don't pay for it at that price, the prices would come down.

As mentioned by others, all cruise lines are doing cutbacks. It's that or raise the base fares more. All cruise lines have their strengths and weaknesses as well, much of that based on how they're trying to attract and keep, and what those people want (or at will tolerate in some cases)

Not that this is a CCL vs RCI thread (despite some trying so hard to make it that way), but I do agree with you.

 

People gripe and moan about cutbacks, but don't recognize what was gained from those cutbacks. So RCI doesn't put chocolates on pillows anymore, and they only do towel animals on formal nights, and drinks cost a little more. Wah! :loudcry: The trade-off has been a serious upgrade in entertainment and ship designs that are awe-inspiring.

 

Same goes for NCL. They've cut back on a lot and they nickel and dime the heck out of people, but their new "Away" class ships are pretty awesome, and their entertainment is second only to RCI.

 

I haven't been cruising HAL, Princess or CCL long enough to notice significant cutbacks, but I have a feeling the same can be said for them.

 

That's the problem when people stick to only one or 2 lines. They tend to only notice the negative changes, and then come on these board and state their opinions as facts. That's when it's time to freshen things up and try a new line.

There is one more trade off that people also ignore. The base price of cruising is lower then it used to be. Even with the increase in pricing lately (mainly more a re-adjustment of the ultra-low prices the cruise lines were forced to go with after the last recession), it's still cheaper to go on a cruise now then it did 10 years ago. And during that time it was with smaller ship with lesser entertainment options.

People will always complain about cutbacks, or the nickel-and-diming. But in the end they usually show they want cheaper over better quality. That is why the airlines are they way they are now as well. What the cruise lines have now done though is allow those who want cheap to get it (base price and not pay for options) and those who want better quality will be able to pay the extra for that too (specialty restaurants, extras, etc)

It really is not a matter of normalizing the issue. It is more a matter of when I know I am going to encounter an issue that might prove to be aggravating I try to prepare ahead of time for the situation so that I don't let it annoy me. Your getting worked up about this is not having the slightest impact on those selfish people that you are talking about. It is no different that selfish drivers on the road. I can scream my head off at them in my the car which only serves to hurt my throat or I can continue chilling to the music that I am listening to.

The problem with charging for them will be people will then complain it's another example of RCL nickel-and-diming them

I am not going to touch someone else's belongings. That is asking for a fight. We must all work together to fight this terrible attitude of entitlement and selfishness! That is really what this is about. Not just chairs! We all pay to enjoy our vacations. Why make excuses for those that try to ruin it for others with their selfishness??

 

 

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The problem is working together doesn't do anything if one party is selfish and has no interest in working with you to fix it.

Depends on how much it is and what you want to get out of it. I love 3 night escapes with my husband but we can drive to port so it ends up being a decent price since we don't have to fly.

 

 

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Exactly. The caveat being if you don't have to fly. Once you have to fly then the airfare cuts into it being worth it. But if you can get a cheap 3-night cruise over a weekend, it can be a lot of fun without spending much money or taking time off for school/work.

Thank you. My set sail pass has a green square with an E on it...so I assume that is what that means.

I believe the luggage handlers break the ship down into areas, so that's just the area of the ship your cabin is in. Makes it easier for them to sort the luggage for easier delivery onboard.

I'm sure they've done their homework on this. Perhaps it's more profitable to capture the hearts and minds of first time cruisers sailing from Asia.

It's quite clear that they're going for the major push on Asia, and will expand that before they go to California.

3/4 B2B means two musters. [emoji33]

 

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And usually 2 days in Nassau out of Florida (ehhh)

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When the oversold condition has been reported here, it's been someone with a guarantee (no specific stateroom) that has gotten bumped.

I know this is slightly off-topic. But I wonder if this will remain the same with guarantee cabins getting non-refundable deposits. Though I guess by sailing dates every cabin is non-refundable.

I couldn't agree more with these observations, as I have come to appreciate the feel I get when aboard the smaller class ships and their outward views. Great review and pics. We also noted that the Schooner Bar was much larger than we had anticipated - a great gathering place for groups. Our second cruise on Empress is in Oct, and for sure not the last.

When we sailed Empress we were told by staff that it's actually the largest Schooner Bar in the fleet. Which I can believe, it looked larger then any one I've been in.

 

I never knew that. It must be an east coast thing. I never see swordfish over here on the west coast. It's grouper, mahi or maybe hogfish.

 

I still would have liked some conch fritters. :)

 

There's a reason the baseball team in Miami is called the Miami Marlins after all (even though they're not really swordfish, they're close). True swordfish can be found up and down the East coast. (Haven't you seen the movie Perfect Storm? :) )

Its a protected reef, and ecologically sensitive hence not being able to build a pier.

It will be interesting to see if that holds, as RCCL got the ok to build a pier on the island right next door. (Cocoa Cay)