cruisinqt

Yeah I normally avoid them too. But the price was so cheap we just couldn’t resist it. Plus we get to go to Barcelona and all over Spain and the Canary Islands too. We just couldn’t pass this one up. We are going more for the ports than anything.

There have been a few that extended their dry docks from 2 weeks to 4 weeks because they needed more work than estimated. It was all done and decided a few months ahead of time by the higher ups. And it probably wouldn’t impact anyone very much on a normal cruise. But since this is a transatlantic cruise not only is the airfare far more expensive, but it will have lots more restrictions and will be much harder and more expensive to change. That’s what I’m worried about with the Freedom. Since they had that fire on board I’m worried that it will need more dry dock time and they’ll decide to do a longer dry dock. Maybe I’m just worrying about nothing. But when I saw we were the first sailing after dry dock it concerned me. The Freedom needs a lot of work.

I just found out that the cruise we booked will be the first one after dry dock. I’m reading all of these posts about dry docks taking longer than they’re scheduled and cruises getting canceled. It’s making me nervous. It’s on the Freedom on 10/23/23. It’s a 14 day repositioning cruise starting in Barcelona and ending in Orlando. I don’t want to book expensive transatlantic flights and overseas hotels only to have to cancel it all. The cancellation fees could be quite expensive. Should I be worried? Do I need to switch sailings?

Look at TripAdvisor for similar excursions in those ports. That’s what I do and I almost always find similar excursions with lots of reviews. I often just book with a local tour that’s cheaper and has good recommendations there. I’ll be going in the Pride to London in August so I’m in the same situation as you. And I’m definitely looking up those ports on TripAdvisor to get a better idea of what’s good and what’s not so good.

We’ve done Elite, Ultra, and Premiere cruises. We prefer the Elite cruises. Not only does the Elite give awesome perks like luxury car service to and from your cruise or hotel (or free parking for the length of the cruise), free alcohol in your cabin, free gifts (nice ones), free drinks everywhere on the ship, free excursions, an Elite party with cash prizes, free Platinum status, etc. But it’s not a gamblers cruise packed with gamblers so the casino isn’t overly crowded with them. The Ultra and Premiere cruises are more like gamblers cruises with lots of tournaments and gambling related events so the casino is packed. Elite doesn’t have that, it’s more of an upscale experience rather than a gambling cruise. I think some people that say their Elite cruise had a packed casino is either just a coincidence, bad luck, or maybe they were on a smaller ship with a smaller casino because the Elite cruises aren’t gambling cruises. That’s one of the reasons we like them so much.

Emeril’s Bistro: Boudin Balls $6 (huge & tasty) Beignets $5 (cooked perfectly) Red Beans & Rice $3 (huge!) Chicken Shrimp & Sausage Jumbalaya $10 Fried Shrimp & Oyster Po Boy $8 lemon ice box pie $4 (very rich!) (Don’t be fooled, every dish is huge. The red beans & rice was a meal in itself & one person could never finish the beignets) All of these dishes were top notch and some of the best food I’ve ever had on a cruise. And there were never long lines either. Bonsai Teppanyaki: Absolutely amazing food with excellent seasoning. I would highly recommend the lobster and steak. I also liked the salmon, shrimp, and chicken (on previous cruises.) But the steak and lobster I ordered this time were juicy and cooked perfectly and definitely my favorite. You can choose 2 meats and those are the best in my opinion. The chef cooks it right in front of you with flames flying in the air, there’s singing, dancing, clapping, and it was a whole lot of fun. Cucina Del Capitano: The Cavatelli in the bolognese sauce with veal & pork butt with a wine reduction is by far their best dish. I’ve gone many times trying different dishes and this one was excellent. Chibang! Mandarin Honey Crunch Salad (so good!) Singapore Chili Shrimp (perfect balance of sweet and spicy) Can you tell I’m a foody? Lol 😂

I don’t know if you’ve been to Grand Turk or not (if you have ignore this) but Carnival has a really nice multi million dollar pier they built there with pools, restaurants & shops so there’s no need for an expensive excursion there. I recently did the Mardi Gras and I have to say it’s totally worth the extra money. Here are the things that I really liked: 1. Soda fountains at Lido & Guys bbq 2. Bolt roller coaster 3. Multiple new restaurants like Shaq’s, Emeril’s, Rudy’s, Bonsai Teppanyaki, Chibang, & Street Eats 4. More variety in entertainment like magic shows, the Family Feud, & multiple comedy shows daily in 2 locations simultaneously so there’s no long lines 5. The Summers Landing area is a fun place with foosball, shuffle board, a sports lounge area with TV’s & sofas, Guys bbq, soft serve ice cream machines, a microbrewery, and pool & hot tubs outside. It was our favorite hangout place. 6. The ships layout was the best I’ve seen on Carnival. And the decor is very regal and completely different from their other ships. It reminded me a lot of Royal Caribbean I can’t compare it to Odyssey of the Seas because I haven’t been on that ship yet. But I’ll be going on the Quantam of the Seas in May so I’ll be able to compare them then. But I would highly recommend the Mardi Gras.

The “Drinks On Us” casino offer has two different versions. The most common version is “Drinks On Us for you and a companion while in the casino.” The less common version is the “Drinks On Us everywhere on board the ship for you and a companion.” If your offer is either of those then the casino host can help you since the offer came directly from the casino. If you had some other offer with cheers for free then you’ll need to call Carnival. I’ve been cruising for over 20 years (I have 6 cruises booked next year so I cruise a lot) and I’m not seeing any free cheers deals in any of my offers. And I get just about every offer out there. It’s probably more than likely that your free drink offer came from the casino. But I could be wrong. I’m just trying to help. I hope you get things moved over. Good luck.

If you’ll notice under each deal it will say “limited inventory.” Each casino deal has a limited amount of offers per sailing. Once they’ve hit their limit for that sailing then the offer is off the table. Since it’s so close to your sailing the offer may not be available if it’s sold out but it won’t hurt to check. If you’re having trouble getting through to carnival you can always email the casino host and see if he can help you. The casino host has always bent over backwards to help me.

We were on the Mardi Gras a few months ago and yes it closes at 10 pm every night. We usually went there to relax every evening before bed. It’s pretty empty around 8 or 9 pm. It’s also empty in the mornings before 10 am. But midday is the worst. That’s even everyone goes.

That’s why there’s so many ridiculous rules no matter where we go or what we do. People trying to take advantage of the situation messes it up for everyone

I had similar feelings after doing the Grand Princess a few years back. I enjoyed the cruise it was a beautiful ship but things just pretty much shutdown after 10 pm. Yes the bars and casino were busy but nothing else. And like you I’m a night owl so that was a bit of a bummer. There were lots of activities scheduled during the day but they weren’t my cup of tea. I wasn’t very interested in ballroom dance classes, lectures, watching ice sculptures be carved, learning how to make towel animals, etc. The food was really good, especially in the MDR. And the shows were excellent, better than Carnival’s in my opinion. But I just felt a bit restless and bored oftentimes on that cruise. It just wasn’t my cup of tea I guess. I don’t dislike Princess, I can see why so many people like them, it just wasn’t for me. Royal on the other hand was very similar to Carnival so I sail them every now and then when I find a good deal. In fact I’m going on Quantam of the Seas in May for an Alaskan cruise.

It’s funny that most of the cruise snobs that warn people about Carnival have never been on a Carnival cruise. I admire their loyalty to their preferred cruise lines but they’re way off. I’ve been on them all; Hal, Royal, Princess, Norwegian, Carnival etc. (check out my signature for more info.) Carnival is very comparable to most other lines. Maybe 10-15 years ago they weren’t but now they have many amenities you’ll see on more upscale cruises for a fraction of the price. Like their adults only serenity area or the thermal suites in the spa. For just $159 pp you can enjoy sauna’s, steam rooms, a hot bubbly therapy pool, and heated marble loungers for the entire week. It’s very peaceful and relaxing and it’s adults only. Carnival ships also have roller coasters, sky rides, mini golf, imax theaters, and micro breweries. But one of my favorite things about Carnival is their late night adult comedy shows. I’m a night owl and love a good laugh. I also like that Carnival isn’t a snooze fest after 10 pm like some cruise lines.

Once you request a table usually within 10 minutes it tells you your table is ready. So don’t request a table until you’re certain you’re whole party is ready to head to dinner.

I would always choose the longer cruise with more stops every time. Plus the Horizon is newer and has few more bells and whistles. My husband loves the micro brewery and it’s very reasonably priced beer sampler on the Horizon. I love Guys Pig & Anchor Brewhouse with its great tasting bbq and live music on the Horizon. I just love grabbing a drink and relaxing in a booth to people watch. But we both agree that Bonsai Teppanyaki was the best tasting food we’ve had on a Carnival ship in a long time so it will always be a deciding factor between two cruises for us. The chefs cook the food to order in front of you and it’s an amazing meal and experience. Plus the Horizon has the imax theater and the skyride. Both are big hits with our family.

From what I hear people were abusing the situation. They were going back and forth between the 2 places hoarding cans of soda then taking them back to their cabins. That way their fridges were stocked for the whole family.

Not yet but I’m about to. Thanks for the help.

I just did some mock bookings and lots of cruises say the same thing. It’s weird. I’ve never noticed it until now. I happened to notice it this time and thought it was an international cruise thing but I guess not.

We are doing our first international cruise (London) and I noticed that when we arrive back in London to disembark it says “arrive 5:00 am depart 12:00 am.” I’m a longtime cruiser but none of its been overseas. I’ve never seen anything like this. What does it mean?

It’s not just Carnival. I cruise several lines and they’re all complaining about price increases and cutbacks. Over on the Royal Caribbean boards they’re flipping out about Diamond level cruisers not being able to use the concierge lounge anymore. They’re also pissed that they’re only getting once a day cleaning now, pre cruise food and beverages have gone way up, and cruise prices are much higher too. The truth is the ENTIRE cruise industry is hurting very badly financially. They had to shutdown operations completely for YEARS, not weeks, not months, but YEARS. Any business that is forced to shutdown for years is going to be hurting financially and make cutbacks in order to stay afloat. I’m not happy about the changes and cutbacks but I realize it’s happening industry wide and I’ll either have to deal with it no matter who I cruise with or stop cruising. So I guess I’ll have to just suck it up and deal with it because I love cruising too much to give it up.

Yeah that’s definitely a possibility I’ll have to consider.

Thanks I’ll check those out

It’s a codeshare flight through AA. I travel a lot around the US, the Caribbean, and nearby countries but I’m very new to long haul international flights. In the beginning I no idea what code sharing was until it was explained to me. I’ve learned a lot though thanks to Cruisecritic. You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the help and info. It will come in handy now that I’ve retired because we plan to travel out of the country quite frequently.

If it was a casino rate you can email the casino and ask. They get back to you very quickly. They responded to me the same day.

It’s funny that you say that because my husband and I were just saying the same thing earlier at dinner. Yes the flight is shorter at 1 hour 20 minutes versus 2 hours 30 minutes for the train ride. But you need to be at the airport at least an hour and a half early. Then you wait forever to get off the plane, then your luggage is always the last one to come out.Then getting out of a large airport and to your car feels like you’re traversing a football field. In the long run the train is much quicker. Plus it’s cheaper with more scenery to enjoy. I showed my husband the video and we really want to ride the Iryo train. It looks fabulous and I did a mock booking and the prices aren’t that bad for what you get.