News about cruises and cruising
Let me preface this article by saying we enjoyed our cruise – a lot – but we felt this was worthy of some discussion since it’s something that has never happened to us before. We generally try to pick out good cabins. We google the ship maps to make sure we’re not right under the … Continue reading “Loud Carnival Cruise Ship Cabin”
In 2011 we wrote about Carnival’s new Punchliner Comedy Club presented by George Lopez, saying it was a great idea with faulty execution. Having recently sailed on the Carnival Magic over the 4th of July, we’re excited to report that Carnival has improved the experience of this popular evening choice. Instead of having one show … Continue reading “2014 Update: Carnival Punchliner Comedy Club”
Carnival Cruise Line announced the first details today about it’s next ship on order – the Carnival Vista. The Vista will debut in 2016 and have a passenger capacity of 4000. “We’re starting to use the ship names as a touchstone for how we think about the design,” said Carnival Chief Marketing Officer Jim Berra, … Continue reading “Carnival Announces New Cruise Ship Name: Carnival Vista”
Before Carnival announced its Faster to the Fun program last week, the only way to get priority boarding and tendering was earning your way to the top tier of Carnival’s loyalty program or booking one of the limited number suites on board. With the new program in place on some ships, anyone can now get … Continue reading “Carnival’s Faster to the Fun Program Causes Loyalty Uproar”
Regardless of cruise line, one of the largest annoyances of the cruise experience is the embarkation. For what it’s worth, herding thousands of passengers through what seems like miles of rope-line through the registration and security process – in the time that they do it – is no easy feat. But Carnival is testing a … Continue reading “Pay to Play: Carnival Cruise Line Offers Fee-Based Early Boarding, Priority Tenders”
UPDATE: 2:30 US Central Time: The Italian captain of the Costa Concordia has been arrested. The Guardian is reporting that an announcement was made after the ship had collided with underwater rocks stating that it was just an electrical failure. Passengers are also alleging they were attempting to board life-boats but the crew wouldn’t allow … Continue reading “Carnival’s Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Accident – Picture Gallery and Video”
Carnival Cruise Line announced plans to upgrade the on-board entertainment and dining options on several of its ships, in a new program the cruise line is calling “Funship 2.0.” The new changes are expected to run through 2015, and are expected to first be seen on the Carnival Liberty which will re-enter service this month. … Continue reading “Carnival Cruises To Revamp Food, Entertainment”
On all of our past sailings with Carnival, we’ve always opted for dining in the late seating to ensure everyone in our group would be able to dine together – regardless of shore excursions, on-board activities, etc. that may run into the late afternoon making it difficult to herd everyone together for the early seating. … Continue reading “Carnival’s Your Time Dining: A Review”
A little over a year ago, Carnival Cruise Lines saw how popular its comedy shows were and decided to repurpose lounges so that each ship would have a dedicated “Punchliner Comedy Club.” On the surface, this sounds like a great idea – if something is really popular – why not have a spot dedicated to … Continue reading “Carnival Punchliner Comedy Comedy Club: Great Idea, Faulty Execution”
When we got the email from Carnival back in June about the revised smoking policy – we were relieved – and just last week we got to experience some of the new changes first-hand. Pardon the pun. Starting June 15th, smoking was restricted to staterooms, balconies, dance clubs, jazz clubs, open decks on the starboard … Continue reading “Review: Carnival Smoking Policy Changes”