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One of the things that bothers me on cruises is seeing all the food waste - I'm so glad they are getting rid of the complimentary occasion cakes. Almost always, less than half would get eaten and the rest thrown away.

I'm always trying to figure out what prompts upgrade/upsell offers or certain casino offers. We have been on more than 20 Carnival cruises, and in that time have had 1 upgrade offer, but it was gone by the time I logged in to view it. I think some itineraries have a much higher demand for balconies (Alaska, Hawaii, Panama Canal) so if I get an amazing deal on an inside on one of those, I don't expect an upgrade offer (but I do still check frequently... just in case 🙂). And as an aside... I so wish all those youtubers would quit telling people to head straight to guest services to request an upgrade when they board the ship - it only contributes to the huge lines. ☹️

Yes, just go to guest services if you have an early flight and they will give you instructions for priority debarkation.

I just tried to do this on our cruise over the 4th of July. My 18 year old daughter was given half of my OBC and I told guest services there was no way she would be able to use all of it (not old enough to buy drinks etc). They said transferring the OBC was not possible, but that as long as I put us both on the same "account" (meaning linked to the same credit card) it wouldn't matter. Even though it would show as separate on our statements (and in the HUB), charges would still be applied to the OBC in the order they were received (regardless which one of us purchased). I was skeptical, but it was true, I was able to use the majority of the OBC. Sorry I know that probably won't help in a friend situation because they probably don't want to use the same credit card for on-board expenses.

I think this is the key. I am on the west coast also, so we sail out of California a fair amount. We have been on over 20 Carnival cruises (9 within the last year). We have tried everything from their smallest Fantasy class (out of Long Beach) to the newest/biggest Mardi Gras and many in between. I agree that the shorter cruises tend to be "booze cruises". It's simply a different crowd than you find on the longer itineraries (2 weeks/Hawaii was an incredibly low key type of crowd). Having said that it also depends on what you like to experience. We typically avoid the crowds (never go near the pools/hot tubs) and just want to get some sun/rest/relax/a little exercise on our cruises, so the type of crowd we are sailing with doesn't really impact us all that much. We have not done Panorama yet (going in about a month) but we have been on her sister ships and really enjoyed them. Before Mardi Gras they were the cool, new, big ships with lots of fun things to do.

We have been on 9 cruises this year, and have found this varies by ship. Most commonly, your card quits working after 2 drinks to "encourage" people to get to their muster drill. The Miracle does the best job, they usher people straight to muster upon boarding. Also, if you haven't had a chance to get to your room to get your card (or your is not available until later) you can use your boarding pass to order a drink.

I'm okay with Carnival dragging their feet on an announcement. New sales and/or casino offers should come out the beginning of August and I'd prefer to book a cruise before a they get a huge influx of bookings. 😄

We are booked on this sailing also! For the same reason - we loved Mardi Gras so much that we booked Celebration as soon as we could, and also booked Jubilee (New Years Eve 2023). I'm jealous, unfortunately no B2Bs for us yet (we can't be away from work that long)... but someday... 🙂 I think the Excel class is a game changer for Carnival.

Congrats! And thank you for posting - it always reminds me to check my bookings for upgrades (so far nothing though). Which ship?

Exactly - I threw away a perfectly good (new) curling iron because I thought it had been damaged during travel when the power light would come on but it wouldn't heat up while on the ship (but worked fine the day before in the hotel). Totally regret not trying it again off the ship, but I figured why lug it back across the country if it wasn't working (and left it in the trash on the ship).

Sorry to hear it was a bad experience. I have been on Radiance twice in the last 5 months, and think it has a lot to offer for that size ship. But I also agree, the 3 or 4 day itineraries can be an interesting experience. In our case the cruises were extremely inexpensive, so I probably adjusted my expectations (it was better than being at home working! 🙂). For the most part, I tend to seek out quiet areas away from the crowds, so the issues you mentioned might have existed on our cruises, and I just didn't see it. I definitely noticed it was a younger (maybe louder?) crowd.

Totally agree - I fly frequently (not loyal to any particular airline) and I'd estimate 50% of my flights end up with schedule changes. Someone mentioned Southwest is bad about this, but Delta has been absolutely horrible for me more lately (I'm actually surprised when I have a Delta flight that goes as planned).

We have not departed from New York but Galveston is similar (no Cheers on day 1). But DOU were available day 1 in that case too.

I'm pretty easy going, I drink the complimentary coffee and don't even add anything (so I'm not sure about the creamers) but I will say a lot of people here don't like it.

I admit I am not a foodie, but I love all the food options for the most part (not a huge fan of buffets in general). There is an Indian Vegetarian meal on the menu every night in the MDR that I order about 3 times per cruise (on a 7 or 8 day cruise). And I'm not a vegetarian, I just love it that much. If you like Indian food (slightly spicy) I highly recommend it.

Thank you for the review - sounds like it was a great cruise overall. I am counting down the days until we board Panorama (43 to be exact 🙂). We have been on 9 cruises in the past year and I can't agree with you more on the high number of inconsiderate passengers recently. I have finally started booking cabins that are very far forward or aft, in hopes of not having so many people walking by our door loudly talking/laughing/yelling down the hall at all hours. I don't know if it's just luck/timing but so far that seems to be a more quiet location. The worst seems to be near the glass elevators (on the ships that have those). Thanks especially for the info on the spa (anything other advice?) - due to a weird turn of events, we ended up in a spa cabin (we are totally not spa people and have never been in any ship spa before) but decided that we might as well try it out and make the best of it. And I totally agree with you on the loyalty program. Unfortunately I think Carnival's target is new cruisers, and they make that obvious with their inferior rewards.

Very interesting - thank you for posting. Not to make excuses, because I would be frustrated too, but unfortunately I think CCL is having a hard time getting back up to speed (much like many of my local venues). It's hard to hire enough staff and the ones they do have, they are holding over/extending contracts, so I imagine they are exhausted (from being short-staffed) and ready to just go home. We had a terrible embarkation in San Francisco recently and we heard the terminal staff saying they were sent up from southern California (staff shortage over a holiday weekend) and none of them were familiar with the port or procedures (I felt bad for them because it was just chaos at one point). I'm afraid things are going to be like this for a bit longer. More and more people are traveling again, but they still need to get the staffing and supply chain issues get worked out.

We do have a few school days off around Presidents Day in February, so depending on the date, you might see a bit more kids/families. Yes, waiters will absolutely offer/get you all the drinks you want. I have not sailed Princess (we primarily do Carnival, and have tried NCL a few times, and HAL) but from friends/family who have, they tell me the music is louder and the crowd a bit more lively, but that is easy to avoid if it is not your thing.

I have heard him confirm he is scheduled to fly over and bring Jubilee to Galveston, so I believe you will both be on Jubilee for that long cruise.

That is a good point. We recently booked a really good casino deal but had to take a balcony guarantee, couldn't pick our room (first time in over 20 cruises) but ultimately decided, what is the worst that can happen? It might not be a great cabin, but I will be on a ship (not at work) and can handle almost anything for 8 days to be on vacation. 😄

I totally agree with you, with one exception - we were on the Breeze's first sailing after the shutdown with "Cookie" as the cruise director and I couldn't help but notice him. He is a total character with an incredible sense of humor. He was so happy to be back on the ship working again, and told some really touching stories about what he (and some of the other crew members) did during the shutdown and how tough it was for them. His parents happened to be on that sailing as well. For the first time ever, I went to the question/answer session with the cruise director and really enjoyed some of his stories (he was CD on Glory when it collided w/Legend). Then more recently we were on Mardi Gras and Cookie happened to be filling in for its cruise director (likely because he will be assigned to the new sister ship Jubilee I believe) and it was a really nice surprise to see/hear him again. It's not just a job for him, he is a true performer. Aside from that, I don't pay attention to the CD at all (I'm usually on the ship to rest/relax and avoid most group activities).

We had one once and it was terrible (would never book again) but as mentioned it all depends on your neighbors. We only had one bad night, when for some reason, there were a ton of people in the room next door, and I don't know if someone was bumping into it or what was causing it, but the door was rattling/thumping until like 3 am (our last night heading back to port). I kept waking up startled thinking someone had opened the connecting door. We could easily hear laughing/talking.

Agreed - I have only had 1 upgrade offer in just over 20 cruises with Carnival and it was gone by the time I logged in and saw the tab (I never even got to see what the offer was). 😒

That has been our experience - we have been on several cruises over the past year, and our daughter was only 17 for most of them (thus no OBC attributed to her) but I was surprised to see recently, after she turned 18, she started to get an equal portion of the OBC.

In my experience over the last few months, it has been divided equally between the adults in the cabin (so the 3rd person, being our daughter who had just turned 18, did end up with a portion of our onboard credit).