ledges1

I just bought an 18 pack for 16.99 before tax at the grocery store. The cost was $.94 per can. At $7 on the ship, that is a 700% markup. That is probably higher than the markup in the Fun Shops.

My wife bought a Thomas Kincaid print from a local discount store framed for pennies on the dollar vs Park West. Even their champagne is cheap. 

If you take numerous cruises a year, then the purchase price of 100 shares of stock is immaterial to your financial situation. Purchase the shares. If you take 1 or 2 cruise every few years, the price fluctuation can wipe out any benefits. Again, if the purchase price is immaterial to your situation, purchase the shares. Only you can make that decision. If the decision requires a lot of research, pass on the purchase of the stock. I own 100 shares and have received the credit on probably 20 cruises. I bought the shares 12 years ago.  This decision can only be made by you, your financial situation and how many times you plan to cruise in the future. As a pure investment, their are better alternatives.

CCL is $15.50 per share and does not pay dividends. As an investment, it is not good. If the $1550 to purchase 100 shares is immaterial to your financial situation, go for it. I am sure your advisor can offer better long term investment advice.

I have driven over 6 hours with a time zone change in the car the same day to go on a cruise. I do not think what you are doing is that unusual. As long as you do not over sleep and miss the plane. You probably will not sleep well the night before the flight. Since people are mentioning song, Jimmy Buffett said “She came from Cincinnati and it took her three days on a train. It could be worse.

Unless I missed it, about what time does your flight land vs embarkation cutoff. My daughter did this once on a direct flight to Miami and was fine. Flight left at 5:30 AM landed in Miami at 9:00. She got an Uber, picked me and my wife up at the hotel before 10:00 AM and we were on the ship by 11:30. Of course, she went to bed that night about 7:30.

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/one-thing-shouldnt-cooking-burgers-133009569.html#:~:text=During an exclusive interview with,%2C flip%2C flip%2C flip%3F

59 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Gotta love CC, now we have burger experts that know more than the experts.....

 

Guys are simply the best free burger at sea.  regardless of how some think they are cooked.  Home run for Carnival's interaction with Guy Fieri.  Quality guy got to meet him on the Dream naming ceremony.

I agree that Guys is the best burger at sea, why do you disagree with Guy as an expert in cooking burgers? I was only quoting the expert.

According to Fieri, you should consider that "every time you touch that burger and you hear 'chh' ... That's flavor leaving the plate." In other words, when you press your burger, you are expelling juices from the meat out onto the hot pan or grill.

Burgers, especially those cooked over high heat, should have a high surface temperature. This results in the myofibril fibers being tensely squeezed and releasing more juices and moisture from the protein. Pressing down on the burger causes a rapid release of these juices. It may sound good as they steam the outside of the patty for a (very) brief moment, but in reality, they are being cooked off and leaving your burger drier than it was before, which is why you also shouldn't flip your burger too often.

I find it interesting that Carnival does exactly what Guy says not to do in cooking a hamburger. I have watched them press the meat to cook the burgers faster all the time. I have found the burgers to be dry. Are they really “Guy Burgers” if they do not follow his advice?

15 hours ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

If you can’t afford the gratuities don’t cruise. Those go to more than just your dinning room team. Go to your room steward and those folks that work the buffet ext. 

There is a tremendous amount of truth in the above statement. Gratuities are a controllable expense by the individual in the overall cost of a cruise. Therefore, some are removed at the end of a cruise for this reason (reduce the cost of the cruise). 

I did the Magic itinerary last year and doing it again in November. I am not a fan of Nassau.

21 minutes ago, cruisewithwife said:

So to be clear it doesn't have to be used on the 25th cruise, it is just available once you book at least 25 cruises?

That is correct. I am on about #30 and it is still available for use. Just do not forget about it because Carnival will not remind you.

You have to ask for the credit, it does not appear Carnival will automatically give it to you.

I just experienced this situation. I actually called my PVP yesterday and asked about the milestone credit. My wife and I both have over 25 cruises each. I called my PVP to see if I had used my milestone credit. The PVP was not able to see it in the system and had to call the Milestone office. I was told I had not used the credit and it was on available as on board credit only. I could not use the credit to reduce the cruise cost (bummer). The PVP told me the 25% credit would be applied to the base price excluding tax and port charges. If the cruise is $400 before tax and port charges, I would get $100 on board credit. I was also told that since me and my wife had a credit, we could use the credits on the same cruise or separate cruises. If anyone has had a different experience with Carnival, please comment.

Agree with Blerk0ne. This is for local overnight parking. Use airport reservations.com to park at Fulton for cruises.

I stayed at the FLL Springhill Suites and took a Lyft ride with 3 to port of Miami. Not aware of any hotels with shuttles to Miami.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwicnOy74tWEAxVeLdAFHaU7C5cQFnoECBkQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wdsu.com%2Farticle%2Ftravelers-come-back-to-downtown-nola-from-norwegian-cruise-to-find-their-vehicles-broken-into%2F42358631&usg=AOvVaw3Nd4Rx2etJkwgyQq-KpZlZ&opi=89978449

I also get discount coupons from Airport reservations.com that are good at Fulton. In January, I got a $10 discount on top of the lower price. Normally the coupons are $7. I will say the port deck is nicer. Fulton is older and very tight. New Orleans did have security issues with some of the other surface lot parking. There was an article about cars being broken into with windows smashed.

You cannot go wrong with either one. The savings at Fulton will buy you a bucket of beer. I like to save money. Also, I carry my luggage off the ship and the shuttle is always waiting. They do not wait for a full bus to take you to the deck. In January we were the first off the ship and the driver headed to the garage with only six on the bus.

I prefer Fulton. I have used the cruise port parking also. 

2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

 

I had the filet and short rib on the Glory in January. The short rib was tender and good. The filet was thin and tough. I finished the short rib and ate less than half of the filet.

My wife takes her expired drivers license with her when she gets off the ship at the various ports as identification. The people at the ports we have gone to in the Caribbean give it only a cursory look and wave you through. 

1 hour ago, txcruiser1234 said:

Our only real complaint about the food in our cruises in the year or so after the restart was with the steaks. Not the cook, but the quality of the meat - extremely tough and gristly, even fillets. Stopped ordering steak for a while, but got back into it a few cruises ago and all has been well.

 

We're not foodies - we just look for satisfying meals (mostly from the MDR). All in all over the past year, I'd say 9 times out of ten our dishes fell between "better than decent" and "pretty darn good" with the remaining 1 out of 10 either being a miss or something so good we try to recreate it at home.

Agree with the poor quality of beef in the MDR. I will not order a steak off the regular menu. Our local grocery stores have better beef.

If you want to try something that is not expensive. Check out Arubus.com. This is the public transportation in Aruba. The terminal is across the street from the cruise port. For $5 you can get a round trip ticket from your stopping point; such as Eagle Beach. The buses  are clean and the ride is bumpy. My daughter and I took the bus to the last stop just below the California Lighthouse. There is a beach at that stop but we did not go to the beach. We had to get off the bus and get back on for our round trip. We could have stayed for several hours on the beach and caught another bus later. All for $5 per person. That is a lot cheaper than a cab. There are other stops along Eagle Beach also. Check out the website. The cost is a lot less than an excursion and you can stay as long as you want.

Every time my wife orders a salad in the MDR, she always has to ask for additional tomatoes. They consistently put very few with the bed of lettuce. The MDR consistently lacks consistency. As I have said before (and people do not like), the MDR is hotel banquet food. I have been to many large hotel conferences and the similarities are tremendous.