karl_nj

5 hours ago, steverk said:

I haven't specifically read Carnivals new policy, but I've paid attention.  Most commentary equates "requalify" with earn it all over again. Meaning if you have 70 nights to get whatever level, you'll need that every few years to remain at that level.  

Has anyone seen anything different?

You are correct; it's not like MSC and Disney where you have to sail every 5 years to keep your status.

With Carnival's new rewards program, status resets for everyone every 2 years, and everyone starts from scratch again. Sailing a cheapo 3 night cruise every 2 years won't help keep your old level. It's gone no matter what you do. Instead of rewarding lifetime loyalty, it's "what have you done for me recently"

On 6/27/2025 at 10:26 AM, twangster said:

The only real benefit of platinum was early boarding.  Carnival creates chaos for the boarding process so they can sell FTTF.  Platinum and above don't need FTTF.  

And on the other hand, Royal has figured out how to use new technology and good terminal design to improve the boarding process for all of their customers.

20 hours ago, 27th Lady said:

I have a cruise booked with a stop in Nassau in Feb 2026. You’d have to think this is low season. A day pass to the beach club with alcohol unlimited is $250 and without alcohol is $200. Cabanas range from around $2200 to $5000 per day, which if you factor in the day pass cost actually seems like a deal. 
Is it just me or are these prices even higher than expected?  Maybe I should stop being surprised 

Presidents' day week in Feb would be high season, but I agree any other week in Feb would be low season.

On 6/26/2025 at 8:13 AM, TxGnRnr said:

I actually downgraded from the Amex Platinum to the Amex Green. As much as I liked the Platinum's travel benefits, I am now mostly cruising from a local port and very rarely flying. The Platinum doesn't offer enough coverage for cruise travel, so I would buy travel insurance, which duplicated the Platinum benefits.

Sounds like you made a great decision. The Green is way better for spending, with 3x for travel and dining. Just like Sapphire Reserve, before Chase ruined it.

On 6/22/2025 at 2:13 PM, mbhaf said:

No.. unfortunately an 18 yo cannot be booked in a room alone. We had to change the whole reservation around and lose our bigger room, as they made us put one adult in each room. This meant that we lost out original room for 3, and was switched to two "2 person" smaller rooms. The whole thing is a mess now, because my husband and I are not even sure if we will be on the same floor or even near each other since we had to put one of US in the other room with our son's friend!   

Reeeally hoping we can swap key cards when we get on !!

Oh, very strange. I've booked two even younger kids alone in their own room, by themselves. But they were in the cabin directly next door. Were you not able to find a cabin next door or across the hall? I use a travel agent, so that tends to help with these things

On 6/23/2025 at 10:39 AM, TxGnRnr said:

 

Is anyone else considering switching to Chase Travel to earn the extra points?

No, I'm considering dropping the Sapphire Reserve and going for Amex Green, which will get me 3x membership rewards points for cruises.

Just now, Sludog said:

Spending $33k on Carnival cruises in two years sounds criminal. 

yeah... i really think they are going to expand their credit card portfolio. maybe there will be a high annual fee on that encourages spend on the card. maybe even give you automatic status at a mid level

keep in mind even the pack n plays are smaller then you would expect. which is good since the room is small, but it was a bit of a shock to all of us (kid included)

On 6/24/2025 at 12:18 PM, skywalk640 said:

The reality is that there's always a possibility that RC goes this route if it's profitable. In Carnival's earning call today, the CFO talked about the new loyalty program and how they expect it to negatively impact their yields for 2026 and 2027, turn neutral for 2028 and then positive afterwards. If the other Carnival brands (Princess, Holland America, Costa, P&O, AIDA, Cunard, Seabourn) switch their loyalty programs to this type of rewards program, then I'll be concerned that other cruise lines will follow suit.

yeah, i'm a little worried. Carnival started charging for room service and once-a-day cabin service. Now look where we are...

On 6/24/2025 at 10:18 AM, Rackham said:

The earned rewards points never expire, but the tier points expire after two years. They're really introducing two separate systems which points are earned in both through spend. The real kicker here is their loyalty reward tiers are already not great, and with the required ongoing spend, there's really no point in trying to attain status under the new system. You're better off purchasing their Faster to the Fun package (their take on The Key) than dropping the money to hit the higher tiers.

The rewards points actually expire after 3 years; the stars you earn over a 2 year period which decides your level for the next 2 years.

You need to spend about $33K in that 2 year period with carnival to hit the top level (100k stars, 3 stars per $ spent)

I wonder if Royal will end up moving to the scheme that lines like NCL do. Everyone gets charged corkage when you bring the bottle onboard. So you pay it even if you drink the bottle in your stateroom.

On 5/18/2025 at 5:39 PM, Thumper44 said:

Still fascinating; 1 day cruises are pretty rare

Yeah, I agree; I found out about these overnight cruise ferries a while back, so when I knew I was going to be in that part of the world, I figured it was my opportunity to check one out.

On 5/14/2025 at 6:38 PM, Thumper44 said:

Do you know what the yellow dot is near Stockholm on your map?

Green dots are embarkations, red dots (usually trumped by green) are debarkations.  I don't have a yellow on my map.

That is a good question. I'm not seeing the yellow dot anymore anyway.

I think it was from this cruise, which was a one way overnight on a baltic cruise ferry from Tallinn to Stockholm, that had like a quick little 'technical stop' in the middle of the night for, I assume, some sort of duty-free loophole.

20 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

What’s a cruise globe ?  Where is it found ?

It's a pretty cool website: The Cruise Globe

On 4/30/2025 at 9:45 PM, Southern Dan said:

Dang!  Would have been cool if you were on the same sailing.

I was looking at that one originally but I decided the week prior will be before Northeast schools are done for the year so there will most likely be fewer kids onboard.

Good thinking -- that is actually why I'm sailing the following week... my youngest is still in high school, and we live in NJ

I agree, seems sketchy, but I did a search and others report seeing this too, when they book directly with royal:

4 hours ago, Southern Dan said:

I will be on the Aqua to Bermuda in June 2026 as well, we are booked on the 6/13 sailing.

I'll be on one week later!

2 hours ago, Doug_Texas said:

There are a lot 10 and 11 night Norwegian sailings out of Florida and those sailings are probably more attractive to me.

That's interesting that Royal is giving up on >7 night cruises out of Florida too. I was hoping to start doing some longer cruises, deeper into the Caribbean, in a few years when we are less beholden to the school schedule. Will be interesting to see what lines offer sailings like that in a few years, once I have that flexibility.

I know there are some lines, like Princess and Holland America, that liked to flip between a 7 night eastern and a 7 night western and would also let you book both together as a 14 night. But since they have to get back to the originating port, you can't go out as far with those.

6 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

For those of us born in the 1900's who enjoy a longer vacation we just have to find other options.

Well, there are plenty of other cruise lines out there. I don't restrict myself to royal. 

For some reason Celebrity abandoned Bermuda during the summer months. I found this somewhat shocking, since Celebrity was created for the NY->Bermuda run, but that's the change they made for 2025 and 2026. We'll have to see what happens in the future, but instead of sailing to Bermuda on a Celebrity ship, I'll be on Norwegian Aqua in June of 2026, and I'm looking forward to checking out a new ship. It's been a while since I've sailed on NCL.

5 hours ago, mworkman said:

I think I might just have figured it out, by Royal shifting to the 3/4 night sailings and limiting the longer sailings down to 7 days.  They’re quietly pushing those of us that enjoy longer sailings over to the sister company (Celebrity). It appears that’s now where I find myself booking more cruise. I think this is just what they want.

But isn't it only Oasis class ships that are shifting to only offering 3/4 night sailings? There are still other ship classes on royal that have longer sailings. Celebrity doesn't have any Oasis class ships either.

On 4/23/2025 at 7:58 AM, Crazy Cruise Lady said:

Royal Caribbean’s “kids sail free” program has made cruising less desirable. Too many kids and many are not well behaved. If I wanted to sail WITH KIDS, I would cruise with Disney. Time to switch to Celebrity or other cruise lines. Royal may as well paint Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse on their ships. 
 

Celebrity actually has better 'kids sail free' deals, since kids are <18 instead of <12. But you are right, there are way fewer kids on Celebrity.

Connie out of Tampa the week after Christmas. costs for flights to Tampa weren't too bad, compared to Miami/Fort Lauderdale, or San Juan, since it's a prime time for travel.

Pub has more IPA's than I recall from my last royal sailing. I wonder if that is going to be the case for me on Anthem in August.

(and CSV is a great file format)

I solve this problem by not eating a bagel outside of a 75 mile radius of the statue of liberty...

On 2/1/2025 at 12:32 PM, asquared17 said:

it’s a jersey thing, definitely. 

similar to canadian bacon, but i think it might be more gamey. (if this makes sense) 

also the neighboring philly area is familiar with it as well. (where is @ScottD to back me up?) thank you @OCSC Mike )

i am not sure if they have out on long island… @JohnK6404 can you confirm?

Yeah, no Pork Roll on LI. I only learned about it when I moved to NJ. Which is really kinda weird, if you think about it.

Though I'm now in North Jersey, where the proper term is Taylor Ham.