sguywilson

Here's some lovely pictures from a Carnival Sunshine lobby deck ocean view. The advantage of them are easier debarkation as that is where you get off (at least when she was in Port Canaveral). If you like to smoke, the smoking area is just around the corner. Also, we found them to be centralized to get to the happenings on board. Plus if you need a computer, they're just a little way down the hall. Loved this room.

I'm gay but I don't cross dress but man I was so mad one night being told to go change when going to the steak house on a carnival ship for wearing long shorts if I had a cute mini skirt and heels onboard I would have changed into that instead of changing into long pants just to say humph! right back at the maître d...some of the ladies were wearing the same thing! Only when they wear them they're called "capris" and their flip flops are called "sandals" or "flats". I looked better than the women did but I had to go and put pants on. You go right ahead and wear whatever the heck you want!

We went on Sunshine twice last year and had a wonderful time. We saw the complaints about it being crowded but didn't think it was horrible in fact we couldn't figure out why people were complaining. The serenity decks were awesome. Shows were awesome. Food was awesome. We were really happy with it. Crew was more than happy to please. We would definitely sail her again and we thought she was a beautiful ship. The only thing that's screwed up and I feel bad for the performers is when they did the refurbish they made the dressing room for the cast (shows) up spiral stairs so the singers and dancers can't even use the dressing room between set changes...they have to change on stage behind the curtain. Nevertheless the shows were out of this world!

Just back from Norwegian Gem - 9 night out of NYC - Not really thrilled. It was just okay.

This was my second cruise on NCL. Most of the cruises I have been on have been with Carnival. I cruised once on RCI on Explorer...just to give you an idea of what I am comparing it to.

1. Food in the main dining room or the buffet was not as good as Carnival or RCI. We mostly ate in the "Magenta" Restaurant (which is the casual version of the main restaurant). Found the food to be bland and not very creative or tasty. Soup selection was not the best. The onion soup tasted like a bouillon cube. The broccoli soup was also bland and with the cheese melted in it reminded you of snot or the slime from the TV show...you can't do that on television. The size of the lobster tail they served was a joke. It looked to be the size of the mini ones you find frozen at the supermarket. Also, it was served on the first night of the cruise so if you were tired after traveling and didn't feel like dealing with a restaurant on the first night and just wanted the buffet...you missed it. The buffet food was also bland. The only thing that was good was the desserts. By far the desserts on NCL are better than any other cruise line. The rumor is that NCL makes the food bland everywhere else but the specialty restaurants so you want to pay to go to the specialty restaurants...but I have to say...we paid the extra money to go to the Italian restaurant and the sauce was just blah...I think Ragu tastes better.

2. The casino had hardly any quarter machines. Most of them were penny machines and when you hit max bet it was like $4.00 a pull. On RCI and Carnival, they always had the quarter machines with the old basic slots with the wheels and at least a couple machines where the max bet was $0.75. Plus...on Carnival your room card and your casino card were one in the same and you could take money from your on board account and use in the slots. NCL you had a second card for your points and they only took cash. So if you didn't bring enough cash to play you were either out of luck or had to pay $5.50 to take money out of the ATM. I didn't even bother playing because it was so inconvenient and trust me...I normally play enough that I get the free drinks and also Carnival sends me the players club free money and room offers.

3. There didn't seem to be a lot going on during the day or at night on the Gem except bingo. On Carnival and RCI there always seemed to be something fun to do. NCL had the "white hot party" and the midnight chocolate buffet both on the same night other than that...it was kind of mellow. The only thing I really liked show wise was the "Second City" and "Graffiti" performances which were people they brought in from the outside to perform. The regular dancers, singers, and entertainers were just average...wasn't blown away

4. What's up with the room sizes. Seemed a lot smaller on NCL which is something we noticed on the first NCL we went on but didn't remember until we got our room this time.

They did give us all a bridge tour and held a nice reception for us as CC members...The staff were all pleasant and really made the trip enjoyable.

Trust me...I wish that I had a lot of positive things to say...Maybe their bigger ships are better? Plus on top of it all...our trip ended on a Friday morning...Thursday night I come down with a sinus infection and diarrhea. As I am waiting around for my color tag to be called to disembark, I notice there are a lot of other people around me coughing and sniffling. I don't know...like I said...I wish we had a better time. Think I'll stick with Carnival and RCI...Sorry NCL.

I wish I could say that I had a great time...

I have tried several times to upload the pictures/view from the window of this room so you can see how close you are to people getting off the ship...I will try again later.

Room Pic's. Room was conveniently located just one floor below the "Magenta" Restaurant and only one floor above the gangway and tender exit. The only complaint I can say is that it was a little noisy when in port or when the ship was tendering. However, for me was ideal as my 80 year old mother cannot walk far.

I am having trouble uploading some of the pic's but will try to add additional pictures below of what you see out the window when in port or when the boat is tendering.

Wow...I am reading this sort of hindsight. I was on Splendor and loved it last April and have been loyal to carnival the last few times. My first cruise ever was NCL but that was years ago. I booked Gem for 3/26. Wish I had read this before I might have gone with Splendor...but again I did t want to do the whole Florida Bahama thing again. Guess I'll see. Thanks for the info

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My partner and I are going on the Carnival Miracle 4/29/10-5/7/10 to PR, St. Thom, and Grand Turks.

Would be nice to meet other couples and make new friends. If you like dancing to club music that would be great too being that my BF is not into it and thinks I need to grow up and leave my past behind...LOL I absolutely refuse!! :)