evandbob

2 hours ago, sunonfire said:

We only sail on the Carnival Spirit class out of Tampa. We love the port of Tampa. The Pride is the perfect size ship for us.

We can drive to Tampa from Ft Myers, so we tried the Pride.  An old ship, and it shows its age.  The Steakhouse was open to the atrium and we had all the noise from name that tune contests, etc, held decks below.   I did get what I paid for, a bargain cruise, but won't sail it again.

Would rather l drive to Miami instead for a much newer Carnival ship, or FLL for Celebrity or another cruise line.

Horizon is a nice Carnival ship, sometimes seems more crowded than say Celebrity Equinox class.  As long as you remember you are sailing a bargain line at sale pricing, you should be okay. 

Post pandemic, I wouldn't expect Carnival to have "upped their game", so it might help to put that illusion aside as well.

Since I spend time in the casino, going from Celebrity's totally smoke free casinos to Carnival's smoky gambling area is annoying.

Any of the 4 MDRs can work, the menus are not limited to the individual room.  We stayed in 1 MDR all week, mostly with same wait staff, but ordered off any of the 4 menus.  Might take an extra few minutes when ordering something not on your physical dining room.

Some nights we ordered an app from one, an entree from another, and the dessert from a 3rd menu, none of which was on the card for where we were seated.

We've done this earlier this year on both Edge and Apex.

Two B2B sailings, total 21 days.  1st leg was MIA to SJU 10 day, then an 11 day SJU thru southern Carib and back to MIA.

I was living in NY at the time, so 21 days away from January and early Feb winter was gorgeous!

The 5-4-3-2-1 packing method is a technique that aims to reduce the amount of clothing you take on a trip. According to this method, all you need for any trip is:

• 5 tops
• 4 bottoms
• 3 accessories
• 2 shoes (a practical pair and a nice pair)
• 1 swimsuit¹²³

I've ordered and received non alcoholic beer in the Steakhouse, but I never asked for a non alcoholic or virgin mixed drink.

Since the OP mentions fireworks, one can experience them on almost any Disney cruise.   Probably the only major line to have fireworks year round, any cruise.

Post pandemic, almost anything goes, with plats & diamonds being shuffled into all boarding zones with priority within that zone only.

Seems like another earned perk being waysided.

Yet just because I have gratitude for my situation, I don;t lose the ability to criticize something I can't appreciate.  That doesn't give anyone reason to say I'm ungracious.

Realism is neither 100% good or 100% bad.  I can be grateful for the ability to cruise or vacation, yet still criticize various portions along the way.

An attitude of gratitude keeps oneself humble and appreciative of their good fortune.  Keeps entitlement at bay, esp. if one has been on both sides of the situation.

There's been a few times when we needed our hotel safe opened.  After we called for assistance, the hotel always sent 2 staff who each had a different key to open the safe.

Extra cash !!

I've sailed on some Carnival ships that emitted tremendous amounts of soot that fell onto the rear parts of open decks and balconies, and eventually into the sea.  Not pretty, and stinky as well.  Glad they are finally switching to less sulpher diesel fuel, or like the Mardi Gras, liquid natural gas., 

Seeing open flames shooting out of the ships' (or a planes) exhaust would bother me immensely as a safety issue.

Because Carnival continued using one time plastic items, inc. straws, despite legal orders to desist, judges invoked substantial fines and penalties that finally got Carnival's attention.

The idea that any one time plastic usage item can be safely used on sea going ships without consequences to the ocean and marine life is ludicrous. 

Plastic packaging, storage and dispensing items as well as culinary utensils are now banned - YAY !!

We generally play slots and amass between 1500 and 3,000 points on a 7 day cruise. Most of our Carnival offers were for a "free" inside cabin, but post pandemic we are now offered a free ocean view cabin.

We play the same amount on Celebrity and have accepted at least 10 free week long mid deck mid ship balcony cabins on their latest ships like Edge and Apex.  Sadly, those offers have now disappeared, but we were quite happy when they were available !!

6 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

I think we'll opt for bringing along our own (empty) plastic bottles and filling them as needed. 

Refilling water bottles is not recommended, as studies show that increases the leaching of  carcinogenics - https://www.onegreenbottle.com/this-is-why-you-should-never-reuse-single-use-bottles/#:~:text=Health advocates advise against reusing,but reuse should be avoided.

We have benefitted with casino blue chip offers of free infinite balconies on at least 8 or 10 cruises.  We guess that demand for IV isn't that great, so unsold cabins are gifted to regular casino participants.

For just taxes, port charges and grats, an IV is a bargain !!!!!

The easiest way to deter voyeur camera intrusions on a balcony is to go out there once naked.  For most cruisers, that will negate 2nd peeks.

Conch is popular with local men in the Bahamas:

Is conch a natural *****?

Like all foods of the sea, conch is considered an aphrodisiac. This seductive seafood was important to native cultures throughout the early history of the Americas. Its meat, considered aphrodisiac to most of its early enthusiasts, was enjoyed for its sweet, clean flavor.

4 hours ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

Celebrity has both PG and R rated comedy shows, but not nearly as many as Carnival.

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

Nobody does comedy like Carnival.

Celebrity's "R" rated comedy shows are fairly tame by my standards and not as wild/raunchy/outrageous as Carnival's.  In fact, some of Celebrity's "R" rated shows might be comparable to Carnival's PG.

No, but I totally avoid  3 or 4 day, {even 5 or 6 day} cruises because they are too short to begin with.

I'm fortunate that I have the time and resources to book 10 day to 2 week cruises, or 2-3 week land/sea combos.

1st cruise was solo, so I went with a very forward  "interior" fare class on Carnival that did have an ocean view window! Maybe one of 6 cabins designated as such on the entire ship.

Pity those who jeered.

On 4/17/2023 at 10:21 AM, George C said:

We have done about 60 Caribbean cruises and the older I get (73 currently) the more I want to just stay on the ship, nothing is crowded , drink package is included on our cruises and we also do music charters that have great entertainment even in port . 

Very similiar experiences in age with 60+ cruises, added that we have also stayed for land vacations on most Caribbean islands, often several weeks worth at different resorts on the same isle.

It's very relaxing to stay on board the entire week or 10 day cruise, uncrowded decks and adult areas, no kids, hot tub often only people using it.

I prefer a higher deck balcony for better views and less condensation.  I also can pick a deck which has cabins above and below mine, usually less extraneous noise.

The lower fare for a cove does not impress me.