bandjwayne

Dining:
We had early (6pm) dining in the Destiny dining room. We were seated at a large table with a family of 4 and another family of 2. It was ok, but the family of 4 didn’t hardly say a word so dinner was a little awkward. We had only 1 waiter most nights (Alfonzo or Jay) and dinner service usually took 1.5 - 2 hrs. We did love Darwin, the singing waiter, who had an incredible voice & personality. The food in the main dining room was just ok...Harmony’s food 2 months ago was much better, and that’s on a ship with almost 6,000 guests! We ate in the buffet area two nights and found enough options to please us.

One thing that we really do love on Carnival is their casual food options. Guys burgers & The Blue Iguana were yummy like usual. Lines were surprisingly short I thought for it being March. The pizza was also some of the best pizza we’ve had on a cruise...wood-fired & SO much better than Royal. The only downfall is that the line was usually pretty slow moving - so a tip is to go at a non-peak time! My kids also loved the soft serve ice cream and I thought the buffet was good...nothing exciting, but good standard foods like salad, sandwiches. I did notice less fresh fruit options then what I’m used to.

Drink service was almost non-existent around the pool decks so we usually had to make our way to a bar if we wanted a drink. Drinks averaged $10 (cheaper than Harmony).


My favorite dessert - chocolate melting cake, mmmm!


Drink menu from the comedy club.



My favorite drink - Miami Vice!


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Room: We were in room M138, Oceanview. Our beds were pushed together & one of the pullmans was directly above the head of the bed, while the other pullman was kitty-corner to that. The room was small, but fine for just 5 days. Our room attendant Eri greeted us right away and asked us if we wanted morning, evening, or both service. We are pretty easy going people so I thought I’d try only evening
service and just asked that we had plenty of towels for showering. We also said it was fine to leave the pullman beds down because we aren’t in the room much. Looking back, I wouldn’t do that again. I hated seeing the wet towels on the small bathroom floor for most of the day & it would have been easier to navigate in our room if the pullman opposite our bed would have been closed up during the day. The bathroom had the annoying shower curtain with many hanging clips broken, leading to water all over the floor & door. Not a big deal, but this just led to more wet towels on the floor.






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Background: This was DH & my 11th cruise, about 1/2 with Royal & 1/2 with Carnival. Our sons, 12 & 9 yrs, cruised with us 2 years ago on the Carnival Vista. This is our first time on this particular ship although we have said a ship in the Fantasy class before. We’ve also sailed on Royal’s Independence, Voyager & Oasis class ships previously. We enjoy cruising for the mix of activities and relaxation it has to offer. We picked this cruise based off our kids spring break schedule and to celebrate my husband’s 40th birthday.

My expectations of this cruise were fairly low after just sailing on the huge Harmony of the Seas less than 2 months ago. I also knew that the ship would be full as it was spring break time & we usually sail in Jan. or Feb. I was pleasantly surprised on how much fun we had on this trip.

We flew from MN to Tampa 3 days before the cruise to stay in Clearwater Beach with my in-laws. We had a wonderful time there although 3 days of spring break crowds on the beach & traffic were enough for us!

Embarkation: We got a Lyft ride from Clearwater Beach @10am and arrived at the cruise terminal at 11am. Cost was $41 plus tip. We were through the check in process in

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I was on the Harmony of the Seas in Feb (7 day) & Carnival Paradise in March (5 day).  Like others have commented we never had a problem on the Paradise.  Waiters & room attendant were great.  Now where I did notice a difference was that there were less bartenders on the Paradise (esp. those walking around).  Did the employees specifically give me worse service, no, however it was slower service.  Both ships were very clean, but I did notice a lot more hand washing encouraged on the Harmony.

7 hours ago, Jnew2176 said:

Was there cornhole available onboard anywhere?

I was on the Paradise a couple weeks ago, and yes, there was corn hole in the pool area (up on the stage area when not in use for other things).

I'm trying to decide on which ship to cruise out of Galveston next Feb. 

Carnival Dream - 5 night Western = Sea, Cozumel, Progreso, Sea

Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas - 7 night Western = Sea, Sea, Cozumel, Puerto Costa Maya, Roatan, Sea

I've sailed on the Liberty class before (as well as Voyager & Oasis class), but not the Dream class (Vista, Paradise, and a few other smaller ships).  I really liked the hot tubs on the Liberty that hang out over the edge giving a great view.  What intrigues me the most about the Dream is the spa...I've heard wonderful things about the spa on this class & have never done that before.  My hubby & I like to hang out by the pool & the hot tubs normally so I can see this as a big perk for the Dream, but it's only a 5 night cruise and those extra 2 days on the Liberty would be nice.  

Has anyone been in the spa on the Liberty class?  Thoughts on it vs the Dream's spa???

Also, I've only been to Cozumel on these itineraries...thoughts on the other stops?

Thanks,

Jody!

I'm trying to decide on which ship to cruise out of Galveston next Feb. 

Carnival Dream - 5 night Western = Sea, Cozumel, Progreso, Sea

Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas - 7 night Western = Sea, Sea, Cozumel, Puerto Costa Maya, Roatan, Sea

I've sailed on the Liberty class before (as well as Voyager & Oasis class), but not the Dream class (Vista, Paradise, and a few other smaller ships).  I really liked the hot tubs on the Liberty that hang out over the edge giving a great view.  What intrigues me the most about the Dream is the spa...I've heard wonderful things about the spa on this class & have never done that before.  My hubby & I like to hang out by the pool & the hot tubs normally so I can see this as a big perk for the Dream, but it's only a 5 night cruise and those extra 2 days on the Liberty would be nice.  

Has anyone been in the spa on the Liberty class?  Thoughts on it vs the Dream's spa???

Also, I've only been to Cozumel on these itineraries...thoughts on the other stops?

Thanks,

Jody!

My family has cruised about the same number of Royal as Carnival cruises (~12 total).  Like you said too, Carnival works well for my family's schedule as they have many more itinerary options.  

Like others have said, I like the comedy shows and casual food options better on carnival.  They also beat Royal on the water slides/kids water areas.  

I like Royal's main dining better and feel that they do a little bit better overall on service (more pool deck bar waiters, etc).

We were just on the Harmony in Feb (adults only) and then were on the Paradise in March (family - 12 yr & 9 yr old boys, hubby, & myself).  I had very low expectations for the Paradise after having just sailed on one of the best cruise ships, but was very pleasantly surprised.  The only time I thought the Paradise felt crowded was on sea days by the pool...spring break so no surprise, however the crowds were better than the beach crowds in FL at that time.

Some things other things I noticed....Carnival allows you to carry on pop, which Royal does not.  Carnival has bottles of water available to be delivered to your room for a very reasonable price.  The latest Carnival's hot tubs were open was midnight while Royal had at least one open all the time.  Carnival's room attendant asked us if we wanted morning, night, or both for room cleaning.  We haven't ever had Royal ask us that.

We've had awesome times on every cruise...there will always be little things that annoy you, but you make it want you want!  Enjoy!!!

Book all your shows now & still show up at least 10-15 minutes early otherwise you might not get a seat.  We were on the Harmony in Feb. and loved it!  Great service, shows, & food.

We had our early Feb. 2019 cruise on Allure of the Seas cancelled maybe about 9 months out due to it being chartered out.  None of the alternatives they offered were comparable so we took their $400 onboard credit to book a more expensive trip on Harmony of the Seas.  I was mad that they wouldn't do some sort of better price matching as I had written down the price of Harmony the same time as we booked Allure and prices had definitely gone up.  I even called and talked to a manager and they were not willing to budge.  Now our friends who booked shortly before the cancellation actually came out ahead because of the obc.  Like someone else mentioned I'm surprised you're only being offered $100.  I'm thinking early Feb. is a popular time for chartering ships unfortunately.

BEAUTIFUL photos and great info.  Thank so much for sharing!!!

We were on the Harmony last month as short sleeves were required.  Like others have mentioned it's for your own safety.  I don't remember about the shoes, but do know that close toed shoes are required for the zip line.  

5 hours ago, CruisingViper said:

how reliable is the messaging in the hub app? I seem to remember sometimes not getting messages until 30 mins later. Is it the same with other messaging apps like whatsapp and facebook messenger?

Good question.  We were on the Vista 2 years ago and sort of gave up on the app when trying to connect with friends because it was so unreliable.  Maybe it will be better on the Paradise because it's a smaller ship.  Then again it could be worse because it's an older ship.  I think we'll have to try it out to see how reliable it is before we trust it.

21 hours ago, emoorehead said:

This is a fantastic idea! I was planning on going old school with my son on our upcoming cruise because I didn't want to get a call from his dad when we get back about an astronomical phone bill (his dad pays for his phone and I don't trust him to keep it in airplane mode). 

 

bandjwayne, as far as letting your son roam free on the ship, I would say that is entirely up to your comfort level. How mature/responsible is your son? 

Maybe giving him an old phone and chatting through the app but also having 3 or so set times for a face to face check in each day. If he doesn't answer you when you send a message he loses his privileges to roam. 

Ultimately, you have to be comfortable with whatever decision you make. Enjoy your cruise!

  Exactly what I was thinking.  He's pretty mature - used to be left alone and is good at following the rules.  Thanks!

21 hours ago, NebraskaSatellite said:

The phone doesn't have to be activated on a cell network.  As long as it can connect to WiFi and you install the Hub app, it should work fine.  Maybe you can give him an old phone?

Oh I completely didn't think about giving him an old phone.  I think we'll do that as well as having him periodically check in  Thanks!

My hubby & I are going on a 5 night cruise on the Carnival Paradise at the end of March with our 9 & 12 year old sons.  We took them on one other cruise when they were 7 & 10.  At that time they were either with us or briefly in the kids club.  This time I'm wondering about how to communicate/connect with my 12 year old as he'll be in Circle C and able to check-in/out on his own.  From reading others posts its sounds like a lot of kids use Circle C to meet up, but then go do other things.  My question to you is how do you know where your kids are?  Do you pay for the chat feature and let your kids have their phones?  I'm a little nervous about letting my son bring his iPhoneX as I don't want it to get lost or stollen.  Or do you go old school and leave notes or have check-in times?

Thanks!

Thank you for the great review!  It's so nice to see a review comparing similar ships!

We visited Passion Island in Jan 2017 as part of a Carnival Cruise excursion.  We had a great time and my boys, ages 10 & 7, loved the water toys.  Do note that it can be difficult to get onto the water toys so if your kids (or you) don't have much for upper arm strength you might not like it.  The scenery was beautiful and there's plenty of opportunities to relax.  The food and drinks were ok, nothing special.  The boat ride over & back was also fun w/music & dancing.  We'd go again, although when we're in Cozumel this March we are going to try Paradise Beach because we've never been there.

5 hours ago, Friendofbillbob said:

do you know if the hammock will work on an inside balcony?  thanks 

I'm not sure either as this is the first time we did it & haven't ever had an inside balcony.  Maybe try searching the boards?

We were on a Eastern Caribbean cruise on Harmony 2 weeks ago.  Just like the above poster mentioned, we embarked/disembarked on the Starboard side each time.

16 hours ago, mondsd said:

Thanks for posting the cruise compass.

 Do you know how much the ultimate beverage package was onboard the ship?

Sorry, I do not know the price onboard.  If you log into your planner you should be able to estimate it as the sales say things like "20% off onboard price".  We paid $49 for the ultimate beverage package. $47 was the cheapest we saw it and only for a day before it went back up in price.

7 hours ago, soulbait said:

I was going to make a tips post about this.  We were on the same sailing (3 different couples) and were bummed that RoyalIQ app was removed from this ship and were fearful we would not be able to text each other.  I then remembered reading on here that iMessage has been able to work on some of the ships.  The problem is my wife and I are on Android and our other friends are on iPhones, so no iMessage for us.  I decided to try out what we all use to chat with each other to see if that would work: Google Hangouts.  And it did!  All we needed to do is be on the ships free wifi that you use for the app (none of us had the internet package).  We could message each other with no issue, but could not send photos.

The entire cruise we used Google Hangouts and it made meeting up a breeze.

Also a couple of other things.  My friends who were on an older iPhone could text message people off the ship, but not the ones with the newer phones.  This was not iMessage, but your standard sms text.  

We could use Google Hangouts to communicate with anyone off the ship as well.

My wife and I were able to sms text off ship as well, but I think that is due to us being on GoogleFi.  Once again, we were only on the ship's "non internet connected" WiFi, with mobile data turned off.  We were able to send photos through the messages and receive from land.  I do not think this was an Android thing, but a GoogleFi feature due to how it is able to send through WiFi.

Good point, I forgot about that, but the friend we were with also found that Google Hangout worked as she was getting messages from work where they use that.  

I was there too. Don't know that I quite understand the point of it.

None of us could get the Apple IMessage to work!  There were 7 of us with the Iphone, and it just kept saying it couldn’t connect.  That was annoying.  We thought we would all be able to find each other!    
We were in 9313 closer to the back.  Loved the location.  Never felt the boat move, although it was a very smooth cruise!  

I also had a couple more thoughts today:

Wow Bands:  For ~$5 you can get a wristband programmed with your account information and use this instead of your Sign & Sail card for onboard purchases & opening your cabin door.  We were able to get them on the first day on the Promenade (Deck 5).  We found this easy to wear (they're waterproof) and my husband much preferred this to wearing a lanyard with his card.  Note that on this ship you can NOT punch your card so you must have a lanyard with a plastic sleeve to hold the card.  Downfalls to the Wow Band are that you have to take them off to give to a bar waiter to scan & you can NOT used them to get on/off the ship.

Apple iMessage was still working on this trip w/out having to purchase wifi.  There has been some messages on this board saying that this only works on Harmony & might be going away.  As of 2/10 it still worked.  I was surprised to see that it worked for messages to people both on and off the ship.