annual cruiser 1968

On 2/25/2020 at 4:49 PM, pacruise804 said:

 

I'm confused.  Isn't liver one of the organ meats?

It is and I do not eat organ meats BUT I took a plunge and tried it on the ship. I would not make organ meat at home nor would I order it out but the way the chefs prepared it on the cruise was amazing.

On 2/22/2020 at 10:12 AM, farler05 said:

I am honestly willing to try just about anything (I draw the line at organ meats).  And have - oysters, calamari, fish in every preparation I can think of, lobster, shrimp, conch.  People always tell me I've never had a particular fish or never had it prepared this way, just try it.  And I do, with a relatively open mind.  And I have yet to find any that I like.  Some milder fish I believe I could power through.  I used to think I liked crab legs then realized it was the butter.  LOL  I don't hate them but I'm not going to order them.  But I don't want to spend the money on the Chef's Table & take a gamble that I might like it.  For the price, I'll take bites of my husband's food.  🙂  I may take a chance on it on our cruise in a few weeks!

I am a picky eater and don't eat organ meats and a whole lot of other thing...in addition to numerous food allergies. That said, I tried the ox tongue in 2019 and ordered it again in 2020. I liked the rabbit although the 2020 preparation isn't as nice as it was in 2018 or 2019. I did Chef's Table in 2019. I tried everything: calf liver pate ( I was scared but the preparation tasted like Nutella), pork belly, venison, quail, etc. I was not disappointed and was shocked at how amazing it tasted. Try it all. Erase that line. You may be wildly surprised.

On 2/10/2020 at 7:28 PM, jam19872016 said:

Cont.

 

 

Sunset over Curacao.

 

 

 

Nice pics. Mine were a little different. There was a fire along the harbor that night. It broke out around 7pm and the smoke sent me back to the ship. 

On 1/28/2020 at 6:50 PM, jam19872016 said:

 

Thank you so much! I look forward to reading your review of the Horizon 🙂

 

 

The rocking normally does not bother me but it really got to me this cruise. My mom also. This was her first time getting sick I think maybe our location at the front of the ship so close to the waterline contributed to it.

I was on the same sailing. It was definitely a rocky ride. White caps on the ocean every single day. Thankfully no one in my party got sick. 

22 hours ago, Theo1429 said:

Carnival offered up grade to deck 9 below the lisp deck any comments on noise and comfort thanks

I just came off Horizon a few weeks ago, stayed on deck 9. No issues with noise or comfort. I usually stay on decks 8 or 9 when I cruise. Noise is never a factor and I am a very light sleeper. I like that I am only 1 deck away from LIDO, especially since the elevators can be a pain.

New presentation on Horizon as well. My husband didn't like nearly as much as the old preparation. I wonder if this is, in part, due to a news story released by Carnival CEO last year that it is getting harder to source escargot due to cruise ship popularity. They were even considering removing the item from the menu but the backlash was immediate and loud to that suggestion. So, decrease the number of snails per plate.....

4 hours ago, DPara said:

Hi All --

 

We have signed up for the Chef’s Table on our upcoming cruise aboard the Carnival Dream..  Who do I notify that one of the members of our party does not eat red meat?  Last time I sent an email to eventplanning@carnival.com but this time around I'm just getting a automated reply.  Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be much appreciated.  Thanks!

Chef's table is amazing. I sat next to a vegetarian couple and their food looked amazing too. When I notified eventplanning@carnival.com about my food allergies, all I got was an automated reply but they accommodated my food allergies without any issue. Enjoy!

3 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

I would imagine if they have to source a chair for you in the theater that they'll be able to arrange to "reserve" it, even if it's just with a sign.  I would plan to go to the shows early, though, because they just open the doors and let people in.  There's no real system in place and they don't require tickets.  20-25 minutes before show time is usually pretty empty.

 

For excursions, have you used the link below to generate a brochure?  You should be able to save it once you create it.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/excursion-brochure/celebrity/

OMG. Thank you so much. This brochure is exactly what I have called and written the Access desk about. I was looking for something that let me weed out excursions that would not be appropriate for him.

1 hour ago, bEwAbG said:

Shows are usually at 7 & 9pm but that can change depending on the sailing.  That's why you don't really know until you board.

 

Weight restrictions are usually in the shore excursion descriptions.  

 

There is loose seating scattered around the theater where they have flexibility to accommodate special seating needs.  They also advertise armless chairs as being available around the ship.  I would contact the Access Department and find out what they offer or how you go about securing what you need (email special_needs@celebrity.com or call 866-592-7225).  The crew on the ship want you to have a good time so they'll do what they can to help.

 

The part about the chairs is here (see page 8):

 

https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/581563a3#/581563a3/1

Thanks. I spoke to Access desk a week ago. I have to wait until I am onboard to request seating accommodations for my husband. I have to speak to the Maitre'D, guest relations and each individual specialty restaurant to try to arrange seating. As far as theater and shows....no special accommodations, it's first come first served. So, he may refuse to watch shows, IDK. They were able to pre-arrange an extension cord for the stateroom. I cannot find out much about allergy info until I am onboard either.They did take my allergy info though.

I try looking at shore excursions but every time I do look for weight restrictions, I find it but when I go back to view the list again, Im get "kicked out" of the shore excursion list for that island. After that happens a few times, the entire X site freezes.. X's IT dept is aware of the problem and there aren't plans to fix it

2 minutes ago, 39august said:

Shows are 7 and repeated at 9 PM in theaterl. Some nights there is a special show at 10 as well. No bench seats. There are chairs with no arms in tne buffet.

That's basically what I saw in pics. No good for hubs. 

You can't. The only place you see your 2 perks is on the email they sent confirming your booking. I called X to ask that very question. X IT dept told me that basically the website is a store that allows you to make purchases but does not show you what you already purchased. So, you could, in theory, accidentally purchase your beverage perks again. There isn't any measure in place to prevent that. Their website is sorely lacking the bells and whistles that I would expect a "premium" cruise line to have. I spoke to their IT dept and they have no plans to correct their known website deficits.

I am booked on an 11 night cruise January 2021 on Reflection. It's my first X cruise. I am wondering if anyone can tell me WHAT TIME THE THEATER OR COMEDY CLUB SHOWS START. I want to book some dining options and would like to be able to see shows. I called X but did not get a straight answer about show times or seating options for my husband (he is 6'5" tall and over 450#). It seems to be a theme with them that everything gets put off until you are onboard. I have been waiting a week for a reply to shore excursion questions re: weight restrictions, dining chairs for my husband, my food allergies, problems with frequent glitches on their website (they are aware of the issue and have no plan to resolve them), etc. Unfortunately I booked with a NRD or I would probably cancel this cruise. I forgot to consider the dining chairs when looking for a new cruise line. Never had arms on the chairs in dining on our prior line and the entertainment venues had areas of bench seating that could accomodate his size. I am not seeing that on X Reflection. Am I missing something?

I recently booked a January 2021 cruise with the 4 perk package. 7 hours later, the same 4 perk package was not available at the same price (it went up $400 pp) and the same cruise, same cabin class was almost $1700 more. Cruise ships use a computer program to set pricing so that it is extremely unlikely that prices will ever be lower than the day you look or book.

I recently disembarked from a Carnival Horizon cruise and was extremely disappointed in how my allergies were handled. I notified Carnival of my dangerous food allergies when I booked my sailing, as I do before every cruise. I informed the wait staff, head waiter and hostess of my allergies to mushrooms and asparagus once on board. They cause anaphylactic shock. A couple of nights into the cruise, I was served Beef Wellington and was told they prepared theirs without mushrooms. I also asked the waiter to check with the chef before sending anything because Wellington is traditionally prepared with mushrooms.. Obviously, they didn't check, brought the Wellington and it had mushrooms. I had my husband check the food before I ate anything.

A couple of nights later I ordered a BBQ chicken flatbread appetizer. I received mine and waited for the whole table to be served. My daughter's fiance ordered the same item, cut into it, and quickly told me not to eat it (as I was about to eat a piece). There were mushrooms layered under the chicken and cheese. The staff was very apologetic and offered to get me anything else I wanted but I refused to eat the food in the dining room because  I was scared. Carnival did not keep me safe. The head waiter told me he did not know there were mushrooms in that appetizer. I spoke to guest relations on board, the maitre d', guest relations at the Carnival post cruise number and wrote an email. I received word last night that they will get back to me within 30 days.

When I did speak to the maitre d' about the incidents, he suggested I had not properly informed the dining staff of my allergies. When he spoke to the staff, they acknowledged that they were aware. Then he informed me of a policy where the wait staff is supposed to provide me with a menu so I could choose my meals the day before. I had never heard of that policy on any of my sailings, it was never suggested to me on any sailing and the people I spoke with affiliated with guest relations were all unaware of that policy. I stressed to the maitre d' how dangerous food allergies can be. He said he knew and that I "would not believe the incident they had in the dining room last month".

The Lido buffet is a dangerous place for food allergies, cross contamination from people grabbing random utensils to get items or food spilling into another tray from careless cruisers is common. I just asked the staff to get me food from a tray that hadn't been put out yet and they were good about doing that. The staff was not aware of all ingredients in the food, so be careful. I went to a couple of specialty dining venues and had no issue with allergens in those settings. Even the cooking demonstration. Every singe item in the cooking demonstration, except dessert, had mushrooms in it. When it came to tasting, they made me items on the spot without mushrooms.

Bottom line, be vocal, be verbal and submit your menu the day before to prevent problems.