Tierlifer

I drove to my cruise from Seattle to Miami in a 1978 Ford Pinto while eating McDonalds with stryofoam containers that I disposed of in a plastic bag. 

Never sailed the old way and based on what I have read on here I guess I should consider myself lucky.  Had zero issues with the Carnival system my first time cruising a few years ago. 

Sailed the Magic back in May. It was the first trip for the Magic out of FLL in fact so we had a 9:00pm embarkation which was interesting, however getting on the ship that early evening was a breeze because of the later than normal departure. 

Great ship and no complaints. Especially loved Guys Pig joint on sea days. 

On 9/16/2019 at 10:16 AM, Mr305 said:

I'll be doing a new year's cruise on the Carnival Magic out of Fort Lauderdale.  Have a couple of questions for those that have sailed her recently:

 

1. What was your internet experience like?  Plan to buy prior to boarding, don't want to overspend if everyone is reporting a poor experience.
2. Any recommendations, as far as excursions, for Grand Turk or Amber Cove?  Considering going for an ATV like excursion.  Open to suggestions.
3. How was anytime dinning for you?  Was there a long wait to get a table?
4. If you have done a new year's cruise with Carnival before, any tips?  I'm sure it will be completely sold.

Booked a 3rd party ATV tour with Zoom Zoom tours. Hosts were very friendly. Even upgraded us to a dune buggy for free at our choice because we booked 2 ATV's and only 1 was available. 

MY GF and I literally walked off the elevator on 1st floor, walked down one flight of steps and through security and onto the boat with zero wait time at approximately 10:40 am.The tender boat that waited another 5 minutes and onto the shore around 11 am.  

The beach was filling up quick but plenty of lounge chairs further down the beach. 

3 hours ago, BNBR said:

On Magic now. Wifi was decent for browsing the internet but obviously not comparable to Royal. Hub app was great as well.  Overall no real issue with wifi and it was fast enough for basic internet usage. Only a couple of drop outs the entire cruise. I'm a heavy user. 

Sailed Magic in early May.  What this person said to a "T". 

On 5/20/2019 at 7:41 PM, Therobielyn's said:

LOL.....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..........

Ciao, ciao...oh...but it's just for now!!!

Good grief!!!

Just the thought of hearing that right now makes me ill.

By far the worst CD we have had, but then again, there is only one MIKE PACK!!

 

I am compete opposite and loved Mark-Q!

On 5/10/2019 at 9:55 PM, OCruisers said:

 

People ... especially HAL folks ... had a fit when the "Pirate Ship Bar" was built at HMC. Now it seems to be a non-factor and seldom any longer mentioned.  

 

Maybe something like what has been done to CoCo Cay would be a good addition to HMC  since Carnival Cruise Line ships with a younger crowd also use HMC?   

I was there last Tuesday and barely noticed it. Wasn't until I heard someone laying next to us on the beach mention it and saw it when I walked back to the tender. 

On 5/9/2019 at 2:25 PM, emoorehead said:

The safes on the Ecstasy use the keypad. I was just on her last week.

Just got off the Magic yesterday and they are keypad as well. 

On 11/8/2018 at 3:56 PM, FSHLOT said:

Not sure if its a "hack",  but I mix my lemonade and iced tea from the lido deck....

My gf did that this trip and thought or it on here own and she got me hooked! Our own Arnold Palmer drink! haha!

On 4/13/2019 at 9:44 PM, NJ CRUISE said:

Recently off the Paradise, and noticed there was no Budweiser being offered in the beer selections at the bars.

Asked a couple of bartenders and they said Carnival was not stocking it anymore.

End of an era I guess.

Has the "King of Beers" really fallen that far???

It was never the "king of beers". That's a dopey ad campaign that any person who knows even halfway decent beers would say it's an awful product that just appeals to the masses. 

I always made up for port days that evening with my Cheers package. I think the Cheers package is absolutely worth it if you drink enough and for peace of mind. Won't ever cruise without it. 

Great review. Make that outstanding !!!

Just got off my first cruise last Thursday and loved it. (Liberty). We did not eat in any of the fancy or main dining areas once. We did the buffet every night and loved the food. We are t-shirt, blue collar jeans and t-shirt type people and did not feel like even dressing up remotely nice to attend so we said screw it and did the buffet every night. Loved it. I think next cruise we will try sit down dinner one of the nights however.

Just got off the Liberty on Thursday morning. It was also my first cruise ever as well as my GF's. We LOVED it!! Going in blind (we didn't even watch and youtube vid's prior), we had an Ocean Suite on the 7th floor. I was really impressed.

Did not eat in the dining room once. We thought it said no flip flops and that's all we packed with us so we said screw it so I can not review the food. However the buffet breakfast and dinner were all awesome. Zero complaints except the juices were a little meh and seemed to be too sweet. That was our only tiny tiny complaint.

Plenty to do and see. All clean and pristine if you asked me. Then again I have never stepped foot on a cruise ship before so I have nothing to compare with haha.

Thank you so much for the review! We are not big gamblers but I'm wondering what the smell was that you were noticing in the casino. Other people have said they could barely smell smoke at all. Did you find it Smoky? I am very sensitive and that would determine how much, if any, time we spend in the casino. Thank you

Great question. Were from NY where smoking has been banned in bars for 15 years now and I noticed cigarette smell at the casino bar like a drug sniffing German Shepard. We stayed VERY clear of that bar. Sometimes it would even (barely) drift into the Sky Box sports bar (Carnival Liberty) on occasion but again I think when you are a non smoker and have not smelled cigs in bars in almost 15 years it stuck out like a sore thumb.

In the regular casino it would just depends how close you were to the bar area or if you were near a smoker.

Just got back from Carnival Liberty and flew in and out of MCO (Orlando).

We Ubered TO Port Canaveral (Raddison) on a Saturday evening for $56 from Orlando.

On the day we returned to port our Uber cost $81 on a Thursday morning back TO Orlando. So if you average the two out was about $68. Air conditioned, courteous driver, comfortable vehicle and no hassles at all. We waited 8 minutes and 9 minutes for both Ubers.

Hope this helps.

Hi All...I stumbled onto this fantastic message board over the weekend. The GF and I booked our very first cruise in early August (Carnival Liberty). I discovered the search feature and have been soaking up all the tips and tricks and recommendations as much as I can.

However I did a few searches and have more of a specific question regarding disembarking at Port Canaveral. I already booked a flight set to leave Orlando (MCO) at 12:15. We are set to arrive at Port Canaveral at 8:00 am. From everything I have read and been told an Uber is about 50 or so minutes to MCO from Port Canaveral. This takes in account that rush hour on a Thursday will be basically over. Will we be cutting it too close to arrive at MCO and dealing with check in, TAA screening for our return flight at 12:15. This is definitely something I did not consider when booking the return flight.

If it helps we booked a suite so I believe we have early embarkation and disembarkation included with our booking.

I guess my question is what time from when that ship docks to I get into our Uber should I be looking at? I've read so many different things on disembarking on here my head is going to spin haha. Again..I'm a rookie so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks and we can not WAIT to go cruising'!!

We tip the porter $5 for our two bags. We give our Room Steward $10 or $20, depending on the service. In the dining room, if the waiter really makes an effort to "know us", etc., we'll give him $15 or $20 on the last night.

 

For room service, we tip $2 for any delivery.

 

It's all up to you ......... this is just what we do.

Ithaca is gorges!

Greetings from Broome County! Johnson City).

Thanks for the “tips”

Ok I’ll see my self out now.