Confuzzled

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

Should there be no rules at all then?  I can wear a tshirt to the MDR that says F***U on it?

Establishments have every right to make rules and enforce them. I'm just agreeing with the previous poster that I don't understand why people get so upset about what other people are wearing. After reading this entire thread I've gathered that some people perceive that it's a form or disrespect and take it personally. I don't relate at all to feeling that way. I'm not bothered in the least about what other people wear.

Also, I disagree with what I view as a legalistic interpretation of the rules. I don't think wearing a nice black t-shirt with pressed khakis is a clear violation of the rules, nor do I think Celebrity would view it as such and call it out. 

11 hours ago, CatDi said:

Well I can see what you are saying here, however, I am 51 and could not agree with peyeet more.  I'm a mother of 5 humans and I would absolutely teach them just that. Just be who you are, and don't care what others think of you.   That's all a matter of opinion of course just as everything is but I agree with this 22 yr old.  : ) 

60-year-old here agreeing with the 22-year-old

I'm not loyal to Carnival. We choose the cruise line based on the itinerary and price for the inflexible dates we can cruise. Carnival usually has the best price for the ports and dates we want. We usually cruise in summer when the other lines cut way back on Caribbean cruises. When we've cruised in the winter, it's more competitive and other lines are sometimes less expensive for similar Caribbean itineraries.

We went in June and my husband made videos. Here is the one of the ship tour:

He also made one for every day of our cruise, including San Juan.

Also, if you want to see additional videos of the ports, look at his videos from July 2014 went we went on the Valor with the same itinerary.

Also, if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer!

I cruised in June, three weeks after surgery for a fractured hip, and my husband brought me breakfast in our room from Blue Iguana each morning and it was on a tray. I have no idea where he got it, though.

Well... Talking Rain (the company who makes Sparkling ICE) has changed it's mind on cans since I first contacted them back in June when CCL came up with the new policy.

The press release on the cans came out in April.

I have celiac. The only room service items I have ever ordered are coffee, yogurt, and fruit.

I'm looking at the Courtyard Isla Verde as well. Any issues with noise from the airport while sleeping?

No, but we were upgraded to an oceanfront room, away from the airport side.

We just got back from sailing on the Liberty out of San Juan and stayed at La Concha. We loved it! We were upgraded to beachfront, which seems to be usual when we use Marriott points. The whole property was a delight, including the pool, outdoor bar and grill, and beach area. We were concerned that we might be charged the resort fee since we were using points but we were not charged. Another plus to this location is the easy walking access to restaurants outside of the hotel. A quick walk across the street took us to a good Puerto Rican restaurant that served mofongo and drinks on an outdoor patio.

I wanted to add that although our room wasn't ready when we first arrived, they took our bags and we walked to lunch. When we got back it was ready, so the late check-in was not a problem for us.

Last year we stayed at the Courtyard at Isla Verde and enjoyed it also. It costs fewer points than La Concha and we would have stayed there again if they would have had points rooms available for our night. We were upgraded to a beachfront room, which we enjoyed. The beach was gorgeous. We also enjoyed the outdoor, beachfront restaurant for dinner and the party atmosphere in the lobby on Saturday night. We could not hear the music from our room.

In the end I preferred La Concha, but wouldn't hesitate to stay at Courtyard again to conserve points.

Here is a video my husband just put up with views of our room and the outdoor areas.

Did they say why because i was more concerned about the packaging, not the fact that it wasnt allowed. I havent seen anything on NCLs website forbidding bottled water.

It was because they thought I might be smuggling alcohol. I had to open my luggage in front of them so they could check the bottles. Carry-on is the way to go to avoid the naughty room.

Last time I sailed NCL I spent sail-away in the naughty room picking up my luggage because I had packed water bottles in my suitcase. It was not a good start to the cruise and I'll never put water bottles in my luggage again.

We just got back from the Liberty. Our upper was down and it was just my husband and me. We had to call the steward to put it away.

I have celiac and had no problems with ATD. I also do not email ahead of time. I do go to the dining room early on the first day and talk them. And like previous posters said, they will come take your order for the next evening at each meal. You will have limited options the first night, however.

The sea day brunch is awesome and you can also preorder it the day before.

Be very careful at the buffet. I got sick the first day of a cruise when the hostess walked me through, pointing out what was gluten-free, and gave me erroneous information. I got sick from the carved meat. I found out later they use soy sauce to glaze it.

After that I met with the head Lido chef and he said to always call him personally when I get to the buffet and he would help me. He was even willing to make me something personally to keep me from getting sick. I never actually used that option because I didn't want to bother him.

Make sure you order the the gluten-free melting cake! I ended up eating it every night! When I sail NCL, I order creme brulee every night but it's not very good on Carnival.

Overall, they do an excellent job of taking care of me and my dietary restrictions without making me feel like an obnoxious freak who is causing them extra work.

we are going out of San Juan

We sailed out of San Juan last summer. They seriously do not care as far as I could tell. You have to walk through a maze of vendors selling liquor to even get on the ship.

We carried two bottles of wine on and then re boarded with two more after touring San Juan. Both bottles were in my backpack and after going through security they gave my bag back with a huge neon orange zip-tie attached to it. I had no idea at the time why and walked right onto the ship while having a conversation with my husband about what the zip-tie meant!

I didn't know until I got home and read it on CC. The inspectors had to have seen it and possibly even heard me talking about it but nobody stopped me or said a word! I would have gladly explained that one of the bottles was my husband's and had the zip-tie removed. Instead I spent the entire cruise carrying a backpack that marked me as a booze smuggler!

Last year we booked a guarantee balcony and were assigned a cabin on the Spa deck. It was very, very quiet and we loved the view. The rooms also have sliding doors instead of swinging doors, which I greatly appreciated.

There were two negatives, however:

The balconies do not have full overhangs and do not offer as much sun protection. While, I loved being in the sun, my pale, ginger, husband who has had many skin cancers removed could not enjoy it without slathering on sun screen and did not get to enjoy it as much as I did.

Also, the people above us could see down into our balcony, especially if we were standing at the rail. This was really only an issue during sail-aways and didn't really bother me.

Why would a person have loyalty to ANY corporate entity? I don't understand the concept.

I book with the cruise line that offers the itinerary, dates, and price I want. Loyalty is not a factor in my decision and I certainly don't expect any loyalty from any cruise line.

Why invest emotional energy into an impersonal business relationship?

I haven't decided yet what we're going to do there. It seems like a lot of money for two short beach stops with snorkeling. When we went on this itinerary last summer we went on the Kayak, Hike, Snorkel eco tour in St. Thomas and it was amazing. We had a great time!

So, after researching, I'm pretty sure this is a Captain Nautica snorkeling half day snorkeling excursion. If you search, you can find the website which describes it. They even list the shrimp cocktail and fruit.

It looks like Carnival used to offer a very similar Captain Nautica excursion and you can find reviews on TripAdvisor, as well as mostly favorable reviews of other Captain Nautica excursions.

I'm trying to figure this out myself! If we could figure out the name of the tour company, we might be able to find it on Trip Advisor. I'm searching...

I have celiac and always carry gluten-free packaged food on and off the ship in all ports. You're fine as long as it's not fresh food from the ship.

I jumped on this exact same offer yesterday for the Liberty. I upgraded from deck 6 to 10. I love being high up and I'm excited about the easy access to the pool and the Lido area!

I was not in set time dining and it was no problem. I think the chef does the advance preparation before arrival and just finishes it when you get there. My husband and I always got our food at the same time. It's the same for all dining rooms I think.

I was not told about bread in the deli, but I didn't ask. Another guest I talked to, who happened to be a baker, said he had seen gluten-free bread on one of the breakfast buffets.

I don't know about the Glory, but our PVP told us the Liberty has gluten-free pizza and I've read that Guy's has gluten-free buns, but I haven't verified that.

I got an email upgrade offer today and am very excited to upgrade from an 8A balcony on the Upper deck (6) to an 8F balcony on Panorama (10) for $40 total for both of us on the Liberty, June 14. (I realize I must include the ship and date or someone might call BS!)

Last year we had a guarantee and got assigned a cabin on the spa deck. We loved it the location but the overhang on the balcony was not enough to shield my fair-haired husband from the sun and he didn't want to slather on sunscreen just to sit on the balcony. It was only a problem at certain times.

Anyway, Panorama was our first choice this time, but we didn't want to pay the considerable price difference. We are very happy about the upgrade!

I have celiac and have sailed with Carnival. They are GREAT in the MDR but the buffet is difficult.

I was told that I didn't need to email special needs for my last cruise, but for my upcoming cruise, my PVP made a note of it in my paperwork. I'm not sure it makes a difference.

You will have limited choices the first night in the MDR. While eating, they will bring you the next night's menu and you will preorder. Most items were available gluten-free by preordering. Even the chocolate melting cake is available gluten-free and it was awesome!

The buffet, however, was a major problem! I not recommend talking to any Carnival employee, other than the head Lido chef. I received bad information my first time through the the buffet for lunch on embarkation day from the hostess. Unfortunately, the Lido employees are not well-trained about gluten and do not like to say (or are not allowed to say), "I don't know."

After I went to Guest Services about the buffet situation, they arranged for me to meet with the head Lido chef who gave me his phone number and told me to call him every time I was in there and he would come take care of me. This was not a good solution for me because we usually only eat in the buffet when in a hurry and I'm an introvert and didn't want to bother him. He did, however, want to make it right and meet my needs.

For my upcoming cruise, I plan to meet with the Lido chef the first day and rather than ask about "gluten-free" foods, I'm going to ask about ingredients. I suspect they cannot really claim that anything on the buffet is purely gluten-free because of the risk of cross-contamination. I plan on taking a risk this time if the food has no gluten ingredients and is not next to something obviously glutinous since I'm not super-sensitive. I'm especially going to scope out the salad bar. I got totally overwhelmed by the loud, crowded buffet area last time and didn't handle the situation well.

I also travel with a supply of easy gluten-free food and snacks so I will always have something to eat when I'm hungry, especially in ports. I bring gluten-free beef jerky, potato chips, nuts, Kind bars, candy, boxed picnic meals, pouches of tuna, GF crackers, etc.

Oh, and the ice cream is gluten-free!

I would be happy to answer any specific questions.

PS: We had YTD.

We got off and brought back more wine. :D