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Last year after we took my dad on his first cruise. I wrotte a letter to Carnival praising the above and beyond service given my dad. Received a nice letter back and a free bottle of wine on our next cruise.

Have you sailed from Port Canaveral before? It's a great port, easy to get in and out. We will be easy to spot. Party of three, man, women, and 91 year old father in wheelchair. Father will be in good shape, man & woman will look tired and hung-over!

Howard....Congratualtions on booking your Mexican cruise. Love the Spirit class ships.

Soory, just missed you. We are going on the Glory Sept 20th. Went on the Glory last Sept on your cruise. You will love it!

Jackie...I second your vent on those puny luggage tags. Our last cruise we got the paper documents. The tags were a joke. One piece of luggage got to our cabin by devine intervention, I pulled the tag off by hooking my little finger through it and "thinking" about puling it off! I sent an e-mail complaint to Carnival re: the paper baggages tags. So far no response but its been only 4 months! The main reason I liked the paper documents was to receive the good luggage tags. With Keith's post about the pouches it is now e-docs for us. Anyone have a good idea how to protect those stupid, cheap, baggage tags? I think you struck a nerve!

Joey...We don't have to hold our breath until the prices go down do we?

We have had upgrades on three cruises. In each case we paid for the "cheapest" balcony room and where up graded to the hightest room. In each case booke almost 12 months ahead, direct through Carnival. Those were our early cruises so sometimes being stupid is an advantage. The last four booking have been for a specific room/suite.

Love the photos Carmen. Looks like you had a great and memorable trip.

Great review Carmen, can't wait to see the pictures.

I'll second that! This cruise is only going to be about fun, meeting good friends, and getting away from the rat race!!

Jenn....I spent 18 years as a straight commission salesperson and on many occasions I did a lot of work and never made a dime. It's part of doing business. Your TA will get more good PR by not charging you a cancellation fee. I had job changes all the time and never charged a restocking fee. Guess what, they would buy from me the next time because I took care of them.

We don't like the trend but it is now a way of life on cruise ships. If we are dining with family or good friends the meal is still enjoyable and what others wear usually does not bother me. We prefer to dress up and enjoy others that do the same. We cruise to relax and have fun so what others wear on casual night probably will not bother us. Now if the food or service is no good, that's another story!

Thanks for the info MaryLou and Joey. Looks like we are no longer the target market for cruise ships. Everything changes with time and the older you get it seems there are more "bad" changes than "good" They can change the dress code all they want, I'm kinda' hard headed and will still have fun at dinner. Do jean jackets count as formal wear now?

Ed....On your first cruise did the streamers get caught up in the oars?

Wow, only 490 days to go! It will be here before you know it!

We don't like it. Weenjoy dressing up but with travel it may be a sign of the times. On our last Carnival cruise in March we had another benifit to formal night. The guests at the table next to us did not come to formals nights. Problably couldn't tie the tie and lost their clip-ons!