kingoftheicedragons

It's been a couple of years since we sailed out of San Juan, but yes, there is a liquor store between check in and security (or at least there was).

The San Juan port can get hectic in the morning around 10 a.m. It's a walk up port similar to what any of the ports are like in the Caribbean, not at all like the ports out of Florida or other places. You can drop off your bags early...some time around 10 or 10:30. I think they started to let us in around 10:45 to actually go check in, and essentially no lines to check in since the ship is docked so long and people can essentially come at any time until around 8. We didn't board the ship until closer to noon, however.

And you can then come and go from the ship just as if you're in a port of call.

We've only sailed NCL once (Dawn), and the two are very similar. Yes, you will find differences. Both have things they do well, but the two lines are more similar than different.

• Our cabin was smaller on Dawn. It might have just been me, but I thought the corridors were narrower as well.
  
• Everything seems to revolve around "your time dining" and there are monitors all over the ship encouraging you to make your dinner reservations based on how full a particular restaurant was getting.
  
• Food is definitely better on Carnival--buffet and MDR. Specialty restaurants on NCL Dawn seemed comparable to MDR to Carnival. Some people will say that food is subjective...it is, but then, so is everything. What one person likes on any subject you can find people who don't like it.
  
• NCL, you will likely notice the senior officers and section heads more than you would on Carnival.
  
• NCL seems to do a much better job on entertainment, not just the main shows, but also various side attractions as well.
  

I like both the chocolate martini (dark variety--I've heard of the clear one but haven't had a chance to try it) and the melon ball.

Since you'll be in the aft portion of the Lido deck for those two restaurants, don't forget to check out the Cuban place there, too (can't remember the name). They will have some Cuban breakfast and lunch items that are included at no additional charge as well.

I could see different amenities on the ships, as long as they were considered "equal." For instance, give some ships Guys Burgers and other ships "Steve's" Burgers of the same quality but some variations to Guys. People would still have their favorite of the two, but still equal. And do this for other restaurants as well, or other amenities. Otherwise, I think most people want their ship to have a Guys Burger and Blue iguana compared to not.

What about for February? Sailing the Breeze in 14 days!!

To answer the question of what replaces the lobster on cruises 5 nights or less:

• broiled sea scallops with truffled risotto and citrus gremolata
  
• blue crab ravioli in a light lobster cream with vodka
  
• oven baked Japanese sea bass with nicoise sauce and aromatic basmati rice
  
• grilled jumbo shrimp with special marinara sauce and mustard potatoes
  
• roasted duck with orange glaze and au gratin potatoes.
  

I'm not going to argue whether or not Carnival's prices are going up...they undoubtedly are. I've noticed that the Journeys cruise that I want to take next January seems more expensive than they have been in the past.

And I've seen some cruises by other lines that are similarly priced to Carnival's over the past couple of years. Just as Walmart isn't always the cheapest retail store, Carnival isn't always the cheapest cruise line. Granted, I've never compared identical or even similar itineraries between the lines, but rather itineraries that I would like to go on, and sometimes other lines have been cheaper.

But...I will say, if Carnival didn't raise prices and instead eliminated more of what they offer on the cruise, I think many of you (and a lot of others on these boards) would be complaining about cutbacks. Maybe by prices going up, Carnival has realized that they've hit the point where they can't (don't dare) eliminate much more.

It is not a dining room, it is the Degas lounge where the comedy shows take place and where different parties ( see Diamond/Platinum party and Premier casino cruise parties) and activities take place. The aft pool and hot tub on the Lido deck is adults only, and by default it is the serenity deck.

I think you may have misquoted me by mistake on this, as I wasn't talking about the Degas lounge. I am talking about empty restaurant space on the Lido which they only use for late night snacks. Such a shame, it's nothing more than wasted space on the ship really. I hope they come up with some good use for it soon.

Geography: One cruise, we brought a map of the world, and my DD had to attempt to find someone from every country, and she composed 3 questions about that country to ask that person. She didn't not get all of them, but obtain quite a few and used it as a Geography project at school.

 

Languages: DD was in a language immersion program her first 7 years of school, (PK - 5th). During our port stops in the Caribbean, she could not speak English. We also visited a local school, which helps learning diversity and other cultures.

 

Science: Cooking classes at local ports. Combining different and new foods to create a delicious combination. Understanding why some items need pepper or salt, where others need acid, and why it helps.

 

Math/physics: Looking at the clear sky and seeing different constellations and why are they in different areas in the sky from where we live. Finding the measurement of change when you are on different areas of the globe. If I change the shape of my body, will I go faster or slower down the water slide.

 

Every experience is a learning experience, just need to find it.

 

And all of those are going to be immensely more interesting to the child if they experience it first hand versus sitting in a class room listening to the teacher, being bored, and probably not retaining most of the information. If they've been somewhere, they'll probably retain the information.

Let's not forget:

History: Almost anywhere you go in the Caribbean, with a few exceptions, are bristling with history. The Mayan culture--I've learned more about the Maya by going to Mexico and Belize as an adult as I ever did as a child in our school system. The forts in Puerto Rico or in St. Kitts are another example. Or you ever hear of something called the Panama Canal? Going to Panama, even without a full or partial transit, you can learn more about how that works. Or local history and social studies...I've been on many tours where the guide talks about life in their country, including economics and the political system, etc.

Culture: Again, this could come in the form of information provided by the tour guide, or just watching out the window of the tour bus, or walking with you down the streets of the port city that you're in. If you're on a tour that takes you away from the city that you ported in, chances are, you will see how the local population lives, what their houses look like, maybe what their cemeteries are like, just aspects of their daily lives. In some countries, you may have to go through a military check point so they learn that not every place is like the US.

You never know what may spark your child's interest and they may just decide on a career path because of the cruise. Can a school say that they've done that? No, unless that career path is to be an educator.

Ecology: Visit rain forests. Many available in Central America and the Caribbean.

Zoology: So many choices here, too, from sloths in Costa Rica to monkeys and mongoose in St. Kitts, to even things like XCarat in Playa del Carmen.

Again, engage your kids when you go to these places. Encourage them to think critically when they're there.

I think that the only way you're not going to learn anything, or for a kid to learn less on vacation than they would in school, is if a conscious effort was made to not learn anything.

I would definitely try to get in touch with John Heald, especially since the Special Needs department isn't able to help. Even after doing that, and if he assures you that it will be taken care of, I would still stop at the Guest Services desk and speak to the maitre d' as well.

I've found that Carnival isn't that forthcoming with what ports are tender ports. Just to make sure, I did a search for cruises that go to Grand Cayman to see if it says anything on the itinerary about being a tender port, and it didn't. Fortunately, there are very few tender ports that Carnival goes to in the Caribbean--Grand Cayman and Belize are the only two that are coming to mind right now--there may be a couple others as well.

Carnival does have self-service laundry rooms. On some ships, they take quarters. On others, you can use your sail & sign card.

FTTF probably hasn't been offered on your sailing yet...but be aware that there is a very limited amount of these offered, and you will want to keep checking very regularly to see when it is so that you can buy this.

There are two shows each night, so regardless of your dining time, you should be able to see the show. At least by doing a B2B, you will have ample opportunity to see the shows as well as see the comedians on board. I don't know if they will have the same comedians for both weeks.

It's not out of Galveston, but I'm hoping to take the Journeys cruise out of Baltimore and finishing in Tampa in 2017.

Hopefully they will offer more of these, and include more home/debark ports again.

First time sailing on Breeze

First time sailing as Platinum

First time doing the Thrill Theatre

First time with the American Table menu

This is my first cruise, period. :)

Congratulations. After all this cold weather this weekend and upcoming week, you'll definitely be ready to get away.

I would keep the kids out of school. You are the parents, and I hate when the school thinks they can "dictate" what you do with YOUR kids.

Maybe it's because I don't have kids, but I totally agree with this. It should be up to the parents if/when their kids miss school, and the schools are getting too power hungry about what they can dictate.

Another thing...is it possible that your kids may learn more on the vacation than they would at school? Real life experience at experiencing different cultures versus sitting in a classroom.

If you do change your cruise, I would go for the southern itinerary. San Juan is great, and like you said, you can go a day early and really explore. More learning experiences for your kids as well. And the islands on the southern itinerary are among the best.

Was it $380 more per person? Or total.

I've been on Conquest twice in the past couple of years, and I wasn't too impressed, based mainly on the fact that it didn't have as many food venues as I had gotten used to on Sunshine. If you're not used to having a lot of food venue choices, then Conquest would be fine. And really, the available food venues is the only negative that I found on Conquest...true, it doesn't have the Serenity deck, but that doesn't detract too much from the ship.

I second the recommendation for Governor's Beach...it's a national park--mostly marine in nature, so likely a good option for snorkeling. I agree with the drawbacks about the new loungers or drinks, but you can always bring your towel and just sit on the beach.

We have yet to have an issue with lots of kids around on our cruises. There have never been no kids, either.

As others have said, it's about timing. We cruise typically in January/February when school is in session. There are still kids, some of the kids may be home schooled, or one father was saying that he figured his kids would learn more actually going and seeing Costa Rica and Panama than they probably would in school, and I tend to agree.

Also, some itineraries tend to attract older people--and in our late 30s and early 40s, there have been times we've seemed to be the youngest people on board the ship. Europe, Alaska, New England/Canada, and the Costa Rica/Panama cruises tended to be more of an older crowd. Even our cruise out of Jacksonville to Key West and Nassau seemed to have a lot of older cruisers on the ship, but I wouldn't count on that always being the case.

As others have said, spring break varies by school district, and can be anything between beginning of March through the middle of April. However, I doubt that many kids would be on a long Hawaiian cruise.

Oahu in April shouldn't be too bad, possibly shoulder season for Hawaii? When we did a land vacation to Hawaii in April a couple of years ago, we got flight (from Minnesota) and hotel for a little over $700/person for a 3.5 day vacation (so about $200/day), which I thought was a very good deal. And it wasn't too busy once in Hawaii, either.

I suppose the Conquest is okay. It's the ship that our last two Carnival cruises were on. After sailing on Sunshine, Conquest seemed older, more boring, and somehow disappointing (however, you're on a cruise ship, so it's still fun in that regard). There was no serenity deck, and not as many food choices as the Sunshine had...there was one of the restaurant spaces in the aft that had nothing in it at all--except it might have been used for the late night snacks area.

I would pick Conquest over the Fantasy class any day, but if it came down to another Conquest class ship or one of the newer ships, I would probably not go with the Conquest.

I've been on both ships, and Sunshine is by far the better of the two. I don't book cruises based on the ship, unless multiple ships do the same itinerary from similar home ports at about the same time of year.

I think that you are making the right decision to switch to Sunshine. After sailing on Sunshine, the Conquest just seems old and not as exciting to me, especially when it comes to food choices. Having sailed on Sunshine, I don't understand any of the negative reviews.

We normally sail on decks one and two as well, and have never had any major issues with the cabin...plus, it's so much easier when coming back from shore.

However daylight saving time may be your enemy.

 

OP says that it's not because of Daylight Savings Time, and if you look at the two different times OP gives, you can see for yourself that it wouldn't be because of DST. Not only that, but DST doesn't start until sometime in March (the end of the month?), and OP is sailing in February.

On Aruba, we did a combo tour of the island along with some time at the beach. That way, we could see what there was on the island (hint: not a lot) and then spent a couple hours at Eagle Beach which is a public beach with very little in the way of amenities, but still fun.

First off, don't believe the bad reviews, unless anything that doesn't feel like the US makes you uncomfortable. There isn't anything about Belize that makes it any different from many of the other ports that Carnival goes to. And you will be and feel safe on any excursion (at least to the point where doing anything outside your home is safe)--either through Carnival or independent.

We did the Altun Hu ruins through Carnival. They're small and not really that impressive compared to some of the more famous ruins...but still nice. Plus, in Belize, you can actually walk on the ruins, unlike the ruins in Costa Maya, Mexico, where you can't. During the boat ride, our boat broke down, but they were able to get it going again after about 15 minutes.