PlanoTim

I think they wait to see how many Diamond/Platinum folks they have on the cruise. I saw it become available for my upcoming Carnival Jubilee cruise about a month before we sail.

I’m enjoying your review, dctravel. Was there any dancing in the Pig & Anchor while the Backyard Band was playing? It’s hard to tell from the deck plans if there is a dance floor. Thanks, Tim

Yep, they are limited. But, I’ve never been disappointed with the bar selections during the time the ship is in Texas waters. They always have a beer I like and the spirits they have for the cocktails I like seem just fine for the few hours through sail away. 🍹

We cruise on Viking Ocean some and LOVE their drink package prices. Carnival prices make me cringe. $70 - $100 would make me weep. 😭

Carnival also shuts down their bars briefly once they leave Texas waters so they can put the taxed booze away and bring out the regular stock.

I’ve also wondered if Carnival gets complaints at other ports that offer Cheers on day 1. They charge full price on day 1, right? But if you have a 2:30 PM port-arrival time you may not get to use Cheers till 3:00 PM or so. Cheers starts at 6:00 AM every other day of the cruise. So you are paying for the entire day on day 1 and not getting to use it till mid-afternoon.

We sail out of Galveston some and Cheers starting on day two isn’t a huge issue for us. I guess Carnival could offer it on day one, but only after they got out of Texas waters (5pm-ish). But that might be an issue for some passengers, thinking they were paying for a whole day of Cheers and only able to use it after leaving the state late in the afternoon. In fact some folks might think Cheers available from the moment the boarded, but with a limited selection of alcohol sourced and taxed in Texas, would be a rip-off. Maybe they just figured it was easier to just start on day 2. But they should be up front with their reasoning, IMHO. Either that or go ask Royal Caribbean how that do it. 😋

Thanks. I appreciate you time to help me understand. My brother enjoys Blackjack and I'm sure he prefers a table where friendly folks are playing as expected. I'll chat with him further about it sometime. Now, can you explain to me in one sentence how to play Craps? 😁

Yep, I get that. But I still figure that is their card to take or not. This comes from a non-gambler, so I may just not "get it" because of my inexperience. If I were to take a seat at the table (as a noob), should I take the last spot so it doesn't impact others as much?

I don’t gamble much. I have nothing against it, just doesn’t trip my trigger. So this question is to help me understand better - not a challenge. What does it matter to the other players if someone stays on 15 & 16 against a dealer showing 10? I mean isn’t it their card to take or not? I know they may be sitting upstream from you and it could impact the cards you end up getting. But you don’t know what the next card is and neither do they. Isn’t it their option? As I said, I’m just trying to understand. Thanks.

This hasn’t been my experience when sailing on Carnival out of Galveston. There certainly is a limited selection of brands until the ship is out of Texas waters, but they are popular brands. For example, on our last cruise there was one gin selection available - Beefeater. It was similar for other spirits. Once the ship leaves Texas waters they close the bars briefly wile they put away the bottles they paid Texas tax on and put out their regular stock. I agree, though, that the limited selection may be part of the reason Carnival chooses to not offer Cheers on day 1.

Yep, it sure is. To me, the orange/mango 🥭 drink seems a bit watered down and not at all sweet and syrupy. It also doesn’t taste acidic to me like most OJ does. 🍊

I’m probably weird -- well, no “probably” about it 😋 – but I like that orange/mango (or whatever it is) drink that they have at the Lido breakfast. I don’t like the powdered OJ dink they have there, though.

I thought maybe the varying hours was due to port/sea day differences. But looking at some Fun Times posted here that doesn't seem to hold true 100% of the time. I guess we'll just have to remember to keep checking and work Emeril's into our plan.

Thanks for all the info. I'm really looking forward to trying the food for breakfast and dinner. In fact I may have to do breakfast there a couple of times since Bananas Foster Crepes, Shrimp and Grits, and Beignets all in one sitting may be a bit over the top. 😁 Tim

We hope to have dinner at Emeril’s on our upcoming carnival Jubilee cruise. Emeril’s seems to be a counter-service type of restaurant. I could see no way to reserve a dining time there pre-cruise. Do we use the Hub app to get in a virtual queue for Emeril’s and they send a notification when we can go order? Or do we just go there and stand in line? If so, are the lines typically long? I would be grateful to hear some experience others have had with this. Thanks, Tim

My AT&T plan used to include just Canada and Mexico - in addition to the US territories. But a couple of years ago when we got new phones they added all of the Americas - North, Central, & South.

I believe our Viking Ocean cruise from Vancouver took the Inside Passage route from Vancouver.

We did the Tabasco cooking class a couple of years ago and had a blast. Each pair has a cooking station and you make a few dishes during the excursion. All the dishes are made with Tabasco. Afterwards you eat the food you created. I think we started by making our own margarita. Then they kept additional drinks coming as we cooked. If you wanted something other than margaritas, they would gladly make something else for you. I saw people get soft drinks, beer, pina coladas, etc. 🍹 The ingredients are mostly prepped, so you’re not spending a lot of time chopping onions and such. The instructor is very entertaining and makes the excursion fun. It seemed like everyone was having a good time and I saw no failed dishes. While we were eating our meal, the instructor made a special frozen pineapple margarita – very tasty. Afterward we were given the option to go back to the port (10-15 minute ride) or hang out at Blu for a while, then be taken back to the port. We had a great time and felt the excursion was well worth the time and money. The Mexology class (also at Blu) seems to be organized similarly, but with more emphasis on mixing drinks. We haven’t done that one yet but will in about 7 weeks. I hope that helps some. Tim

It was many years ago, but we had a Tropicale cruise (1989?) that didn’t show up on our list of past cruises. I think all we had was the sail date and a carnival photo of us at the captain’s party. The photo had the ship name stenciled in the corner. We provided that information to Carnival and they added it to our past cruises.

Sorry, not being quiet. 😋 I don't use a lanyard and neither does my wife. If I'm with her when she doesn't have pockets and isn't carrying a small purse (clutch?), then I'll carry her phone. This typically happens in the evening because most of her daytime clothes have pockets. She sometimes uses a waist-band thingy that holds her phone (especially when jogging). I've also seen small stick-on card holders that attach to the back of a phone. She is considering one of those to keep her phone and S&S together.

I wish they would add a Ribeye Cap to the steakhouse menu. 🍴😛

I'm glad you made it. The surprising part of you story is that JetBlue (or any airline) was willing to book you on another carrier. It seems like that happens so rarely these days. Now you can breath a sigh of relief and enjoy your cruise.

Thank you for the review. I’ve never done the wine pairings in the steakhouse. Can you please elaborate some on the experience? Did you get a pairing for the dessert as well (like maybe a port)? Did you have Cheers or do you know if this works with Cheers? Thanks, Tim

I figure our character flaws are what make us interesting. 😀