Chris41

I think it was a fair and honest review and states many of the reasons that my wife and I have not been cruising very much for the last couple of years.

Doesn't bother me at all. When we went on the New Years cruise I saw no difference from before but as someone stated it is kept to a very small number and I still get to board first.

Lets face it we are getting on the ship and going to have fun so why sweat the small stuff

Should have thrown a bucket of water over the smokers . . . and told them that you were burnt from their ash . . let them go up to the smokers's area on top decks.

Smoking is allowed on the balcony...This is a designated smoking area per Carnivals rules

I have done both and enjoy both. If you want a quick look at a place then a cruise is the way to go however if you really want to explore somewhere then AI is better. You can see a lot more and really get to know the local people and culture by being somewhere for the week.

We go to Sandals when we do the AI so we get the following

private pool

Butler

8-10 sit down places to eat

AI drinks

Large room - more like an apartment

Entertainment

Many pools and hot tubs

Carnival offers

The ocean

Small rooms with a balcony

8-10 dollar drink prices - this has changed with the Cheers program

Better selection of wine than the AI

Very attentive staff

Small pools and lukewarm tubs

Not always hot food

A quick overlook period to visit an island

Both are a really good time in my opinion and we usually book what peaks our interest at the time. We did 3 cruises the year before so this year we did 2 AI and will cruise for New Years

Yes but I was backpacking over 20 years ago!

Foxesden1…Please don’t take it that I was criticizing you in fact just the opposite. I think the donations are a great thing. I guess with working in the environment I do I tend to look at everything from a security standpoint…I apologize if you took me wrong and I also know that 20 years ago the world was a totally different place

We try to donate as much as we can to local charities in our home town. I have left bags of clothing while traveling with my backpack, on church steps if I am unable to find a donation box.

This is a very generous thing to do however you might want to make sure that you leave the donations at a collection point or find the person in charge of the church to leave them with. With the security situation in the world today a unattended backpack, bag ect just left on the steps can be the cause of police and EOD (bomb squad) being called to investigate the items.

Great review as always and really glad you had such a great time in Rome.

We fell in love with Italy when we did our first Med on the Carnival Freedom and have since spent a couple weeks there on two seperate occasions.

Rome is an awesome place with fantastic people and food

My wife and I did the Chefs table on the Dream and loved it. The food and setting was worth every penny we paid and would do it again in a heartbeat At that time they still did not allow pictures which, sorry I know people disagree, I really enjoyed.

We each received a picture at the end of the whole group which was very nice.

Great review

So basically you are only allowed to smoke outside or casino. All the other bars are non-smoking?

I don't see the problem and why OP is so mad. The shoot was free as the photographer said and they were not forced to buy any pictures.

If you have a photo shoot done at resorts or basically anywhere that the photographer is yours for a period of time it is going to cost for the pictures a lot more than say going to walmart photo

Keep in mind that some of these ships have several different suite levels. Some, especially on lines other than Carnival, have suites which are quite large (up to 3 bedrooms - Garden Villa on NCL).

 

I picked our sail week on the Epic as an example. It is the week following Thanksgiving, and I am showing the lowest and highest suite level (per person before fees and taxes):

 

NCL Epic...........$2500....$4700

NCL Pearl..........$1560....$8830 (Garden Villa)

Celebrity Eclipse $1950....$7300

Ruby Princess.....$2150....$2550

Carnival Dream...$1350....$1950

 

Quite the range!!

 

Tom

Thanks for the Info Tom

Tom,

That is a great list however could you give a the price of each of these suites for say a normal 7 day carib cruise so that we can all see how much the difference is?

If possible thanks

I wish they would change their loose smoking policy. You can't enjoy the entertainment in the lounges if you don't smoke.

I guess you don't keep up with the news but they did just announce the new smoking restrictions.....Should I guess that they were not good enough for you?

My DW and I are sailing the Freedom this Aug. We were booked in a cabin on the Riviera deck but were upgraded to the Spa deck. My question is was this a change for the better and how is the ride up on the 11th deck?

Any replies will be appreciated.