WES143

Here are some old cruise photos of me as a child cruising with my granny. Yes cruising has changed. I  can’t wait to enjoy the Beyond in March for my 45th cruise.

Hello. Is there any live jazz anywhere on the ship now? I really loved the Brass Magnolia area on the Mardi Gras for that. 

On 4/14/2022 at 12:23 AM, b4coco said:

1. NO WAY the YTD dining room can accomadate all the people then if they do this it is way to small.

2. Who did you hear this from, who is your source.

3. They better not it will screw all my dinner plans I made for the week with my other paid specialties 

4. If it is true then they should have those 2 on our acct so we can book them as a specialty restaurant 

 

You’re right. In March the dining rooms were SLOW and couldn’t keep up with the 5300 passengers. I can’t imagine how it would be, if there wasn’t a way to offload the amount of pax to these restaurants.

I was on this cruise as well for my 50th birthday!!! Yeah people don’t discipline their kids anymore. Three got on the elevator with me and THOUGHT they were gonna push all the buttons and play…..and I not so politely let them know they had got in the WRONG elevator with the RIGHT one . I saw one the, the next day at the burger place and couldn’t even look at me.

2 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

I'll keep the background and pre-cruise stuff to a minimum since most of you just want another cruisers perspective on the new jewel of Carnival cruise line.  Been on about 8 different classes of ships with Carnival, my first being on the Jubilee when she debuted in 1986.  Our Covid testing went very smooth at a nearby CVS as well as our nonstop flights on American into MCO and our stay at the Wingate by Wyndham.  We used Cruise Control Transportation as our shuttle and things were very smooth.  It was 80 bucks for private service in an Uber XL type of vehicle that picked us up at 845 at our hotel.  On our return trip to MCO, I opted for shared van service from the same company for 40 bucks which picked us up at 1030 to take us back to MCO.

 

We had gotten an arrival time slot of 10:00 am-10:30 am and received boarding zone A-01.   We were processed and sitting waiting outside the Suite waiting room just before 10:00 am and we sat there till just after 11:00 when boarding commenced.  We came onto the ship adjacent to Grand Central on deck six and she looked exactly like the various YouTube videos we had seen of her.  There wasn't the awe of the old central atrium with the glass elevators of the Farcus ships, but there was certainly an indication that this ship was more in line with what Carnival's competition was currently offering and at the same time had a few spins that were innovative such as the multi use central area that spanned three decks which gave cruisers a different perspective daytime versus nighttime.

 

Embarkation was a breeze, debarkation was very quick because of facial recognition and our turnaround day was just like debarkation day except for the fact that we walked back onto the ship and had the ship to ourselves (about 175 of us) for just over an hour.  It took us about two days to get acclimated for the most part but of course we still made the occasional wrong turn here and there over the course of our 14 days.  There is no way that you can get to all of the nooks and crannies and fully appreciate everything that this ship has to offer over the course of 7 days, so if it's possible to do a B2B I would highly recommend it.  It was our first B2B on Carnival and the majority of our future bookings on all lines are via B2B or S2S.

 

The GOOD.....There were 57 comedy shows and 32 trivia events over the course of the week.  Fifty seven comedy shows....let that sink in.  Most cruise lines give you maybe two or three.  There were six different comedians over the course of the week.  The PG shows were usually at the Limelight Lounge and the R rated shows were at the Punchliner Comedy Club.  There were also 3 shows on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00 pm in the Mardi Gras theater that featured two comedians doing about 20 minute sets each, while all of the regular shows were about 30 minutes each.

Big Chicken lived up to it's hype and was a very good option for lunch.  The fries were just OK if they were sitting out, but one time I got a fresh batch and they were really good at that point.  Since I do like spice on my food at times I went to Blue Iguana and got some of the orange Habanero sauce and put it on my Big Chicken sandwich which elevated the taste even further for me.  Another great lunch choice was the day that they had chorizo as an option at Sea Dogs.  They always have hot dogs, plus two other types that rotate on a daily basis.  You can get them on a standard roll or a pretzel roll, which I opted for.  They also had three different kinds of mustard, yellow, brown and stone ground.  Chorizo on a pretzel roll with stone ground was my go to on two different days.

We were able to get 715 reservations at Teppanyaki for the last night of the 14 days we were onboard.  At 32.00 plus automatic 18% gratuity it was a good show and I had the filet mignon/lobster tail combo.  It was good, but will be a one and done.   The fact that Chibang, Cucina and Pig & Anchor were all included for dinner helped spread out the dinner crowd.  We had just under 5000 and around 5000 passengers for our two weeks.  I would hate to see what it would be like at full capacity of up to 4 in a cabin which puts the capacity well over 6000 passengers.

 

I preferred the pool and hot tubs on Summer Landing on deck 8 as opposed to the two pools up on Lido, which seemed to have more kids and be a bit more crowded.  The two rectangular hot tubs on the starboard side of deck 8 before you hit the Watering Hole Bar were nice.  Further up the starboard side of the ship is the outside portion of Bar Della Rosa, but once you go past there, that is one of the primary smoking areas of the ship, so the smoke will shift depending upon how the wind is blowing.  The Pig & Anchor as usual had the best Bloody Mary on the ship with the infused Tito's with the cooked bacon added as well. 

 

HIDDEN GEMS.....Little shelf above the bed is a great place to put your cell phone.  Chibang and Cucina are open on the three sea days from 1200-200 for lunch for cooked to order pasta bowls containing your choice of pasta/rice, protein, vegetables and sauce.  Chibang also has three noodle broth bowls of chicken, steak or shrimp that are outstanding.  On Saturday night the Pig & Anchor has a 7 oz filet mignon on their menu, which I added brisket and ribs to for a great combo. If you have Cheers, the Watering Hole Bar as well as the Pig & Anchor Bar both have homemade lemonade that are included with Cheers.  You can of course get your liquor of choice added which I did a few times with either Chambord or Kraken Spiced Rum.

 

The BAD.....Some of the venues are way too small.  The Piano Bar was often at capacity and many patrons claimed their seats in Grand Central and never budged for the duration of the evening.  Luckily there were over 50 comedy shows because many of them were at full capacity and you do need to show up early to make sure you get in if you 100% do not want to miss a certain show.  Some of the other ships in the fleet were handing out 25.00 in cash to Platinum and Diamond cruisers for the casino benefit fulfillment.  On the Mardi Gras they gave you the option of either having 25.00 downloaded onto your sail n sign card casino account or you were given a play only 25.00 chip.  I took our chips from each week and on night 14 went to the roulette table and put 100.00 on red.  It came up black.  So no 100.00 that cruisers on other ships had to do nothing for.  My final bad is the Fortune Teller Bar.  I had high hopes going in, but 8 of the drinks on the menu were more for show than taste, in my opinion.  Went a few times, but probably won't go back on our next sailing unless the violin trio is playing.  The same goes for the Brass Magnolia.  It was OK, but didn't have the wow factor for me.   My final bad is a venue that had many positive reviews  online as well as on YouTube and that is Rudi's Seagrill.  The seared shrimp appetizer and the white chocolate bread pudding with bourbon sauce were very good, even though the shrimp consisted of 3 jumbo sized shrimp.  If you're only giving me three, make them colossal size please.  The lobster mac n cheese did not have much lobster, the seafood bisque was smoky with a thin consistency and the crab stuffed lobster tail imperial was not at all like it was pictured when the Mardi Gras started sailing.  Instead of being a good sized tail, it was a whole split lobster with no claws and a small split tail.  The crab imperial was the best part and if they had a large casserole dish of it, it would be great.   The final bad will be pointed at myself for procrastination.  Early on during week two I had seen a husband and wife enjoying an order of beignets at Emeril's.  I had waited until the last day to get them.  Emeril's is only open at lunchtime on sea days and every time I walked by the place was empty.  On out last day at 3:00, the place was packed and every table but one was filled.  They were also out of beignets.  Seems like more people than just me had the same idea.

 

The UGLY.....Supply issues came up over the course of our sailings as well as the prior one.  On day 5 of our previous sailing, the ship ran out of Bud Light and Michelob Ultra resulting in many upset patrons as I was told.  Typical inconsiderate Carnival cruisers, also know as card carrying members of the "me society". Bluetooth speakers poolside or at the hot tub blaring music, people walking through the Lido buffet area in either swimwear without a covering or men without a shirt, cruisers leaving wet pools of water in elevators, a guy resting his bare feet on an adjacent chair in grand central, guys wearing gym shorts and a t shirt in the MDR on cruise elegant night, and my favorite.....a woman taking a cell phone picture of her family's picture from one of the kiosks at Pixels.  I guess she didn't realize or didn't care that there was a waterline going through the picture.

 

That's about it.....all in all we really had an enjoyable 14 days.  By doing my research before hand and seeing what was going to come to fruition I had already booked another B2B over Labor Day and a special 5 day sailing of the Celebration next January.  Am in the process of booking a B2B on the Celebration for September of 2023.  I truly think that the Excel Class is a game changed for Carnival.  Since it is so drastically different from the other ships in the fleet there of course will be some Carnival loyalists that will prefer the older smaller ships.  That's fine.  Diversity is a good thing and there is a reason we can choose between vanilla, chocolate and coffee.  Even though there were multiple days at Java Blue that they were out of chocolate and coffee ice cream.  They were cranking those milk shakes out big time.   If anyone has any questions feel free to fire away and I will try my best to answer them.

I though it was just me in regards to the Fortune Teller bar drinks. I’ve seen several videos of the drinks and the bartender in me immediately saw all fanfare and NO alcohol. I like to TASTE my alcohol. It doesn’t need to be pretty lol.

On 8/29/2021 at 10:50 AM, Saint Greg said:

H

Man I wish this was here when they had coke products....

On 7/20/2021 at 5:01 PM, csm5986142 said:

My family was there as well, and I totally agree.  For different reasons, we only travel during school breaks, so I completely agree there too - the reduced capacity is what I liked the best. 

I have read people saying they wish they'd waited longer to book a cruise.  I'm the opposite, I wish I could book many cruises in the next few months.  I joked to my husband (while sitting with only 3 other people on the serenity deck) how I'm going to have a hard time adjusting to "normal" cruising again after this.  😃

We are booked on the Mardi in a month, so it will be an interesting comparison.

Our trip wasn't without frustration (but it wasn't with Carnival).  Southwest was terrible.  Connecting flight to Hobby was cancelled, luggage was lost, flight home was delayed 5 hours (arrived home at 2:30 in the morning). 

Also, in case it's helpful to others, we were shocked by the lack of ground transportation.  On our past 12 cruises, anytime we have walked away from a ship, there have been tons of taxis lined up, plenty of Uber options.  An Uber from Galveston to IAH was quoting at $300 (and no cars available) so we decided to do the flat rate taxi option ($160) but had to wait until they become available.  I've never used Carnival airport transportation, but had I been aware that this industry is still struggling to recover (which makes sense, I just hadn't thought of it) I would have considered Carnival transport this time.

Oh no…I’m coming from east coast and I am worried about Southwest, my flight and lost luggage 😩. I always leave from the Florida ports because they are nearby. I’m joining some friends and my nerves are shot. I booked carnival transportation because everything else is robbery 😂. This will probably be my first and last time leaving from Galveston.

I have been sailing since I was 4. I LOVE cruising. I just got off the Sunrise on 3/12. Wasn’t my favorite cruise and I was looking forward to booking another one this summer to make up for my disappointment. I desperately needed a re-do.  However after I’ve seen how Carnival and various cruise lines are dealing with refunding money for canceled cruises, it will be a very long time before I give any cruise line my hard earned money. My PVP emails me weekly with so called “deals” and platinum offers. It infuriates me that they are open enough to still be taking people’s money but they are too busy to refund money. They are trying to push people into FCC but there is no guarantee how they will fare after this additional 100 day ban on cruises in the US. Ticketmaster, the airlines and major hotel chains all have refunded my purchases and Carnival is stuck on stupid, just plain Hooked on Phonics.

Can you bring the drinks aboard?

 

 

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Can you bring a 12 pack of Coke on with you before you past security?

Thank you!

 

 

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Does anyone have any recent 6 day Fun Times?

I just added a third person to an ES reservation three weeks ago. There was no fee assessed. Yes, they will,charge you the going rate for the room at the time. However, I had favor. I got a sweet representative that got a supervisor and they only charged me what the first and second person originally paid. The third person rate for this cabin, on this sailing would have been over $1000! That's $300 more that the fairest and second person rate was initially. Highway robbery but I squeaked by...

Does NCL allow you to bring on soda. I do not drink Pepsi products. This might be a deal breaker.;)

Awesome video!!! You guys look like you had a blast. Glad to see young men able to experience life with such a good sense of humor. Happy cruising!!!

Great review!!! I'm supposed to be packing for my Breeze trip but I can't stay off Cruisecritic . Going down a day early instead of driving five hours the day of. I LOVE your sense of humor. We are so similar. I feel ur frustration with the begging/demand for tips. I tip when warranted and very well....BUT DON'T HARASS OR ASK ME. The New Yorker comes out of me! It normally lies dormant until someone or something makes it resurface. Too bad your cruise was two weeks prior. I would of loved to meet you guys.

500. marym933 - Florida

501. Cruisinjenf- Brett and Jen Las Vegas NV

502. Imluvncruzn - New York

503. Goldie - Georgia

504. scgamecock - Redneck Riviera, Florida

505. & 506. Cruisin'Doc and Mom - Mississippi

506 & 507 - Bassmaster150 and wife - Texas

508. HammerTX-Highland Village, TX

509. eroller - Miami, FL

510 & 511 WinnipegCruiser and wife - Canada

512 Cruzlover7, Buffalo NY

513 linbobky - western kentucky

514 BarbG (and Judy too!!)...Wisconsin

515 JinxyB, North Carolina

516 & 517 Coder01 & husband Wisconsin

518 WES143 Jacksonville, FL

How do you add yourself to the list? Would someone be nice enough to add me??

Guess I didn't make the list... Oh well. :D

I'm platinum too!! :D:D

I'm staying one night pre-cruise at the Holiday Inn and Suites Sawgrass Mills. I picked this hotel because it was so close to Sawgrass Mills mall. How far is Las Olas and FLL beach from here? Has anyone ever stayed at this hotel?

Great review. I sailed on the Dream Eastern crusie this past March. I plan to take my two sons this March 2012 for their spring break. I loved the ship. I took a few pics with a cheap camera and they look like it. LOVE your pics. They are fabulous.

WES143 (Jacksonville, FL)

i sailed her back in 1973! It was the summer before i started high school. Went with my 2 best friends and their parents. We had an absolute blast. It was a 7 day to puerto rico, st. Thomas, st. Croix, and nassau. Wish i had proof of that cruise for carnival. :(

i feel you! I can't get credit for my 1st two carnival cruises, because they didn't count them back in the early 80s.:(

I did!! Carnival has really changed since then. Some good changes and some not so good.:)