allinwonderland

I just got off the Panorama today, and I did notice the soup pop back up midway through the cruise! (It's not my thing but I've stalked CC boards enough to know how many people miss it) That seems to be the only thing that's been added to the otherwise pared-down menu people have been sharing for a few weeks now. 

1 hour ago, jam19872016 said:

Brunch today was fantastic. Best meal I've had in a very long time. That's the good news. The bad news is I ordered from the upcharge items not the free brunch menu. Circling back to good news, at least if you are paying extra the food food good. I always worry about paying and then not liking what I order. 

 

This was way too much food and I need my scale more than ever, I did not realize at the low price point how big the servings would be.

 

Shrimp and grits $6

 

 

Crab and avocado sandwich $8.

 

 

This was a beautiful messy mess of a sandwich and I would also order this again but again this is a meal on its own.

 

THANK YOU for the first picture I've seen of this new extra-pay item on the sea day brunch menu. I was curious about this (love crab) but had no idea what it would look like. Is that a poached egg on top of the crab on the lefthand side of the sandwich? So almost like crab Benedict? I would definitely pay a few bucks extra for that.

On 8/27/2022 at 5:18 PM, breadandbutter said:

This menu looks a little different! No chia seed pudding, no brisket sandwich. Crab and avocado sandwich instead of peel and eat shrimp on the for-fee section. Ice cream at dessert. Hmm....

It's not under excursions, it's under specialty dining.

Crab cake at the steakhouse? YUM! Now I'm even more excited. Hope this is the same menu when I'm on the Panorama in a month.

Also, someone a few weeks ago mentioned there was a steakhouse brunch on their last sea day - any chance you can confirm that report?

On 8/21/2022 at 5:16 PM, DallasGuy75219 said:

Why does Royal allow drink packages on day one of Galveston cruises and Carnival doesn't?  Probably their own individual risk tolerances for TABC enforcing this law against the cruiselines.  Royal's all you can drink package clearly violates the law but maybe they don't think it's probable to be enforced. Carnival's 15 drinks a day, as close as 5 minutes apart, could still be reasonably be interpreted to allow or encourage overconsumption of alcohol, although more of a grey area than Royal's. 

 

At the end of the day, Carnival may just have a lower risk tolerance than Royal.  And if they don't want to serve Cheers drinks in Texas waters, maybe it's just simpler for them to wait until day 2 for Cheers to be effective.

I always thought it was because all the other lines have a package that's truly unlimited, whereas Carnival caps you at 15. Which means they need to enter the transaction into their point of sale system as soon as it happens, in order to track your drink count (also why they don't let you use it on their private island). I think the other lines get around the "can't sell all you can drink law" by not charging it into the system till you're in international waters - definitely a gray area by the spirit of the law, but in theory adhering to the letter of the law.

40 minutes ago, maryann2 said:

Wait whaaaaaat? this is a thing now? I would totally do this, extra charge be damned! What ship were you on?

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/carnival-cruise-line-removes-pre-cruise-testing-vaccinated

Once again, it looks pretty copy-paste LOL. But who cares?

6 minutes ago, Lee Cruiser said:

We have one beginning September 23. I’ve been believing that it wouldn’t require testing since the CDC dropped their cruise ship program. I haven’t ordered tests yet either because I’m still thinking it will happen soon!

Haha, mine leaves on the 24th. I've been watching the news like a hawk since the CDC dropped the program, in the hopes that no tests would be required by my cruise. I would've also had to make sure that my traveling companion gets their test done correctly, whether proctored online or finding them a test site to go to that wouldn't charge $130, or they could be denied boarding (we don't live in the same state), so IF the testing drops in time, I'll be extra excited not to have to stress about them potentially screwing it up and ruining my vacation!

21 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Maybe they are waiting for John Heald to approve, and he's just finishing his cruise on P&O Iona, so might have to wait until Monday.  🤣

After the way the whole Bahamas testing thing was handled - with him virulently doubling down that it was a port requirement, only to have them backtrack after a couple days - I personally think they'd be best off keeping him away from the news at first. 🤣🤣🤣

C'mon, c'mon, Carnival, make the announcement! I've got a 7-day cruise at the end of September (with 0 restrictions from the ports) for which I would love not having to deal with the testing malarkey.

In all seriousness, I'm quite surprised the higher-end lines in their portfolio - known for having significantly older passengers on average - dropped restrictions and testing before Carnival itself.

Just now, Gonzowifey said:

I bought my bar tab and got the $100 bonus that was running when I booked.

That is exactly what I was hoping for! Yay!

"Valid through the end of August" or "valid on any sailings booked through the end of August"? I tried to find an answer in the fine print and was confused. If I book a new sailing this month, am I forced to buy my bar tab now for a cruise that won't happen for 6+ months in order to get the extra money from Virgin ($100 instead of their usual $50 "top-off")?

The fine print of the offer seemed to indicate that I could book while this offer is in effect and I'd still get the extra money even if I set up the bar tab a few weeks before sailing, because it's coded into the booking somehow as a promo, but I'm wondering if anyone has firsthand experience.

2 minutes ago, mickeychicky said:

Also keep in mind VV is only 10% unvaxed so it's a crap game when you book.

I'm not the poster who was mad about needing to test because of being unvaxxed.

14 minutes ago, mickeychicky said:

I am understanding it is EVERYONE.  I follow a YouTuber that also is a travel agent. 

What worries me is suddenly being required to test again, even though "testing was dropped", despite being vaxxed, which is what it sounds like you said.

3 minutes ago, mickeychicky said:

I am understanding it is EVERYONE.  I follow a YouTuber that also is a travel agent. 

That is a HUGE walking back of them being the "first (non-luxury) cruise line to drop testing!" And also nowhere on their website, which is still loudly proclaiming "we removed testing policy" at the top (though admittedly, the full page on policies isn't the most clear, which is why I came here for clarification).

I started looking at VV in a serious way after the testing policy became a non-issue. In any other circumstances I'd prefer a 7-day cruise. Glad I didn't book yet.

1 hour ago, mickeychicky said:

Guess the Bahamas didn't like the fact that the cruise ships were taking the drawn out situation into their own hands and dropping it so they said, well guess what, if you want to cruise here with unvaxed people, we will now be requiring testing again.

But the testing to enter the Bahamas (which would apply to all VV Caribbean sailings, since they all go to Bimini) is only if you're unvaxxed, yes? Fully vaxxed still doesn't have to test?

I'm curious about this August promo too - I have my eye on a sailing for next spring with the current sale, but it sounds like for a solo cabin the one starting 8/1 would be close to the same amount of money off plus an extra $50 on the bar tab? Sign me the heck up! (I'm also not usually SO impulsive as to put down a deposit within 24 hours of realizing there's a cruise I might like to take...lol)

9 minutes ago, BallFour4 said:

This layout of bullets is a lot less confusing than the one that still shows different categories of up to date vs. fully vaxxed. Basically with this announcement they're throwing out "up to date" as a category (except for a few European sailings), which IMO makes sense because by now w/ some people having multiple boosters there's so many possible combinations of eligible/not eligible that A. customers can get confused over, and B. port workers would to have to verify

1 minute ago, sec1jrs said:

I'm eligible for a second booster but have not taken it. So I fall in the category that I need to take a test within 3 days of sailing.  I have a less than 5 days cruise in Oct and was hoping to avoid testing without being up to date.

The section about testing is only for cruises of 6+ nights. So you don't have to test period.

I agree it's confusing that they still have a two-section layout (from when there were different days allowed for "up to date" vs. just "fully vaxxed") but if you look closely, both are saying you can take the test within 3 days of sailing. So it's giving those of us who just got the initial 2 shots (or 1 J&J) another day to take the test.

I wish they would just drop the pre-testing requirement for any itinerary with ports that don't require it instead of making it by length of voyage. Because for example, any ship going out of Long Beach only goes to Mexico as a foreign port (*those loooooong Hawaii cruises are an exception where I can see them keeping the testing requirement due to voyage length) and they don't require testing to enter the country. I think a lot of ports in the Western Caribbean don't require testing either. 

43 minutes ago, Joe817 said:

Excellent news! It was bound to happen sooner or later. This came sooner than I expected. Now if they could just drop the testing requirement for cruises greater than 6 days before September 24, I'll be dancing in the isles!  Thanks for posting! 👍

Wondering if we're on the same sailing LOL. I've also got a 7-night cruise leaving 9/24 (Panorama) and I really hope we get to Phase 2 before then. On the upside, it sounds like 3 days for supervised pre-test is now for everyone ("fully vaxxed" and "up to date" alike) which gives me a little less stress dealing with the unknown of doing an online proctored test.

Happy birthday @GenerationX! Thank you for always sharing your vacation adventures with us.

Looking forward to another fabulous GenX review - and especially to hearing about the food in Blu, because thanks to your marvelous inspiration (seriously, love your live reviews!!) I booked myself on an Equinox sailing to the ABCs next year! Couldn't quite convince my traveling companion to spring for The Retreat, but we both do like good food and relaxing, so we're in Aqua.

I got an upgrade offer for the Panorama a few weeks ago but to me it was a downgrade - interior to oceanview, but my interior is on deck 7 and the new room would've been on deck 1. No thanks. I picked my room because I wanted to be centrally located, I'm certainly not going to pay another $178 to be in the bottom of the ship.