Razor_Poke

Gift cards first.

On the Magic a couple weeks ago, the brunch was not offered on the 2nd seaday. I did not ask why. The first one on Sunday was good from both a service and food quality standpoint. The second (last) one was an absolute cluster. We got seated reasonably quick but that was it. Couldn't even get a cup of coffee poured. Bar order took until almost the end of the meal to show up. Side order of potatoes showed up after main course was served and half eaten. The servers that day were clearly overwhelmed. There was a lot of confusion and running around........ you could tell they were trying but it almost seemed they did not expect to be so busy. They have also decreased the open times by 1 hour and it now seating stops at noon. Perhaps that is one reason for the issues. Filet mignon was replaced a while back with a hit / miss 5 oz cut of sirloin. Still recommend the MDR for all breakfasts and brunches. We've had more good experiences than not. Also, on this recent cruie, the MDR was VERY generous with bacon. And the bacon was a bit thicker and crispier.

Most of the time I don’t notice a “bad” one because bad usually means disengaged but I don’t think a CD makes or breaks the cruise. I want good comedians, service and food. However, on our recent Splendor cruise to Alaska, Andy was noticeably good. Maybe because it was the first cruise of the season and it was the last ship to return to service. But he reminded me of the old school CD’s. — he seemed to be everywhere. He always had time to chat and he seemed to remember faces. I don’t know if or when he slept😂

We decided to go cheap. Doing dollar slices (I guess now $1.50) the night before and some basic bagels cruise morning. There is a 2 Bros Pizza steps away from our hotel. Can’t wait!! Will also take in the roof bar at our hotel.

It is a business and they can do what they want. We would never buy full priced Cheers but we've been fortunate twice to get a rate that included it at a discount. Having said that, I do wish that Carnival would give some consideration to a single person package. Perhaps adult 2 would be required to buy a non-alcoholic package, which of course does not exist today. Something between Bubbles and Cheers.

Come on Canada, join the party. Of course they won’t, they’ve been late adopters of everything.

Just booked a fare with RU2 code. Far from a bargain but good enough for us to go for it. Our drinking break even is $500 on a 7x8 day itinerary. Will go light on day 1 though since it’s a NYC based cruise 😕

Since a lot of airfare now comes with the benefit of no change fees and because I fly enough that I don’t worry about using the credits later, is there any value in adding the airfare to the insured trip costs?