ShakyBeef

That's easy. Two in a Balcony. No contest.

We've only used this perk for our beach towels (we bring our own lightweight towels for shore excursions because the Carnival towels are heavy and take up a lot of space in in our lug-around-all-day-on-shore beach bags), DH's cargo pants, swim trunks, and socks. I would never trust any even slightly delicate items (which includes everything I wear on a cruise) to the Carnival laundry service. Also, I'm a little 'icked out' by my laundry being washed with that of strangers.🤢 But I recognise this is a personal hang-up of mine and many others love this perk. Although I think free laundry is far from the best VIFP perk I'm given, I'm still grateful to have it and happy for all of you who love it.🙂

Although I agree there's no guarantee, yours was my exact situation when I was turning Platinum. I researched so much on these boards because I had heard different stories of how it's handled. FWIW: I was awarded Platinum status from Day 1 of Leg 1. And I do think it had to do with linking the two cruises as an "official" B2B. Because I was unsure what my VIFP status would be for Leg 1, I bought FTTF for that cruise months before sailing. But upon online check-in, my boarding passes and luggage tags all showed "Platinum" for both cruises (not that I would be using the luggage tags for Leg 2😁). I think this is a nice, generous little thing Carnival does for those of us in this not-so-frequent situation. Technically, I wouldn't be Platinum until Day 2 of Leg 2, so they didn't owe me the Platinum status for any of Leg 1. I appreciate that they gave it to me and I was able to get a refund on my FTTF purchase. I wish you the same luck.

Vista Suites are the best Suites on Spirit Class and highly sought-after. This could justify the higher price - supply and demand / what the market will bear. No need to sell a Spirit Class VS cheap - many people (including me) want them and will pay a considerable premium to get them. I don't have experience with Mardi Gras. Maybe the Excel Corner Suite on that ship is not as highly prized?

I am so tired of the ASSumers around here repeating this bull about everyone in the GS line on the last day. Yes, I'm sure there are some (many?) who are there to remove their tips. I, however, have stood in the GS line (much shorter VIP line, thankfully) on the last evening of most of my cruises and I have NEVER removed or reduced a tip. I was there once when DH accidentally packed his S&S card in his checked luggage and it had already been collected from the hallway🤦‍♀️, so we needed a new card printed. I have been there to get large bills broken for extra in-person cash tips when I didn't bring enough small bills. And I have been there (ready for this?) to INCREASE my family's autograts on several cruises. But apparently, some of you are walking by me at GS and you just know that I am there for quite the opposite.🙄 And you're actually judging me as a cheapskate and a 'pickpocket' based on your utterly false ASSumption.😡 Maybe I should get a T-Shirt made just for wearing to GS on the last day that says, across the front and the back in large letters: I AM NOT REMOVING OR REDUCING MY GRATUITIES.

These were not included last time we sailed Carnival in a Suite, in January 2020. So I gather Suite Perks have been upgraded since our last sailing.

For the record, although I, too, "don't spend my time checking out other pax wardrobe," I disagree with the statement: "No One notices what you're wearing from day to day." Although I'm not looking for people dressed in the same clothes over and over again, I can't help but notice it sometimes. Sometimes it just jumps out at me. Especially when it is a distinctive outfit, or a particular printed T-shirt with a slogan, etc. Or the clothes a particularly noticeable person happens to be re-wearing. And I can tell you from personal experience, on at least one Carnival cruise, at least one fellow passenger noticed what I wore from day to day. I know because on the 4th or 5th day of the cruise, this complete stranger (older than my father BTW) stopped at my Lido Deck table as he was passing by and said something like "I just wanted to let you know you are always dressed so lovely." This was not said in a creepy or flirty way. He had noticed and appreciated my attire and was paying me a nice compliment. Although my intention was not "dressing to impress," it made my day to be told that.😊

So, if I'm counting correctly, this would mean only bringing on 4 pairs of shoes, max?😱 Never. Never could I do that for a cruise. Heck, I take more than 4 pairs on my fly-to land-based Bahamas trips. I'm loath to admit how many pairs I pack for my drive-to-port cruises.🤭 Seriously, though, y'all who pack light and are happy with it, I'm happy for you. You do you.

WooHoo! I take it this means they finally did what I was hoping for with the Suite Perks. Now, if we could just get it all guaranteed, consistent, and clearly in writing. I wonder if they will now reduce the number of FTTF sold on each ship by the number of Suites. Otherwise, they've just diluted "Priority" by adding more priority people.

Yes, I book Suites and before I turned Platinum, I bought FTTF every time. I thought of it as DIY Suite Perks, since Carnival doesn't offer much in that category. I always wished Carnival would just raise the price of the Suites enough to include the FTTF features and reduce the number of FTTF sold by the number of Suites on each ship. It seems like they may have done this now. I notice that Suites are cleaned and ready upon embarkation (although I don't think this is guaranteed). I believe I have seen Suites listed on the VIP GS line sign in a recent review, but can't confirm this. Also, Suites seem to get priority tender now. Last time I sailed, Suites did not get these perks. I'm not sure which FTTF features are also Suite Perks now, and so how much overlap there would be. I'm Platinum in a Suite now, so one way or another, I get everything included in FTTF now. But if there were appealing FTTF perks I didn't get through my VIFP tier or cabin choice, I would still buy FTTF to get them. But I would much prefer them to include all FTTF perks as Suite Perks and charge accordingly. It would also be nice to have all the Suite perks guaranteed, consistent, and in writing.

You are correct, Tom, it was indeed free entry then got changed to BOGO. This was several years ago, long before I turned Platinum, but I remember there was quite a kerfuffle on the boards when it happened.

As another person who sails regularly in Ocean Suites, I can say they accommodate my family of four comfortably. I don't know what factors go into making a Suite comfortable for one particular group of four but unimaginable for another, but, in case it matters, my family of four is: DH, me, DD20, and DD16. Each of us is well under the average American weight for our sex. And we are all under 5'8". Also, none of us have mobility issues. I can imagine that if we were very tall, obese, and/or mobility-challenged, the Ocean Suite might not work for us. There are probably other factors I'm not addressing, but I mention these in case it is relevant to help others make their cabin choice. I have no experience with 5 in a cabin and never will, so I can't help with that. ETA: I just watched the linked cabin tour video for the first time. Spirit Class Ocean Suites (the type I am familiar with) are laid out better than that and seem to be more spacious and have better "flow". This might be a factor in what makes it work for us. I don't like the layout of that Radiance OS at all!

So, I take it you missed this post:

To be more precise, it says exactly this: Guests are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages on board with the following exception - at the beginning of the cruise during embarkation day only, guests (21 years of age and older) may bring one 750-ml bottle of sealed/unopened wine or champagne, per person, in their carry-on luggage. Outside this exception, all liquor, beer, other forms of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited in both carry-on and checked luggage and such items will be confiscated and discarded and no compensation will be provided. Guests sailing with us on back-to-back cruises are entitled to bring the same quantity as stated in this policy, per cruise. The additional quantities will be stored for safekeeping at the start of the first cruise and will be given to the guest as each following cruise begins. It not only doesn't say that it can't be champagne, it explicitly says it can be champagne. It doesn't "just say wine". Slight but important difference.😉 https://www.carnival.com/help

This is getting weird.😕 Have you cruised out of Baltimore? I have never been pulled aside for my carry-on to be inspected. It was just part of the process everyone was going through. After the first few times, I started packing everything inside my carry-on in Ziplock bags because I was kinda grossed-out by them rifling through my things with the same (gloved) hands they used to rifle through others'.

In my experience, it has been everyone gets their carry-on luggage manually inspected, not just individuals pulled aside. I'm now really wondering if this is port-specific. Admittedly, I have not cruised out of a lot of ports -Tampa, Seattle, Baltimore ( a lot of cruises out of Baltimore on 3 different lines), NYC, and Port Canaveral.

That is weirdly interesting, how different our experiences have been. Maybe it's a port-specific protocol, and you and I have never cruised out of the same ports?

Every single cruise I have ever been on, over 17 years, out of several ports, on 4 different cruiselines, I have always had my carry-on luggage opened and manually inspected, including my wine bottles. ETA: After manual/visual inspection, it goes through the x-ray machine.

I love that story! I've read it before in a PP of yours on some other thread, laughed then, and laughed again reading it just now.🤣 Although I called Arbor Mist disgusting, I was just expressing my opinion on the taste of it to my particular palate. I apologize if it came out as a harsh judgement or in anyway a judgment of you and all other Arbor Mist fans. I did not mean any offense. Confession time: about 20 years ago, I LOVED Arbor Mist and my BFF and I would get excited to try each new flavour that we discovered. Sometimes we even got decidedly tipsy on that stuff. My tastes have changed a lot since then and I no longer like sugary, syrupy drinks. Also, I'm KETO, so I couldn't drink them even if I wanted to. Now, I love a good pinot noir, every time.🙂

🤣 Here ya go. Technically wine, unlike Boone's Farm (which is just as sweet and disgusting but technically a malt beverage), Arbor Mist doesn't taste like wine. It tastes like fruity, sugary stuff. It comes in several flavours.

Oh, the duck! That was good! Was it called something like Hudson Valley Duck, maybe? I can't remember the exact menu name for it. At the age of 3, my DD fell in love with this dish on her first cruise. And on her second cruise, at age 7, not only looked forward to it and ordered it in the MDR for dinner, but later that night, when we were passing through the buffet and noticed it was available there, she devoured two more servings of it with glee. Because of this Carnival MDR dish, through much of her childhood, she would ask at every land-based restaurant that we went to, "Do they have duck?" Le sigh.😔

Starboard, because the cabin numbers are odd, like me.

Would you people PLEASE stop doing this and recommending it to others!?! You got our ability to carry-on our own bottled beverages (other than wine) taken away with your the-rules-don't-apply-to-me smuggling. Now you're going to get our ability to carry on wine revoked. Just freakin' follow the rules, can't you? Smugglers suck.😠

NO!!! Not my towel animals, too!😧 Sorry, sir, I'll behave.😔

The crappy chocolates were not on the pillow. They were on the FunTimes. Get it right, man.