amcankid

30 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

And the judge in the suit by the hospital personnel in Texas displayed extreme displeasure at the comparison made by those saying we should have the choice whether to be vaccinated that they compared getting the vaccine to medical experimenting done by N a z i s on people in concentration camps. 

lol. I see by the way you spelled N a z i s that you had the same algorithm problem that I did when I was blasting someone here on CC for comparing vaccinations to internment camps.

But in all seriousness, I just don’t get how anyone in their right mind can think getting vaccinated to save your own life as well as saving others by helping to reach herd immunity is even one tenth of one percent comparable to the horrific conditions and abuse so many American heroes endured during WWll ( or any other war). 

On 6/11/2021 at 10:07 PM, SNJCruisers said:

We like to cruise on the newest ships afloat, with 5 of our 9 ships booked have not even sailed yet.  With Carnival, it's 3 on Mardi Gras and 1 on Celebration.   On NCL,  it's 2 on Prima and 1 each on Bliss, Joy and Encore. Two on Discovery Princess and 1 on revamped Oasis and Celebrity Apex.

Have a transatlantic as well as a 14 day Northern European cruise booked.

Geez. You just keep rubbing in don’t you!! Lol

Seriously though, nothing but envy for you and hope that one day, God and health willing, we’ll have the same opportunities to be at sea that much!!

On 6/11/2021 at 5:42 PM, Earthworm Jim said:

 

There was rhyme and reason to your situation. Light drinkers get the better Cheers promotion, because it won't cost Carnival much revenue. Heavier drinkers get a worse deal, because it would cost Carnival more revenue.

 

The only part that doesn't make sense from Carnival's standpoint is they didn't take into account who your wife normally traveled with. (I'm assuming that's you)  I'd have expected both of you to get the same offer, based on how much the two of you combined drink, instead of looking at you each individually.

You’ve managed to shoot a hole through your own theory. Lol

And outside of when she’s traveling with her boyfriend( just kidding, your assumption is right) our sign and sail card is always mine. 
But honestly, neither one of us ever drink more than two or three drinks per night, usually less.

I worked over thirty years for one of the major liquor suppliers for the the cruise industry. I know what they pay (tax free, duty free) and am amazed that  we’re paying nightclub prices when they’re procuring the liquor at case price equal to bottle price for those same nightclubs.

But I also know their markup on liquor also keeps the prices more affordable for the cruise itself. So definitely won’t criticize them, just usually don’t give them the extra money.

But as to your point, I don’t think there’s a computer algorithm on who gets the RU1 code. I think it’s truly just luck of the draw!
 

52 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Only 13 at this point, which is a lot compared to most and a drop in the bucket compared to some on the boards, especially those in FLA or have much deeper pockets than I do.  Used to do 2 at the most per year, but Covid caused me to retire about 4 years early.

I love California. I love the west coast.

But if ever I decided to leave and go to the East Coast it would be for one reason.

To do the same thing as you.

I’d get a one or two bedroom condo that I can just walk out the door, lock it and say see ya in a couple of weeks. 
But I got to wait a bit before I can do that. I’m retired but my wife has at least 4 more years to go. But who knows, I might start bumping into you in 5 years. We’ll both be saying I know that person from somewhere. Oh crapola. I’ve seen that person on 10 different cruises this year!! Lol

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

It irritates me to no end about the plethora of people boasting about getting Cheers as cheap as 5 bucks per day because they were the recipient of a RU1 code.  Others paid a bit more when they got a RU2 or RU3 code.  All the algorithm bestowed upon me was the RU9 code, which was worthless.  Have sailed on Carnival for 35 years and the only thing I ever got from them was a free upgrade 10 years ago on the Spirit.

So, I decided to roll the dice, gauge the system and overpay for a B2B August cruise hoping that it would cancel so I would earn the 1200 in OBC to use towards Cheers for our new B2B.  No big deal, I have my Halloween cruise on the Mardi Gras to look forward to as well as 8 bookings in 2022 and 4 in 2023.

On one hand you tried to game the system and lost. On the other hand, did you?(lose)

You’re gonna have some great times and from everything I understand, those two cruises you were hoping to get canceled will be at reduced capacity so in a way it’s a win for you.

And other than that, you ain’t gonna get much sympathy from us when you have 14 bookings in the next two years!!!

Maybe a little envy, but definitely no sympathy!!

3 minutes ago, bdever said:

It was on a 95% vaccinated cruise. 

95% is a confusing number because the debate goes on without clarification from the cruise Industry. Does the other 5% include adults not vaccinated or is it to give a little wiggle room for kids not old enough for the vax.

Either way, the odds of a fully vaccinated ship having 2 to 10 passengers testing positive at some point are very high. The odds of a fully vaccinated ship having an outbreak with 2 to 10 or more being symptomatic with serious health issues are almost 0!!!!!

I feel the news from the Millennium is good news. The cruise industry will survive if just because a couple of people on a cruise test positive there’s no worry that they have a serious problem on there hands!!

53 minutes ago, ryanpatricksmom said:

I never suspected that after all this time, I would be on the inaugural sailing!  Woot Woot!

You earned it. No doubt you’ve been sweating it the last few weeks.

My daughter and her boyfriend are on the August 14th cruise and trust me, up until maybe three weeks ago we were really nervous for them, and even the last couple of weeks it still seemed like touch and go.

My wife and me are on the October 16 voyage so we weren’t sweating it as much but still, you never know.  Now we can breathe a little easier.

9 hours ago, bury me at sea said:

Yesterday I cancelled 2 spa cabins on the September 19 Dream sailing out of Galveston.  I forfeited something over $600.

 

All 4 of us are fully vaccinated but with final payment due next week, after 2 lengthy discussions the consensus was "Let's Wait to See."  We all agree with the fully vaccinated start-up concept.  Just decided not yet...

 

It's been way too long since my last cruise.

I feel your hesitation, but truth be told, if all of you are vaccinated and the cruise isn’t until September, me thinks you jumped the gun and are going to regret it.

31 minutes ago, sm3ds said:

How many cruises have you been on. 

I don’t go on as many as I would like, but we also payed for our kids, even when they became adults (also our grandkids twice) so most of the time pretty expensive. We travel a couple of times a year overseas but to answer you question, my wife and myself have 10 cruises under our belt with two more scheduled in the next year.

Both will be just her and me cause everyone has different schedules these days.

But even if I only cruised once or if I cruised 50

times, I want to see the cruise industry survive. Don’t see how you can condemn me for that.

1 hour ago, sm3ds said:

The nation does not just consist of adults. Only 6% of children 12-15 have been fully vaccinated. The younger the child the more hesitant parents will be. 

This board does not represent the view of the whole population. Only about 15 million Americans cruise every year and that was when times were good.

 

Cruise lines have designed all their new ships for family's not for old people. They were counting on the family market. Maybe they can get the old people to play laser tag, bumper cars and ride the rollercoaster. I don't know, but I'm guessing they prefer the smaller ships. 

 

It will be interesting to see how Disney handles this, but it doesn't appear they are in any hurry to jump into the fire. They'll sit back and watch all the other cruise lines make fools of themselves.  

 

The vaccination rate currently is at 42%. Some of the states cruises embark from are sitting in the low 30's, Vaccine centers are being shut down due to lack of demand. Every place where I live is walk in and they are empty. 

 

As far as the fragility of the cruise industry that's not my problem. My life has been fine over the last year without cruises. I enjoy cruises and I'd like to go on one again someday, but it's not the end of the world if the cruise lines don't survive.  

 

Once again you’re showing the me first attitude that most anti- vaxxers show.

To say the fragility is not your problem makes it a problem for all. Whether you care if you ever go on another cruise or not doesn’t mean the rest of us are as ambivalent to cruising.

And most of us who do want the cruise industry to survive and thrive understand the importance of doing all that can be done to avoid a serious outbreak which would effectively shut the industry down.

I could care less whether you choose to get vaccinated outside of anything cruise related. If you shop at Walmart and later that week you get extremely sick, Walmart will continue to thrive. 
Not so if either on the ship or shortly after the cruise. They will trace it back to the ship and shut it down for thorough cleansing. And if enough passengers get sick? Goodbye cruise industry for another few months, some permanently. 
Not that you care, cause you could take or leave what we passionately love!

12 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

You shouldn't have any automatic gratuities. However, I hope you do tip your bartenders directly either one time with a nice big tip or every drink. Yes, you got it for $0 and automatic 18% on $0 is $0. So the bartenders are the ones that will be paying the price for your promotional gift. It doesn't have to be much, but $2 here and there go a long way.

I know you are much more knowledgeable than me because I’ve seen many of your comments over the years.

And you’re probably right about this also, but my interpretation of the Cheers program is you’re getting the package for “free” albeit with a higher cabin price. That being said the 18% gratuity is built into the cost just as if you’d paid full price for the package.

When you normally purchase a cheers package there’s the base rate and then the gratuities added make the final cost. 
Kinda like if you have a coupon for something like take $50 off your restaurant bill.

In the small print it will always request that you tip based on what the bill would be without the discount.

53 minutes ago, sm3ds said:

With only 41% of the population vaccinated and demand for vaccines falling off a cliff they won't be able to sustain this long term. They can fill their two or three ships at half capacity for now, but eventually their going to want to start making money. 

Au contraire my friend. You might be right that the nation as a whole has just about peaked but even at that the percentage vaccinated is still climbing and will easily get to 55 or 60%.

Not as high a number as hoped for, but a large majority of people regardless.

As for cruises, the percentage of older people on ships is much higher than older people in general. And being that probably 80% minimum of people older than 55 have been vaccinated that changes the statistics for cruises.

And most importantly, just reading others comments on all posts related to vaccinations, you’ll notice the pro vax comment at least 3 times as much as non vaxxers. Assuming that reflects most people’s attitudes then you can throw the national statistics out the window. 
Very unscientifically and just a personal guess, I would put the numbers with all the above considered to be more like 80% vaccinated for those booked or ready to book.

And last but not least, I would say you will have many many more people say they will only go if there’s a mandatory vaccinated rule.

Personally, I’m no longer worried about catching it, but I’ll be damn if I’m going on a cruise that has a good chance for an outbreak, thus effectively ending that cruise or as a party to ending future cruise as the industry once again gets shut down.

We really have to look at the fragility of the cruise industry in regards to Covid and stop thinking about our own self interests.

8 hours ago, topaz123 said:

When we booked our cruise in NOV, we were given the  FREE CHEERS PROGRAM for cruise. I'm reading conflicting reports about gratuity.  Is there the 18% charge on top of the package, even though we did not pay for the package?   Or easier ......I go to the bar, order a whiskey sour,  do I have to pay 18% at this time or later or never. Confused.....suffering cruise withdrawal.

The “free” cheers package isn’t really free cause the price of your cabin is higher than if you booked it without the cheers.

That being said, if you were offered the RU1 rate, the increase on the cabin is negligible.

And to answer your question, it’s a Cheers Package. Same as if you paid full price. Everything included with the exception that if you order a drink before you set sail and there’s a tax in the state your port is in, you’ll be charged extra for that.

But even if you and your spouse had two drinks each before it set sail and there was a 9 percent tax, you’re talking a couple of dollars at most added to your final bill.

Gratuities are included!

On 6/6/2021 at 8:47 PM, Ariel1985 said:

The Indian food is some of the best food I’ve ever had, and I have some solid Indian restaurants in my area. 

Totally agree!!!

And two of my cruises some Indian families agreed also. They would arrive early, get their tables close by, and camp out from when it opened till it closed. The kids would go do other things and then come back to eat some

more, but the adults treated it like there was a party in their house going on. They played games at their table and talked and drank and ate, and ate and ate. Lol

52 minutes ago, 80sGal said:

A bit off topic but can the Cheers Promo be used on more than one booking?  It pops up in my offers but I read somewhere that once you used the rate code once, then that was it.  Trying to decide whether to change my booking code for January but don't want to lose the offer if it's a one time thing.  I might want it later for a longer sailing.  Anyone been able to use it more than once? 

From what I understand from my personal planner at Carnival when I was talking to her a few months ago, the first offers were a one time shot. But then when the program was about to expire they extended it and also made it available for multi bookings.

If you or your significant other have the hard to find RU1 or RU2 codes, don’t hesitate, jump at it and never look back!!!

And as long as it gives you that rate when you book it, they will have to honor it. Just make sure to screenshot everything and keep all email confirmations.

There’s a Cheers program Carnival has been pushing the last few months.

A so called Cheers (all you can drink for free) that raises the price of your cruise to compensate for the “free” they’re giving you.

I received the RU9 promotion. Yeah, we can drink for “free” but the cabin is more than if I booked without the promotion.

My light to non drinker wife on the other hand received the RU1 promotion.  Truly a free deal cause the cabin price went up by only a couple of bucks.

Needless to say we’re on the October 16 Mardi Gras cruise with her code.

Bottom line, there’s no rhyme or reason to offers Carnival sends out.

Just learn to work the system.

One thing I know, at least for the Mardi Gras because of the high demand and prices for it on the upswing, I feel Carnival should stop accepting all future reservations for it to keep cabins available for those who got canceled.

Then if your voyage is one of the canceled cruises, they could give those people first dibs on cabins at the same price you paid for the equivalent category.

I’m sweating my daughter and her boyfriends August 14 cruise because I know if it gets canceled they won’t want to pay 6 to 8 hundred dollars more later for the same cabin.

Even starting to wonder about my October cruise, but trying to stay positive about that.

16 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

The next time my wife and I cruise, after we have drinks in our hands and have chatted with the crew after coming aboard, we're going to go to sail-away and lift our glasses in a toast to all those who remain onshore. We intend to go on living life.

Wish you were on my Oct.16th Mardi Gras cruise cause I’d happily stand next to you with my glass lifted as well!

14 hours ago, kdr69 said:

How do they quarantine those with Norovirus? The numbers of those that may or may not get infected is unclear and the emphasis being placed on this is excesseive in my opinion.  Obviously it would not be the same numbers as it was in the beginning as NO ONE was vaccinated then so the virus was free to run its course especially in a closed system created by not disembarking passengers.  Given the percentage of those that are vaccinated now i would assume that on any cruise at this point the majority of passengers would be vaccinated and since all of the crew would be as well the only pathway for the virus to spread would be limited to those who are unvaccinated.  This would not be the total number of unvaccinated passengers either as not everyone would not be in contact with the positive case so the case load the way i interpret it would be small and and manageable for the one to two days in between ports where they could be offloaded to medical or quarantine facilites.  They do not need to stay on board for the full cruise so the care required should not be excessive.  

You have actually laid out a very good argument for letting the cruises go regardless of vaccinated or not.

And all your talking points make a good deal of sense.

My only hesitation would be the what if question. What if more than 10 people, no matter, listening to your logic, the unlikely hood that it could happen, if 10 or more showed Covid symptoms and 1, 2  or more were hospitalized or died, would the cruise industry be allowed to continue or would that end up being the proverbial final nail in the coffin.

Personally I don’t get why anyone wouldn’t want to get vaccinated ( and that includes my oldest daughter and her husband). 
But especially true for going on a cruise what many refer to as a Petri dish. Why would you want to roll the dice. 
But if I could get assurances that if a few unvaccinated get Covid, they will simply be removed from the ship and our cruise will go on, then heck, open it to all. I’m personally not worried that I will be the one removed or hospitalized.

56 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

No offense to florida but I'm glad I live in texas.

As a proud Californian, a state that is always criticized but inevitably leads the way to change, I must say my daughter and her boyfriend just completed a 3 week round trip road trip from SF to San Antonio and she absolutely loved Texas. She loved the people, the cities, the food and the ambiance.

Wasn’t super crazy about the weather, but hey, in the San Francisco Bay Area we’re spoiled. We complain if it gets over 80 in the summer and if it gets below 55 in the Winter.

But just thought you’d like to know.

👏for Texas!!

Thanks for sharing. And finally, finally confirmed what I suspected but could never get an answer other than the deck plans are just drawn but not accurate. The cabins on the mid ship hump have very deep balconies.

We booked one about 5 months ago for the October 16th cruise. Got it before all the dramatic price increases and now lack of availability. 
Hella happy!!!

Thanks again!!!

1 hour ago, bethtex said:

for those of you who mentioned Texas - the governor's order in Texas does NOT preclude private businesses from requiring proof of vaccination.  Only applies to state and local governments, public schools and such.  Much different than FL which penalizes private businesses for trying to operate as they wish.

As a proud moderate Democrat, if Gov. Abbot ordered his mask off mandate for government offices and schools without forcing private businesses to do the same, I can only applaud him for doing what Republicans always profess to stand for (keep Government out of our business). 
As Governor, it’s his right and duty to set guidelines for state and local governments. If you don’t agree, which I don’t, then that’s what elections are for. 
DiSantis on the other hand wants to play it both ways. Keep government out of our lives unless it’s a Republican pulling the strings. Hypocritical as it gets!!

28 minutes ago, MrMarc said:

Actually its Panama, I got my cruise lines mixed up.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Corporation_%26_plc

Actually Actually it’s Bahamas. They just announced the switch two or three weeks ago

19 minutes ago, Cruise Related said:

Dude or ma’am, the children’s dessert banana split is amazing! Have you tried it? 

It’s Mr. Dude to you please. Lol

And I’m glad you brought that up. The banana splits are on the kids menu only, but anyone can order it.

And yes, I’ve had it. But still ordered my ice cream across the board in addition!

I’m looking forward to the oatmeal. Or the pre meal warm bread. 
Basically what I’m saying is anything that proves I’m on a ship in the middle of the ocean again.

As for a serious response, I always order the shrimp cocktail with every single dinner, even if I’m ordering two or three other starters.

And the flat iron steak. Every dinner no matter what else I ordered for  the main course.

And last but not least, ice cream for desert.

Across the board I say, meaning all three flavors.With usually a second round of it. Even as I’m ordering other desert items which change nightly.

In Fact, between all the ice cream I eat at dinner combined with the three or 4 cones of soft serve daily I’m surprised I’m not diabetic or dead!! Lol (that’s what the ships gym is for though. Burn all that sugar off)