Honeymoon Cruise-What to know about Carnival

My daughter and her fiance have booked their honeymoon cruise in May 2016 on Carnival Splendor. My recent cruises have been on Royal Caribbean, so I feel ill-informed about "what to know" as it pertains to Carnival. Can you provide a little help?

• They chose AnyTime Dining. Does it work the same way MyTime Dining works on Royal? Is there an option to make reservations, or is it a first come/first served only system?
  
• What time do cabins open for cruises departing from Miami at 4PM?
  
• For what meals is the MDR open? Breakfasts? Lunches on Sea Days?
  
• How are the shows scheduled? How should they plan their dinner time to make sure it accommodates show times?
  
• Is it accurate that the gratuities are added to the Sail & Sign account? (On Royal, if you choose the MyTime Dining option, you must pre-pay your gratuities.)
  
• I have heard that a 6-night cruise includes 2 elegant nights. Are those predictable? (Like Day 2 and Day 4, or always on sea days?)
  
• Are all cruise documents printed by the passenger now, including luggage tags? (No more cruise docs in the mail, right?)
  

Thanks!

My daughter and her fiance have booked their honeymoon cruise in May 2016 on Carnival Splendor. My recent cruises have been on Royal Caribbean, so I feel ill-informed about "what to know" as it pertains to Carnival. Can you provide a little help?

 

• They chose AnyTime Dining. Does it work the same way MyTime Dining works on Royal? Is there an option to make reservations, or is it a first come/first served only system?
  
• What time do cabins open for cruises departing from Miami at 4PM?
  
• For what meals is the MDR open? Breakfasts? Lunches on Sea Days?
  
• How are the shows scheduled? How should they plan their dinner time to make sure it accommodates show times?
  
• Is it accurate that the gratuities are added to the Sail & Sign account? (On Royal, if you choose the MyTime Dining option, you must pre-pay your gratuities.)
  
• I have heard that a 6-night cruise includes 2 elegant nights. Are those predictable? (Like Day 2 and Day 4, or always on sea days?)
  
• Are all cruise documents printed by the passenger now, including luggage tags? (No more cruise docs in the mail, right?)
  

Thanks!

Anytime dining is first come, first served usually from 5:45-9PM - no reservations. You do get the choice of a private or shared table. On the Splendor, the only restaurant you would make reservations for is the Steakhouse (currently $35pp)

Rooms should be ready at 1:30pm. However, if your purchase Faster to the Fun ($59), your room is ready upon boarding.

On port days, the MDR is open for breakfast. On Sea Days, Brunch is seated from 8:30am to 1pm. The brunch menu is pretty good, and can be found online.

The shows are scheduled around the fixed dining times. A good rule of thumb is to plan on an hour and a half for dinner.

I believe that you must prepay with Anytime dining, but not sure (I always prepay, so I can't help you out there)

Elegant nights tend to vary by ship and itinerary. Plan on the first sea day for the 1st elegant night, but the 2nd elegant night is always a wild card (probably 4th or 5th for a 6 night cruise).

I believe that Carnival is all print your own cruise docs (that's how I do it, at least).

Gratuities are posted to your account. $12/pp/pd

They will need to print their own documents- boarding passes, luggage tags, and confirmations for anything that was purchased ahead of time.

If they're going on their honeymoon right away make sure that all travel docs match the name(s) booked.

Thank you! And yes, they will be embarking the day after the wedding so my daughter will be cruising with her maiden name. (That's what's on her passport and that's how she reserved the cruise. Thanks for the advice!)

Royal's MyTime dining allows passengers to either make a reservation or simply show-up and be seated. We typically make a standing reservation because it allows the staff to count on us at that time and they normally assign us to the same table for the entire cruise. That means we get the same waitstaff. If there are no reservations on Carnival, could they request to be seated with the same waitstaff each night if they spoke to the Maitre'D the first night? Or will they end up with different staff each evening, regardless?

Does anyone recall the show times? If I remember correctly (and I probably don't) and it hasn't changed, shows usually occurred twice each evening, scheduled to allow those participating in either early or late traditional dining to attend.

I've never cruised on a ship with a big screen on deck. How often is that used? Is it only in the evenings? Is it just for movies?

And remind them the walls can be thin especially if they have a cabin that can be adjoining. They can look at the cabin maps. If they do have one I'd suggest moving. [emoji16]

If there are no reservations on Carnival, could they request to be seated with the same waitstaff each night if they spoke to the Maitre'D the first night? Or will they end up with different staff each evening, regardless?

 

Does anyone recall the show times? If I remember correctly (and I probably don't) and it hasn't changed, shows usually occurred twice each evening, scheduled to allow those participating in either early or late traditional dining to attend.

 

I've never cruised on a ship with a big screen on deck. How often is that used? Is it only in the evenings? Is it just for movies?

They can request the same waitstaff. But, there may be a wait when doing so.

Showtimes vary but I don't recall any big major changes so usually twice. In reality, I don't think "shows" are as big of a part of a Carnival cruise as a Royal cruise. FYI, the comedy shows are very popular. If the comedians know they are newlyweds, look out. They may like the attention, but if not, don't let the crowd know.

Big Screen is on all the time. Mike & Mike in the morning, afternoon ??, movie or sports in the evening.

Tell them about the free room service except for select hot items. They may enjoy breakfast in bed and not have to go to the Lido deck.

They don't have to prepay gratuities. They'll just post to the account around the last 1/3rd of the cruise. Like day 5 for. 7-8 cruise.