vacruizer

There’s lots to do near Kona. There’s a neat little tourist area with plenty of shops and restaurants if you want something simple. You can rent kayaks or paddle boards right there, too. If you can rent a car, check out the beach at either 69 beach (that’s the milepost) or Kaloko-Honokohau NP. Or visit Pu’uhona O Honaunau NP. From Hilo visit Volcanoes NP or go north to Akaka Falls. Pahoa is a neat little artsy town near Volcanoes with shops and restaurants.

I am kind of wondering the same about nightlife and crowd. I am booked for early December. - I’m a married 50 yr old (yikes - how did THAT happen since I was just 35 yesterday!) but sailing solo and hoping to not have the sidewalks rolled up by 10pm! I’m not a wild partier but love to stay up a bit late on vacation and enjoy cocktails, live music, shows, etc. with a nice crowd.

Hi Celebrity experts! I’m looking to book my first Celebrity sailing this fall and am not familiar with their pricing structures. Please note……I am not looking to name TAs or agencies or asking for recommendations for one since I know that’s against CC rules. I’m just curious if this is normal with Celebrity. I know with some other lines TAs sometimes have some small discounts or perks, but typically nothing significant. As I’ve been pricing a particular sailing using the all included rate, I’ve got one large online agency quoting many hundreds of dollars less than several other agencies or what I see on Celebrity’s website. Are they possibly just selling group space? Or are they just not being upfront with what costs really are or what’s included? I’ve done a mock booking online and called them as well and both website and agent claim the rate has the all included tips/Wi-Fi/drinks. Anyone run into this? The skeptic in me says “buyer beware” but the bargain hunter in me wants to save the extra money - and we are talking well over $600pp so not a small amount.

I’m so glad to hear this. I should clarify that the crew tried really hard and just couldn’t keep up. We waited 2 hours one night in the MDR and food was rock hard and cold. Couldn’t even flag our waiter down and manager just shrugged and said they were short staffed. The hallway incident was unfortunately more than just a random drunk and involved lots of screaming at security..who threatened to call the local authorities the next morning but couldn’t seem to remove the guy. There was discussion of a possible attempt to harm another passenger as well. It went on for over an hour.

I can sail on the Apex in December for around. $650pp or just over $1,000pp with drink package, gratuity, and wifi included. Infinity sailings this fall are running as low as $395pp. And no single supplement right now if my husband can’t go and I decide to sail solo. Carnival might be slightly cheaper on base rate for a 7 day, but add in drinks & tips and it’s pretty comparable or cheaper right now. I was surprised, too.

Personal opinion here only…. Others will tell you none of this matters. I’ve sailed the Pride three times and it’s one of my favorite ships. But….I personally am not booking any more Carnival sailings for now after a recent Sunshine sailing, albeit a short one, that made me actually question safety. I’ve also sailed NCL and like the experience, but they’ve lost their minds with pricing. The older Carnival ships have really been let go unfortunately. We experienced broken elevators to our floor (in an accessible cabin so stairs not an option), sewage in the hallway that maintenance tried to fix and couldn’t, sewage backing up through the shower drain in our bathroom, broken furniture all over the ship, rust, broken railings, broken windows, holes in the deck…it’s was shocking after 20 Carnival trips and knowing the ship I was on had just been in dry dock a couple months earlier. What were we not seeing behind the scenes that wasn’t maintained if this is what the customers saw? I sadly wasn’t surprised when news of the Freedom fire and Magic fumes issue (with payoff offers to not sue) hit not long after we sailed. Food and service were not good and the crew was working crazy long days due to the staffing issues. They were trying…and were tired, worn out, and many stated they would not renew contracts. MDR food was the worst in 24 cruises. Music was one terrible band and one even worse solo guitarist with very few daytime activities anymore, either. You’ll have a totally different crowd in Europe of course, but we also noticed a lack of security at the deck parties, nightclub, etc… had something gone south….and it did outside our cabin the last night…. there was not enough security to handle it. My next cruise is likely MSC or Celebrity. Both are far cheaper than Carnival right now, too. All lines have staff and supply chain issues right now, but I was shocked by the badly deteriorated ship. Security was I’ll equipped to handle the incident outside our cabin at 3am and either would not or could not remove the persons involved. The screaming and threats went on for over an hour with security present and we drove 7 hours home the next day on no sleep. Just my two cents as a once loyal Carnival cruiser who loved the experience. I’ll give them a couple years to work the kinks out and likely only consider newer ships with them now, though.

The Sunshine in May was in similarly bad shape. I understand that they let things go during the shutdown but was shocked at how much. Sunshine had been in dry dock only 6 months prior. It made me question what else wasn’t being maintained that we couldn’t see. Add the short staff situation and not so great food and I’m not in a hurry to book again right now. I’ve sailed old ships before and not seen the issues I did in May. Rust, sewage in the hall that they were trying to stop for several days and couldn’t, broken elevators, broken glass, broken tables and chairs…it was sad to see what the ship had become.

I just had one come up with air from Virginia to Miami priced at $7,000. In October. A few days ago it showed as $400.

I am so happy you made it! I was having flashbacks to a similar incident I had about 15 years ago - I was booked on an evening flight to Florida the night before my cruise and there were massive weather delays all over the country. I ended up making the cruise but not without much angst, tears, and worry. To this day I’ll now only book a morning flight the day before and sometimes go in two I can be off work the extra day. No flights were available the next day that would get us to the ship, too far to drive, no trains. Just as they were booking flights to Cozumel to meet the ship 3 days later, The airline finally found 2 seats the next day, then more weather delays in the morning, a 20 minute flight connection, and damaged luggage. I thought I’d kiss the ground when I got to that cruise terminal in time to sail.

NCL usually charges a higher base rate for the included bar/specialty dining/Wi-Fi deal so that may be where the $500 is coming from. I love their overall product but they’ve now made that beverage package almost worthless if you like any kind of higher end liquors or drinks by jacking the price up over $15 on almost everything. They don’t limit drinks per day like Carnival, but cost per drink instead. $23 shots of Woodford Reserve and $17 house wine is an example. It wasn’t like that a few years ago. It’s and additional $243pp on a 7 day to upgrade to premium beverages, on top of the $277 gratuities and higher base rate. I like the entertainment and food better on NCL, and the drinks/cheers package and ship atmosphere more on Carnival. Maybe I need to start my own cruise line! 😂

You may be right. I was on the Sunshine a few weeks ago and surprised at her poor condition knowing she’d been in dry dock 6 months prior. Many malfunctioning systems onboard including sewage and numerous elevators, lots of rust on the balconies and rails, poorly patched damage in many places, broken glass and permanently clouded windows in spots… she’s really looking tired and worn. Don’t get me started on the stench coming from the pool bars on Lido…not sure what died in those drains but I’d have been pouring bleach everywhere if my bar had smelled like them. I’ve sailed other ships at 20 plus years of age including the Fascination and NCL Sun. This is the only one that really looked like it hadn’t been maintained and maybe there aren’t plans to considering there was lots not done in dry dock 6 months ago.

They will bring you paper menus but won’t offer them - you have to ask. Checking into the dining room with no phone was a huge pain and the hostess chastised us for not bringing a phone. I started carrying it around just to check in, but still got paper menus. I find it really hard to read the menus on my phone and cruise to disconnect and not carry the thing around all the time like I do for work.

I’m considering my first MSC cruise this fall on either Seashore or Divina. I’d love to hear what you liked or didn’t like about each one. Cost difference is negligible and I’ve cruised the Caribbean many times on other lines so itinerary isn’t important, either. I’d be sailing in a balcony most likely. A few things about me - I’m 50 and my husband is staying home this trip so I’ll be sailing solo. I’ve cruised solo before so that part isn’t new to me. I love things like live music, craft cocktails and nice bourbon, evening shows, and activities like trivia during the day. I’m not one to sit by a pool. Which ship would you choose? I did just receive a status match to diamond if that makes any difference.

We still had a great time. But it made me sad, too. I’m not a complainer and love Carnival. I’m hoping they can get staffed back up and pull through this.

Entertainment - Cruise director TJ is lots of fun. He and his staff were high energy and fun whether at deck parties or daily games and trivias. He makes more announcements than I’ve heard in a while, though! We tried to see a comedy show twice and doors were already closed with a full venue 15 minutes ahead and people already lined up for the next show an hour later. We opted not to sit in a inside hall waiting and go find some other fun. We also tried to see the love and marriage show the other night and there were no seats to be found. There was very little live music on the ship compared to most cruises. I’m not sure if it was Covid issues, staffing again , or both. There was one rock band that was ok, the piano bar, and one solo guitarist who was almost painful to listen to. He was trying to read songs off a tablet that he obviously didn’t know and had never heard before. Very young kid - we wondered if it was his first cruise gig. People would literally get up and leave when he played, poor guy. We are both musicians and felt bad for him, too. No violin trio or island/reggae band on this ship. The Havana bar and Red Frog stages went unused this cruise. We did not check out the production shows. The 80s deck party was probably the craziest event of the cruise. So much fun!!! People just kept dancing after it was over and we had fun checking out all the crazy outfits people wore. This cruise was a high energy party crowd and ready to have fun!

Next up is everyone’s favorite - the bars!!! These folks are some of the hardest working people on the ship! I’m a long time Alchemy fan and love craft cocktails and good bourbon. On the flip side, my husband doesn’t drink, but does like nice coffee, seltzer waters, juices, and milkshakes. After much debate on lugging bottles of wine and budget for cocktails, we finally opted for Cheers (using 10% off AARP gift cards to save a little). We didn’t regret it. Our favorite spots were Alchemy, the atrium, and Red Frog. Great drinks and bartenders- Dusan and Zoltan in Alchemy, Elizabeth in Red Frog who has been with Carnival 26 years now, and Zofia in the Atrium were all great. And working their tails off. They couldn’t keep up. They would have one bartender when they needed two or three at peak times. And no waiters roaming to serve seating which hit the bar even harder with everyone walking up and impatiently wanting drinks. I saw one young bartender cry at one point. They all look exhausted. Outside the venues I mentioned, it was a sling drinks as fast as you can and the heck with quality..they didn’t have time. One told me he had worked a 17 hour day. Another said he was being asked to extend his contract and shorten vacation. Two more said last contract and they won’t be back. This staff shortage is killing them. They are tired and stressed. I actually poured out several pool bar drinks they were so bad - I was glad I had cheers. This was an packed cruise with lots of college graduation parties so the bars were slammed on top of being short staffed. Having been a bartender myself it was hard for me to watch them struggle so much. Dirty glasses piled up, Bars not wiped down, recipes not followed, wrong drinks served…many seemed defeated and were beyond caring about customer service. They were too busy to provide it even if they wanted to. One other note, I looked forward to the Havana bar and Latin snacks. Half the bar was closed for the cruise and they were out of many ingredients for the menu drinks. Snacks are no longer served there. You could see where they once had live music there but no more. It was a little sad to see such a beautiful space not being used. They were also not serving coffee in the mornings and later often didn’t know how to make the Cuban coffees there. The main deck 5 coffee bar was great, though. We still had a great time with drinks and fun, but felt really bad for the struggling staff with nowhere near enough people.

I think they probably have way less staff now to handle it. Many crew from restart are now headed home for vacation and the visa backlog is keeping them from getting enough new crew onboard. They’ve closed dinner at Cucina and cancelled the diamond/platinum parties because of it amongst other things.

Dining - food is always subjective. I should also add that I have some background in hospitality and restaurants and might notice things differently than others. You might love something I hate. We had dinner in the steakhouse night 1 and it was amazing. Lots of new menu items since my last Carnival sailing. We had a great waitress but obvious they are stretched thin and running hard to keep up Little things like not clearing plates, no butter with bread, crumbs everywhere… the theme here is no one has time. We ate at JiJi one night and LOVED the food. We also had probably the best service of all our meals there. We ate two dinners and two sea day brunches in the main dining room and had anytime dining for dinner. The first elegant night was a mess. Food was nearly inedible, cold, dry like it had been under a heat lamp for a while….all tossed on the table with no waiter to ever return. I ordered a glass of wine and got the wrong one. Couldn’t even flag down a waiter. We were seated right by the kitchen door and these folks are working HARD. One gentleman was limping and still hauling heavy trays. Dirty dishes piled up on the service station next to us. I truly feel bad for these guys. I know they don’t want to provide that kind of service, but can’t help it. Our other dinner was much better and the two brunches weren’t bad. It wasn’t the Carnival I remember but adequate. All the waitstaff is rushed. And tired. Notice a theme here? Guys burgers was good although the fries have changed to standard frozen ones. Pizza still great but hours reduced to 10am-3am. Had great pasta for lunch at Cucina but a 30 minute wait for it. They are now closed for dinner due to the staffing issues. Blue Iguana is still fantastic and rarely had much line. The main buffet looked ok but the only time I grabbed a few items they had been sitting there too long. Ice cream mix seems to have changed and tasted very artificial. My only cruise I never ate a full ice cream cone! We rolled with all of this and never went hungry. Our biggest issue was lack of anyone cleaning tables. I hoped for better considering all the Covid protocols. Sometimes dishes sat for hours. We watched dining tables be reset without being cleaned in the main dining room. When they were cleared, tables were not wiped. I’m not at all a germaphobe, but almost wished I had some wipes with me. Yuck. More to come tomorrow…

Hi everyone! Thought I’d share a few observations from last weekend’s 4 night cruise on the Sunshine from Charleston - both good and bad. My husband and I sailed to celebrate a birthday and knew going in that this was a short cruise on an old ship so tried to match our expectations to that. I’ve sailed 20 prior Carnival cruises so know and love the brand. I’ve also sailed NCL a few times over the past 5 years. I’ll post this in segments on the room, bars, dining, etc. Room - Embarkation was smooth and easy in Charleston and parking free if you are handicapped. We had an “ambulatory accessible” spa room 11032 on deck 11. These are marketed by Carnival as regular rooms for those who use canes or walkers but not wheelchairs with extra grab bars and a shower seat. Much to our surprise, the room was huge and originally meant to be fully accessible it seemed. Shower was roll in and even had a ramp to the large balcony. Our room steward was awesome and always greeted us by name in the halls. On the other hand, there are serious plumbing issues on that deck. Our shower drains would bubble up sewage (loudly!) at least once a day. A few doors down the hall had a leak coming through the wall into the hallway and a wet, stinky carpet most of the cruise with fans blowing on it. Several nights we had no hot water. There was a little noise from being right next to Serenity and the door to it, but was a louder room from ship noises that any I’ve ever had. It was good white noise for me but a light sleeper might need earplugs. The bed was one of the comfiest I’ve ever had at sea, though. The primary location issue was that this is sold as a handicapped room on a deck with only two elevators. One was out of service the entire cruise and the other taken out of service for luggage on embark/debark and all day while in Half Moon Cay. This is a huge issue for anyone unable to use stairs. I did talk to guest services the morning we wanted to debark in Half Moon Cay, they told us they’d send an elevator. We waited for quite a while before my husband finally slowly and painfully made his way down the steps to deck 10 where there are more elevators. Carnival needs to do better with this and not sell ADA rooms on floors without adequate elevator service! I know this is no big deal to most passengers but is huge for anyone with a mobility issue. More to come….

I got married in January and have an upcoming booking in my maiden name. It was booked prior to the marriage and I’ve held off on updating my passport until after this cruise is over so the names would match. I went in to register through verifly and used my state’s QR code to load my vaccine record. Without my knowledge, the last name on the vaccine record had been updated to my married name. I have no idea how or when this occurred. I suspect it was triggered by either my DMV or social security name changes or updated somehow by a doctor I’ve seen recently. Carnival is telling me I can’t board unless the vaccine record matches the booking…. Only I never requested that my vaccine record be changed!!! Anyone out there run into this? I plan to bring old and new drivers license, copy of marriage certificate, passport in maiden name…..surely they won’t deny me boarding over this if I can prove it’s me?

I’ve taken a small pair of manicure scissors on every single one of my 20 Carnival cruises and never would have even thought to check if they weren’t allowed any more. It used to be nothing over 4 inches. Scissors are not only handy for nails, but cutting strings from clothing or thread in a sewing kit for emergency clothing repairs. I think they’ve gone too far on this one.

Thank you. Does the tram run regularly for the return? It’s been many years since I’ve been to half moon and always just did my own thing and walked where I needed to go but that was quite a few years ago. Since I met my husband, I’ve really had my eyes opened as to how difficult it is for someone with a disability to get around in some places.