broadwaybaby123

I've had uneven experiences with Carnival: Holiday- first ever Carnival ship for me when I was around 8 years old, and I hated it. It was like a floating Las Vegas and all they did with the kids basically was treat us to Ice Cream Parties. I love my ice cream just as much as the next person, but not necessarily all day for a whole week. Triumph- Years later, decided to try this ship and Carnival seemed to be improving in terms of Customer Service. We loved it. Pride- Years later, we decided to try the Pride and couldn't have a worse experience on this ship if we tried. Dark hallways, trash everywhere, unmarked ramps we kept tripping over, unprofessional staff (we had someone with arthritis in both needs being told to stand for an event when every seat was taken and then told that Carnival, a PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANY had no number to reach anyone to complain to), and needing to wait a week for a replacement light bulb...we were not happy campers! I'm hopeful when we try the Venezia next year that our experience will be different.

I'm not quite sure what's confusing. If you look at the photo that @NutsAboutGolf posted, it's very clear. You can book each package based on the number of nights you don't plan on eating in either the buffet or the MDR. For example, if you booked the 3 night package, you're basically saying to Celebrity "I don't plan on eating in the MDR for 3 nights". Once you get onboard, you can go up to the Maitre'd for each restaurant to finalize reservations. I believe you can also make reservations via the app, TV or by calling a specific number once onboard (I don't remember the number off-hand).

It depends on what you're using it for. If both of you plan to use the internet, then it might be useful for both of you to have the app on your phone. In most cases, including the E-Muster, you won't both need to have the app on your phone. One of you might want to have it just to make the reservations and read the activities schedule, but other than that, no. It might be useful to have both of you download the app as well if you plan on doing separate activities and want to keep in touch. You can use the chat feature in the app for this.

We check the Port Authority information for all that the day before we leave, but once again, thanks for the reminder. If people want to go ahead and do the extra research, totally fine, but in my experience, even in the week leading up to the cruise, there hasn't been any changes. We start to do ours about a month leading up to departure.

If you want to avoid kids on your cruise, it's best to go during the "off" weeks of their vacation. Find out what the school vacation weeks are for where you're sailing from and try to find a cruise either for the week before or the week after. In my state, the vacations are in December and April. Aside from that, many families also cruise during the summer, so you might be better off going in the Fall, Winter, or Spring. As far as the Spring Break goes, that's a little harder to plan for since the college vacations don't always align with the local school system. Cruise lines that tend to attract a more refined crowd, such as Celebrity or Princess tend to have less of the "party" vibe. Holland America tends to attract and older crowd as well.

Actually they do, at least on Royal. My SeaPass from April says "Emerald". They do that because certain offers are preloaded on your card, depending on your loyalty status. For example, on Royal, Diamond members get 4 free drinks loaded on their SeaPass.

Actually, yes I do travel much...been on over 30 cruises. I understand it's my responsibility to follow the guidance set forth by the cruise lines. I also know that it's the cruise line's responsibility to communicate any changes for COVID regulations to me before I sail. That said, it's also my responsibility to check the cruise line website frequently for any changes. I never said I thought they were updated daily, they are updated when there's changes to their guidance. And yes, I do read the fine print, but thanks for pointing that out.

Actually, that's not true. Your cruise line has everything you need in regards to vaccine requirements. Mainstream cruise lines often include that information on their website. It's up to you to look it up on the cruise line website. There's no need to work with local authorities personally since the cruise line is already doing that for you. For example, we were booked on a cruise to Bermuda shortly after the cruise lines were allowed to sail again. It was the cruise line that communicated with us that we needed to pay an extra fee to disembark on the island and that it was $40. They were also the ones who communicated with us what the vaccine requirements were. I just checked other cruise lines too, they have that information on their website or they mention that they will communicate that information to you individually as you get closer to your sail date.

This question has been asked at least a dozen times. I highly recommend you check your cruise line site for all the latest requirements. Only they could give you the correct information.

I'd use a TA, they can handle all the logistics much more easily if there's an issue.

I always attempt to encourage people to read their cruise line site FIRST. If they can't find the answer there, fine, come to the forums. If you do that, I encourage you to use the "Search" box to look for the most updated information. Finally, if you don't find what you want, THEN post a thread. I just hate seeing multiple threads posted on the same issue within a relatively close time frame. If someone already posted your question, then you're just clogging up the boards for someone else who has a legitimate question that hasn't been asked and answered yet.

I misspoke, my mistake.

While I would normally agree with you, I do work with service animals, they have to have their licenses to even get those vests.

Yes but Costa is a subsidy of Carnival. It's not a misconception.

I find Carnival to be a bit uneven with their service. I started off cruising with Celebrity....30 cruises ago. After a few cruises with Celebrity and Royal, I tried Carnival Holiday. I HATED it, even at 8 years old. It was a floating Las Vegas. After that, I went on a few more Celebrity and Royal cruises before trying Carnival Triumph. I LOVED it! They were making great strides in Customer Service and the crew was fantastic! More years passed, along with more Celebrity and Royal cruises. Finally, I decided to try Carnival Pride. I HATED it with all the dark hallways, trash everywhere, unmarked ramps, etc. Now I'm trying Carnival Venezia next year after having gone on Celebrity and Royal for 5 years. Although I'm beyond excited to try a brand-new ship, I'm a bit apprehensive with it being a Carnival and Costa ship. As you can tell. my record with Carnival isn't exactly stellar, and (with the exception of food), my experience on Costa was atrocious, to put it mildly. Since this is a new venture for both lines, I'm hopeful that they've made strides on the areas they were lacking in the past (namely the language issue for Costa....each announcement was made in 7 languages with English....which MOST PEOPLE ON THE SHIP SPOKE, was always last!) have improved.

Although I haven't cruised with them, I do work with a lot of service animals. She may need to provide proof of licensure as well as proof of vaccinations to Carnival, who will likely keep that information on file and alert the crew onboard. I'd also carry hard copies of these documents on the cruise in case she's questioned. When she's on the ship, she will likely need to pack their vests so that people know not to interact with the dog (for those that don't know, if the dog is wearing a red vest, they're a working service animal and the public cannot interact with the dog). I'm not sure about the specific ports, that might be something you would have to look into further, and may even be asked to provide the aforementioned documentation, hence why extra copies might be a good idea.

I was on Summit in 2017, I don't remember the mattresses being too bad.

I'm not sure about Carnival, but I hear it's the same as Royal, in which case you can use the app for free onboard. That's where you'll be able to make reservations, see what's going on around the ship, do your muster drill, check/pay your bills, or keep in touch with other members of your party (I believe Carnival charges for the texting service, but the others are free). It's called the Carnival HUB app, and it's actually quite useful even before you board the ship. It gives you a countdown and lets you reserve things like dining/drink packages or shore excursions.

I strongly advise you to check your cruise line's website. They clearly outline all the COVID rules, many of which have been relaxed. They'll also state which countries still have requirements.

With the exception of Luminae, Blu, and The Retreat, you should be fine. Those areas are dependent on the types of cabins you're staying in (mainly suites).

I can't wait for my Hawaii cruise! Never been to any of the stops, but I heard they're all beautiful!

It depends on what you're looking for. I didn't like the Pride but my taste may not be the same as yours.

Some shows you do, such as "Spectra's Cabaret" on Anthem. This is not a new concept so I'm confused as to why some passengers are surprised by this. Royal isn't the only line that does this either....Norwegian does this and you have to reserve the shows 3 months out. Regardless though, once you get onboard, more showings open up on the Royal app. You can also go to the Box Office to reserve shows or wait in the standby line.

I don't know about Carnival, but I know on Royal that you can't drop off your carry-on until all the rooms are fully open at 1PM. You must carry it with you.

There's a mocktail package you can look into. It's basically alcoholic drinks minus the alcohol (for example Virgin Martinis, Virgin Pina Coladas, etc.) That's what I'm getting on my next cruise as I don't drink either.