cruises42

9 minutes ago, Yorkvillain said:

Vision - until at least May, 2025. 

Thanks!

9 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Vision of the Seas.

Thanks!

On 12/7/2023 at 8:47 AM, RonLevittown said:

I have cruised Carnival out of Baltimore but no Royal. Our departure time is listed as 3:00PM. Can anyone tell me what time the parking lot opens?

For Carnial with a 5:00PM departure, they seen to open at 11:00am.

What Royal ship sails from Baltimore?

37 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

For Princess Carnival does Alchemy, comedy, included fast casual lunch options, towel animals and kids areas better. Everything else I would give to Princess.

 

NCL I don’t think got a fair shake with 20 year old ship in Alaska. I felt like they had a lack of entertainment options. But I liked their breakfast the best. Their MDR seating the best. I thought their MDR lunch options were better than Princess. I was surprised by the number of USB ports in the room (Princess had none). I was surprised by the number of specialty restaurants in a small old ship. Maybe comparable to sunshine. 
 

I’ll probably have a better idea with NCL after encore. But I like their free at sea and free at sea plus. I like their 10% vets discount. I like their cruise first/cruise next certificates.

 

Oh the deal with people camping out in front of the MDR…doesn’t happen on NCL or Princess. I haven’t really seen any long food lines anywhere the last two cruises. Maybe like a 7 man pizza line once.

 

Never had more than one person in line for coffee on NCL.

 

 

Thanks, good information. I would definitely miss comedy. we go to as many shows possible a day on Carnival.

23 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I can't say that one is a favorite. They all have their positives and negatives. I am working on a blog on that subject. I will post it here when it's done. I don't know if NCL gets a fair shake since I only did Alaska with them on a 20-year-old ship.

 

I did just book NCL again for feb 2025. Actually, princess was close on that. It was really maybe just a $100 or so difference between sky princess and Norwegian encore. But the deciding factor was Encore goes to three ports I haven't been to and sky only goes to one of them. Itinerary is big for me at this point. 

 

I'll also be posting a link to my Jubilee thread here in February if any of you are interested in checking the new Carnival ship out. 

Thanks. We haven't cruised either Princess or NCL. Just wondered if you liked either more than Carnival. We are interested in trying a new line.

I know you have a lot more cruises on Carnival but how would you rate Carnival, Princess, NCL (as your favorite)?

9 hours ago, Jan_In_Maine said:

Good Morning!  We got home about 11:30 pm on Sunday night - Spent yesterday going through bags and trying to reorganize.

 

We did have a good two weeks, but difficult at times.  This cruise was with our TA who we met on a cruise 17 years ago - she and I have been wonderful friends and we try to get together every so often to cruise.  They almost missed the first cruise as she wasn't feeling the best, but flew in the day of the cruise.  We got to spend some time with them, but on October 19th she got sick and was taken off the ship in Cozumel by ambulance ... On the 20th she passed away.  I am devastated, she was one of my closest friends.  Karen was only 63. 

 

Belle,, hope you are having a good time on your cruise.  Izena - hope that you are feeling better!   Jan 

I am so sorry.

11 hours ago, pierces said:

Pictures taken between Monday, October 30 and Sunday, November 5.

 

Hallowe'en. 👻

 

'Nuff said.

 

Rules: See above

That's it. This isn't a contest.

All photos taken this week are welcome (not just cruising).

Prizes will not be awarded. Discovering the joy of photography is the prize.

The idea is to get folks out using their cameras for more than vacations and toddler birthdays.

Post one. Post many. Up to you.

Have fun with your camera and share your fun with others!

Do you know what happened to Zackiedawg? I miss seeing his gorgeous pictures.

2 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I would call Jackson Square the main area of the FQ. Of the three I mentioned, Four Points is closest. Actually I’m seeing bourbon Orleans being close as well. I’ve stayed there a few times. They sometimes have good prices. Omni royal Orleans has a nice rooftop bar you can see Jackson square and the river from.

 

Thanks. I was looking at Omni yesterday and saw prices in the $200's and today it was $499

6 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I’ve never stayed there but would like to. It’s a historic building. Used to be a World Trade Center.

 

I'll check out the other places you mentioned. Do you know which hotel is closest to the main area in the French Quarter? I don't really know anything about New Orleans.

Thanks again!

23 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

most of the hotels it’s too early to even see. But based on what’s out there now, I would grab this refundable international house and then you can cancel if something better comes up. 
 

Thanks, done!

2 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Oh gosh. Taylor Swift is playing the superdome that Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

That sucks (for us).

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

Month, Day

10/25/24

5 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

What night are you looking at?

Friday

7 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Yeah first time, one day, I'd say French Quarter to start with. With walking issues I'd say you want to uber/lyft to a french quarter hotel and stay there. If I could pick any hotel there it would be the Monteleone. Royal Sonesta on Bourbon street would be my second choice. If price is an issue I've found good deals at the Sheraton Four Points on Bourbon Street. More of a 3-3.5* hotel where the other two are more like 4.5.

Thanks! I'll check them out. I was looking a little today and the prices were crazy (most were over $400, some even over $1000). Definitely over budget.

We will be in New Orleans next year after a cruise. We will probably stay only 1 night. Do you have any recommendations on where to stay and what is a must see? I was thinking French Quarter. One of our family members can't walk very far.

1 hour ago, Jamman54 said:

Patti collects me at the Burano Pool Bar and we head back to our cabin which is now ready……

 

 

 

 

 

The bathroom has a glass shower door…..

 

 

 

There is only one closet to hang clothes. The safe is the keypad type…..

 

 

This is the provided hair dryer…..

 

 

This refrigerator actually kept beverages cold……

 

 

There are three hanging hooks by the cabin door, and another hook by the bathroom door….

 

 

 

This is Blessing our cabin steward, and he really was a blessing! We requested morning service, an ice bucket with ice, and an extra set of towels. There was no problem with any of our requests, and he was a HUGE help on turnaround day with our move to our new cabin. I would take him any day!

 

 

To be continued…..

They had ice buckets? We always ask for ice, but I've been hearing that the ship didn't have any buckets.

Looking forward to this review!

16 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hey @cruises42 here are a few of the details I mentioned. And that pesky hook.🙄

Thanks, I appreciate the pictures and all the details you gave!

On 9/24/2023 at 8:44 AM, thesmiths said:

You in 7494?

We just did an 8 day ending Sept 8th in that aft wrap!

Have it booked for two 11 day cruises next year!

 

Cabin guy Ro? 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Did you take pictures of the room? We have it next year and would love to see pictures/video of it.

What deck are you on? We will be on deck 7 (aft wrap port side) next year.

18 hours ago, Willking said:

That is a really great photo, the moon looks beautiful and this color is really amazing

Thank you! The moon was so beautiful.

The sturgeon supermoon last night, 8/1/23.

12 hours ago, MisterOJ2 said:

So, I thought this whole "is there more seafood or not on the new menus" debate could be easily determined. I just went over the new menus and the old ones and compared. I'll put the breakdown below, but basically, it's very similar, but there was more seafood selections before - unless you want to quibble with what I classified as seafood. I used a fairly broad definition that included frog legs, alligator, crawfish, catfish and escargot. If you exclude some/part of those then the numbers get skewed a little, but not much. One other thing I didn't do was double-count the three seafood pasta dishes on the new menus. They're listed as both starters and mains. If you want to double-count them, then it makes the average number of seafood dishes on the current and new menus almost identical.

 

If I missed or excluded something, please let me know and I'll edit/update this. Thanks!

 

 

 

Current menus

Night 1 

3 Starters (shrimp cocktail, fried calamari, cured salmon)

3 Mains (Sweet & sour shrimp, grilled mahi mahi, grilled salmon)

Night 2 

2 Starters (shrimp cocktail, fried oysters)

3 Mains (Striped bass, lobster tail, grilled salmon)

Night 3

3 Starters (Shrimp cocktail, civiche, escargot)

2 Mains (Grilled tilapia, grilled salmon)

Night 4 

1 Starter (shrimp cocktail)

2 Mains (salmon cake, grilled barramundi)

Night 5

3 Starters (shrimp cocktail, steamed mussels, alligator beignets)

2 Mains (shrimp creole, grilled salmon)

Night 6

3 Starters (shrimp cocktail, crab cake, clam chowder)

3 Mains (garlic shrimp, teriyaki salmon, grilled barramundi)

Night 7

3 Starters (shrimp cocktail, fried shrimp, frog legs)

2 Mains (Penne mariscos, grilled salmon)

 

That's a total of 17 starters and 17 mains. So, an average of about 2.4 starters and 2.4 mains each night.

 

New Menus

Night 1 

2 Starters (shrimp cocktail, crawfish strudel)

2 Mains (BBQ salmon, szechuan shrimp)

Night 2

2 Starters (shrimp cocktail, calamari)

4 Mains (herb-crusted salmon, tuna nicoise, crawfish fettuchini, shrimp & fish cake/lobster)

Night 3

2 Starters (shrimp cocktail, crab & shrimp cake)

2 Mains (grilled sword fish, baby shrimp salad)

Night 4

2 Starters (shrimp cocktail, shrimp poke)

1 Main (cast iron bronzed fish)

Night 5

2 Starters (frog legs, shrimp cocktail)

2 mains (Penne mariscos, pan seared barramundi)

Night 6

2 Starters (shrimp cocktail, ceviche crudo)

3 Mains (fried catfish, linguine and clams, smoked salmon salad)

 

So that's a total of 12 starters and 14 mains. So, an average of 2 starters each night and 2.3 mains each night.

 

The numbers you mention may be similar for new/old menus, but they took away quite a few non-seafood items (mostly the "warm" appetizers and left mostly salads and soups for non-seafood/fish eaters).

I agree that there seems to be a lot more seafood especially the appetizers. On most days there are 2 "warm" fish/seafood apps and shrimp cocktail, and the non-seafood choices are just salads and soups. There used to be 2 non-seafood appetizers on most days.