Jenzshoppin

I am currently on the Navigator and the MDR entrees are nearly inedible. The steaks just gross. I compare this to Carnival where the MDR was not excellent but much better than this RC sailing. I am gluten intolerant. Carnival was extremely accommodating and had great options at each meal. Dessert was great. All RC can offer me is a mousse. Just boring. 

46 minutes ago, emoorehead said:

I will be on the Ecstasy April 26 through May 4 2019. 

I don't know anything about the options at this point, but I will be happy to check it out for you when I go and let you know ☺.

I am staying in U147 (also an interior), so I can let you know about that too.

I would appreciate it!  Thank you!

I have cruised twice with having a gluten allergy and on the Miracle the gluten free bread tasted like vomit.  There were no other options for sandwiches or burgers and the gluten free pizza was gross too.

On the Valor the gluten free bread was GREAT and Guy's burgers had awesome gluten free hamburger buns.

So how is the Ecstasy with gluten free bread products? Vomit or Awesome?? 

We sail in May 2019. I have cruised on the Ecstasy before but it was in 2004 and I didn't have a food allergy. The ship was very old looking but I heard it was renovated since. Any other reviews are helpful. We will be in 4D interior cabin U135

I thought I read on here that once you hit 18 you're no longer allowed in any of the teen programs. Is that correct?

I think that is true of a typical teen. I am wondering if they will age her down to the teen program since her maturity is a few years behind.

I have a 17 yo daughter with Asperger's. I believe she is more of a mild autism case in that she is very highly functioning (goes to a regular high school, gets A's in honors classes and has a high IQ) but she does not make friends and has some sensory issues.

We took her on a Carnival cruise and she didn't like the youth program because the kids all formed cliques. The staff were very kind but not very versed in autism.

On this cruise we also took my two older kids, 26 and 22. She was entertained by them but is very bored to hang out with just mom and dad. My older two will not be cruising with us for some time again so I need to find some other options.

I don't think Autism of the Seas would be appropriate because she is so highly functioning that she actually get along better with typical teens when she is prompted to socialize (she doesn't know how to socialize very well at all).

How is Royal with highly functioning young adults? She will be 18 the next time we cruise. Would she age down to the teen program? Does Royal have a teen program? Will the staff work to assign the teens to include her?

I'm worried that she will be bored to death cruising with just mom and dad. Oh, and she doesn't like hanging out with other people with ASD. Just to make it more difficult it seems! LOL

I'd like to piggyback on the OP's question about my own 17 yo daughter with Asperger's. I believe she is more of a mild autism case in that she is very highly functioning (goes to a regular high school, gets A's in honors classes and has a high IQ) but she does not make friends and has some sensory issues. We took her on a Carnival cruise and she didn't like the youth program because the kids all formed cliques. The staff were very kind but not very versed in autism. How is Royal with highly functioning young adults? She will be 18 the next time we cruise. Would she age down to the teen program? Does Royal have a teen program? Will the staff work to assign the teens to include her? I'm worried that she will be bored to death cruising with just mom and dad. Oh, and she doesn't like hanging out with other people with ASD. Just to make it more difficult it seems! LOL

Does anyone know if they sell them on ALL ships out of ALL ports? We are closest to Long Beach port and may take a cruise out of there next year. When I tell hubby that they only sell them (for a decent price) on cruise ships, he may want to take a short cruise later this year!

We just purchased 2 for $45 on the Valor last week. They were charging $24 each.

We happened to show up at the fun shop and they were sampling it. We immediately purchased after tasting. It is amazing!

We cruised the Valor last week and sure enough some people missed the ship in Cozumel. I didn't see it happen, but I believe it was some minor young men who were behind us during muster.

I wish I had watched the pier when we pushed off but I forgot. I did watch when we were in Progreso but nothing to see. Seems everyone got on.

I want more details on that game! I want free cruises, glad you guys enjoyed yours!

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You can play it on facebook and smart phone. Look for MyVegas Slots. On Smartphone they have 4 apps. The people who get the best rewards play all four games plus slots on Facebook (free travel in Vegas and MyVegas Blackjack, Konami Slots and Pop Slots).

These are just like other smartphone game where you play for free unless you choose to purchase more credits, but not necessary. The gold coins go toward the rewards.

Good luck!

So we just got off of cruise on the Carnival Valor out of Galveston Texas from March 24 until March 29. We flew into Houston and stayed locally one day before one day after and took Galveston limousine to Galveston from Houston for $30 per person round-trip.

We won an inside cabin through the Facebook game myVEGAS. It’s a game that you play for free and earn gold coins to use on real travel rewards. I played this for about six months to gain enough credits to get the cruise. We just had to pay the taxes port charges and gratuity and then any extras that we wanted. Oh also our travel to and from the port.

Galveston debarkation was a breeze! We had a 12;30 to 1:30 time to get on we walked up at 12:15 and they just waved us in. We were on the ship within 20 minutes. I am very impressed with Galveston! No need for faster to the fun.

It was just my husband and I and I was kind of bummed that they were so many kids on the cruise. But it was spring break. The kids were well behaved for the most part. We tried to hang out in places where the kids wouldn’t be like the bars and occasionally the casino (we are not big gamblers).

We wanted to spend time on the serenity deck but it was so windy that it was not any fun. All of the hot tubs were hard to find room, they were packed with kids in the family areas in spring breakers who were “barely adults” in the adult areas. But I can’t complain much because we had so much fun and it was free!

We did a lot of relaxing and ended up going to all the bars and nightclubs late into the night and then sleeping in. They had amazing live bands that we really enjoyed. But they only hold shows on three of the nights (two each night) from the playlist players. On our miracle cruise they had two shows every night. The comedians were very good. I heard one was excellent but we didn’t catch his show and the other one his name was Jamie something was hilarious!

Guys burger joint was amazing! And the blue iguana had excellent food too. It was a step up from the carnival miracle that we took a year ago. I have to eat a gluten-free diet and they upgraded the gluten-free bread from tasting like baked vomit to bland and more like bread. They had gluten-free bun so I was able to enjoy the burgers.

The dinner in the evening was very good. Even with a gluten-free diet I was able to eat almost anything I wanted to that did not include breading. The service was good except for the last night when everyone decided to eat in the dining room. Service was very slow that night. And of course it was much better on port days when a lot of people skip the dining room and eight on the Lido deck.

We stuck with an interior cabin so we could save money and spend it on excursions instead. We were very pleased with the inside cabin as we are not very large people so it was easy to get around in the room. I understand if someone is bigger like a linebacker size guy and you get a balcony so you can move around better we made a few people who did that for that reason.

Room service was quick and efficient. We broke a wine corkscrew and they were quick to bring us another one. Oh and we did buy some at carnivals drinks and they were very strong! Definitely worth the eight or nine dollars you spent.

In Cozumel we went to Mr. Sanchos beach club we’re $55 per person with unlimited drinks and food. It was nice but the drinks were so weak that we drank six drinks each and did not even feel the buzz. But the weather was partly cloudy and a high of about 80 with about 50% humidity so it would feel warm and then just in time when you were feeling too hot you would get a little cloud covering it would cool off. The food was very good and we of course ate too much!

In Progreso we went to one of the Mayan ruins excursions through carnival. The bus ride was a little over an hour which gave us great time to nap off or hangovers from the night before! The Ruins were amazing and the Mexican tour guides were amazing with all of the history information about the Mayans. But it was about 90° out with the humidity it feels a lot hotter. I had a hard time keeping up even though we both work out at home. We took lots of photos and felt like this was definitely worth the $85 per person.

Both of these ports are not very picturesque from the ship. Cozumel a little nicer but Progresso was just yucky to look at and the pier was so long! It was not walkable. Also driving through Progresso was not impressive at all. The area is extremely poor and run down. You must take a taxi to get to land. And if you don’t book an excursion and you’re stuck at the beach front areas with a beach and bars and restaurants.I must say that our cruise on the miracle to the Mexican Riviera was much better as far as views from the ship. Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta are just beautiful to look at from your balcony cabin or from one of the decks or dining rooms with a view.

We did use AARP gift cards ($90 for $100 gift card) that I used to pay all of the extra expenses with and left us with $200 on our sail and signs. We only went over it by about $150. In the ports we only spent about $50 on souvenirs and did find a lot of unique items that I cannot get here in Arizona. We have tons of little stores here that sell the Mexican tchotchkes.

I also signed up for the Southwest rapid rewards credit card before Christmas and charged the $2000 in three months required to get 50,000 points. So our flight only cost $22.50 per person to book with my rewards.

The people on our ship were very friendly and we did make a few friends from going to the nightclub. And they were all about our age. We are in our early 50s. Well I think most of them might’ve been in their 40s! LOL. We even met a guy who coordinated a large group of 42 people to cruise. He offered to get us a group rate for another cruise. We gave him our information but I don’t think he can beat the free cruise through myVEGAS maybe even deals I can get directly through carnival. But we may want to sail out of Florida to the Eastern or southern Caribbean so we’ll see what he can come up with.

We have cruise carnival three times and I have been impressed all three times. I used to sell cruises for large company and I can tell you that other cruise lines are not immune from having problems with maintenance or food issues. Carnival has stepped up their game in a lot of areas in this last cruise the ship was even better than others I have been on.

Carnival is known for being the Fun ship and they truly live up to the name. If you want to be on the lively cruise carnival is the one to go on. Other cruise lines are a lot more serene (and boring IMHO) so if that’s your thing they may be a better choice.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Ask me while the info is fresh in my mind! LOL I normally write very well but I am using talk to text this morning as I am very tired from our vacation. Please excuse my bad grammar.

We didn’t take many photos on the ship because we were just relaxing and enjoying ourselves and not being photographers the whole time.

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I just sailed on March 24th. Got there at 12:15 with a 12:30 check in time, NOT FTTF and was waved in early and was in the ship by 12:40! Super quick! So glad I didn’t buy FTTF!

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Patiently waiting and ISO these. Thx :)

I found a thread with the information!! Just 6 days before my cruise :D:D

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2545344

:D (y)

Thanks! I was hoping for the Lip Sync Battle as I cannot sing because my ride side vocal chord is paralyzed. OH well, maybe we'll watch the karaoke.

We board Valor on March 24th. Thanks for the great review! We are near your cabin, but an interior 8291.

I play MyVegas on my phone and computer and won this cruise and am only paying tax, port and gratuity (plus our flight, hotel and shuttle). We did save about $1000. Anyhow, that is off topic!

Loved the photos!! I can't wait to board.. only 19 days!

I’d love to try out for the lip sync battle, but do they have it in carnival on the 5 day?

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If you look through my profile , I did a review on both the valor four night in November 2017 and five night in October 2017. I didn’t post Funtime but had tons of pictures for my November cruise. I didn’t post any pictures from the October cruise but lots of information, it was a quick getaway with my husband. The November cruise was with my family for thanksgiving day and we had a blast.

 

 

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Thanks I just read them. It’s such a pleasure to read your reviews as they are so positive. We always have fun on our cruises and look for the best in every situation.

I’m curious how long it takes to get on the ship if you don’t have FTTF. Our last cruise we had it and it was so fast but others were in a long line. This was at the Long Beach port.

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Yes, me too. We are cruising in March, 5 day Western Caribbean.

Has anyone been rewarded with the free Carnival cruise and then been able to change to a different itinerary at a different port?

I am just seeing this, sorry it is late. I have changed cruise dates for the same itinerary with my cruise that I redeemed through MyVegas. I had already booked it and fully paid then found out my daughter's spring break was a different week. Carnival allowed me to change without any cost to me.

We just got off of the Carnival Miracle yesterday and it was not with Autism on the seas. I wish we had booked with them. My 16yo highly functioning autistic daughter didn't like the youth program (not enough scheduled activities and too loud) and chose to spend time with her two older siblings (22 and 26) or the whole family or stay in her cabin on her Nintendo DS or drawing.

I was hoping she could make some new friends. I'll look into the other AOTS sailings and see if we can get on one.

Thank you all for the responses!

Hopefully we will get there by 10am, check in ten maybe check out queen Mary while waiting to Board

We sail for 6 days on the Miracle beginning on December 11th and are driving from Phoenix to the Long Beach port. We plan to leave it about 3 or 4 a.m. to try to the get to this ship by 9 or 10 a.m. Will we be able to check in with faster to the fun or will they make us wait until noon?

I'm curious how early anyone has embarked with faster to the fun since the changes and staggered check in?

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15 days!!

We did Los Veranos on our own last week and had a fantastic time. They have a shuttle pick up near the cruise terminal or you can go to their office. By shuttle, I mean something that wouldn't quite pass US DOT standards but provided a fun ride along the coast and up the canyon to their site.

 

The guides were funny, engaging, and quickly put my DW at ease that she was not going to die that day. Their equipment is well maintained and the zip lines are in great shape. The set up is to start you on a few really easy lines between two trees and work you up to the long ones that criss-cross the river. All of us found it really fun. The whole experience lasted about 4.5 hours round trip.

 

Note: It is moderately strenuous getting around their course and you have to climb several circular stair cases which might seem a bit open for some. However, at no time did this middle aged overweight tourist feel winded, pushed to the limit, or exposed to any real danger.

 

The main area at the end is beautiful and the food and drinks excellent, just note that you will be paying US domestic prices for these (lunch ran about $65). I would recommend this tour to anyone who wants to have a little adventure in their trip and see some beautiful scenery.

What do you mean "on our own"? Did you book the tour apart from the cruise?

I ask because we will be in PV on December 14th from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. I want to wait until we get to PV to book the excursion.

We have friends that go to PV often and said to get a taxi to go straight to the zipline area and skip the shopping portion and just pay to zipline. Has anyone done this?

I need tips on the best way to save money on a zipline tour. I have 5 people from 16-51 to pay for.

Thanks.

38 Days until we board the Carnival Miracle with my hubby and all 3 kids (young adults and a teen) for the first time!

Hubby and I cruised once before 12 years ago, first time with all 3 kids.