nwcruiselover

I’m a huge trivia fan and I love to play, but the cheaters take some of the fun out of it. Nowadays on many ships, they’re playing for medallions (bling on a string), rather than ships on sticks. I don’t mind people who have heard the answers before on other trivia sessions and actually remember the answers, but those who google or fill in the answers as they’re read should be banned.

Long Beach is one port where arrival times are strictly adhered to. So if diamonds, platinums, suites and FTTF arrive before their arrival times, they will not be able to enter the terminal. Long Beach has separate line-ups for all the arrival times, and everyone must get in their appropriate line. With a 11:00 - 11:30 arrival time and being in a suite, you should be onboard by 12:00 - 12:30 under normal conditions.

That’s very true. If people would just use these elevators the way they are designed, they would be very efficient.

Once people get used to them, the smart elevators work very well and are more efficient than “normal” elevators. People need to remember to select the floor they want, once for each passenger. That way the smart elevator “knows” how many people will be getting on. For people with walkers, wheelchairs and scooters, there is a disabled button under the regular buttons. Press that, then select the floor you want. Then the elevator will allow extra room for the mobility device. It works very well if people follow these “rules.”

Definitely, nice jeans and a dressy top would be fine for elegant night in Alaska. The dress is more casual on the Alaska cruises.

No, Carnival doesn’t sell a coffee package, unfortunately. They do have a coffee punch card where you buy 6 and get the 7th coffee drink free.

I was on the Venezia TA cruise. The second night of the cruise was the first elegant night, and the night where people were encouraged to wear masks. There was a craft session that morning to assist people in decorating masks to wear, but they ran out of supplies fairly early. That night, not that many people wore masks, less than 25% for sure, but it was fun to see them. Some were very elegant.

Carnival is not hosting meet and mingles and hasn't done them since the restart.

We’ll be looking for you. DH and I are also in a Terrazza Cabana.

Following along. DH and I will also be on the 5/29/23 TA on Venezia. If we see you we’ll say hello.

Besides the Everglades tour, they sometimes have a tour of Miami Beach followed by transport to the airport. I have done that and it was a good way to spend part of the day. A guided tour of Miami Beach and surrounding areas, followed by free time in Miami Beach, enough time to walk around a bit and have lunch. Sure was better than sitting in the airport all day.

In the past I have heard that workers in the ship laundry are part of the tip pool, since they launder the bed linens and towels for the cabins.

Almost correct. It’s one 750 ml bottle per passenger 21 or older (not 18). Plus the 12 cans of soda per person.

I love the fish & chips at Seafood Shack also. Since there’s an upcharge it usually isn’t very busy, and it’s in a nice, sheltered outdoor area on the Panorama.

JiJi’s is on the Panorama but for lunch they have mostly noodle soup bowls. Nothing like the “real” JiJi’s at dinner—which is excellent!

And a lot of the things in life that can happen aren’t things that would be covered by insurance.

I’m on a Journeys Cruise (Venezia TA) coming up soon, and just received a letter from Carnival outlining terminal check-in procedures. It stated that for Journeys cruses, arrival times would be strictly adhered to, and people arriving before their arrival times would not be admitted to the terminal.

Panorama had Quest in January. I didn’t go and don’t even remember where it was held. It was too late for me.

You still have to do on-line for the second cruises of a B2B.

They’re still enforcing arrival windows in Long Beach. When you arrive, there are multiple lines for the various arrival times, and everyone, diamond, platinum, suites and FTTF included, must get in the line for their arrival time. Once inside the terminal there are priority lines.

I have found that on the newer ships I have been on, Horizon, Celebration and Panorama, the individual temperature controls in the cabins work quite well. Once you find your preferred temp, the cabin stays at that temp till you manually set it warmer or cooler. Not so much on Carnival’s older ships.

Been there done that, in 1979 when the Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title. Don’t need to do it again.

This makes me glad we’re not staying in the heart of Barcelona pre-cruise. I’m not a soccer fan, and those crowds are something I would want to avoid.

Thank you for letting us know.

No.