kingoftheicedragons

I haven't cruised since 2020 and i feel there have been changes on top of changes. We initially booked the Mardi Gras for January of 2022 but then rebooked it for January of 2024 instead. I have some questions/clarifications for the included restaurants for those who may have sailed on her recently.

I didn't see any information listed on the Carnival website regarding Piazza Panini, Sea Dogs, Shawarma, or Fresh Creations, and I only see occasional references to these if I do a Google search and I don't know how old the results I get are or if they are still relevant.. Are these restaurants/stations still around?

Is the Pig & Anchor Alehouse still included in the fare, or is it now a charge for dinner? The Carnival website doesn't say it's included on Carnival like they do for Cucina del Capitano/Chibang. 

Is it true that if you have a set dining time, you cannot eat at Chibang, Cucina del Capitano, or the Alehouse (if included) until after 7:30? I saw some reference to that on an article from a few years ago. 

Which of the restaurants that are included at lunch only open on sea days?

Thanks!

Thank you for your answers.

I don't like how this was phrased as quality versus quantity.

I will say that I want as many options as possible. And to be honest with you, if I'm presented with five choices, all of which sound sort of boring, I'm already going to be disappointed, regardless of how good the food is. And, if I'm disappointed with my choices to begin with, I'm not going to have a favorable opinion, no matter how good the food is, I'm not going to leave going, "oh that was the best boring food I ever had." Just not going to happen. So in essence, if someone asked me how the food was after I got back from the cruise, my response would be "it was good, I guess."

On the other hand, if I have food that I'm excited about--give me eight choices, and there is food that sounds interesting and different, and maybe three things that I think sounds good, I'm going to be happy about it, and that happiness/excitement is going to carry over onto my perception of the taste and quality of the food. If one of the things I choose one night isn't the greatest despite sounding good, chances of that happening every night is slim. Then when I get back and talk about the food, and think about the food following the cruise, I'm going to be much more upbeat about it, and talking up the food as one of my favorite parts of the cruise.

I booked a 7-night cruise on Empress of the Seas as my first Royal Caribbean cruise, and I have some questions about things that I've found online about the ship and wonder if they are still true. I realize that Empress of the Seas is RCI's smallest ship and won't give me a full experience of what it's like to sail on Royal Caribbean. As someone said in another post on here, I believe, "they do things a bit different on Empress" from the rest of the line. When I did a search on the forum, the results don't come back chronologically, making it difficult to find the most recent posts on the ship.

So here goes,

1) Does the 7-night cruise have a formal night? I saw articles that said no formal nights, but was that for all cruises, or just the shorter ones?

2) What about theme nights? I've seen people say that theme nights are pretty hit-or-miss on Royal Caribbean, but any experience with this on Empress/

3) Brunch bloody mary's and mimosas, are these every day? Are they only in the MDR or can you get them at Windjammer as well?

4) Since the ship only has the MDR, Windjammer, and Chops, is the pizza part of Windjammer?

5) If Windjammer closes at 9, does that mean that there would be no food available after 9 unless we did room service?

6) What about drinks--I've heard some ships don't have the lemonade and tea available, does Empress? And is that also in Windjammer, so after 9 pm, you don't have access to drinks?

I'm sure I have other questions, but can't think of them right now. Any other info you can provide on Empress of the Seas is appreciated as well.

Thanks.

You still aren't giving us a lot to go off of, so here are what I think a generic first time cruiser might enjoy (allowing both some beach/water sport days and some more cultural days):

Carnival Breeze out of Port Canaveral (Cocoa Beach, fly into Orlando): Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk

Carnival Horizon out of Miami (8 day, more expensive than other cruises): Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Kitts, St. Maarten

But without knowing more about what you like, it's tough to come up with a good option for you. My first cruise was to Ocho Rios, Costa Maya, and Grand Cayman. I loved it, but I don't know if I would recommend that to a generic first time cruiser. Likewise, I don't know if I would recommend Belize or Roatan to a first timer, but many people love these ports (myself included).

I have not found that to be the case out of the Florida ports. Recently everything I checked that was comparable had Carnival priced the same or higher, which is why I did not try Breeze. Maybe the Florida ports are an exception to the general "Carnival is cheaper" consensus? Or maybe it's really not cheaper at all?

I was just looking at cruises out of Florida and trying to find an itinerary that I would be happy with. While I ended up booking on Royal Caribbean, all of their cruises out of Florida were more expensive than Carnival. All of Carnival's cruises were priced at under $600 for a 7-night cruise. Royal was more than that. I went with Royal because I had been on essentially all of Carnival's Caribbean itineraries and wanted something different so was willing to pay a little more.

Keep in mind, we always book in the 9-12 month out time frame. If you're looking for something outside of the window that we book in, prices between the two lines may differ and yes, RCI may be cheaper at other times.

Here’s my thoughts:

 

 

Royal:

 

Better loyalty program

 

Carnival:

 

Way better spa

Better food, Royal completely fails at off dining time food.

 

The clientele is exactly the same between the two cruise lines. You’ll find a ton of people on CC who try to act like there’s a huge difference between the types of people who cruise each line but there’s not. You cruise short cruises during busy times like spring break, you’ll find a bunch of rowdy partiers. You go longer cruises off peak, it’ll be more subdued.

I am generally a Carnival cruiser who has now booked RC for the first time.

I looked at Royal's loyalty perks, they don't seem that much different from Carnival's. In fact, there was at least one perk on Carnival that I enjoy--the free laundry--that I didn't see listed in Royal's.

I am glad you mentioned the clientele. I have been on 12 Carnival cruises of various lengths from 4 days up to 13 days. I am not someone who likes to "party and get drunk" nor have I really noticed this behavior on Carnival cruises. I think this is a stereotype that people who have never sailed on Carnival use for a variety of reasons.

If you're a new cruiser, I have to say, there is probably no bad destination in the Caribbean for you. There are some ports that are better than others, and some ports, people are just plain tired of.

I agree with others that at least something else to go off of would be helpful. What's your comfort level in the areas that you want to go to? Do you want to feel like you could be in the United States but not be? Or do you want to get a sense of life in a third world country? You will find both extremes in the Caribbean, and everything in between. Do you want a relaxing vacation or do you want to be doing things? Are you more into beaches and water sports, or more into cultural immersion (as much as you can get on a cruise) and history?

People can give you their favorite islands and ships, but they might be for you.

Do you want a large ship with lots of amenities? Or a smaller, more intimate ship? Do you want the newest features on the ships?

As a new cruiser, there is a lot to keep in mind, which is why almost anything would be fine for you since it will all be new.

First off, I don't cruise for perks. I cruise because I like to cruise, and I cruise Carnival because I'm generally happy with them, and to an extent, because I'm familiar with the cruises and it's easiest to stay with a line that I'm familiar with.

But, I just booked a cruise on Royal Caribbean, and just for fun, I thought I'd look at their loyalty perks. I've heard from people that Carnival has terrible perks compared to other lines.

I honestly have to say, Carnival's perks look to be almost identical, and even a little better than Royal Caribbean's.

At Platinum (30 points), you get

• Priority check-in (don't see how it's priority if everyone who has sailed with them at least once before will get this).
  
• private lounge (that again, it seems almost everyone gets)
  
• lapel pin
  
• signature top tier event.
  

They do have an emerald level between platinum and diamond, but let's jump to Diamond, which is the level that I would be at if I had started with RCI instead of Carnival.

• Private lounge at embarkation...it doesn't mention priority check-in for this level, but considering every other level below it has it, I don't think you'd lose it.
  
• top tier event
  
• lapel pin
  
• a bottle of water and snacks
  
• a milestone gift for every 140 points (so I wouldn't even be at that level yet)
  
• chef's amenity
  
• nightly event with complimentary drinks.
  
• Diamond lounge on select ships.
  

Once you get up to 175 points, you get some other good choices, like the ability to pick a bonus gift on cruises longer than 3 nights, etc.

So to me, it seems like it takes a lot longer to accrue perks on Royal Caribbean, and really very few are all that dissimilar to Carnival's. So I'm curious as to why people say that Carnival has terrible loyalty perks.

I am not sure which ship you are considering, but I can only speak to our recent trip on the Rotterdam.

 

Thanks, this helps. I hadn't paid attention to the ship when I was looking at the itinerary, because honestly, I'm still at the point where I consider itinerary, price, and schedule before the ship. I went back and looked, and it looks like it is the Rotterdam that does the itinerary that we're considering.

Thank you all for your input. I have enjoyed all of your opinions. I think we are currently leaning more towards our other option (a RC cruise that includes Cuba) currently. I don't care about pool parties that much, or late night entertainment...we usually are in bed by 10 or 11 anyway. But maybe I should say more of what we enjoy on the cruises thus far and if they would be available to us on HAL...

Nightly main theatre shows

Comedy club

karaoke

piano bar

finding a small band performing music from the 60s to the 90s

movies on deck (and if so, what type of movies are they)

If you were considering a cruise to either Guatemala or Cuba, which would you choose and why?

I'm on my phone and can't find the search forum feature. I am looking at an itenary on HAL that includes the Guatemala stop. I normally cruise Carnival and Norwegian a couple of times. What type of differences can I expect to find between these lines and HAL?

We are in our 40s and my dw is concerned there may not be much to do on the ship.

They did seem to do self-assist differently in Long Beach than I was used to as well. As a Platinum, we were told to go to the Black Pearl dining room by 7:30 or something like that. On our way there, they actually started calling self-assist by deck (starting with the top and bottom of the ship) before that time. We were told once we made it to the dining room that we could just disembark, but even though we were platinum, there were some who weren't platinum that were able to get off the ship before us.

So excited for you. I love port intensive cruises.

We just got off of the Splendor a couple of weeks ago. We stayed on Lido deck, so I can't comment specifically on the rooms and areas that you are looking at. I would probably, in general, avoid an area that is over the casino.

The arcade is open 24/7 as it is on other ships, but is definitely going to be a lot quieter than the casino.

When it comes to sound, I would avoid being the atrium on any deck. The music and activities held in the atrium bar on deck 3 was fairly loud--a lot of times they would have the music trivia party there in the evenings, which are fun but it was still quite loud at the atrium on Lido. In fact, I don't know if this was done by the employees or people sailing, but the doors that separate the cabin area from the open atrium area (you know, the ones that are closed when you first board with the signs telling you not to enter because your cabins aren't ready) were closed every night to keep the sound away from the cabins. As we walked down the hall away from the atrium, we could still hear the music almost all the way to our cabin at the front of the ship.

1. Remember it's your vacation, and what works for others, or what others do, doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work for you or that you should do it.

That being said,

2. Arrive in the port city the day before the cruise (at least). This gives you time to explore the port city a little (why not?), you can fly in, unwind, relax, do a nice evening dinner before hand. You won't stress about minor delays with the plane or feel rushed going from the airport to the cruise port.

3. Remember to stay on ship time the whole cruise. You can set your phone so as to not change time zones, or take/buy an inexpensive watch for ports.

4. Be wary of "seminars" in the spa.These are sales pitches for various products or services that you probably don't need. If you are in that particular market for a product, be prepared and know what sort of price this would cost you on land.

5. Port talks/shopping talks are geared towards jewelry such as Diamonds International, etc.

6. Have fun. Don't be afraid to have your picture taken by the ship's photographers. If you have the time and want to have fun with the back drops, do it. You don't have to buy anything if you don't want it. You may (or may not) find some pictures you'd like, but you won't know if you don't try. But have fun in general, not just with photos. If you see something you are interested in that's happening that day, do it. Some days you may be running around the ship, other days you may be sitting on deck relaxing. Some nights, you may be up late, other nights you may go to bed early.

7. Keep an open mind with everything you encounter. Do things for the first time. Try foods you've never had before. There are a lot of foods and activities are included, and it's a great opportunity to try them. If you don't like the food or activity, it hasn't cost you anything. If you do, you may have found a new hobby, interest, food you like.

8. Try both independent and ship excursions. Some people will say they always do independent and others will always do ship excursions. Both have their pros and cons, and it's up to you which you decide you like better.

9. Research your ship before you go. Find out what restaurants it has, what activities it has, whether or not you should make reservations for entertainment ahead of time. And then explore your ship that first afternoon. Chances are, the ship's public areas won't be very busy, and it's a great opportunity to find out exactly where everything is so that you don't have to try to find venues at the same time that you're fighting crowds.

10. Realize that not everything is going to go as smooth as you may like. You need to have enough flexibility so that if one or two things happen that you're still able to enjoy your vacation without letting it get to you too much. I've had independent excursions canceled without any notice--but I had a back-up plan of things to do. In Grand Cayman, we were planning on just going and relaxing on the beach. Because of weather, we got to be the one ship that was re-routed to a secondary tender location...we still got off the ship and happened to find another albeit not as nice beach to go and relax on--with probably a lot fewer people.

It's a toss up between the Breeze and the Sunshine for me.

Speaking of the arcade, I wish the $5 credit to the arcade for platinum guests was for more than those 18 and younger. We don't gamble, so that perk goes unused by us. Even though the credit would last us less than 5 minutes, it's still something that we would use and enjoy.

One difference is that tourists are, in fact, a target in Nassau. When we see warnings about other port stops, for example, Mexico, tourists are not the targets. In Nassau, they are.

 

As I said, obviously, nothing happens to 99.99% of the tourists; however, if you know you are part of the target group, it's worth keeping your awareness level on alert.

I don't know how true this is. I just got off the Splendor, which went to Mazatlan. Carnival had a warning on their fun times advising cruisers that tourists were indeed targets there. I know that for both Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta, they had multiple warnings to guests advising them to avoid taking large amounts of cash or jewelry with them. I've sailed with Carnival multiple times to know that these types of warnings are not typical for Carnival.

We're thinking of booking the Jewel of the Seas for our next cruise next January, so this thread is great. It'll be our first RC cruise if we do end up booking it.

I don't even bother with the ship reviews. It's been a few years since I've sailed on Victory, so I don't know anything about her most recent dry dock, but I do know that there were quite a few negative reviews about her right before the second time we went on her--I was a little worried. While I had found the ship had aged a bit since our first cruise on her, I found little about her to be negative at that time.

taste bar is gone, it was located near the java bar on deck 5, the space is not being used at all

Oh, this must have been where the future cruise desk is now. But you're right, there is only once where I saw a line of people there immediately following the future cruise talk.

Do you know if splendor has the new deli menu too?

Unfortunately not. And I'm disappointed to learn that they had the new breakfast menu. When I saw that they had the old deli menu, I didn't even think to check to see if they had the new breakfast menu because I assumed they didn't have that yet either.

If it was on the Splendor, then I missed it. We sailed from 2/3-2/10, and I wouldn't have known where it would have been if they did have it. Not that we were looking, though.