vicky3vicky

I agree. But, I personally, am not looking for anything that compares with Royal Caribbeans' Oasis and Quantum class ships. If I had alot of money, I probably would cruise on one of the larger, newer Carnival ships in one of the "Havana" cabins. [or is that Haven?] But that is not the case for me. For me though, where I am in life [ early winter] the Dream class ships on Carnival take care of all my "sweet spots", with so many wonderful aspects that I do not think I could ever experience on one of the bigger ships. I LOVE line dancing on the deck with a thousand other people, and from what I can see it almost seems that the bigger the ship, the less deck room to do this. On my cruise earlier this month, I didn't win the "how many ping pong balls can you stuff in your bathing suit" contest, but I love my "participation" medal that I received. I'm not sure that it would be so easy to be one of the participants on an Oasis or Quantum [or Mardi Gras} ship. I know that I would be saying "wow!" quite often on one of RCCLs' huge ships, but when I wanted to just super relax and feel as one with the ocean,[ that is a different type of "Wow!] I love having a promenade deck that covers the perimeter of the ship. I love that there are tons of private little spots with loungers and chairs througout that area. I love that the aft, deck 5 of the Breeze has an area [and hot tub] filled with incredible loungers and "beds" that practically no one else goes to. And I love that there is not one, but 2 libraries to relax in. I don't think I would enjoy being on a cruise ship so large that I would have to make an appointment to see a show, because when I am on a cruise the only thing I like to schedule is getting on the ship as early as possible on embarkation day. Another thing, food. When I see someone walking by with a plate filled with "delicousness," I know, that unless it's sushi or seafood, that I can find the same thing at no extra cost, somewhere on the ship. Lastly, I hope that Carnival stops trying to compete with ships that are reminisent of a cramped, fancy mall/ amusement park. Some of us love the Carnival "feel". I've looked at videos of the new Mardi Gras. I haven't looked at the deck plans yet. I know there is going to be a roller coaster on it, and that could be nice, but I hope that the extra "thrills" will not take up too much of the spaces that make a cruise an awesome ocean experience. I have no umbrage with people who are looking for an amusement park at sea, to each his own. I do have a problem with people who makes comments, such as yours, that imply that because Carnival contains less mall/amusement park options, that they are inferior. Look at Crystal Cruises and Seabourne. Much pricier cruises than either Carnival or RCCL, and they are not filled with "novelty" attractions. Surely you are not implying they are inferior?

When we went on our B2B nearly 2 years ago, the process was basially the same. What was different was that we were not invited to a special luncheon. We did all receive a free drink in the atrium, and there was a group picture taken which was later sent to our room at no charge. I think we also received a fruit basket the next day. Getting of and back on the ship, as mentioned was easy and stress free. We just returned from a 14 day journey cruise a week or so ago, and we are havig trouble deciding whether we prefer journey or B2B. Both incredible for different reasons.

We might possibly cancel a shore excurssion. does anyone know how far in advance we would need to cancel for full or partial refund? Thank you!

I agree with pretty much everyone! But.... I also love all the planning, and packing, and researching the ports, and studying the menus and deciding what I am going to order in the MDR every night, for the entire year and a half between every cruise. I love reading Cruise Critic, and packing and unpacking over and over again. I love spending the 2 weeks before the cruise cooking and freezing many of our favorite dishes so that I can slowly ease back into cooking when I get back. I love planning things to look forward to right AFTER the cruise. After our November 2, Journey cruise, one of my Nigerian Dwarf goats will be in heat, and we are excited to get her pregnant. [baby goats are cuter than cute!] to start planning Christmas, to see our animals, and to work on next years AutHaven. When I get home, my middle son [ who will be staying at our home while we are gone, taking are of the chickens, goats and dogs] will have put the seed catalogs, which I will order next week, on my bed, and have everything set up for a fire in our fireplace. I also look forward to booking my next cruise within 2 weeks after coming home. Then, when time passes, as I am mucking the barn, I will be thinking about my upcoming cruise. When I am feeding worm tea to my beautiful vegetable garden plants, I will be figuring out the best way to optimize my miles and points to get the best airfare and hotels. And when I am helping to birth a baby goat [or three!] I will be thinking about....helping to birth baby goats. I am a very frugal [not cheap!] person [which, with our income is a really good thing] and no way could I justify spending all of those thousands of dollars for a 2 week vacation. No way! But when I onsider that I am 'enjoying" my cruise a little bit every day before I even step on the ship, it is a heck of a deal! [ and something nice to think about when a dentist is poking around my mouth]

I wear my lanyard in port so that I don't lose it. I do not wear socks with sandals, because I do not find that comortable. If I did find wearing socks with sandals the most comfortable shoe type on my feet, I definitely would.

I wear my lanyard in port so that I don't lose it. I do not wear socks with sandals, because I do not find that comortable. If I did find wearing socks with sandals the most comfortable shoe type on my feet, I definitely would.

We should be receiving 3 of them, and I am excited to put them on my christmas tree! Carnival HAD to make cutbacks on the P/D gifts. From my understanding,, the cruise fare, with all that is included, is on the average, the "break even" point. Most P/Ds' who cruise help make a profit for Carnival, but more and more P/Ds' are people who cruise without spending an extra dime- and nothing wrong with that- but that does lead to more expensive gifts potentially causing a loss for the line. It seems they are now giving a "token" thank you, because the more expensive gifts are no longer pragmatic. As long as there is a bit of creativity and thoughtfullness in this token, I am happy. I think it would be fun if they were to have a contest for ideas for gifts, that mass produced would only cost a dollar or so. That would be nice. [ of course I already have 83 items on my list!]

We save our points for flights because each point for flying is worth 1.5 cents. We love Southwest because of '2 bags free" I am thinking of getting either a United or delta cc, because then I can use Southwest points towards my cruise, and fly on the other airline. I also use my Marriot card[ I think it's Marriot] to pay for my hotels before and after the cruise

can I request whipped cream on my banana split?

I lOVE Carnival Breeze food. I feel so spoilt by it. Is it mostly gourmet food? Absolutely not. And I'm not paying anything close to "gourmet" cruise prices ether. It's silly to expect $100 a person per plate food in the MDR when for many people, they aren t even paying $100 a day for their entire cruise!

The Havana area sounds incredible. Because of financial constraints[ which can't be that bad we still can cruise], though, if we were to book a Havana cabin, we would probably have to slow down our cruising from every year to year and a half, to every year and a half to 2 years. So, if booking a Havana cabin would cause you to be able to cruise less often, would you still choose the Havana cabin?

Wow Sid! Awesome review, which I have read from beginning to end. From nearly the beginning, every time that someone mentioned "the tribe," I wondered if perhaps you are also a member of a different "tribe", the one I am a member of. Like you, most of my "tribe" live by making lists. Like you, they tend to be extremely detail oriented. Like the majority of my "tribes" people, you are a germaphobe. Like you, the majority of my "tribe" are single [ and often in superb shape] Like you, people in my "tribe" like to be in control of how much "socializing" they do, because if they do not, they become totally overwhelmed. Like so many of my "tribe" members, you have an awesomely snarky sense of humor. These are just a few of many examples I could give. I won't mention my neurology, but I can't help but wondering if you, possibly, at the least are a "cousin" if not a tribe member. I am proud of my neurology, and I hope that if you are one of "us" that you are proud of your neurology as well.

We have been on the Breeze 4 times. always assigned seating, always the Blush dining room. I think it is prettier than the other dining room.

Okay, what is the ATL thread I keep reading about? And how do I get there?

Okay, this is not the most surprizing thing I saw, but the most surprizing thing my , at the time,15 year old grandson experienced when cruising. It was his first cruise, and we had sent him some links in the preceeding weeks so that he could have an idea what to expect. Obviously he did not look at them. We got on the ship and EVERYTHING SURPRIZED HIM! He had been expecting to board the ship and be assigned a seat, in a huge area with seating similar to a commercial airplane. He thought we would stay in our seats, being served meals on trays, sleeping in our chairs, and only getting up to use the bathroom, until we reached a port. He was blown away! "this is AMAZING!" I heard him say this at least 100 times on the cruise. It is always fun cruising with someone who has never cruised before, but this particular cruise with this grandson was AMAZING!