GuitarPlayer

On 9/7/2021 at 2:26 PM, RocCruisers said:

We've done that too.  After we went to the Cricket Club for lunch, and some folks recognized us from church, so we joined tables and spent the next couple hours solving the world's problems over conch and beers.

So there shouldn't be any more world problems then!!!

GP

We go St Francis Xavier cathedral (https://www.stfrancisxaviercathedral.org/mass-schedule) if the ship is there on Sunday and the timing works out.

We've gone twice before and they are always welcoming.

Talk about a real taste of local culture while enjoying Mass!

Once when we were there, they called anyone with an anniversary/birthday/etc. up for a special blessing. It was our anniversary month, so we went up and were made to feel right at home.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147416-d7262503-Reviews-St_Francis_Xavier_Cathedral-Nassau_New_Providence_Island_Bahamas.html

Not sure how Covid may have affected cruisers attending, but we plan to find out in November.

GP

99 buckets of beer on the wall, 99 buckets of beer...

Thank you. Carnival has suited us these past 12 years, but as we're getting older a lot of what they offer isn't as appealing as it once was. The kids are grown and the itineraries are growing rather stale. Celebrity offer better cruise lengths (no such thing as 10, 11 or 12-night Carnival cruise) and go to some places Carnival doesn't.

 

Smoking for us is a big deal (i.e. we're non-smokers) and it's no fun being forced to walk through the smoky casino area or go out of our way on another deck just to walk fore to aft.

 

I think we'll like Celebrity.

You sound a LOT like us.

First cruise was in 2004.

20+ cruises later, all on Carnival, we, too, are looking for something a bit different.

Considering the Reflection on the 11 day eastern in March out of FLL, including overnight at St Maarten (never heard of that on Carnival). Checking the boards, it seems Reflection just came out of dry dock? That has to be a plus.

I'm just a bit concerned that my first Celebrity cruise is an 11-day, and if I don't like it, I'm stuck for 11 days (did I just complain about being on a cruise ship for 11 days?).

Anyway, I appreciate your question and all the responses from everyone.

GP

If we tell you, they won't be "secret" any longer! :)

GP

We did a B2B out of Jacksonville. Never even had to get off the ship. The customs person came onboard, looked over the paper work of about 20 of us, then the staff member had our new S&S cards, gave them to us and said, enjoy the next 5 days!

I had heard you *had* to get off the ship, but that's not true, at least in not in JAX.

We found a good spot on embarkation deck and (as someone else said) watched people getting on. You could tell the rookies from the old-timers. We think it's fun.

Another fun thing is to see the staff look at you funny the second time around, because they think they recognize you, but aren't always sure.

The CD recognized us, and talked to us and we ended up getting a couple of extra things we probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

I'd do it again. Maybe not two 7 day'ers, but definitely two 5 day'ers for sure. You get more cruise bang for the flight buck (flight costs the same but you get more days as sea.

GP

A lot of people refer to the Serenity deck on the Sunshine to be the best in the fleet.. I completely disagree.

Yes it is two decks, with a waterfall and very small pool, but there is nothing serene about it.

It faces the Lido deck and is VERY loud.

Ugh. That is not good news.:eek:

But thanks for the reply.

GP

whatever the excursion is, you can do it privately, cheaper and better. No, you will not miss the ship

99% of the time you won't miss the ship, but it's certainly not guaranteed like a Carnival-sponsored excursion.

I'll admit, I've done both, and never missed the ship, but people *have* missed the ship when not on Carnival-sponsored excursions. It does happen, albeit, rarely.

Just want to be sure rookies understand there is no guarantee.

GP

We were hoping to get on a "sold out" excursion in Roatan. Wife really wanted to go so once we got off the ship she tracked down the excursion person running around the port area. We didn't get on the excursion for *our* ship, but because another Carnival ship was in port that day and had the same excursion, we were able to get on *their* excursion an hour later.

Just another option to consider if there's an excursion you really want to do, and there are other Carnival ships in port that day.

GP

Thanks for all the info.

Going in early Nov and just curious about the serenity deck being right across the "party deck" from the big screen/DJ/loudspeakers.

If you went to serenity, did you hear the "noise" from across the deck coming from the DJ/big screen/etc.?

GP

Of course there's bad ones just like every other occupations that said, the vast majority (like 90+% ) do know more than the average people on this site it's their job

Like

GP

the fact of the matter is that they do know more than you, it's literally their job to do so.

Depends on who you mean by "more than you." People suck at their jobs all the time...

I'm certainly sure I'm not better than the best PVP, but I'd go up against several of them regarding who could do me the best deal, and being an informed consumer is one's best bet.

My PVP (after about 10 years of bookings/talking/emailing/checking all the angles with them) told me, "You should be a PVP, you know more about how to work our systems and the ins and outs of our programs than probably half of the PVPs?"

It's amazing what you can find out on GOCCL.com, even w/o a login.

GP

Maybe this time if we get in early enough on Friday I'll try it before dinner.

I'll watch from the bottom. ;p

GP

Only glitch was the debark was horrible. Galveston customs took over an hour just standing in line. Horrible.

Not to derail your review too much here... Look forward to seeing your pictures and seeing what you liked/disliked on the cruise.

We were on that cruise, too, and got through debark pretty quickly. However, we had luggage tag #1, and were in the Chic dining room. We were off the ship, found our bags and through customs in about 20 minutes. I guess the platinum thing paid off this time around.

Right before we got cleared through customs, the lines began just before customs, and I told my family "Whew, we barely made it before the lines began."

It did take longer than normal, I'm guessing because the dogs were searching for "stuff" from Belize...

GP

Bunch of fruit in the fridge. Nothing too exciting.

Just got off the Freedom yesterday. Left two root beers in the fridge by accident. :o

GP

Mine has helped me with various issues and saved me tons of time and frustration. Many questions that people ask on here or complain that they have to speak to multiple people or get different answers to could have been solved with one call to their PVP if they had one.

Completely agree.

And other people saying they are worthless have apparently never run into any issues with a booking.

We booked with a TA on our 1st and 2nd cruise. 2nd cruise was Oct 2005 out of FLL. Hurricane Wilma blew through the morning of the cruise (we thought we'd be out to sea before she got there, but no).

Anyway, contacting the TA on a Saturday was fruitless. The people that had booked with a PVP had the BEST information of anyone. Sold me on PVP's from that point forward.

GP

Another option. Catch the free bus (The Passport) from the port to downtown LB and rent a car. We did this last October, and it was cheaper than a shuttle (not sure how much Uber is). We took our luggage right onto the bus and got dropped off 1/2 block from the Avis location in downtown LB. Completely Free.

http://www.lbtransit.com/Services/Passport.aspx

It may not be the fastest option, but you should be off well before 10:30 if you are doing self-assist debarkation. Just another option, and may help someone else in a similar situation that is not on a time "crunch."

GP

I would say that the beards not only know EXACTLY, to the single digit, the number of onboard bookings that are made daily, weekly and yearly, they also know TO THE PENNY, how much revenue this program generates.

I don't doubt that one bit, but do they have ANY idea how much they are missing out on because they don't offer FCV's and/or are offering less OBC?

You can't manage/account for what you are not getting from those deciding not to buy.

We used to buy the Future Cruise Certificates (vouchers, whatever) on EVERY cruise. Didn't have to waste cruising time looking for the perfect 'next' cruise while on board, but still had us "hooked" on booking another one.

I fail to see Carnival's aversion to FCV's these days, especially if they made them electronic and easily redeemable.

If people can use an iTunes gift card, they can use an FCV, and if they get bought, and then forgotten about, free $$$ in Carnival's pocket. I just don't get it at all.

GP

...why worry about getting a house if it's only for 1 night? Just get hotel rooms for that short a stay...

We agree. Realized we wouldn't really get to enjoy the amenities of a beach rental just overnight, so we went a hotel in Mt. Pleasant.

*********** Thanks for all the info! ***********

This may come in handy if we bring the kids to town for a vacation.

GP

Wow Guys and Gals!

Lots of great info. We appreciate it all. If only all the threads were this informative.

One other question, since we're going with another couple (maybe three couples total), any opinions on a beach house rental for one night? I know sometimes they have a 3 night minimum, or a high cleaning fee that makes it not worth it, but just throwing that out there, in case anyone knows of something along those lines.

All three couples are good friends, so we can share amenities (i.e. bathroom) in a house/condo, would just like separate bedrooms. :cool:

GP

Read through this new thread, not much info on Hotels for one night before a cruise (night of Nov 3, 2017. Not looking for anything fancy, and doesn't have to be "right in the heart of things." Looked at Best Western in Mt. Pleasant, seems to be a reasonable rate for one night. Parking at the port, so no need for specials.

Any recommendations? Is it safe in Mt. Pleasant? Saw on google maps a Mobile gas station nearby the Best Western that looked shutdown and had a bit of graffiti on it. Just checkin...

We stayed in Summerville last time, but that's quite a drive.

Prices "in town" seem way high (200 a night? Yikes :confused:).

Any other places to avoid when looking for a night-before hotel?

Thanks,

GP

Did you do a Google search for the port schedule? That would provide the definitive answer.

Good call.

CT6 for our Magic sailing.

Thanks for all the replies.

GP

Does the Carnival Magic regularly (always?) use one Carnival terminal vs the other at PC?

Just curious as I like to plan out every detail ahead of time.

I tried searching but couldn't find anything that detailed...

GP

Don't ruin a perfectly good cruise worrying about whether or not you'll make your flight at the end.

To me, it's not worth it.

I'd rather sit around an airport for a few hours than slide in at the last minute, not knowing if I'm really going to make it or not.

GP

We did exactly what you are proposing, but we flew in the day before the cruise and stayed all night in Miami and boarded the next day.

We rented a minivan (4 of us plus luggage) for the drive, both ways. Flight to MCO was a non-stop, and was about $70 p/p cheaper each way. Because we had no connections, we actually go home faster by driving MIA to MCO than if we flew out of MIA(FLL) and had connections.

The minivan (at my corp rate) was about $70 each way, so we saved $210 each way. We've driven from KC to Jacksonville, so the drive from MCO to MIA wasn't too bad.

However, READ THIS, on the way down, we got caught in a rainstorm, and traffic crawled along the interstate at about 20mph at times. We barely got the minivan turned in at the downtown Miami location before they closed, so just make sure you allocate enough time to make the drive.

We have even done a B2B getting off ship 1 in Miami, driving to Port Canaveral and getting on ship 2 on the same day (a Saturday). Probably won't do that again, as it was too stressful, not being in the departure city the night before departure.

Good Luck!

GP