johnnyi

Thank you so much wrk2cruise and Northern Aurora.  That's so helpful.   I really appreciate it!! :) 

Hello all

In March, I'll be sailing onboard Equinox in a Sky Suite.  I haven't been on Celebrity in many years and this will also be the first time cruising in a Suite on Celebrity. 

I understand part of the main restaurant is Luminae and reserved for Suite guests.    How does this work? 

Do you make dinner reservations for Luminae or is it open seating based on availability?  (not sure it's large enough for all suite guests so was wondering if it is like an every night thing if you wanted).  Are breakfast and lunch in Luminae open seating based on availability too?

If you wish to eat in the main restaurant for dinner instead and order from that menu, do you utilize the main dining room open seating option?   Our TA seemed to think it wasn't necessary to select main seating or late seating etc for the main restaurant since we were in a suite. 

Thanks for any feedback or advice and apologies in advance of this has been discussed anywhere else and I just missed seeing it.  :)

Johnny

I've done several Spring Break, Christmas and Thanksgiving onboard Carnival.   While all of them were crowded, for the most part it was a ton of families.  Lots of kids yes, but we didn't find that the kids "took over" the ship or cause any major issues.  We didn't find our spring break cruise to be a much, much different demographic than Christmas or Thanksgiving.  It wasn't rowdy on our 7-day Mexico Spring Break cruise. 

I was just on the Horizon Thanksgiving cruise and it was awesome!!  Really loved it.  Have a blast!     

Great! Thanks for all the info. We'll be on the Pearl in a little over 6 weeks! Can't wait! Do you remember who the Captain was?

It was Captain Paul (don't know a last name). He made daily announcements on the PA system and not just the typical ship's midday location announcements. This was appreciated, as some cruises you never hear from the Captain or feel he's interested in you, or the voyage for that matter. :)

Thanks for the picture of Spinnaker Lounge on the Pearl. So there are no more of the couches in there that people used to nap on?

The only couches are the small ones that are seen in the far left side of the picture. I didn't see any couches that would be conducive for a nap. :) Also, there are no bar stools at the bar. I didn't see any furniture in there that was previously there pre-refurb. Interesting to note as well that Bliss was used only for Karaoke at night and the DJ now plays at night in Spinnaker.

There weren't any video game or gambling machines in the Spinnaker on Pearl.

The Spinnaker had new carpeting, upholstery and furniture. IMO, it looked great and appears much more classy/grown up than before. I noticed some of the white donut chairs were in the photo room and also card rooms between the main pool and the spa. Some of the other public areas seemed to have a mix of new carpeting, furniture, upholstery or all three.

Pic of Spinnaker included. Hope this works.

I thought I would do this review "a la Cruise Critic style", noting some hits, misses and some things that were in between.

Hits

• Ship refurb - since a visit to the Pearl less than a year ago, I noticed many public areas had new carpeting, new upholstery, new furniture, or all three.
  
• Captain - Captain Paul made announcements daily, and not just the typical longitude/latitude information.
  
• Washy washy singers - Two crew members at the midship entrance to the Garden Café played the guitar and sang every morning for breakfast and lunch. Cute touch and nice way to remind you to sanitize your hands.
  
• Garden Café - the variety here for all three meals was impressive. You'd be hard-pressed not to find something that piques your interest.
  
• Music onboard - for the most part, the musicians were great. Special props to the Caribbean band "Energy Plus" and the female lead singer. Wow, can she sing.
  
• Food - We found all meals in all venues to be very good. It's fun to have so many restaurants to choose from.
  
• Medical center - My traveling companion had to visit the infirmary and remain there for a few hours (she's ok) but the medical staff were excellent and very thorough.
  

In Between:

• Pearl Production Cast - While the "Legends in Concert" show was entertaining, their first show "Pure Variety" had zero production value and was nothing more than several dance numbers in lackluster costumes performed in front of a sparkly black curtain. There was no set. At all.
  
• Service - While there were a good number of very friendly crew members, there was an equal amount of crew who were grouchy, expressionless and overall just indifferent. Don't expect to get a hello from all crew that you pass or many instances of crew going above and beyond. There were many times I was seated in an uncrowded lounge and either waited 25 mins for a bar waiter or was just simply ignored. There wasn't a glowing feeling of happiness amongst the crew onboard.
  
• Beverage Package- A great thing to have and super convenient, but on the flip side, everyone must have had it. Expect a wait for drinks, especially by the pool on sea days. The beautiful Spinnaker forward lounge was not open until 7pm or after, which put extra pressure on the Atrium Bar and Magnums/Champagne Bar area for pre-dinner cocktails.
  
• Social media package - This worked fine for us, but those who have sailed on Carnival will find it much more expensive.
  

Misses:

• Mattresses - both of ours in the cabin were very saggy in the middle, causing discomfort. We heard several comments about this. Best to ask for egg crates. In our instance, one of our beds necessitated two.
  
• Photographers - They are everywhere. The pool deck, the lounges, the nightly events, the main dining rooms, the Steakhouse, the gangway, the Italian restaurant, the pier....
  
• This is not a new ship with all the entertainment bells and whistles, so those that have done the Celebrity Solstice-class, the larger Royal Caribbean ships and even the larger NCL ships might find the options limited and/or dated.
  
• Embarkation - could benefit from some additional volume/speakers as announcements were next to impossible to hear in a room of 1000+ people.
  

Overall, there was a lot to like on the Pearl, with some noticeable missteps, most noticeably the varying service levels . It's hard not to think of the heavy competition of more amenity-filled ships. While I wouldn't necessarily run back to this ship, it was a good, solid cruise and I'd probably consider one of the Breakaway class and above next. Those who are looking for a more traditional cruise experience and don't need the waterslides etc will be fine on the Pearl. We feel we got our monies worth and had an enjoyable week.

Thanks for reading! :)

The glass shells of the elevators are still there, stopped at the lowest level of the atrium. They still light up actually. I didn't look close enough to see what was actually inside the glass shells. However, the elevator buttons have been sealed over on every floor. You can't even see the buttons nor touch them. And "stand up advertisement banners" have been placed in front of the elevator doors on most floors. (advertisements for photos/dining etc).

Hello Cruisers!

I just wanted to post some random thoughts on the Carnival Inspiration Holiday cruise from Dec 22-26. I went with my mother and we had a very enjoyable time!

1. This cruise was full of families, as you might expect. I'd never seen the poolside bars so empty for this traditional "booze cruise" ship. I thought the children were well-behaved.

2. We found the crew/staff to be super friendly, happy, and accommodating.

3. We had Faster to the Fun so embark, debark and tendering in Catalina were a piece of cake.

4. Buffets were typical Carnival, no surprises there. Dinners in the dining room were good. I had read many previous reviews trashing the food, but we found it to be fine. We ordered off the Steakhouse menu once. ($20) The Filet Mignon was huge and cooked perfectly. My mom had the Surf and Turf. Although it took three times for them to get the turf part of the meal cooked right, it ended up just fine. A good sized serving of lobster as well. All in all, while not necessarily memorable, we had no issues with the food while onboard. Dining room service was great.

5. The Cruise Director NoNo (Noelle) was only on her second cruise as CD, according to her. I thought she was fun, accessible, approachable, visible and genuine.

6. Playlist shows were Motor City and Studio VIP. We enjoyed Studio VIP much more and the "after parties" in the atrium were fun too.

7. We took the Wine Country tour in Ensenada. Wonderful tour, although we were confused as to why the free bottle of wine included on the tour wasn't from one of the wineries we visited. I've also never really seen a tour guide make a point to talk to each guest for several minutes while on the bus ride, twice, like Pedro did. He also asked our names and made it a point to address us by name. Impressive.

8. We had an awesome Mexican lunch at Mi Casita on Catalina island.

9. Live music around the ship ranged from ok to good, but overall not as enticing as some of our other longer Carnival cruises.

10. While I don't think our stateroom stewardess necessarily knocked it out of the park maintaining our room, she was very friendly, addressed us by name and gave us hugs as we left at the end of the cruise.

11. Many have mentioned the 2 atrium elevators not working. No issue for us, but they still aren't. The elevator buttons have actually been completely covered/sealed over, so I doubt the atrium elevators are coming back to life anytime soon. On most floors, the elevator doors have had those standing sales banners placed in front of them advertising one thing or another.

12. Many guests fed the seagulls over the course of the trip. :( And the seagulls also fed themselves quite a bit when any leftover plates weren't cleared right away. If you have a fear of birds, be prepared to see a lot of them around the top decks.

13. We weren't overly fond of the Punchliner comedians this trip, but that was just our personal feeling.

Would we sail on this ship again? Sure! We had an enjoyable holiday onboard and came away with fond memories of the friendly crew, Christmas festivities in the atrium (even "snow") and the fun atmosphere onboard. It's a great little getaway. :)

PVPs are relentless, although I get it. It's sales and a lot of pressure to make target.

BUT, I specifically told them in writing to take me off their lists, noting I would never use a PVP as fortunately I have numerous travel agent friends. She confirmed that she removed me.

Then about 7 months later I got calls and emails again from a new PVP saying "I know you told us to take you off the list, but just in case you need assistance...." Wow.

Once you end up on their radar, it's hard to get rid of them.

Thanks for your review and pictures. I was onboard Mozart in July and LOVED it. Everything was top-notch.

As a first time Crystal cruiser, the only thing I found interesting was that none of the staff onboard, with the exception of Neil the Piano Entertainer, made any effort at all to learn our names. Was this a big deal? No, not at all. Just a stray observation.

Have a great time! Wish I was back onboard again.

SO appreciate all the commentary and photos!! Can't wait to be onboard July 13. Thanks again.

I was onboard the March 25th sailing. The basic social media plan worked so-so for me in the cabin (however not for my mom at all in the cabin). Everywhere else it worked fine for the both of us. If anyone is uploading about 8 or more pics to facebook at once, it can take a while.

When thinking about this cruise, my mom and I were a little bit apprehensive about going on Carnival during Spring Break. But, we easily justified it using these two reasons. 1. We survived Carnival Breeze over Christmas with 1,500 kids. 2. Spring Break seems to stretch weeks upon weeks so it was unlikely the entire USA would be off during the week we selected. As it turns out, we had nothing to be apprehensive about.

Pre-Cruise:

We stayed one-night prior at the Hyatt Centric The Pike (Long Beach). While the views from the hotel rooms aren't anything to write home about (stay at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach or another LB high rise hotel for that) the great staff, great rooftop, modern vibe, comfortable room and super convenient location well made up for it.

Embark:

We were in a Suite, so suffice to say embarkation was very smooth for us. Those who are not Diamond, Platinum, FTTF or Suite guests, embark may not have been as smooth, however we didn't hear any grumblings. There looked to be long lines and several large groupings of guests, but general embarkation did start immediately after those mentioned priority groups. I'd say FTTF is easily worth it's price, and not just for embarkation.

Ship:

This was my first time sailing on the Spirit class so I was very curious to see how I would like Miracle, especially having read that the Spirit-class was a favorite of repeat CCL cruisers. Long story short, I loved it! I found the flow to be very good and it was an easy ship to learn where everything was. Particularly surprising was the amount of seating available on Deck 2 and 3. Yes, the décor is over the top, but not as over the top as some of the other Carnival ships. I actually quite liked most of it. The purple glow of the dining room was fascinating to me, the atrium/lobby bar seemed to be wider and bigger than other ships and the beautiful Alchemy Bar with its sophisticated, more upscale décor would not have been out of place on a ship costing twice the price. Awesome drinks and staff there. I'd venture to say the only thing I really didn't enjoy was the "separated" Lido Pool areas. Granted, smaller ship smaller area, but after the sprawling and often tiered pool decks of others in the fleet, the Lido Deck pool areas here seemed claustrophobic and hectic. I'd completely forgotten that the more midship pool has a retractable dome. Now Serenity, this is the place to be. Having the whole aft pool area as Serenity was a huge plus, but it does get crowded. And fast. Pleasing to report though is that the staff, amongst their other duties, were actively policing as best they could those who had saved chairs and then left them unused for an extended period of time. More than once, we saw personal articles removed by the staff for storage at the main towel stand. Speaking of crowds onboard, we rarely encountered many. Horatio's casual restaurant on Lido deck of course had some slight lines at peak times and the Punchliner Comedy Club was bursting at the seems once, but otherwise everyone seemed to spread out quite well. There is a lot of deck space around the funnel and aft of the funnel, however most of the deck chairs available in the area immediately in front of the funnel were sadly broken. I also appreciated how the photo stations/backdrops were only off to the very sides of the atrium on deck 2, creating less of a traffic jam.

Suite:

A Grand Suite was our quarters for the cruise, and it was spacious, comfortable, and featured a TON of storage. The balcony was quite large too and having two sets of floor to ceiling windows made the room seem even larger. The Suite featured a separate vanity area outside the bathroom, in addition to a large bathroom with two sinks and a bidet. Two lamps by the bed(s) featured two USB charging ports each, which was a pleasant surprise as I know outlets and charging ports have been few and far between on most CCL ships. The suite air conditioning was virtually non-existent the first few days, then suddenly worked very well for 2 days, and then disappeared again for the last two days. While the weather was warm overall, it wasn't an oppressively hot cruise so to speak especially the first and last sea day, or otherwise we would have raised a bit more concern than we had already. Truth be told, my mom was happy without the a/c as she nearly froze in the dining room every night. In the end, this category of stateroom is awesome.

Food:

Typical Carnival fare, good food, some items very good, but overall not necessarily memorable. I always think that any meal I don't have to cook myself is pretty good. :) The dining room menu certainly has a variety of options should your first choice not work out. It's always a plus when you can say the hot food came out hot. The items on the menu that are inspired by the ports of call and region you are sailing I thought were creative, however I personally didn't sample any. The famous Carnival melting cake was inconsistent as one night it was perfectly done and the next night it was chocolate soup. I guess you have to ask for it "well done" if you don't like chocolate soup. :) It's worth mentioning now that the dining room is one area where the air conditioning is working perfectly. The further back your table was, the colder it was. As we were almost at the very back, the waiters actually started serving my mom coffee right when she sat down. LOL The dining room was really the only area on the ship where it seemed overly chilly. Horatio's restaurant on Lido Deck had no big surprises. Food was fine with a fair amount of variety, however Chopsticks seemed to be the most popular station for lunch. I missed Cucina del Capitano, but knew this wasn't onboard before we booked. The pizza was good, but could have used a bit more tomato sauce or a touch more cheese. The thin style crust is great. As I witnessed adults eating it at 830am, it must have pleased more than just a few palates. Nick and Nora's steakhouse was an excellent experience in all regards and having the restaurant located "in" the funnel is dramatic and gorgeous, as is the see-through stairway that leads up from the Lido. Definitely one of my favorite features of Miracle.

Service:

Overall, excellent. Being addressed by name and the remembering of our drink orders/preferences was fast and probably higher than past Carnival cruises. Another thing which was fast: the service in the dining room. Actually, it was almost TOO fast. You were barely in your seat before your order was being taken. On one occasion, my mom barely had the menu in her hand before a waiter asked for her order. Despite her verbally fumbling to make a selection, he didn't go anywhere or offer to come back. I'd say that from sitting down to when you received your main entrée the time span was about 30 mins, and that's even with having an appetizer and soup or salad. Maybe I'm a fast eater or maybe this is how everyone prefers things, but this was true of our entire section, even larger tables of 8. Everything came out fast; these guys weren't messing around. That being said, our dining room team was fantastic. Remesto, Danny and Jose were super friendly, approachable, and fun. Also a nice touch was the Maitre'D coming around twice during the cruise to each table to introduce himself and make sure everything was ok. Drink service during dinner was also very good, however this cruise there was no peddling of shots in those colorful shotglasses after dinner as we've experienced before. Bartenders and Bar Servers across the ship very friendly, with special recognition to the team of Elena and Vera in the Alchemy Bar and Bar server Yoki who served us in the dining room and was often by the midship pools . Service in Horatio's on Deck 9 was friendly as well, but seemed a bit lacking as oftentimes tables took a while to be cleared. This also was the case for most open decks. There just didn't seem to be the amount of crew to tidy things up, however by no means was the ship dirty or disgusting. All in all, the crew seemed happy.

Entertainment:

One thing Carnival seems to excel in consistently is the quality of the live music onboard. For the most part, this cruise was no exception. The band that played in the Red Frog regularly from Australia that also played for the 80's deck party had the crowds literally begging for more. The duo in the Alchemy Bar I thought were perfect for that setting. The Latin duo was enjoyable too. That being said, many of the bands started late and stopped early, at least compared to their set times as listed in the Fun Times. The Fun Times would list a set from 6:00pm to 7:00pm, however oftentimes the band would start at about 6:05pm and end at about 6:45pm. If the sets are only to be about 45 min, I think the Fun Times should accurately reflect this. It was slightly disheartening to arrive at a bar at 645pm thinking you had 15 more minutes of music, only to sit down and 2 minutes later have the band leave. When they were playing, we certainly enjoyed the music offered by most everyone onboard. In terms of the Playlist Production shows, we had seen most of them before but did attend Heart of Soul, which was enjoyable but modified to singing only due to rough seas. We found the singers to be capable during this show and the audience seemed to feel the same. The Punchliner Comedy Club shows definitely still live up to their R/X rating. Jeff "Big Daddy" Wayne was SO funny and easily the most popular comic over the course of the cruise. In fact, I believe it was his show that caused the lounge to bust at the seams one night. The shows were spaced far enough out this cruise so that the line forming and holding back of crowds was not necessary. No one was cleared out in between shows, but there was a longer wait if you wanted to hang around for the next one. The performances in the dining room by the waiters are always fun and it's great to see them take a breath and let their hair down for 3 minutes or so. You'd be surprised at how well the person delivering your food can really move once the music starts.

Ports:

This cruise featured two days in Cabo and one long day in Puerto Vallarta. I loved this arrangement. Tendering the first day in Cabo was busy at first (again, the Suite guests, FTTF etc helps with this tremendously) but the second day there didn't seem to be an early rush at all. In fact, Day 2 Cabo we walked right down the stairs and right on the tender. We did our own thing in port, with the exception of us taking the Rhythms of the Night tour in Puerto Vallarta. What a great experience this was. Excellent show, a much wider variety of food than I expected, a beautiful setting and surprisingly good food at that. My mom wondered how long it took them to set out and light all the votive candles. Ship's time was different than Puerto Vallarta time, so it was a bit more like Rhythms of the Afternoon. The tour left promptly at 3pm ship time, meaning you had to be on the pier at 2:45pm, so those wanting to explore Puerto Vallarta fully may not feel they have sufficient time to do both things. I'd do the tour again in a second though. The ride to and from the show is about an hour each way, and wasn't particularly smooth, so those who are prone to motion sickness should prepare accordingly. The booze flows freely, although I'm not convinced the rum punch actually contained rum. :) Oh, and if the huge Spring Break crowds weren't onboard Miracle, they were in Cabo. One section of Medano Beach was packed with college-aged kids dancing and carrying on. It was like what you would see on TV. (MTV Spring Break specials from the 1990's? Remember those? There ya go). Luckily, the beach in Cabo stretches forever, so you could avoid the craziness if you wanted to, but maybe not the vendors. :) Actually, the vendors weren't that pushy.

Debark:

Debark started later on this cruise than past cruises as by 7:15am we weren't even docked yet, although we were close. Using the Suite benefits, we were off literally within 10 minutes of debark starting so I can't comment on this much more. However, I must say Customs was ready for us. There must have been 7-8 officials ready to go. YES, 7-8!! What a welcome change. (Yes, I'm looking at you Florida ports).

Summary

For us, it was another great Carnival cruise and the price IS right! Was it absolutely perfect in every single regard, no. But, it's vacation, so time to have fun and time to be at ease and relax. Go with the flow. I always have said if you expect things to be 110% perfect at every moment onboard, you should probably just stay home or you might be disappointed. :) While there were some kids running around the corridors a few times and ice cream on the stairs once, it wasn't a Spring Break madhouse by any means. I also did notice staff members several times telling children to not run. A majority of the fellow guests were families and a few groups of college-aged or just past college-aged people. To me, Carnival provides a great value and is a solid, reliable product with itineraries for everyone. I always tell people "don't knock it until you try it." We've done the higher end lines too and are perfectly comfortable on Carnival. Otherwise we wouldn't keep coming back. They do provide the FUN and we'd happily sail Carnival again and Carnival Miracle. I truly believe Carnival doesn't get the credit they rightly deserve.

P.S. I won't really be back to answer specific questions, but thank you so much for reading.

I love love love the Bulgari amenities! Anyone that doesn't want them can send them my way. haha :) :) Shh don't tell my mom, she tries to steal the ones I come home with! :P

I'd give my vote for the Peppercorn Filet Mignon (I think its Five Peppercorn or some title like that) from Jacques that also sometimes appears on the Grand Dining Room Menu on the smaller ships too.

This was submitted in the reviews section, but I thought I'd post it here as well. I hope this might help others.

I traveled with my mother on this cruise, the Aug 19 voyage from Barcelona to Rome. As a point of reference, this was our 9th Oceania cruise. 5 have been on the small ships and 4 on the larger Oceania duo.

In our opinion, Sirena is alive and well and was exactly what we have come to expect and love with Oceania.

The ship looked great, very fresh and in line with the refurbishments on the other Regatta-class vessels. The carpet was still squishy new in spots. It was interesting to see the subtle changes made in Horizons, which really opened up the room and gave it a bit of a larger feel. The incorporation of Red Ginger is beautiful and exceeded how I thought it might look. The initial renderings of Tuscan Steak looked frankly boring to me, but upon seeing it in person it's very sleek and quite lovely. In regards to the cabins, we had an outside stateroom with full window on Deck 4. The beds were like butter. Divine. Best on any ship to date. Even better than Oceania's previous beds which were already lovely. Everything else in the cabin was fine and as we would expect. Yes, the bathrooms are small and weren't blessed with any renovation, so luckily you don't spend a lot of time in there. We knew about this all already fortunately. However, it was still a bone of contention though to new Oceania cruisers or new Regatta-class cruisers as this was overheard more than once during our voyage.

The food, with the exception of one entree (Lobster Thermidor) in the Grand Dining Room, was all delicious. Tuscan Steak's menu is large and includes so many entree choices. It is a bit confusing, but some of the pasta dishes that are listed as entrees can be ordered as a side dish. Red Ginger was exactly like Marina/Riviera, except on the smaller ships you have the advantage of tons of windows . We were lucky to get one of the coveted tables for two overlooking the wake of the ship. We didn't experience Jacques Bistro for lunch as this was an all port itinerary and we were ashore busy each day. The one day we did stay onboard in Livorno, Jacques was closed as they anticipated a nearly empty ship. As it has been mentioned in other reviews as a negative, we found the food temperature in The Terrace Cafe to be fine, no problems there at all. Lots of tasty lobster still available too, nightly. It is worth mentioning that food temperature of all hot entrees arriving to the table in the Grand Dining Room was HOT. And I mean HOT. (most impressive in our book). Tables for 2 in the Grand Dining Room were very popular on our cruise and those wishing for this arrangement often had to wait, but not long. Generally, if you arrived after 730pm, there would be a wait for a table for two. Ice Cream in the Terrace was not available as the display fridge was under maintenance the entire cruise, but the set-up in Waves was working fine. On the second to last day of the cruise, the Executive Chef changed. Mario out, Martin in. Judging by the remarks of the Hotel Director, it was clear that the new Chef Martin wasn't new to Sirena.

Staff were very friendly, talkative and service levels were mostly high, with some crew members going above and beyond. Our cabin stewardess was the most genuinely friendly stewardess we've ever had. Her assistant was adorable too and greeted us excitedly each time he saw us. We were always greeted by name by them both, come to think of it. As a team, they serviced the entire port side of cabins on Deck 4, which totals 25 cabins, yet they always had time to chat and we felt like we were the only room they had. Well done. It was also very flattering to be remembered by many staff over the course of the cruise. Drink service by the pool was very sparse towards the beginning of the cruise in the afternoons, but got better as the cruise went along. Happy Hour in Horizons from 10:30pm-11:30pm was often a big hit causing some service delays here but I do have to say it was unusually crowded. Extra wait staff was brought in most nights after the initial early cruise rush and often the head bartender jumped in to assist with the drink-making. Staff noted that on the previous cruise, the lounge was practically empty. Initial wine service in the dining room is fast, but it can be a longer wait later on when it's time close your tab. This has always been the case on our other cruises though, so we really weren't surprised. The Officers seemed to be a bit more present on this voyage and a bit more receptive to interacting with guests. (I know this has been a point of discussion throughout Oceania's life as a cruise line. Doesn't bother me one way or the other really, but worth mentioning for those who are curious). The Hotel Director/Cruise Director were very visible.

In terms of entertainment, the production company of singers/dancers were great, in my opinion. This was the inaugural cast and they still have about 2 months left. Four shows were performed, all were to our liking except one. The final show, Acoustic Sessions, was our favorite. The four singers had very good singing voices and were complemented by a dance duo couple. The shows could have incorporated more material for this dance duo as you knew they had more talent, but were unable to show it. Offstage, the production company was very visible and friendly. We had three other guest entertainers. One Male Vocalist who did two shows, one Irish instrumentalist (flute) who did two shows, and then another Male Vocalist the final night of the cruise who I understand did an Elton John tribute. We didn't make it to the Elton John tribute show, but the other two entertainers were good and seemed to be well-received. The Cruise Director Corey was recently promoted and only on his second cruise I think. Perhaps it was just the crowd on our cruise, but I've never seen Horizons on the small ships as active as it was on our cruise. Corey had a lot to do with this I do believe since he was up there every night serving as DJ, dancing tirelessly (for hours) and getting people going. He's got a pretty good sense of humor and it was fun to watch the antics and people enjoying Horizons. It is our understanding CD Dottie Kulasa will replace Corey at the end of November. There was one enrichment lecturer onboard who gave only two lectures, so this could be disappointing for those expecting more here.

The first three days of the cruise, the a/c was on full force. Granted she's always cold, but my mother froze. Ironically enough, the day after the mid-cruise comment cards went out, the a/c was noticeably scaled back resulting in one happy mother.

Embarkation, disembarkation, and tender service were all a breeze. We did not visit the spa, gym or boutiques. It is worth noting that for our entire cruise, purchases onboard were subjected to a VAT tax. The extra VAT tax was 10% for beverage purchases, 21% for spa services and 21% for boutique purchases. We hadn't experienced this before on our Oceania Europe voyages. It really dashed any thoughts of going to the spa or taking advantage of their specials, I can say that for sure. Canyon Ranch isn't cheap to begin with, so when you add in the 18% gratuity plus the 21% VAT tax, it was enough to make your wallet shudder. The VAT tax probably didn't help the shops reach their targets either. We also had no sea days and very late departures from port, so the casino and boutiques were often closed for days in a row.

As a side note, most of the inaugural festivities mentioned in the promotional brochures for Sirena never happened (inaugural sail away celebration, inaugural cocktail celebration). Could be again due to the extended port times, however, we found the pool deck full each afternoon despite the long stays in port. This cruise had a younger demographic than previous ones with a good amount of couples in their 30s, who upon asking were drawn in by the itinerary and consequently were pleased with the Oceania experience. Some were wishing for more entertainment and/or live music offerings (live music is limited to be fair, but again we knew this going in). Also, there were about 8-10 kids onboard, mostly part of one large family group. All were well-behaved. Many cruisers were from England, Australia/New Zealand, the US/Canada of course and a contingent of Russians as well.

We participated in two Oceania shore excursions, which were well-organized and arranged, with excellent guides. However, don't plan to ask the Shore Excursions staff too much in detail about the ports of call if you are on your own. My mother was met with a rather surly answer/flimsy excuse for the lack of information they had to her question. These questions are better answered by the representatives from the port/tourist boards that arrive onboard in the lobby each morning from about 8:30am-12:30pm. This is an extremely helpful service and is one I hope Oceania does not discontinue. While waiting in line to speak to these representatives, I was shocked at the number of guests who went to their desk and plainly asked "I've never been here, what should I do?" For this reason, you may wait a little bit, so it's probably better to come with something a bit more specific. Your fellow guests who are eager to go ashore will appreciate this.

All in all, we were most pleased with our voyage on Sirena and would not hesitate to book this ship again. We were blessed with beautiful weather (more totally cloudless days than I can count). It was a wonderful experience.

I just left Sirena on Aug 29.

Not once was the ship pronounced like FDR mentioned (Serena as in Serena Williams)

It was either pronounced "Sir-rey-na" or most often it was oddly pronounced "Sir-wren-ah".

No matter how you say it, Sirena is alive and well and it was an excellent cruise. It was everything I have come to expect and love from Oceania.

I think it was because the ship left from Spain, but there was an extra VAT tax on all purchases throughout the entire 10 days, no matter the country. 10% for drinks and 21% for the boutiques and spa. Ouch. This was the first occurrence for this on an O European cruise.

But for those nervous about Sirena, there is no need. I'd go back again tomorrow if I could.

I fell off the mailing list mysteriously and have tried multiple times over a 2 year period to get back on it without any success. I did give up. :) I do miss getting the new destination brochures automatically when they come out though but know they can be ordered online.

I wanted to provide a quick review of the onboard experience of the Nov 28 Carnival Conquest Southern Caribbean cruise. I won't be answering specific questions unfortunately, but wanted to give you my thoughts nonetheless. Items left out means we didn't experience that venue etc.

Background:

38yo, traveling with my mom. Have previously cruised multiple times with Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian, Celebrity, Azamara, Holland America Line and Oceania. This was our 7th or 8th Carnival Cruise, most recently having sailed on the Carnival Freedom in December 2014.

Overall verdict for those wanting cliff notes:

Great cruise, some inconsistencies, would not hesitate to sail on Conquest or with Carnival again.

Pre-Cruise:

Stayed at the W Hotel. Great property, but while the rooms afford some amazing views, they are a bit past their prime. I think a complete refurb is coming, but we'd stay here again.

Check-In:

We were in a Suite so we had priority boarding. It was quite fast and efficient, however after being given our Sail and Sign cards it became a bit chaotic. We just followed the crowd and boarded immediately.

Suite:

We were in an Ocean Suite on Deck 7. Loved it. We'll be hard-pressed to go back to a standard verandah. Plenty of closet space to afford us each having our own, large bathroom and no issues at all with air-conditioning. For us, the a/c worked VERY well. Stateroom attendant excellent and always called us by name.

Ship:

After reading some recent reviews of the less than stellar condition of the ship, I was mentally prepared for it. Turns out, I shouldn't have worried. While the ship isn't the newest in the fleet, the wear and tear is minimal and did not negatively impact my cruise at all. Ship was clean. No disasters or jaw-dropping discoveries of disarray anywhere. The iconic funnel could use some red paint though. :) We experienced no problems with air-conditioning anywhere on the ship. In fact, Alfred's Bar on Deck 4 was so cold it pretty much ran my mom right out of there looking for additional layers. :) Impressionists Boulevard (Deck 5) was beautiful.

Service/Crew/Staff (not including dining room):

Excellent. This is definitely one of the strong points of this ship. Everyone we came into contact with was friendly, helpful, professional and many called us by name or remembered drink orders after only one time. Impressive for a ship this size.

Dining Room Service:

This deserves its own section because our service was phenomenal. Definitely in the top 3 of all of our cruises. We had 815pm dining in the Monet Restaurant. It was clear late seating was not at capacity, which probably helped with our service levels, but we had 3 people taking care of us. Needless to say, they didn't miss a beat. They were so personable, offered honest recommendations on the food and again consistently called everyone (not just our table) by name. A blast was had by all. The waiters seem to perform/dance about every other night. Our bar waiter was only on his second cruise, but is bound to succeed with his friendly and can-do attitude. Such a nice guy. A magician even stopped by one night to entertain our table. Random, but he was actually good.

Dining Room Food:

American Table is in full effect, and I liked it. Prior to the cruise, I wasn't sold on the water already on the table, no tablecloth and bread basket put on the table, but for me it worked and was done without diminishing anything or looking tacky IMO. Actually, the water was poured and bread was served to us 99% of the time anyway. I found the menus to be varied with enough to choose from, although some of the entree combinations were interesting. (Filet Mignon and Short Ribs served together). Food was good, some items were very good, while some items probably should never have been plated for service. Oddly enough, the food seemed to deteriorate a bit in quality and consistency as the cruise went on. Chocolate Melting cake was perfection one night, super dry the next, practically soup the following night and then was back to perfection another night. (These are probably hard to cook though). The brand of vanilla ice cream used changed mid-cruise overnight as was confirmed by our servers and it was not for the better. Three people ordered the Filet/Short Rib combo one night. One plate was fine with a healthy looking filet. Another plate the filet was thin as could be. Another plate had short ribs that were 98% fat and really should have never left the galley. Side dishes are very small, but waiters didn't blink at all if you wanted to try multiple appetizers, entrees or desserts. Food temperature was consistently hot so no problems there. Despite these very small inconsistencies, we did not go hungry of course and overall enjoyed the meals and menus. The Flat Iron steak option that was offered almost nightly was delicious. The table next to us, who tried a variety of dishes, didn't seem to have much negative to say. Food that is served to me that I don't have to personally cook myself is pretty darn good I think. :)

Steakhouse:

Excellent in all aspects.

Buffet/Guys/Blue Iguana/Pizza/Taste Bar:

Lots of variety, good food, enjoyable meals. Pizza was particularly good, and I had no idea that Caesar salads and Chicken Parmesan sandwiches were available at the Pizza Pirate too. We rarely had problems finding seating in the buffet and if we did, we went upstairs by the Fish and Chips area where seating was always plentiful.

Entertainment:

Enjoyed Eric the Cruise Director, who boarded the same day we did. We went to all 4 Production Shows. "Epic Rock" was excellent. The rest I thought were lackluster, particularly "The Brits". The Conquest has a huge stage, so with a cast of only 8 (much of the time with just 7 on stage), it looks rather empty no matter how many video walls and pyrotechnics you have. Vocals were average. The live musicians/bands onboard were mostly excellent. We missed having live music in the lobby/lobby bar, but this was due to the Christmas Tree making its home right on the small stage. (Christmas Tree was beautiful though and the subject of many photos by all). Comedy Club was great and popular as usual, with the 10:30 show drawing massive crowds. So massive the lines went halfway down Deck 5. Combine that with the numerous photo backdrops each night and you have a bit of a traffic jam. 1130pm shows were never full. Two deck parties plus the initial sailaway party take place by the main pool, but it was hard to tell them all apart really as they mostly consisted of a few line-dances. There were many, many pushes for onboard revenue areas/activities via announcements, morning shows, daily program events, or staff stationed around various parts of the ship looking for business. This is to be expected though, so it wasn't surprising and didn't negatively impact us.

Debark:

We did self-assist. We met in the main showlounge at 7am and were off the ship 15 minutes later. Despite getting off the ship early, there was a bit of a line/wait (about 20 minutes) for Customs/Immigration as there were only 3 Customs officers present. No problems getting a taxi to the airport upon exiting.

To summarize:

I think for the price paid, Carnival is a great value. We would happily sail Carnival again and the Conquest. We mainly chose this cruise for the itinerary of 3 ports and 4 sea days. Many of the negative comments I read prior to boarding I didn't find warranted, but as they say "different strokes for different folks" and everyone sees their cruise through their own set of eyes. The social media basic package was fun to have at $25 for the entire cruise. This review was a bit longer than I anticipated, so thanks if you have made it this far. Hopefully I've presented a balanced view of the cruise. It was enjoyable!