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Adding the watermelon slices just confuses people...

The seagoing version of the classic canoe on a lake style.

I'm thrilled to see it for two reasons. Carnival does a pretty good job with chicken noodle soup and after a night of heavy drinking nothing sits on my stomach better than soup. Glad to see the "Fun Ships" breaking out of nursing home hours. Now if they can just stop with the "reveille" speaker announcements at 9am....

We really like the Dream class but one thing we don't care for on them is the high glass at the railing. We go on deck to be outside. On these decks it is like looking through a window except it is hot and you get wet when it rains.

If someone thinks that then only someone with no sense of humor will set them straight...

Seeing this thread made my day. Thanks for taking us along once again.

Well, to each his own. We've been on well over 40 cruises with never an issue but my therapist gave me a much simpler solution.

But I would note that when booking through the Carnival site there would be no need for anyone to physically put changes into the system as the customer puts the change in. I expect all cruise lines do this as a carry over from the days before computers when people had to manually make changes on paper. It's free money for the cruise lines. Just another reason I rank the ethics of cruise lines a bit below used car dealers. You have to know what kind of people you are dealing with. Knowing that you can still do business with them with proper precautions. In this situation you know to not name guests until check-in.

I question most companies I do business with for many reasons. One is to get a feel for a companies level of ethics. If something doesn't make sense I think most people would ask questions. That is how you learn. In this case naming a travel companion then changing that travel companion before check-in incurring a $200 charge when just waiting until check-in to name a travel companion incurs no charge doesn't make sense to me. So I asked

Judging from the responses I guess they do it just because they can. That is perfectly legal and they don't hide it. But I do feel differently about companies that set easily avoidable traps for the unwary just because they can than I do about companies that don't set traps. TBA till on-line check-in should be a CC sticky post as a community service.

I understand those are their terms and I have no problem with it because they state those terms. I'm just trying to find out if there is any reason, besides "because we can" for the charge. What costs do they incur if the name is changed prior to on-line check in? It just seems like a trap for those who don't know to leave the other names TBA until check-in.

They can set any terms and conditions they want but I am curious if anyone knows why they charge for changing the name of non-booking guest. I can see if the person under whose VIFP number the cabin was booked changed - essentially that is a cancellation - but others? Is it "just because we can?"

Carnival, intentionally or by happenstance, has traditionally attempted to be the sea going equivalent of the post WWII British "holiday camps." The holiday camps started before the war (when the first were actual camps with tents) but their heyday was after the war. They were land based lodging with organized activities for the guests to keep them onsite. While it really doesn't capture the feel, this link has some information. Note all the entertainment options: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holiday_camp The true essence of the holiday camps, in my opinion, was they pulled the guests into activities. They didn't just have things available they pushed you into engaging. Many a family laughed for years over what dad ended up finding himself doing. The extent to which Carnival still has that approach or is effective in that approach is questionable these days but that is what the "Fun Ship" is all about.

While I can't speak to snorkeling from Mahogany Bay beach I can say it is a nice beach day experience. I would urge caution when looking at West Bay beach resort day passes. Take a look at the place on Google Maps at the least. We once went on one of those through Carnival excursions and only by dumb luck was it enjoyable. Many of these "resorts" are hotels or motels with maybe a couple of hundred feet of beach front all squeezed together sitting right up against beach. The real killer though is up to high tide point is public property and swarmed with folks selling things quite loudly and obnoxiously. As a beach this place, and the dozen or so neighboring it, was the pits. What saved us was we ran across a small group of folks from Dallas who were a riot. We spent the day sitting at a nice table under a palm tree drinking and laughing. One alternative that is good for the beach and snorkeling experience is Maya Key. Being an island there are no merchants hawking their goods and it has a nice beach and a pier for snorkeling. But if you would not be interested in the included food (good) and wildlife sanctuary (including wild parrots around the place) and if the snorkeling at the port is good then the port may be the better choice.

Actually I think all those dishes look much better than Carnival dishes. But I have never let looks influence me when it comes to food. In this case the multiple live reviews for Virgin from folks who have sailed both Carnival and Virgin all say Virgin blows Carnival out of the water when it comes to included food. Since the question is who has the best food, price and class envy really have no bearing.

Agree. I can't say we have ever had a problem getting enough. When they bring the butter we always ask for more and it quickly arrives.

You have to lower your expectations. When Carnival lists features that is just a list of possible features not all of which are available on all cruises. It would be more appropriate to split that one list in to two lists with some in column A and some in column B. It is kind of like ordering Chinese food. You get some from column A and some from column B though with Carnival you don't get to pick; they pick for you. The longer the cruise the fewer picks you get from each column. But you always get the food feature - it is kind of like white rice when you order Chinese; automatic.

Totally agree with that. Infants have never been a problem for us on a cruise ship. They are never intentionally reprehensible. It is the twelve year to twenty-four year old group that is problematic. Agree with this also. I know the OP mentioned wanting to sail Carnival since childhood, but the Carnival of today is nothing like the Carnival of old, or even the Carnival of four years ago, and what remains of Joe Farcus is mostly old, cracked and faded - just hasn't been replaced yet.

In what area was your cabin and what was its condition? Thanks

Carnival butter or real butter, the question itself speaks volumes... 🤣

Nope! You are often out of luck even finding coffee after midnight. They are supposed to have one or two coffee stations open all night but often they are out of cups or spoons. The fun ships keep nursing home hours.

That is a brave thing to do...

If the cancelled cruise was outside the pandemic window then the situation is not as presented by the OP in this thread and I would agree with you. I see Elaine5715 seems to have found a post by the OP in another thread from May of 2021 that does raise the question. Nice detective work on her part. Respect! (But for many other reasons my opinion of Carnival is the same.)

I don't see where the OP ever said it was a nonrefundable deposit. I do see where the OP says they cancelled a cruise during the pandemic and never got their refund so filed a dispute with the credit card. Two things I would note here. First there were no nonrefundable deposits for cancelled pandemic cruises. If it was a cancelled (by Carnival) pandemic cruise the OP does not owe Carnival anything. In that situation the fact the OP didn't wait for a slow pay to drag into a possible bankruptcy is not unreasonable and in my opinion Carnival punishing him for not letting them put him at risk is unethical. Second, Carnival had the opportunity to respond to the credit card dispute. If it was a nonrefundable deposit then simply saying that would have ended things right there. If they were so overwhelmed they could not respond that would support this being a pandemic cruise and again there were no refundable deposits - the cruise line failed to provide the cruise. I hear lots of sympathy for the "overwhelmed" Carnival being in an "unprecedented" situation and that therefore they should be cut slack for their slow pay and failure to address the credit card dispute. But what about the people suddenly told to stay home or close their businesses who needed their money back? Why shouldn't Carnival cut them some slack and not hold using a credit card dispute to get back what Carnival owed them against them? Carnival, in my opinion, demanded responsibility from customers while failing to meet its responsibilities to customers and I find that unethical.

Everything in this post is my opinion and only my opinion. I think your best course of action is to just stay away from Carnival. They, and most of the cruise industry, is on an ethical plane below used car dealers. They don't care about right or wrong; just with what they can get away with. You have to always have that in mind when dealing with them and be ready to walk away. Right now you are not out any money. Be happy about that. There are plenty of other cruise lines.