sparks1093

Unless its use is restricted in some way OBC can used for anything on your account (you don't get to choose, really, it is applied as a credit). So if you have $500 in obc and your final bill is $600 you would owe $100.

I would expect brunch to be better, absolutely.

Yes, overall I would rate Carnival's buffet as "consistently good". That doesn't mean that I necessarily like everything offered. That's the beauty of a buffet, you can try a small taste of something and if you like it you can go back for more. If you don't you move on. I would expect that they would remove some foods and add other foods as time goes on.

I was going to say this, Carnival's buffet bacon has always been overdone and I stopped taking any a long time ago.

I have always found Carnival's buffet to be consistently good. It may not be as robust in offerings that other lines give, but everything that I've tried is very good (for what it is, which is buffet food). I know that I've never left hungry. 🤣

Well, typically only $50 of your deposit per person is not refundable, the remaining deposit is available as a future cruise credit. If you use the CFAR provision of the cruise line insurance you get 75% of the fare back, but only as a future cruise credit. So I would say spending money is just an extra, unnecessary step.

Read and fully understand the terms they are using. The way they define things may not be the way that we would define them.

Plus many other plans are also secondary.

If a plan offers cancel for any reason and you buy the plan to cancel for any reason, where is the fraud?

I just purchased trip insurance for our cruise in April. $150 for the two of us. It covers the air portion of our trip and provides much better coverage than what Carnival offers. I can't remember what their plan costs for the trip, but I know that it is much more than $150. (And Cancel For Any Reason coverage does nothing for me. If I am cancelling then it is for a covered reason.)

Bacon is available, but not at a price Carnival is willing to pay without having to make another cutback or raise fares. They have it available onboard, but not in a quantity that allows it to be served at the buffet every day. Food is a large expense and trying to eliminate waste reduces that expense. @DramaQueen22's post is spot on- if you buy something and it spoils before you can consume it all you will not buy so much the next time. The same thing applies if you prepare it and don't eat it all.

Exactly. Many fishing boats will freeze their catch because they spend so long at sea filling their holds that it is the only way to get the fish back to port without it spoiling. It is possible after reading the description of what HAL offers that they are sourcing locally caught fish that hasn't been previously frozen, but their description does not rule out that some of what they source may have been frozen at sea after being caught. Virtually every type of fish and seafood at my local supermarket bears the words "previously frozen", because that is the only safe way to get it to northern Vermont from wherever it was caught. (This reminds me of a scene from a movie [but not the title of the movie but I think it starred Walter Mathieu] where the character was debating with a store clerk about the term "fresh frozen". According to the character, if it's frozen, it isn't fresh. And he was right.)

It isn't highlighted like everything else and is rather hard to see but it is there.

I'm sure that there is a coffee bar on Magic but haven't been so can't help with that. I know that on many ships there is a small coffee bar on Lido where you can get specialty coffees. Not sure about the limit on waters, most people just grab a bottle when they get a drink, which is what we will typically do.

You have to put that money in your player bank and then play a slot machine for a spin or two. Then you can cash out your player bank. If you wanted to skip that you could pay the fee (3%?) to receive the cash.

We found the offerings in one section of the buffet the one time we looked. The rest of the buffet had other things available (not that we made note of what else was there).

Don't know, have never been to the buffet for dinner. I've read many times that the main entree's in the MDR are available in the buffet.

Exactly and you can go back as often as you want to if you are of mind to (or just take a small spoonful if all you want is a taste).

I think that is exactly what people were doing, ordering 3 or more just to try a bite of each. Add it up and it does, well, add up.

I used the word "taste" as a figure of speech.

Which is exactly what the reaction would have been if you had tried to file a complaint with a police department. Since they don't do that for more serious infractions it is highly unlikely they would do it for this one. Yes, the guy was a jerk and out of line, but getting someone to do anything will be fruitless.

Exactly, none of those changes (and they are simply changes, made to make the cruise line as efficient as possible without unduly raising fares) severely impacts the overall cruise experience. We had just as a good of a time on Glory this past April as we did on Pride in 2012.

Just pointing out there is a difference between a tail and a whole Maine lobster.

Maybe. But by waiting you will probably be limited in what cabins are available.

Yes, customs and immigration are too different animals. I know that here on the northern border if someone attempts entry whose immigration status is questionable the agents at the port of entry have to call someone with the expertise necessary to sort things out.