asalligo

No, it is not possible. The closest you can get is a YouTube video posted in the weeks before your cruise, but even that is only a probably going to be the same if the same itinerary.

This makes it acceptable that they are not offering a full refund.

Afternoon tea is still happening fleet wide on all sea days at 3pm. Even my 3 day cruise March 8th had afternoon tea on the sea day at 3pm. Remember that they have a free tea. You will be offered a paid tea bag first.

I was on the March 8th cruise, it was the second night.

Is Carnival at least giving the option to cancel for a refund if Norfolk does not work for some people?

This is complicated, First, every cruise there are a certain number of people who have buyers remorse. This cruise was awesome on day one and terrible on day seven because it is almost over and nothing but bills and memories are left. Second, I love some of the features on the new Excel class ships, but it also has some serious faults. Cabins are smaller, venues are smaller even though the cruisers capacity has tripled in some cases, elevators are a mess, and people are everywhere. Combine that with the fact that everything from service to food has decreased in quality for people who experienced cruises five or ten years ago and some people are just not going to love it. I have cruised all three Excel class ships in the fifteen months, first Mardi Gras, then Celebration, then Jubilee. There are things about all three I really loved, but i still feel the essence of cruising, the things that make cruising really nice are better on the smaller ships. I was lucky enough to be on the Paradise two months after the Celebration and I noticed the things that I missed there. try finding a place by the window to just sit and relax and watch the water on the Excel class ships. There are 600 places to sit and watch the ocean roll by on the Paradise. Conversely there is no Street Eats, no Guys BBQ, no Chibang, no Cucina. So, know what you want from a cruise and what you are getting into and you will be fine. If your idea is to relax, Excel is not for you, but if you want twenty things to do and ten places to eat at any time and are willing to jockey for it, Excel is for you.

I can tell you I played a minimum of 30 minutes a day for a seven-day cruise and racked up 600 points at the end and I got no offers at all. This made me swear off trying as I hated spending 30 minutes a day in the Casino. There is just so much I love doing on a cruise ship and this is not one of them.

I fly often and to be late 15 minutes is nothing these days, I would say near a quarter of my flights land over an hour after the planned arrival. Flying is just not what it used to be, and extra time must be factored in to make a cruise.

Wow, this thread has gone off the rails. Yes, we have done this before and you should not have an issue letting him stay over with you at night.

Oh man, wish I knew that while on the cruise. Thank you. We bought a set at first port.

I miss the libraries. Carnival really is looking to dump anything that does not maximize revenue. Our favorite activity when any downtime on a ship is cards and we thought we had brought more than one deck and found we had none when on the Pride this year, so I said they used to give away free decks of cards, let's go get one. Nope, no free cards anymore. That's cool, probably an item I might have cut also if looking to trim the fat, so I start checking the stores and cannot find any cards. I ask the person working the stores and she says Carnival decided to remove cards from the shop, people sitting and playing cards spend less money.

I would do it in the room, especially if you have a balcony. I often wake early and cater my families breakfast in the cabin from the buffet. Borrow a tray from room service to make it easier.

I loved my Margaritaville cruise on Paradise and I think there is a bigger market than other lines realize for older smaller ships. I predict in another five years MAS is going to be a major player in the economy cruise market.

Yes, I think this has been a calculated decision by Carnival over the years. Take a good steak off the menu and add it as a pay version, reduce the quality of the desserts, but have a paid dessert right down the hall. I suspect at this point only competition will change them. I was hoping MSC might do that, but they are worse than Carnival in that respect. Margaritaville could be that line though. They still have a long way to go, but right now they are still doing many things that Carnival has cut. I am excited to see them get a spirit class ship and see how they run it. I was on Margaritaville two weeks ago and all the little things, tablecloths, robes still in the cabins, along with glasses and soaps and conditioners and ice buckets. Employees just stopping and asking if there is anything they can do to make my cruise better. My waiter heard me trying to decide between Baked Florida and the brownie and he just brought me both after I ordered the Baked Florida. That kind of thing used to happen on Carnival ships, but it has been a long time.

This! So much this!! We all know Carnival can be better because they were better.