Buckett

18 hours ago, awinner said:

Do you have a name or link to his site? I tried to Google it, but Experience Ensenada is a very generic search term. TIA.

Not sure if we're allowed to post links, but if you take those 2 words and add dot com, that's his website. His name is Noe. 

Thanks for your review! Glad you and your family enjoyed the cruise, and the ship. I'm really looking forward to being on her in March with my niece! 😊

We recently returned a cruise on Carnival Radiance, and Ensenada was our port. We did a tour with Experience Ensenada. Found him on social media and he gets really good reviews. The tour was maybe 3-4 hours along and included some food stops, tequila tasting, margaritas. I highly recommend it.

Thanks all for your feedback! I am going to see her in a little while and I think (fingers crossed) that she is leaning towards going. She'll know more after her appt with the orthopedic surgeon. Sounds like no show is the way to go, if you don't have travel insurance and you're in the 100% penalty phase.

@DallasGuy75219 yes, I do think I read that somewhere. This late in the game, just no show. She does understand she is losing her fare. I'm curious about Cheers package and prepaid gratuities, wifi package, all that. Does she lose that too? Thanks!

@firefly333that's what I was thinking, guests 1 and 2 might be refared if she cancels vs no show. I am pretty sure she's not coming, she broke her wrist yesterday and is going to need surgery. I told her to wait a day or 2 before she decides for sure.

Thanks @DallasGuy75219 they are all first time Carnival cruisers. I know I've seen topics on no-show vs cancelation but I'm thinking it won't make any difference in this situation.

Hello, I did a cursory search using different phrases but couldn't find an answer to this question. Perhaps someone here knows. 🙂 Three people in cabin, lead guest on reservation has medical emergency and can't go. 100% penalty in effect. My question is, how does it affect the other 2 passengers? Thanks for any info on this topic! 

Thank you for the info! I have a group of 10 doing this cruise (3 days, just to Ensenada) so it's nice to know what to expect.

18 hours ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Well I had thermal spa passes on the Dream for an 8 night sailing and absolutely loved it! We went twice a day every day.

Earlier this month we had a spa cabin on Celebration so had access to the thermal suites and was quite disappointed, only went twice the whole cruise. It was nothing like the thermal suite on the Dream. I originally thought all ships had the same set up but that's not so.

I believe the Vista has the thermal suite similar to the Celebration. So if it's your first time going to the thermal suites you would have nothing to compare it to and it might be to your liking.

I agree with your assessment! I have done the thermal suite on the Splendor and the Vista a couple of times, and on other lines. The main thing I didn't care for on the Vista was that the thermal tub (for lack of a better word) was right in the middle of the heated ceramic loungers, so it didn't really lend itself to a peaceful calming experience. People like to talk when they're in the tub, and if you're trying to relax on the lounger it can be distracting.

I much preferred the thermal suite on the Splendor, as the areas were separate, and made for a much more relaxing experience. Although as you said, if you had nothing to compare it to, you wouldn't know.

I'm really enjoying your review! Will be on Panorama in March 2024, can't wait! 😄 

I think one change to the perks is that you can't prebook entertainment any longer, it has to be done after you board.

This question may have cleared up (for me) something the NCL agent told me on the phone, to which I didn't pay a lot of attention at the time.

I called on Friday to book the thermal suite pass for me and my sister (a whole other long story 🙄) and towards the end of the call she said, "I need to let you know that starting today you will need to use your email address to log in to the website, not your username". I already use my email addy to log in so I didn't understand why she was telling me that. Not sure this helps, but it seems perhaps they changed something.

On 12/22/2018 at 7:18 PM, catl331 said:

That depends on how close you are to one of the access point antennas that are spaced periodically along the hallway ... or if you're REALLY lucky, IN your cabin!  You can't get a better signal than we did here, in Oosterdam 8098!

What great news! We happen to be in this very cabin beginning March 30. Can't wait! 😉 I plan on purchasing the wifi package.

On 12/22/2018 at 7:18 PM, catl331 said:

On 2/7/2019 at 7:29 PM, mr. godfredo said:

We are booked on the Panorama for March of 2020! We are really looking forward to a new and beautiful ship finally based out of the West Coast! 😎

We are booked for the March 21, 2020 cruise. I know it's so far away but I'm really looking forward to it. Have been on the Vista twice so I can of have an idea what to expect. Living in San Diego, it's great to have a brand new ship home ported in SoCal!!

In St. Maarten I can recommend Bernard's Tours, I've used him twice and been very happy. I found him through reviews in the POC (Ports of Call) boards. Check it out, lots of great info over there! :D

Bucket,

 

Finally came across a solo guitarist. Is this the one?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Greg, yes that's her. Amelia. Like I said, we really enjoyed her on the Imagination earlier this year. Thanks for the pic!!:D

I am really enjoying your review!! Wish I'd started on it sooner, I'm on page 11 but wanted to ask by any chance have you been able to check out Amelia, the solo guitarist? She is awesome, met her on the Imagination earlier this year and watched her play every night. If you have a chance, I know it's your last day, could you tell her Buckett said hi? I would appreciate that so much, and also know it is a big favor so no worries if you aren't able. Ok back to page 11 LOL

I shall out myself as aformentioned DW and the "late 40s" half of the duo. I am also chief vacation planner while DHs involvement generally involves "okay honey" while I rattle off various plans. DH also has yet to deal with "our" PVP Nicolas but is mildly concerned that I spend more time talking to Nicolas these days.

 

Three cruises in 2 1/2 years is probably a bit excessive especially with all of them heading to the Baja or Riviera regions of Mexico. These are trips based on the convenience of boarding in Long Beach vs bucket list destinations. We will be breaking up the cruising with a two week land trip to the British Isles next summer.

 

Six days and counting at this point! I will warn you, with a drink package, I cannot guarantee the clarity of any of DHs posts from here on out.

LOL awesome! Great review so far, and I look forward to more. I like how you adjusted your expectations, that is a great idea when you have been on a newer ship, or bigger, and are going on an older, smaller one. I have been on the Imagination several times, and have always had a great time!

I also have the Panorama booked for 2020! Living here in San Diego it is going to be awesome to have a brand new ship home ported so close! :D

I've always gotten a Fun Ship Special as soon as I board. They aren't even my favorite drink (too sweet to have more than one or two), but something about it signals "VACATION" for me! So I keep on doing it!

Me too, MistyRo! My tradition is to head straight to the Lido deck after boarding, and order one. I agree, too sweet to have more than a couple but it just signals the beginning of a fun cruise to order one! :cool:

What documentation do I need to get her onboard?

I have her birth certificate. She is my sister's daughter' date=' do I need a

statement from my sister that she is allowed to travel with me?

 

Thank you for your help.[/quote']

Hi! My niece is 14 too, and I've taken her on a cruise every year since she turned 6. We have a lot of fun, and she is a cruise nut just like me lol :D

 

For many years, I brought her birth certificate along with a notarized letter from my sis and her ex husband. I don't recall ever being asked for it, but it was nice to have it. Of course, this past year when we debarked the Splendor I did not have one, and was asked by the Customs agent for it. haha He asked her a couple of questions, looked at her passport, and I guess he could see the family resemblance so he let us through. YMMV

Hoping someone has more information.

 

About midway through our cruise last week on the Breeze, the thalassotherapy pool was drained. It was opened a few days later, but the jets were not operational. I asked about this at the Spa desk, and was told that the jets have been turned off on all hot tubs and thalasso pools across the whole fleet. I tried to get more info out of them, but they would just shrug.

 

Anyone know anything about this? I had not heard of any issues, and was curious if this was a permanent situation.

If you do contact Carnival, please let us know what you found out! Thanks. :)

Tahitian Inn was great! Wonderful Tiki bar and pool, restaurant on site. Shuttle from airport and to port.

As always, I'm on here researching for an upcoming cruise, and I come across tidbits like this. I checked out their website, and have booked a room for our January 2019 cruise. We love Tiki, it looks like a really cool hotel! Thanks!! :cool:

I'm really enjoying your review! I did the same itinerary on the Vista in March of 2017 with my niece, and we had a great time. Thanks for taking the time to write this, and for the awesome pictures! :D

I just wanted to say Welcome to Cruise Critic and congratulations on booking your first cruise! I've been on the Imagination a couple of times and always have fun! Please come back and let us know how you liked it. :D