asalligo

I have done several RCCL cruises, but the bulk of my cruises have been Carnival. What are some of the differences, good and bad? Unfortunately, RCCL does the buffet and crowds much better than Carnival, but Carnival really does do the fun better. Many more activities and a lot more crowd engagement, But more lines too. It looks like Carnival only has two drink packages - soda and alcoholic, is that right? Yes They seem to have more restaurants, and more that are included in cruise fare. Very true, you will find that there are many things to eat and do included in the cruise fare on Carnival that are not on RCCL. Mardi Gras has nine venues to choose from to eat at night for free. What are the late night options? About the same as RCCL really, depends on ship, but Mardi Gras has buffet, Pizza and Deli open very late. Is it true that shows aren’t twice a night, one for late diners, and one for early diners? No, they almost always have two stage shows a night for that reason. Is the poolside chair hog situation the same? Yes Are there drink cards that can be purchased? No How much does Bolt cost? $15 Do we need to book shows ahead of time No I love RCCL they are a little more classy, the food is a little better most of the time and again they handle crowds so much better than Carnival on the large ships. Carnival though has much more to do for free and a crazy fun atmosphere. Make sure to catch Quest.

When my daughter was younger they did it for her almost always, but now that she is an adult they seldom agree and she just stopped asking eventually.

I have taken two cruises on Carnival in the last three months. Pride in December and Liberty In January. Neither asked anything at all about a Vaccine or a Covid test and there is no port that you can sail to within seven days of any US port still requiring either.

Yes, Carnival clearly is trying not to provide this perk unless you know about it. I bet it really does save them a lot yearly though. Just a really sneaky way to go about it. I was specifically told by my room steward that the water of bottle in the room did not count as my free one and that I would be charged for that one.

This is interesting as many of the ships still have suite listed on the FTTF line at Guest services. This started during Covid. This would also appear to indicate that Suites should get earlier access to their cabins which did not happen on our Pride Cruise in December. Suite Amenities In addition, guests in suite accommodations will receive: Priority luggage First Access to stateroom A high level of service provided by our most highly-rated stateroom attendants Two complimentary in-suite large bottles of water One complimentary bag of laundry The following perks are not for those guests traveling in suite accommodations unless they are VIFP Diamond or Platinum guests or have purchased Faster to the Fun. Priority line at Guest Services desk Dedicated onboard Guest Services phone number Glad they changed the wording for FTTF. For a while it still said guaranteed cabin ready at boarding. Stateroom AccessOnce on board, you will be able to drop off your bags in your stateroom until your room is ready

Carnival is the entry level product in my opinion, but I stay with Carnival because it is all about cost of days at sea for me. I have tried all the other lines and yes, some were a lot nicer, but in the end, not enough nicer to cut my days at sea on a cruise ship per year in half or even more. I was on Princess thinking this was an awesome cruise, but would I trade this for two more cruises this year, no.

Last time we were on Elation the Coffee shop did not open until that night after sail away or around that time.

I mainly mean Marijuana which I have seen openly smoked on deck in the last year on two Carnival cruise ships. Security knew this was occurring, everyone could smell it. They were just letting it happen. Her threats have no teeth until this is stopped People have become accustomed to Carnivals lack policies and this attracts those kinds of people. You can bet that in groups they are asking each other, which ship can I bring my drugs onboard? Carnival.

Actually, taking an MSC cruise made Carnival look so much better. I was a bit down on Carnival after my last cruise because of exactly what we are discussing in this thread. Then when I got home I compared Carnival and MSC in video and literally everything Carnival did was better. I lament what we have lost, but it could be a lot worse.

I will believe it only when I see it. So much illegal drugs use on Carnival ships these days and it is not going to stop until they start busting people in the terminal. Right now, they all know they can get it onto the ship rather easy.

On the MSC Meraviglia last month. It was a sucky cruise, but they were doing that.

I love this idea! My family thought I was slightly nuts in years past when I always reserved out Double Digit Dinner out to celebrate, but that was the old days when I had more than double digits to my next cruise. I try to not let that happen these days. Check out your local dollar tree. They have the coolest tropical design drink cups and little umbrellas for a party and at one time some blow up palm trees.

I thought this would be awkward and the kids might see right through my plan to drop them off at night and enjoy some parent time. My kids were begging to go to the pajama party and pretty much everything else they planned at night. In the end, I was begging them to leave so I could go to sleep.

There is debate on this matter. I had FTTF and an 11am check in time this month in Port Canaveral and I was let right in when I arrived before 10am, so it would appear to me that FTTF is allowed to ignore check in time as they did have an 11am line setup for anyone showing up early and people already in that line waiting. Officially it is not listed as a perk though. it was certainly an FTTF perk pre covid. Anyone been denied into the terminal with FTTF and a late check in since FTTF restarted?

Remember your check in time will open at Midnight on that date also. If you want to snag a 10 or 10:30 check in time, be up at midnight on 02/12/2024. If it was not clear above your check in time is when they let you in the terminal, but boarding will start later. Often around 11am although this last cruise of ours they started at 10:25am. If you arrive before boarding has begun, you will go through security, then check in at the desk and be seated in a zone to be called once boarding starts. Remember that you cannot arrive too much earlier than your check in time if you happen to get a late one. They will put you in a line for your time and make you wait. At many ports this is outside in the sun.

10am is the earliest check in time I have ever snagged. 10:33 am is the earliest we have ever stepped foot on the ship. That was two months ago in Tampa on the Pride. They actually let us walk into the terminal at 9:35 though.

My first Carnival Cruise in the 90's, the room literally was tidied every time we left it. We started joking that he had to be hiding somewhere in the room. Real elegant nights, tablecloths, the attention in the Main Dining Room was amazing compared to now. The little chocolates on the pillow at night. The over the top midnight buffet! A real Lobster and a real steak in the MDR included in your price. Robes without asking. A full room service menu. I could order a full breakfast to my room every morning for free. I often say people who are not complaining often are the ones who do not know what they are missing. I would pay Carnival more for one cruise that brought all that back. Even the more expensive lines are not doing most of this anymore.

Sad, but true!

Celebration

I got this on January 30th. The shareholder's onboard credit is currently only applicable on sailings through July 31, 2023. In order to apply your onboard credit on your reservations sailing after July 31, 2023, you will need to submit a current statement after March 31, 2023 when the new shareholder benefits are released.

We have not cruised Carnival without FTTF since it was started in what 2016/2017. I questioned having it on this last cruise though as it cost $149, but we still bought it. First there was early entry into the terminal, early boarding and straight to your room to drop off luggage which was so nice. Especially since I saw that people coming in were being routed to zone E for boarding. Zone E, that is just so far behind so many people. Let me take a sniff of my smelling salts, ok better. Then I thought I would not need to go to guest services, but on day one we found that no FTTF sticker was on our cards, so we went and had that fixed. On day two we realize that none of our OBC is appearing on our account and we appear to be getting charged for items. Maybe other people were having a similar issue because the line was a hundred people deep easy. Walked right past that line and had my issue resolved in minutes. Then on the final sea day, I received nothing in my room for Priority debarkation, so I had to go see them for that. Again the line was enormous as it often is on the last sea day.

My wife loves that they added this bar for leg shaving.

So glad you followed up POS with what you meant. In my circles that mean Piece of S#!t like look at that POS car. I am 5'10" / 265 and I had no issues. Certainly not roomy, but it worked for me. The suites are much nicer though. On many ships they have the double sink and a bathtub.

I had FTTF last month and showed up 1 hour before my check in time. I was sent right in even though they were holding others in the time slot line. I took this to mean that FTTF was allowed to show up at any time just like before the shut down.

Been seeing this a lot lately. Carnival really should crack down on this if they want to keep selling FTTF.