Steve551

I do not attend the Park West art auctions on ships but I attend them on land.

7 hours ago, Buckimion said:

'Games' that are really popularity/drunk friends yelling loud contests. (Hairy back, skimpy bikini ect..)

 

Wait a minute... skimpy bikini?  I've to check my Fun Times closer....I've been missing that one!

2 hours ago, April42749 said:

I'm looking at the loyalty program rewards and I have a couple of questions.

We are going on a 10 night cruise in June.

According to the list of rewards on a 7-12 day cruise you get 3 bags of laundry.  I assume this is per cabin, but I just want to be sure.

We also get a complimentary beverage at the seaday brunch.  Is this once per cruise or one each seaday?

 

One (1) complimentary specialty coffee, soda or alcoholic beverage with a value no greater than $10 USD + gratuity at Seaday brunch. On ships where brunch is not available, complimentary beverage at breakfast or lunch in Main Dining Room.  Alcoholic beverages may only be consumed by adults of applicable legal drinking age.

Complimentary Wash/Fold Service. Limit two (2) bags per Platinum Member on a 3-6 day cruise, limit three (3) bags per Platinum Member on 7-12 day cruise and (5) bags per Platinum Member on a 13+ day cruise.

1 hour ago, April42749 said:

Wow.....we travel light but if this is how they do it, we can travel "uber-light"!

The laundry perk is my favorite - saves a lot of packing & luggage hauling.

52 minutes ago, CruzerDeb said:

I’m on the Ruby Princess in June. 

We are on the Star Princess. It's a welcome home cruise for one of our sons who is returning from his latest deployment.

1 hour ago, coevan said:

 

 

The onion soup in the Steakhouse is excellent, nothing like the MDR

18 Carnival cruises and we've never eaten in the steakhouse....maybe next cruise.

11 hours ago, CruzerDeb said:

This is an absolute first for me and I couldn't be more excited!  I feel like I've "arrived", LOL.  I first fell in love with cruising in 2009 and knew I would love to cruise every year.  Which didn't happen. I've cruised in 2009, 2013, 2016 and 2018 (which isn't bad).  I now have a cruise scheduled for this June (Alaska with my mom) and just booked another one for April 2020 (birthday cruise for my DH).  My DH said I could also go on a cruise with my BFF if I wanted to.  I'm like, two cruises in one year?  YAY!  I haven't booked that one yet because we have a lot of trips planned already for this year, but maybe I'll do that next year.

 

I know that many of you cruise multiple times a year or every year, but this is huge for me and I'm so excited!

Good for you. Hope that you have a wonderful time. Family is going to Alaska in June as well...but on Princess.

1 hour ago, Chervil said:

Which ones are those?
Because I have sailed Carnival, Princess, RCI and Disney and don't see much difference in what you are talking about....

Maybe he's talking about the selection of specialty restaurants on some cruise lines. I find the food in the MDR's to be similar on most of the "main stream" cruise lines. Except the onion soup....RCL knocks it out of the park when it comes to baked onion soup.

The reason for people to pick their cruise vacation varies. Some pick a cruise because of price, some because of the cruise line, ship, ship activities, cruise director, and some, like my wife and I, pick our cruises based on itinerary and date of the cruise.

We are not loyal to one cruise line. In June we will be cruising to Alaska on Princess, RCL cruise later in the year (because I love the Oasis Class ships), and in Jan 2020 we will be back on RCL for a 12-day Holy Land cruise (last Holy Land cruise was on Celebrity). Looking to add a Carnival Journey cruise to Hawaii this year, if I can talk my wife into it (she doesn't like all of the days at sea).

Whatever your reason for picking your cruise and cruise line it will be a great vacation if you let it be. We've never had a bad cruise on any cruise line.

1 hour ago, Sabalon said:

 

We had a similar conversation at home last night.  My daughter has two friends coming over this evening.   The mother of one asked the other where she lived, and when she told her, the mom said "Oh...you live over by (my daughter)" in a derisive sort of way, like we're scum of the earth on the wrong side of the tracks.   They have a very nice 3,300 sq ft house on a half-acre lot in a heavily HOA based community.  We have a modest 1,900 sq ft house on an acre in a non-HOA neighborhood.    Sure, we could afford to live in a bigger, glitzier house.   But why?  We'd just fill up more space with more junk.  We all have our own space and we're good.  

 

If I was stuck on a line with a bunch of stuffy "look at how much I have" people, I'd hate it.  I probably would have nothing to talk about with them.  Oh...you went and saw the symphony perform an obscure work and your daughter brought her beau who was so moved by the 2nd movement.  Well, I took my daughter to see an obscure 80's metal band at a club in the bad part of town...and she brought Crime and Punishment to read in line...so yeah...we're similar  🙂   

 

I love trying to get to know the staff on the ship a little bit.  Sometimes it's sad hearing their stories, but I'd rather spend time talking with them than someone who couldn't decide which designer suit to wear on which formal night.  But that's also why I love going to local restaurants and getting to know the staff there as well.  I like people for who they are, not what they can do for me. 

 

So you can call it the Walmart of the Seas, the redneck riviera, but to quote Kevin Costner in Tin Cup when he walks into the Waffle House "these are my people. I'm a Waffle House guy. Got to stay in touch with that."

Love Waffle House!

8 hours ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

Thank you!

Laundry service is - wash/fold.  Extra $$$ for pressing.

On 4/2/2019 at 5:34 AM, JaniceB said:

Interesting about the ships you don't where a jacket on.  I would have thought Celebrity for sure.  

The last couple of years (3 cruises) I stopped wearing a jacket on Celebrity. No issues.

On 2/21/2019 at 1:04 PM, Cruisegirl6 said:

THE OLD TIME MIDNIGHT BUFFET?  I think this ship needs something extra special that other ships don't have.

It will have a roller coaster, the other ships don't.

On 3/15/2019 at 1:15 PM, Anyislandwilldo said:

Is the ironing service part of the platinum perks?

No

4 hours ago, mkcurran said:

Say someone was looking at two similar cruises, why should they pick the Carnival cruise?

What makes Carnival great?

It depends on what you are looking for from your cruise. Carnival does a good job but is it better than the rest? Opinions differ.

10 minutes ago, vicky3vicky said:

Adjusting for inflation, our cruises have gone way down in price over the past 20 years.

We may not have chocolates on the pillow anymore, but we have "Guys Burgers" and "Blue Iguana." We don't have tablecloths every night or an insane amount of silverware ["remember, just use the  eating utensil from the outside in"] but, FINALLY, after all these years, we have cakes at the buffet that tastes as good as they look. We no longer have big stage productions with a live band, but we have fantastic comedians, libraries with serve yourself wine, much easier embarkations, outdoor gyms to workout in, and fairly stress-free muster drills. We may have less "pool space' per person, but we have great water parks, no longer pay $9 a MINUTE if we need to get in touch with someone at home, and hey, a balcony is almost as inexpensive as an ocean view cabin[ remember when only the "richies" had balconies? I do.] 

I really can not see any decrease in value. not even a little bit.

In the almost 20-years of cruising with Carnival I think that the biggest changes have been in the quality of the food and entertainment.  I'm not saying that it isn't good now, because I'm still cruising with Carnival, but IMHO it isn't as good as it once was.

On 3/31/2019 at 8:32 AM, bjfitz0703 said:

I sailed RCCL and Carnival in the mid to late 90s.  Found them to be similar. Then again like 10 years later from like 2007-2010.  In that time I felt like the experience changed a little.  Example - my buddy wore nice shorts to the dining room on a normal night in the 90s and he was asked to go change.  In the 2007-2010 time frame I saw dress shorts even on elegant night. Also, I also saw folks in like beach clothes in the MDR on some other nights.  Don't really care yet found that odd people would be in a dining room in an A tee. We last sailed on Carnival in 2010 so want to see what else has shifted in this second 9/10 year gap.  For example, I here that the MDR now only has tablecloths on the two elegant nights....so what else has shifted? Thanks

Been cruising with CCL & RCL since 2000.  IMHO the biggest changes for CCL is the quality of the food & entertainment. We still request and receive twice per day cabin service. Our room steward makes sure that we have ice. The rest of the stuff doesn't really matter to me. My wife misses the evening mints.

RCL's food is about the same as CCL's but they have not cutback on services as much. The entertainment is better on RCL, that's my opinion.  We were recently on an Oassis Class RCL ship and honestly Carnival has nothing that compares to them. You almost need to book a 2-week cruise just to enjoy everything on-board.

On 2/23/2019 at 6:31 AM, mama_2_boys said:

Which one do you pick and why?

We pick both

8 hours ago, bjfitz0703 said:

Few were formal wear (tuxes) these days on the Carnival elegant nights.  Many dress in suits and dresses or a sportscoat.  Some also elect to dress smart casual too (Khakis and nice shirt, etc).  I did sail Celebrity and there were more men in tuxes on chic night for sure than Carnival's elegant night.  Wonder what Holland does these days?  Just depends on your approach to such things these days.  

I wear a button down shirt, dress slacks, loafers, and a jacket for "gala night" on HAL. But others don't dress that "formal". I do not wear the jacket for CCL, RCL, Princess, NCL, or Celebrity.

2 hours ago, jbethel11 said:

Unfortunately, I do not like wearing the same clothes twice. I will probably have to check 2 bags for a family of four, one of those bags being formal wear and toiletries that need to go under the plane. 

My wife takes two large bags just for herself (that's down from the 3 bags a few years ago). I take 1 bag and take advantages of the free laundry we get on Carnival.

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Hopefully you aren’t sailing on Carnival since they no longer have formal nights. 

They have Elegant nights - like  most cruise lines they have done away with true formal nights.

`

On 3/31/2019 at 7:04 AM, Palmetto Pilot said:

That is my advice, as a commercial pilot. Pay for a checked bag. Certain airlines especially low cost Carriers have extremely restrictive carry on and personal bag requirements. If the carry on is too big it's going to be gate checked anyway, and if you knowingly gatecheck a bag that too big....guess what you're going to get charged. Lost luggage is statistically extremely rare. 

Fly Southwest

On 3/28/2019 at 9:51 AM, Palmetto Pilot said:

Great deal for the fact you're no longer under the kitchen!!

My wife loves Cove Balconies, I'd rather be higher up....my wife usually wins!

We've booked 4 Cove Balconies (Dream & Breeze) and have never been under the kitchen. We book the forward Cove Balconies.

Never a problem for us.

On 3/28/2019 at 10:59 AM, Tracey.kinney425 said:

What do they serve at the buffet vs the MDR?

We rarely eat at the buffet. I do not like the lines, having to carry my food around while looking for a seat and the lack of food freshness sometimes.. But when we do there always seems to be a decent selection of foods.

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I don't think they are. I think they've added way more then they've cut. And most of the people that cruise with them are first or second time cruisers. They don't know that they once had chocolates on the pillows or table cloths on tables or that stewards used to automatically do twice a day service. 

I agree with you regarding the "new" cruisers not knowing what they are missing. It's grumpy old cruisers like me that are complaining more and cruising less on Carnival these days.

2019 is the first year in many years that we haven't booked a cruise with Carnival. We are cruising in 2019 but not with CCL. For us it is worth a little more money to have a cruise experience closer to what it was years ago. In some cases Carnival isn't less expensive even though IMHO it doesn't always offer an equivalent experience. I expect that we will cruise with Carnival in 2020, I want to try the Mardi Gras. But so far in 2020 we only have a 2 week Med cruise booked with RCL.