kako14

Hi CruiseBride! My MIL was over prepared - every medicine you could imagine, tons of luggage, and so nervous. I think that looking back on it she has a much better view of it than when we were there. Since we've been off ages mentioned several times that she would like to do it again with the rest of our family. While on it though she has typical cruiser complaints - bad buffet food, long lines for certain things, and some of the other same complaints I had.

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I saw 2 of the shows - one was the "summer romance" one and the other just had them singing love songs. The love songs was just them sitting on stage singing, so more of a concert than a show. The summer romance one was just cheesy - no plot, stupid voices, random dancing, etc. to each their own but I prefer the bigger song and dance numbers - nice costumes, choreographed dancing, and an actual plot or something.

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To ladybug, FTTF is faster to the fun. It's sold as an excursion from your port city and it gives you priority embarkation and debarkation, priority tender, and a dedicated service line. You also get your luggage faster and access to your room quicker. I costs $60 per cabin. You can find it under the excursion section for your embarkation city. It sells out fast though.

Sorry for the late response to some of your questions.

I'm really not sure about the Internet - I think it may have been one internet account per folio - since my husband and I were on the same folio it only allowed us to log in in one device at a time.

As for the soda plan, I didn't do it. My kids don't drink soda so it didn't make sense. Cheers includes milkshakes, smoothies, juice, soda, etc. usually I would just order something at the bar and give it to them. The only time this was an issue was one night in the show lounge I ordered a ginger ale, bottle of water, and orange juice (soda for me and the other stuff for the kids). They would only take the cheers for one drink so I had to pay for the other 2. It was just annoying bc the kids had like 2 sips and didn't drink anymore of it and I hated that I had to pay extra.

To the poster above who asked about the the whirling for the cabana - I never saw this officially listed anywhere, I just took a chance.

We had one recently and we went to the hostess stand at Margaritaville, gave them our name and they took us to our cabana. We weren't given a choice, but I also didn't ask. We had #3 and it was perfect, but I don't think any of them were bad by any means.

I was just on the pride s few weeks ago and the spa was terrible. My advice is take the $ and go to a spa at home. The massage was terrible, the sales pitch and customer service were horrible, it was very expensive and totally not worth it.

I'm sorry for the late response for those of you that asked. The email address that I used for the cabanas was shoreexcursions@carnival.com

Make sure you put your booking number, ship, and sail date in the subject line.

I agree that I don't like it but on our most recent cruise the steward often wouldn't take it and breakfast would still be there after dinner. I had no other choice but to out it outside.

Thank you for your very detailed review !

 

 

 

We will be doing the same itinerary in October .. I have been to HMC before and had a cabana, so we have one booked for there but I was just wondering where you went in Grand Turk and rented a cabana ?? thanks :)

Hi! You will have a great time! The cabana in Grand Turk is right at the pool in the cruise center. When you come off the ship there is a free beach and right on the beach is a huge Margaritaville with a resort style pool. It's all free if you just want to get a chair. The cabana was about $120.

What a great, no frills review. Thank you! You said that you emailed Carnival. I have been searching everywhere for an email address with no success. Could you please let me know their email address? Many Thanks.

The one for FTTF is Fttfinfo@carnival.com

I have to check my old emails for the cabana and I'll let you know.

Thank you for such a great review! I will be taking my 2nd cruise this October and it is on the Pride. I am disappointed to hear about the spa though..I was planning on treating myself to a massage/facial but I think I'll just go to the spa at Hotel Hershey beforehand! I'm picky with that kinda stuff. I rarely treat myself to those types of things..so when I do, I want it to be great.

 

 

 

I'm excited about HMC. Tahiti is my dream trip so for you to say its comparable, I'm stoked :)

Definitely stick with Hotel Hershey! It is a million times better!! You will love Half Moon Cay, enjoy your trip!!

On pride last week it was fully stocked

Thanks for the review! I enjoyed reading it! Question - what time do your kids normally go to bed? Was 10 later than usual? I'd love to leave my 5 and 3 year olds in the kids club late on a few nights, but they usually go to bed around 8, so not sure how they'll do staying up so late.

 

 

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Hi, my 2-year old usually naps around 12 or 1 and then goes to bed around 8. Since we were busy all day I pushed her nap to about 4, she slept till about 6, and then was able to stay up later. Only one night she was asleep on the blanket in the kids club when we went to get her.

My 5 year old normally never naps and stays up till about 10. However, he was so active that he was exhausted. We usually all napped from like 4-6 (including me!) and then he was totally fine. He did pass out as soon as he got into bed though.

I'm like you and HATE waiting in lines. Did you have any problems waiting for Guys Burgers or at the Blue Iguana?

I was actually very happy that there was never really a line at either place! Sometimes there were several people but the lines moved so fast that you didn't even notice. Pizza on the other hand was a looooong wait. Even if there wasn't really a line it took at least 10 mins to get your food.

Other stuff...

Internet: We got the Premium internet package for $99 for the entire cruise. I “think” – and I say think b/c I didn’t do anything about trying to prove my theory wrong, that you were only able to get one internet package per folio? My husband bought the package on his iPad. When I tried to purchase it also (work was paying) on my phone it told me we already had an account and that I had to essentially kick him off and log in. It gave me the option of upgrading (even though we were already on the highest plan) so we spent the whole week kicking each other off. It was fine but I could imagine where that gets annoying. I never had a problem connecting to the internet. He lost signal a few times streaming TV, but overall I think he was fine with it too.

Anniversary Gifts: This was a nice surprise. Our anniversary was on the 3rd day of the cruise. We came back to our room in the early afternoon and found a nice note written on the mirror, written in wipe-off paint, that said Happy Anniversary, from your room steward, Caetano. It was written in blue with red hearts. Now, I saw our room steward, and this was very frilly writing, so I don’t think it was actually him that wrote it, but still a nice touch. It also came with a card that had 3 gift cards in it – a coupon for a free 6x9 photo, 25% off a bottle of wine, and $50 spa gift card. I was totally not expecting it, so this was a great surprise. Another point for Carnival!

Spa: This is my biggest complaint of the cruise and its probably more my fault than it is Carnival’s. As a gift, my mom said she wanted to give my husband and I a massage b/c we (aka I) planned the entire trip and did all the legwork. In all the cruises I’ve been on, I’ve never been to the spa on a cruise. I don’t know why – it just never appealed to me. I decided I’d try it here. The plan was for us to pay for it on our S&S cards and my mom would just give us the $ when we got home. I don’t remember which day it was but one day before breakfast the spa had someone by the elevators talking about their services – I stopped to listen and heard that the bamboo massage was on “value pricing” for $129. I thought – oh that’s cool, I’ll have to come back. Another day they advertised a few specials that you had to have before a certain time – I called to book, and they had no availability before that time, but wouldn’t honor the special for another time. Strike 1. Finally the last day, I call and take whatever time they can give me. My husband went at 10:30 and I went at 11:30. I asked on the phone how much it cost and the lady told me $149. When I got there, I saw a sign that said, “value price - $129”. The price wasn’t going to sway whether I got the massage so I didn’t ask about it - my fault. I also had that gift card from the anniversary gift to use. For the prices they charge, I was expecting a luxury spa experience. That means, changing into a robe, sitting in a lounge with water and relaxing, going into a nicely appointed spa treatment room, an awesome service. I didn’t get any of that. I walked into a waiting area, sat for a few minutes, was lead into the massage room, which wasn’t anything special (not a big deal). The masseuse spent 10 mins asking me dumb questions, which I knew was to get me to buy stuff at the end. The massage itself was terrible – she never turned the lights off (until I asked), there was no music playing (until I asked), the bed wasn’t heated, there was just nothing good about it. Whatever – it’s a massage, how bad could it be. But that was Strike 2. She ends the massage and walks out. So I get dressed and go to the front to pay. This is where it goes really downhill. No one knows why I’m there – they don’t know what I owe, they don’t know who my technician was, etc. Finally my technician comes out with a tray of products and tells me that I was supposed to sit in the room and wait for her to come back to sell me this stuff, which was literally like $50 or more a bottle. She also brings the receipt for my massage, which had automatic 20% gratuity added and a line to add more gratuity. Ok whatever. Its then that I remember I have my gift card, and what about that value pricing? So I ask for a manager. The manager tells me the value pricing is only for port days (I’ll admit, I never researched the spa and didn’t pay any attention to it, so that very well may be true – but it wasn’t clear, and I don’t like feeling like I was taken advantage of). Then they tell me I can’t use the gift card b/c its expired. I look at them like – how could that be? The cruise isn’t over yet! I pull out the other 2 gift cards that were part of my anniversary gift (b/c the manager had the spa one) and they are still valid. Of course the spa one shows that it expired the day before. I was dumbfounded – again my fault for not researching, knowing, or looking more carefully. But at this point I’m fuming – terrible massage, expensive, auto gratuity for poor service, and now expired coupon. The manager continues to tell me that he can’t apply the coupon to the service, but oh, if I want to buy products he can apply it there. Bull – I walked out. I was livid. Honestly, I was actually impressed by how reasonably priced everything on Carnival was. I never felt like they were trying to take advantage of me or price gauge. The spa is the only place I felt that the service sucked, experience sucked, and then it wasn’t very transparent. Never again - and I was forced to tip.

Tipping: I took out $500 from the bank before we went - $50 in ones, $50 in 5s, $50 in 10s, and the rest $20s. I wanted to make sure we had enough money for the islands, tipping, etc. It came in so handy – I highly recommend this. Everyone thinks of the normal people you have to tip – waiter, room steward, but there are SOOOO many people that go above and beyond that never get tipped and deserve it. My son fell by the water slides and needed a band-aid and my MIL thought it was best to ask the poor guy sweeping the water (don’t ask why she asked him) and I was totally expecting him to tell her to go to Medical. But he didn’t – he went and got ointment and a Band-Aid. It was so nice – we gave him $5. He wasn’t expecting it. He didn’t get the Band-Aid for $, but it was people like that who did nice things throughout our trip that we liked to tip. Of course we had the auto gratuities as well. We also made sure to tip the assistants – so we gave our head waiter $20 the first night, $20 the 3rd night, and $100 the last night, but we also made sure to give $20 to the assistant and $20 to the jr. assistant, and $30 to our bar guy. Same with the room stewards – we gave him $20 the first day and $40 the last, but also gave the jr. steward $20. They were so incredibly grateful. We are fortunate that we are able to tip like we do and we go above and beyond for people that go above and beyond for us. That’s why I was so pissed about the spa.

Dive In Movies – these were a first for us and I loved the concept although I didn’t actually get to see any movies myself. My husband watched Creed that started at 6:45 but had to leave early for dinner and my son watched Hotel Transylvania 2 at 9:45 with my FIL, but we were at dinner do couldn’t go. I wish they played the movies actually during dinner and then jus played them twice so people could go to one or the other. I walked up there when my son was watching and it was so cute – they had blankets and popcorn.

Lastly, a thought about the Sail & Sign Cards – my first cruise was when I was 14 (20 years ago) and the sail & sign card concept hasn’t changed at all since then. I found it annoying to always to have to have the card on me. Some places needed to swipe the card, others just needed the folio number. I just found it annoying. I know you can buy lanyards, but I’m not into that. I know all cruise lines do this – but there has to be a better way. Its 2016. Disney uses the bracelets. I don’t know if that’s better, but the industry needs to find a better solution. I know that costs money – just my thoughts.

If you've stuck with me this far - thank you! I hope my experience helped you. We loved Carnival and loved our cruise. We will never be the type of people that cruise often - I actually think I'd prefer to only cruise to places where thats the only way to get there (Alaska, Panama Canal, Galagogos, etc.). If we do it again it would be for the kids and probably when they are a bit older. Now that my daughter will be 3 I'll have more options!

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

Now for our stops:

Nassau: For all of the islands, we wanted simplicity. I wanted to wait in no lines – I didn’t want to figure out how to get taxis, wait for a bus, or be far away from the ship. In Nassau, we walked over to Junkanoo and we loved it. It was about a 15 minutes’ walk – my daughter was in the stroller and it was totally fine. It certainly wasn’t a picturesque beautiful walk, but it was fine. We got there early, got 5 chairs for $50 which included a drink, had chairs right by the water, and it was great. It was rocky – but not so bad that you couldn’t go in. I’m glad it was our first stop b/c it was obviously my least favorite, but at the time I loved it. Compared to the Jersey Shore, it was fantastic. They played music at a little hut that served drinks and food. They played little contests on the beach and the kids loved that. The bar area was crowded and disorganized. We ordered some conch fritters and I thougth they were expensive. But whatever – its vacation and we are tourists, so we are paying a premium for the convenience. We walked back and stopped and had some appetizers and drinks at Senor Frogs – I’m a sucker for places like that. I just loved it (it brings back memories of my spring break trip! We went to the straw market and bought a few little things and that was it. All in all – I had a nice time in Nassau. No complaints.

Half Moon Cay: one word: AMAZING! So, similar to my issue FTTF, I didn’t start researching the actual stops until a few weeks after I booked and that’s when I realized that the cabanas would be perfect for us. Of course they were sold out. Thanks to this site, I emailed them back in October and put my name on the wait list. I completely forgot about it to be honest. The 2nd day of our cruise they called me and said that someone cancelled, so they had an opening, did we want it? Of course I said yes! Another point for Carnival – I was so excited! I was so impressed by how all of the requests, reservations, etc. that I had made months before didn’t just go into a black hole. They gave me a paper to fill out with how many adults, the shoe sizes for snorkel gear, and the types of soda we wanted. I put 5 adults and we had to pay $50 more for an extra adult (the price includes only 4) – they never checked and never would have known though, so if I did it again, I would only say 4. We were on the 1st tender b/c of the excursion but would have been anyway b/c of FTTF. HMC is amazing. We went to Tahiti and Bora Bora on our honeymoon and HMC ranks right up there with that. The sand was so soft, the water so beautiful. The cabana was just icing on top. The cabana also came with your own little shower, 4 rafts, a bunch of snacks (chips, guac, salsa, fruit, veggie platter, soda, and water). It was perfect for us with the kids b/c we had shade, a place to put our stuff, a place to eat, etc. HMC was great for the kids b/c it had a mini water park with water slides and a playground. It has a pirate ship that is just a bar, but the kids loved it. They have an included bbq, but I preferred to just eat the fruit and veggies in the cabana and eat Guy’s when we got back. My FIL didn’t want to get off the ship early, so he waited until about 10 to take the tender – he had no tickets or anything and there was no wait. We left around 2:30 to go back (had to be back by 3:15) and there was no line – we were probably just lucky with our timing, but the tenders were so easy for us. Definitely my favorite day. In case you are wondering – we were cabana #2 and it was perfect location for us. Not too far a walk, could still hear the music.

Grand Turk: So back in October when I saw the HMC cabanas were sold out, I quickly purchased a cabana at Grand Turk without looking into it too much. They were much cheaper. I had second thoughts b/c I didn’t read much about them – and they didn’t sell out until a few weeks before the trip. I was thinking these must not be good. I was so wrong – we LOVED it! Of course HMC’s were better – but this was half the price (we had #3). After being at the beach for 2 days, the kids (and us) loved having the pool. It had a zero-entry section so that was great for the little kids and if you just wanted to get your feet wet. This cabana didn’t come with any food or drinks but had a door to keep it air-conditioned, couches, a shower outside, dedicated chairs, and bed type loungers outside of it. It also had a dedicated waitress – we spent significantly more on food and drink than we even did on the cabana. It was worth it – we really really loved it here. The pool was fantastic, the bathrooms were clean. For our group looking for convenience and ease, it was perfect. I highly recommend this.

Camp Carnival: Like I said earlier, we chose this cruise b/c of Camp Carnival. In general, on the sea days the kids went for a couple of hours during the day, and then at night from about 8-10. They enjoyed the pool and splash park - but at their age, it lasted about an hour or so and then they had nothing else to do. They loved it camp though! The staff was so nice and they had many activities for them to do. Each night was a different theme and they did crafts, played games, etc. It was very secure in that you pre-register online and you can delegate several people to pick up and drop off the kids. They get a nametag to wear all week with their name, age, and muster station. They also give you a cell phone so they can call you if there is an issue. I never needed to use it though. My son is 5 ½ and my daughter is 2 ½ - so my son was just on the border of the 6 year old group. Luckily he is a “young” 5 so he liked the games and he liked being with his sister. If your kid is more mature or has older siblings, I’m not sure they would enjoy it. At one point they let my son play with the video games that were in the older section and he asked to go into that section at night and they told him no. The staff was super nice and best of all there were lots of kids in there - sometimes at resorts and stuff they have these programs but no one goes, so they aren't as much fun. There were always kids in there and that made a huge difference.

We missed the Dr. Seuss parade b/c the kids were swimming at that time.

The kids did the Teddy Bear Workshop, which is a scaled down version of Build-a-Bear. I had read about this on here or I would have had no idea what it was. There were only a couple of families there. The kid chooses an animal, and you get the whole package (stuffing, a little star to put inside, a cardboard “house”, a Carnival tee shirt for the animal and a birth certificate). You have to stuff it yourself though – there is no machine. This was my kids’ cruise souvenir and they loved it. My son picked a blue owl and my daughter a monkey. The total for both was $39 and I think it was totally worth it.

My “improvements” for camp carnival – I don’t know why Carnival designed the ship like this, but on the Pride, the camp is on the 5th floor all the way at the front of the ship. It's a LOONG walk from some places - like the dining room. With so many kids walking there, i feel like it should have been more central. It’s a small area, dark, and there really isn’t much stuff there. Luckily, the teachers were great, so they kept the kids entertained. But it certainly wasn’t a big playroom with lots of stuff. At night, if you leave the kids after 10 there is a charge. They usually just had the kids laying down on a blanket with pillows watching a movie. This was actually my son's favorite part and he liked being the last picked up.

I think there is HUGE opportunity to make this space more attractive and fun. I actually think this could be a big money-maker for Carnival. I would have been more than happy to pay more for extra activities that they did with the kids – stuff beyond generic arts and crafts. I would have expected more unique activities – it was essentially just a daycare center. I would also suggest that they provide food for the kids. Sometimes my kids wanted to stay longer, but I had to feed them so they were forced to leave – which lead to crying and screaming and me forcing them to eat. If the camp had some sandwiches or snacks, it would have been enough. I know there are allergy issues, but there has to be a way.

Pixels Pictures: I’ll start by saying that I spent $450 on pictures and that I’m slightly obsessed with pictures in general (although I don’t even own more than my iPhone camera). My mom and MIL also spent a ton of $ on pictures. Even though I think they can make this so much better, I'm glad they had it and I love my pics. I’ll also say that this entire process was wayyy too painful and time-consuming and stressful. I took my first cruise on Celebrity 20 years ago and the photo process back then was the exact same process in place by Carnival today.

The good: there were photographers everywhere, which I loved. They took posed photos every night, you could always find a photographer if you were looking for one. That’s about the only good stuff I have to say.

The bad: They were expensive ($22 for a 8x10), they print out all the pictures and put them out on the walls for you to search and find. It’s fine if you take 1 photo and can go look for your 1 photo. But we took soooo many that I don’t even know if I saw all of ours. I also think that the photography was very 20 years ago – it was just traditional backdrop photography. Some of the backdrops were sooo corny.

The ugly: After I found my pictures and put them into a pile, they wouldn’t hold them for me in one spot so I could wait until the end of the cruise to select. I tried putting them in an bottom corner, but they were moved - so I had to go searching all over again. I was livid.

My other issue with the pictures was that there was always a line to pay or no one around. When you did pay, you were supposed to get a free gift depending on how many photos you bought. This was inconsistent depending on whom you were paying. I wanted to get my pics on a CD (they don’t do that) or a USB – which they only do after you buy 10 photos and charge you $1 per photo. I only learned of that the last night of the cruise b/c someone told my MIL and I had to go and get all the photos that I had packed out of my room and drop it off to them within 10 minutes of them closing. It was a disaster.

The photos are probably my biggest room for improvement in the entire cruise – Royal Caribbean uses the facial recognition technology so you don’t have to search for all of them. Disney gives you the card so that all of your pictures are together. Its 2016 – everyone offers digital photos and the ability to edit them or make them a different size. I’m actually surprised Carnival is so behind the times on this one.

I actually forgot some food stuff:

Lido Food – Breakfast: Terrible. I’m not an egg person so I can’t comment on that. I’m a pancake, waffle, French toast person – the pancakes and waffles were made from frozen items and were just bad. The French toast looked really good – but everyone must have thought that b/c I literally never had a piece b/c it was always gone. I usually ate cereal and croissants for breakfast. It was standard contintental breakfast food.

Lido Food - Lunch: Amazing – I was so incredibly impressed. Guy’s is as good as everyone says it is. My son is so picky and he ate a burger everyday (he normally won’t). I was so glad to see that the fixings bar was never empty. I’m always nervous with this type of stuff that once it runs out, its gone – but Carnival did a great job of keeping it stocked. The tacos were fantastic as well – the tortillas are freshly made right in front of you – amazing. I didn’t have the deli but those that did said it was good. The pizza was the best cruise pizza I’ve ever had. I heard the Chinese was good too. Overall – lunch food was really really good.

Lido Ice cream: Great – To my point above, I’ve been to other 24/hour ice cream stations on cruises or all-inclusive and they always run out. Not Carnival. They always had cones, bowls, spoons, and 3 flavors – I was so impressed. My kids loved it and so did i! It was such a nice touch - and it was clean!

So here are my thoughts on everything food and drink:

MDR: Of our 8 nights, we ate in the MDR 5 of them (and one of them I didn’t feel well so didn’t eat). We had a table for 7, but with the exception of the first night, there were only 5 of us as the kids went to Camp Carnival during that time. We had late seating – we are just late people – we wake up late and get moving later, have late lunch, nap in the afternoon, and then eat late. We eat late at home too. We fed the kids with room service or Lido and then had dinner. The dining room felt extremely empty for the late seating. I don’t know if the ship wasn't full or what, but for some reason we were always the last people sitting. Dinner was easily a 2-hour event for us. The only disadvantage to this was that we often missed or were late to the evening shows.

Our waiter was good and friendly. The food was good and I was overall very happy with it. I’m actually very picky and was always able to find something I liked. I like that they had the standing grilled items – like salmon, chicken, etc. that you can have with a sauce or side every night. Given that this was our first cruise in a long time we wouldn’t even have known about American Table had I not read these boards. We would have just assumed it was normal. Its interesting though b/c our group had varied perspectives on it. I was completely fine with it – I actually really liked having the bread and water on the table (and it annoyed me on elegant night when those items weren’t there). I didn’t mind not having the tablecloths. The tables weren’t wet, I liked the plates, I had no issue with it. My in-laws, the first time cruisers ironically, didn’t like it. Their “expectation” of a cruise-ship dining was room that it was very formal. The have friends that cruise other lines and they would have preferred the traditional look (or what they did on elegant night) every night. To each their own…

We asked to have cheese plates at the table when we sat down ach night and they were always there. The bar server always knew what we each wanted to drink. Of course you can order multiple items – at the beginning this was an issue b/c if we ordered 2 appetizers or 2 entrees, the waiter was waiting until you were done with our first round and then would bring the second. I’m sure this is the right way of doing things, but it took us forever and actually made us too full to eat. We preferred to have the 2 apps brought out together and then the 2 entrees, etc. This was my first time having warm chocolate melting cake and it was amazing.

Dancing in the MDR – I had asked about this in a post before we left and got a bunch of mixed feedback. As a kid, I always loved it. I don’t remember it being on HAL a few years ago. Now as an adult, I’m not sure. I think they danced almost every night aside from the first one (or they did all the nights we were there). Some waiters got into it, others didn’t. I enjoyed it but don’t feel strongly that they should continue it. My in-laws (first time cruisers) thought it was cheesy and felt bad for the waiters. I did miss the baked Alaska parade – I feel like that at least had a purpose (to bring you dessert) and was also entertainment. When did they get rid of it?

Cheers: I was always planning to get the Cheers package and then when they enhanced it, it was like a gift. My husband threw me for a loop a few weeks before the cruise when he said that b/c he recently lost 30 pounds, and wasn’t drinking much, he didn’t want the package. Of course I told him he had no choice b/c I wanted it. So here are my thoughts on this: I look at Cheers as being part of the vacation – not a value package or economic benefit. For my husband and I for 8 days it was almost $1,000. I knew I would never drink 15 alcoholic drinks per day. What I loved about it was that I could have whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I could try something new and not worry if I didn’t like it. I got the kids fruit smoothies, I drank milkshakes, I got special coffees just b/c I could. If I were paying for every drink, I wouldn’t have bought all those things b/c I didn’t “need” any of them. It was just extra nice not worrying about it. That being said – I thought the drinks in general were extremely reasonably priced, if not cheap. I’m used to spending over $10 on a glass of wine at any average restaurant. At David’s the most expensive glass of wine was only $11. Just b/c I could, I ordered the most expensive drink on the menu at David’s – it was $20.50 glass of champagne. Again – I never would have paid full price for that. But it was a nice touch, was something different, and I enjoyed it. My husband was happy he got it – he drinks whiskey and it was nice to try the different types. Our entire group had Cheers and we were all so happy we did.

David’s Steakhouse: I made reservations several months before our trip for our 4th day – it was timed to be right in the middle of the 2 elegant nights and right after our Chef’s Table. I was nervous we wouldn’t be able to get a table for 5 of us. We loved it so much we went back on our 6th day as well. The place was empty both nights. No need for advanced reservations. My advice – skip lunch and go hungry! Everything from the bread, to the chef’s compliments, to desserts were fantastic. For $35 per person you can’t go wrong. They allowed us to substitute the salad course for the appetizer (or get 2 apps if you really wanted) but would not allow us to get 2 entrees. We wanted to split the lobster ravioli entrée as an appetizer, so they charged us $20 more. I don’t know if its always like that but that’s how it was both nights. Service was great, food was fantastic, it was so peaceful – definitely a nice change from the MDR. Definitely go at least once.

Dr. Seuss Breakfast – this is something else I probably would have missed had it not been for this board. They had a table set up in the atrium on embarkation day, so we signed up immediately. I’m also glad I knew that they offered 2 seatings: 8am and 9:45 b/c they initially offered me only 8am and that is way too early (see my note above about being late risers). They did a great job with it and I was so impressed. All the details were so cute. They have a bunch of Seuss sculptures, a cat in the hat ice sculpture, cute decorations, and the characters all came around. It reminded me of a Disney character breakfast b/c they give autographs and take pics. I loved the menu, which was all Dr. Seuss themed, and the food itself was so cute. The waffles were filled with red and blue cream, the French toast had cereal on it, and the pancakes were in a red and white stack. It was $5 per person and was totally worth it. On a more serious note – my husband ordered the steak and eggs and said it was amongst one of this top 5 meals of the entire cruise.

Chef’s Table: Please don’t flame me for this b/c I know I’m probably in the minority here - I wish I could say that we loved this and it was the highlight of our trip, but unfortunately I can’t. It wasn’t bad, its just that it wasn’t fun and maybe just not fur us Thanks to this site, I sent an email months ago and was able to get reservations. Chef Vivek was great – he was so nice! I loved hearing his stories about his life onboard and how he got to where he is. Its really amazing what the crew does. There were 12 people in our group – and that’s probably why it wasn’t that much fun. Although everyone in our group was nice, we just didn’t click. 4 of the people were together, so kept to themselves. Everyone else was just really different and weren’t that talkative. The night started with a tour of the kitchen, which was very interesting. I actually would have preferred to spend more time in there. It was cool b/c they were in the middle of early seating so we got to see it in action. Then we moved to a private table in the nightclub where we had a 7 course dinner. Every course was so incredibly beautiful – the most beautiful, artsy food I’ve ever seen. The chefs that prepared it are so talented. It was very gourmet and fancy. I wouldn’t do it again though. You have to do this for the experience - not a fun dinner conversation, and not the food if you aren't a foodie. Actually though – I think Carnival has an opportunity here. Most people don’t even know about the Chef’s Table. They should create a small restaurant where they serve this food every night and just have people make reservations. They have the Chef’s Table more than half of the nights anyway. They can charge the same price. I would have preferred to just eat with my husband. Better yet – if I knew I could get several reservations, I would have had our entire party of 5 go (this didn’t occur to me when I booked it).

Room Service – I was impressed with how fast room service was. We put our card out and got coffee and danishes delivered every morning and it was always on time and accurate. We ordered dinner a few times for the kids and paid extra for the chicken fingers and pizza and fries It all looked good, but I didn’t actually taste it. I liked the added options on the paid menu. I was happy to pay in order to have hot food to give the kids for dinner.

I'll be back for my review of Camp Carnival, Pixels and a few other things...

Great review so far! We're sailing Pride in two weeks from today!

 

One question-where was the waiting area for FTTF?

 

Thanks. Looking forward to reading more.

 

Hi, you know, now that you ask - there really wasn't one. We are all new to this so after we checked in we were just going to walk on b/c thats what I thought we were supposed to do and there were no signs or anything. We were almost through the doorway when security stopped us. We ended up just sitting in the first row of the general waiting area. I asked the other people around me and they were FTTF also so we were in teh right place - its definitely nothing special.

Hi everyone!

We just got back from our 8-day cruise on the Pride out of Baltimore with stops to Nassau, HMC, and Grand Turk. Reading and following this site and getting all of your assistance made our trip extra special, less stressful, and all around better. I wanted to pass our experience along and give our perspective so hopefully it can help someone else out.

We did so many “extras” and did so many different things that I wanted to give you my thoughts on. The below review is VERRYYYY long and features info on: FTTF, cabanas, kids club, Chefs Table, Cheers, Dr. Seuss Breakfast, internet, anniversary gifts, Photos, David’s, spa, Dive-In Movies, entertainment, room service, American Table, tipping, etc.

A bit about us: we travelled with my family (I’m 34, my husband-36, and our 2 kids – ages 5 and 2 – first cruise for the kids, my husband and I last cruised on HAL to Alaska 7 years ago), my mom (64) who cruises pretty often, and my in-laws (65&67) who are first-time cruisers. I am a huge planner, worrier, and researcher.

Overall: I was 22 and on spring break with my girlfriends 12 years ago, when I last sailed Carnival on the Triumph. I spent most of that trip drunk and partying. I was nervous that this cruise would be spent with people like me from back then. I was nervous that Carnival was more “value” than luxury and I’d see signs of that everywhere. I was scared that my in-laws wouldn’t like it and that my mom would like the other cruise lines better. Well let me tell you – I had nothing to be nervous about. Carnival wowed me a lot. I have almost zero complaints (a few areas of improvement, but not complaints necessarily). I cannot say enough good things. The attention to detail was phenomenal and reminded me of DisneyWorld – a process and plan for everything. I was extremely impressed and happy with our trip.

In case you don’t have time to read everything here is the high-level:

Good / Great stuff: Lunch food, attention to detail, customer service / crew, overall experience, Half Moon Cay, Camp Carnival, MDR, David’s, Cabanas

Needs Improvement / Fair: Photos, Sail & Sign Cards

Terrible: Spa, Entertainment (shows only)

Background: when planning for this trip, my husband and I talked about all of the things we wanted in a vacation and prioritized our top 3 things – a true kids club (not a babysitter, not a nursery) that would take both of my kids into the same program/class (and not be concerned about potty training), convenience / easiness of the experience, and good food. After researching tons of land-based vacations and all of the cruise lines, the ONLY vacation that fit all of our requirements was Carnival – mostly b/c of the kids program. We live in NJ, so sailing out of Baltimore wasn’t too bad. We would have preferred to sail out of NYC or Cape Liberty, but Carnival doesn’t sail out of there in the spring. We chose the 8-day b/c the timing was right and the price was the same as the 7-days in May. You will see the theme of “convenience” throughout most of this review. As you could guess, b/c convenience is so important, cost is often higher. That is just the price we pay.

Baltimore: The ship left on Friday, April 15. My mom and I took the kids down to Baltimore on Amtrak on the Thursday before. We made this part of our vacation b/c I knew the kids would love the train. My husband couldn’t take the day off work so we left all the luggage with him and he met us in Baltimore at our hotel at night. Amtrak from the middle of NJ to Baltimore only took 2 hours, wasn’t that expensive (I think it was only about $140 for all 4 of us), and was on time and clean. We stayed at the SpringHill Suites at the Inner Harbor. The hotel is in an old bank and you are able to visit the old vault, see the old mail slots, and many other little touches – it was really nice. The location was perfect – only 2 blocks from the Inner Harbor. We had a package where we got a 1-bedroom suite and valet parking for about $215 including tax. The staff was SO nice and helpful. Breakfast was included and was a typical included hotel breakfast. My only complaint was that our room was on the 11th floor, which must have been the attic of the bank. The windows were extremely tiny and gave almost no light. The room was designed poorly as the bathroom was in the bedroom – it was annoying b/c my daughter was sleeping in the bedroom so we had to tip toe into the bathroom. Plus my mom felt funny walking through the bedroom to use the bathroom when my husband and I were sleeping. I would stay here again but would first see if they had a different room.

I did a ton of research and read a lot of great reviews about people that did the park and stay packages. The reason I chose not to do this is b/c we wanted to enjoy the Inner Harbor and most of the hotels that offer that are not directly in the Harbor. Even though they aren’t far, I was looking for convenience to let us walk back and forth between the hotel and the harbor. Plus, we didn’t want to rely on a shuttle to bring us back and forth – waiting for a shuttle, potentially stopping to pick up others, and being reliant on the shuttle is not our thing.

April is an iffy time in Baltimore – it can be 75 or 40 degrees. We were so lucky and it was sunny and about 65. The harbor was beautiful. We went to the National Aquarium, toured some of the historic ships, and had lunch outside. The kids had a great time.

The next morning was embarkation day! We left the hotel around 11:15. We had FTTF (more on that below). It was about a 10 minute drive to the port. Parking was simple – there was no traffic, no lines to pay, plenty of spaces to choose from. The luggage drop off process was easy. No complaints at all. So now, I’ll talk about my FTTF experience….

FTTF: I booked this cruise in October. As I said above, I spent weeks researching various vacations and making sure we found the ideal thing. Carnival met those criteria and I knew right away I would purchase FTTF. My mistake #1 was that my research at that point only consisted of looking at websites and several reviews (not Cruise Critic forums b/c I didn’t even know we would be cruising). My husband did not love the idea of cruising b/c of the lines and crowds. I convinced him it would all be ok b/c we’d just get FTTF – FTTF is literally what sealed the deal on this cruise. So I book the cruise over the phone directly with Carnival. FTTF wasn’t yet available and the agent I spoke to just told me to keep checking back. He did not mention how hard it was to get. I had no clue. Of course you can imagine what happened – I look back a few weeks later and its sold out. I call Carnival and of course, they can do nothing. Thanks to these boards – I was able to get their email address and put me on the waiting list. This was a huge disappointment to us – I was starting to stress already about the lines and the tender issues. Whatever – I got over it, made myself feel better by reading reviews of others who didn’t have any issues.

Well good news! Literally, 2 days before sailing I got an email that we had been manually added to the FTTF manifest. I was thrilled. The best part – not only me, but my mom’s cabin too! How awesome, right? Well, b/c my in-laws booked after us, I never put them on the waiting list. Que me getting nervous and stressing again. I emailed FTTF back, and they were amazing. I explained our situation, about how my in-laws are first time cruisers, that we really needed to all be together, etc. and they manually added them to the FTTF manifest as well. Carnival won us over just with this – 2 days before we set sail. For people like us, this made a HUGE different.

Back to boarding in Baltimore – b/c we were added to FTTF at the last second, our boarding passes did not have the FTTF logo. We had to explain at every step that we had it. No one gave us a problem, and we skipped all the lines (thank god b/c the line was HUUUUGE, and it was hot, and not moving). We checked in no problem, but they weren’t boarding yet. We had to wait about a half hour before they let us on. We got on around 1:30 – just like our boarding passes said we would. They did have to stop checking people in at one point b/c they had nowhere else to have them sit. The line built up and ended up snaking out of the building. I met a few people later on who were less than thrilled about this. I have no idea why or if this is normal.

We got on the ship amongst the first group and our room was ready. Had I not read on these forums that we are allowed to open the doors to the hallways, I would have just turned around and been disappointed. However, I knew we were allowed in so we dropped off our stuff and continued to explore. We had an extended balcony room on the 7th floor. After being to Alaska in a balcony room, I’ll never sail without a balcony again. We loved the larger room. Plus, we had connecting rooms with my mom. I found our room steward and asked him to unlock the connecting doors, and he did it without a problem. I also knew from these forums that we had to go to guest services to ask them to undo the doors on the balcony. Bc of FTTF we had no line at guest services, were first on the list to have the door opened, and it was fine. They didn’t actually open the door until our 2nd day at sea (I think b/c of the wind) but when they did – just wow. It was SOO nice – the only thing that could have made it better would have been a lounge chair with blanket (like they do for Alaska cruises).

Cabin: The cabin was fine – it was exactly what I expected but would have tight with all 4 of us. I brought a pack-n-play for my daughter (Carnival wont’ guarantee a crib for kids over 2 and I couldn’t risk it) and she slept in my mom’s room. My son slept with my in-laws or us in the couch/bed. The rooms were clean, but had a dated look to them. I think it’s the Orange/Peach color scheme of the room, and the teal blue in the bathroom seemed very 80’s to me. The kids got a kick out of the hand-held shower thing, but the water was soooo hot! There is a warning label on it, but I couldn’t believe how hot it was. We had no issues with slow drainage or anything. The bathroom did smell a bit “off” and mildew, but it wasn’t terrible.

I'll continue more tomorrow with my food review

Yes! Take a look at his page - I posted earlier tonight (my name is Kim) it's not there (at least I hope)! I've seen celebrities and businesses set their pages up like this. Normally though it is public.

That was my concern as well! His page is private so only he can see what you post on his wall and no one else.

I did google it and guess where Google took me - here, but tons post that was 4 years old and has some other random email address. So thanks....

Facebook worked by the way (thanks to the responder who told ne to post on his wall rather than pm him) and I got a response from someone in minutes.

@splintz I can't thank you enough! I'm printing this out and bringing with me - thanks!!