jsglow

My recollection is that our taxi from near Madison Square Garden up to the terminal was at least $30. I think we had paid about $65 to get from LGA down to the hotel the night before. We did it the way we did because I believe we paid about $175 for a reasonably nice hotel; an absolute bargain by Manhattan standards. Here's what you simply need to understand. It's New York and it's expensive. There's no two ways around it unless you're prepared to lug your luggage on the subway.

Glad you took the upgrade! Let me add the following thoughts, especially for others in the same situation regarding young children. And let me preface by saying we are anything but 'balcony only' people. We would likely never choose a balc for an Alaskan cruise, for example, given the price differential and the way we utilize it as a couple. Simply not worth it to us. There are those that have a different opinion. More power to them. But it gives the reader some perspective on how we value different cabins and where our bias lies. So in your example of sailing with a 7 year old balcony utility goes WAY up. The balcony provides a 'quiet space' away from your sleeping child; both for morning coffee and for an evening bottle of wine. That's so valuable when traveling with children allowing mom and dad to readily enjoy the cruise while at the same time keeping an eye on their child/children. As they get older, we're also very much in favor of the 'across the hall interior' when both adults and teenage kids value a bit of privacy. Our kids shared an adjacent room during their HS years as I recall.

She's actually one of my favorites in the Carnival fleet. I'm so glad that I have enough experience with the entire line that I don't need to read reviews. I invariably know more than they do.

Booking yourself is fine but as @Jamman54 said, Carnival has to manually 'link' them. That requires a call to 1-800. Another good tip is to stop by Guest Services early during cruise #1 and re-confirm that's what their onboard records show. Enjoy.

Pyrotechnics on a ship at sea. What could go wrong with that? 🫣

We find them to be a great economic value. Yes, there's thruster noise in the morning on port days and yes there are times when you can hear the wake on the bow of the ship. I must say that I do like the fact that the hallway is usually quite quiet. I've never had kids running the hall that I can recall. It's like living on a dead end street; only 'locals'.

Alaska ~ Princess or HAL, they 'own' the market, have incredible lodges for the land tour portion and have grandfathered access to Glacier Bay NP. Europe ~ at a minimum, I would certainly either Embark/Disembark in Europe, only using the TA leg as an end-cap on a B2B.

#1137 is under the Piazza Cafe, simply a seating area where they often do trivia in the daytime. At night it's dead silent. Never heard a peep. I hope you find a cabin you are happy with.

No, 45 days. 😆 And I've personally been in 1137 directly across the hall. No problem.

We're huge Deck #1 fans having been there for all of our 45 days aboard Pride in Europe and on Journeys. They are fantastic for port intensive itineraries. No, you don't know what's directly below you but that's never been a problem for us in an Oceanview. We do pay attention to what's adjacent and above and make sure we're not under the casino. Typically we've been starboard forward and it's been great. Enjoy.

You're making the right call @Eli_6. The only folks who should be in those west Asian waters are sailors with big guns. Enjoy your Sydney/Singapore run. Is that Splendor going for dry dock?

Easy and correct choice going with Firenze. And that's coming from a guy who likes Radiance and the 4 night Catalina?Ensenada run.

In Terminal F I don't even know where the General Waiting area is. The Priority lounge is completely separate and very nice. The other thing that I liked was they made the Dia/Plat/Suites announcement seemingly ONLY in that area. One goes up a separate escalator and boards the ship without even seeing anyone else. Quite nice actually.

United State v. UK. Different rules for all countries.

Probably 80% of our excursions are arranged privately. Websites already mentioned are great resources. In our experience, it's a better option and is often less expensive. What we don't do is show up at the port and randomly pick out one from some hawker holding a sign. Ports of Call sections on this board provide great suggestions.