THE LATEST FROM CCL--ANOTHER PRICE INCREASE.

Fortunately, overall, oil prices are on a slowly decreasing trend. I do not expect a fuel surcharge under currently circumstances for any of the cruise lines.

That said, if any of the three major cruise lines make an increase in ANY area, I expect the others will 'probably' follow. Much revenue is needed to recoup the COVID negative years. Much revenue is needed to recoup the debt assumed during COVID. Much revenue is needed - PERIOD !!!

Positively - increased passenger occupancy is already present. Occupancy brings $$$. Cruise line revenues are increasing. Thus, positive shareholder results will follow, and share PPS will increase.

IMO - the major cruise lines will survive, but it will be much longer than a 10-day cruise to return the Corporation to profitability. This current year -- 2023 -- will be a MAJOR year in determining Cruise Line future/profitability.

One more small change has been adopted to help eliminate food waste on CCL, you now need to order bread when ordering your meal in the MDR. We didn't know this the first night this week while in the Mardi Gras' MDR, and wondered why there was no bread served before the appetizer. But - in the no-extra-fee Italian specialty restaurant, bread was automatically served just as before, so it seems to be a little inconsistent.

Completely aligned on needing to reduce waste - been saying since '93 (now y'all have an idea how many candles burn on my cake) there is FAR too much food wasted on cruise ships (and Chinese buffets - please no lectures), but I don't know that numerous fees is the answer.

Was on Carnival at EOY/New Year and several HAL last year - room service charges definitely impacted our food selections, but honestly we turned to our trail mix stash, which we should have been doing anyway.

We really do try to eat what we take, whether at home or on a cruise ship - why would we think it's acceptable to waste food just because we aren't at home? That's nuts!

We do ask for half (or smaller) portions at buffet, MDR and Steakhouse and most are happy to oblige. Still don't see the need to waste food just because I have the ability to order more. Chef at Pinnacle Grill on HAL ship in Oct told us they're happy to serve smaller cuts if passengers ask. I took that as blanket approval to request smaller portions.

This doesn't surprise me at all, since they lost a lot during the pandemic. Now, they seem to be going through a re-branding phase, and are trying to use this as a way to recoup their losses.

Stepped off a CCL ship earlier this morning, and it seemed like charging for room service has cut way down on food waste. In the past, we used to see a lot of sandwiches on plates in the hallways with only one bite eaten. This time, none - and actually very few plates at all!

Strolled by the pizzeria around 9PM and was surprised that it was closed. I know the plan is to cut back from 24 hour availability, but was surprised to see it shut down so early. I also noticed a few other small cutbacks here and there compared to just 2 months ago. Several items have been removed from both the seaday brunch and MDR breakfast menus. Apparently they were running low on salad dressing in the Lido buffet, so they diluted what they had, presumably to make it last through the cruise. It had the consistency of water with zero taste. Hopefully that was a one-off occurrence! I also tried an entree from the "steakhouse selections" in the MDR. The surcharge has been bumped up to $23, and it was definitely not worth it. I doubt we'll try the steakhouse at $57 a pop (including mandatory gratuity) on future cruises unless we have excess credits to burn.

I understand the predicament the cruise industry is in. Rapidly increasing food costs - easily 10% or more over the past year. With lots of bookings locked in at fixed rates over the next 6 months or so they will definitely be feeling the squeeze. As has been said before, we either need to lower our expectations somewhat, or be prepared to pay more - possibly on a different line.

whut? who? (echo in here)

Boy, what a bunch of sheep.

C'mon people, lets take a stand. Let's all get on our phones or computers and start cancelling those cruise bookings. We'll show those greedy cruise execs and bean counters just who runs this show.

If CCL think's they can get away with charging me $48 for a steak that I can get in any decent steakhouse for $60+, well, they had better think again. They'll rescind those price increases in a heartbeat if enough of us tell them to shove it.

So ok, whose with me?

......................Where'd everybody go?

Things weren't quite that bad on VISTA (yet), but we will be on her again 2/18. I'll let y'all know.

Just got off the Breeze. We saw cutbacks beginning since our last cruise in June. On the Breeze (Carnival has not published this) They pull all the coffee cups off the shelves at the beverage stations,(plastic drink cups also) cannot get coffee or hot chocolate unless you have your own beverage container. All beverage dispensers are closed except one in the back on lido by the pizza place. only one ice cream machine is operating. So they are cutting back more. They do this at midnight. BUT the bars still running. Got to spend that cash.

I have been wondering that one for quite some time.