daisymay1960

We did a cruise on Marella Dream to the Canary Islands for New Year  . The Dream has to be one of the shabbiest looking ship from the outside lol. At one time we were parked next to P&O Oriana , which I believe is older , but immaculate looking 

We thought it was quite funny ( would hate to go on one of the huge ships ). The Dream is nicely decorated in the public rooms , our outside cabin creaked a lot and had a rusty ceiling by the door , but that really doesn't matter to me , loved the ship 

9 hours ago, ParrotRob said:

 

I find it extremely difficult to believe that as big as Carnival is, and as much soda as they sell and pour, that if a fountain system were cheaper they would not already be using it.

 Fountain drinks are  much cheaper to produce , they just use large containers of syrup and water  after all. There is a huge mark up in the finished product and thats not counting the extra packaging  costs  and cost of storing all the  cans

I love Marella cruises , but the one thing we have found ( or not as it happens  ! ) is the distinct lack of drinks menus 

We solved it by asking for cocktail of the day lol

On 8/31/2019 at 6:14 PM, Kittyonions said:

Hi Soobs,

we too have been looking at the Marella Caribbean cruises since P and O cancelled our Arabian Gulf cruise for January 2020. However, we were shocked at how much more expensive it will be on Marella for an almost identical cruise. Know that with Marella all drinks are included, but for us we find the drinks prices very reasonable on P and O. Hope your cruise meets all your expectations!

we were going to book the PO Arabian Gulf for New Year , Its not so much that Marella is expensive , more that the PO cruise to Arabia were very cheap !. 

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

If you are traveling together, you should be checking in together

Of course we will be checking intogether .i was wondering if each person had to carry their own booze

1 hour ago, daisymay1960 said:

Im not a big gamvlet2 , my sister and I allow ourselves 5 /10 $ a night on the slots , howevet none us can stand smoke so our husbands will be delighted ! ......people still smoke here  too ..we just make em stand out  side in all weather  !

I really  need a new keyboard on my phone or much slimmer  fingers  !

5 hours ago, FSHLOT said:

Nope, people still smoke believe it or not!! Ecspecially in casinos, and CCL knows this and will continue to allow smoking in designated areas and the casino.

Im not a big gamvlet2 , my sister and I allow ourselves 5 /10 $ a night on the slots , howevet none us can stand smoke so our husbands will be delighted ! ......people still smoke here  too ..we just make em stand out  side in all weather  !

We will be bringing on our allowance, havent the nerve to smuggle any more on , though sounds like fun lol , especially  as they dont seem to make a fuss if they  catch you out 😁

Can I person  carry  on 2 peoples allowance or would you need two bags , and how long would you need to lug this around before your rooms are ready 

Slightly concerned at the hairy  chest / Belly flop competitions, please tell me there are areas to sit outside aeay from this ?

I am surprised  that smoking is still allowed in the casino, having only cruise european for the last few years I assumed that smoking was banned worldwide ( except for a few areas outside )

13 hours ago, CruizinKittie40 said:

 

Here's the link to my Carnival Legend Facebook Photobook.  All the menus are there, as well as the front page of all the Fun Times leaflets and pictures/videos of the ship

 

https://www.facebook.com/carla.barnes.127648/media_set?set=a.10162406375250193&type=3

Thank you

Also  great reminder of our trip to Alaska, especially  Skagway where my husband had a starring role in the theatre production

We toured Alaska a few years ago in September, we started in Fairbanks where the temps  were in the 80's! .Denali was drizzly and cool as was most of the trip  .We picked up a cruise ship in Seward , first call was Hubbard Glacier, sail in was pretty chilly and windy, Next stop Juneau drizzly  and cool , and from them on every stop was better weather arriving in Vancouver in the 80's

We had waterproof jackets with zip in fleeces , we were never cold and in fact  we didnt even need that in most places

Waterproof  is what you need

On 8/28/2019 at 9:02 PM, CruizinKittie40 said:

if anyone still needs to see them, I took pictures every day of our 7-day cruise

On 8/28/2019 at 11:50 PM, ParrotRob said:

 

Cruisportconnection.com for starters.  Google maps.  Cruisecrocodile.  Lots of places.

On 8/28/2019 at 9:02 PM, CruizinKittie40 said:

if anyone still needs to see them, I took pictures every day of our 7-day cruise

where could I find them please

As a veggie who doesnt eat eggs  I can see that I may need to be inventive by looking at various menus ( I am also a Brit so some of the choices seem a bit strange ...sorry ! )

How do they cope with someone picking items from various  dishes , rather then the whole dish? 

On 8/9/2019 at 10:43 PM, Lottacruises said:

Maybe the silverware wiper was concerned for the environment and did not want to unnecessarily run those unused utensils through the dishwasher. 

 

The answer:  I already have and you probably have too....

As though not washing these items is going to make any difference to a cruise ships impact on the environment !

You can get away with a lot of things in your own home , but in a closed environment with hundreds of people you need to be more than clean. Noro virus just loves to cruise

I am sure on Discovery out of Corfu  our muster was 9.30 pm .

There  were later flights coming in  I think .Our muster was at our life boat station

Imagine how that would work for non US citizens!

On 8/8/2019 at 6:23 AM, mikenbon said:

I'm Canadian, and having a valid passport is a requirement for us to even travel into the USA. In my opinion, it's the best form of identification, and we always carry ours off the ship when we are in the ports. If one of us had an emergency or took ill and had to leave a port, having our passports on hand could really save time, stress and money to fly us to wherever we needed to go . I think of carrying our passports to be like insurance - better to have it and not need it. A passport may seem pricey, but worth the cost since it is the only form of identification accepted in every country and supersedes all other id.

Here in the UK we need passports even to fly internal flights

They are more or less needed as proof of residency for jobs and mortgages and just about anything...there are of course other methods for the last items , but a passport is the easiest 

Curious as to how you can cruise without a passport ? How does it work when visiting other countries ?

Coming from the UK , where  even visiting a cruise ship for a day requires  a passport

12 minutes ago, tandemcruzr said:

It's before tax. You will only pay tax in the home port and maybe a few others. The price listed does not include the 18% gratuity either.

I think I meant gratuity  instead of tax ....do the staff get this ? It would ge a lot easier  of they quoted the ' real ' price !

Thanks

Could you tell me if the price shown on the drinks menus is before or after tax

Thank you

Some Vegans may be slightly fussy ...tbh there is no end to how far you could go as a vegan

As a veggie , who tries to eat vegan if it's easy enough ,I wouldn't like my burger cooked in meat juices , but I have been known to pick meat out of a sandwich if there is nothing else to eat

This will be our first cruise on Carnival , I am hoping I can find some nice veggie choices , 

I thought I read guys do a vegan burger?

We were about to book the PO cruise round this area , until one of our party  noticed it was pretty close to Iran , and they don't think its safe . It doesn't concern me , but should it?

We went on her last year and loved it so much we are going back this year

There was a problem on the last day when one of the toilets on our deck blocked up , but it got fixed no big deal , if we were desperate , we could have found one lol. They may have been a whiff now and then , or was it once , or was it somewhere else , cant remember , didnt care obviously

The food is ok to nice , portions are small ............but we spent so much time talking to other diners ( and having a good time) eating slowly showed we normally eat too much , and if you are hungry there's always the buffet .

The lack of speciality restaurants is a shame , I like the ones on Celebrity and RCi ( tbh the only thing i liked on that one ! ) However if you go on either of those two lines you pay through the nose for the extras . Two years ago on Celebrity wine was $12 a glass plus tax ! You could get a whole bottle on Oceana for £15

We felt at home on Oceana , it was relaxing , friendly and fun( but not in your face fun )

If you want 5 star treatment you need to go to a five star line ( and pay 5 star prices )

We were on Oceana last May ( first week) It was amazingly calm , wouldnt have known we were at sea tbh ( and i have a very low seasickness threshold)