K&RCurt

We did the Resort World beach and the beach was nice and the drinks reasonable but the food was very expensive (but good.)  We also did a little taxi trip to the few shops near radio beach which were interesting and fun.  If we go again we would just go  to Radio Beach, it was not crowded and had several food stands that looked very good and much lower price than Resort World.

On 1/18/2024 at 9:05 AM, dabomb6608 said:

Think you had the wrong thread tab open. 🤣

I believe they were referencing the only substantial benefit of achieving Gold status...a free drink on the last day, being the reason to search for an 8 night cruise.

We use a cooler bag from Costco.  We use it to carry on our 2 12 packs of soda and then ask our steward to keep it filled with ice and we leave it in the shower (except when we actually shower!)

On 6/12/2023 at 11:56 AM, bigAWL said:

Ok.  I guess I was confused then.  You said in your post from Friday that you considered Celebrity to have the best "casual food" far above the others, including Carnival.

My bad, I was typing too fast I guess.  Can't seem to fix it now.

On 6/10/2023 at 6:06 AM, bigAWL said:

What do you include in the Casual Food category?  I haven't experienced any of the lines you are rating, but have read thread after thread here that seem to have a consensus that X burgers (in particular) are consistently inferior to the others.

 

I know my teens would love to hear about any good casual food recommendations on X.

Sorry for the delay, I had a busy weekend!

I think at this point every Carnival ship has both a "Guy's Burger Joint" and "Blue Iguana Cantina" and these, IMO are far and away the best burgers and Burritos, tacos on cruise ships.   The newer "Excel class" ships also have 3 different "Street Eats" walk up windows on the pool deck with a rotating menu of steamed goodies like pot stickers, etc, Various specialty fires and grilled kabobs and satays.  Additionally they have "Shaq's Chicken Shack" which has fried chicken sandwiches. 

HAL used to have great burgers, including Lamb Burgers but they revamped the burger venue on the Lido and now they are just "meh" and X had pretty much the same burger quality.  RCs were better than X or RC but a far cry from Guy's on Carnival.  RC did have very good Hot Dogs and Sausages on the Oasis, but I am not a big hot dog fan.

As others have said the atmosphere is definitely more casual and the demographic younger and somewhat less socially refined than you will find on Celebrity.  We have friends that absolutely love Carnival and have cruised with them a bit.  For reference we have sailed with Celebrity 3 times (one more booked), HAL 4 times, RC once and Carnival 7 times (one more booked.)

We enjoyed ourselves on every cruise. The only altercation we every experienced was a VERY drunk lady attempting to get back on the HAL Eurodam in St Thomas being very abusive to the staff who were only trying to assist her.  She and her husband / SO / whatever got to remain in St Thomas.  The more questionable pool "contests" on Carnival (Hairy chest, wet t-shirt, etc, etc) are no longer done and the pool events now are not as crass as the past.  We avoid the main pool and tend to spend sea day time in the Serenity adult only areas on Carnival.

Food is super subjective but in our opinion MDR food quality, in order is X, HAL (Very close), RC then Carnival.  Buffet HAL, RC, X, Carnival.  Specialty, X, HAL, RC, Carnival. Casual food, Celebrity then the other 3 with a sizable gap.

We found RC had the best shows and entertainment, Carnival shows were OK but the Punchliner Comedy Clubs are great and they had some good smaller groups spread out around the ship, X shows and other entertainment was consistently good, HAL was a mixed bag, some great entertainers and some ho-hum.

Overall I would not hesitate to book any of the 4 given the timing / itinerary / price met our wants / needs.

2 hours ago, Saturngrl said:

I posted this on my review from February 2023 on Reflection.  I am Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean Certified.  Six Sigma focuses on eliminating errors.  Lean focuses on reducing/eliminating waste.   

 

On my February 2023 Reflection cruise, I observed considerable amount of waste which leads to cost savings.  Example:  MDR seating for meals.  It's a manual process, involving three crew members and walkie talkies.  The waits at dinner amounted to HOURs for passengers without reservations.  They were handed buzzers and I heard many of them upset about waiting until 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. for dinner.  A more modern tech for this process would help re-assign one of the crew members elsewhere, where be put to better use.   

 

Another example:  at breakfast, the coffee servers were hard to find, yet the pastry servers were often idle, wandering around with trays of pastries.  No balanced workload for the servers.  Cost savings could occur with a better process leading to less waste of pastries, crew time,  etc. 

 

I wish I could work for Celebrity.  It would be so great to evaluate other services to help them save money.  

TONS of MUDA on cruise ships!

Thanks to everyone who corrected my error!

I was apparently mis-informed by the individual at Carnival who told me they had to be in original packaging.  Of course this may have changed from when I was told this as well.

3 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

If that's really how you feel then while lug it on vacation with you?

DW likes me in it.

Happy wife, Happy Life!

I have had no Issue getting into my work VPN on Carnival, Celebrity and Royal.

On 5/26/2023 at 10:11 AM, kdr69 said:

Good thing i need a tux so much and so have my own, and yes i do bring for Elegant nights.

Same with me.  I have to wear either a Tux or Tails several times a month so no big deal to pack it for a cruise.

My only issue is that I wear them so often it no longer feels "Special."

The sodas have to be in the original packaging, One 12 pack per person.  If they fit in your cooler it will be OK. 

Not sure about the ice.

We bring ours in our insulated COSTCO "cooler bag" and our Steward is always happy to fill it with Ice once we have it in our room.  We keep it in the shower (when we aren't showering) as it is not 100% waterproof and also tends to sweat.

15 hours ago, FTLCruiseGal said:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but when the ambulance doesn’t use lights and sirens, that means there is no urgency to get them to the hospital, such as when someone passes away.  An EMT told me that years ago.

True,  They also never cover a living person's head with the sheet.

11 hours ago, RichYak said:

I can think of one annual charter cruise on X that you might find blissful. 

True!  

The one last November on the Reflection was Blissful indeed!

On 4/18/2023 at 5:40 PM, eas2225 said:

I'm in Pennsburg/Green Lane and have been on the Pride out of Baltimore 8 times and have the same experience.  All have been 7 or 8 nights.  Have not smelled pot either.

Hi neighbor!

We are in Gilbertsville.

Sorry for the thread hijack!

We have done both the Pride and the Legend out of Baltimore as it is just over a 2 hour drive from home.  We choose a 1:00 pm check in and have parked and walked onto the ship with no lines both times.

We have been on 7 Carnival cruises and have never seen a fight.  With everyone having cell phones and having to post everything they see on social media the perception is that every cruise has a knock down, drag out brawl, but that is certainly not the case.

This is pre-COVID but we had booked one of the very few balcony cabins on the Paradise and less than a week before sailing got a phone call offering an upgrade to a suite for $200 and we jumped on it.

I am sure there was demand for the very few balconies and we just happened to be lucky to get the call and answer it when we did,

We were in a Aqua cabin for the first time last November.  We and the couple we were traveling with on the Reflection REALLY liked Blu.

We thought the menu was great the service was fantastic and we enjoyed the atmosphere.

We also enjoy using the Thermal suite (Persian Garden) so we felt we got our money's worth over a Concierge cabin which is what we had sailed on previous X cruises.

I read an article in a food industry periodical I get (I work in packaging materials for food).

Pepsico said, without outright admitting it, that Starry was designed to taste more like Sprite, since the majority of people in taste tests preferred Sprint over Sierra Mist.

Thanks for the review.

Our family was together over last weekend and we were discussing our annual family vacation for 2024.  We all decided the grand kids were old enough to enjoy a cruise.  We were in a toss up between RC Wonder OTS and Carnival Mardi Gras.  Mardi Gras was about HALF the cost of similar cabins on RC, so no brainer!

We (DW & I) and DD#2 (and her DH, DD & DS) both booked this morning, Us in an Ocean suite and DD's crew in a Family Harbor Suite.

Now the bothersome waiting!  We sadly have NO cruise booked for this year, as DW started a new job in November and has minimal vacation time.  But now we have TWO cruises booked for 2024!

Here's an idea to eliminate lugging your carry-ons around.  Pick a later check in time!  We have given up on the insane rush to get on the ship ASAP with the teaming multitudes.  Pick a 12:30 to 1 check in time, arrive near the end of that, you will stroll right through check-in, onto the ship and straight to your room.  All the "Sooners" will be done with lunch and wandering round so you can pretty much get whatever you want for a later lunch with no waiting as well..

20 minutes ago, ncovert said:

On our Panorama cruise, our party had 3 rooms - 2 balconies and a family harbor inside cabin and we were all sat together.  In the past we have gone to MDR on embarkation day and talked with staff and had our table switched to sit with friends.  

 

A) I am not sure

B) In our experince we have been able to arrange to be sat at a different table with others who we were not booked with.  I would suggest on embarkation day going to the MDR and making the request.  Another way that would/should work is if you choose your time dining.

 

I hope this helps and I hope you and your cruise party have a great time!

Thanks!

After some further research it seems the YT videos I saw were mistaken and all of these cabins go to the MDR, so if we just link the reservations we should all be assigned together or at least close.  Doubt they even have tables for 12! 

On 1/20/2023 at 5:36 PM, jdevine said:

We have brought zip lock bags and had sandwiches from deli. 

That violates agricultural laws in pretty much every country in the world.  Depending on where you are and if you declare it or not you could end up with a $10k fine.

Our extended family is looking at booking a cruise on the Mardi Gras.  

DW & I are looking at an Ocean Suite, DD#1 and her family planning on a Family Harbor Suite, DD#2 and her family and DS and his DW are planning on Balcony Cabins.

From what I have seen on YT ship tours it appears Mardi Gras has a separate dining room for Suite Guests.

Does anyone know if A) Family Harbor Suite Guests are assigned to the Suite Dining Room?  B) Is it possible for Suite Guests to opt out and be assigned to the MDR to eat with the rest of the family?

Thanks for any insight!

Very sorry for your loss.