GalaxyJane

Yes. It's a pretty simply menu with a choice of pasta, sauce, and toppings. Can also get bread and/or Caesar salad as a side. They also have a lasagna that is the best I've ever had. Even though it's just a mix and match, it still has table service. It's often the quietest place to find a meal. Especially on Embarkation day.

I like the Pomegranate Margarita, which is the only reason I ever stop in the casino.

Anything I'd dry in my tumble drier at home, I send to the Laundry on Carnival. I'm at that stage of life where all my britches are cotton anyhow, so no harm, no foul. Basically I send everything but Hawaiian shirts and some of my dresses. I try not to throw swimsuits in there, but have forgotten a couple times and they were fine. We once did a 7 day from Galveston with nothing but a carry-on each since we had to fly down.

Just make sure everyone downloads the HUB app before arrival on the ship. You are supposed to be able to download it onboard, but we didn't have any luck the one time we tried that, leaving my then teen son without the ability to send messages.

Was just on the Magic 2 weeks ago and thought the food was the best and most consistent I have had in 15 Carnival cruises, especially in the MDR. That said, that was the last cruise with the old menus, the new ones rolled out on Magic on the 23rd, so there could be some growing pains.

Looks right to me based on my last cruise, December 2022.

When my oldest hit 5'10" or so, I had his feet in my face because they were stretching across the nightstand. That was when we started to get the kids their own cabins ;)

Yes, but it's available every morning in the MDR for either breakfast or brunch.

Hubs and I like to pre-book a massage for embarkation day to get relaxed right away. Usually that day also has the best pre-booking prices. Otherwise I wait until onboard, port days always have great specials, and sometimes at other times too, if bookings are just slow that trip.

Following

I'm trying to find out the same thing.

We bought one of each Christmas Day on the Legend, still 11.50 and they had plenty.

Only upcharge specialty restaurants on the Pride are Steakhouse and Bonsai Sushi, both are good, but steakhouse is open to the main lobby, so one time we went was very loud because of a big Atrium party. They also have Guys Burgers, which are pretty good and I love the Blue Iguana Cantina for huevos rancheros at breakfast and tacos for lunch. They are both included in the fare and are on the Lido deck. And I have always found the MDR food to be excellent on Pride, but I also always took her out of Baltimore and Ken Byrnes (the head Carnival Maitre d') always works that run and wouldn't allow anything less, I know nothing about the Europe runs. MDR Breakfast and Sea Day Brunches are also good, a lot of folks b=never make it down from the Lido buffet for those and it's a shame. Afternoon tea is served at 3 PM on sea days and is fun, a lot of folks don't seem to know about it. Just finger sandwiches and petitfour but nice. Lipton is free, fancy tea an upcharge. Coffee and hot chocolate (and more Lipton) are always available for free on Lido and I fill an insulated tumbler. Alcohol from port has different rules in Europe than the US, I think, so can't speak to that except to say on all ships it just depends on who is working the turn in desk and how much they really care about stopping you. Toiletries provided, but if picky bring your own. Generic combination shampoo/conditioner and body wash in shower dispensers, and pretty good bar soap. Anything else is on you unless you want to buy overpriced deodorant in the Gift shop.= (says the chick that once forgot to bring any and had several sea days to the first port). Tuxes depend more on departure port than anything else, there are always some out of Baltimore,, but you won't be out of place either way. Drinks are inline with casual restaurant bars on shore, mildly overpriced, but not obscene hipster overpriced. I have not taken her (or any other ship) in Europe yet, so take all things with a grain of salt, but she is my very favorite ship in the fleet.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that in addition to passports, military IDs (whether currently serving, dependant or retired) and federal government employee IDs are also Real ID compliant, so a lot of folks are covered by those without either paying the extra fee or carrying a passport around. And I always have my retired Army ID in my wallet right next to my driver's license.

I don't know about "nobody" wearing them, Hubby wears either a tux or full formal kilt with Prince Charlie jacket at least one elegant night per cruise and there are definitely others in tuxes. It's fun for us to dress up formal when there aren't a lot of other chances at home. I just feel like folks are trying to discourage the OP based on their opinions of what to wear and if it will make her son smile to do it, they should just be allowed to enjoy it without commentary. I do agree with others that for a Men's tux, it is often cheaper than even a short term rental and can be fitted to the wearer. There are even some sellers on Ebay that will make to order based on his measurements for very reasonable prices, although that does presume you do not mind doing business with vendors in China (I'm agnostic on the subject), and that they can get it delivered in time for the trip since overseas shipping. Some are pretty quick though. Hope y'all have a great NYE!

Yep, no real change at all except a separate line to stand in at check in, which hardly matters in many ports. It's a real bait and switch to say "We are giving Platinum/Diamond guests back their Priority boarding" and then not return to any of the meaningful parts of the previous perk such as not having to be tied to a boarding time and having your room ready at check in. Hell, I've never even gotten to use the real Platinum boarding perk, as my first platinum Cruise was a Journeys, where it mostly doesn't apply, then COVID hit. I feel vaguely cheated somehow

You too! I love Freedom too. But live way closer to Baltimore. :)

Are you on Legend? We are on that Christmas cruise and also wondering about Grand Turk. Look forward to seeing you aboard if that's your ship.

You have to input each room separately by reservation number and you get a separate pass for each booking. There is no way to put everyone in a group on one pass if you have more than one cabin. It's a little cumbersome, but you can still keep it in one account and just open up each pass in turn. TBH, I used it in September on the Vista and setting up the damn passes took longer than any time saved, which was insignificant anyhow, the members of our group that didn't have it got through just as quick as the ones that did. I just set it up for December on the Legend, but am convinced that it was a waste of time. Especially since you really need to take your documents as backup in case there are app or network issues in the terminal, which can happen, so it doesn't even save you from carrying stuff.

DH is thinking about buying a battery for his, just so we don't have to worry about tripping anymore, we can always recharge it is needed during the day and it would also be there for any power outages at home.

Military, Federal Government, or Retired Military ID cards meet the REAL ID requirements too, if you don't have a passport, so that is another way around having to pay extra for the special DL.

For anyone here who's a USAA member, they have a new discount program called USAA Perks. One of the offers is Carnival Gift Cards at a 5% discount. I am thinking about buying enough to pay off my next trip for the additional money off.

We've done this a few trips and basically one person from each room have to go to guest services together and place a request. It will usually be taken care of within 24 hours. But go early, they only have a limited number of the special clamps they use to lock back the partition and after they are gone you are out of luck (unless you sweet talk your steward who *might* know how to jimmy it with a butter knife not-that-I-would-know)

While any bar *may* be able to make an old-fashioned, in my experience the only place to get a *good* one is at the Alchemy. A lot of the other bartenders are pretty vague on the concept and kind of guess at the details. I had one in the lobby bar on the Vista that included a 1 1/2 inch thick muddle of sliced oranges and cherries at the bottom and whatever bourbon and bitters that might have hidden in it were drowned by the soda they filled the rest of the glass with. Saddest waste of Woodford I've ever seen. | You can't really blame them, each bar tends to specialize at least a bit based on what their customers drink a lot of.

We did it on Legend in February and it was one of the best we've done. The chef really can make or break the experience, and on Legend both the chef and sous-chef were very experienced Carnival chefs (both 20 years plus with the company) and both were super engaged and seemed to really enjoy teaching the group about how the kitchens work and about all aspects of Carnival food service. The night club the have it in is ugly as hell, but the experience was well worth it.