notscb

Again, asserting that it's happening "all the time" is the problem. It's not happening all the time. I'm on tiktok and just searched for "carnival fight"- guess how many results (that weren't the same incident)- less than a handful. Put Carnival down where we need to, but implying that the fighting is a chronic, every single week regular occurrence onboard just isn't factually based.

I think the answer to this question, specifically, has to be yes otherwise they would have offloaded their smaller fleet to the scrapyard during Covid like other lines did. Plus, Royal brought them back into service post-covid. I think the next question you posed is interesting- the margins and returns on the larger ships must be better for Royal overall or they wouldn't keep building bigger. Granted, they keep sending these mega ships to Perfect Day which just adds so much to their bottom line, too. I'm also thinking about how the A380 didn't take off - while not a perfect comparison, the bigger the plane the bigger the expenses. I wonder if Royal has hit their limit when it comes to returns with the new Icon class (i.e. pax/expense ratio). I'm thinking the returns on the smaller ships must be less but maybe more consistent if they are easier to fill to capacity.

I think we all hold cruise lines to high expectations and standards, however categorizing fighting as "week in and week out" is hyperbole at best. This cruise specifically was likely max-capacity due to the holiday, plus only a 5 night (and we all know what 5 night or less cruises really are for). Things happen, but definitely not every week. It's cruise critic, but we can be fair in our assessments.

I'm curious what you mean by this. Several commenters mention "clientele has gone down" but that's such a vague statement it's practically meaningless, especially when many of us on this very board are "clientele" of carnival.

Did you miss the fight onboard a royal ship last week? For how many cruises sail without problem, there are bound to be cruises with issues- especially during peek travel times. I've sailed Carnival plenty of times with exactly zero incident onboard. It's luck of the draw for any ship where you pack in 2,000 of your newest closest friends.

If they do, they really need to bring in Bravo to do a Below Deck style show where we get to watch all of the guest drama unfold in real time. World cruise '23 TikTok has been really entertaining so far.

My thoughts- 'meh' Did Nassau once and will never again. I'd rather do PR, the BVI (ABC Islands) or literally anywhere else. Cruise line private islands don't really excite me either, although I understand why all of the majors are doing it. The water is beautiful in the Bahamas for sure, but I'd rather go anywhere else.

I was honestly surprised by some of the photos. I had to do a double take that it was cruise food 😄

this is exactly the r/thathappened energy i pointed out earlier. All things you "might" do in the situation, but haven't done and are keyboard warrioring about when you would much more likely just go to guest services and complain like a rational person.

That's the kicker. True service dog training is intense and specific, and negative behaviors common to dogs are generally trained out through reinforcement. Companies definitely aren't allowed to ask about the person's disability, but they are allowed to ask about the task the dog is performing.

I 100% agree with OP. For my first cruise back after Covid on Freedom, I had purchased the Key and was a solo traveler. I was the second person onboard that day and while it was a neat experience I'd much rather take the later boarding time to not have to deal with the traffic, crowds, lines, etc. and be able to walk straight onboard. The lower stress of the later boarding time is really a great way to start the trip off.

That's the question. HAL's policy only allows service dogs, and they have the right to ask what service the dog is performing before being allowed on the ship.

Your post is giving r/thathappened energy. The first sentence (quoted above) is the appropriate response. The rest of it sounds like you'd be going out of your way to ruin your own cruise by targeting these other guests.

For me, specialty dining has to be considered carefully as I've already paid for food onboard. My thought process tends to go "is the experience/food/etc. worth $XX above what I've already paid for MDR/Buffet/Etc." I try to consider what the cost I've already paid for food that day is, add i whatever the cost of the specialty is and decide from there. For me, $150 for a tasting menu p.p. for a chef's table experience isn't worth it- especially since they've started limiting the included alcohol pairing. Even the steakhouse at $50/p.p. isn't worth the product they're giving, unless it's maybe the first night and you get a free bottle of wine (even if it's cheap) and the MDR is a mess (because it's the first night).

We stayed in an airbnb in the romantic zone (called the Zenith). We were able to cook some of our own meals and the rooftop pool was a nice touch. We don't usually do hotels.

Update: thanks again to everyone who suggested fun things to do and see in PV. We went for a week and a day and it was amazing. Stayed in the Romantic Zone- 10/10, will be going again. Did Mantamar, Diana's Boat tour, saw some whales, and had a ton of excellent food. Also felt safer there than we have walking around NYC or Toronto.

Which is honestly what matters to most people. If someone is comparing a cruise side by side, price is likely going to win over brand.

Every cruise on every line is what you make of it. While Carnival advertises the "fun" vibes onboard, I've had some of my most relaxing cruises onboard Carnival ships. Not to mention that most mainstream U.S. cruise lines (Carnival, RCL, Norwegian) offer essentially the same experience with different branding and carpet colors. A transatlantic experience will likely be similar across lines as well- by day 3 everyone is just kind of relaxing anyway. The Mardi Gras itself is Carnival's newest product on offer and will give you a good sense of what Carnival is hoping to offer going into the future. If it's your first time on Carnival, it's a great choice of ship.

Got my refund for the 12/9 sailing today- finally. Hopefully others get theirs!

I might be wrong, but don't specialty restaurants onboard already come with a gratuity added to the bill. I'm wondering if this is part of your conundrum in that you've been adding onto what already exists in the past.

That's not entirely the case. Most airlines in the United States (the majors- Delta, United, American at least) have gone back to offering the lowest level of economy tickets which are non-refundable and non-transferable.

We really enjoyed the Dream and would do any of her sister ships. If you're looking for similarly sized ships to the Mardi Gras and Celebration, you might want to look at other lines offering larger ships (i.e. Royal's Freedom class).

/s right? It's like a 10 minute drive depending on when you get in and whatever else might be going on in the port that day. I certainly hope it's not 45 minutes for you that day!

If that were true, you'd think RCL would be all over telling the guests who were screwed in this situation exactly that. It'd be much more reasonable for a guest to understand why there wasn't a cabin available vs. telling them they just cant be assigned a stateroom. From a PR perspective, it's a no brainer.

Same here. Weird how quickly one refunds but the other doesn't. I'm also having difficulties getting them to honor their offer for air change reimbursement. It's honestly disappointing, but not surprising.