Live from Steerage. Onboard Mardi Gras now. Ask us anything.

[KmomChicago]

On 10/7/2021 at 9:01 PM, ray98 said:

What a wonderful review.  We are booked in a couple months and this answered so many questions.  Thank you.

 Thank you Ray. Enjoy your cruise and look forward to your review when you sail. 🙂

[Pellaz]

22 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Please do update us on the details. . . whether here or on your own post for your own review of your own cruise. It's been a lot of fun to watch more reviews come in on Mardi Gras covering more questions and answers, as well as tweaks that are being made on the fly.

 

I'll  be doing a full review when we get back, but Chibang and Cucina were NOT open for lunch on embark day....and we had the sadz.  

[KmomChicago]

Minor update on our upcoming Legend Christmas cruise. Since booking (recklessly, almost in a dazed frenzy, just 2 days after getting home from Mardi Gras!) prices have dropped and before final payment I was able to call and get about a 10% reduction on the whole cruise (4 people, 2 rooms). 

 

After final payment, the prices have continued to drop, with the interior we booked now down more than 40% from the original booking price. I have never seen prices like this for a Christmas cruise. I am guessing since Christmas is on that last Saturday, perhaps a lot of schools did not take off the full week prior for their breaks. Do most schools still do 2 weeks? The week between Christmas and NY and then either the week prior or the week after? Or are they doing just the one full week and maybe the prior Friday and following Monday?

 

The following week covering New Year's is still shown priced more than double the cost of the Dec. 19th cruise.  The January 2 cruise is starting at $279 for just regular VIFP passengers. 

 

Many people joining the roll call in recent weeks are saying the same thing - I couldn't believe the insane bargain basement prices for a Christmas cruise and just had to book!  I assume that this sailing will gradually fill up to a higher occupancy than we've been seeing since the restart, though it's obviously going slowly for now and below what the line is hoping for to have this kind of opportunity less than 40 days out.

 

This means that ocean view and balcony cabins are down too. Since we are past final payment where it's difficult to ask for a refund to OBC for the price difference, I found a rate last night that would add only $100 total for both passengers to upgrade from our booked interior to a balcony. And so I called and did the usual routine - on the first call 45 minutes, mostly on hold, before getting an agent who wasn't a lot of help and then ultimately, I guess, just dropped my call.  I called again, waited even longer on hold before getting a sharpie who made the move in about 2 minutes, painlessly!  And we are still about $150 pp below the original booking price for the INTERIOR! 

 

No way to know if we are nearing the occupancy and timeframe where these rock bottom prices start rising back toward normal school break levels or if bookings are just soooooo sloooooow that it will be like this right up to the last minute.

 

Sometimes you gotta be your own upgrade fairy!  Check out those prices if you're looking to upgrade too!

[KmomChicago]

It’s happening again. The stars are aligning and I’m about to book Carnival Vista for late spring out of Galveston. When the opportunity to be near a port knocks. . . .

[SmoothFlying]

4 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

It’s happening again. (Holding up a shiny pocket watch) 'Yoou are getting sleepy, sooo sleepyy, when I snap my fingers, you'll awake, refreshed, alert BUT ! Every time you see the Carnival web page a SUDDEN urge will come over you and you'll SUBMITT to the uncontrolble NEED to list for a cruise ! Yes, any cruise ! (snaping fingers)  'Hey ! K.C. ! Cmon over to the CCL website we wanna show ya something !! <evil smile'.

Mac

[stellarose]

again need that cheat sheet of drinks bw fortune teller and brass magnolia.

[KmomChicago]

On 12/10/2021 at 10:07 AM, stellarose said:

again need that cheat sheet of drinks bw fortune teller and brass magnolia.

will need to come from a better source than I. Didn’t actually even stop at Fortune Teller despite passing often. Had I think one hurricane from BM (oops that’s unfortunate) and have still never had anything at any alchemy. Not a drinker in general.

[KmomChicago]

On 12/10/2021 at 10:02 AM, SmoothFlying said:

Mac

They do seem to have us under some sort of spell. They’re the cheapest and sail from the most ports an unless the ship is new and mega- i.e. over 150 tons and less than 10 years old, we feel we get the best value and best overall fit from Carnival.

 

I actually never book one without checking a TA site first to see what other options exist for our parameters. RCI Oasis class and Quantum class, and NCL’s newer big ships would always be contenders but if it’s anything smaller we’re likely to go CCL. 
 

Also as it’s working out, we are trying out all the classes which was something we’d thought would be fun to compare if the cards fell that way. 
 

By the end of 2022 we should have one each of:

 

Destiny class

Fantasy class

Excel class

Spirit class

Vista class 

and probably (not yet booked)

Sunshine class 

Edited December 12, 2021 by KmomChicago

[SmoothFlying]

7 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

They do seem to have us under some sort of spell. They’re the cheapest and sail from the most ports an unless the ship is new and mega- i.e. over 150 tons and less than 10 years old, we feel we get the best value and best overall fit from Carnival.

 

I actually never book one without checking a TA site first to see what other options exist for our parameters. RCI Oasis class and Quantum class, and NCL’s newer big ships would always be contenders but if it’s anything smaller we’re likely to go CCL. 
 

Also as it’s working out, we are trying out all the classes which was something we’d thought would be fun to compare if the cards fell that way. 
 

By the end of 2022 we should have one each of:

 

Destiny class

Fantasy class

Excel class

Spirit class

Vista class 

and probably (not yet booked)

Sunshine class 

I completely agree with you. That's why my wife and I have done nineteen CCL cruises and four RCL. Truth be known we like RCL as much as CCL it just worked out that Carnival had the right two weeks we've always needed down through the years. It's like I've always said, 'I really do NOT care which cruise line I'm on as long as I'm on a CRUISE!'. Just something about the ship, the broad deep blue water that stretches out too infinity. I hope you and your family have a WONDERFUL Christmas cruise this year.

 

Mac

[KmomChicago]

Link to new live review, May 2024.

 

[ninjacat123]

On 8/9/2021 at 3:37 PM, KmomChicago said:

Not spa people but the hub app has prices for all kinds of expensive options. Anything in particular?

Sorry I didn’t see this from almost THREE years ago 😳 Whadda maroon (me of course) ! Nope, nothing comes to mind😜

[KmomChicago]

33 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Sorry I didn’t see this from almost THREE years ago 😳 Whadda maroon (me of course) ! Nope, nothing comes to mind😜

It’s okay, thanks for getting back to me!! 😂 

 

It is fun to go back and relive our innocence!

[ninjacat123]

On 8/9/2021 at 8:19 PM, KmomChicago said:

With the exception of a lot of masks everything feels like a cruise in The Before. Nothing feels restricted. I don’t think the ship is full, which may be helping, but wouldn’t think it will be in September either. If I were you I’d keep it and enjoy before the ships start reaching capacity. 

And after that, we have had at least three if not four spa cabins. We especially enjoy relaxing on the tiled chairs. My mom and my DDs have as well. 👍☺️

[KmomChicago]

8 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

And after that, we have had at least three if not four spa cabins. We especially enjoy relaxing on the tiled chairs. My mom and my DDs have as well. 👍☺️

Yeah it’s still not for me. We ended up in Cloud 9 balconies on our little 4 night shorty on Radiance and only used our spa pass once because we had to give it a go.

 

It was quite nice, rooms were prettier and brighter, hardly any kids staying nearby. Glad I got to try it but the math usually won’t work for me.
 

As always I am glad they have different options to please a wide variety of tastes and expectations. 

Edited Tuesday at 07:53 PM by KmomChicago