ricearoni161

Have been cruising since the early 1990's and have always found cabin steward will bring extra hangers on request.

I'm only 11 years in but on multiple occasions they didn't have extras to share so I'm always prepared now just in case. Older ships have had that issue more, imo...

Your cabin steward will bring you extra hangers. We always need extra.....

 

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I just ran into too many cases where they didn't have extra that I come prepared! I will say newer cruise ships haven't needed them over the last 5 years or so.

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I like to bring a few extra cheap plastic hangers depending on the number of days of the cruise. Then I can hang everything so the wrinkles fall out.

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Sorry for your experience, ours was quite different on May 26, no problems with either cabin we had, water hot and great pressure, never any smells, etc. While the buffet was typical buffet type food, it was different each day, except for breakfast of course. I felt there were plenty of food options available and if we had not had a 6 and 8 yr. old with us, we would have tried others! Sorry you did not enjoy it.

 

The embarkation/debarkation parking lot issues may have been because this was the first cruise out of Charleston on a bigger ship, with more people to contend with. Hopefully, they have learned from their mistakes.

 

The May 21 ship could not depart Charleston on time because of customs inspections and nothing/no one was allowed onto the ship until they completed them, a complete ship inspection I believe. Inspection teams....should be a better way!

I have no doubt some of the issues we saw on the 5/21 are just kinks that will get worked out. I've had a smooth boarding process there before on the Fantasy. My real issue, and the reason I won't go again, is the way I was treated by customer service on the ship and again when I got off and contacted them. They said they'd open a case and provide me a number to track yet didn't despite waiting in line 3 days to discuss. I had documentation from THEIR system showing credits they owed me onboard, which I printed and brought with, only to have them tell me it was all in error and I wasn't owed that so they considered the matter closed. When I called customer service and vented, very calmly actually, that I was so frustrated I wasn't sure I wanted to hear from them again, without asking why or anything, they took my name and VIFP number and setup the system to not contact me again and said goodbye and hung up. I've been stunned quite frankly, as I've brought new people with me on 5 out of my 6 Carnival cruises to show them my love of cruising, and I've never had such a bad experience. I will say that the part that made it bare-able were the wonderful room steward and wait staff that was so overworked yet still tried so hard to make it the best they could. We tipped them all extra, which they earned! I won't give up cruising, but it'll be a long time before I step back on a Carnival ship. I'm not even sure a free cruise could win me over right now, haha.... never thought I'd say that! :eek:

I was unfortunately on the 5/21 departure out of Charleston. It was my 6th cruise and I became a gold member, but it will be my last. We got in the parking line to get onboard at 1230, sat in the line until 430, and got onboard by 515. Everything that could have gone wrong did, and Carnival's Guest Care has done nothing. No hot water in the room, a non-working phone, missing onboard credits (which never got resolved despite printout from their system showing it was owed). Poor overworked wait staff, and the same meals served at every buffet every day. Even debarkation went haywire when they decided midstream to change the bus method and ended up dropping everyone in our bus in the wrong area such that we had to drag our baggage long distance to where we parked. I could go on, but it just depresses me since I paid to take my mom on her first cruise and this was our experience. Thankful that Charleston was beautiful so we enjoyed our few days after the cruise. :)

Hi River Coven! I saw your post and thought I'd share my thoughts. I've literally been to all three of your upcoming port stops in the last 11 months!

Nassau - Not a bad stop at all. Is it as clean as I'd expect in the US, no? But I'd stay home if that was all that mattered, haha! I've been twice. Once I snorkeled and para-sailed (highly recommend for the view, go local, not through RCCL). Snorkeling wasn't bad; Parasailing was better. The second time, I took the local bus (#10 jitney for $1.25 per ride) to Cable Beach, where we paid the Melia resort $30 for access to their beach. Clean, towels included, beach chairs, access to a bar, restrooms, and restaurants. We also stopped at the Fish Fry. Definitely do your research (tripadvisor) before going to the Fish Fry and don't let them talk you into one of the shacks because they paid someone to recruit! Not cheap, because it is an island, so expect a $20 meal. The Straw Market is OK, if you're looking for mahogany, straw, or knockoff purses. Expect to haggle.

St. Thomas - The best of the three spots I think. I'd snorkel here (or even better if you have time to get to St. John from here). Very nice water options. We snorkeled to a shipwreck! Don't shop around the cruiseport, which looks like the shopping area. Head downtown. Very Americanized, so you're safe generally. Lots of easy transportation options to see the island.

St. Maarten - This was the biggest disappointment for me. It's a shadow of its former reputation. Hurricanes have taken their toll, the government doesn't spend money to repair, and unemployment at 22% means it just wasn't what it used to be. We took a tour of the island so we could see the French and Dutch sides (the same) then headed back to the ship. An excursion/ water activity would be best here since the beaches are reasonably good.

Have fun! I hope to make it on to Oasis some time myself!

Angie

I shopped around on cruise lines until I settled on NCL, so I've been on Carnival 4 times, NCL twice (the third times is in three weeks!), Princess once, and Royal Caribbean once. My next two are booked with NCL. I think Carnival upped their game on food and is now better than NCL in the MDR, but they were all good. I did the UDP on Epic last year and loved it. Not sure I would again other than as a 1-2 night meal upgrade, because the food is more than adequate in the MDR. Happy to hear that Room service has better options now even at a price because it wasn't good before.

I say go for it with NCL and congrats on your upcoming wedding!

Don't head into vacation worried :).

I took the Epic from Barcelona to Miami 6 months ago and LOVED it so much, I just booked a trip on Breakaway since they're similar.

I had a quick painless boarding process, which I will now admit after 10 cruises on 4 different lines, is totally just luck of the draw and timing!

Our steward was good. You start to see the same crew so it never felt impersonal. In fact, they went way above and beyond for my friend with gluten sensitivity!

The ship is large but I never struggled to get around. Not having the mid-ship elevators wasn't a concern.

Best wishes and tell us all about it!

I actually have been researching Bermuda and finally jumped today! I chose the Breakaway 7 day out of New York. In addition to cost, I love that the ship is on the island several days, and having been on the NCL Epic, I figured Breakway would feel similar yet new to me since they're the same class.

The buffet on Epic was surprisingly good. Complementary dining was good, and I also tried several of the add on restaurants. Cagneys and Moderno were my favorite. The rooms were smaller than most but I spent little time in the room so who cares! Entertainment required scheduling so I'm curious if Breakaway is the same.

I'm ready for pink beaches, snorkeling, and kayaking. Good luck choosing!