curlygirl18

Have you checked Hotwire or Priceline? I was able to snag a Hotwire Hot Deal for $114/night and when it was revealed it was the Caribe Hilton which looks to be a pretty good rate for that hotel and star level.

The point is that Carnival has in the past met the technical criteria for a five star hotel as far as having all of the services and amenities required for the title whether you personally feel it was a five star experience or not. With the loss of twice daily service Carnival would fail to meet even the technical criteria for a five star hotel. If I were Carnival management that fact would disturb me!

Unless I am truly uninformed, it's not just my personal experience as to whether Carnival offers a five star experience. Carnival doesn't even market themselves as such. Anyone who's spent any time at a 5 or even 4 star all-inclusive resort will be able to tell you the Carnival experience is not even close. Carnival does what they do well, but anyone who gets on one of their ships expecting the Ritz Carlton will surely be disappointed. Even passengers booked in suites on Carnival shouldn't expect to be blown away by the service.

Why doesn't Carnival have those little wheel thingys that you turn to say make up room or turndown service. This way if you only want the service once you only ask for once but tomorrow you can have it 2x if you want. This all sounds so complicated for something so simple:D:eek:

Yes, it would be simple to implement a system for people to choose make-up and turn down service. The issue is that it looks as if Carnival wants you to pick only one option. They don't want to do both imo.

They rolled out the "option" of having once day service of your stateroom on just a couple of ships but reported they will roll this out to all of the ships eventually because it was so "successful". However in 3 surveys given by John Heald at his FB page the vast majority of people responding wished to continue twice daily service and there were many responses and complaints reporting that on the ships rolling out this option the passengers were only given the choice of morning or evening service not of both despite John Heald's assurances to the contrary. Some people report they were given a card that listed check boxes with morning service OR evening service and while on these boards we have been informed that we can check both boxes many people on the ships reported that they were told they had to choose one or the other. Many people were never given the card to even have the chance to check boxes. Instead they were asked verbally by their cabin steward whether they wanted morning OR evening service. Some people may not want morning or evening service, but the standard to be a five star hotel is to routinely offer it AND to have it refuse it if the person does not want it. Part of the difference between a 3 star Hotel and a five star hotel is that a 3 star hotel provides a good experience in which the "expressed" expectations of the guests are met whereas a 5 star hotel is to offer what is needed by the guests routinely as a standard default rather than requiring the guest request it. Indeed routine turndown service is one of the requirements of a five star hotel. So by ending this routine turndown service that Carnival has until now provided they are decreasing their rating as a hotel from five star to 3 + or 4 star. I paid almost $200 a night for a 185 square foot room for a 4 day stay in February. I would never pay $200 a night for a 3 star hotel.

I can appreciate how passionate you are about this, but I would disagree that Carnival is or was ever comparable to a 5 Star experience. Pricing is not only based on star level but also market conditions, which is why a 5 star hotel in Boise might be cheaper than say, Miami and also why even the Motel 6 could garner "5 Star" type pricing if it's located close enough to say, where the Super Bowl is being held. $200 a night could be a reasonable price for any hotel regardless of star level depending on various conditions.

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Those expressing sentiment that you are fine with once a day, had you been telling that to your room stewards before this experiment began? If given the option, will you intentionally be selecting once a day?

I'm one of those who doesn't need the cabin serviced twice per day and yes I've proactively let my room stewards know this on Carnival, NCL and RCCL. Usually I'm still in my room as they are working on turn down service in the surrounding cabins so I can ask them for the extra towels I need and for the cruise schedule. Usually by mid-week, they'll just start knocking and asking if I need anything else that night besides towels and the schedule. The people who will legitimately be inconvenienced by this would be those in rooms where extra beds need to be pulled down or the couches made up. I usually travel in JS or above so space is not usually an issue and me and my roommate(s) aren't really that messy where it would matter all that much.

Personally I'd be okay with just AM service, if that portion of the gratuities was then cut in half. I'm really not in the room at all besides sleeping and showering, so having the bed made in the morning, garbage emptied, and fresh towels is all I need. Sure the nightly turn down service of untucking the bed and a new animal is nice, but not totally necessary for me.

Be careful what you wish for. It's far more likely that Carnival would consider the option of charging people more for two-a-day service, than they would charging people less for once a day. I know people on cruise critic and JH's page may be more passionate about this, but the vast majority of cruisers likely don't know any better and it's highly unlikely that the overall cruise experience would be negatively affected by this.

Seems like they don't really want to do two-a-days anymore. If they really wanted to implement it, seems easy enough to add the option on the front end of booking the same way you select your dining options or whether you want the beds together or apart. It's not rocket science. Personally, I don't have to have my room serviced twice a day. As long as I can call for extra towels and ice I'm good.

Have you tried this approach over the Christmas Break or in July or August? During the really high season is the only time that I could see an issue with this approach.

I've done this once in August but it wasn't quite as last minute with the cruise booking. Perhaps 50-60 days out from sail date with the airfare being purchased during a sale in Feb. I didn't wait as long on that one because it was a family trip and I needed to make sure all the cabins were near each other. You're right, the high season is definitely riskier. I'm from a cold weather state, so the majority of my cruises are done to escape the cold Nov - Feb, so it's a lot easier to play the waiting game then.

I think people are forgetting about the fact that these cruise ships that have DD are huge and carry a large # of PAX. Logistically it would be a nightmare for approximately half the ship to all have dinner at one time and then the other half at another. The entertainment venues are not designed to hold half of the ship's passengers like the smaller ships were built to. DD and the staggering of entertainment times allow the cruise line to not spread everyone out throughout the ship at different venues and at different times. It's easier for the staff to manage and likely enhances the customer's experience. Are there any venues on the Quantum capable of holding nearly 3000 passengers? Since the mega ship seems hear to stay, DD likely will to because it's just as much about controlling the flow of PAX traffic as it is attracting new cruisers.

The last 5 cruises I've taken I've booked the airfare first since I wait until after final payment to book the cruise. I book the airfare because there's more of a certainty that the price of the airfare will increase while I'm waiting for the after final payment price drops. When I book the airfare I already know what cruise I want to take and what price range I'm willing to pay for it. Whenever I see the cruise price drop into my range, usually around the 30 day mark, I pull the trigger. If you are open to multiple cruise lines, itineraries and you don't mind where you end up on the ship then it's really not that big of a gamble.

I won't go into the standard "the crew makes so little already" argument, I'll just ask this... Are there any parents out there who failed to see an increase in loads of laundry, meal preparation time, cleaning, and all other general household chores once they added babies, infants and children to their household? I don't know why people think that because they have small children that turns into less work for the crew.

Yes I think this is probably you being a cheapskate, but I'm sure that probably doesn't really matter to you so adjust the gratuities as you see fit, though I'm hoping you'll give some more thought into this and recognize how much is actually being done by the crew to enhance your vacation.

I totally understand what you're saying OP. My group is in the process of nailing down the details of our upcoming Navigator cruise and this being our first time sailing out of Galveston, and that we are from Michigan so must fly in, we are a little shell shocked. Sailing out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami has us completely spoiled when it comes to transportation options from the airport or hotel to the cruise port. It's going to be at least an additional $300 for transport so that's going to affect how much we spend in town the day before sailing or how much we spend on the ship. I'm sure we'll have a good time anyway, but it definitely stings! OUCH!!!

Food is very subjective, but I think between NCL, Carnival and RCL they are more alike than different. I would compare the three to Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday's and TGIFriday's. The food quality is very similar between the three, but you may have your own individual preferences on why you like one more than the other i.e. ambiance, menu selection etc. You definitely won't starve on either line.

I don't think the point of the UDP is to offer a savings to cruisers. I think it's to provide an additional income stream to NCL just like UBP. Most people will not utilize the package enough to garner any real savings, but buying the package for every party in a stateroom will be guaranteed money for NCL versus what the passengers may or may not eat (UDP) or drink (UBP) during the cruise. I think this will also encourage more people to try more of the specialty restaurants than they normally would since they're all included in the package. This would be good for the cruise because even if repeat customers don't purchase the package again, they may discover a specialty restaurant they really like and pay the upcharge to eat there again on future sailings.

I did it on the Epic and didn't think it was a ripoff. Essentially the $20 covers your two drinks. Went with one of the girls in my group and ran into some friends we had met the previous night in one of the specialty restaurants. Had a blast and downing the two drinks in 30 minutes made for an interesting and entertaining rest of the night!!! I would definitely do it again with a large group but probably not an activity one would enjoy alone.

I agree with cb at sea. You'll have a pretty good idea of where everyone is because most people will go to the same activities/areas over and over again and they are pretty concentrated in the same place. Whenever I've cruised I could look at the daily activity schedule and know where I could find certain members of my party just based on what was going on i.e if a movie was playing my cousin would be there, my mom would be wherever bingo was happening, BIL was watching the football game in the lounge etc.

I was on the Epic a few months ago and they placed a hold for $300 initially on my debit card. I had some OBC and they didn't add any additional holds when I had spent all of my OBC. I didn't spend more than the $300 and the remaining amount fell off within a day of disembarkation.

Its in my pre cruise planner but wont let me buy it - it says to check back at 2 months prior? I sail in March- I could've bought the older packages at anytime up until now though.

It shows up for me as well but won't let me purchase and I sail in January:confused:

"The advantage of booking early is to get the room and location you want."

I'm not getting why this is such a big deal. It's no secret that prices drop as the sail date gets closer if the ship is not filled. If you are not happy with the pricing then don't book until the price reaches a level you are comfortable paying. You run the risk that the prices will go up or go down no matter if you book years ahead or a few weeks before. Consider any upgrade/upsell a bonus but not a requirement.

yes i booked with a travel agent and the agent put the reservation in a group and it was a GTY so that may have caused further complications but no worries because my edocs became available 30 days out

Try this link:

 

 

http://edocs.ncl.com/edocs/

Tried this link and it says that the reservation is not yet ready to be retrieved. I guess I'll give it another couple weeks then I'll just call them directly.

should be available by now! Usually about 45 days out if I remember correctly. Maybe within the next few days. If you don't I would call them. Did you check your myncl account?

yes i checked my ncl. the timeline shows that check in is complete but when i click on the edocs there's the question mark icon that displays the info regarding what the edocs are, but no link is available to download them yet.

35 days out, online check in completed, received welcome aboard booklet in the mail but still can't access edocs. How long before they are available?