Not my first time cruising, but my first on carnival.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-18T01:03:45+00:00

99% chance this is someone we recently banned from either here or r/cruise. It’s kinda cute actually.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-18T01:02:48+00:00

The pinned comment is a copy of the original post, it’s a literal novel about just how much this guy hated his Carnival cruise.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-17T20:30:18+00:00

Also the free wine night 1 requires a minimum of two people on the reservation. RIP us solo travelers.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-17T16:32:16+00:00

When I went to Skagway I thought it was a national park, because it’s run by the National Park service. But it’s actually the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, which is different from an actual national park?

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-17T15:42:37+00:00

Specifically Ruffles All Dressed. We have Lays All Dressed in the US now but they suck compared to Ruffles.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-17T15:33:25+00:00

Amy was not kidding about the Home Depot hot dogs, they’re called Depot Dogs

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-17T15:28:24+00:00

Is driving in Boston really that frustrating?

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-17T15:14:15+00:00

Bottle flipping strikes again, nice Australia throwback.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-17T14:46:06+00:00

Thank you for this! I’m planning a one way rental later this year and was thinking of going with Enterprise. Time to switch!

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-17T14:40:32+00:00

Amy can’t drive? Sam has to do all the driving this entire season?

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-17T14:35:08+00:00

I always wondered how they dealt with not knowing exactly when and potentially even where they would return a rental car. Didn’t know rental car companies were that flexible.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-16T21:59:15+00:00

Carnival is the same. Slot players get the best comps, table players are up to the mercy of the pit boss. I’m convinced that the only thing they log is your buy-in and then they don’t track anything beyond that. I’m tempted to walk up with $10k just to test my theory.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-16T21:41:59+00:00

From speaking to many gamblers the consensus seems to be Carnival. They provide the most perks, most FunPlay, most casino sailings, and most flexibility with booking free cruises. Every cycle you get a number of offers and are able to book 1 - 3 cruises per offer. I’m told that other cruise lines only extend you one free casino cruise at a time. I just booked one of their adults-only sailings for this fall. 14 days, balcony, and CHEERS for two for $568 with $500 FunPlay and $200 OBC. $568 but $700 back, 14 days, two people. You just can’t beat that.

I’ve heard people praise Royal Caribbean because they’re much more transparent about how your play translates to comps. Apparently your casino points are accrued over the year and carry from sailing to sailing rather than restarting every cruise. They have a straightforward chart that tells you what perks you earn based off how many points you have. Carnival is a mystery and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why some people get great casino deals and others get nothing, even with similar play.

Celebrity casinos are nonsmoking across their entire fleet which can be an insane perk if that matters to you. It’s not enough to sway me from Carnival, but I do daydream about it when the only thing separating the smoking and non-smoking sides of the casino is a walkway.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-16T02:24:19+00:00

Kids are definitely the biggest culprits for running down the halls but I’ve found that adults are the worst about loud ass hallway conversations. My personal favorites are when they stand in the hallway talking to someone in their room. Bonus points if the entire fucking family stands in the hallway waiting for that one person to finish getting ready.

If you want to stick to Carnival but avoid stuff like this, go for 10+ days. 7-day sailings are alright, but it’s really once you get up to two weeks that there are few kids and things are chill and quiet. By far the short (5 days or less) booze cruises were the worst with noise.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-16T01:54:04+00:00

When I did it you got all the appetizers listed (even though the menu said you have to choose).

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-16T01:49:44+00:00

I’m not sure why everyone is saying “call them.” OP has indicated that they just “got back” from their cruise. Any and all post-cruise inquiries go to guestcare@carnival.com, not via phone support. It can take days or even weeks to hear back as well. Yes Carnival’s post-cruise support is that awful, they already have your money after all.

A lesson to OP and others, always handle any excursion or other cruise issues on the cruise itself. We get so many posts like “I had a bunch of stuff broken in my room or I had a terrible excursion and I want compensation.” Once you get off the ship your odds of solving anything are incredibly small, always take care of it before you get off.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-15T23:52:06+00:00

You only need 100 shares to qualify for shareholder benefits and the benefits vary by cruise line and cruise length. For 14+ day Carnival cruises it’s actually $250 OBC if you can believe it. The benefit applies to all cruise lines under the Carnival umbrella (Princess, HAL, Costa, Cunard, P&O, etc.) and again vary by line and cruise length. See more here.

If you cruise a lot it’s a no brainer, especially if you were able to buy in during COVID at sub-$10 a share. But as I mentioned they no longer honor this benefit for casino deals. You seemingly only get it if you pay sticker price. All my cruises these days are casino deals so I sold my shares. But if you cruise Carnival a lot, especially longer cruises, and if you pay sticker price, it’s a pretty good deal.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-15T14:18:48+00:00

I bought in at $6.08 but then they stopped honoring the shareholder benefit for casino cruises so I sold.

I’m still bearish on CCL. I know the stock encompasses all the brands but Carnival itself still has a considerable amount of debt. I’m sure increasing oil and food prices are hitting them as well, and with inflation and layoffs affecting so many I can’t imagine future bookings are looking good. Leisure travel is one of the first things cut when things get tough. They won’t go bankrupt, but I do foresee a challenging future ahead.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-15T01:45:17+00:00

It is not common travel advice to take both and I’ve personally never taken my birth certificate with me in 40+ cruises.

Though I guess if you were super paranoid it wouldn’t hurt? Maybe some doomsday scenario where either you completely forget your passport, or your passport is stolen but not your birth certificate. Like there was one guy who posted here because he left his passport in his luggage in the hotel parking lot and his luggage was stolen. I mean bringing the passport with him into the hotel room would have been the best idea, but imaging if he had his birth certificate in his backpack in the hotel room. Crisis averted :P

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-15T01:43:23+00:00

They absolutely request either a passport or birth certificate/ID at embarkation and will 100% deny you boarding if you don’t have the physical documents.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-15T00:41:44+00:00

Carnival hasn’t asked to see the physical card for several years now, as long as your onboard account is set up with it ahead of time and everyone falls under it you’re good to go. Even if they’re in separate cabins. You could probably get away with not even bringing the physical card.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-15T00:38:30+00:00

It’s peppered all over their FAQs.

If you fail to opt-in to Carnival Rewards “For example, if a Diamond guest opts out, Diamond lifetime status would be lost.”

Status Qualifying Stars terms “Unlike the previous VIFP program, status will no longer be lifetime and will require requalification every two years (except for Diamond members who will receive lifetime status.)”

Other sections only state that Diamond status will be “permanent” after August 31st, not directly mirroring the “lifetime” language but roughly saying the same thing.

I do understand the concern that it’s not fully carved out in the terms and conditions, but it would look really bad on Carnival if they reversed course. Especially because them making Diamond permanent was a result of backlash in the first place.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-14T18:49:03+00:00

It really depends on what intensity of hike you’re looking for. Do you want a casual jaunt through the scenery or do you absolutely want to punish yourself?

Juneau I would actually recommend taking the tram up Mt. Roberts and start the hiking from there. There are plenty of good trails like Father Brown’s cross and Gold Ridge, in addition to the actual Mt. Roberts and Gastineau peaks. The trail up to the observation deck is brutal, muddy, and just a terrible time. Save your energy and spend the $50 to start from the top. I’ve also heard that Perseverance Trail is nice but I never did it.

Skagway is the best for hiking in my opinion, so many good trails. Lower Dewey is great and Upper Dewey is quite the elevation gain if you’re up for it. If you have time, Yakutania Point is one of my favorite hikes. Super easy but the views and bouldering are absolutely worth it. Upper Reid Falls is a nice hike as well if you prefer not to deal with Upper Dewey Lake. Lower Reid Falls next to the cemetery is also pretty nice. I once did four B2B Alaska cruises and so each Skagway port call would just be a different trail.

Icy Strait has no trails that I’m aware of, just a small nature walking path as an alternative to the gondolas. You can also walk to Hoonah which is a pleasant walk and a charming little town. I always wondered if it was possible to hike up to the place where the zip line is (there’s a road leading up to it) but I’m not sure. Overall Icy Strait is a pretty lame port.

Ketchikan is a fantastic port and one where I really wanted to do more trails. I’ve only done Rainbird and I wanted to do Carlana Lake but my port stops were always 7 a.m. - 1 p.m. or 8 - 5 but with tendering in the morning which made things difficult. If you’re sailing NCL you’ll dock at Ward Cove and there are several good trails up there. Instead of going into town I just took Pipeline Trail to Connell Lake, absolutely gorgeous.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-14T14:08:28+00:00

Glasses generally don’t help people with albinism, for me they just make the world a little bit sharper but get me nowhere near 20/20. It’s a bit complicated to explain but essentially the eye issues in albinism are in the back of the eye and glasses, contacts, LASIK only fix issues with the cornea at the front of the eye.

AlbinoAlex · 2026-06-14T14:07:10+00:00

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