mzloolue

We had not cruised since before the shut down and were able to do a 14 day journey's cruise to Hawaii. We really enjoyed it, but the food was not great. It was really hit and miss. The steaks were horrible. Siced very thin, some with fake smoke taste. The steak and eggs was actually horrible. The bread at dinner is served hot, but it tastes like that fake warm up bread with baking powder in it. People ate it. It's okay with me because I wasn't temped to eat it. There were some sit down dining room lunches and those were actually wonderful.

If you are of average height sitting in a chair on the balcony, then you will have no problem seeing the water. 

I have always liked the stained glass peacocks in Elation's lido dining room. Elation has always been the prettiest ship to me. I did enjoy the decor on Miracle too. 

You could do an elegant costume. A bit of a challenge, but sounds super fun to me. 

We were first once. There were crew members standing on the stairs singing. I recall a man in a chef's hat. It  was nice. I've never seen it again.

What I did years ago when our much loved PVP disappeared was to call the number to speak to a PVP and talked to three different people. I asked them each the same question. It was a question that I did know the answer to, but was interested in what the pvps would say.  When I talked to the first one, I had trouble understanding what she said. Told her thank you. The second one was very impatient. No one needs that in their life. And the third lady is easy to understand, knowledgeable, and patient. We have been dealing with her now for 10 years. 

We love the cove balconies too. You can sit outside when it is raining usually. And it is great for people who have had skin cancer. We were so sad when they pulled Dream out of New Orleans. 

On 2/3/2023 at 5:31 PM, icft said:

I somewhat disagree.

 

Carnival did let the Dream deteriorate to a disgusting degree, but the Glory came back from covid in decent shape and then the wet dock in January of last year put it in pretty good shape. Over the fall, winter and spring we sail her once a month and they are always grinding, priming and painting. They have kept her up in the public areas. The only deterioration we have seen has been in the cabins. It is not unusual to arrive to a cabin with something broken, but they have been quick to fix it.

I have not cruised since the shut down. We have an old dog who is too delicate to leave. But perhaps they were already planning to move Glory, hence the upkeep on her? I'm not a Glory fan after a horrendous cruise on her years ago. Valor is okay, Glory, been there... 

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

It could be worse. It could be Mobile.

I kind of like Mobile actually. 

This is what they do every time in New Orleans. They stick a half ragged out ship in New Orleans and make a big deal about how it is a huge improvement over what was there before. They sail it for three or four years until it is very rundown, then pull it out, put it in dry dock and get it looking nice and move it to another, apparently more important, port. Then they stick another faded ship into New Orleans and sail it until it is groady, and do it all again. How many times have we seen this? Passengers in New Orleans do not cause this. It's wear and tear and ground in grime. Carnival does not appreciate the people who sail from New Orleans enough. We were thrilled with Dream, but they let it get run down too before they pulled it out, fixed it up and moved it.  

2 hours ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

 

 

And, FWIW, I'm with you on bringing back the filet for the steak & eggs.    

Wait, what happened to the steak and eggs!

Aww, I loved Sensation

Progreso is a great port for excursions. Check out autoprogreso tours. Or you can just wander around, sit on the beach, or go to the flea market. 

We used some old drink tickets. They had to convert them at the purser's desk. 

The OP did the right thing. Not only was the child in the wrong place, but children should not be in saunas or hot tubs. I don't understand why people don't do what is best for their child. I understand wanting to go on trip and have fun. I also understand that being a good parent means actually being a good parent.

I have ordered distilled water from room service. No problem. I do not use it for a C-pap, but no one asked why I wanted it. Last time it was four dollars.

Nope, not me. 

Just a question that I should know the answer to already, but what do you need for proof of stock ownership?

I overlook a bit of rust, but what gets on my nerves a little is messy painting. I am a person who has done a lot of painting in my life. I notice when the blue paint is slopped onto the white paint or white onto the blue. Or paint on the wood railings. And especially drips on the balcony floors. I try  not to look, but I find myself wanting to fix the slopped paint and remove the drips. I don't know. I don't paint like that. The paint that they use must be very hard to apply neatly or they have cheap brushes. Or they don't care or something. 

I get the insurance.

Those medical transport flights are expensive.

A lady I work with recently had a bad cruise.

Her husband had something bad happen and did not wake up on the first morning of the cruise.

They were in Nassau and the ship people wanted to leave him in Nassau.

She had to put $14,000 on her credit card before they would even call for the medical transport plane.

I guess if she had not had enough available credit then he would have been in the hospital in Nassau.

I've seen the hospital in Nassau...

Dream is still in New Orleans.

23 minutes ago, Mommawo said:

I have everything all paid for already kinda wanted to just add the cards to my account.  Should I buy cruise cash to do that ? Would just waiting til we are on ship be better ?

We wait until we are on the ship and then put the cards on our account.

And we keep the old cards.

Plus, make sure you know exactly how much is on the card and that it matches the credit to your account. :)

They gave me a Future Cruise Credit for the $250 fee, but I understood that I would be getting the remainder back. Unfortunately the folks manning their phones seem to have no idea what their policy for that actually is. So no idea what (if anything) I will be getting. Didn't go through an agent because I thought (silly me) that I'd have less trouble if something like this happened if I went direct. Guess that's a $1000 lesson on why you shouldn't book with Carnival...

A good PVP would have been helpful to you right now...

In my experience a refund takes about 6 weeks and a lot of phone calls.

First, let me say that I don't necessarily equate food quality with the cost of ingredients.

It is not all about expensive cuts of meat. It is that the ingredients are properly cooked so that they are good. There are many foods that were once cheap, but are now trendy, like chicken wings and short ribs.

I did not mind when less expensive menu options were presented.

I like pot roasty sort of dishes.

And lobster and prime rib are not my idea of good eats anyway.

However, on our last cruise on Dream in April, it became apparent that they were cutting corners.

We decided to skip dinner in the mdr one night because we had been stuck at "the captain's table" with a group of four couples who were all old friends. The captains table is really kind of an overflow table. We had been assigned to a table where the bench was broken and the table was level with my head...and I am not short. The group of friends was there because they had not been seated together.

We sat there being talked around and it was just really uncomfortable. Plus the maître d' hovered around them and ignored us. We did not really care. but it just made it feel more uncomfortable. But basically the whole thing was really obnoxious.

So, one night I did not want to deal with it and suggested we hit the buffet.

In the past we had found that the buffet was actually quite good if we got there when they first opened for dinner.

I went through the line and the offerings were grim.

Tilapia, which I don't eat unless I know where it has been sourced. (Tilapia are fresh water fish that can grow in nasty water) They also had chicken leg quarters that looked boiled in broth, some dried out looking spaghetti, and something else equally as wonderful.

I came away with salad and some spinach.

Then DH went and got us some hamburgers and fries (before the burger joint closed) which were cold.

I would have sent them back if I had been in a restaurant at home.

So we threw them away. I hate wasting food, but I'm not eating cold takeout on a cruise, you know?

By then it was time to go see a show.

After the show dh was hungry, so we got a pizza.

It was hot, but there was very little sauce and the whole thing was really dried out.

We picked out the moister sections to eat, but basically the whole thing was wasted.

My husband, who does not read message boards or blogs at all, said that he had been noticing that Carnival had made a lot of cut backs on food quality and service.

(oh, we have done 20+ cruises on Carnival, so we have seen changes over time. Some good and some not so good)

The next morning we went to the pasta place on Dream to get some actual hot food.

We were really hungry and that hot pasta was fabulous.

So what I am trying to say is that food ingredients do not have to be the most expensive to make us happy, but it needs to taste good and not be disgustingly cold.

And yeah, the cutbacks are showing a bit too much, at least on Dream in April.

Some will want to reply and say that it is time that we moved on, but we enjoy Carnival.

DH had to retire early for health reasons. We sail because where we live there is no ocean or beaches. We sail Carnival because they sail from New Orleans. Cost is a big factor and we can drive to New Orleans and back home on four tanks of gas.

We've got a cruise booked on Dream soon as we wanted to do one more cruise in a cove balcony, which we love, before New Orleans gets downgraded to the old Glory. Hopefully, food and service will be what they should be this trip.

We'll see anyway....

They lent us a fan once.

One of the blades had been broken off so the fan had a lot of character.

I would bring my own if it was important to me.