kimandtim

Sounds like you had a great trip! Not trying to pry, but with all the talk about downgrades to Casinos at Sea, could you give me a ball park on how many points you earned to get your comp cabin? I know its not an exact science, but I also know about what I have earned on past trips to qualify for a comp and I am curious if its even anywhere close (I am a video poker and blackjack player)

I am platinum on NCL having sailed 9 or 10 times with them. I have also sailed RCCL and Princess and most recently Carnival. I actually think there is a lot to like about Carnival. I think the service is quite good and I think the food is also surprisingly good much of the time. I do not like the buffet but can avoid it and opt for the MDR, Seaday brunch, Guys burgers, Blue Iguana, etc. and be perfectly happy. I may have been lucky on my two Carnival cruises, but the atmosphere was fun and lively and I didn't see any bad behavior of any sort. There are always things going on around the ship that are fun - trivia, line dancing, poolside contests, etc. Maybe I have been lucky but I have a NCL cruise booked to Alaska and a Carnival cruise booked to the ABC islands and I am looking forward to both. I would also add Carnival casino comps are WAY easier to get if that is any consideration. That being said, NCL is my favorite cruiseline, but I do enjoy Carnival also.

So if we are near first of line after Haven, etc., do we have a chance to make it to town and back or would we be at risk of missing our shore excursion?

Thats a reasonable price difference between the inside and balcony ( and you get to pick your location vs bidding to upgrade ). With three people, I think you will enjoy the extra space even if you don't think you would use the balcony that much. I think you will enjoy the balcony more than you think on that itinerary since its not really port intensive.

Question for those who have been recently (we were on very first Encore trip to Alaska when they used Ward cove as a dock and it was a DISASTER!!!!!). We are platinum/sapphire so supposedly have priority disembarkation. Will we have time to take first of the shuttles into town, walk around for 30 minutes or so and make it back for a 9:00 shore excursion that leaves from Ward Cove? Want my daughter to at least get a chance to see Creek Street.

Maybe look at Alaska shore tours. They were the only ones operating a whale tour for our stop in Icy Strait Point in April. Hoping to see whales but if not, I hope that we will see seals or other marine life at least

Just got off this week. We used terminal 3

There were quite a few cabs waiting right outside the area waiting to take us back to the ship. The beach was pretty crowded but no more so than other beaches that we have been to - Paradise Beach or Mr Sanchos in Cozumel for example.

There were lots of taxis and shuttles waiting. We grabbed a shuttle with another family and were charged $7 a head for the quick airconditioned ride to the beach

On the Vista last month, we had preregistered and were going by embarkation night just to check it out and they were actually open, so we dropped our Penguins off for just an hour or so to get them used to it /see how they liked it. Five year old loved it and two year old liked it but hes a little on the shy side.

Sailing from Galveston, I had drinks on us everywhere and it started as soon as casino opened. Cheers for rest of my group started at 6am next morning.

Also, under the heading of positives, we went to both the pasta place as well as Mongolian Wok for lunch and there was no wait and the food was really good (in my opinion)

You will be fine for a noon flight if you self carry your luggage off. You will be fine even if you don't provided you are either priority disembarkation or get one of the earlier luggage tags available. We were still off the ship by 10:00 or so. It just seemed like it was a hurry up and wait situation for us and we had a drive ahead of us as well as trying to help our children load up our grandbabies for the trip home.

Our group of 11 went to Montego Bay last week on Carnival and split up into two groups. First group took a shuttle/taxi for 7 dollars per person to Doctors Cave beach. They charged us for my 2 year old grandson who sat in my daughters lap which I thought was a bit ridiculous but it is what it is. It took about 10 minutes to get to the beach which I thought was beautiful. We didn't stay long (maybe 2 hours) because we were wanting to get the kids back to the ship to nap but it is definitely a nice beach and I would return. We had paid $20 for 2 chairs and an umbrella so when we left we had offered them to people from the ship and we noticed as we were walking out that the workers seemed to be complaining to them about it which was a bit annoying since we paid for them and could do what we wanted with them, I would think. But again, whatever. A non- airconditioned taxi returned us to port. This time we did not pay for our lap child. The rest of the group did the Dunns River falls/Blue Hole private excursion for around $100 per person with Peat Taylor tours. They returned to ship in plenty of time for sailaway. They all said it ranked among their favorite shore excursions ever.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I was on the July 8-15 sailing as well. My observations were as follows: Good Service - dining staff was amazing. Everyone was helpful and friendly Dining room food was tasty for the most part and served piping hot. One of my pet peeves is cold or barely warm food. Bad Casino was small and smoky. No video poker to speak of. Very disappointing. Was supposed to have priority disembarkation and it took me 2 hours of waiting in Lounge to get off the ship. Overall, it was still a fun trip! Looking forward to my Mardi Gras trip in October to compare my experiences on the two ships/ports