wdazew

that's interesting. I wonder if their sale numbers are down which in turn means lower wait time.

It appears both sides have been well explained above. My suggestion is to look at the higher cost (sometimes) of Carnival tours is that you are also purchasing a travel insurance policy. IE ship tours = boat waiting for your tour to return. You and your hubby need to decide what your comfort level is on doing private tours. How comfortable are you if time gets away from you, do you speak any of the languages if you do DIY (frankly that option scares the bejesus out of me for this trip but that is my opinion). Research, Research, Research use this forum (roll call, ports of call, this page, the place that may have a book and face in the name), check out trip advisor, use the Carnival forum, talk to each other then go for it.

Whatever you decide, go with the flow, be happy and happy honeymoon.

We were part of the roll call as well and part of the group that was at Beach Limer. I do apologize for the confusion. I did not see a time on the goggle spreadsheet but did note that the taxi was not part of the fee for the property.

We very much appreciated the research you did and had a wonderful time there. Gail and her staff were excellent without being overbearing.

Please do accept my apologies for the wait time you experienced. I burn very quickly and easily so we tend to go early and leave early.

I personally can't comprehend why anyone would actually leave the country without a passport, but that's just me. I've had one for >30 years and I always have it with me when I'm on foreign soil.

 

I'm booked on the Vista Inaugural. I'm going unless the cruise is cancelled. The very top reason I booked is because of the stop in Izmir, Turkey, because I want to visit Ephesus. I need to visit Ephesus.

 

I'm not worrying about it. If we sail, I'll be on the ship.

 

I'm more apt to be hit by a car and killed crossing the street than in a terrorist attack. That doesn't stop me from walking places when I can!

 

I imagine Carnival is doing as much as any other travel vendor is doing and has been doing since 9/11.

 

I refuse to worry about things I can't control.

Exactly use common sense and for stars sake get a passport I never understand people going to a foreign country without one

However the Pride has a history of late arrivals. You probably want to do self assist

We will be on the ultra cruise on the breeze December 5th. This is our first ultra cruise. We are going on our second elite cruise in August. I have heard on other posts and people that the guest of the person invited is not included in the big drawings. The guest gets the drink card but not all the perks that the invitee gets. But hey I am still going and will enjoy myself. Good luck to all that get this great experience.

THat partially true. Yes the guest gets the drink card, invites to all the parties, you can do the day events the Guest just doesn't get a chance at the "big prizes" which last year were offered around 10 pm

My Premier listings come up (but are buried in with a bunch of others - I have to look for the "Special Offer" notation). I don't get anything for the Ultra yet.

 

My Premier offers have always been PC4. For me, it's just a reduced fare and $300 casino cash. YMMV.

 

There's a great price for an inside on Splendor on 1/24/16 7 night Western for $209! 11/7/14 on Breeze 8 night Eastern for $309 inside.

 

Still, it annoys me that BOTH years, the Ultra cruise has been offered after I've already booked a Premier, including air and pre-cruise hotel and scheduled the time off work.

 

Couldn't they pick a week that doesn't already have something going on for the casino?

 

<stomps foot, scowls and whines "it's not fair!">

We were told last year that the Ultra would always be at the end of the year with the offers going out Jun/Jul ish. It is supposed to be based on if you book previous Premier cruises. We did go last year and it was jam packed with give aways, casino parties, perks etc. The prizes were awesome.

Most of the Pros have been listed but it is great when you get a PVP who truly knows your likes and dislikes. Like others I do poke around on the website to determine which cruise we want and to get an idea of how much we could be looking at for price

The pros: she knows what type of room we want, will point us in the direction of possibility a slightly larger or quieter room that we couldn't see on line, if a great deal comes up - she'll call us but unlike others our PVP doesn't call every time we look on line. She'll also call us if she knows there is a great deal coming up for something we've been dreaming about. We have had issues with our bounce back casino offers and has been great being the "go between" to get the issues resolved.

The entire family: mom, brother, daughter, friend of family, use her so she knows all the "players" and takes excellent care of us.

Since there is no cost to use her why not?

We found the sound to be fine but we did have an issue with seeing the screen on the Conquest for the earlier showing due to the sun setting and that the movie was very dark (Malifenct sorry about spelling)

Most people walking by were very respectful

I'm still laughing at your response to chair hoggers! Isn't it always the FEW cruisers on a cruise who feel entitled to everything that they try take more and more from everyone else. For example chair hogging, cutting into buffet lines and constantly complaining at dinner. No one should be able to save a chair for any reason, EVER. Carnival should employ a new policy immediately and post signs that there will be no more saving of chairs.

 

In other words, if you are not in the chair, you don't have the chair. I don't care if you are eating breakfast, lunch or dinner. That is your deal. Aren't you taking up another CHAIR in the buffet room when you are eating? NO MORE CHAIR SAVING EVER! Chairs are a premium in certain places and all of us know that, but some passengers feel entitled to that space by placing towels, food, shoes, etc on said chairs early in the day and throughout the day to keep the chairs away from everyone else - THIS IS WRONG! We all paid money to be on this cruise and to all use all the same public places and just because a FEW don't know how to behave, then Carnival should step up and start a NO SAVING CHAIR POLICY FOR ANY REASON.

If you are not in the chair - the chair is not yours - PERIOD:eek:

Hello potty break! Is that an acceptable reason for someone to get up for a very BRIEF period of time????????

You don't actually wait downstairs just checking with hostess like any land based restaurant just avoid peak dining 6, 6.45, 7.15 and 8 do agree avoid spring and summer breaks

Sunshine is one of those you love it or hate it ships. If you have been on the Dream on Breeze, you are going to "feel" crowded. Venues are pushed together. For example on lido the bars and Guys/Taco bar area are very close so the lines can overlap. The theatre is SRO because so many seats were taken out. The comedy club is SRO and unless you are front and center, you end up "watching" the performer on the TV thru-out the room.

Pluses, Jamie Dee is awesome, serenity is 3 decks, yes 12 fills up fast but personally I prefer 14 soo much quieter and truly "serene." You do have all the 2.0 upgrades but still one of the middle of the road size ships. Hallways can get crowded faster during peak times.

Personally I would not go on Sunshine in the summer knowing it will be "maxed" out. Off season, if the price and ports are right then sure. But I wouldn't check out Sunshine just by itself for a cruise.

doable only if EVERY thing goes well. I wouldn't try it. We were only able to book a 7 pm flight back in December because I wouldn't book the 11. The Hyatt at MCO has very reasonable $99 day rates. We decided to do that. It was wonderful. We had an interior room which gives you a balcony over the concourse. We people watched from the room, watched what we wanted to on TV, got a great nap, and yes did walk the stores a little bit.

Sure I would have preferred the early flight to get home, but wouldn't do the stress to worry about getting to the airport and the TSA lines. Remember MCO is horrible with all the families who have little kids, and aren't sure what do or go. I'm not bashing kids/families, it just true they don't fly as much and have lots of stuff to amuse the kiddos. More stuff = long search times

We recently were on the sunshine. Not a whiff of smoke and nary a whisper of talking. The balconies aren't selling out either we've noticed on the cruises we are thinking about

a lanyard, drinks on us at the start of the cruise, a welcome aboard party, a plate of chocolates, sometimes cookies and/or chocolate dip strawberries, that sort of thing

It looks like part of the review was missed.

Here is the rest of check in process which is why embark staff got a low rating

So it is now sometime after 2, get thru scanner super fact, get the health form, go to get our key. The agent has our package but while double checking gives all our paperwork to another agent for a different couple – go stop them, get the paperwork back, check in again, our picture for the sign and sale don’t take, took 3 tries (trying not to be annoyed but a) hungry, still a little upset about the bus issues now this??) But she says it is OK go upstairs – nope our pictures don’t match the cards AGAIN.

OK finally on the boat immediate stop at bar for Miami Vice. Ah, vacation truly has begun.

So remember at the beginning we were on the Premier Ultra Casino cruise, usually we have a welcome letter either at check in or in the room. No letter. We know there is an event after sail away but no idea where or when. So down to the Casino we go. Find one of the host explain the issue and while I’m telling my tale, two other ladies come up to state the same thing. This is the start of a theme all week. Casino players would watch out for each other and ask if they had received the update, handout etc for the day. We were never given a reason why things were off, everyone was on the list but things just never got to the rooms. Breakdown by casino, room service for delivery, or steward no clue but did seem odd behavior for a “thank you dropping a bundle in our casino” cruise.

Forgot to mention that yes there was casino cash as well as the free room

We were on the Dec 6 Ulta. It was very nice. The invite goes out in August. No one really said when the 2015 would be held. Everyone offer may be a tad different based on your level of play. You had to have so many points (I think 7500 based on a John Heald facebook entry) and attended a Premier cruise during the year. Our offer was for an inside room which we paid a fee to upgrade to balcony. No transfers were included. We were one of the lucky one to win the grand suite gift. Very nice package, that does include ground transfers, 8 to 12 days in a grand suite for any North American cruise which must be booked by Dec 2015. It includes chef table, one dinner at upgrade resturant, $500 spa, $500 picture package, excusion packge, and some other things I can't remember right now. Every casino employee treated the Ulta guests as the very very best VIP treatment. If you get an invite, and if you can get the time off, I would highly recommend going.

Comedy Club – This is the first club that you couldn’t see the stage from every seat. There are TVs all around the room showing the performer but it just seemed odd. Hats off to the one comedian we did see (sorry don’t remember his name) who tried so hard to include everyone. He made a point to walk ALL AROUND the room to get to everyone. Also if you get used to using the Club as a deck 4 short cut, don’t try during shows, walk up to the 5th floor.

Balcony. This is the first time that while using the balcony I never heard another soul. I think this is a direct result of no smoking on the balcony. I’m not going to get into if it is right, wrong, no issue for smoking but sound wise it is much quieter out there.

Smoking areas: My DH does smoke cigars so the only place he could go under the new rules was outside on Deck 10. The Smoking area is very nice, comfortable chairs, sofas, etc. However it is not 100% covered so if there is weather, you will get wet. The only inside area I went to that allowed smoking was the casino. No it did not have a blue cloud hanging over the area, yes you could smell the smoke as you entered, it was passable, you wouldn’t have an any type of attack if you were walking thru.

We didn’t use the spa, gym or go on excursions since we had just been to all 3 ports in March. We were just interested in relaxing and walked around the ports a bit.

So how was our week? It was a very nice relaxing trip with just a few glitches at the beginning. If I was to give grades out:

Embark ground staff C-

Guest Services A

Main Dining Room Staff A

Room Service Staff A

Food B (I’m not a foodie but I am picky I didn’t have any issues)

Steward A

Casino area staff A (LOL they better have had an A)

Casino package communication D

Entertainment B

Debark A

The final sign and sail card issue occurred Sunday when I decided to donate to our PVP 401K plan via the slot machines (LOL). The machine said hello Beth, yup you are on board but no don’t want to take your money. Found a slot attendant, she tried, said to go down get a new card. Down to guest services, 3 new cards later finally I was able to make that donation.

The Ship Itself.

After 2 weeks I really can’t state if I am a fan or hater of Sunshine. If I had a choice between 2 ships for the same price and itinerary, I probably would go with the other ship. Yes it has all the 2.0 features but they are so cramped together that I can see why Sunshine has her haters. I definitely wouldn’t want a high season full passenger load with the limited public space on the premium decks (lido, Deck 5, theatre etc).

I’m not really a fan of the anytime dining check in on the 5th floor then walking down 2 flights of stairs for the table, but they really can’t handle the flow any other way. There wasn’t a line but we also weren’t going right as it opened or what would be a premium time. In fact we never had to wait with a beeper but I did see others on formal night waiting.

Room Service was used every morning for coffee and Danish and was always on time if not early.

Lido buffet was fairly easy to get around. The tip to go all the way in the back is a good one until others figure out that is only at night that you the up charge.

Theatre – Play List Productions. This is another area that seems to draw very strong emotions. We did attend two shows and we enjoyed them. However with taking part of the theatre for guest rooms, the seats fill very fast. If you want to attend an event in the theatre or the comedy club GO EARLY. Yes you will sit there for 30 minutes but at least you will be seated and hopefully somewhere that you can see.

This is a bit delayed. There will no food porn or ship pictures. Just a basic recap of the Sunshine since the reviews prior to our leaving were more negative than positive.

This was the Premier Ultra Casino cruise. While I understand that they wanted to keep track of who was attending, I do wish we could use our normal PVP but I’m not going to argue with a free inside room which we were able to upgrade to a balcony.

This is the first time we used Carnival transfer service and frankly I wasn’t impressed. Normally I would book separate arrangements but neither of us could get off early enough on Friday the 5th to go down a day early like we prefer. Since we were flying in the morning of the cruise (do not recommend but what are going to do if you have to. . .) we decided to use Carnival service so at least if we got to MCO timely we knew the boat wouldn’t leave without us. The flight from RIC to MCO was very easy and arrived early (10:30), YEAH! Went to the bottom of the baggage pick up area, saw the Carnival rep, and thought OK this won’t be so bad. We got our bags walked to the end of the terminal saw a bus leaving but knew more would be coming. Check in again at the desk and was told it would be about 40 minutes. This was 11 am. We then waited and waited until 1 pm for the bus. We figured out that the bus we saw left drove over and came back. In my opinion this is a fail for Carnival, they should have buses running every hour but that is my opinion. The bus finally arrives; we have a wheel chair assist and a very limited walking passenger. Totally agree they need to get on first and was very glad to see staff insist on them getting first. In an effort to help move things, ground staff loaded ALL baggage; the driver did not touch any piece of luggage at MCO. Everyone boards, everyone happy only 45 minutes from the boat. Not so fast my friends, we again waited for the wheelchair (again TOTALLY agree) but where I have an issue is the driver locks us in the bus until he unloads all baggage which we are not to touch because the porters are going to take to the dock. The driver then proceeds to hold his hand out for a tip. I didn’t see much of anyone giving a tip after the delay in waiting 2 hours at MCO, and waiting while he unloaded the luggage. If it is a safety issue, then at least have the terminal staff hand out the health forms so we can fill those out while stuck on the bus.

While you will have the ship to yourself, the bars will not be available for drinks as they are uploading the new manifest. It is way cool to have the ship to yourself however. You will be asked if you plan to leave the area (go shopping, your car if at the port etc) and you will be given directions how to by pass the check in

Also if you have assigned dining sometime during the week you can meet with the Maitre D' to request your seating

It was horrible but Carnival did handle relaying the news why we were staying in HMC professionally. He did not share "gory" details just the bare minimum in deference to the family. The video dude will get his karma at some point in time. The previous poster is correct USA medical training cannot be expected outside the USA. Should the life guards have done more, maybe, could other medical trained people (passengers, crew, whoever) done the switch off, again maybe

When you arrived at the port at 10:30 was the line of cars waiting to park very long?

We too were on the cruise. The staff was truly awesome. The Pride does have a rep of coming in late. Even the inside port staff were talking "laughing" about them being consisently (sorry for the spelling) late.

There were about 4 rows of 25 when they started letting cars in to park.

We got back at 9 we were out to car by 9:25 and there were already 3 cars waiting in line. I truly wouldn't plan on getting there before 10:30 and even then it is a 50/50 shot of getting in the lot.

We got ours unfortunately can't book a 3rd cruise this year bummer.

Now that the PVP can book these rates, IT'S SO MUCH BETTER

Our PVP is wonderful and keeps an eye out for these for us just in case we miss them.