rcrabb1513

One other note - well maybe a few more...... No Starlink internet on Carnival Magic as of 4/2/2023. I looked for the Starlink receivers on all the top decks or open promenades and I didn't see any. We did not buy an internet package and my iPhone got 1 bar signal strength in our cabin and NO signal on the balcony. My iPad did better. I had a strong signal in the public areas. My daughter and Son-in-law were on the cruise and did buy the internet package. I thought I would be able to chat with them after buying the chat service ($5.00 for the entire cruise) but they had to buy it too. Guy's Pig and Anchor BBQ venue was only open on sea days and the line would begin to form about 45 min before it opened. I walked up with no line about 1:45 pm. I think it was open Noon - 3:00pm. We dine after 7:00pm so a later lunch suits our lifestyle. The food was good!

LONG POST We have cruised almost exclusively on Royal Caribbean (RCCL). We recently took our first Carnival (CCL) cruise, an 8 day Southern Caribbean voyage on Carnival Magic out of Port Canaveral. I would like to offer a critique and some comparisons between RCCL and CCL. First, I would like to refute the notion that CCL cruises are just booze cruises with drunk, obnoxious and abusive people. We met many very friendly people and the tone was for everyone to have a good time. We did not encounter rude or abusive people at all. This cruise was over 100% double occupancy capacity and this fact created the perfect atmosphere for conflict yet none was to be had. We were also worried being in the spring break period there would be large numbers of college kids letting off steam. However, an 8 night cruise isn't affordable for most college kids which is something to consider when booking is the spring break period. I would theorize 3 and 4 night spring break cruises might have more young adults. A big plus for CCL is the before cruise online check in process. If one is in the top 2 loyality tiers or booked in a suite you are allowed to do the online check in 2 days before all the other passengers. At Port Canaveral we encountered a drug detection area for the first time. After all the document check in activities the line to the ship included an area where groups of passengers were placed in a line against a wall and all luggage and backpacks were to be placed at your feet. An officer had a drug sniffing dog check each carry on piece of luggage. Not sure if the dog could detect any contraband on your person as none was detected in our "lineup." We had chosen Any Time Dining and instead of making reservations for specific dining times each day one checked in to the queue for a table via the app each night. The app estimated the current wait time (5 - 10 min, 10 - 20 min, 20 - 30 min, etc.) for a table to help you determine when to get in the virtual line. Once your table was ready the app notified you as such and they would hold your table for 10 minutes. We liked that!! RCCL does a much better job with the buffet dining option as far as food lines go. CCL has many more tables for dining and finding a table wasn't an issue but only 2 food buffet stations so lines were long and SLOW during prime time dining windows!! The salad and hot food stations were combined so your choice for just salad was to be a line buster or wait. You could get to the desserts separately. In the morning the omelet and eggs to order were in its own station with a long line. You could get continental breakfast breads and fruit in its own station which I chose on the first day to avoid the long line. We did not eat at the buffet for any evening meal. On both "Elegant" nights the dining room service was a bit slower. BTW - Elegant seemed to mean sleeves on men's shirts and no ball caps. There were many men in shorts. That said there were some men in tux's or suits and women dressed in cocktail dresses and the like. The Steak House specialty restaurant was the only dining venue that require men to match Elegant night requirements plus long pants. Cabins were comparable. We had booked an Ocean Suite and it matched up well with a Jr. Suite on RCCL at about $1K less cost. Would we cruise Carnival again? Yes, but it would not be our first choice. I missed some of the loyalty perks we get from RCCL especially the drink vouchers 🙂

It wasn't Carnival but our B2B last August we had the same cabin so no need to pack up. We also did NOT have to get off the ship. All the B2B'ers were given a letter which informed us to be in a lounge at 8:30 am. An officer went group to group. When it was our turn they confirmed our account was in good standing. We exchanged our first cruise room cards for the new ones. We then confirmed we were using the same credit card for new charges. After that we were told we were free to go and allowed to stay on board or get off. Our cabin was already cleaned (about 10:00 am) and we hung out there until we got hungry for lunch. As as aside, the heightened energy level of the new passengers boarding was VERY apparent!

One consideration: Our annual policy provides the benefits paid for the life of the policy, not per instance. That is, if we use 75% of the lost luggage coverage on a trip, we have 25% left the rest of the policy life.

I worked from home the last 7 years of my career before retiring. It wasn't until we were socked in by a snowstorm and my boss was forced to work from home that it became a regular thing. He "saw the light!"

we do not pay for internet. I like unplugging on a vacation and don't care for the social media world to know our home is empty while we are away.

My original boarding pass described my Boarding Zone as "Priority" when I did the online checkin. Several hours later that day my Boarding Zone was changed to G01. I assume it is because we are boarding during the 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm time window. I printed both versions and will start with the first version and see where it leads us. Could this boarding zone interpretation be correct with the letter being the beginning of each 30 minute window? AXX = 10:00 BXX = 10:30 CXX = 11:00 DXX = 11:30 EXX = 12:00, FXX = 12:30, GXX = 1:00

I wish posters would define acronyms on first use. Our first cruise on Carnival is next week and I have no clue what DOU is!

Sailing on our first Carnival cruise in a couple weeks. We booked suite on par with a Jr. Suite on RCCL. First pleasant surprise out of the box, Suite and top 2 loyalty tier members get to checkin online 2 days before general online checkin opens. Nice perk I think RCCL should copy!

Was the block left for you on the actual day you hit the magic number or on the next cruise? We hit 140 on one of the last cruises (mid Feb, 2020) before the shut down in 2020 so maybe were victims of the pandemic layoffs?

You might have misunderstood. My strange comment was directed at the bar closings, not the checking of other forums.

We are Diamond + and have NEVER received a crystal block. We do not know what the original design was.

You have checked all the other cruise line forums? If so, it is strange to be sure.

Could it be GC became more adamant enforcing its laws?

I added my daughter and son-in-law and they had to respond to an email sent to them accepting the invitation to be companions.

The best source of health protocol information is on Carnival's web page. Social media responses are not always accurate.

That is the way my insurance works as well. After a covered loss that we have to pay, they reimburse us those funds. Covered loss is the important issue here. If you bought the insurance through the cruise line it doesn't mean the cruise line is providing the insurance. The cruise line purchased the insurance on your behalf with an insurance company.

Actually we had this exact experience on our last cruise out of Port Canaveral. We used GoPort to get from our Orlando Airport hotel to the port and we arrived a little after 1:00pm. Not too crowded as we went through checkin, boarded the ship, did the muster checkin and were en route to the buffet for some lunch. They announced cabins were available so we switched gears and went to our cabin first. That was nice.

Thanks to all that replied. Like hillbilliecruises,we are in central time zone so 11:00 pm will be the ticket. For us old fogies staying up to 11:00 pm is a feat in itself! 😀

We are booked on Magic and it says checkin opens March 9. Long time Royal cruiser, first time Carnival cruiser, Royal check-in was like a radio show contest, or Southwest airlines. Folks wanted to check-in as soon as it opened to secure the earliest checkin and boarding time. It was purported to open at midnight of the embarkation location although but per internet usual conjecture (yes that is the time, no it isn't) it was never really known. Anyway, is online check in the same mad dash as Royal's? If so what time does it open? TIA

I have had that problem before and the workaround I found was to open a text editor (with Windows I use Notepad) and type the C&A number in the editor and copy/paste it in the appropriate box on RC webpage and it accepted it.

USA hotel housekeeping staff do not work 7 days a week for 4 months at a time. Comparing apples and oranges.

I agree, We are seeing a larger number of families with kids during the traditional school session months. Many people jumped on the home schooling bandwagon due to the pandemic or political reasons.

We feel the same way. We refer to them as floating Theme Parks. Unfortunately, the trend of larger ships and higher cost to sail on them is close to pricing us out of cruising.

I have also witnessed a crew member gush over a guest that gave personal sundries like tooth paste. These types of items are not provided by the cruise line and they have to use valuable shore time to go shopping.