dsotm73

I love FTTF, and have purchased it for every cruise. I buy it for the sole purpose of having my room ready when I board since we always carry on all of our luggage. The rest of the perks are just “meh” to me but I will certainly continue to buy it until I either reach platinum or it rises significantly more than it is now.

 

 

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Do $90 for the privilege of carrying on your luggage? SMH. [emoji41]

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The increase was at least three months ago.

Got it once when it was $49.95 for a seven-day, decided it wasn't worth it at that price.

The only non-western route I've seen is Key West/Nassau/Freeport. Same for Galveston except I have seen a couple of Freedom cruises with that itinerary that add an extra day with Half Moon Cay. They jack up the prices on that one though. After next year I'm going to have to start flying to new embarkation ports if I want something different.

This is where I am as well, after seven cruises out of NOLA including three on the Dream. I have a fourth on the Dream scheduled as well as one on the Valor in 2019, then we'll have to re-evaluate. For a little variety we booked an Alaskan on Celebrity in between those next two. But when we resume sailing the Caribbean we may have to look at different departure ports and lines. Trouble is, its so easy and inexpensive for us to drive the 2-1/2 hours to New Orleans.

Don’t know anything about Baltimore but if you check-in in NOLA at 1:30 you can pretty much just walk straight to your cabin.

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7-1/2% discount vs the 10% available at AARP. Just saying.

Can anyone cruise without drinking?

Can you read through a thread without posting a one-line unhelpful response?

[emoji41]

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You get unlimited use of your balcony. [emoji41]

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How far out do you have to book to score an aft wrap? We tried 20 months out and the best we could do was an AEB.

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You wouldn’t really have enough time to get your moneys worth on the first day. Half the day is gone by the time you’re boarded and at a bar for a drink. And it takes like 6-7 drinks to break even. :)

I've sailed with buddies who hit 6-7 drinks before access to the staterooms is available.:cool:

The week of the cruise. Carnival used to have a wait list whereby you could send in an email and they would contact you when a slot was available. This was when it was $49.95 for a 7-day, and it wasn't worth it to us at that low price. Have lots of better, more useful things that we can spend $90 these days.

We actually had a hard time finding a decent place to eat.

I need to find out the details. How is this even possible?

I bring my own. You can buy it in a 12-pack of 12-ounce cans, which is the most Carnival allows to be brought on board.

On our last B2B we got four of the ceramic tumblers, My spouse kept one. The other three were placed next to the trash. Just not a big fan of trinkets,

Well, as we say in the South, aren't you special! I guess one man's treasure is another man's trash.

We bring a credit card and a modicum of self control. We don’t drink or gamble so avoid those money pits. Some cruises we have even ended with a small negative balance due to refunds in port fees and taxes.

As for as cash we usually bring no more than a couple hundred in small bills for tips (porters, room service), cab fare in the ports, and small souvenirs.

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Just curious, what cruise is this?

New Orleans is a great port of departure.

You can find more information in "Guf Coast Departures": https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=414

And in "Ports of Call": https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21

Have fun, let us know if you have specific questions about NOLA.

Well, its storm season.

Not quite yet. Starts June 1.

From Carnival’s website:

“Each morning, we offer complimentary Continental Breakfast, 5:00am to 10:00am. On the last morning of the cruise, room service is not available; guests will have the option of enjoying breakfast at the Lido restaurant or in the main dining room. “

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2248/~/24-hour-room-service

Continental breakfast menu includes coffee, and can be ordered the night before via door hanger. That is an older door hanger above that says 6am, as the times have recently changed.

Expecting “gorgeous women with perfect bodies” is a sure sign you are a Carnival rookie. [emoji41]

Just go as you are, enjoy yourself, and worry not what others may think. Sounds like you are doing well working through your challenges, and you should be proud of where you are.

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Cutting out the crappy nighttime chocolate on the pillow saved the company $2.2m annually so I would assume only giving straws to people who actually want one will save Carnival a pretty penny as well without having to actually cutback anything.

I’d love to see your source on that $2.2million cost savings.

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In all honesty, has anybody ever seen anyone throw a straw overboard? They can call it saving the sea turtles but I think it's saving Carnival money.

So share with us your estimate of how much a company with $17.5 billion in revenue hopes to save by cutting back slightly (certainly not eliminating) on straws.

Yep, because cruise lines get cheap labor, for one thing, and do not have to comply with all the regulations. Of course, AI land resorts in other countries have cheap labor too, but you have to add in a plane ticket. Also, I think the AI resorts are more likely to leave you alone and let you relax, while cruise lines CONSTANTLY pester you the entire vacation to spend more money.

I’ve never been “CONSTANTLY pestered” to spend more money on any cruise. We prepay nearly everything and have often left ship with a credit balance on our S&S cards due to refunds of port fees. A simple “no thanks” is sufficient to handle any sales pitch.

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Bought mine at 10:20. It is 11:30 now. Should I be worried?

Mine were in my email within ten minutes. Check your spam folder maybe?

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The top federal bracket is 37%. You would pay taxes on the entire $1,000,000. You will net less money if you take the house and sell it due to the commission, property taxes up until the point of sale, other closing costs, and capital gains taxes. An all cash prize is only subject to income taxes. An additional 2% is on amounts above $500K, but conservatively let's say an additional $20K in taxes. You still net >$320K.

 

You are responsible for the house and its upkeep until you sell it. If you sell the house immediately, you will be subject to capital gains taxes since you didn't meet the ownership and use test. You're paying tax as income on the $1million prize. No cap gains unless you sell the house for more than your $1million cost basis.You have to own the house for at least two years and use it for at least two out of the past five years for the sale to not be subject to capital gains. If you did meet the test, you will also be paying utility bills, high property taxes, high home insurance premiums, and high flood insurance premiums. The house is in South Carolina near Hilton Head Island. You also might have to deal with hurricanes. Covered in my 10% contingency allowance, but sure, let's add another $20K to that allowance. You're still netting >$300K. Also if you live in South Carolina the tax rate is 7% ratehr than the 13.3% California rate I used. So another $63K for contingencies, or added to the net.

There is also the opportunity cost of having to spend time focusing on selling the house instead of being able to do other things. An all cash prize doesn't have that opportunity cost. You don't have to go through the sales process to be able to get the money. An all cash prize gives you the money faster. You can do what you want with it sooner than if you accepted the house. Very little opportunity cost or time spent having an agent handle the sale for you. If your time is worth >$300K then you shouldn't be wasting it on Cruise Critic. Sure the cash is better, but I'm discussing the rationality of declining the house if won.

 

Deciding whether or not to accept the prize is an emotional decision. You have to decide if higher taxes and higher opportunity costs are worth it. Agreed, I'm only arguing the rationality of the financial decision. Emotions do cause us to do irrational things.

 

Not everything is about money, so please get off of your high horse. Nah, I kind of like the view up here. :cool:

 

:cool::cool::cool:

Pasta Bella is free every day for lunch , you only pay a charge at dinner . Enjoy

IIRC Pasta Bella, while free every day for lunch, is not open for dinner. There's another Italian food venue, Cucina del Capitano, found on other ships but not the Dream, that is free for lunch and charges for dinner.