Island Dog

Must be a water shortage...

Maybe by then everyone is so full and fat that pairing the lobster with a beef entrée to have Surf and Turf will be unattractive. Across all lines the quality and size of the lobster tail has diminished to the point that I don't desire it anymore. But many still do.

I wonder what tomorrow's email is going to reveal? 🤔

Will there be "Food Police" making sure portly Hubbies don't eat their wives second entrée? (asking for a friend...) 🤣

Man, that's a great hack! Thanks!

We did the Dune Buggy excursion with Marysol Tours last October and absolutely loved it. Drove through the countryside, along the beach, splashed through rivers and motored up into the hills. Had a couple nice stops along the way. One to see how chocolate and cigars are made. There were items for sale but nobody was pushy at all. Another stop, near the end of the tour, was at a nice beach where we had a chance to take a dip and get an ice cold Presidente. Tour was super-cheap as well. One tip though. If you are booking with Marysol and don't want to endure the long walk to the exit of the port, simply take a cheap short cab ride to the port gate.

I haven't experienced the Oasis class with RCCL, but from my experience all the lines seem to have challenges figuring out how to accommodate the larger passenger count on these larger vessels. Some amenities seem to never be of appropriate size (or even shrink) for the amount of people onboard. Namely pools, buffets, theatres and comedy clubs. Nobody likes the crowds, long lines or even having to miss out completely because of this trend.

Since the restart we have enjoyed the booking code "RU2" with Cheers! substantially discounted as part of the fare a few times. Unfortunately, when I search new for fares lately this code seems to have vanished. It was a significant savings over the pre-cruise Cheers! purchase price.

Well, if not we've got 3 sea day opportunities to enjoy them on the Spirit in a few weeks!😁

Well now I'm gonna have to try those! Do you know if they serve them on "non-sea brunch" days?

Seems like an odd move. I'd have to say in all the years we've been cruising, the one ethnic group I've seen steadily enjoying the experience in more and more numbers are Indians (from the U.S.). Having more Indian food is a win-win for them and for the rest of us who have never had the pleasure of being exposed to this tasty exotic cuisine. If it weren't for cruising, there would be so many types of food that I would not have ever tried in my life out of the fear of the unknown.

Forgot about this. My wife absolutely loved this last cruise.

After a lot of "spirited debate" about sausage gravy and french fries, I figured I'd start a thread a little more positive about the Carnival food people actually like. I know food is still a major highlight of traveling with Carnival for most (all?) of us. Guy's Burgers "Pig Patty"-classic smashburger with that "how'd they do that" Bacon Patty. Close second, new "Funderstruck" burger. Pizza- I know some don't care for it but to me it's classic neopolitan and is not supposed to have a lot of sauce or cheese. My only disappointment is when it's undercooked. Huevos Rancheros from Blue Iguana-just something I never get to have shore side. Buffalo Chicken Sandwich from Deli-sorta worth the wait. MDR Soups- any and all, all the time. Steakhouse steak-always have had a great steak here, no matter what the cut. I'm picky about steak and they don't disappoint. We have no complaints about food since the startup. Yeah, there have been some changes but still find excellent dishes in the MDR every night. I actually ordered the dreaded "strip loin" at brunch one morning after reading the complaints here, but found it to be not bad. Now the old "flat iron steak", that's a different story for me. Lol. Add on, or flame me. Your choice!

I agree with you. I always find it amazing to see all this food prepared from scratch from so many cooking styles done so well. However, sausage gravy is just sausage, flour, milk and black pepper. I think, like biscuits, it's all about the line dictating the recipe and its preparation. Although I'll agree it's slop, it's still a guilty pleasure I sometimes enjoy. But that's the beauty of cruising for foodies of all walks of life. You can have biscuits and gravy for breakfast and Coq a Vin for dinner.

Lol. I agree wholeheartedly. I liked the fresh cut fries, and thought they paired well with the burger to give that "Guy's Triple D Experience" like you see on TV. But the dirty secret is that what they replaced them with isn't bad at all and still different from the deli fries. This is at the bottom of the pyramid of even "first world problems" and hardly something to fall on the sword over (like sausage gravy and biscuits). Still fun to gripe about about while we're all bored waiting for our next cruise. Classic CC.

Looks are not deceiving with those biscuits. I'm afraid to lose a tooth!

Enjoyed the free wine last month on Liberty. We are not "Wine Spectator" types, so we found it enjoyable. However, if you are an aficionado, 50% off anything on the wine list is a fantastic deal.

Carnival won't. But in addition to RCCL, MSC and Virgin have "loyalty matching" from different (competing) lines. My Platinum status on Princess got me Gold status on MSC.

Unlike most lines, MSC cruises have a majority of European staff (not necessarily Italian, but a lot are). Probably why a lot of people think MSC service is not as good. As of late, it has been reported that they have been hiring more Asians.....and that service is improving. Methinks the two are not unrelated.

And yet the Italians on MSC have been reported on this thread to be making the best sausage gravy at sea. Bizarro world.

Well there it is. Frozen fries are cheaper. Another cutback. Flame away! Lol

Thanks everyone!!!!

Paid our final payment for our March Escape cruise a week ago. When can we book our specialty dining days and times? While we're at it, same question for production shows?

"Penny" slots were 50 cents minimum per pull on Liberty in September for us.

I think the reason that they can't make a decent biscuit is that a good biscuit requires buttermilk. With no other use for buttermilk onboard we get the puck. Only reason I can think of since all of the other breads and pastries are so damned good.