Monday, April 6, 2015

Carnival Cruise Revelations and Factoids

Given that the theme of this blog is about my digital lifestyle, today's post could be considered antithetical to the purpose of the blog.  Nevertheless, I'd like to share some revelations and factoids from a 1-week Mexican Riviera cruise that I took last week.

  • Caffeine Cleansing. While on board, the food, water, and juice was part of the all-inclusive fee, but there were extra charges for sodas so I remained soda-abstinent for a full week.  While the offered free coffee, I typically don't drink much coffee so I avoided that too. I thought that after going a full week without any caffeine, I might begin to feel some symptoms of withdrawal or perhaps even a sense of elation, but I simply felt no different.
  • Internet Cleansing. I rarely unplug completely from work and social media, but when I saw the rates that Carnival was charging for satellite internet, I decided to forego connections to the rest of the world. Going a full week without internet access was not as hard as I thought it would be, especially with the fee schedule below.
  • Cellular Cleansing.  There are no cellular towers out at sea, so communication can be difficult without cell phones, especially with large parties (we had 14 in our group).  Walkie talkies would have come in handy aboard the cruise ship.
  • Body Cleansing. Given that I shared a room with 3 other people, there was competition for bathroom time which forced me to look for alternatives.  To my surprise, I discovered that the showers in the gym were better than the ones in our personal cabin.  The gym showers were equipped with rain shower heads and 4 additional shower heads on the side (not that I needed them), and there was much more space to dress.
  • Wallet Cleansing.  I was not too surprised to encounter sneaky hidden fees—for example, the waiters asked if we would like sparkling water or bottled water, but they did not mention the option to drink regular ice water which was free.  After being charged $5 for 1 liter of bottled water during my first meal, I learned to ask for regular ice water.
Do you have any questions for me about my Carnival cruise experience?  Let me know by posting a comment and I'll do my best to reply.

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