Badfinger

And when you consider one probably has to earn about $850 gross dollars in order to clear $600 net after taxes, ss, etc...yeah definitely not negligible. That said, I much prefer a balcony. But then I try to avoid crowds and loud music on a cruise. I find the opportunity to sit on the balcony, looking over the water, with perhaps my favorite beverage, a few snacks and some music, lost in my thoughts...now that is something that is just not available to me at home. I try to do that for a couple hours most everyday when we are on a cruise. Add to that a couple visits a day to the Cloud 9 Spa thermal suites and T-Pool..now that is a vacation and worth the extra money to me.

Too late for a worthless apology IMO. Just another example of CCL doing CCL things....

Since I don't drink alcohol and usually drink diet Zero sodas when I do drink soda, I really like to indulge in a Mexican Coke (real sugar) in Cozumel. Hopefully a 16 oz glass bottle. Life's simple pleasure!

Our first cruise or two we tried to do everything. After those two, we just decided to relax and what happens, happens. Worst case, we head to our balcony and just watch the sunset. Rushing from this show to that club to that MDR and back to that show....not really relaxing always checking the time, hurrying, etc. Just the opposite of what we wanted our vacations to be.

Why in the world would you call that number provided in a suspicious email? And twice? SMH.... Know just like phone numbers popping up on your phone, "from" emails can be manipulated to display as legit emails. Just never ever never ever respond through an email (or text) or to any contact (phone, email) provided in that suspicious email.

As others, have done that with some non-cotton workout clothes. No issues. Another tip...pack some old clothes (or clothes you don't like) that you can basically wear 1-2 times then trash. Have done that with an old sun shirt and baseball cap...wore them on two excursions then trash. Trashed an older pair of swim trunks at the end of the a cruise. Same with some old running shoes on three different cruises.

Well, apparently Carnival is now (correctly) below Burger King in service....you cannot have it your way! Any yeah I know BK changed their tagline, but most still recognize this one.

We thought about going to the steakhouse a couple cruises ago...but then we realized we could save that money and go to the local Brazilian Steakhouse $26(weekday lunch). It was a no brainer to pass on the steakhouse. And glad I did because the more cruises we have taken, the less I like the beef on CCL. Open flame is just so much better.

Liking a product is not a reason to buy that companies stock. I have bought Honda vehicles exclusively for over 30 years. No way on earth I would ever buy their stock...even if they offered free oil changes and tire rotations to shareholders!

Good grief. It is all about the bottom line. If the same ports produce sold out cruises, the the itineraries are cost efficient, why change? Perhaps time to explore non-cruise vacation options.

NEED? No.

I always stay in a Spa Cabin just for access to the thermal suites (Dream Class). I have only booked two appointments and both times it was on the ship when they were offering specials to those of us in the Spa Cabins. One was $50 off any service (no minimum price) another was a full hour massage for $75 IIRC. My belief is they will offer you better prices once on the ship...unless of course their staffing levels are as bad as the rest of the ship then who knows. If you cannot find your answer, and you are not looking to book something on the embarkation day, I would just book it in advance, and once on board, go check with the spa on the final price. If you don't like it, just cancel.

Agree with your post-pandemic assessment. We are likely to not cruise again. Now I just need to ween myself off this website.....

Curb food waste on a oil burning ships that regularly dump sewage in the ocean. Yeah...excellent.

No additional charge...yet. Give them time to figure it out.

Agree...but not in cruise stocks. Sure they will likely go up eventually, but there are other much better market leading blue chip companies with solid earnings and revenue that are screaming buys. Carnival...not so much. And getting a lousy $100 OBC is not a reason to buy a stock.

So a couple cruises ago, our 7th cruise IIRC, I had done the research and knew exactly what I wanted to book. I even chose a room next to a suite, because after all, don't suites get the best cabin stewards? What a smarty I am! But I always call our PVP to make the booking. As we were going through it all, I told him what cabin we wanted. He then pointed out that I might best be served going to a cabin on the other side of the ship as that side would be the most likely be the side that would be towards the dock while the ship was in port... in both the ports we were visiting...assuming I wanted that view. I did. So I made the change. I guess I knew that...but just an example that even if you have cruised multiple times, there is always something one just overlooks while going through the process. Another set of eyes is never a bad thing.

Maybe they are actually enjoying their cruise rather than worrying about social media BS.

If you are talking about grades up through High School, I don't think it really matters. The kids will be there. As for college kids...frankly I don't think that many want to do a SEVEN DAY cruise. My two sons just finished college and their choices for spring break were the beaches in Florida or Texas Padre Islands.

Back in 2013 IIRC we paid $4k for a Spa Balcony cabin for 4 on a 7-day out of Galveston. It was the exact cabin we wanted on the ship we wanted on the date we wanted for the itinerary we wanted. Absolutely zero compromises on that cruise. All others since...yeah compromises made for cost savings...so hard to say if the cheaper cruises were better values.

I have said it before...Carnival just does not do beef very well. But I figure that is because they have to cook with electricity. Open flame is just so much better.

Here in south Texas, I have grilling down to a science. I would compare my burgers, steaks, salmon, pork tenderloin and chicken breast to most any restaurant around San Antonio. So...when we go out to eat, it is usually something I cannot make as well at home (pizza, thai). And of course sometimes we just don't feel like cooking and will hit a fast food like Chi FiLa, Whataburger or numerous TexMex places purely for convenience. That said, regardless of the Carnival Cheerleaders, these dining cutbacks and prices increased are real, and do degrade the overall cruise experience. It was not uncommon for 2 in our family to order 3 entrees at the MDR, especially when the appetizers were less than appetizing, or they were offering our favorites all on the same night. Next will be the servers at the buffet, scanning your S&S card as you enter the queue. After all, what is the sense of limiting entrees in the MDR if one can go hog wild at the buffet for many of the same entrees? I can actually see the day when all dining will bar controlled by your S&S card. Pay as you go or buy dining packages for various levels of gastric indulgence. But none of that matters to us anymore. Given the horrible service, long lines, and stale entertainment on our June cruise, unlikely we would pick a cruise as our vacation anytime soon.

IMO it is supply vs demand, It was not detailed that San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Austin are 4 of the 11 largest cities in the US. And they are all a relative easy drive to Galveston. I live in SA and would always leave our house by 8am on the day of the cruise. We would make two stops along the way (I-10 rest area and Buc'ees) and still be dropping our luggage off about noon. As for those who say they save money by flying to another port...not sure I buy that if your record keeping is accurate. But I definitely only buy that if you put a $0 value on your time you spend flying to that port vs say a 4-hour drive. And yeah...flying pretty much sucks.

Seems you would want to confirm BEFORE booking if it is important to you.

Always liked the grilled salmon served nightly in the MDR. Pretty much my go to entree. On the last two cruises I tried a lot of the different soups in the MDR. Many of them are very good...but I guess enough salt and cream should make anything good. In general, anything beef/steak was an easy pass. IMO Carnival is just very poor at cuts of beef...probably due to no open flame. We really really really liked the avocado toast and salmon super salad at the brunch. 12-hour french toast has to be tried once by everybody. The yogurt parfait was very good as well..packed with nuts and raisins. To this day we make fun of those who just cannot get away from ordering the greasy omelets or bland pancakes during the brunch...we figure they go all Denny's once they sit down.