roundthebend

Why are people always so fascinated by the crews daily lives..it always makes me laugh!

 

They have bank accounts through an American bank, which when they get off at port, they can deposit any cash that they don't need to use.

 

Simple as that, give them any denomination...doesn't matter!!!

 

My daughter was a dancer for Carnival for 5 years...somewhat different but the same.

 

They have access to US bank accounts...give them whatever.

I sailed MSC Divina in the Med last year. Beautiful ship!! Much nicer than any Carnival ship I have sailed. Entertainment...MSC leaves Carnival for dead, the drink package at AUD 35 pp...unlimited drinks, again leaves Carnival for dead.

 

Were there some things that Carnival does better...of course. Buffet/lido offerings better. Sea day activities and organisation of reboarding/queues better.

 

Every cruise line has it's positives/negatives. Try them all I say!

 

I have to say my next Carnival cruise will be my last ...for at least a while.

 

Variety is the spice of life!!

Come and visit :) but don't just come for a spirit class cruise....far to much to be seen on land...and in the sea (not on the sea) ;)

I went to buy some more last night and saw the same thing. My guess...this stops people withdrawing the balance at the casino.

 

I'm glad I had already bought most of what I needed.

[quote name='SNJCruisers'][SIZE=3][FONT=Comic Sans MS]Just make sure that you go through a US based agency and book your cruise when they are running the 1-2-3 Go promotion or the similar Pick Your Perks Promotion. There were threads on the Celebrity boards that cruisers from down under were having difficulty getting the promotions through the AU website. I don't know if this has been rectified or not.
The included classic alcohol drinks package is great. It also includes espresso based drinks, bottled water and fresh squeezed juices. For an extra 11.50 per day, you can upgrade to the Premium package and enjoy the drinks at the Martini and Molecular bars.[/FONT][/SIZE][/quote]

Thanks for the heads up.

I am, without blowing my own horn, a very savvy traveler and explore all international options before booking.

Australians are very often penalised cost wise and so you have to be clever in your booking process.

I'm really looking forward to trying Celebrity.

I've loved my cruises on Carnival but I'm tired of the constant changes and other issues. This next one is the straw that broke the camel's back.

Time to move on and I love variety anyhow.

Double post

[quote name='gunner13']I'm a few days from a cruise on the Glory. I was really looking forward to retiring my Rum Runners and having the Cheers program for our drinks. The couple we are traveling with was going to try the Cheers program as well. Now, rather than collecting $37.50/day from 4 guests we'll have our sour mash on the rocks and CCL won't get a penny from us for our adult beverages. <shrug>[/quote]

Here, here!! I had decided with the lower prices we would just do Cheers...not any more. The rum runners will be active again!

Carnival has really gotten up my nose this time. On my next cruise..first a change of port, then a change of ship, then the smoking policy changed and now this.

My last 2 cruises have been on MSC and Costa and their drinks packages were fabulous...especially MSC.

I had started putting a lot of money into Cruise cash in anticipation of buying Cheers but was sensible enough not to buy the full amount...I must have known somehow that things would change...thank goodness.

I want to try Celebrity Cruises and I'm sure that will be my next choice.

I'm pretty sure they often give aspirin when someone is having a heart attack.

 

Yes, it thins the blood.

A 6 hour charter for 7 people was RM1605.

 

The website with prices - http://www.borneoboatsandbeaches.com/

 

I never do ship excursions but they definitely had them for every port. I'm sure they'll list them eventually.

 

The Mall Of Asia is the shopping centre. Only 10 - 15 mins by cab.

BBSQuest, In Brunei I rented a van and a group of us drove into town. The port is about 30 mins (from memory)away from the city. We went into one of the mosques, walked around the water village, went to the Sultans palace. There really isn't a lot to do there. On the way back we went to Murara Beach which is a 5 min drive from the port and spent a couple of hours swimming.

 

Kota Kinabalu was lovely. I chartered a boat for the day. They took us to a few snorkelling destinations and provided lunch. Beautiful clear water, reefs and fish...it's just a shame the locals throw all their rubbish into their waterways. It won't be beautiful in a few more years.

 

In Puerto Princesa, we docked at 1pm which made going anywhere interesting almost impossible unless you were on a ships excursion. I hope this year, they have changed that. There are many interesting places to see and you can organise them yourself, however you need to arrive in the morning as most require travelling fair distances. In the end we chose to just go for a wander in town. We looked at the local wet market, ate some street food and visited the local dept store. We had the most amazing welcome at all the Philipino ports and the concert they put on for us in Puerto Princesa was an event to remember!

 

I loved Boracay and am hoping to go back there next year for a week of just relaxing on the beach. That is really all there is to do there but it had a really good atmosphere. Just get off the ship, get in a tuk tuk and ask them to take you to Boat Station 2. Lots of good food and drink options. Shopping if you want it. We just lazed on the beach all afternoon, drank lots of cocktails and ate some great mussels and calamari.

 

Manila was always going to be about food and shopping for us. We were supposed to do a food walking tour through Chinatown (Big Binondo Wok) but due to a huge religious festival that was going on that day near the port, we would never have made it in time. That was very disappointing. We went to a huge mall and while there was an amazing array of shops, it wasn't good for bargains. We did however have an amazing meal. Great local food! If only I could remember the name of the restaurant:confused:

 

I hope thats some help to you.

I'm at work at the moment. Will give you some detailed information tonight

Signed.

Signed and good on you for starting it!!! If enough people stand up and voice their opinion, they will indeed listen!!

These are their customers, it would be ridiculous to not listen.

 

Over the last few years, the entertainment at Carnival has been slashed to a point where it's almost a non event.

 

I still enjoy my cruises on Carnival but the enjoyment is fading as the entertainment is important to me.

There is no burlesque show on Carnival. There is A Kiss Goodnight which is more showgirl than the production shows.

 

The Carnival market would never accept burlesque! I don't know that I would want true burlesque. Lordy, the amount of complaints I've seen about G strings in the production shows...is ridiculous.

 

Costa does a topless show on a couple of their ships. This is just a normal part of a showgirl show in Vegas, Europe, Australia etc etc but there is a huge percentage of the American population that is very uptight in these matters.

i have been on the Triumph 2 different times and they have them, both a magic and a burlesque. Both times, the shows were very good, and the main dancers for these shows are only in the shows with the magic guy, and he mentioned that they are his girls. So, dont know if that helps, but last year we were on and they ad it, and as someone said, A PACKED HOUSE:eek:

He may have said that but it's not true..there is one dance cast on the ship and they do all the shows.

My daughter until recently danced for Carnival.

No and it won't happen.

Well I'm indeed surprised to read that smoking is allowed on the balconies! I just got off the Victoria and had a German neighbour whinge to guest relations every time I had a cigarette on the balcony (I can assure you I wasn't the only one who did)....which wasn't very often as I actually thought I wasn't allowed to and guest relations would in turn ring me.

Well....I wish I could turn back time to annoy her the way she annoyed me. There is much more to this story but another time.....perhaps a new thread, "The cruise neighbour from hell"

Enjoy your cruises out of Australia Caspall!

I hope you're doing some land time as well. Like Europe, there's too much to see in just a few port time hours.:)

Sydney, Gold Coast (my home), Uluru, Great Barrier Reef etc etc...

 

Okay, edited as I see you have time between cruises...have a great time!! If you have any questions about Oz, ask away!

I can only comment on the Costa Victoria but I did have alcohol and soda confiscated from my luggage.

 

In the US I put it in rum runners and have no problems. I didn't bother on this cruise and it was picked up.

 

I did have the all inclusive booked but like to have something in my cabin.

 

It's a risk you take..I got it back last night.

 

My suggestion if you want it to make it to your cabin, put it in rum runners.

A quick review for those that may be interested.

 

Just back from the Costa Victoria cruise 2/1 - 11/1 Singapore to Hong Kong.

 

Some fabulous ports on this trip - Singapore, Brunei, Kota Kinabalu, Puerto Princesa, Boracay, Manila, Hong Kong.

 

Boracay, Kota Kinabalu and Singapore being the stand outs.

The itinerary was changed after booking from Kuching to Brunei which was unfortunate. The people in Brunei were beautiful but very little to see there.

Also, arriving in Puerto Princesa at 1pm made it almost impossible to see the wonderful places that surround this city. Most are 2 hrs from port..bad organization.

 

 

This was my first Costa cruise. I'm easily pleased and expected much the same as our MSC cruise, which I loved (both being Italian lines) but sadly I found Costa fell well behind. I do however think that possibly the Costa ships in locations other than Asia may be different....at least I was told that is the case.

 

The Victoria is chartered out almost year round to travel companies in China and Japan. There is only a small window of opportunity for the rest of us.

 

Because of this, I assume, the majority of crew are Chinese. This may work well for Chinese passengers but not so well for European/Western passengers.

 

The majority have absolutely no personality, are disorganised (which surprised me), slow and at times downright rude.

Now I must say, I don't need to be pandered to. Just the occasional smile will do but apart from my cabin steward and the social hosts, they were not to be had.

 

Food in the buffet at breakfast and lunchtime had lots of flavour and a good variety. Restaurant food was typical cruise line standard but they did overcook the meat and fish on many occasions which let them down badly. No risotto ever :(

I rarely ate dessert as there was just nothing interesting to order.

 

The drinks package was indeed great value but not as good as MSC which included more. It took a long time to get drinks at any time of the day. This ship was definitely the most understaffed of any I have been on. Bottles of water were available all the time...just fyi as it has been reported that it was only served in a glass. We also were served bottles of wine at the table when it was realised it would be a pain to keep serving us glasses.

 

The shows were a mixed bag, Michael Jackson impersonator - awful, tenor - awful, dancers - great and best choreography of any cruise production show I have seen. Staging and props average but it didn't matter. I have to disclose here that my daughter was one of the dancers but I have cruised with her before and found many of the dancers lacking. Every one of this cast was outstanding.

 

I didn't do many activities but what I saw I quite often found strange and childlike. I can only assume this suits the Asian market.

 

The ship itself was nice.

 

At the end of the day...I had a great vacation because I love to travel and I don't let things phase me but I would be very hesitant to book Costa again and I've never said that of any other cruise line.

 

I'd be happy to answer any questions:)

Just saw the post above.:o

 

I loved our cruise on MSC, so if Costa can improve on that, I'll be a happy camper.

Sorry These are just my experiences!!!

I compare to Celebrity (at least sometimes there are even cheaper) and Princess!

Outstanding Food, good service, perfect organization!!!

Even MSC is better than Costa!

 

Costa is just a waste of money!!!

 

And yet you sailed them 3 times??

Loved your blog!...but I think (generally) it was more about your determination than Santa and that's a great thing:) You've created great memories and experiences for your family, you should be very proud of that!! Have a great Christmas.

You did well finding out who had the charter. My daughter is staff on the ship and had no idea...

The Victoria is chartered almost year round, apart from the small time frame at the moment. I'm sailing on the last non charter, which arrives in Hong Kong on the 11th Jan. I investigated booking that first cruise out of Hong Kong to extend my cruise but couldn't get any answers. Even when I emailed Costa.