misssea

I hear it’s a bit cool when cruising out of LA in November and heard you can’t really enjoy lounging in a deck chair on the first sea day or the last one because it’s always too cold. Is that always the case?  We are cruising Nov. 7-14. 

We go to Jack's Shack every time we go to Grand Turk. The jerk chicken is great and it is a friendly place. Their dog Topher is quite entertaining as well, constantly digging in the sand. We love it there!

We've used something similar to this in that pool and no one has ever said anything.

B & B wasn't on the American table menu on our 7 day Liberty cruise in November. It must only be on 8 day cruises. I don't understand how so many people say it's their favorite and then they discontinue it. I'd much rather have that than half of the American table desserts. The new menus didn't impress me at all!

I did not get my Carnival MasterCard while on the ship. I got a promotion in the mail to apply for one and I'd get $75 OBC. I have a better card than that one but for the OBC, I did it. Right now, there is a promotion that if I spend $500 for the months of Sept., Oct., and Nov. , I will get 10,000 points. So I am using it at times when it is beneficial but use my other card mostly. And there is no annual fee for mine.

My booking is back up but they only have $100 OBC listed and I have $200. I guess I'll have to call.

They usually have some kind of deal involving the Carnival MasterCard if you have one.

Great wolf lodge uses the wristbands. Its a resort-water park thing in the US. It was great the kids couldn't lose their room key slash sign card, but it drove me crazy at bedtime. I ended up cutting it off and having to go get a new one every morning.

The wristbands are not the paper ones that can't be taken off. You can google the Disney ones to check them out. I don't see Carnival going to wristbands any time soon but if they did, I'm sure they would keep the option of a sail and sign card. Personally, I would wear a wristband for the convenience but I'm fine with the current way.

I wore a wristband at Disney World. I thought it would be cumbersome and I'd hate it. Surprisingly, I didn't mind it and it was very convenient. And for those who don't want to wear one, I suppose they could put it on a lanyard like they do with sign and sail cards or pull it out of their purse and use it just like they do with their card. Also, they are removable so you can take it off to shower or at night. I will go with whichever Carnival decides.

I'm pretty sure my friends have used caribbeandaypass.com more than once with no problems.

To me FTTF is worth it for getting to my room early and for the designated line at guest services!

I had a great time on the Glory back in 2011. It had the friendliest staff I've ever cruised with. A lot of crew members called us by our names everywhere we went!

We stayed in Aruba all inclusive for a week. We went through Depalm tours for a jeep trip to the natural pool.

The Occidental is an all inclusive and offers day passes on caribbeandaypass.com. I think it's $77 but you have to get a taxi to take you there and bring you back to the ship. Friends of mine do this when they cruise there and I'm gonna do it next year when I go.

I enjoyed going to the free party and getting 2 or 3 free drinks. I think it is a ridiculous reason Carnival is giving for changing the way they do that. If it was truly because they were getting out of hand, they could have come up with a better solution like inviting certain decks at a time. It's not that big of a deal but I think it got to be too much money for them and they cut back on it. Just wish they'd be more honest about it.

In Grand Turk, you can walk a short distance down the beach to Jack's Shack. They have a dog named Topher who spends all of his time digging for sand crabs. Very entertaining. I've been there twice and I split my time between Margaritaville and Jack's.

I hear the dress code is business casual but as tourists, we may not be dressed like that. Do you think they are strict about the dress code?

Is there a dress code at Tommys and also, do they have a kids menu? I can't find the info on their website and just made a reservation to eat there before our cruise.

20 years ago, they had a cherries jubilee parade. Also, all of the waiters danced, not just a few of them.

It's hard to peg what's expensive and what's not, isn't it? I live southwest of Buffalo, NY where the cost of living is low. $30 a person around here for a good meal is expensive! With that being said, I don't mind paying more money toward a meal and I understand that in a big city like New Orleans, I should expecting to pay higher prices than around here. I appreciate everyone's input!

Thanks for the suggestions! Just to clarify, I don't necessarily want something cheap but I just don't want to spend a ton of money on a meal either.

I am looking for a reasonably priced restaurant that has good food for our pre cruise stay in New Orleans.

I am looking for input on the best French Quarter restaurants in New Orleans. I'm hoping to find a reasonably priced restaurant with good food for our pre cruise stay in March.

We sailed on Holland Zaandam last summer in Alaska. There were very few people using the pool but they didn't always have the roof closed. When the roof was open, lido was too cool to swim but when it was closed, lido was warm and the water was warm. Wish I had gone in! The hot tubs had some people in them.

You will enjoy Alaska no matter what ship or what CD. We went on Holland America and the ship itself was awful but we weren't there for the cruise ship, we were there to witness Alaska and it was awesome!