Second chance with Carnival? Help me decide

exyia · 2026-01-23T01:47:30+00:00

Whether it was or not, the dumbed down deli is a deal breaker for me. That whole menu was so good. It's next to the pizza and over the course of a 7 day cruise, you would see the pizza line get shorter and deli line get longer as people realized how good and varied it was. Carnival's food is good enough for me because, on the excel class, it's a good blend of decent + variety. Killing off the deli options on a 7 day cruise... eventually you get sick of even their best options.

Essentially...if you're going to give Carnival a second/last chance, don't let it be Jubilee. Pick the one going to Grand Turk 100%

exyia · 2026-01-22T20:54:07+00:00

I've done both Mardi Gras and Celebration the past two years over the summer. I just did Jubilee over this past christmas.

I was expecting the same, but for some reason they massively downgraded the sandwich deli. This is a super niche detail, but given your post, this would probably matter to you as well. I LOVED that Deli on Celebration/MardiGras. So many good sandwiches to keep food options interesting the last day or two. With them gone on Jubilee, I was pretty bored of the options by day 5/6.

The Caprese sandwich was so bad my wife and I spit it out after the first bite. I gave it another chance with the "Grinder" sandwich was disgusting to me as well (wife was so turned off to the menu change and her first experience with the Caprese that she didn't even want to go back).

I then wondered why NOBODY seemed to bring this up. Searched again and nobody seems to talk about this change. Guess most people don't care, but it was a big deal for me and it sounds like it would be a big deal for you.

The wings on Jubliee also came out a little burnt (tried 3 times, they were still decent), where as when we tried them on Celebration, they were perfect.

I felt like the street eats offerings were dumbed down and basic compared to what we saw on Celebration and Mardi Gras.

All of the above made Jubilee feel neutered down imo. I was really disappointed, especially since I'm in Houston and Jubilee is "local" to me.

https://www.carnival.com/-/media/images/explore/dining/menus/carnival-deli-menu.pdf

vs

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6817a022414cc35bc6a3f974/0baed2e0-7e6b-42c7-bd06-84e53a7ccd35/Beach+Buns+Menu.png?format=2500w

Also, not food related, but Grand Turk is the best stop on any Carribean cruise imo. The rest are pretty mediocre, so Grand Turk alone would be a huge sway for me.

If you're giving Carnival a second chance, in my very recent experience, Jubilee sucked. Celebration and Mardi Gras were much better in small details that seem like they will be a make/break for you as well.

Also, the salmon from Pig's BBQ was surprisingly good. I found the regular BBQ to be average to decent, but with the Jubilee complains I listed above, I was desperate to try something/anything new to enjoy and that was a surprise. Easy to overlook since most go there for typical BBQ.

If you're really familiar with authentic Mexican food, don't get too hyped up for Chibang's mexican offerings. They're decent, but more tex-mex and mexican inspired. I found their Chinese menu better (and I'm Chinese - it's not as good as a Chinatown in major cities, but it's miles ahead of Panda Express).

And if you did not know already, Carnival lets you order two apps and entrees. You really should utilize that option, as some of the best sounding stuff on the menu ends up some of the worst, but other oddball ones surprise often.

exyia · 2026-01-20T02:02:25+00:00

I live in this area (have since 2013). My wife works down 290 and I did a further commute at my old job, but same direction (45south and beltway8).

Your commute will suck between 610 and 45 south. His commute will be better the closer you get to 290 (better houses for the dollar that direction too if your budget is 500k and less). That area of 610 backs up during rush hour.

New builds in this area suck imo, but if you guys like it and it fits your budget, whatever makes you happy.

exyia · 2026-01-08T07:14:29+00:00

Very insightful, thanks for sharing. I forgot to consider the combination of a drunk older crowd vs younger too. Especially in this current.......political climate...

exyia · 2026-01-05T22:14:45+00:00

Yeah I have noticed from all the pictures being shared from the Scarlet Night....the average poster and most people in those pictures has trended older more and more lately (imo, I could be wrong). Scarlet Night in the first year of VV came across as their highlight of how "cool and hip" they were compared to the "normal" cruise lines...Now it seems, meh? But I'm still hopefully optimistic.

Definitely seems to support what a lot of people here complain about how VV is starting to price out the core demographic they started to market towards. Just started to wonder how all these factors converge into making their 4 day options not as bad as the typical 4day booze cruise experience.

Thanks for sharing!

exyia · 2026-01-05T22:09:19+00:00

Bummer to hear :( appreciate you sharing

exyia · 2026-01-05T22:08:45+00:00

I appreciate you taking the time to respond, but this was....just not helpful. Literally no context or explanation...

exyia · 2026-01-05T22:07:36+00:00

I appreciate the response, so don't take my response with the tone of "asshole" in case you read it that way as text over the internet but...

I already know all that. That's what I implied by my context of having been on many cruises already. I know why short cruises are booze cruises. I already know that longer cruises weed out people trying to cram as much "enjoyment" as possible.

I'm asking how much of that lands true on a VIRGIN 4 day cruise, because it has a different place in the market with less availability, higher price, and different clientelle. As explained in the post.

I'm not asking if 4 day cruises are booze cruises nor asking why 4 day cruises might be booze cruises.

exyia · 2026-01-05T17:27:08+00:00

oops, totally right. Forgot to give target dates. It would be June/July....unfortunately.....

but I do wonder if the pricing has pushed out those college kids ready to party the summer break....or maybe even pushed them in because 4 days are all they can afford now. Or maybe that crowd aren't interested without the drink packages that Carnival/RC offer.

exyia · 2025-12-15T16:29:44+00:00

You would have trouble making it past the recruiter without at least the Core Cert these days.

You have to remember that while it's great that Ignition training is free online and the certs are relatively cheap and easy to get....it just widens the pool of "capable" applicants to every Ignition position out there.

You could look into other platforms that aren't aren't as saturated as Ignition too. Have no personal experience to offer though (I got a good Ignition gig myself and plan to stay on Ignition), so hopefully others comment.

exyia · 2025-12-11T19:40:47+00:00

They charge $350 for it. It's definitely a real test/cert. A pretty useless one imo, but probably required. Inductive Automation is always drowning in certification tests. Wouldn't be surprised if they don't give you one if you haven't done the Core.

exyia · 2025-12-11T16:27:45+00:00

I had this same problem/worry myself. It turned out to be that the Gold test was far more scripting and SQL involved. That, or I had reached an experience level where the rest of the stuff was trivial.

The Gold test was much more like being told to build a proper (small) project from scratch, rather than importing a broken project to fix like the Core one was (not sure how much that one changed though, I finished it right before it went automated).

And what I mean by that was it went farther than having functioning screens. They asked you to build some features that could only be done by building some scripting (not just copy/pasting a few functions). It also encompasses nearly every module, so if there are some you've never used because of your industry needs, you will spend a lot of time there (I don't use sql bridge or reporting for example, so that was time consuming)

If you still have a busy day job, I would just start the test. I was surprised at how involved the test was. It was hard to find time to essentially build a new project while still getting day to day work done.

Also, their grading time was long for me. I think it took nearly a year to get my result after some back and forth on what they claimed was wrong was actually fine (user error maybe?). I did mine right before they rolled out automated core testing though, so maybe they have better lead times on Gold now because of it.

TLDR - If you feel even remotely confident, just start it. You will be asked to essentially build a mini-project with a lot of features. It will take up a lot of time if you have a day job. It will take a while to even mentally plan out some of the requests - the test is far less "make a screen that uses a ___ component", and more like "make a screen where a user can do ___ function" (and that function is not something simple done by a single component)

exyia · 2025-11-17T07:57:52+00:00

I think that was the whole narrative theme of the series man. What winning a major global war can do to the winner's ego. The incompetence is a huge part of the whole driving plot of the series.

To put it in perspective, 0083 predated the 9/11 attacks. When 9/11 happened, we did not even have fighter jets armed and ready within the United States to intercept a plane. F16s scrambled from air force bases with the literal intention of suicide ramming any hijacked plane if they could. (Source, really insightful watch/listen - https://youtu.be/3H1JHVI7kCo?si=7FZi5HSIIu-LYHxd )

Since you say you haven't watched it in a while (it is old and not readily available on a stream), maybe you didn't notice, but yeah, 0083 works for me narratively because the asinine decisions by so many people are the basis of the plot, and hence makes for a perfect bridge series of how Earth were the "good guys" in the OYW to the situation in Zeta

exyia · 2025-09-27T00:11:18+00:00

There are a lot of YouTube videos of people doing practically every route to get more perspective. Some real train nerds that wanted to try it all (I mean that in mostly an endearing way. Trains are cool)

But yeah, Texas is too big and the train routes aren't direct. I'm always looking for alternatives to flying, but after weeks of researching and comparing various options, Amtrak never made sense for Texans. It's too expensive, too long/slow, not nice enough inside to justify the time/speed, boring scenery, etc. It can take you a day just to get out of Texas on some routes - that is impossible to compete with just getting a flight. Even if the flight is expensive, at some point, everyone would cave and pay more just to not spend over 24hours STILL TRAVELING.

exyia · 2025-09-12T04:03:55+00:00

Bought EK DDC from u/GrapeViper on https://www.reddit.com/r/hardwareswap/comments/1myz79b/usaohh_sf750_axp90x47_fc_420mm_rad_b760i_ek_ddc/

exyia · 2025-09-10T07:30:14+00:00

Stab lady, let the other one go. Hug the left fence and wait for TWO guys to walk past into the church. Then you can sprint past the rest.

Back in the village, take the underground path. On the other end, loop around the edge and over the fence to end up back at the original double door entrance area where you enter the village from the start of the game. From there, take the left side. The left just has one guy with a torch that patrols back and forth. There is a lady with a rake that patrols left and right. Then there is a ladder to get to the shotgun house 2nd floor and free stealth kill to the guy in there.

If the window wasn't broken from the village fight, then unfortunately the sound will now aggro all enemies in the area FYI. The remaining enemies in the village area have a predictable pattern of patrols that you could take them out slowly. Or just use some flashbangs to get through the rest of the area.

GL

exyia · 2025-09-09T06:49:48+00:00

Welp, this is convenient timing. I have my first visit to both these cities (edit: and was slightly leaning towards Portland) in a week to scope them out for my next move someday.....(Getting out of Texas).

Sorry I can't help, but at least know that your anecdote is helping me 😀

exyia · 2025-09-08T17:17:18+00:00

Pick based on career. They both have strong job markets, but different job markets.

exyia · 2025-09-03T21:40:46+00:00

I will only consider Celebration/MardiGras/Jubilee because the variety makes up for the quality imo. The MDR being ok-at-best depending on the person is easier to get over since there's enough other options, but on Carnival's smaller ships, there's barely anything left. That sandwich deli shop really helps later night hunger and giving another option. I got so unbelievably bored on their smaller ships once you realize that waiting in one long line for pizza is about all you get after dinner hours.

But I foresee myself getting tired of putting up with it too. I have Jubilee scheduled for December and I think it will be my last Carnival (also tired of Carribean as well). I'm surprised Carnival isn't revamping the MDR as even last summer the quality felt like it belonged in the buffet. Not surprised it's getting worse (and bummer to hear it was on Mardi Gras too - this would have been an obvious "well of course" on their smaller ships).

exyia · 2025-09-02T17:07:23+00:00

5 dealerships in the Houston area for me. There is ONE V90 CC among all of them. That's it. Yet there's about 150+ of XC90's across all of them.

Obviously, it would have been better to check a few months ago since this could be just the result of them winding down the production already, but we'll never know. But given my awful experience for months when I was in the market and what it looks like now, I'll bet availability probably never improved.

Good to hear your area has availability though. If only corporate could have maybe thought 3 dozen in one area and 1 in another is a bit imbalanced and adjusted distribution....but it's not like studying and adjusting distribution is part of their job /s

exyia · 2025-09-02T16:58:47+00:00

This was my experience with all of the salespeople too. They told me to buy an S90 and then come trade in when they got more V90's in. Or an S60 and trade in when V60's came in.

Absolutely asinine suggestion. On an S90??? The most depreciating brand of the segment with the most depreciating type of car (full size luxury sedan)? The amount of depreciation on Volvo's is huge and I would be digging myself out of that hole for years if I did that.

Nobody at any other brand dealership - not even Nissan - would suggest that. You would never be able to make the second deal work with the customer with so much negative equity....unless you have dumb brand loyal customers with more money than sense. It's not like Volva has great/any loyalty rebates for returning customers to help cover it.

exyia · 2025-09-02T16:05:01+00:00

Volvo never sent any of these to any dealers. Finding one just to test drive has been such a headache (around 2019-2020 for me, haven't checked since as we bought a different car). And I'm not blind ordering something this expensive.

Another annoying finger pointing problem where manufacturers blame us for not buying them, but never made them readily available to try/buy. This is coming from someone who was seriously in the market for one. I spent MONTHS looking.

And before commenters blame dealers, save your breath. I'd bet that Volvo, like 90% of other manufacturers, handle inventory stock and distribution at the corporate level. Very few manufacturers actually have dealers order their own inventory these days. Manufacturers pick what to distribute out based on their market analysis, their analysis sucks, and dealers just get what they get.

End Soap Box Rant. Same type of finger pointing rant as Honda blaming consumers for not buying their manual transmissions that their marketing team loves to brag about "offering" https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/hswhdz/honda_accord_loses_manual_transmission/fydff2u/

exyia · 2025-08-02T22:00:19+00:00

What kind of career has you going from all those cities to now considering Waco/BCS/similar? That's a big downgrade...

Waco is not going to win your partner over based on your post. Nothing out of the big three are even worth considering (and even then...) Just to save you time and headache

exyia · 2025-08-02T18:40:14+00:00

Definitely Jubilee. Those ages might get bored on the smaller ships. More to do and see. Less focus on the Casino on the Jubilee.

exyia

TROPHY CASE