cruisingguy007

They already do for the big ones. I watched the Jan 2020 Packers @ 9ers game on Panorama. It was fantastic and so much fun. They handed out blankets and popcorn and lido was rocking! It was very strange watching it from the middle of the ocean and knowing it was taking place at Levi. Having lived near it for many many years, spent many years of my childhood at Great America and driven past thousands of times. It was all a bit surreal but very memorable. The only issue was they didn't show the Titans/Cheifs game on the big screen and it was all but impossible to watch on the small screens they were showing it on (super packed). I'm booked back on in Jan to do another quasi birthdays/football trip but the NFL added a week so it won't be conference championship weekend now but I'm really hoping they show the divisional games on the big screen. I also wish I could do a b2b and catch both but pulling the kids from school for two weeks may be frowned upon. Educational exploration and physics in football maybe? 😁

If? That ship has sailed. Stock market has tanked, gas is through the roof, costs of energy/food/sundries has been jacked up, crypto has crashed, tech is laying off folks and housing is next. I'm sure there will be some mega deals on the horizon. Some are already reporting deals on other lines, even during the holidays when prices usually spike. Once summer ends, things may slow down substantially.

The technology is changing and while the price may be high right now, it will surely come down over the years. We could see gigabit speeds on ships within the next decade. https://www.inverse.com/innovation/starlink-will-it-work-on-boats

They definitely need better sports bar setups on the ships. Including a few screens broadcasting games near/around the various lido bars would also be a nice addition. It makes sense when you see where sports wagering is going, a lot of states are moving in that direction because it's an easy way to fill state coffers. Plus, people were/are doing it anyway through offshore outfits. https://www.actionnetwork.com/news/legal-sports-betting-united-states-projections

Card and lanyard with detachable clip on bottom. Sign and sail is needed for too much stuff and it's handy and secure with a lanyard. It also helps identify you as a cruise passenger while on excursions or in port. Some believe that may make you look like a tourist or "target" but I find the opposite to be true.

That's probably true but the simple fact remains that less protocols= more cruisers. The faster the cruise lines can widen their customer pools and get people off the sidelines and back into the game, the better. Sometimes, the people who will cruise "no matter what" and don't care about any protocols or nonsense that are foisted on them, forget how many others won't and that are waiting for one reason or another to jump back in (vaccine, masks, testing, quarantine etc). Economic turmoil will be another gut punch for the lines while they have both hands tied behind their backs already. Plus, all the folks that are only sailing to use up FCC and untangle themselves, will they continue to cruise? Every other vacation option is back 100%, cruising is the only one being stifled/hampered with these burdens. Even the ports of call argument doesn't make sense when you can fly there on packed plane. It's starting to look ridiculous and the bias to apparent to ignore.

Depends, most like to state the already inflated costs of a drink and then proceed to state that "it's only six drinks" or whatever. That is fair if you must drink on the ship, would typically drink six a day anyway and would also be willing to pay the huge markups already. I already don't drink in restaurants/bars anymore because prices have become too rich for my blood, $10-$15 drinks aren't worth it for me. I can buy another entry, buy a better entry or buy more appetizers etc for those costs, plus I can drink at home for 90% less, so for me, the answer is no. It's gotten too rich for my blood and I can buy a few al-a-carte if I really want something, buy a bottle from fun shops for cabin, drink on excursions, drink cheaply in port etc., or simply wait until I get home. The drink packages can cost as much as excursions for an entire cruise, heck, more than the entire cruise in some cases, not money well spent unless you were going to spend it anyway. Not having one also makes for more mindful imbibing vs constantly standing in lines and "trying to get your moneys worth" or consuming bottled corn syrup products/drinks to further it's "value", that you otherwise wouldn't order/drink.

Just an FYI, you don't need an Iphone, I've had a phone since the early 90's and never had a Iphone in my life lol. Any old Android smart phone would work fine, in fact, you can probably get one for cheaper than a flip phone these days, although I dig the retro, I've been tempted to buy and old Motrola Razar V3 quite a few times for form factor alone..lol. You also don't need a data plan to have a smart phone, lots of free wifi everywhere and could save your bacon with wifi calling if you are ever in a place with a bad/no cell signal but have a wifi connection. Depending on your internet provider, you may already have access to tons of hot spots for free as well. May be time to ditch the equivalent of the horse and buggy. 😁

Yes, you can cancel it in your planner or call Carnival. Absolutely refundable, pretty much anything you buy pre-cruise is refundable from fun shop stuff, excursions and even drink packages.

Meh, the contract can say anything, enforcing it is another matter. No one likes bait and switch and it isn't right. Playing games will just end up with a lot of charge backs and ill will, especially during covid with the credit card companies being more lenient with anything covid related. I even got my money back for some travel related gift cards I had ordered when the mask rules went into effect because I bought them when masks weren't required and they changed the rules after they shipped and I no longer agreed with the conditions and refused to travel. The company tried to fight it, they clearly have a "no returns" stated multiple times, yet Amex got my loot back. Hiding behind a contract for poor customer service and unfair policies just makes them look stupid/greedy. Bamboozling your fan/customer base isn't smart business.

LOL, the song everyone loves to hate but secretly turn up when they are by themselves. Alright stop, collaborate and listen, Ice is back with a brand new invention. Perfect song and that's the jam! I used to bump the hell out of that, I ain't ashamed 🤣

This!!^^^^

People are getting folks worked up so it's understandable. I saw Don's fam vacay video on Youtube today about masks and it makes it seem like masks are back everywhere. I saw a few other posts in forums and other Youtube vids that are conflating limited routes with a general return to masking (which isn't the case). I just hope if it does come back, the lines do the right thing and offer folks refunds who booked understanding that masks wouldn't be required. More ill will won't serve the industry well.

Not necessarily a bad thing, at least if something else happens, the hoses will reach it. It also looks much more vented so maybe that is a benefit too? Don't look to bad IMO.

Some lines are better positioned than others, luxury/niche lines may face more pressure as some of their customer base seeks out cheaper fares. The cheaper mass market lines may be able to absorb some of these customers if their current base customers must reign in discretionary spending (trickle down). I think luxury lines like Virgin will be hit hardest. When that paper money/equity starts dropping back down to earth for everyone, a $1500-$2K cruise will look a whole lot better than a $3K-5K cruise (or much more on some lines).The lines have increased costs, protocol challenges that reduce customer pools and economic challenges for a large part of the country. Not to mention labor issues. It really is a cluster for the industry right now but if they can press through without too many roadblocks and interference, they can certainly come out on the other-side of this eventually.

Don't sleep on some of the other sub forums here on CC. I pretty much discounted Alaska as a cruise destination (don't care for cold) but after reading several reviews (including Sir Greg's here) on the various subs and seeing all the great photos, I'm thinking I've been missing out. Some of the photos have been amazing and I dig scenic stuff and cool animals and such. I'm going to try and fit one in in next year or the year after. It actually seems like a pretty awesome itinerary to do at least once, even if I can't swim in a big ocean front pool or drink coconut water on the beach 😄.

I was with you in the first part but this ^^ literally makes no sense. CCL having the ability to pivot, vs a the smaller RCI? I'd bank on Carnival as the last domino to fall. They own market saturation, are the low price leader, right now, more important than ever and may be the only thing that matters if things really implode, plus they have, as you stated, diversity in products and debt holders who are already in for a pound, not merely a penny. Being "too big" has advantages. They've already acquired the private equity you mentioned. No one is interested in buying a cruise line right now or anytime in the near future. Survival is the name of the game and CCL is positioned best, no question about it.

Seafood, meat, benedicts (salmon benedict is best IMO) and those tasty-tasty round hash-browns.

Why do you think they are trying to get you to "use a portion". That should be your real question. Once you figure that out, "taking your money back" will seem brilliant. 😁

Exactly! Many are already reporting light sailings and they have excluded a huge pool of potential customers by excluding families/kids. Inflation is high and financing has only driven already high costs, even higher for folks. As the pool of customers gets smaller, it becomes a danger warning to be sure, especially for luxury/niche lines, maybe less impactful to CCL/RCI as the prices are lower but the higher priced lines will be less appealing in an inflated/over heated market. Beware of FCC in lieu of securing your cash refund, turning cash into company scrip didn't work out for a lot of folks over the last few years. .

Well said, plus you can toss in housing costs going sky-high, again due to similar manipulation factors, institutional/foreign investors and mortgage loans that drive prices higher and it looks even worse. Folks are taking it from all angles. I'm not adding any more cruises or vacations to the books (other than those I have booked already) and have drastically reduced discretionary spending. Even non-discretionary where I can. I just don't see this ending anytime soon and the irrational exuberance will be tough to tame without major sectors dropping by 50% or more and that won't happen if things are artificially propped up. They will let the air out slowly and start blowing the balloon back up at the first opportunity. In the land of 7-10 year car loans, financing cell phones for years and 50 year mortgages, the financial fairy-tale will go on as long as people believe everyone else is doing it, there is no other way and people sign up to be debt slaves or pin their hopes on playing the greater fool game. A perfect storm indeed. The timing couldn't be worse for the lines, the only good news is that the lines may end up relatively OK because of the insanity. Plenty may just slap a cruise on a credit card with high interest and pay for the cruise multiple times lol. Only possible in the land of irrational exuberance, many are conditioned to it and have come to accept it as a way of life as debt/credit has raised the price of everything. May be happening already.

I doubt it's widely known, people like to blame the oil companies, you hear it all the time. Do they have some culpability, sure, they work in concert to control the market and create artificial shortages by pulling back refining capacity and they benefit from foreign contracts in an inside trading scheme but it doesn't account for all the manipulation. It's the raw materiel contracts that are never received and traded upstream that account for the lions share of manipulation. The hedge funds and banksters are always looked out for over the consumer. I can only hope this nonsense sparks a rebellion of sorts and wakes the sleeping lion. To many essentials are allowed to be manipulated/artificially controlled or have a controlled financial component that inflate costs and pocket picking by middlemen who contribute nothing but always have their hands in someone pocket. It's madness. I can only hope they push too far and get too greedy, maybe consumers will wake up, grab the tar and feathers and fight back.

Hope we don't see fuel surcharges but we will probably see fare increases instead. Banning oil speculation would be a great start. These paper traders drive up prices and serve no purpose/benefit to consumers. The whole BS drivel about them distributing risk and providing a hedge is nonsense when they have driven costs up 40%-50%. It serves no one but hedge funds and bankers. A barrel costs around $11 to extract in OPEC countries, $36-$51 in the USA, Canada, UK, Brazil etc, even accounting for refining* it just doesn't make sense that oil is sitting at $122 a barrel right now with no end in sight. These banksters and hedge funds are artificially driving the price up 40%-50% for doing nothing but hustling paper as middlemen. It's robbery and needs to be curtailed as bleeding consumers, businesses (including cruise lines and suppliers) and transportation dry isn't stimulating the economy, it's contracting/concentrating it. It's nuts! * https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-676-may-23-2011-us-refiners-produce-about-19-gallons-gasoline-barrel-oil

Meh, it's the same as anyone else is doing at this point. We are all speculating, no one really knows the true extent of the damages, repair plan, costs, time-frames, future potential problems, or the inside financials or fiscal particulars. It's what makes it interesting. 😁

Great story! That is very generous and kind of Carnival. Kudos!