RoperDK

Thank you BecT, that was exactly what I was looking for! Mobile has always been a bit quirky for embarking and disembarking. The port is just a few hours from our house and I am happy about not having to do an all day drive and wrestle with a hotel. How much was the daily parking fee? We avoid casino cruises because of the crowds. My other casino offers are fine and less stressful than trying to find places to play on those cruises. How was the drink service in the casino and how long after leaving the port before the casino opens? I seem to remember that it took several hours and was longer than expected. Thanks again for the great info!

Now that Spirit has sailed from Mobile for a few sailings, is there any feedback? Interested in how Mobile is handling the restart and how service and condition of the ship is, along with food quality. Any opinions?

Junior Suites do have priority over Pinnacles for dinner only at CK when full suites haven't taken all of the dinner reservations. Junior Suites cannot access CK or the Suite Lounge at any other times. It is a published benefit of Sea Class. If Pinnacles are allowed access, they can eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at CK along with full all day access to the Suite Lounge. There are very few benefits to Sea Class and Junior Suites are considerably more expensive than other lower cabin categories. I feel that Pinnacles have great access to the amenities unless it is a top tier heavy cruise. Not weird at all.

Yikes, Craps! 😧 Even with a cheat sheet, I don't understand that game! They still have Wheel of Fortune, but you will find me most days playing Buffaloooo! 🐃😁 I think we have hijacked this thread. Let me see if I can come up with another CCL pet-peeve..... Still with the casino theme is the fact that you can't walk up to the bar and get your own drink for free like on Royal. Oh wait, they don't have a bar in the casino anymore! We don't qualify for DOU Everywhere, just in the casino while playing. So my pet-peeve is that there are never enough servers in the casino especially at the slots. Never! We actually don't cruise Carnival very much anymore and we are almost Diamond. Our offers are better on Royal and we find cruising with them to be a better value if you can believe that.

Blackjack strategy is easy to learn with a cheat sheet. They are only a few dollars on Amazon and only about 3x4 inches in size. You are allowed to bring them and use them at the table. Most situations are easy to memorize. I still use the card in unusual situations. In my case, I find playing blackjack extremely stressful. The dealer wants to keep a rapid pace of play at the table and I just can't add and figure out the correct move that quickly. I enjoy watching Hubby play and a friendly table is fun, but just give me my slots! 😁

My 2 cents - We normally cruise in suites. Suites cost more, but not as much as other cruise lines. Carnival has very few suite benefits compared to other cruise lines. We would hope that Carnival would offer at least a cabin refresh along with the regular servicing. We've been lucky that our cabin stewards have offered ice and fresh towels twice a day, but frankly we have been cruising on Royal recently as they offer more benefits. I doubt that Carnival has lost any sleep since we have chosen other cruise lines. It is what it is, and we walk in with eyes wide open. I really wonder if the blackjack rules for hitting and standing and novices upsetting the apple cart really plays out over hundreds of hands. I am usually a slot player, but DH follows "the rules" faithfully. I was offered a free cruise on Carnival that included a free slot and blackjack tournament entry. I practiced "the rules" many times before the cruise and took my cheat sheet to the table as reference. After several rounds, I won the tournament and $3000! I would like to think that I won because I followed the rules (along with a good betting strategy), but doesn't catching the cards really make the difference? If the person before me chose the wrong way, might I just as well benefit from the random next card as not? Again, I play slots. I admit that I am clueless.

We usually get the regular coffee at WJ or Cafe Promenade. We bring large stainless to go mugs for the coffee and I bring our own flavored creamer onboard. I have to admit to getting intimidated by the suite/diamond lounge coffee machines. I've been told to just push the Americano button. So, on the last cruise on Mariner when I was in the suite lounge for evening drinks I bravely walked up to that machine and looked for that Americano button. There wasn't one, dang it! So now what do I do? I decided that we were happy enough with the regular old coffee onboard and left it like that.

Glad this seems to be only for top tier heavy cruises. Spreads out the crowds. We don't use the coffee machine in the Crown or Suite lounges because we can't figure out how to use it. 😁 I have to admit that we use the evening snacks as a light dinner sometimes. It would be missed if we don't have access.

I learned something new today! Thank you.

Lol, those plastic bags have many reuses. I use them for kitty litter scooping, too, along with doggy poop pick up bags. I wrap my shoes in them when packing to keep clothes clean. I also wrap toiletries in them to handle a leak when traveling. I guess they aren't "single use" after all. 😉

Why oh why can't Carnival use the compostable cornstarch straws that Royal uses? I bought some on Amazon and that's what I take on Carnival cruises. I can attest to the fact that they do break down. After a while they get brittle and crumble. Tip: don't buy them in bulk. You will have to throw them away. To be honest, I have actually cut way down on my straw usage. I have adapted to going without for most drinks, but some things just need to have a straw!

I have Verizon, too. I have used wifi calling/texting on Royal many times. Our last cruise was on Mardi Gras in Jan. We weren't able to call or text on that ship. Maybe they have enabled it, now. Yes, I love that phone and text is just like at home on Royal. Of course, you have to pay for the internet plan. Much better than the chat feature on the hub app for communicating with your family on the ship.

We love CK! We have always had dinner access in a JS. Of course we would prefer to be in a GS or above, but a JS isn't a bad compromise at all if that option isn't available to you. When you get onboard head directly to the CK/Suite Lounge and work on getting your reservations. We are flexible about dining times so we haven't had to skip a meal if we wanted reservations there. The "always available" is still on the menu. A big plus for us. We love the filet on the first night, but each night has a good choice. The last night's veal chop is amazing! Service is better and the venue has a cozy feel. Much better than the MDR. Enjoy the benefit!

I wish they would stop blocking wifi calling/texting. I am paying for the wifi after all and I can stream Netflix, use WhatsApp and Facebook messenger, but I can't get a phone call or text over wifi. I've really enjoyed being able to do that on other cruise lines.

Tell me more. Were you successful ordering the old classic menu items even when they weren't on the menu that night? I wonder if a ship that has CK makes a difference.

Filet has always been on the first night at CK on the ships I've been on. The app should have the CK menu as you get closer to sailing. Sorry, not Pinnacle. Lobster is served on the second formal night in both the MDR and CK. The CK version is a poached style which I actually prefer. That night is packed with my favs. So, I get scallops as an appetizer instead of entree along with rack of lamb and a "side" of lobster. No dessert for me that night!

I agree with everyone above. Just don't do it. If the concierge makes an exception for you, then he/she has to do it for everyone. They have to walk a fine line sometimes. No need to make things awkward for both you and them.

Don't want to be controversial. I'll just say what happened to us and how I feel about it. We are fully vaxxed and boosted. We have accepted the fact that we may pick up an illness onboard. We have cruised several times since the restart and have picked up the "cruise crud" a couple of times. To my knowledge we haven't had covid before. However, we just got off of Mariner and both my husband and I have tested positive once we got home. Many from our roll call have also reported positive results. So far we have mild cases, as do most others I have talked to. It does seem that there is quite a spike in cases. I really don't think there is a way to avoid it at this point. I won't stop cruising, but we will keep to ourselves for a week from now on after disembarking. I don't want to pass it along.

Lol, I insisted on spending most of my time outside during our Alaska cruise. You can get in the sun and out of the wind and be just fine! We always spend some time at the beginning of the cruise discovering the ship anyway. There will always be a quiet place next to a window to read and watch the sea. Adventure has less views of the sea that will be quiet than the older ships that are more connected to the sea. It is hard to choose when it is your first time. In reality, you will have a great time whatever you decide.

It sounds like Baltimore has some very good positive points! Having someone available to take you to the port eliminates a lot of chaos.

I haven't been on any of those ships, so I can't offer insight on the ships. I'll just offer some thoughts on the things you said you were planning on doing and looked forward to. We just got off of Mariner (sister ship to Adventure) on a 6 day itinerary. We enjoyed our cruise but it was too short and so very loud and crowded. February will be spring break time and the smaller ships (Vision and Enchantment) will be less desirable for booking from that loud crowd. I don't know your ports, but some are easier to just get off the ship and walk around than others. Baltimore will be chilly for a few days for the person in your group that wants to hang out by the pool. Since this is your first cruise you will enjoy a smaller ship even though it doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It might actually be nice to experience an older, smaller ship before they don't exist anymore. Whatever you choose, I hope you have a great cruise!

You can request your dinner reservations from the concierge once you get your welcome letter. If you wait to do it once you are on board you may have limited times. Our favorite dinners are the filet on day 1 and the tomahawk pork chop on day 7. Most dishes are very good at Coastal Kitchen.

Yes, that would be perfectly acceptable. I have found that men can wear dress shorts and golf shirt to dinner, also. I think slacks are more appropriate for formal night, but on the first night and port nights you will see men in shorts at dinner.

You are correct!

We may be tempted to try sailing out of Galveston. It's a bit of a longer drive for us, but maybe a B2B would make it worthwhile.