living at the beach

Just turned platinum on Carnival and doing a b2b and was planning to use the laundry service as I have done on NCL satisfactorally. However, a recent post said they do all laundry in hot, unlike NCL that uses cold water. Almost everything I will bring is labeled cold water wash, if it is true that Carnival uses hot, I don't know if I can use it at all. Any recent info on the laundry service? I know that they have self service machines but was hoping not to have to use them.

Ssunfortunately this has been going on for years. And although I do sort of understand why most of us have been "sheep"" as long as it has not directly affected us or our families, when do we stop rolling over as millions more Americans lose any financial security while the CEOs continue to get huge bonuses for cutting costs ,i.e. Ruining lives by cutting middle class jobs?

I do love cruising and I know that my one voice has zero clout in what is going on, but from now on I will be boycotting companies that are destroying the American middle class. So that means Carnival is being added to my list.

A major reason for poorer service and longer wait times for dinner as well is that under new management, the number of staff members have been cut so that room stewards have more cabins to service. In addition, most staff now are assigned other duties leading to 12 plus hour work days, less free days and therefore sometimes having exhausted unhappy staff who despite this almost always strive to keep a smile on their faces and provide good service. Unfortunately it is not only NCL who has been trying extreme cost cutting measures but they are at the top of the list. I am still doing some cruises with them because lately traveling solo their studio cabins with lower caprices and the studio programs that works to bring solos together so that we can dine together in the evening works the best for me.

So I still enjoy cruising and still choose NCL sometimes, I sadly agree that the overall experience has declined with so many of managements cost cutting schemes. I just don't blame the poor overworked staff.

Thanks for the clarification about wine by glass being included. Any experience about how timely wine service is in the MDR? Can you actually get 2 or even 3glasses during the hour and half that you are in the MDR or are you just lucky to get one glass? I mostly like to drink wine with dinner rather than cocktails and only at dinner so that is my concern about purchasing the beverage package if I won't be able to get timely service for wine by the glass in the MDR.

Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but when I was deciding whether or not to get it, I learned that wine at the MDr was not included

In the package. Since the original questioner asked about wines, I wanted to add this information. I am primarily a wine drinker with dinner so the program did not work for me . Unless I misunderstood the package. Would love enlightenment.

On my last cruise in January 2016 on the Glry, I checked the ingredient label carefully and the yogurt did not include live cultures, therefore no probiotic value.

It is about 2 weeks before my final payment date and as long as the current rewards system stay in place I should make Platinum and have a number of extra benefits to enjoy. If I pay now will I be able to obtain my boarding pass witnH platinum on it or will I have to wait for the final payment date?

Thanks for the info. I am much more of a wine than a liquor drinker, so getting the second wine for the second leg works for me. Not sure if it will be worth it to go ashore after the first leg though giving the taxi cost.

i will be sailing on the Glory for 2 consecutive /seven day Caribbean cruises; the first on the Eastern Caribbean route and the second on the Western and I am entitled to bring on 1 bottle of wine for each segment but I am not sure how that works on a B2B. Can I bring on 2 bottles and they will hold them for the second leg, or do I have to get off the ship to get a regularly priced bottle to bring on for the second cruise, and if so is this doable by going to a store within reasonable distance from the port of Miami?

I may have missed it, but is there a definite date for when these changes will happen? As another previous NCL cruiser who has loved the Uptown Grill on NCL, I have booked the Breakaway again for next January. Too much to hope for that the change wont happen until after then or maybe not at all given the

negative reactio of so many about the proposed changes.

The spa on the Epic is even better than on the Breakaway; the only two NCL ships that I have done the spa. That is because it is larger and has a very nice large outdoor area partly shaded at the front of the ship. The heated loungers and large therapy pool are the main reason that lately I have spent extra for the spa pass asI have some arthritis and the multiple jets in the therapy pool plus the heated loungers are just heaven. And on my Meditteranean cruise last April, sitting on the open area at the front of the ship relaxing and getting great photos of the volcanic island of Stromboli was magical!

I did the Epic 10 night RT from Barcelona last year with stops in Sicily and Sardinia instead of the exact itinerary that you are considering. The Meditteranean was cooler and cloudier than I expected with most days only reaching the high 50's Fahrenheit or mid 60's. True also of my 3 days pre trip in barcelona; only 2 days warm and sunny; but still just high 70's, not really beach weather. But it was great for sight seeing in Rome, Florence, and Naples.

You are totally right. My bad. After going on so many cruises; many with CLL, and liking the itinerary for nest January, and purchasing the "CLL insurance! After almost 20 years of cruising, I did not read the fine print. But that is why I am posting this as a warning to others, as I have done so many cruises and didn't realize that with my double price as a solo adding up to a comparable price to both NCL and Holland without an early saver price, with so much less to offer than they used to offer and what their competitors offer that CLL would treat customers this way. early saver rate offers me a very small reduction in price, no other lines have a similar price structure that costs so much so far in advance. caveat preemptor!

Just contacted Carnival to cancel a cruise that I booked for January 2017- about 5 months from now. Previously, I have cruised 41 times with many cruise lines, and many of them have been with Carnival. In the past, even recently, al cruise lines have had the same policy that if you cancel out many months apart, you do so without penalty. Makes sense, as they will have a huge amount of time to rebook that cabin; often at a higher rate. Let me explain that this was for a 7 day highly desirable Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Glory leaving from Miami; not some obscure cruise that might not book up. When I called, I was informed that in order to do so it would impose a penalty fee of $250 for my lowly basic interior cabin.

SO I THEN CHECKED WITH Norwegian, who had a different offer for a similar price for a cabi leavin later that month that offer diverse live entertainment, included beverage package to see if Carnival was just going along with competitors. Instead, I was told that has all cruise lines have always offered, that there would be no penalty if I cancelled before late October.

So, I booked the Norwegian Breakaway from NYC near where I live, did not cance the Glory, but I will never book with CLL again until they revert to the more reasonable policy of letting people cancel before the 90 day before the cruise policy. I have also gone through the cancelling of live bands sailaways, real entertainment, and better food and service accompanied with still good but decreased service due to cuts by the company to the number of service staff, I cannot understand why CLL has a rationale to impose such a steer penalty on a $1000 cabin of $250 when I had also purchased cruise insurance and I was five plus months out!

A warning to all thinking about going or staying with Carnival.

Same experience asGershop; had the Prime rib in Manhattan on the last night ( June 25) and it was huge and delicious!

I have to agree with previous posters about the over salty food on cruise ships being much more likely to be causing the swelling problems than the water. I am also concerned about the huge problem to our environment that the billions of empty water bottles have caused since they became a craze. On occasion when necessary I do use individual water bottles, but I am glad that I enjoy water filtered through reusable Brita bottles and also find the water onboard cruise ships in the dining rooms and the buffets perfectly indistinguishable from the taste of bottled water.

So sorry to hear this. Again, I mostly blame previous cruisers who have used the books and games and not bothered to return them exactly as they have borrowed them. So sorry; have noticed over the past three decades as the ME only attitude has taken place in America that this is sadly now not surprising.

Don't people start to realize that even if on the moment they leave toilets degraded, books removed, games missing pieces, etc, that they too and everyone else looses out when the next time they go to use a public place, someone as selfish as they were left what was a good situation with less than what was there before?

Haven't seen this mentioned before, but all the plastic bottles used and then thrown away lead to the degradation of the environment and the endangerment of many animal species both on the land and in the seas. I have mostly switched to a Brita filter water bottle that I replenish on board, not directly from the spigots, but first into the ship plastic glasses. Filled up with ice and some water, they stay cold, pure, and fairly convenient without harming our beautiful earth.

Just sayin

I too loved the Uptown Grill as an un crowded open air complimentary alternative to the very crowded garden cafe. I especially appreciated the non-beef burgers and salads. I think the worst hing about this change will be even more people trying to eat at the buffet which was designed to hold far too few people given the size of the ship. More and more unhappy cruisers isn't going to boost NCL profits if it leads more people to go to other alternatives.

Don't people realize who are so complacent with the astoundingly gigantic increases of corporate CEO salaries that have occurred over the past 20 to 30 years, that that is connected to the millions of hard working middle class families who have now fallen into near poverty with decreased in pay and benefits? There has not been a huge increase in business success,

, instead some increase but mostly a reshuffling of the dollars so more go to those at the top, mostly relatives of the millionaire class who are groomed for positions as CEOs and whose strategy is not to produce a better product, but instead to increase customer costs and decrease what is provided and because all the big corporations are doing it, the average guy are often like sheep, saying this this is just the way it is. But it doesn't have to be that way. Complaining on Cruise Critic isn't much, but together with the pressure of the dollar from the customers and increased public awareness deciding to not just settle anymore with this corruption of our previously democratic way might in time change things for the good.

I have had 2 upsells from studios; both on the Breakaway when studios had sold out and many other categories had plenty of vacancies. Each time the offer was based on one person extra cost, not double. So I also got an upgrade to a mini suite for $300 for a 7 day cruise last year and just scored an upsell from studio to Haven Spa on a 14 day Southern Caribbean cruise on January 31 for $1000 and I still could join the studio activities. It was a big extra expense for me, but well worth it as the Breakaway had just switched to the new menu and there were horrendously long waits for service in the main dining rooms for the studio groups- (over one hour to get even appetizers , water refills or wine service), so the wonderful Haven dining room with prompt service and delicious food became my only way to eat after 6:30 and still be able to make it to the theater for the late seating show. But it only works if the studio cabins have sold out.

I got an upsell from a studio cabin to a Haven spa on the January 31 st Breakaway and this is why it was wonderful for me: 1. Always getting a table without waiting with no jostling crowds and better food than anywhere else on board. 2. Excellent coffee, tea, salads, fresh fruit, fish, chicken, beef always warm but not over-cooked, less noise, more service, less waits, fantastic soups, and quicker and more responsive service than any other sit down restaurant onboard. 3. Not only spa and Haven entrance to less crowded but great sea front areas, but also a balcony and a wonderful hot tub in the cabin that Di wonders for my aches and pains at the end of the day. BUt for your information I am in my 60s and my joints are more brittle, so if I were in my 30s or early 40s, many of the things that I appreciated this year wouldn't have meant so much for me back then.

Hope my insights help a little.

I really appreciate all the tips that you gave me. I too think that the spa pass will be the best splurge for this upcoming cruise; it is very port intensive as we will be stopping in 6 Italian ports during our 10 days, and being able to soothe tired muscles and relax afterwards plus using the balcony loungers on sea days

seems like heaven to me!

Thanks for all the helpful information. I really appreciated the input from Quilting Cruiser as I am leaving next Thursday on my first solo cruise on th Epic and I will be in the studio and have also purchased the spa. Already started packing as I fly to Barcelona for a three night pre cruise stay this Sunday. Have been doing a lot of planning to enjoy and yet be safe in Barcelona. Any hints on this would be appreciated!

I don't know,and my cabinsteward begged me not to say anything, but he and others confirmed that he has a much longer contract. Also, many staff there said that they can no longer get off the ship even for a few hours because now they are assigned to multiple areas for longer hours. But the fundamental thing is beyond anything that anyone said to me is my experience for much longer wait for service in the three main dining rooms, Manhattan, Taste, and Savor, and even in my Platinum treat at Le Bistro, where we also had to wait for almost an hour for the entree, ( even booking early at 5:45 ). and then it (the sole) came out tough, overdone, and extremelysalty so that I could not bear to eat more than my first bite! At least they acknowledged that the food was inedible and gave us a complimentary second evening meal, which was very good and served in better time. But what if we had been too shy to say anything? Anyway, the main thing is that I am not a moaner and groaner. I have sailed many times on NCL - enough to be Platinum, and never had anything negative to say about them. I still love their entertainment. But the changes in place since the new management came in place have increased costs and decreased service, and when I say this it is with the hope to influence NCL management to conduct a cost effectiveness analysis and to slow down some of the price increases unless they are accompanied by service gains.