cruisingguy007

1 minute ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

That ship isn’t going anywhere but to a dry dock 

Indeed, I doubt any insurance company would allow that or underwrite that kind of risk. Plus Carnival itself may want to wash their hands of it if they have a comprehensive coverage policy of some sorts. It's could be worth more to collect on that potentially, rather than trying to salvage the ship. Depends on damage from fire and other ongoing maintenance costs, lost revenue potentials and of course refunds for those already paid up. Cluster to be sure.      

1 minute ago, markp9114 said:

 

Thanks for the info. WDW or Universal was going to be my next plan, but good reminder about schools being out. Does not sound like a good idea with it being busy. Unfortunately Mardi Gras is out of the budget for the family. Unless Carnival can comp that...awaiting communication from them on next steps as we sail in 2 days. 

If you can't get the flights refunded/changed, you can just make the most of it and go with the flow and find a beach hotel or Airbnb or something. 

1 minute ago, kbnovak said:

We’re on the Mardi Gras, docked right next to the Freedom.  This was our view of the fire this morning.

All efforts were taken to keep passengers and crew on each ship safe.

Mardi Gras sent a contingent of firefighters over to help, as well as clearing all of our public decks and the balconies on the starboard side, and deployed our firefighters to our open decks, complete with charged hoses.

It was scary to see, but reassuring to see the quick response and expertise in keeping everyone safe.

I have a feeling your ship is about to get a bit more crowded. I always suspected they sailed two ships at a time (usually) just for these types of situations and after embarrassing previous incidents. Wondering if they'll be catching a lift home on the behemoth of Seas (aka Mardi Gras). 😁   

5 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

 

 

For fun I checked. 

3 times what I am paying for our Feb 2022 cruise with Carnival. Same port. Same stops.  Same time frame.  Same room type. 

Don't get me wrong. No shade to those who want to pay for the extras.  There are times I do too.  My point was merely you can't compare the two. 

I check all the time too and Carnival always wins out in the end, even when the competition run "specials" and toss in add ons. I see posters in other sub forums here say that they only pay a bit more than Carnival rates, and by their accounts of what they paid it seems like it in a few instances, but I sure never seem to find those rates. It's usually 50% more for comparable itineraries and when you sail as a family, it adds up quickly. Saving $500 per passenger is $2500 for me, not peanuts. 

1 minute ago, 1kaper said:

 

What the price difference between them though? I've not sailed Princess but my understanding is they are a much higher end product all around, with the price to match. 

Bingo! I'm not willing to pay much more for a plethora of pastries. Carnival has plenty of diabetes inducing options, saving many hundreds or thousands of dollars works much better for me and is much more satisfying than some muffins or even bacon. 😄   

23 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

 

The Shiplife on youtube has a video of an officer (can't get a good view to tell which one) discussing paint fumes with some passengers and what Carnival is going to offer them $$ (VERY nice compensation JMO) - that part starts about the 7:00 mark:

 

 

Wow. Carnival can't catch a break.  

1 hour ago, Lee Cruiser said:

Looking at that funnel, I would guess that Freedom won't be doing more cruises anytime soon

Indeed, depending on the insurance arrangements, the scrapyard may be it's next cruise and best option for the bottom line. That damage isn't cosmetic only.  

If you don't want a bunch of rolling holds, you can put some cruise cash in your account and that should reduce the rolling holds since you'll have credit and the charges should debit from there. Auto grats will hit on the second to last day too if not pre payed. 

1 hour ago, n6uqqq said:

And then likely sent to Australia! 

I doubt it, Australia will be a bust until the pre-flight testing to reenter the USA goes away. Not many are willing to risk getting stuck quarantining overseas. Those that are retired and buy a nice trip insurance policy that covers it maybe, everyone else not so much. Australian and European cruises are dirt cheap because so many don't want to deal with the hassle. 

Airfares are also sky high right now and through the end of the year. They don't mind flying empty planes and are guaranteed tax payer bailouts and don't have to worry about making money either, unlike the cruise lines.   

The cruise lines won't change anything, if any changes come, it will be from port countries. I wouldn't worry about it. Enjoy that cruise! 

31 minutes ago, Indianamale said:

That's what I've heard from other people too. I guess Carnival just doesn't care about the paying passengers anymore. That's my opinion and after 10+ cruises on only Carnival I'm ready to spend my hard earned money somewhere else. 

It's all relative in the end. How much more is a comparative cruise on another line and are you willing to pay that just to have bacon everyday? Some may on principle but I suspect most would not. The small things may add up enough eventually but I'm not willing to "show them" by paying more for insignificant differences. I'd rather save money and eat bacon when I get off the ship. 😁

12 minutes ago, Brkintx said:

Traveling on these 'weekends' keeps me from being exposed to all the holiday drama / stress associated with things needing to be 'perfect' (etc.). 

That's terrible. It's really sad that you have come to associate these major holidays as negative/stressful. I sincerely hope that changes for you, these holidays are one of my favorite times of the year. 

4 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

We were on Horizon for Christmas prior to the pandemic, and I hate to be negative but we will not do it again.  Of course it is different for each family (ages of the kids, etc) but our kids (who were roughly 13 and 21 at the time) both said they'd rather be home for Christmas.

We found that the cruise industry is very cyclical, and (at least for us) we did not find they did a lot of things special for Christmas (it was kind of like any other cruise).  Granted there were very nice Christmas decorations, formal night/dinner was Christmas dinner, etc.  

We did take our own little "pop up" type Christmas tree for the cabin and a few small gifts for the kids (but we had to fly across the country so space was limited).  But that brings me to our next "never again" ... we will never fly across the county at Christmas time again.  Extremely expensive airfare, crazy busy airports, overbooked airlines, weather issues, etc.  Everywhere you go, everything you do (before/during/after the cruise) will be absolutely packed.  Hotels are very expensive, very booked up.

But I will admit, Christmas on a ship is way less work for Mom.  😄

Having said all that, I would love to go in early December when all the decorations are up, etc. but before the holiday crowds set in.

Yikes! Did they at least play A Christmas Story and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation on the big screen? Those are mandatory viewing. 😄 

29 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Aside from being busy, and all of the negatives some will find, it will most likely be a very good memory. The festivities, décor, setting, and itinerary is surely a nice variety from the average Christmas.

Average Christmas? Shoot, I don't know how you do it in your family but we never have an average Christmas..lol. We always go big/hard. 😁 That said, the Mrs. has been wanting to do a Christmas/New Years cruise but I can never find a deal..lol. 

You'l be fine, if $3 buck chuck works and you are willing to blanketly dismiss two whole entire wine regions, I suspect you'll find plenty of options that work for you.  

I always listen to Bob on a cruise, really gets those good vibes going. There are always plenty of positives to focus on, even in this cruise environment. I had a great cruise even though I did notice some small changes, there are simply too many positives to let any of the small stuff ruin a cruise. Have a great cruise! Look forward to reading your review when your back. 

My teens, yes, my little guy, no way. Circle C and club 02 kids should be fine. 

13 minutes ago, oyme said:

Until one reaches platinum on CCL, their loyalty program is laughable but their fares do stack up nicely even when not having the best sales. I just know I can do better if I wait it out! I can wait maybe until Black Friday... anyone know how CCL Black Friday sales are? NCL had a good one last year, still wasn't ready to book last November, though.

Frankly, I couldn't care less about the loyalty program, I'm more concerned with the cost of the vacation. Those incidentals don't even enter the equation. I guess if all things were equal it may tip the scales but that is seldom the case and dancing for peanuts doesn't make sense in most cases. Great for for marketing though, some really believe in the whole "status" shtick. I've seen it with some players in Vegas too, like it's a real achievement in life lol. Some are even offended when you don't volunteer to be tracked, it's uncomprehensible to some.  

54 minutes ago, oyme said:

" Sorry I'm loyal to my pocketbook."

This! 

Limited hours on lots of things and less options. Be sure you know what you're buying. 

5 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

What crackers me up is people with incorrect info. Where are you getting your info from? Royal does not refund your full cruise. They will only refund for the days you are in quarantine. If people end up in the covid cabins and Royal expects them to stay put how else do you expect them to get food? What is your suggestion? Btw, room service can take an hour +.
 

I think what you read about testing on the day before the last was referring to people doing b2b cruises. Royal quit doing these tests. If they were still doing them then some people would test positive and therefore wouldn’t be stuck in quarantine for the next leg. They would be getting off of the ship. I tested positive recently and Royal wasn’t doing the b2b tests for that cruise. They did the previous 3 cruises prior, but not the last. If they had done the test the day prior to the last day I might have tested positive 🤷🏼‍♀️ and wouldn’t have ended up in quarantine a day into the next cruise.

 

Not incorrect info. I stand by what I said and saw first hand on these very boards. These are people bringing their own tests from home. hoping to test positive before they get off the boat to entangle the cruise lines and get some hotel/food on the lines.  

14 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

you think we want to spend our one vacation a year in quarantine on the ship in exchange for free movies and internet? I can have that at home without having to fly to a port and getting on a ship.

What a strange idea, indeed. It's crazy that I would want my family infected with this disease just so that I could lock us into a small cabin.

 

But if we end up in quarantine, I want something to watch, so that we along with our 11 yo kiddo don't go stir crazy. I can be very content reading books (will bring 3 just in case), but neither my DH nor my DS are into reading. Free wifi and some movies are not a reward. They are just a means to have some fun.

Not you specifically, but some? Absolutely! There is no question in my mind that some folks are milking this out and see it as a cruise bonus and "free shyt" event. Period. I've seen far too many posts insinuating just that and many others that said they would stop self tattle telling if they didn't get a balcony. Quarantining should be for the truly sick, not for those with sniffles and a headache. We'll see how much they really care when they choose to isolate on their own without a reward. I suspect there won't be many.   

9 hours ago, Schlinger said:

Went to Cabo in March (Mexico trip by air). Yes, huge amounts of tourists from the USA and yes, I would think it is their widespread presence there that drives up the prices. $550 per night in several of the 5 star resorts there. For context, minimum wage in Mexico is $150 per month.  And as far as we're concerned, cruising is not that expensive if you take into account what some things cost on land. As my wife pointed out to me earlier today, if you take the cost of our post-cruise meal deliveries for lunch and dinner yesterday and compare that to the daily cost of cruising, you end up with very similar numbers.

It can be the same as the USA in a beach town or tourist spot. Why go all the way to Mexico to pay San Diego prices for food/drinks? Some of the 5-star resorts are really really nice but even those are often over priced, you could rent a place in Mazatlan for a month for what it costs for a two-three days at some places in Cabo. 

3 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Does anyone else giggle when reading the thread title?  "Runny noise" makes me say "go get maintenance".

Cracks me up even more when the sniffle crew looking for free shyt and telling on themselves, end up in a inside or ocean view and then want to rage about the inhumanity when they got what they asked for lol. I saw on another sub thread where they were encouraging folks to bring tests and to test on the second to last day of the cruise (wink wink), symptoms or not, hoping to put the cruise line on the hook if they popped positive. Now they are indignant about the cruise lines saying they won't cover any extra costs any longer and telling passengers to buy insurance.

Well duh, I'm pretty sure they are well aware of the those abusing the system. It's insane what's going on and how some of these folks are behaving, as if they are trying to win the covid lottery and get free shyt for catching covid and telling on themselves. I hope the lines stick with it, these folks shouldn't be rewarded with free balconies, cruise credit, free movies, free room service, free internet etc, no wonder they are testing and hoping they "get lucky" lol. Save the balconies for the truly sick folks and keep the sniffle crew in insides, the problem may work itself out naturally. 😉   

1 hour ago, JennKach said:

Raunchy behavior however was not hard to find.  Groups of people took over the hot tubs, letting everything hang out, twerking, slapping each other on the behind and filming it all.  The language was horrible and this was all in front of families with kids.  They were downing pitchers in the tub

Maybe it's just me but this is one of the reasons I love Carnival. 😁

1 hour ago, JennKach said:

There were at 4+ cabins traveling together and they loved to gather and talk at high volume in the corridor, or in each other’s rooms with the doors open and music blasting.  For the amount of times they woke me up after midnight, I wish I could have ordered them 6am room service as pay back.  Another cabin (again middle aged women) in my hall had security there a couple times for smoking, setting off the smoke alarm, and leaving the balcony door open which caused a loud whistle in the hall driving everyone nuts late at night.  Lots of pot smoking going on too all over the ship.  Security showed up again chasing a group of teenagers running up and down our hallway

These are things I dislike about Carnival but it certainly keeps it interesting and entertaining. Certainly not boring. 😄

1 hour ago, JennKach said:

There was a fight one night at the casino bar.

Completely unacceptable/ghetto. 🤨

Enjoyed your honest review, sounds like you made the most of it and rolled with the punches. Thanks for taking the time to drop a review. It's appreciated.