UPNYGuy

On 9/18/2024 at 7:26 AM, PaperSniper4 said:

Thank you for your experience. Well, no exactly a winning endorsement, but I'll take it that their croissants will at least be tolerable. ☺️

Did you by any chance use cabin/room service for lunch or dinner? We have some issues for our next month cruise that could make that necessary for us, although we have never used that service on a ship before. If you did, how was the wait time, food quality, temperature, etc.

 

Thanks

I wish I could comment on that, but we did not use room service.

5 hours ago, crazyank said:

Plenty of camo being worn here in germany

possibly I just never encountered it that much

It’s really funny, but the best croissants we have ever had on a ship were on this last sailing DW and I did, on Carnival Celebration. We agreed that they were actually better than MSC’s.

3 minutes ago, PaperSniper4 said:

Oooh, that makes me sad! For morning cabin service, we always ask for a couple of croissants with our coffee. I know what you mean about bad ones; we love cruising Princess but in the early years there awful croissants were the worse we'd had. I agree, even Carnival makes a good croissant, and I recall Celebrity and HAL also. Maybe our experience on the upcoming Brilliance cruise from NOLA will be better.....sure hope so.

 

 Doug

My wife and I just did a Brilliance cruise to Alaska, and the croissants were acceptable for Royal Caribbean.  The food was a bit better than we usually get on them too.

9 hours ago, vwrestler171 said:

 

You can wear camo in the UK, France, and Germany.  

Yes, but it is not considered a social norm to do so. I have a relative who used to live in Germany and would venture over there frequently. I have never come across people wearing camo in Germany, France, and the UK as much as I do in the USA. 

On 9/15/2024 at 10:54 AM, neverbeenhere said:

I don’t think Royal does bread well at all. But, yes, the biscuits are particularly bad. 
 

Agree. The croissants are the worst I have ever had. MSC and Carnival can get them right, but Royals are like rubber

absolutely!  A sofa bed is a bed that is in the sofa.

17 hours ago, RFerrington said:

👎

 

He is in love with the sound of his own voice

a CD like this drives me nuts

14 hours ago, jlines said:

In looking at the menu I see it says 18% gratuity added to your order.  Is this on the surcharge or the cost of the food?

That’s if you eat there more than once. Second time there is a cover charge. 
 

At least that is what is going on right now. First dinners at Chibang (imo is excellent) and La Cuccina are included. 

3 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

I would not risk it.  Some countries won't even let you wear camouflage clothes.

there is a very good reason for this. It is restricted for military (read: non-civilian) use. 
 

Only in the United States and possibly some rural parts of Canada is this considered acceptable public attire. 

Easily the spirit class. They offer the most space per pax in the fleet, and have a nice, outdoor promenade. I love the steakhouse location, and the spacious main dining room. These ships have a Goldilocks feel to them, and always feel like home to us. 
 

For what it is worth, DW and I started cruising on Holland America, on their vista class (not related to the Carnival vista class). These ships have a similar space ratio. While not sisters, they were designed concurrently. We *do* like the newer and larger ships, but we cruise on the spirit class (and similar sized ships of other lines) regularly 

On 9/15/2024 at 1:02 AM, vwrestler171 said:

What saves Galveston is that it is in the center of the country so many people can drive to it.  Personally, I hate that port and don't plan to sail from it again.

Went out of Galveston once, simply due to availability. As a resident in New York, it is pointless for me to fly to Galveston when there are other ports with similar itineraries all down the East coast. 

17 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Some cruise lines bribe customers like that, others let the brand speak for itself. In the case of Royal the program is not to keep people coming back but to try to keep people from trying a superior cruise line.

 

Given the differences in programs, it is obviously is not one size fits all justification for a program.

I don’t find Royal Caribbean all that different from Carnival and from MSC, NCL, or HAL. Some of the worst service I have ever had has been on Holland America, and some of the best I have ever had has been on MSC and Carnival. It all depends on what you are looking for. We also venture over to Oceania from time to time, and I don’t find them to be as highly rated as the O superfans claim they are. They have decent itineraries and nice ships, but I do not find the food to be as good as it is made out to be. I can frequently get better at home. 

22 hours ago, UPNYGuy said:

And this isn’t just with Carnival. Go to the Royal Caribbean form and you will see diamond members bitching that on longer cruises, they are excluded from happy hour. And, on ships they are excluded from the diamond lounge.

this had a typo. The last sentence should have read on SOME ships they are excluded from the diamond lounge.  This is usually happening on the larger ships, and on longer sailings. 

3 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

Just a bit of clarification for those that may not sail Royal. Now called the Crown Lounge, depending on the amount D+ and higher guests, it may be restricted for use to Diamond members during those evening few hours. You still have to use vouchers, so the only extras they’re missing are the canapés. A lot prefer to use their vouchers all day at different bars around the ship. The Crown Lounge is still open all day to Diamond members. So they can still enjoy the specialty coffee machine and continental breakfast and canapés at lunch.

correct

Just now, jimbo5544 said:

Grass is always greener

Yup. 
 

DW and I have sailed on the majority of the mass market cruise lines that ply the US waters. They are more similar than different. Strip away the interior decor, livery, and standardize the entertainment, and most people would find there to be very little difference between one cruise line and another.

On 9/12/2024 at 9:26 PM, vwrestler171 said:

Its amazing that so many "loyal" cruisers will rush to complain because they feel they are being slighted when this happens ALL THE TIME on the longer cruises with higher numbers of diamond and platinum cruisers.

And this isn’t just with Carnival. Go to the Royal Caribbean form and you will see diamond members bitching that on longer cruises, they are excluded from happy hour. And, on ships they are excluded from the diamond lounge.

On 9/13/2024 at 10:48 AM, jimbo5544 said:

There is ample opportunity for smaller ships, they frankly could use more.

I like the larger ships, but I definitely do not go out of my way to avoid the smaller ones. My wife and I thoroughly enjoy the fantasy and spirit class ships. 

20 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

No argument, there are a few other options as well.

Seattle IIRC used to have a freedom class. The only issue with the freedom versus spirit is the spirits have higher balcony percentage. In Alaska, that is much more desirable. 

41 minutes ago, tidecat said:

 

After researching this, maybe the real question might be what it would take to get Carnival in Boston? Tourism is not far behind Tampa/St. Pete and the metro population is about 4.5 million.

I think the main issue getting carnival into Boston is where do they go? You really have 3 options that are mass-market viable. Canada/NE, Bermuda, and Bahamas. All of these options are well served already, and if carnival entered into that market, all it would do is depress the ADR (imo). I personally feel that they have a better shot of getting New York City to work year-round than they do going out of Boston even part of the year. 

9 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Actually had a fairly long conversation on this with a couple of Carnival MGT guys.  The reasons was much more aligned with the number of the people on the ships and pool space (which is a premium), so if you meant pool real estate, you would be correct.

yes

On 8/29/2024 at 9:59 PM, staceyglow said:

I think the chances of Vista still having issues in mid-December is extremely low. 

But this is the Vista… I’d trust a Ford Pinto to not catch on fire in a collision before I trust Vista not to have propulsion issues at least once a year. 

46 minutes ago, BenjiRodney said:

We booked a 10 night Journeys cruise for 2026 and got an email from Carnival the next day advising that there will be no extra Platinum/Diamond benefits available on the cruise, other than the 48 hour advance check in (16 days) prior vs 14 for other VIFP members.  All rooms ready at 130pm.  I had heard that was the case with all Journeys cruises now. 

For the most part, yes. Due to the fact of the high numbers of diamond/plat

On 9/10/2024 at 2:31 PM, Baron Barracuda said:

Haven't been on Anthem for a while but distinctly remember hw or rm getting on the mike EVERY night as we tried to enjoy our meal singing off key and begging for 10's for his hard working staff.  Very annoying.  Stopped by our table one night to solicit 10's and I told him he was currently down to a 9 and every night he kept it up we would take away another point.  Didn't help.  Wrote him up in the survey.

I will do this too, but I will usually write the entire experience up as a 1 and make sure to name drop those that are soliciting a 10. It is very irritating for me to literally be propositioned to give a high score. If you want a high score, EARN IT!! 

On 9/9/2024 at 10:29 AM, ishap said:

'm not sure why Carnival changed it on the Excel class but I have heard that those areas on those ships are not worth it.

I’m assuming this was changed on the Excel class due to the complaints about prime real estate being made private on the Vista class. And I personally would beg to differ about that area not being worth it. It depends on who you speak to and what you were going to be doing with it. I actually like the fact that the outdoor lounge area is on the side because it is breezy, where on the Vista class that is not always the case.