SpaceCowboy9

@Cruising Caribbean soft serve: yes (as of our last carnival cruise in May) Not a fan - I eat other junk to compensate.

What port(s) & activities are you looking at ? You may get some recommendations. I like booking outside the cruise line, because I like saving money. Trip advisor, google, etc. will give you a good indication of whether or not to book. Another thing to look at is the length of time in port. If you have a 12 hour window, stuff can go sideways & you have a lot of time to grab a cab. Bring spare cash with you - enough for cab fare from anywhere back to the ship.

@Cruising Caribbean it's an aft balcony cabin on the Carnival Sunshine. For my 95 year old mother-in-law, it's also a handicap accessible cabin. It is a little wider & has a large bathroom. The tablecloth idea sounds interesting. If you had some strong magnets, you could secure it at the top. As long as the door closes, I wouldn't see it as a problem.

I sailed the Vista in 2017. Great ship! It has a lot of passengers, but I felt as though they built the ship compartmentalized so there wasn't a feel like there were a lot of people. Our favorite place - the Havana Bar. Loved listening to the live music.

We decorated our door in May this year on carnival. @3Sisters even though carnival says not to use tape, we use tape. They are worried about the door being damaged. We are extra careful & have never had an issue. Here's my wife & mother-in-law, nothing too fancy.

I just like being on the ship. To me, it doesn't matter where. If it's a special occasion, we'll get a balcony & did an aft balcony a couple of times. As far as price, the higher you go, the more expensive it gets. On one deck, the middle is usually more than the ends. Lastly, I try to pick a cabin that is surrounded on all sides by other cabins. You are less likely to have some odd noises from something like a janitor's closet early in the morning or a dance floor late at night.

I agree that key west will be ok. There are a number of islands in the Caribbean that don't take a lot of cruise ships & are doing fine. Anecdotally, I've been to key west once & it was not on a cruise. I'd return for the food & you don't do more food while cruising (at least I don't )

I have not tried it, but they have a 3rd party app that will process it for them. I've heard there are a couple different ways to give them your info. (upload a picture or even give them access to your account (I'm not doing that)). at some point, CCL will no longer take email or fax submission

Carnival & princess you can decorate your door - we put up stars so we can easily find our room - our neighbors say it's easier for them to find their room because theirs is the one next to the stars

What I've seen for veterans' benefits is a discounted cruise- it's not a lot $10/$20 per person off the cruise fare The shareholder benefit is usually in the form of an onboard credit Carnival is changing the process for applying for the shareholder benefit, not the benefit itself.

cruisemapper.com from a laptop worked for me yesterday - maybe we're talking apples & oranges?

@Jim Lamb I don't use it often, but I do see what you are saying - i haven't tried, maybe use a laptop or desktop?

@FJB I'm with FJB on this. The cruise lines already run a rather clean operation. Throwing more money at it will just make cruising less affordable for little benefit.

I have a hard time seeing the benefit - maybe I'm not thinking straight. Why not tender in - seems like you could tender anywhere. The same with supplies, a ship could bring them to you where ever you were. How would the island hold up to storm while at sea? Interesting idea, but a lot of questions.

@Kendall James-Vargas we think her cruising days are over. Her last cruise, this past April, was a challenge. The happiest she was during the whole trip was when we were in the car heading home. I think she could finally relax. She was so afraid to fall, even though she was either in bed or a wheelchair 95% of the time. She has a lot of great cruises to look back on.