MMastell

I voted no because our next cruise is Australia/New Zealand and booked with Celebrity. I may book NCL for my next cruise but it depends on what the itinerary is.

I do wish NCL would expand to Asia and Australia.

Take care,

Mike

Well yes, in this case there is a difference between and upgrade, and an upsell..... But think about this, if you are in the market for a new car, and you look at a Kia, but then later decide instead to UPGRADE to a Ferrari, do you expect to still pay the Kia price? It's still an upgrade, you just need to pay more to get it.... Semantics, call it what you want, I think it's still an UPGRADE... No one ever said it was gonna be at no extra charge.

 

 

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An upgrade is buying a Kia and they "give" you Ferrari.

An upsell is that you buy the Kia and then the dealer offers to sell you a Ferrari for $90,000 more. :) What you describe is just deciding on buying something more expensive "before" you have actually purchased another vehicle.

For MANY years the "free" upgrade was a common practice. You purchased an inside cabin and you were upgraded to an Ocean View or Balcony at no additional cost. Great!

About eight years ago the cruise lines realized that they could make money off of this and I don't blame them. Someone purchased an inside cabin and for only $50 more they could get a window or sometimes a balcony. So, instead of just moving them to the better cabin they could offer it to them for a bargain. The issue is that the cruise lines realized that people were willing to pay much more and upped the price to what now is often close to the current retail price of the cabin.

This is very common with balcony to suite upsells. I have been offered an upsell from an 8M aft balcony cabin to a GS for $300 pp. With what I had already paid and the cost of the upsell it came out to $20 less than the current price of the GS. Not a bargain and I wouldn't give up an aft balcony.

So the upsell and upgrade are really more than semantics in the world of cruising. It's always nice to get something for free than to pay more.

Take care,

Mike

If you want a huge balcony then go ahead and book it. Just be aware that the room size does not correlate to the balcony size. The room is actually quite small compared to other wraparound cabins. We cruised in a standard aft balcony and our friends were in the wraparound and they were VERY disappointed with the cabin. For two women it was not what they expected and had less storage than a standard balcony. :(

If you want the balcony, book it. Otherwise go with a standard aft or a wraparound on a Conquest or Spirit class ship.

Take care,

Mike

This. He also has a place in Vegas. Technically speaking, he expanded onto the ships rather than the other way around :D

His other restaurants are not "Guy's Burger Joints". The Burger Joint was a unique restaurant created in conjunction with Carnival.

Yes, he did expand onto the ships but with a new type of restaurant.

Take care,

Mike

I also don't like the ladders on the Carnival bunks. The rungs are spaced farther apart than a regular bunk ladder.

We sailed Carnival with our grandkids, boy and girl, and they always fight for the bunk bed. On our first cruise we had to veto our grandson (6) from the top bunk for the same reason as the OP. He fell once getting out of bed but there was no injury.

On the next cruise we told the kids they would have to switch bunks each night so each could have the top bunk. That plan didn't work because the pullout couch that becomes the bottom bunk was TERRIBLY uncomfortable. When a six year old complains about the bed and ends up sleeping on the floor it must be uncomfortable. Grandma slept one night on the couch and after that our grandson slept with us.

I'm glad your son wasn't severely injured.

Take care,

Mike

Carnival's past guest program has always had the least real benefits so I won't really miss much if they take away from Platinum. It will be a few years before I hit Diamond since I also cruise other lines.

I "PERSONALLY" would love it if they cut the Platinum benefits and put in some real perks to booking a suite. Carnival is the only cruise line where I don't even think of booking a suite, unless it's Spirit class ship with an aft balcony. There is no advantage in booking a suite on most Carnival ships, especially if you're Platinum, other than the larger room. With Carnival's suites you don't even get the early room access benefit.

All of the cruise lines have revamped their loyalty programs and all have taken benefits away and moved/added benefits to higher, and often, newly created levels.

Oh well, I cruise for the ports and the ships and not for the loyalty perks.

Take care,

Mike

I have done Your Time Dining since its inception. The most we've had is eight people and even then the longest wait was about twenty minutes.

The key is to go at times other than the standard dining times. For some reason people still want to eat at 6:30 and 8:30. If you arrive around 6 or 7:30 you will usually have less of a wait. I did 9:00 p.m. once on Carnival and will never do it again. That was the only time we had cold food and poor service.

Tables for two usually have the least amount of wait time.

If you want the same waitstaff, each night, then your chances of a wait are increased.

Take care,

Mike

i think this is actually a good thing for carnival and they probably love it... it kind of adds value to what is an included amenity / food onboard - 'look, these burgers sell for $14 on land, you can have as many as you want! for free!'

I agree.

I have also wondered, ever since Guy's was introduced with 2.0, when they would start charging a "nominal" fee for the burgers. The $14 price tag could be good for Carnival but they may also take it as a chance to bring some cash to the bottom line. Who knows.

Take care,

Mike

I'll have to see how it is on my next Carnival cruise. I am Platinum and my initial thought was: "I'd rather have the drink coupon." The VIFP party was becoming pretty boring and it was getting way too overcrowded. I completely understand why they did this but after a number of cruises the parties become more of a inconvenience than a treat. That is purely my own opinion. I have friends who just love them.

We'll see how it pans out.

Take care,

Mike

We used gift cards to pay for our entire cruise (and ended up having free gas for a little over 2 months by doing so :D =well worth it) and then purchased a bunch more for use of our on board account.

 

Now I'm not sure if ALL the ships are like this, but I was told by everyone on here that you go to customer service to have the cards applied once on board. HOWEVER, (we were on the Pride last month) and they said they had a new system and they were able to apply all of my cards right there at check in. It worked out GREAT! No need to go to customer service and wait in line or anything. :D :)

This would be nice. It eliminates a trip to guest services.

To the OP: Just put the gift card on your account. It doesn't matter if it's cash or credit card. You will have a credit to the account equal to amount of the gift card. Once that credit is used up then your credit card kicks in. If you don't use all of the gift card amount it will be refunded to you by check. This is on "most" gift cards. Please check the terms and conditions to make sure. The usual "rule of thumb" is that if someone, other than Carnival, paid real money for the card then it's refundable. If Carnival "gave" you the card or OBC, it is not refundable.

Take care,

Mike

These Guy's Burger Joints are just in concert venues and selling to a captive audience. One reason for the inflated prices.

I am not a native New Yorker but did go to the Guy's in Manhattan. While not as bad as the notorious review, it sure wasn't worth the cost; and I am fully aware of the pricing in Manhattan.

I know he signed a contract with Carnival for exclusivity but I wonder if there is a time limit. Perhaps the time limit has expired and we'll start seeing brick and mortar Guy's Burger Joints around the country.

Take care,

Mike

I was diagnosed with Celiac five years ago. I have sailed on Carnival 4 times since. They, by far, do the best job of handling a gluten free diet.

On each of my cruises I just went to the Maitre 'd on embarkation day and let them know. Usually they will show you the menu and you let them know what you want and, IF POSSIBLE, they will provide it gluten free. Don't expect them to make gluten free fried chicken for you. ;)

Your card will be flagged and when you enter YTD they will know that you are gluten free. At some point during your dinner they will bring the next night's menu over and you can choose what you'd like. It works great. BTW: They have a gluten free chocolate lava cake that is as good as the regular.

I've sailed Celebrity, Princess and Oceania since was diagnosed and while Celebrity marks the menu items that are gluten free they really don't do anything special and you usually end up with regular bread at the table and have to ask for gluten free, if you want it. Me, I think all the gluten free bread on cruise ships is not good, so I go without.

Carnival also has gluten free bread at the Deli and gluten free pizza at the Pizza Pirate. The deli bread is the same stuff as in the dining room so don't expect much but the pizza crust was edible. When ordering a Guy's hamburger you can get it with a gluten free bun but I just ask for a "Naked Guy". :) I do have the fries at Guy's burger since they don't fry anything, other than potatoes, in the fryers. I have not had a problem and I am extremely sensitive.

At the buffet the staff has always been very helpful. If you are unsure if something is gluten free, ask. I have found that if the person behind the buffet didn't know they would ask the galley. This is something that ruined two days of my life on Oceania when I asked about a soup and later found out that it had gluten in it. I also strongly suggest that you, and all people with Celiac, educate yourself on what you can and can't have. Don't believe that the lasagna at the buffet is going to be gluten free. Education is key to living with Celiac.

Two last things to all: 1. If you are just being gluten free as a "choice" please don't make a big deal about it and make people jump through hoops and then order the red velvet cake as a treat. It's hard enough to be taken seriously with Celiac when many people put waitstaff through unneeded work. 2. It's Celiac, not Celiacs. :) I also called it Celiacs when I was first diagnosed.

Have a fun. It really isn't that hard to cruise with a gluten free diet.

Take care,

Mike

On all the Carnival ships I've sailed, that had a steakhouse, the bar service is fairly complete and far faster than in the MDR. In most of the steakhouses the bar is right there.

I enjoy a Crown/Ginger before and during dinner.

Take care,

Mike

I'd do it in a heartbeat for $90. Is that $90 per/person or $90 total? Even at $180 I would give it serious consideration.

Take care,

Mike

I could really care less about what the CD does at the shows or is pressing the flesh around the ship. What I do care about is that the CD has the schedules of activities down, the staff to cover them and the venues are reserved.

It took a bad CD, on Celebrity, for me to realize that this part of the job was the most important for my cruise enjoyment. On this Asian cruise, the activities that were in the daily schedule rarely were in the right place, or they weren't staffed, or the staff showed up late. On a couple of occasions private parties were in the venues that were supposed to be for trivia or another activity. The staff all said that they had no idea where they were supposed to be or who was handling what. The CD was new and really didn't know how to do the job.

Luckily it was a port intensive cruise so there were only a few sea days to worry about.

Take care,

Mike

Last year, on Carnival Liberty, we started to unpack and opened the bottom drawer on one of the dressers and the drawer was half full of women's underwear, a bathing suit, coverup and sunglasses.

I contacted the cabin steward and he took the items and said they would contact the previous guest. I don't know if the previous guest was ever contacted but people do leave things in the cabin.

Just last month, in Las Vegas, my sister-in-law found $400, under the mat, in a hotel room safe. She said she turned it in to the front desk.

Yes, employees do steal things but it is very uncommon. The most common is that people misplace items and then find them later on.

Take care,

Mike

If it's a total of $350 for four people then it is a good deal. Enjoy!

Take care,

Mike

Once in fortysomething cruises I did not purchase insurance. It was completely an oversight. Fortunately my Amex card would cover a number of issues except it does not cover pre-existing conditions.

I have had to use travel insurance twice. Once for lost luggage and travel delay and the second (land vacation in Mexico) for my wife and a dental emergency.

The first time was somewhat of a pain in the rear. It took months and multiple emails, faxes and snail mails to collect. This was with Travelguard.

The most recent (last January) my wife lost a cap on one of her molars and required a post and implant. They could not reattach the cap. Alianz settled the claim in less than two weeks from our return and paid it in full. Part of the process was considered "surgery" so this came out of medical and not dental.

Take care,

Mike

I love everything Epic has to offer. The entertainment and alternative restaurants are some of the best in the industry. However, I do not like the ship's look and layout. I also detest "The Wave" cabins. The traffic flow on Deck 6 can be ridiculous before or after shows and the pool deck layout is terrible. There is a large amount of open space at the back of the deck but it is covered and forces everyone into a smaller area.

Having said this, I will be going again on Epic. There was a deal too good to pass up on the TA and we booked a Penthouse Suite. At least it won't have the wave design but it still has the ridiculous bathroom layout. It will just be my wife and I so I think I will be able to tolerate it.

I once said I would never sail Epic again. I broke the old rule: "Never say never". :)

Take care,

Mike

Thank you.

Checked out videos of each cabin and I'm going with the H6. A "little" larger and the balcony is much nicer. I'll lose some weight walking up to the Haven for breakfast and dinner. :)

I do wish an H4 was available for the sailing. :(

Thanks again,

Mike

I want to book a Haven Suite on Epic's transatlantic. I have two Suite choices, a rear facing H6 or an H5 (17002) that is in The Haven. The H5 is forward facing and looks from the deck plan to be a HA cabin.

I love the Haven amenities but I'm not sure if I want the hassle and the walk to get to the Haven from an aft cabin on a lower deck. I also love aft cabins and book them whenever it's feasible.

My questions are:

Is an H5 (17002) small?

Is there an actual open and usable balcony in the H5 (17002)?

Which would you choose: Aft Penthouse or H5?

I know the final decision is mine but would like to hear other people's preferences and experiences with these types of cabins. I previously had an H4 on Epic.

Thanks,

Mike

Do not drink distilled water for periods of time. The body requires the minerals in regular water to maintain bone strength. It's a fact.

You are absolutely right and wrong at the same time. Distilled water is not good for drinking but it is good for a CPAP. Put distilled water in your machine and drink regular water. A standard CPAP reservoir will hold eight ounces, or less, of water. Not an amount that will cause you to suffer mineral depletion.

Take care,

Mike

There is a big difference between an upgrade and an upsell. With an upgrade you get a better cabin for no extra charge. With an upsell you pay to get a better cabin. Sometimes an upsell is a good price but in the last year or so the upsell price is close to the current difference between what you paid and the upgraded room price. What the OP is referring to is an Upsell.

Sorry but the Upgrade Fairy is on life support and the Upsell Fairy has taken over.

Take care,

Mike

I've traced back the cords on the bedside tables, on a few ships, and they are not "plugs" but rather connections.

I carry a 12 foot extension cord, in good condition, in my CPAP case and use that.

One thing I learned years ago on the message boards is to lay a bath towel over the cord at night. This will keep you from tripping over the cord while moving about the cabin in low light. Some people duct tape the cord to the carpet but I personally feel this is going overboard and doesn't do the carpet or the cord any good.

Take care,

Mike

I would send it Priority Mail from your local post office or use Fedex. You don't want to use your mailbox or a postal drop box.

I have found that using my local county's service center is the best. No hassle with mailing and they do the passport photo right there. Since you've already filled out the forms then my first suggestion works best for you.

Take care,

Mike