KatieCharlotte

Trying to decide whether to stay in a convention center hotel, or farther away. We'd like to check out the Riverwalk Mall before heading to the Erato Terminal.

Articles about the Riverwalk renovations indicate that there is now pedestrian access to both terminals. I have read the we can now take an elevator from the Riverwalk food court down to both terminals. I have also read that we cannot take an elevator down to the Erato Terminal and will be forced to walk down several sets of stairs and through a no pedestrian zone.

Does anyone have up-to-date information?

Also, is there a Riverwalk Mall entrance on Julia Street that is an easy walk from the Courtyard by Marriott on Julia Street?

Be ready to party. The Victory usually does shorter "booze cruises".

It's a nice small boat. The serenity deck is one of the best I've been on.

 

 

Our 5-day Victory cruise during April was not what I'd consider a booze cruise. The majority of the cruisers were families enjoying their spring break.

As someone mentioned, the back pool is not adults only. That was a big plus for us because it was a nice, low-key place to hang out with the kids, with every food option they wanted. It also has a retractable roof for bad weather. The bad part was that every loud and annoying kid on the ship was in that pool on the last sea day when the weather was bad. When the wind wasn't gusting, there's a giant chess set up the stairs from the lido. And the Serenity is a very nice, quiet escape.

I agree that the lido hot tubs were not very hot, especially those right in front of the movie screen. Totally destroyed my plan to watch the Final Four from a hot tub on a cool evening, but they felt fine on a warm afternoon.

Be prepared for naked mermaids in the dining room. I was glad I warned my preteen son. You have to have fun with the tacky sea décor throughout the ship. We have the same approach to the tacky costuming in the song and dance shows.

Driving advice -- make sure you read about the Florida turnpike because it can be a bit confusing and expensive for those without a sun pass.

 

Tell me, should take a chance and give out to those who brag they leave with a $30 S&S and book independent tours? Or someone who will (potentially) spend again?

 

I say smart. And hopefully with some of our past bar tabs... I might make the cut some day. :p

I agree. They'd be stupid to give me a free cruise, unless my onboard spending habits change. I am happy cruising at affordable prices. If people would stop seeing it as some kind of loyalty reward or special gift and just see it as a form of targeted advertising, it would seem less painful. Yes, the offers may not all go to big spenders, but the offers are designed to fill the boats, get people exciting about cruising and checking for offers, and increase profits.

Im not a yankie i'm Canadian lol. I thought Americans called it Soda?

thanks for your help ."I didn't do any excursions and still found tons of things to do in port to keep us occupied." Do you mean staying on ship or walking around outside? Thanks

Yankees in the northern Midwest call it pop. I didn't realize Canadians do too. We did the four-day on the Sensation and did not do excursions. We took a van/taxi to free beaches at both ports and gave ourselves a walking tour in Nassau based on a guide I found online. We've also taken a five-day on the Victory (out of Miami) to Jamaica and Grand Cayman with the kids, sandwiched between Disney and Universal Studios. I highly recommend a cruise as a way to relax after exhausting theme park days. We preferred the Victory itinerary and ship amenities, but that would mean a longer drive from Orlando.

The amount you spend on board can vary so much. We are very frugal, bring our own pop :), don't drink much alcohol (DH doesn't drink at all), ask people to take our photos and offer to take theirs, and prepay our tips, so our cruise bill is about $10 at most. I do not link any money to the kids' cards, and they are too happy with the free ice cream and desserts to care.

I have never even been offered a special sale. I have told myself that Carnival would be stupid to offer me a free cruise when I never spend more than $10 on board and have only once booked a Carnival excursion. But, I was secretly hoping I would be rewarded after I booked with friends who have never sailed Carnival before, or Carnival would notice we haven't booked a big family cruise yet for this winter/spring. Still nothing. Beyond the enticements for casino spenders, "free" cruise offers seem pretty random. No matter what, their purpose must be to increase revenue, not reward loyal customers, so I'm not taking it personally.

We found the Magic to be excellent for our family with kids ages 4 to 11. My pre-teen son loved the sports square because it was the perfect area for him to hang out and make friends. The deck 5 hot tubs were a nice place to relax with my younger kids in the evening away from the crowds. Also, my daughter was fascinated by the magic show.

We also really enjoyed that itinerary. We did the River Wallace and Altun-Ha excursion, which was pricy but had the added benefit of being educational. In Roatan, we had a private tour with Bodden -- very affordable and tailored to exactly what we wanted to do. In Cozumel, Paradise Beach had something to meet each person's interests at a reasonable price.

We booked that cruise Early Saver because the price was much cheaper and we knew we were taking that cruise that week. We never had a price drop. I was not surprised when all the five-person oceanviews were gone months before the trip. One opened up after final payment, but the price was slightly higher than we paid. You could look at deck plans and try to figure out how many rooms are in your category? It seems like summer cruises often drop in price at the last minute, but it might not be your category and might be only guarantees (where Carnival chooses your room). I would book assuming that the price won't go down and then be pleasantly surprised if it does.

Everything was open at embarkation when we sailed on the Magic, and that was absolutely the best time to use the ropes course. It was frequently closed because of wind while we were at sea and we were too busy on port days. And of course wear your swimsuits or bring them in your carry on so the kids can get right into the pool and waterslides if it's not especially cold. If it is cold, it's a great time to use the hot tubs when they're not packed.

Our favorite thing about the Dream class is Deck 5. Plenty of space, open chairs, and hot tubs not packed with people. A peaceful place to look at the stars from the hot tub with my daughters before their bedtime. Also, the family oceanviews with full-size beds, not trundles, for five people, are perfect for our family. We also enjoy the sports decks on the Magic and Breeze, but of course the Sunshine has that too.

Thanks for the reassurance. As long as the odds are good that we'll make it, I can relax. After all, the important thing is making it to the port on time, and we'll be flying in a day early. :)

NOLA cruising experts -- Should I worry about a 11:10 a.m. flight home after a cruise on the Elation? The airline changed our flight time and the only other option gets us home late at night. We will self-disembark and grab a taxi on a Monday morning. The last time I was on a small ship I was through customs by 7:45 a.m. I know delays can happen, but would you say our odds of making the flight are good? We do have checked bags because the airline charges more for carry-ons.

After a lot of research, Miami was the one port where we decided to pay the extra and park at the port authority. Although some people report positive experiences with off-site lots, none seemed to have consistently positive reviews for both security and convenience. Sometimes, peace of mind is worth the extra money.

When we were driving in, we actually ended up in the wrong place because google.maps did not take into account the highway construction work, but it was very easy to actually see the ships and find our way back when we stopped relying on technology and used our eyes. It was also fairly easy getting back to the highway after.

We'd love to see you finish your review because we were on the same cruise and would like to relive the memories, but I understand that life gets in the way. I've never even started a review, so I can't complain if you don't have time to finish yours. But we'd love to see some more photos and hear your (humorous) perspective if you have the time.

Has anyone requested additional robes when there are more than two people in the room?

We would also like spring cruises out of NYC because we can drive there in one day. I understand that they weren't popular in the winter, but I'm surprised they don't head to NYC by the end of March to catch spring break families. There are plenty of options out of Miami. Looking at the prices of the Easter week Splendor cruise from Miami, I can't imagine they can't charge more from NYC. What am I missing?

If you are on an excursion everyone must wear a snorkel vest....I have no clue if there are smaller sizes for kids but would suggest you bring some arm floaties to supplement....how rough it is totally depends on mother nature...it can be glassy or choppy or have swells....if you are going diy get there as early as possible before the fish are hiding from all the people....if you are diy consider driving down to maho.....she could see some fish on the right side w/o being over her head....usually very calm and my favorite beach in the world....my grandson swam on his own for the first time there...

We're going to take an excursion I think. Even though I usually prefer traveling on our own, I would be too stressed about the travel logistics and being left behind with the kids to really enjoy the day.

In general, I like optional expenses that result in lower baseline cruise prices. I'm fine with separate up-charge restaurants because I don't have to even see their menu...and the pasta place serves a great free lunch. However, up-charge food items on the regular menu in the MDR are the one thing I don't like. One of the great joys of cruising is choosing whatever foods I want from a restaurant menu without price being a consideration. I'd rather not see that if I wasn't cruising on a budget I could have a better steak.

That said, I have never had any complaints about MDR food, including the flat iron steak. My husband hates "fancy foods" and anything with any spice hurts my sensitive-taste-buds tongue, so the MDR perfectly meets our needs. Yes, for our family and for the vast majority of our suburban neighbors, all those uncool chain restaurants do offer quality food. And on a cruise we get appetizers and desserts! :D We're the type of people Carnival appeals to. I realize it's not for everyone.

Is it correct that there is pedestrian access through the mall now that the mall renovations have been completed?

That's an excellent idea. My oldest daughter and my husband have been talking about getting some inexpensive snorkel gear, just to have fun with at the lake. Although it won't be lake weather before we cruise and the pools around here won't allow it, the tub would work. I totally understand the claustrophobia because it took me a little time to get used to it as an adult.

I will never fly American again.

I didn't have the best experience with American either. I booked a three-hour layover in Miami because we had to go through customs. They changed the flights, cutting our layover time to just under two hours. Then, our flight was inexplicably late, very late. In fact, three out of four flights were late that trip. We made it through customs and on the plane (the only flight that didn't leave late) by cutting ahead in the security line and running barefoot.

Spirit notified me immediately by email when my direct flight changed by less than a half hour. There are pros and cons to Spirit -- you need to know the luggage rules before you book -- but I appreciated the notice.

We'd really like to snorkel at Trunk Bay but would like to know what to expect for the kids. It sounds family friendly but I read a review claiming you need to be a strong swimmer. Our youngest child is only 6 years old and not a strong enough swimmer to be in deep water without a life vest, but she does know how to paddle. She panicked about the mask and refused to snorkel last year, but she wants to try again. DH and I can swim adequately but aren't strong enough to keep ourselves and her afloat. Her siblings loved snorkeling and want to try Trunk Bay.

Am I correct that the cruise ship excursions include float vest rental? Including one for a 35-pound kid?

How far out will we want to snorkel and how calm is the water in average weather conditions?

Will DH and I have time to take turns snorkeling with the older kids if little DD gets scared?

 

Sounds like for quite a few people, the kids menu has only come when they actually asked for it, which would be perfect! I couldn't remember if that was the case on our last cruise or not.

It has varied from ship to ship whether we've had kids menus brought automatically. The kids only ordered dessert from them because they preferred the adult menu and wanted to feel like grownups, but I can see why you'd want to avoid the kids menus. I would wait to see whether they are brought, and if they are instruct the waiter that you don't need them. I can't see a problem with a polite request. Our waiters have always voluntarily gone out of their way to make the kids, especially the adorable littlest one, happy, including bringing her a big bowl of ice cream when she refused to eat her entrée. :D Fortunately, we're pretty relaxed on vacation and didn't mind too much.

We point out that there's plenty of free (already paid for) things to do on the ship and then we don't go near the arcade. The kids have no money or credit cards on their S&S cards so they couldn't spend anything without us if they wanted, but they have completely accepted that there's too much fun to be had for free. Fortunately, they haven't complained about what other kids get to do. I don't feel guilty because I am taking them on a cruise.

My favorite photo from our first family cruise is all of us getting ice cream/frozen yogurt in our formal night clothes right after dinner. I found that I always had room for a little chocolate frozen yogurt. :) When lunch or dinner buffets are set out, you can also make messy ice cream cookie sandwiches. There's also the 24/7 hot chocolate machine, for the chillier nights. Put a little cool water in if it's too hot for the kids.

Mini-golf, eating ice cream, watching glass elevators in atrium ( 3 years old)

I can't believe I forgot to mention unlimited ice cream, which we allowed pretty much any time except right before meals. DS, a skinny preteen, had 42 ice cream cones in 7 days.

All three of my kids love the family-friendly comedy. They also enjoy the song and dance shows, even the ones I thought were not that impressive, if the costuming isn't a problem for you. I think the Miracle also has giant chess, which my older two enjoy.