Joyful Joyful

Hi!  I will be on the Mardi Gras this coming fall, and am contemplating purchasing the soda drink package.  I drink Coke products primarily (Coke Zero, Diet Coke mostly).  I think I have read enough on these boards to understand that there are no Freestyle machines on Carnival ships, so my questions are these:  Are ONLY Pepsi soft drinks available on the Mardi Gras?  Is there a self-serve soda machine of some kind on board (rather than having to order from a bartender or wait staff)?

Thank you in advance for your assistance!  Looking forward to checking the Mardi Gras out!

Joy

2 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Looks like it's coming down to the wire for my September 29th cruise to NE/Canada....

We are with you on that cruise..... I am hoping to get clarification sooner than later!  

Thank you all for the information!  Exactly what I needed to know!!

We are driving to the port and trying to decide whether to park there and cruise, or to get a hotel "park and cruise" package.

My question is this:  is it an easy walk from the parking garage/area to the cruise port?  Would it be possible for one of our party to drop the rest of us off and then go park the car in the parking garage, then walk back to join us, and proceed to check in and get on the ship?

Thank you so much for your help!

On 9/18/2021 at 10:20 PM, St Pete Cruiser said:

The "yacht like" Veracruz out of Tampa, 1988, was my first cruise.  A 2 night cruise to nowhere, the inside room had opposing cot beds, exposed pipes, and was 100 square feet if that.  But the dining room was impressive and the entertainment was amusing and the drinks were cheap.  Good enough to come back on a 5 day cruise to Cozumel the next year.  

My husband-to-be would have been in the 4-piece band that played on the ship back then.  Such a quaint little tug boat, lol!

Yes

Hi everyone! Less than a week until we leave Ohio behind and drive down to Miami for our first Celebrity cruise, going on the Equinox! I have a few questions.

Is there a piano bar on the ship? One of our last cruises (on Royal) we discovered an outstanding talent in the piano bar, and spent time there most every evening. It made our trip!

Will there by wi-fi available at any of the ports? I know to follow the crew when we get off, because they know where to go, but am just curious. The cost to buy an internet package is way too much, as far as I am concerned, for the little bit I would use it. Carnival has a good deal, at $5 a day for the basic internet package.

Will the refrigerators keep our bottled water and soda cold (some cruise ship fridges do not!)?

Last, but certainly NOT least, is there a sports bar? How can we go about seeing if we will be able to watch our college team play on the Saturday that we are onboard?

Thanks all!!

Joy

Thank you so much! We are only at Gold with RCCL, so it won't benefit us this time, but we will keep on cruising, so in the long-run it will! I did sign up, and have a CC number now.

Joyful Joyful make sure you get your Captains Club number prior to sailing, call Captains Club & give them your Royal Crown & Anchor number. They will match your status from Platinum (Select) thru Diamond (Elite)

 

 

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Thanks everyone! We booked through a TA, I will get in touch with her, and see what she can do!

SO looking forward to this cruise! Have experienced many cruises on Carnival and RCCL, one Princess and one NCL (a very long time ago on those last two!). Excited to experience one more cruiseline (although I think RCCL and Celebrity are owned by the same company?)! We are in an OV cabin. Thanks everyone!

Hi all! We will be on our first Celebrity cruise next month (Equinox), and we would very much like to pre-pay our gratuities, if at all possible. I have searched the Celebrity website, and googled this topic, but to no avail. So I am going to the experts- you all! I just like to have excursions, tips, packages, anything that I CAN, paid for in advance.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!!

Joy

We are not drinkers, but I do enjoy a nice cold Diet Coke! My question is, with the soda package, are there only canned sodas, or is there also an option of fountain soda? Also how difficult is it to get sodas, are they available at any bar/restaurant, or only certain ones?

Thanks all!

someone clearly blew a circuit breaker with their rice cooker.

lol!!

I will be on the Equinox in October, first Celebrity cruise (have done Carnival, RCCL, Princess, NCL previously). I have looked at the website, reviewed the "what not to bring" list, but still have a question. May we bring bottled water and/or bottled or canned soda (can only drink caffeine-free) on board the ship? I may have missed it in doing my research, if this subject was covered. Thanks all!!

We like to dress up on elegant the nights, too. I, like others have said, like to wear sundresses or dress slacks and a nice blouse on other nights (husband wears dress slacks and dress shirts, tie and jacket on elegant nights). I'll add that my husband enjoys dressing up as much as I do! What others wear to dinner on a cruise does not matter to me in the least.

When I first started cruising (mid eighties) dressing up every night was the norm for everyone, no dressing down in the dining room at all. My thought is that many long-time cruisers still like to dress up, just because that's the way it was back in the "old days"...... that's my 2 cents worth.

For those who have sailed on this ship, is the mini-fridge really a fridge, or like on other ships I have sailed on, is it more like a cooler?

Thanks all!!

We normally cruise on Royal but decided to try Carnival, needless to say we will NEVER go on Carnival again!

 

To start the cruise off our shuttle couldn't enter the port other then driving around in circles because there was a security beach which was said to be a Bomb threat at first and even the bomb squad came out. After we could finally get into the terminal everyone was told to wait outside then we were guided up to another area were we had to wait for a couple hours until they secured the area, after this ordeal we were then told it wasn't a bomb but a can of something that was spraying in a suit case. Better safe then sorry. Once this was over then we could go inside and get ready to board the ship. In my opinion Port Canaveral is the best port there is.

So once on board we went to our cabin and put our other bag in and headed to eat at the buffet as we waited to leave the port.

 

1st issue Staff and lack of knowing anything when asked and lack of friendliness. This ship had the worst staff I have ever encountered on a cruise. They never smiled,spoke or new anything if you asked them a question. Some were even rude. The only staff member we encountered that was very friendly was our room guy, he was awesome all the time. Spoke to us by name and had a friendly attitude.

 

2nd issue Pools, For a ship that hold 4,500 people and only have 2 swimming pools is ridiculous and what makes it worse is that only 1 pool was ever open at a time. I was only able to enjoy the pool 1 day when in a port because it was not crowded.

 

3rd Issue FOOD, the food at breakfast was the best and made to order omelettes were awesome, best meal of the day everyday. Guy's Burger Joint,Blue Iguana & BBQ place also had great food as well as the 24 hr pizza. We ate all these places several times and they were really good.We also ate at the steak house on wed night for our 20th anniv and it was very good. Now for the buffet, the food was lousy in my opinion with the exception of the desserts and the sandwich bar that had pastrami and corned beef, in fact that is what I hate most the time after trying the other food 1st. I also enjoyed the ice cream machine daily. The buffet was not opened long enough if you wanted it and then only one side would be open at times and you would have to walk a long distance just to get food if you wanted it. Terrible buffet all around except breakfast.

 

4th issue, I believe Carnival Magic has bed bugs because every night when we went to bed and got under the sheets I was always really itchy like something was crawling on me but I couldn't see anything when we looked. On the last night I actually got bit by something and ended up sleeping on top of the covers so the ship is not very clean.

We stayed on the 11th deck in a spa room and had access to the spa which was great, very relaxing and enjoyable. We stayed in 11242 and it was quite noisy at times, kids running up and down the hallway,noise from deck above etc. We were still able to sleep, just a lot of noise.Room was nothing fancy, pretty plain and basic.

 

Entertainment was just ok, nothing special. We did enjoy a few dive in movies and Dr. E was great. The comedy shows were also very funny and we enjoyed them as well. Party's on deck were also ok, I overheard several elderly folks complaining about the type and sound of the music and about it being way to loud. The entertainment staff were friendly.

 

Sadly there was a medical emergency with a passenger suffering a heart attack and dying(At least thats what we were told by several crew members) which caused the itenerary to be changed and the Honduras port being skipped and went to key west fl instead. The ship was diverted near miami to get the ill patient medical care. My prayers are with the family.

 

So we went to Key West Fl, Belize, Cozumel & Costa Maya, We had already been to Cozumel but still enjoyed it as well as the other ports. Really liked Key West and would like to go back there. The ports were the best part of the cruise, other then that the cruise was pretty boring. No adult area other then if you want to nap in a hammock or chair and use a jacuzzi, that is Magic's "adult" area.

 

And to top it all off, my hubby got sick on thursday afternoon and was up all night puking his gut out, not sure if it was from the food or what caused this. I know he wasn't sea sick so the food may of been the issue. Not sure because i was fine the entire time.

 

After being on 3 Royal ships, there is NO comparison with Carnival. I would never go on another carnival ship nor would I ever recommend one to anyone I know. You really do get what you pay for and Royal is in a class all its own. My brother is a Carnival cruiser and he bragged to me about how good they are but now I know for myself, not worth bragging about.Anyway, this is my small review, Happy cruising!

Wow, one experience, one ship of the whole fleet, and you'll never try it again... If you have been on very many cruises, you will know that there are those glitches that happen (like trying to make sure that your cruise is safe and secure by checking out a potential security breach...), I have never encountered a bad staff member on any cruise I have been on, Carnival, RCCL, or any other, so sorry that you did. I guess my point is, don't judge the whole cruise line based on one experience, and I am with one of the other posters here... don't bash the staff, they work harder than any of us land-based folk!! My opinion only...

Yes, I check.... although you can't change it, I like to be prepared with a jacket, if it may be cool, or a poncho if rain is in th forecast. I won't let a little weather keep me down!!

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your input, and I will just keep on checking!!

Asking the more experienced Carnival Cruisers a random question. Faster to the Fun is not available for an upcoming cruise that I have scheduled. What reasons would there be for that, can anyone shed any light on this question? Up to this point, I am guessing that perhaps there are too many Platinum and Diamond members, and not any FTTF available for the rest of us? I am just curious, and really want to get it set for September. I have been checking regularly, but no luck thus far.

Thanks so much!!

I am desperately hoping someone might be able to get a recipe for Carnival's warm chocolate melting cake -- the one that's now on the alternative menu every night. My girlfriend fell in love with it and now I want to be able to make it for her.

 

If anyone can help, it'd be greatly appreciated!

Googled it, and it came right up. Good luck! (Not sure if I can post it here, as it was on another Cruise website...)

Do you know what ever happened to Vic Serra who was the Cruise Director on the VeraCruz in the early 1980's?

 

Thanks

My husband, Nenito Estose, worked as a musician in the mid to late 80's on the Veracruz. We took a cruise in about the mid to late 90's, and ran into Vic! He was the Cruise Director on that ship (I wish I could remember what ship, but I cannot!). He tried to talk Nini into coming to work for him again! I LOVED the Veracruz, as that is where I met him.

Reserved this hotel for pre-cruise in September. Anyone stay at this hotel, and have any comments (good or bad) for me? Taking a cruise with three girlfriends (two of us seasoned cruisers, two newbies!), should have a blast!!

Thanks for any input.

My first cruise was on the Bermuda Star in 1984. Over the years, she changed hands a few times and became the Enchanted Isle of Commodore Cruise Line.

I sailed again on her in 1999. Alas, she went to the breakers in India.

 

Karen

My husband worked for Bermuda Star Line back in about 1985, I think. He was the leader of one of the bands on the Star and the Veracruz.

Hi all! I was on this cruise, too, first time on a Freedom class ship, we loved it!! I agree about the food, but as others have said, that's only one aspect of the cruise experience! I like the MDR experience, like to dress up a little, and be waited on. We had great tablemates, and the best waitstaff team!

We loved the entertainment and rated it far above our experiences on Carnival! Highlights for us were a live orchestra (two jazz sets, our favs!), great band in the Bolaras, great music related games, singing and dancing shows were good, headliners were fabulous... but our most favorite place to be entertained was at the Schooner when Andy was playing the piano! He was wonderful, took requests (and knew every song requested), played a lot of the kids do of music we love.

We don't get to cruise often, and feel that we definitely picked the right ship! Our cabin steward was wonderful (Willy), too! We talked with him quite a bit, as he is from my husband's native country, he took excellent care of us!

In closing I just want to say that every RCCL employee we encountered spoke to us, seemed happy to be there, and helped to make our vacation one to remember! Thnx Robyn for the live review as we cruised, and I just read every word, and agree with your summation !

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Just back from the Freedom and had fantastic head waiter and assistant waiter. When our waiter started the "shpiel" about the survey, he did not mention what rating we should give them. I asked if we should give them the highest rating (thinking that he was about to tell us to give the highest number), he said to give them an honest rating. They gave us 110% the whole week, answered every question, denied no request, and did so with smiles on their faces! They got extra tips, and I will give them the deserved high rating!!!!

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