Bolt - how much $ to ride?

[Jamesatgsu]

On 5/31/2021 at 8:38 AM, phoneman69 said:

Why should they charge. Should be an attraction that draws you to the ship for sailing

Because they can? Personally would have been stunned for it to be free (the demand would make the lines awful).

 

$5-$10 per ride would make sense. They could of course make it similar to the thermal suite and charge you $100 for unlimited use during the cruise.

[phoneman69]

59 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Go back and read my post.  It was in reply to someone saying something about "nada" and "speculation" that there would be a charge.  My post was a screengrab from carnival.com showing there is a charge.

It's a shame if they charge as i believe if you look at whats available on the ship it say's Bolt is included.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

44 minutes ago, phoneman69 said:

It's a shame if they charge as i believe if you look at whats available on the ship it say's Bolt is included.

Just checked on Carnivals web site for my cruise. There is a charge for riding. The reason they will charge is because of the amount of people that will be wanting to ride it for free. Overwhelming, so they decided to charge so hopefully the lines will be shorter to ride. That is there reasoning. Plus only one coaster not two.

[Illbcruzn4life]

as many said on here when RCI launched their new ships with merry go rounds etc, If I wanted an amusement park I'd go to six flags. lol

[crewsweeper]

15 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Thanks.  So, this gets charged to S&S.  guessing OBC can be put to use in something other than the drink package.   Wondering if they'll do this by reservations like Royal does for their surfing.

[TNcruising02]

9 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

as many said on here when RCI launched their new ships with merry go rounds etc, If I wanted an amusement park I'd go to six flags. lol

Same.  I have been on enough amusement park rides to last a lifetime.  However, when ships have things like this on them, it draws the crowd away from the lounge chairs.

[IntrepidFromDC]

36 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Same.  I have been on enough amusement park rides to last a lifetime.  However, when ships have things like this on them, it draws the crowd away from the lounge chairs.

Carnival has always been about FUN, getting away from the stodgy cruise lifestyle, since 1972.  First to introduce water slides to cruise ships, first to introduce rollercoaster... it just FITS Carnival to do it!  Why go on a cruise OR to an amusement park when you can have both in one place?  😁  🏴‍☠️

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

If a person does not like what is offered for fun on ANY ship. Just do not go on it. Why bash them at all? Personally, I hat amusement parks, but I do love cruising and all the fun they have to offer including go-carts, the Bolt etc. In my opinion a Cruise is the best bang for the buck hands down. Rides or no rides. Where else can you unpack and visit so many places and do so many things for so little of a cost? Every day on a cruise is enjoyable with a variety of things to do. We will be on the Mardi Gras for Halloween. 

[kelkel2]

17 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Just checked on Carnivals web site for my cruise. There is a charge for riding. The reason they will charge is because of the amount of people that will be wanting to ride it for free. Overwhelming, so they decided to charge so hopefully the lines will be shorter to ride. That is there reasoning. Plus only one coaster not two.

This was my thought too. I was thinking they would charge just to help with crowd control. Otherwise I could see people/older kids riding it and getting right back in line to go again. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I feel like there would just be a long line constantly. Especially with the size of the ship and how many people will be on it! 

[Illbcruzn4life]

12 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

If a person does not like what is offered for fun on ANY ship. Just do not go on it. Why bash them at all? Personally, I hat amusement parks, but I do love cruising and all the fun they have to offer including go-carts, the Bolt etc. In my opinion a Cruise is the best bang for the buck hands down. Rides or no rides. Where else can you unpack and visit so many places and do so many things for so little of a cost? Every day on a cruise is enjoyable with a variety of things to do. We will be on the Mardi Gras for Halloween. 

Just to be clear I was just pointing out the hypocrisy.

 

When the competition came out with things of this nature the old guard on the Carnival cruise critic forum were all about bashing the completion, but now that Carnival has a shiny new toy the Carnival folks think it's the next best thing since sliced bread.

 

Personally I don't care much either way.

 

To those that love it, have a GREAT time when you sail.  I like the point about them leaving the lounge chairs open though. Just hope those people on the rides aren't CHOGS! 

[SNJCruisers]

On 6/1/2021 at 12:46 PM, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

 Norwegian is another one that gets ya. They say drinks included, then they charge you a gratuity fee that costs more than if you purchased a drink package on any other cruise line. If it was only 18 or 20% when you got a drink, that I would agree with. 

The gratuity fee on Norwegian is 20 bucks a day, based on 20% of their over priced 99.00 per day drink package.  Please name me a cruise line where you can get a drinks package for 20 bucks per day.  Carnival, no. Royal, no. Celebrity,  no.  The closest is Princess, who charges 40 a day for their all inclusive package.   After factoring out the 14.50 for gratuities, you pay 25.50 per day for their drink package and wifi.

Don't make an assumptive statement without knowing all of the facts.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

46 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

The gratuity fee on Norwegian is 20 bucks a day, based on 20% of their over priced 99.00 per day drink package.  Please name me a cruise line where you can get a drinks package for 20 bucks per day.  Carnival, no. Royal, no. Celebrity,  no.  The closest is Princess, who charges 40 a day for their all inclusive package.   After factoring out the 14.50 for gratuities, you pay 25.50 per day for their drink package and wifi.

Don't make an assumptive statement without knowing all of the facts.

I already said. When Carnival offers the included drink packaged their is no additional charge at all. I did not say anything about purchasing the drink package on the Norwegian. I said on the so called FREE included drink package of which you would need to drink 10 drinks a day to cover the cost of the gratuity for the so called FREE included drink package. So you are actually paying for 10 drinks a day. It is not FREE.

[SNJCruisers]

On 6/1/2021 at 2:48 PM, TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail said:

If you’ve never tried Perry’s Steakhouse special Pork Chop meal on Fridays you really should.  Beats any steak I’ve ever had.

 

https://perryssteakhouse.com/specials/pork-chop-lunch/

The Tomahawk Pork Chop for 15.00 at Cucina del Capitano on the Horizon is a great entree and a better value than 38 at the Steakhouse, IMHO.   But many will gladly pay the 38,  just like many will pay the inflated prices for balconies.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

On 6/1/2021 at 1:26 PM, pc_load_letter said:

I will try it once. I like to try everything once.

 

But I would rather do the go-carts of NCL or cool ropes course like on Pano.

 

Of course, I'm sure if a ship had a bungee jump, I'd end up like this guy...Video Shows Cruise Ship Passenger Crash Onto Deck in Bungee Trampoline Mishap: 'All I Really Remember Is the Hit and the Fear' (newsweek.com)

I am 75 and the rope course is a bit toooo much for me. However the go carts and the Bolt YES!

[vettprincess]

On 6/2/2021 at 10:53 AM, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

If a person does not like what is offered for fun on ANY ship. Just do not go on it. Why bash them at all? Personally, I hat amusement parks, but I do love cruising and all the fun they have to offer including go-carts, the Bolt etc. In my opinion a Cruise is the best bang for the buck hands down. Rides or no rides. Where else can you unpack and visit so many places and do so many things for so little of a cost? Every day on a cruise is enjoyable with a variety of things to do. We will be on the Mardi Gras for Halloween. 

See you onboard for Halloween. 3 of us(1 from WY 2 from MN)

2 of us were on the first Mardi Gras. Bringing photos.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

The gratuity fee on Norwegian is 20 bucks a day, based on 20% of their over priced 99.00 per day drink package.  Please name me a cruise line where you can get a drinks package for 20 bucks per day.  Carnival, no. Royal, no. Celebrity,  no.  The closest is Princess, who charges 40 a day for their all inclusive package.   After factoring out the 14.50 for gratuities, you pay 25.50 per day for their drink package and wifi.

Don't make an assumptive statement without knowing all of the facts.

If you are trying to say they base the gratuity on the FREE drink package at $20 a day. You are way wrong. The cruise I booked went down $450.00 per person for a 7 day cruise not accepting the FREE drink package. That is $65.00 a day per person. Not free is it?

[Joe817]

5 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

The Tomahawk Pork Chop for 15.00 at Cucina del Capitano on the Horizon is a great entree and a better value than 38 at the Steakhouse, IMHO.   But many will gladly pay the 38,  just like many will pay the inflated prices for balconies.

Of course the Tomahawk Pork Chop is a better value, because it's less than one half the cost. That's obvious. However, for someone who eats pork on a regular basis(and lots of hamburger served every day till Sunday,  pork & hamburger gets mighty old. So when I'm cruising, I soooo look forward to a great steak, with sauteed mushrooms and plain old mashed potatoes. I can't wait to get to the Steakhouse on the Vista. A cruise(IMO) is not a time to continue cutting back, but to splurge and enjoy the fruits of my labor. It only comes once per year, so I'm ready! 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 minutes ago, vettprincess said:

See you onboard for Halloween. 3 of us(1 from WY 2 from MN)

2 of us were on the first Mardi Gras. Bringing photos.

You definitely have been cruising long before us. We did not start till by boss forced us to go for a weekend. I remember how much it was $100 per day for both. All included. I was in the NAVY and not really interested in going on a ship. That was 1994 and never stopped cruising. He got us hooked for sure.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Of course the Tomahawk Pork Chop is a better value, because it's less than one half the cost. That's obvious. However, for someone who eats pork on a regular basis(and lots of hamburger served every day till Sunday,  pork & hamburger gets mighty old. So when I'm cruising, I soooo look forward to a great steak, with sauteed mushrooms and plain old mashed potatoes. I can't wait to get to the Steakhouse on the Vista. A cruise(IMO) is not a time to continue cutting back, but to splurge and enjoy the fruits of my labor. It only comes once per year, so I'm ready! 

I love what you are saying. Problem with Carnival and NO OTHER cruise line. Most every day the only place to get mashed potatoes is in the steak house. Otherwise, rice and baked potato. Without the e 😄

[Joe817]

Well, that's a damn shame. I was brought up on mashed potatoes. I wished they served just plain old mashed potatoes in the MDR.....Nightly, as a side dish. A baked potato  is ok, but it's a heck of a big hassle to prepare it with all the fixings. 

[BlerkOne]

44 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

I love what you are saying. Problem with Carnival and NO OTHER cruise line. Most every day the only place to get mashed potatoes is in the steak house. Otherwise, rice and baked potato. Without the e 😄

I think they are available more than you think. They may not be listed as a side dish, but often served with one of the entrees. If they won't bring you a side of them, just order the extra entree and ask them to scrape everything except the taters off of the plate.

 

Carnival makes the best mashed potatoes.

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

I already said. When Carnival offers the included drink packaged their is no additional charge at all. I did not say anything about purchasing the drink package on the Norwegian. I said on the so called FREE included drink package of which you would need to drink 10 drinks a day to cover the cost of the gratuity for the so called FREE included drink package. So you are actually paying for 10 drinks a day. It is not FREE.

Carnival offers Cheers to gamblers only.  They recently offered it as a reduced priced offer under the RU1-2-3 promo codes to those who the algorithm felt worthy of receiving it.  It was totally targeted marketing.   The cost of the grats on NCL is 20 bucks a day, certainly not the cost of 10 drinks, more like the cost of 2 drinks.  I never said nor implied that you mentioned the price of the overpriced drinks package on NCL, I was only mentioning where they came up with the 20 dollars to cover the grats from.  You see, I have first hand experience with drink packages over close to 10 yrs since they have come out.  NCL, Carnival,  Royal,  MSC, Celebrity in the past and Princess in the future.  

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

If you are trying to say they base the gratuity on the FREE drink package at $20 a day. You are way wrong. The cruise I booked went down $450.00 per person for a 7 day cruise not accepting the FREE drink package. That is $65.00 a day per person. Not free is it?

I know what I am talking about.  NCL's drink package is free as one of the included perks.  If you choose the perks, you then pay 20 per day for the grats and a nominal couple of bucks for the grats on the dining package.  If you wish to choose the sail away rate, when you can get it, it is the bare bones version that has no perks attached to it.  There are multiple perks and the bottom line is you get what you pay for.  

The 450 difference was the difference on your cruise only,  not all 7 day NCL cruises.  There is an upcharge for the perks and if you don't want them, then hopefully the sail away rate is available,  because many times they are not since some travel agencies like to offer them as advertising low ball numbers. 

[vettprincess]

1 hour ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

You definitely have been cruising long before us. We did not start till by boss forced us to go for a weekend. I remember how much it was $100 per day for both. All included. I was in the NAVY and not really interested in going on a ship. That was 1994 and never stopped cruising. He got us hooked for sure.

CCL Horizon to the ABC islands 4/3 canceled. 2 booked for the rest of this year. 2 booked for 2022.

 

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, Joe817 said:

Of course the Tomahawk Pork Chop is a better value, because it's less than one half the cost. That's obvious. However, for someone who eats pork on a regular basis(and lots of hamburger served every day till Sunday,  pork & hamburger gets mighty old. So when I'm cruising, I soooo look forward to a great steak, with sauteed mushrooms and plain old mashed potatoes. I can't wait to get to the Steakhouse on the Vista. A cruise(IMO) is not a time to continue cutting back, but to splurge and enjoy the fruits of my labor. It only comes once per year, so I'm ready! 

Sorry, but the Tomahawk Pork Chop at 15 is a much better value, for me than the 38 you will pay at the Carnival steakhouse.  The problem I have with the Carnival steakhouse is the way the quality of the food as well as the choices have gone downhill over the years.  So, spending 15 at Cucina del Capitano and another 15 at Jiji's, means I am spending 30 bucks and enjoying 2 nights of specialty dining.  If you wish to drop 38 for 1 night at the steakhouse,  by all means enjoy it.  But, for me, the two nights at 30 bucks is a much better value.