kctwinmommy

We went in late August and there were two boats but they ran at the same time.

Our cruise in July did 2 boats, and 2 times. I can't remember if there were 2 options when we booked it in January, but we did do the early one anyway. So they may add a second time. But yes, there were still 2 boats that went at the same time. And then, when they got to the glacier, one stayed close up for a little while, then switched places with the other one. Even though it's big, they still want to make sure the boats are apart from each other and safe.

Any opinion on whether the morning or afternoon Tracy Arm small boat tour would be better in mid July?

I found Pig and Anchor to be fair, not much flavor. Had to put a lot of sauce on it. Cucina at night was terrible! I make better spaghetti and meatballs! T=Linguine with cream sauce not any better. Rolls were too hard to have been fresh. Very attentive wait staff. At the end a server tried to give me someone else's leftover spaghetti. How do you heat that up? Odd.

Yeah, I didn't eat at Pig & Anchor, but my husband did. He preferred Guys much better. I only did Cucina for lunch, both times had the alfredo sauce with pasta and it was pretty tasty.

Day 5 - Aruba - This stop we didn't do an excursion, we just wanted some beach time. So we got off the ship and went into the center right there. Another member of our group asked about a good beach to go to. I wasn't there, so I don't know what he asked for specifically, so they recommended Surfside Beach. They said there was a restaurant, a pool etc... So, we grabbed 2 cabs (they can only take 5 people and we had 7) and off we went. We walked down the beach a bit and grabbed a plot of sand. It wasn't crowded at all, it's right by the airport, so we had about 7-9 planes come in while we were there, for about 3 hours. We didn't really look around or ask, so we didn't see it until we were leaving that we could have paid like $20-30/person I think for use of the chairs and the pool. It was fine though, we just wanted some sun and ocean. If you're looking for just a simple beach, nothing fancy and not crowded, it was a nice little place. I know there are 2 other beaches that are much more popular, but also very crowded according to others.

We got back on the ship and a couple of people went back out to shop right there. My son and I went to Cucina for lunch again, wasn't crowded at all. That night we did have a problem with dinner. Our waiter said something about a group in his area needing to be done by 7 p.m. for some reason (not sure what), but it screwed up his entire section. I honestly fault the group for making such a demand. Our waiters tried as hard as they could to get us our food, but it took a long time for us to get just the appetizers. By then, the group was done, although they then sat there for another 20-30 minutes. Again, very rude of them to make such demands. Our waiters brought us extra things and tried to make it up to us, which we appreciated. They had the beef wellington on the menu that night, so a couple people got that and said it was very good.

I find that forming a good relationship with the maitre de at the beginning of the cruise (Best if done ASAP once boarded) really pays off in choice of section, waitstaff and service. Sometimes the most popular waiters take on too many tables, so that can slow things down a bit unless they have good members of their team to make sure no one is overlooked and the meal progresses as it should. And if the food is not what you expected, or the order it is served not to your liking, do what you would do in any fine restaurant and send it back, and if not quickly satisfied, then it's time to get your good buddy, the captain of the room or maitre de, over, and nicely suggest a change in Table, waiter or whatever will make dinner a memorable occasion for the rest of your vacation. While you can get a lot more with honey than vinegar, and in your case, a $50 to the maitre de/captain on day one is well worth the extra attention, view and service you wil get throughout the trip.

We could have easily asked the waitstaff to correct the problems we had, and for certain things we did. I don't feel it's necessary to pay another $50 on top of what I'm already paying to get the service that was expected. And as I also said, they were very nice, we enjoyed our waiters.

Cruznjuly - I actually added links to my cruise reports in my signature. Makes it easier to find them. :D

Circle C for 12-14 year olds seemed very disorganized. When I asked the person in charge about it I was told the children could do whatever they want when ever they want. This resulted in packs of children running around the ship getting into trouble. I noticed security guards posted there near the final nights of the cruise. My grandson only went 1 or 2 nights. I am not sure what Royals program is like for this age because he just turned 12.

See, my son likes that the program isn't set in stone. They tend to go with what the kids want to do. No reason to force a bunch of 12-14 year olds to play a game if they don't want to do it. Although on our cruise, we didn't see/hear any problems with groups of kids causing problems. We saw our son walking around some times with other kids, other times he was in the Circle C playing video games. I think it really depends on what the kids want, they try to keep it a little less structured. This was our son's 3rd cruise in Circle C in the past year, so that's how it seems to go.

I can't say the exact prices, but we spent about $130 last month. We had 4 alcoholic drinks and 3 of them got the special glass with it, the 4th one didn't. Then we had 1 non-alcoholic drink in the special glass as well. We also ordered the nachos and calamari. That included tax and gratuity. That should give you a small idea of the prices.

Yes it was a bit confusing. It's directly from Carnival's site. I emailed them and presume if it's available, I'll get more information. :)

Yes, it's done through email. They will reply with your confirmation. Then once you're on board, you'll be charged for it and you'll get your tickets in your state room. We really enjoyed it, it was certainly a nice excursion, neat to get up so close. I'm pretty sure I have a photo of the 3 of us in my trip report.

Unless they are pregnant or trying to get pregnant I wouldn't even give it a second thought. For the average person the risk is low and most people that get the virus have no symptoms.

Yep! We were in GT, Aruba & Curacao, all places with Zika. Honestly, Curacao was the one that we were bothered the most, but I think it was the shady we were at by the beach. So we got a few bites. And then when we got off in Aruba, we saw there was bug spray to use, which we did. Didn't do anything though in GT and didn't notice any problems there.

Thank you for your quick reply. I am afraid if I were cold that I would not enjoy it. I guess it would be worth the $25 luggage fee for an extra suitcase if everyone's warm clothes were packed.

 

Last Summer we went to Maui. We went to the sunrise on the Haleakala volcano. I had read many many reviews of how cold the temps were at the highest elevation which was 10,000 feet above sea level. HOWEVER, I only brought a sweatshirt and I was freezing. Standing there for 2 hours waiting for the sun to rise and it was spectacular but not as enjoyable since I wasn't prepared. Don't want a repeat of that.

Haha! You sound like me! So yes, I think you'll regret it if you need it and don't bring it. I thought I over packed, but I just mis-packed. :p I brought a few too many lightweight things that I didn't need. I think I was hopeful. :D They do sell many things on the ship though, obviously they know their passenger's needs.

Great review. We are sailing next August on the Pearl R/T from Seattle.

 

We have booked the Wilderness Safari as well. Looks like you had some heavy weight clothing. Do you recommend a heavy jacket? My husband and son have fleece lined pants. WOuld it be a good idea to take those?

 

Thanks!

Honestly, I wish I had packed a little bit more of heavy clothing. It was hard though, packing for 11 days! I ended up buying the jacket I'm wearing in the pictures on Carnival. It was a decent price, like $40, and was pretty warm. It's not a winter parka of course, but with layers, it worked well. I would bring the pants just in case. I get cold easier than most people though. It is a lot of walking around though, so make sure it's comfortable. We really enjoyed that excursion a lot! The guys that run it are great! Very fun and interesting! LOL!

This past month we got there around 10:15-10:30 and walked right on the ship! It was super easy to get through everything and get on board. We had FTTF and our friends were Platinum.

Nice trip report,thanks! What was your departing port? was it seattle r/t?

Yes, Seattle R/T.

The guests had the wedding reception by themselves.

I guess, I wasn't there! :D And I meant I didn't know what the bride & groom did.

If you choose to get married at a port of call, be prepared to make alternative arrangements IF for some reason your ship cannot dock at the port where your wedding is. The rule of thumb is if that you must be at a destination at a specific time, it is best to do it as a land trip, not a cruise.

Yep! On our cruise last year, we were supposed to stop in St. Thomas. This couple had everyone fly there to meet them for their wedding and we were diverted to Amber Cove. I can't imagine that happening, or why someone would plan it that way, but they did. So all their friends/family were in St. Thomas and they had no wedding there. Not sure what they ended up doing.

We did the Magic last month, that same itinerary. This was the largest ship we'd been on and I was worried about feeling lost, or that it would be too crowded, but oddly enough it wasn't. There were quite a few different things to do each night, shows, comedy, deck things, movies, etc... I guess that's on all ships though! LOL! I'm working on my trip report here on CC, I've gotten through day 4. We did enjoy having the 4 sea days, it's nice to just kick back and relax. Although I didn't like the lack of deck chairs, my biggest complaint, on all the sea days. But again, that's always a problem, especially on the bigger ships it seems.

Day 4 - Curacao - We did do a Carnival excursion for this port. We had planned on just going to a beach of some kind, but our friends wanted to do this one. So we did the beach break by boat and sunset. We went to the dining room to wait for debarkation, it took maybe 10 minutes until we started getting off. They basically had all the excursions, or most of them, waiting in that dining room because once we got off, everyone fanned out to the different lines. They had the signs up for all the different excursions that were going out that day. Thankfully, ours decided to gather off to the side, so we weren't standing in the big crowd of people. ;)

Once he had all the people who booked it, we got on the small boat. It was one of the double-decker type ones, with bench seats around the top deck to sit on. The guy gave some info about Curacao on the 20 minute ride over to the beach. They also passed out rum punch for everyone, or non-alcoholic for those who didn't want it and the kids. We got to the dock by the beach and walked over to the beach area. There was a woman from the boat who came with us to make sure we all got chairs (there were some we weren't supposed to use, it was for the resort area I guess). Since we were a group of 7, it was a little difficult, and we weren't right by the water, but that was fine. She ended up giving us a pair of the deck chairs that had the table & umbrella attached in the middle. The boys went out to go snorkeling, there's a rock breakwall out there too. They went a little beyond it though, just to see what else there was. They had a good time. We also got a soft drink ticket, so we all got some sodas and I ordered some nachos from the waitstaff that were walking around. The nachos were $14, but quite big and very good! We all shared them around. We were there until the sunset, so about 3 hours of beach time I think. Now, to get back, they had charter buses for all of us. A majority of the group got on the first one, and then we saw there was another one across the street. There were 2 guides from the company to make sure we all got back. However, her comment of "This driver just learned to back up the bus yesterday," should have been a clue for what was to come! :eek: It was bad!! We're pretty sure he hit something at some point, he couldn't seem to be in the right gear, and at one point, he had to come to a complete stop, going up hill, trying to make a left turn!! And there were a few sections of road that went along a cliff. Obviously, we all made it back, but it was a bit scary, even the guide said she was scared!

We got back to find the dock really crowded too! I'm guessing a lot of the excursions ended at the same time, since the sun was down. So the line to get back on the ship was like 15-20 minutes or so. The shops were all open though, my husband and friend grabbed a beer while we waited in line. We got back on the ship around 7 p.m. I'd say.

One thing about Curacao is that they have free WiFi around there. So we were able to check in at least.

So I'm looking at the Fun Times from the Magic cruise we just went on. It looks like the Late Night Snacks are there from 11:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. (10 Aft),Red Frog Pub Grub until 1:00 a.m. and the Deli until 11:00 p.m. And of course, Pizza and Room service is 24 hours.

Day 2 - Sea day - We went to the brunch like we usually do and honestly, service was quite slow. We waited at least 15 minutes to have a waiter even stop by the table, we finally got bread, but no plates. The couple that were seated next to us came about 20 minutes after we did and yet our food came out with theirs. So ours was slow and theirs was rushed. But, it was still good! Great french toast, hubby had the steak & eggs which was good.

Deck chairs are once again an issue. Walked around 2 decks to try and find just 1 open chair and couldn't find a single one. Walking around, it seemed that as usual, many chairs just being saved. Obviously, I'm not watching every chair, but there were certainly ones that sat "saved" for a long time!

Formal night dinner, still had a little issue with timing. It took at least 20 minutes until we even got bread, then orders taken. I ordered the Caesar salad, which I've always enjoyed and it was awful. The dressing was like mayonnaise, with NO flavor! My husband and our friend all tried it too, said the same thing. Dinner was very good though - lobster & prime rib was eaten by a couple of people in our group. We went to the comedy lounge after dinner and it was crowded. We had to wait in line and they clear it out after each show, so you have to wait in line each time. We saw Joe Marlotti and Nery Saenz - Saenz was the better of the two and we went back to see him again the next night. Oh, we also saw the show 88 Keys in the main theater - we thought it was good. But that theater fills up fast, so be prepared to get there a little early or be off on the side. During the evening we also walked by the Dolce Strings and I highly recommend listening to them a few times - excellent musicians.

Day 3 - Sea day - We did a Lido deck breakfast then hit the decks. Once again, not a single open chair anywhere on 10 or 11. We ended up going down to deck 5, and had a nice, quiet, time relaxing. Pig & Anchor was OK, nothing spectacular in our opinion. The salad bar on deck 5 was good, although I prefer to have it serve yourself, but that's just me. It was still good. Dinner had lamb shank which was very good, according to my son. We also saw Nery Saenz again, and very funny!!

Also, check with your provider to see what they offer. We had service in 2 of our stops through T-Mobile. So I was able to check in then. I didn't need to check in though, but it was nice to at least let family know we were all good, having fun! ;) And we also used the Hub app this time, which was nice to find others from our group.

Yep! The create your own pasta is what they have for lunch. We went there on embarkation day and then another day I went with my son. It was good pasta! You could get like 4 different noodles, 8 different sauces, and you could add a couple of meats (chicken, shrimp, meatballs). You can also get a Caesar salad and bread on the side.

So I had to look back at my messages. I booked mine in May for our latest cruise we just went on. I paid $130 then. So yes, it appears it has gone up. :(

As mentioned above it was Kelsey's. Last time we were there was this past Feb and food was good but service was rather rushed. Didnt like getting salad and than entre about 45 seconds apart.

Oh wow, didn't even notice they were closed. We walked right by them to go to the restaurant we chose. We didn't care for them either the last time we were there a year ago.

One strange thing we found before the cruise. We like the diner type restaurant next to Radaisson and were planning on going there but the Friday night before the cruise it was closed.

Are you talking about the one IN the Radisson? Or Kelsey's next door? We've been to Kelsey's in the past. A long time ago, it was good. Last year, it wasn't good at all. That's why we found a different place this time. The restaurant IN the Radisson we only go to for breakfast, which is good (hard to screw that up! LOL!)