Tree Hugger

We were heading to the Regatta lounge about 7:45 this past Saturday with our luggage tagged for an 8:15 departure and a crew member asked if that was all of our luggage. We said yes and he directed us towards the gangway. We walked right up to customs with no line and were at our hotel in Seattle by 8:15.

My wife got the free offer in 2014, but we weren't able to take advantage of it since we had already booked a couple of non-cruise trips for that summer which at up the bulk of out vacation time from work.

Anyone have experience with Marcelo Alverado? Have him on the Fascination out of PR.

I like Marcelo (aka Marshmellow). We had him on the Magic about 5 years ago and he was great with the kids and really presented a family-friendly face rather than the I'm young, hip, and want to party persona (I'm looking at you Jase Apps). I know people react to each CD based on how they want their experience to be, but I liked Marcelo. I also liked Steve Cassel on our first cruise on the Ecstasy back in 2009, he was a real goofball so I could relate to him easily.

I'm not knocking the "party persona" CDs, that's just no my cup of tea, though they really seem to be popular with passengers. When we had Jase on the Freedom in 2015, I noticed that his energy seemed to be contagious with the people I saw him interacting with, I just personally didn't care for the guy.

I always figured there would be less children on an Alaskan cruise since they tend to cost more than the family-friendly Caribbean trips. Either way, there would still be substantially less children on the Regatta than one of the Carnival boats.

I'm curious to see how we will enjoy our sea days on our upcoming Alaska cruise. My wife and I do tend to spend a lot of time in our cabin reading and relaxing, especially if we have a balcony, if just an OV I'll try to find a quiet public deck to read. That being said, our four cruises to date have all been on Carnival so there has been plenty of in-your-face activities in the event I'm not in the mood to read.

This is our first on Oceania and my wife's sister and her husband will be joining us (first time cruisers) and I can see the brother-in-law complaining about not having anything to do (just his personality). I'd be willing to wager he'd probably spend his sea days in the casino. He's from rural Tennessee originally and admittedly isn't the type to attend High Tea.

speaking from experience, you WILL need one with a flash

The ship store prices aren't really that great anyway. More often than not the duty free stores at the ports are substantially cheaper.

This past December I noticed that the most expensive bottle in the ship store (a high end Johnny Walker) was $350 less in the duty free shop in Roatan as compared to the ship store.

tiramisu?

Can't remember which night, but I know I had it once in December.

regarding the "Behind the Fun", as stated above, book it at the excursion desk as soon as you get on-board. I did that on the Freedom last month and was on the boat before noon and was told there was only a few spots left when i requested mine.

It's well worth the money.

the boat ride part of the Lamanai tour is as enjoyable as the ruins, almost more fun

We were on the 12/19 Freedom cruise out of Galveston and had FTTF with an 11:30 checkin time. Just be sure and ask the port people where to go when entering the building, we almost went to the wrong area and would have been in a long line we didn't belong in.

We parked at Lighthouse Parking and boarded the shuttle bus at 12:03 and were on the ship champagne in hand at 12:31. I'd say it was worth it. The only delay we had at all was for them to check one of our carry on bags that had sodas in it because they checked each individual can to make sure it wasn't a dummy can containing "smaller bottles" as they said.

a couple of weeks ago on the Freedom we got a note in our room saying to go to the midship dining room to wait for priority tendering. We went to the dining room, waited about five minutes, another small group came in and then a crew member took us down to the tender and we were the first ones to get on the first tender off the boat.

they never even asked for proof of FTTF other than just verbally when we first got to the dining room.

We were on the 12/19 cruise and I have to agree with a few things. I didn't really care much for Jase (the CD), but there were others who seemed to enjoy his banter, just a matter of taste I guess.

Sometimes in the MDR I just wasn't really interested in the selections, but generally enjoyed what I had except for the Flat Iron steak, it was just flat out bad. I've had it on other cruises and just figured I got a bad cut this time.

We went to several of the shows, we missed 88 Keys, but the 80's show wasn't bad and the Getaway Island (I think that was the name) was OK though a little cheesy at times, the Heart and Soul show was just bad though.

Our cabin temp (Spa, 1109) was great and the thermostat actually seemed to do something when adjusted, that was a first. The shower didn't drain well so it would tip into the rest of the bathroom because of the ship's rocking. I showered in the Spa most of the time so I could have more room and plus it helped clear up congestion in the afternoons with a family of four in the cabin.

In that location on that Deck, it is probably the Galley

I'm on the Freedom on 12/19 and have FTTF. It's a little disappointing to hear that there may not be a separate priority line, I was kind of looking forward to skipping the long wait. On our last cruise (Magic, November 2012) we waited in the long security line for well over an hour. We drive down from Fort Worth the morning of the cruise so we usually arrive somewhere around noon.

On our last cruise on the Magic, we were in Cozumel with the Conquest parked along side. I was sitting on our Cove balcony watching for pier runners and happened to look across the way at Deck 2 of the Conquest and noticed a VERY attractive woman in an OV directly across from us that was in the process of disrobing near the window. She looked like she was reaching to close the curtains, but it turns out that she was reaching for her male companion who had also disrobed. They then proceeded to put on quite the interesting "show".

I went inside to close our curtains so the kids wouldn't see and my wife asked what was up. I told her and she went outside for a curious peak and she couldn't help but notice that there were lots of people on our ship hanging out on the balconies apparently watching the "show" as well.

I guess some people are into the exhibition thing.:eek:

I forget which boat it was, but I read a thread on here a few years back that told of an older lady who essentially just lived on a Carnival ship and only left the ship about once a month in her home port to go see her doctor. When it was all said and done, it was cheaper to live on the ship than it was to live in a retirement home. It's actually not a terrible idea at all.

I tried that on the Magic a couple of years ago, but it didn't take. Internally I think I was fighting the suggestion to relax and my wife said that as others were going into limp noodle mode as they relaxed I just sat there straight as a board. He had me and a couple of others who didn't go under return to our seats in the audience.

We generally get cheers, but won't on this cruise because I'm pregnant. :)

Sounds like one might have begat the other:D

If you are just trying to group staterooms together for table assignments, you can call Carnival and have them "link" your reservations. You will need the booking number for all cabins and the four-digit PIN for each as well. I didn't know about the PIN thing until recently, but I set one up over the phone by providing basic information and then had our other cabin do the same and then they were able to process the request to link the reservations.

This doesn't help with requesting a specific table, but it will get groups together.

I think the priority tendering would be a big help as well. FTTF is currently sold out on our cruise, but I'm hoping it opens back up because I'd love to skip the outgoing tender line in Belize.

If only $292 total for two rooms to upgrade, I'd go ahead and do it.

Drunks flying over the rails is a clear indication that Carnival has a drinking problem on its cruise ships."

Yeah, one idiot out of 2,000+ on board just one of a few dozen ships in a fleet isn't an indication that there is a fleet-wide problem. Yes, people will overindulge at times, but this situation is definitely the exception rather than the norm.

Lots of great posts on this thread. We've had a few annoyances on our past cruises (and every other vacation we've taken for that matter), but on each cruise there have always been some crew members that stood out and really made the whole experience memorable. Whether it's our MDR servers seeing us on the Lido deck and saying Hi and offering to help or bring us something, a CD that meets you once and then greets you by name whenever you see them again, or a helpful person at the Guest Services desk, there are always crew members that are really good at their position make the guest experience a great one.

I really feel for them at times seeing some of the crap they have to deal with with guests that have an over inflated sense of entitlement, but it seems like when a guest treats them with respect they return the favor ten times over. i can't help but notice when I see MDR servers clearing tables at the Lido buffet that they don't seem really "happy" cleaning up after some messy (and many times wasteful) people, but when you greet them with a smile they return it I like to think it makes you both feel good.

On our last cruise there was a family in our section that was pretty much the epitome of the "Roundell" family from Cruise Confidential but our staff handled them with smiles and patience even though inside they were probably thinking every dirty word in the book.

Coves are awesome. We had one on the Magic and loved being outside and that close to the water. You will get some minor sea spray at times, but not really a big deal.