Kmom on Carnival Radiance Semi-Live May 30-June 3, 2022 - FOURTH time on Carnival since resumption of cruising

[jimbo5544]

Looking forward to your review.  The Radiance is an interesting ship, we were supposes to be on her for our first TA (heavy sigh) we were on the sister ship Sunrise.  Be interested in your thoughts.

[KmomChicago]

5 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Looking forward to your review.  The Radiance is an interesting ship, we were supposes to be on her for our first TA (heavy sigh) we were on the sister ship Sunrise.  Be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks Jimbo. I’m wondering how I’ll feel about the four night duration as we’ve settled in to 7 nighters since the resumption. I considered B2B for the following weekend but the math doesn’t look good and we have a decent little itinerary for LA those extra post cruise days. 
 

4 nights was enough on little Sensation but wouldn’t have been on Mardi Gras.

[Hogladyrider]

@KmomChicago....those heated loungers are super comfy and feel oh soooooo good.

 

The one thing I am not a fan of, is if the thermolossa pool is in the same room with the heated loungers.  The pool is loud and makes the acoustics in the room horrible and NOT very relaxing at all!

 

I did enjoy several hours on a heated lounger with my Kindle!

[ninjacat123]

Just now, Hogladyrider said:

@KmomChicago....those heated loungers are super comfy and feel oh soooooo good.

 

The one thing I am not a fan of, is if the thermolossa pool is in the same room with the heated loungers.  The pool is loud and makes the acoustics in the room horrible and NOT very relaxing at all!

 

I did enjoy several hours on a heated lounger with my Kindle!

We were on Magic and the thermo pool wasn't in with the heated loungers.  What ship has the pool with loungers in the same room, for future reference.  Thanks!

[Hogladyrider]

10 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

We were on Magic and the thermo pool wasn't in with the heated loungers.  What ship has the pool with loungers in the same room, for future reference.  Thanks!

Carnival Vista.....and the pool is VERY small!

[KmomChicago]

There are a lot of details involved in the fare we ended up paying. Here's how the actual pricing worked out for us. This is a long one. 

 

Original rooms and prices booked in January, 2022.

Cabin 2217, total cost for two, $1131. Cabin 2211, total cost for two, $1131.  

Total cost for two rooms, category 1A, four people, four nights, including fare, port fees, taxes, prepaid gratuities, and Carnival insurance:  $2262. 

 

This is $141 per person final cost, per night for a porthole, upper/lower room, for four nights, Monday-Friday.

 

If that seems expensive, remember we are traveling with two public school-age teens and have to travel during high season.  In addition, one of them is a guest and we all needed to finalize logistics for getting to LA from different points of origin, so I couldn't really fool around for months waiting for prices to fluctuate. Doing so might have led to higher flight prices anyway, so the return on lower cruise rates could have been a partial wash and just not worth the stress of waiting to finalize details. Also remember that my mom and I used to shoot for a budget of $100 pp/per day for cruises back 30 years ago, and had to stay inside cabins to do so. THIRTY YEARS AGO. 

 

First room change March, 2022 - 7 days before final payment due date.

Cabin 2455, total cost for two, $1028. Cabin 2457, total cost for two, $1028. 

Total cost for two rooms, category 6B and at the interesting aft corner with irregular shaped rooms, four people, four nights, including charges shown above: $2056.

 

Unknown to us, this move removed Easy Pay and the final payment did not come off our credit card automatically.  Rooms were cancelled for nonpayment approximately 20 March with $400 penalty per room withheld.

 

Final room change May 2022 - involved more than an hour on the phone with Carnival agent who was awesome but had to interact with a supervisor multiple times, and I had to very nicely sort of insist on a better solution than the first several offered, none of which were as good as the March agreement.  Had they been able to just give me two different ocean view cabins at the price agreed in March, I would have been happy enough. But that precise deal was not available due to the lowered prices that particular day I called, and there is apparently no way for them to manually override the computer loaded prices. So they had to upgrade us to get us back up close to what we agreed to pay in March.

 

Two adjacent Cloud 9 Spa balcony cabins, $400 penalty applied back to room and full remaining payment given to agent on the phone.  $990 per cabin, total cost for two rooms, four nights, all additional charges shown above, $1980 which is $124 per person, per day.  We are $282 total down from our original booking.

 

Keep in mind, this was the best posted VIFP price on the website at the moment I happened to call on May 1.  There were higher rates for different supposed "deals" but I wasn't playing that and (again very very nicely) said so. I qualified for the best VIFP rate the day I booked in January, the day I upgraded in March, and this day in May. Carnival should have transferred Easy Pay to the March upgrade change but did not.

 

Neither the original 1A rooms nor the upgraded 6B rooms were available anymore, but "regular" inside rooms were, also at bargain basement rates nearly half of what I originally agreed to back in January, which, to tell the truth, I would have grabbed instead had Carnival allowed. Regular ocean view cabins were available as well, at a higher price than the insides of course, but still substantially lower than these balconies.

 

But I get their dilemma. I already agreed to pay 2 grand, somehow they need to get that 2 grand still, or darn close to it, even if they now have to give us greatly upgraded rooms to do so. In short, they flat refused to let me have back half of my original contracted cost in order to downgrade to the tiny interiors for super cheapo. I could understand that and didn't really argue it. But I did insist on getting the best room possible for my original investment. 

 

At one point while the agent and I were waiting for one of the supervisor replies to one of her questions, we chatted about the job, dealing with customers all day. I have done phone reservation work (at Walt Disney World a long time ago) so of course I mentioned how the unhappy customers make the job painful, and she said, oh yes, but then other times you can make someone's day and that feels incredible. 

 

So at the end, I made certain to tell her, today, I want you to know, that you truly did make my day.  I am 100% satisfied with your service and assistance in resolving our problem and restoring our booking with these rooms. I was very unhappy when I called and I am truly thrilled now and looking forward to yet another wonderful cruise, and you made it happen. Thank you. I also completed the survey at the end of the call reflecting complete satisfaction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KmomChicago]

I should add that while on the phone May 1 I had the Carnival booking engine open on my laptop so I was quoting actual real time advertised prices for all available room categories as well as actual available rooms by number. Initially I was told “I’m not seeing that offer available for this reservation.” 
 

That was probably true because it would put our restored booking lower than prior cost so an algorithm blocked it. This is so people can’t purposely cancel after full payment date, claim ignorance, get back the penalty and get a better deal. The thing is, I didn’t do that. I didn’t remove Easy Pay and I could tell the Carnival agent had proof. 
 

If I didn’t have that pricing info and discount code showing real time offers, I might have had to accept whatever offer the agent did see, i.e. an inside room for slightly MORE than the original January price with a totally different rate code offering no additional perks.
 

This is what I was originally offered but was able to (again I must emphasize) very politely negotiate based on the evidence in front of both of us that Carnival could really pretty easily do better for me after the cancellation was THEIR fault, not mine.
 

Eventually the supervisor got tired of dealing with me, plain and simple, plus my debating point was fairly reasonable and strong, so I won on that final parlay. 
 

However, the agent and I were getting tired as well and I was probably close to taking the downgrade for a few extra dollars by that point. Not taking this cruise is not really an option. It will be the first for our guest teen and they’ve been looking forward to it a long time, their parent has trusted us to manage the plans and I feel 💯 accountable to them to make it happen. 
 

I would have been annoyed but would have blamed myself for messing around with the original booking and nearly losing out entirely. And I would have been more grateful to salvage the trip than irritated by the inconvenience and extra costs. 

[Californian]

“Meanwhile, we had excellent experiences consistently in the MDR (even with the loss of brunch filet!), good service and food we liked, and in the Marketplace buffet,”

 

We were on the Radiance the last week of April and we had the steak and eggs (filet mignon) on sea day brunch.  Really good.  I specifically asked if they had the filet before I ordered it; so, I hope you will be able to get it on your cruise.  

[ninjacat123]

49 minutes ago, Californian said:

“Meanwhile, we had excellent experiences consistently in the MDR (even with the loss of brunch filet!), good service and food we liked, and in the Marketplace buffet,”

 

We were on the Radiance the last week of April and we had the steak and eggs (filet mignon) on sea day brunch.  Really good.  I specifically asked if they had the filet before I ordered it; so, I hope you will be able to get it on your cruise.  

Mine wasn't filet on Sunshine beginning of April but it is what it is.  

[KmomChicago]

Well, we only have one sea day and thus one sea day brunch. I feel the filet is likely a goner. Maybe we’ll just eat Big Chicken instead. If they get the Seuss stuff going I’d be down for that as well. Our now teen has never been into the character meal and I slightly regret we didn’t ever do it and if I ever get the chance again I’m going even if I’m on my own.

[ontheweb]

7 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Well, we only have one sea day and thus one sea day brunch. I feel the filet is likely a goner. Maybe we’ll just eat Big Chicken instead. If they get the Seuss stuff going I’d be down for that as well. Our now teen has never been into the character meal and I slightly regret we didn’t ever do it and if I ever get the chance again I’m going even if I’m on my own.

I guess the corollary to "a person is a person not matter how small" is a person is still a person no matter how big they get.

 

There used to be (and maybe still is) a Dr. Suess Day at our local elementary schools. A long time ago back when I was a school board member, I used to on that day go read Horton Hears a Who to an elementary class. There was also another reading day to the elementary schools on which I went to my son's former kindergarten teacher's class and read his favorite book from the time he was in kindergarten. (He was in college by that time.)

[KmomChicago]

Hello hello. We are getting close to this little California jaunt and yet it feels far away as life has been insisting on shoving its way into our plans. 

 

 

The Carnival website gives us this exciting message above, but at home back in Illinois there is still much to fret about during these last few days.

 

1. My mom, who is 78 and lives with us and has fallen 3 times in the past six months, fell again on Tuesday afternoon and this time fractured her arm just below the ball and socket joint of her shoulder. 

 

2. My dad and stepmom, who are back up this way in their summer home nearby (they are snowbirds who winter in Florida), have graciously agreed to come visit with her every day while we are gone and help with whatever she may need. They actually have a lot to deal with this summer as they are in the process of moving out of their longtime, too-big property into a more age appropriate, lower maintenance local home that they bought last fall before heading south.  However this is exactly the kind of purpose-filled mission they love, so they are ready to deploy.

 

3. I went to Walmart yesterday for Mom's injury-related prescriptions and bought about 30 tiny Michelina's, Banquet, and other microwave meals which she actually loves and can manage with her "good" arm while we are gone. She wasted NO time making use of them. 

 

4. I am thinking I need to adopt Mick Jagger's workout routine if I don't want to end up in generally deteriorated and hobbly condition by mom's age. I don't really have 3 hours a day to work out, but 15 minutes of weights and 15 minutes of actual panting cardio seems reasonable.

 

5. None of these 3 elders feels able to take care of the 5 minutes a day of cat chores - scooping two boxes with lightweight litter, topping off 3 electric water fountain dishes and two dry food bowls, so I have hired a really nice neighbor 17 year-old who has been a classmate (friendly but not close friends) of my teen to come do it.  Both kids are honors level students and they were in our district's gifted program together since third grade, but he is a bit more mature and responsible than mine.  He can walk to the house or drive around the corner to our place. He's coming over this afternoon to go over the routine. I will need him to come 9 days in a row and I am planning to offer him a flat Benjamin for the whole job. 

 

6. Tomorrow, Friday, Mom has to go see an orthopedic surgeon about the arm, but honestly I think she will just prescribe more comfort management meds and keeping the arm as still as possible. Not sure if my dad or I will bring her to that as I am still supposed to be working full time (remote) until the EOB Friday. We spent six hours at the ER Tuesday afternoon / evening, 5:30-11:30 and during that time she received: An X-ray, one weak painkiller tablet and one muscle relaxer tablet, a sling to replace the makeshift one I tied up out of a gauze women's scarf, a new bandage to replace the one I put on her scraped elbow, and orders to go see a specialist who might be able to do something for her. 3 days later was the soonest we could get in.

 

7. We have rapid NAAT tests booked for tomorrow morning at Walgreens. I ordered Binax home tests over the weekend when I panicked because they changed the booking down window to 3 days, and it was rumored on CC that they were ending all tests permanently this week. The Binax tests have not arrived but "should" today, however if they do come today or tomorrow I am considering them a backup and we will bring them to CAL with us. 

 

8. I think this is going to be the last cruise for us until the mandatory Covid tests are removed. The last 3 cruises - Legend at Christmas, Vista in April, and now this one, have had another level of stress added to the logistics as we don't even know today whether we will be allowed on the ship. If we lived an hour from port as my dad does in Florida, we probably wouldn't much care as the only thing to cancel besides the cruise, would be our plans to drive over to the port that morning.  We have rides to and from the airport, the flights, rental car, our guest's plans to come from another starting point via train to meet us in LA, pre-cruise hotel.  It's complicated enough for my tolerance level already without the worries about getting negative test results.

Edited May 26, 2022 by KmomChicago

[KmomChicago]

For those who care about my volunteer work, over at the cat rescue we are busy as well. My friend Fighter cat is still in good spirits but he has been with us now one full calendar year, during which time he has been enormously grateful for his comfortable retirement/hospice gig. He is about 11 years old, lived a long hard life in an abandoned home with a colony, and has been in advanced FIV since we got him. That cat looked BAD, and I just fell head over heels in love with him immediately.

 

He is on a regular cocktail of steroid and antibiotic shots and soft food, with occasional pain injections. He has had almost chronic, low grade upper respiratory congestion the full year we have had him. His skin integrity is iffy, with some kind of stubborn lesions in his mouth and probably esophagus and sores on his back that heal slowly and reappear.  It's getting hard to find skin in good enough condition for his injections.  And yet, he seems happy. He has a joyful spark, bright eyes interested in the little world he lives in, near a window where he gets daily sunlight and has a view of the free roaming cats as they frolic about. He is quiet but meows very softly to greet me when I visit.

 

Three days after we return home from this trip, the rescue director leaves for her own two week family vacation and we have been discussing whether that window is the time to help Fighter finish his journey peacefully.  So I am trying to make as much joyful, loving time over there with him as possible, as well as with another advanced age female who has been battling kidney failure for months. Both cats still sit on my lap and purr lovingly, but the old female has lost a lot of weight and we are having trouble coaxing her appetite.  The director's intervention has already prolonged their comfort and their lives by many months but we can see their quality of life will soon be beyond treatment.

 

I have held two of our very old cats at the vet for their last injections in the past couple of months and I am now training myself to be more present in the joy of the time with each kitty before that happens rather than anticipating the end and spending that last time with them in overwhelming sadness. It means a lot to me to hear their comfortable purring as they nuzzle me with love and appreciation and I can only hope they feel the same.

[KmomChicago]

These little short cruises on older Carnival ships tend not to attract a lot of experienced CC posters and I noticed about a week ago we had no roll call, so I posted one that no one has bothered to replied to, so THANKS FOR NOTHING, fellow cruisers. I guess we can forget about a cabin crawl to show off my Cloud 9 Spa balcony like a rich person who would ever spend actual cash money to live in the high rent district. 

 

I've flown first class a few times in my life but I can 100% assure you I have never paid the actual price. Typically I have gotten it when flying free / standby on employee passes and I think I may possibly have paid a gate upgrade price once of super cheap when they were peddling it on the PA, like less than $50. I do like to pay for the Big Front Seat if it's available when I fly Spirit, and in fact that's the main reason I occasionally seek them out specifically.  It is a relatively small upcharge to give me the only thing I actually want in First Class, which is the big seat.

 

I'm a super cheapo and I am willing to pay a tiny premium charge for a huge upgrade but otherwise I am comfortable off with the huddled masses for coach / steerage fares, which are usually still more than I wanted to pay. 😆

 

I have no ego or social mobility desires so buying better stuff just to prove I can holds no appeal whatsoever. That's also why we still mostly cruise Carnival, including the old ships when they suit our needs. 

 

Kmom: Proudly sailing at the very bottom of the cruise industry.

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

These little short cruises on older Carnival ships tend not to attract a lot of experienced CC posters and I noticed about a week ago we had no roll call, so I posted one that no one has bothered to replied to, so THANKS FOR NOTHING, fellow cruisers. I guess we can forget about a cabin crawl to show off my Cloud 9 Spa balcony like a rich person who would ever spend actual cash money to live in the high rent district. 

 

I've flown first class a few times in my life but I can 100% assure you I have never paid the actual price. Typically I have gotten it when flying free / standby on employee passes and I think I may possibly have paid a gate upgrade price once of super cheap when they were peddling it on the PA, like less than $50. I do like to pay for the Big Front Seat if it's available when I fly Spirit, and in fact that's the main reason I occasionally seek them out specifically.  It is a relatively small upcharge to give me the only thing I actually want in First Class, which is the big seat.

 

I'm a super cheapo and I am willing to pay a tiny premium charge for a huge upgrade but otherwise I am comfortable off with the huddled masses for coach / steerage fares, which are usually still more than I wanted to pay. 😆

 

I have no ego or social mobility desires so buying better stuff just to prove I can holds no appeal whatsoever. That's also why we still mostly cruise Carnival, including the old ships when they suit our needs. 

 

Kmom: Proudly sailing at the very bottom of the cruise industry.

We were once on a HAL ship where I joined a roll call someone else started, and that ended up being it for the roll call. The other cc member joked we would have the ship to ourselves and be upgraded to suites. I replied, maybe instead they will cancel the ship.

 

Obviously no meet and greet, but we did meet onboard. And it even turned out we were on the same corridor.

[KmomChicago]

8 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We were once on a HAL ship where I joined a roll call someone else started, and that ended up being it for the roll call. The other cc member joked we would have the ship to ourselves and be upgraded to suites. I replied, maybe instead they will cancel the ship.

 

Obviously no meet and greet, but we did meet onboard. And it even turned out we were on the same corridor.

 

Proof once again that we CC'ers who think our opinions should hold so much sway over the John Healds and the Arnold Donalds that we are but blips among the first timers and otherwise non-chatters who continue driving growth along all brands, quality levels, and budget ranges on the high seas.

 

I once aspired to eventually sailing Holland America, @ontheweb. Back when my mom and I used to go to actual brick and mortar travel agent offices and they had walls full of paper brochures, circa early 1980's, we stocked them up once or twice a year and then practically memorized them word-for-word over countless hours of "research." 

 

Specifically this would be Rotterdam 5.0 that later went to Premier / Big Red Boat for a bit and I believe is now a flotel in the namesake city. I also dreamed of Cunard via the QE2 when she was the shizz nit and doing annual round the world journeys but I knew she was out of reach in any class.  Alas I have no drive to visit them in their final destinations or particularly to upgrade my ride to classier surroundings, see aforementioned cheapo commentary. 

 

I wouldn't call the door shut on those two, or any other cruise brands, but I no longer feel called toward any particular vessel. DH will keep me sailing if he can and I am happy to pass on the reigns of decision making. I've noted before that the Carnival Corporation should, IMHO, do a better job of using loyalty clubs to encourage upward mobility but for whatever reason they don't fully understand my brilliance and the benefits of following my direction. 🤷‍♀️

 

 

[Hogladyrider]

Getting close for sure.....you definitely have a FULL plate at home before you travel!

 

Hope your mom heals quickly and pain free.

[MeganGC1983]

Here and ready to follow along!! 

[KCtheDestroyer]

4 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

These little short cruises on older Carnival ships tend not to attract a lot of experienced CC posters and I noticed about a week ago we had no roll call, so I posted one that no one has bothered to replied to, so THANKS FOR NOTHING, fellow cruisers. I guess we can forget about a cabin crawl to show off my Cloud 9 Spa balcony like a rich person who would ever spend actual cash money to live in the high rent district. 

 

I've flown first class a few times in my life but I can 100% assure you I have never paid the actual price. Typically I have gotten it when flying free / standby on employee passes and I think I may possibly have paid a gate upgrade price once of super cheap when they were peddling it on the PA, like less than $50. I do like to pay for the Big Front Seat if it's available when I fly Spirit, and in fact that's the main reason I occasionally seek them out specifically.  It is a relatively small upcharge to give me the only thing I actually want in First Class, which is the big seat.

 

I'm a super cheapo and I am willing to pay a tiny premium charge for a huge upgrade but otherwise I am comfortable off with the huddled masses for coach / steerage fares, which are usually still more than I wanted to pay. 😆

 

I have no ego or social mobility desires so buying better stuff just to prove I can holds no appeal whatsoever. That's also why we still mostly cruise Carnival, including the old ships when they suit our needs. 

 

Kmom: Proudly sailing at the very bottom of the cruise industry.

Hi, Kmom! My husband and I will be on this cruise with you and I'd love to ooh and aah over your Spa 9 balcony cabin! I am the same way with only willing to pay a small premium for a big upgrade so this cruise we will be in an ocean view on deck 1, which was a surprise upgrade after our first choice cabin (a porthole) was probably blocked off for the COVID wing. This will be our first west coast cruise so we are excited about all the new ports. Hope we see you around the ship!

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, KCtheDestroyer said:

Hi, Kmom! My husband and I will be on this cruise with you and I'd love to ooh and aah over your Spa 9 balcony cabin! I am the same way with only willing to pay a small premium for a big upgrade so this cruise we will be in an ocean view on deck 1, which was a surprise upgrade after our first choice cabin (a porthole) was probably blocked off for the COVID wing. This will be our first west coast cruise so we are excited about all the new ports. Hope we see you around the ship!

 

We can work something out KC to check out the rooms.  It's our first west coast cruise as well and hubby is excited about the Pacific as it will certainly be an entirely different feel than the Gulf and Atlantic he's usually stuck with.. 🙂

 

On our very first cruise we were in an ocean view on deck 2 on Triumph and it is pretty spacious, 220 SF. Interesting to me, all the balcony cabins on higher decks on Sunshine class have the same footprint space wise with the balcony carved out of the end, as the ocean views on decks 1 and 2.

 

I thought it was a great room for DH and the kid's first cruise.  You're going to notice that our interior space will be smaller than yours. I prefer that floor space inside the walls, personally, but poor us, we got stuck with this upgrade.

[jbhcw]

Hate your Mom fell..and broke her arm...hope she does well...my Mom was pulled out of her chair at the Nursing home...OMG...broke arm right below the shoulder and they didn't do anything....but her health was pretty bad....I hope you can get thru all the hoops and have a good cruise....sending positive vibes to you...and bless you for your kitty work....I have a 10 year old calico who showed up on the deck...10 years ago...and a four year old solid black who doesn't get along with his "brother" he was adopted with...my son's other cat!   Anyway....love my kitties..and I can tell you do too!  If your on FB...check out Ollie Don't Care....son's tuxedo...he's more dog than cat!!  

Edited May 26, 2022 by jbhcw

[kpark895]

@KmomChicagoYou sure do have a lot going on right now.  Here's hoping no more monkey wrenches get thrown into your plans.

[KmomChicago]

5 minutes ago, kpark895 said:

@KmomChicagoYou sure do have a lot going on right now.  Here's hoping no more monkey wrenches get thrown into your plans.

 

Funny you should say that, Kpark.  My husband is at a fast clinic right now because he thinks he has:

 

SHINGLES!

[KmomChicago]

If a plane crashes or you all hear about a nice family from Illinois turned into pancakes on the infamous 405, you will all say, "God was trynna tell her."

[KmomChicago]

32 minutes ago, jbhcw said:

Hate your Mom fell..and broke her arm...hope she does well...my Mom was pulled out of her chair at the Nursing home...OMG...broke arm right below the shoulder and they didn't do anything....but her health was pretty bad....I hope you can get thru all the hoops and have a good cruise....sending positive vibes to you...and bless you for your kitty work....I have a 10 year old calico who showed up on the deck...10 years ago...and a four year old solid black who doesn't get along with his "brother" he was adopted with...my son's other cat!   Anyway....love my kitties..and I can tell you do too!  If your on FB...check out Ollie Don't Care....son's tuxedo...he's more dog than cat!!  

 

Yeah that break is in a difficult spot to reach.  I doubt the surgeon is going to want to do much and I don't really love the idea of cutting her open if the thing will heal on its own. I feel helpless and guilty and this is another reason I will be pulling back on travel in general for some time.

 

I'll check out your kitties. I never even knew I was a cat lady until 2 years ago. 🙂