Anything unexpected that's not included?

[hmp2z]

Hi! My husband & I are trying to decide between booking a Holland America or a Carnival cruise, and I'd like some input, if possible, on what's included. We've only cruised once, on the Celebrity Solstice, and loved it. However, one of my friends went on the Royal Caribbean a few weeks ago and said that she felt like she was being nickel-and-dimed everywhere, and even asked to pay extra for certain food in the main dining room or sushi in the Lido restaurant.

 

My question, and what will help us to make our decision, is what amenities are included in the package price for Carnival ships, and which ones might present unpleasant surprises for us. Will we be charged extra for certain dishes in the main dining room? Is room service included, or is it extra (excepting gratuity, of course)? What about things like sushi in the Lido restaurant - will that be an extra charge?

 

We fully expect to pay extra for things like premium restaurants, room service gratuity, alcoholic beverages, spa treatments, etc. But are there any things that might be included as standard on other cruise lines that we will have to pay extra for on Carnival?

 

Thank you for your help!

Heather W

[mommyto2kids]

everything in the dining room is included.

There is a steakhouse with a 30 per person charge, but that is optional

 

Sushi is a separate restaurant, free, but limited hours.

 

Room service, free except for gratuity.

 

Soft drinks not included - all you can drink card avail if you drink a lot of soft drinks.

[BubMunkeyBles]

I just got off the Inspiration. The cafe costed extra (coffee's, pastries, milkshakes). But otherwise nothing in the MDR was more besides the normal stuff. The sushi on the Promenade was included also along with room service.

[firefly333]

You sailed Celebrity which is owned by RCL ... so you know pretty much the drill for those lines. Sounds to me like your friend is a whiner. I never can understand why when there are so many choices, if there is a choice that isnt free, people whine. Just say no thanks and dont pay for it??

 

Holland Am is owned by Carnival, so the two will have similar included.

 

People who cruise on RCL dont like Carnival's room service because a hot breakfast is NOT included, the menu is more limited than on RCl... everything evens out to me. Some pros some cons. But yes, room service is included and a continental breakfast.

[*Mach*]

Hi! My husband & I are trying to decide between booking a Holland America or a Carnival cruise, and I'd like some input, if possible, on what's included. We've only cruised once, on the Celebrity Solstice, and loved it. However, one of my friends went on the Royal Caribbean a few weeks ago and said that she felt like she was being nickel-and-dimed everywhere, and even asked to pay extra for certain food in the main dining room or sushi in the Lido restaurant.

 

My question, and what will help us to make our decision, is what amenities are included in the package price for Carnival ships, and which ones might present unpleasant surprises for us. Will we be charged extra for certain dishes in the main dining room? Is room service included, or is it extra (excepting gratuity, of course)? What about things like sushi in the Lido restaurant - will that be an extra charge?

 

We fully expect to pay extra for things like premium restaurants, room service gratuity, alcoholic beverages, spa treatments, etc. But are there any things that might be included as standard on other cruise lines that we will have to pay extra for on Carnival?

 

Thank you for your help!

Heather W

 

 

 

It rather depends on your ship. Some ships, all of the Conquest Class, the Splendor, the Dream and the Spirit Class ships have an extra cost reservations only steak house that's available. Some ships have a dining event called 'The Chef's Table' that's also available.

Nothing on the menu in the main dining rooms is extra cost. For that matter, you can have all of any item you want... three lobsters? Fine. Five slices of Prime Rib? Fine... Three orders of Escargot? Fine... Cappuccino and Espresso are available at dinner at no cost.

Room service is free, 24 hours a day as is all other food on board, sushi included. Saki is available at an extra cost.

There are some sweets and such that you can purchase but there's no effort made to sell you such things.

All entertainment is gratis.

:)

[Ellanora]

Something small that I really appreciate being included on Carnival - cappuchino and espresso in the dining room after dinner. On Disney we had to pay extra if we wanted something other than plain coffee. I don't know what HAL does regarding this.

 

I've noticed that as great as some of the new ships on other lines look, NCL's Epic & RCCL's Oasis for example, it appears you have to pay extra for practically everything! Anything other than basic buffet breakfast & lunch, and main dining room dinner seems to require upcharges. This is why I haven't strayed too far from Carnival yet - I like my free cappuchino, mongolian wok, burrito bars, fish & chips stations, pasta bars, etc. Much more choice for much less money. That's real freestyle cruising.

 

Have a great trip, whichever you choose! :)

[zqvol]

. . .

We fully expect to pay extra for things like premium restaurants, room service gratuity, alcoholic beverages, spa treatments, etc. But are there any things that might be included as standard on other cruise lines that we will have to pay extra for on Carnival?

 

Thank you for your help!

Heather W

 

If you expect the above then you are fine on Carnival, nothing else is added other than the soda card, but that is pretty much standard across the industry.

[lillian marie]

Photos are extra and the casino of course, but you can make this a very inexpensive vacation by eating and drinking only the provided free food and drink. Each adult can bring on 1 bottle of wine so you can have a glass of wine each day.

[med2cruise]

We were on the Liberty a few weeks ago, me, DH, DD 19 and DS 21. Our sail and sign bill was only for our gratuities, drinks and shopping that we did. There were a few extra charges for the coffee house that my husband did but I did not feel like we were nickeled and dimed. I was concerned about that as it was the 1st cruise that we had the 4 of us.

 

I was looking for another cruise next year, all 4 again, and decided on Carnival since I did read a lot about other ships.

 

I liked that we could order Bon Voyage alcohol and have it in our room, we carried on 3 12 packs of soda and 1 12 pack of water, and 3 bottles of wine. We saved ourselves some money by doing that and I am planning the same for next years cruise.

 

Carnival seemed to be the most economical when you were trying to stay in a budget and paying for 4 people.

 

Karen

[PAPERBKWRITER]

After Celebrity Carnival will be a step down. Don't get me wrong, I cruise Carnival a lot and over the years they have gotten much better, but Princess and Celibrity are in a different class. I haven't been on HAL but understand it caters to older and disabled folks And it's supposta be upscale also. I don't know what your friend is talking about but if you cruised before, you pretty much know what is included. The cruise lines charges are mostly the same.

[MrPete]

The items that you are charged extra for on RCCL are:

 

- a fillet steak in the MDR, where it can never be verified if it`s USDA Prime.

 

- room service between 12 and 5.

 

- grilled hamburgers at Johnny Rockets

 

- hard ice cream (they do have free soft yogurt, but no soft ice cream)

 

My first cruise, the only thing that really surprised me was the charging of soda, until I sailed Disney, and it was included.

[Cruzman]

After Celebrity Carnival will be a step down. Don't get me wrong, I cruise Carnival a lot and over the years they have gotten much better, but Princess and Celibrity are in a different class. I haven't been on HAL but understand it caters to older and disabled folks And it's supposta be upscale also. I don't know what your friend is talking about but if you cruised before, you pretty much know what is included. The cruise lines charges are mostly the same.

 

Guess I must be elderly and disabled as I cruise HAL a lot. Actually, such is a stereotype which is similar to the one regarding Carnival being the line of nothing but drunks and the party 'til you drop crowd. HAL will have an older demographic on it's longer cruises, but so will any other line. Carnival does very few cruises in excess of 8 days, so doesn't attract retired folks as much. HAL, compared to Carnival, is a much more subdued and refined experience. Passengers tend to comply with evening dress suggestions rather than not. HAL does offer some freebies that many other lines do not, such as scooped ice cream, popcorn in the movie theater, and fresh squeezed OJ at breakfast. HAL also allows one to bring as much wine on board as desired. I cruise Carnival mainly because it offers the most bang for my buck, and basically does not nickel and dime the way some lines do. Heck, on NCL, you gotta pay an extra fee if you want a decent meal. That's what they call freestyle.

[CalmCruiserNC]

The ONLY thing that I thought it strange to charge extra for was popcorn at the Lido deck movies. Only $1, but seems a trivial thing to single out as a optional purchase.

[katiel53]

The ONLY thing that I thought it strange to charge extra for was popcorn at the Lido deck movies. Only $1, but seems a trivial thing to single out as a optional purchase.

 

I was told the reason for the charge is that too many kids were throwing popcorn all over the deck when it was free. Now, if the kids have to pay for it, it's less likely they will be throwing it.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Rule of thumb; if they ask for you sail & sign card, they are charging you for something.

 

I felt more nickle & dimed on my RCL cruise but never on CCL. On RCL, I had to pay a fee for a grilled burger (Johnny Rockets) but on CCL they have a burger grill on the lido that is free. RCL you pay for fresh squeezed OJ, upgrade steak in the main dining room, ice cream in the Ben & Jerry's etc. The only thing I pay for on Carnival besides gratuity is soda/alcohol/pictures/coffee shop/one specialty restaurant (but I've never done that since free food in MDR is wonderful). You get free coffee in the buffet and restaurants but if you want an iced coffee like starbucks you have to pay for that or pastries from the coffee shop but pastries are free at the lido. Soft serve ice cream or yogurt is available for free. As long as you don't drink soda or alcohol, there is very little you have to be concerned with. If you are okay drinking iced tea, lemonade, juice, coffee, some ships hot cocoa then you won't have to pay. Sushi is free but limited hours on CCL.

[MrPete]

I was told the reason for the charge is that too many kids were throwing popcorn all over the deck when it was free. Now, if the kids have to pay for it, it's less likely they will be throwing it.

 

This was EXACTLY my first thought when I saw there was a charge just now.

[ellewoods]

There is nothing on Carnival that I would have expected to have for free that had a fee.

[MrFunInTheSun]

The ONLY thing that I thought it strange to charge extra for was popcorn at the Lido deck movies. Only $1, but seems a trivial thing to single out as a optional purchase.

 

I've read on the boards here that it's some of the best popcorn too. For a dollar I'd gladly pay for some good popcorn. Cheaper than popcorn in a movie theater.

 

If they had tons of kids making a mess with it, can see how this would be a good measure to help reduce the mess that not only the staff have to deal wth, but us guests too. Am looking forward to seeing a movie under the stars on the Freedom in just over a month.

 

Speaking of good popcorn though, the popcorn at the Senor Frogs in Nassau is some of the best popcorn I've had.

[firefly333]

I've read on the boards here that it's some of the best popcorn too. For a dollar I'd gladly pay for some good popcorn. Cheaper than popcorn in a movie theater..

 

Its a very tiny bag of what I guess is movie theater type popcorn.

 

I could eat two bags of it and I dont consider myself a big eater, but I love popcorn. Those tiny bags to me are ridiculous.

[NavarreCruiser]

The ONLY thing that I thought it strange to charge extra for was popcorn at the Lido deck movies. Only $1, but seems a trivial thing to single out as a optional purchase.

I think the reason for charging for popcorn is so there won't be popcorn throwing contests. It's not the cost of the popcorn, it's the saftey factor and the clean up factor. Lynda