!!SAM!!

Is this normal or was there a special promotion that was being offered at the time?

It was a special promo. I got it on my last cruise in January. At the time it was for only cruises booked in January and you had to cruise before May for the promotion. Would like to see it again on my next cruise in a few days.

Yes they can be purchased onboard. I think it is in one of the shops. On the Triumph it was the small floral/candy shop and the Magic I think it was the Cherry on Top.

If my room was that horrible I would have taken the room they offered.

As has been stated on many threads always check deck plans to see what is above and below you.

Sorry you had trouble but if the ship is full they can only offer what room is available.

I was wondering how long it would take for one of the vocabulary police to chime in. Who says upgrades are free? Why do you people feel the need to immediately try to correct someone when they post about a upgrade call they received? When you take your computer in to the Geek Squad at Best Buy to upgrade the memory, is it free? When checking into a hotel and they offer to upgrade your room to a suite, is it free? The OP came on here to talk about a call they received, not be corrected. And yes, I do realize the irony of the situation sine I am doing the same thing, but thus drives me crazy. Does it really matter if it is called an upgrade or an upsell? We all know what what the OP is talking about.

I completely agree with you. Those kinds of comments are so irritating.

I did not see any buckets during the inaugural New Orleans cruise.

I was also on this sailing. I have been on more than 75 cruises of which 40 have been with Carnival.

I agree with you about the Liquid Lounge. I do not like it at all. I also talked with a couple of bar servers and they do not like it either. Since there are not any tables on the floor to put drinks on the liquor sales are down which means they are making much less money on tips.

But I have to disagree with the service for my cabin and dinner table. I had excellent service from both. We also let our waiters know when we wanted to be out more quickly for the comedy shows and they always accommodated us. Our food was always served to the correct temperature also.

My cabin attendant was one of the best I had ever had. I made sure to go by guest services and leave a note to how great she was.

As far as the rest of the crew - I have to say the senior officers were out and about the ship more than on any other ship I have ever been on. They were always stopping to talk for a few seconds to a few minutes. I have never seen them so accessible from the Captain, Hotel Director, Guest Services Manager, Cruise Director, Assistant Cruise Director and many more.

Lido Dining - love the stations as this really does count down on lines. Carnival really got the Lido deck right. I also love the Havana Bar/JiJi/Italian restaurant area. Which could be accessed on the sides as well as from the elevator bank.

I also miss the seating along Promenade deck but thought the way they had the photo stations tucked in corners was much better than on most ships. But I did love the Ocean Plaza/Alchemy Bar area.

My biggest complaint about this cruise was the debarkation. This was not Carnival's fault but that of New Orleans shore department.