PayneAS

You are probably still either busy getting back home or having some downtime but I wanted to let you know that your piano bar menu (for carnival) is throwing up a 404 error 😞 And thanks for the awesome review of course 🙂

Apparently the OP is volunteering. 😆

Ohh nice!

You missed "YOR" too then 😉😆

I love watching Matt Heafy (Trivium) on Twitch too! I saw them in concert once and they were excellent. Edit: added second sentence 🙂

These are the ones I'm used to, but I haven't been on any of the new fancy ships yet.

Image is not great but that looks a little worse than paint scrapes

Wait a second... the ubiquitous blue pool towel is now... Mauve? Purple? Maroon? something not Carnival blue unless your camera did a funny filter thing.

Except supposedly (according to previous comments) the gratuity paid to bar staff is only divided out among them, not amongst the entire crew. And (in the case of Conquest class ships for example) 1000 crew of a total 2000 crew is not all barstaff. And again, as I mentioned in a previous comment, I'm not arguing that they shouldn't be tipped more or given fairer wages. I was responded mainly to wherever someone said that those with Cheers don't pay gratuity, because they do, even if it is a measly 84 cents per drink.

You edited your post after I responded to it so I decided to do some mathing. (You originally said something along the lines of Cheers people don't pay gratuity, and you probably mistyped or didn't mean it that way but it changes the meaning of my previous response). Going with a basic 5 day cruise at 69.95 per day amounts to 349.75 then the 18% of that is 62.96. Then, let's say that the person drinking makes their 15 drinks every day for 5 days (poor liver), that's 75 total drinks. 62.96 divided by 75 drinks is equal to $0.84 per drink (nearly $1 which is what I've seen many a person claim to tip per drink). Then remember that there are potentially thousands of people (on Excel class) who possibly have the drink package. Or at least hundreds (on Conquest class). So it isn't a pittance for the bar staff. And for people like myself who may only drink 6 drinks a day that's a whopping $2.10 gratuity per drink. Or the people who get overgenerous when they are drunk and tip even if they are on the package/dou.

There's a Casino Players section on the Hub app now. I'm pretty sure that's where I noticed mine was listed.

Those who purchase Cheers pay the 18% gratuity when they purchase the package, so they've already paid 18% in advance. Whether or not it is an equitable 18% I'm not even gonna delve into but it isn't like they didn't tip at all. The Drinks on Us is supposedly paid for by the cruiseline and they would be paying the gratuity (one hopes).

I emailed guestcare@carnival.com back in 2022 when I accidentally created a duplicate VIFP. I told them what my actual number was, what the accidentally created one was, and told them to either delete or merge the extra one. They replied three days later and had it all fixed up.

They aren't usually checking your bag as you leave the ship (in my experience). And usually sealed foods are okay anyway. (Talking about the single serve as pictured above. Not like a 1 gallon container).

When I order I just tell them that I have a free drink to redeem and they apply it.

I bought my CCL at like $9 and they are/were at $16 when I last looked a couple of days ago so it making a profit for me. Actually if you look at the last 12 mo, they are still up.

Gold and above get one free drink (up to $10 iirc) on the night before debarkation. If it is more than $10 then you pay the difference. I always go to the Alchemy Bar and make it worth it 🙂

It is both a formality and routinely authorized every year. I think Carnival would have to be in extremely dire straits for them not to. And if it is a vote done by shareholders (and I think it is), well you're in luck, you'd be able to vote yes if you owned stock LOL.

pretty sure the 15 (alcoholic) drink limit is whether you have the cheers package or not. They don't want you stupidly drunk whether you are buying it with or without the drink package.

I think you'd have better luck finding a shared table with fixed dining to be honest. You could even make it more likely if you went to the maître d' when you board and ask about it. I think it is like Steph said above, how likely would it be to find someone else who wants to share a table requesting a table at the same time you are? With fixed dining, I've been seated at shared tables twice now recently (August and then January) without me doing anything other than selecting my preferred dining time.

Well I figured that even if they "sail full" there is always a room or two set aside for emergencies (or maybe my optimism is showing) for like people who have their cabins flood or any other number of things that could go wrong that they have to move someone. I figured I'd get put in one of those. It was a nice surprise to get a balcony. My latest adventure, a couple of weeks ago, I got one of the handicap accessible rooms. Unless someone specifically requests those, they probably keep those set aside for as long as possible in case someone actually needs one. I was so nervous the whole time that I was gonna hit or pull one of the "help me" cords/buttons.

I'm sneaking in from the Carnival boards to see your review 🤫 I'm a little envious you live close to three ports. I live 45 mins from one but 3 hours and 8 hours from two more so needless to say I really only go out of the one. Kitty! I have four kitty helpers that miss me terribly when I do last minute cruises. Looking forward to your review!

I booked an GTY inside. I was upgraded to a balcony. Some platinum member that hadn't shown up. (I know this because his card and chocolates and everything were delivered to the room already).

In my case it was a Last Minute Deal (essentially a free cabin). Offered the deal on Thursday for a Sunday cruise. It's the offer they send out to fill up the boat at the last minute so they can continue their claim that they sail completely full. No choice to pick a cabin. And yes, I'm well aware that's the risk I take being cheap so I wasn't mad about it. I'm lucky enough to live 45 mins from the port and am able to work remotely so I can snatch up those cheap deals. If ever there is a time where they are like "Sorry we don't have a room for you," I can just Uber home and maybe they'll give me a FCC for the trouble.

Surprisingly it was after. As the ship pulled away from the dock I was thinking to myself, "Well there's no way they can kick me off now. I'll eventually get a spot somewhere." It's been a few months (I think it was my August trip) but if I remember right, I got to the port at 11, ship sails away at 3, I got my cabin around 5.