momof3cruisers

Didn’t they come back from Alaska in Sept? We sailed in October. Pretty sure they are currently sailing from Miami. It’s very cold in Alaska right now. 😂

I am so glad service seems to have improved. I answered with some of it above. Dinner was consistently over 2 hours long with long periods spent sitting with dirty plates in front of us, often never received the bar drinks we ordered. Incorrectly prepared drinks in the comedy club were a frequent problem, (I got a Midori sour that was simply midori over ice and a “Kailua and cream with a splash of club soda” that was cream over ice) no bar staff anywhere in the main show room, the lobby during pre dinner music or anywhere on deck. This was my 4th cruise since the restart and I was stunned.

Caribbean and yes, it was maybe the third cruise back. I’m honestly shocked to read what eastoftheboston wrote above. There was NO consistency in the dining room at all. Whole sections were virtually ignored by waitstafff for significant periods of time. We waited in the theater with the other back to back people for well over an hour after the meeting time with literally no one coming to tell us anything. This was after they literally refused to give us any info about what to do that morning when we asked two days before upon receiving the regular debarcation letter. About 30% of the B2B folks hadn’t gotten any info about where or when to meet. It took a report to our invisible room steward (who didn’t clean our room if we weren’t out by 9:30 in the morning btw and who was nowhere to be found the first day when we had absolutely no toilet paper in our cabin) and three trips to guest services to get our balcony door that didn’t stay shut while at sea to be fixed. It was truly the worst Cruise experience I have ever had.

Oh no. Two nights of comedy is no good. That’s our favorite activity. It’s honestly a big reason we sail on Carnival.

Thanks. Now to scout out who is coming. She was fine but not my style.

I had no idea you could bet that low on those. Might have to investigate.

I’m answering within your post.

Do you happen to remember the CD’s name?

My son and I are on this same cruise. We are looking forward to it. I was n Paradise last March. It’s one of my favorite ships. It’s not as “Farcus” to me as the other ones in that class were. There are a lot of very elegant areas IMO. The cruise director isn’t my favorite but she does a good job with scheduling and activity planning. I’m a fan of trivia/games and comedy.

I was also surprised at that price! That’s a good deal!

My youngest always had a system that it took his older siblings a little while to catch on to. Lol. It wasn’t a system really, he was just an outgoing, naturally friendly kid and the older two were more reserved. When he was 8 we joked that he drank twice his weight in Fanta on one cruise. He’d sit up at the bar and say, “Hi. I’m Jacob, I’m from Minnesota, where are you from?” He had “buddies “ all over the ship. Seriously, we would have him flag down a bar waiter in the shows etc for adult drinks even. They would see him across the room, wave and come on over. Tell your kids to be friendly and polite and they won’t have an issue getting drinks. We’ll see in two weeks if his system is as effective at 21 as it was as a kid. 😂

I’ll tell ya my advice, don’t go on Spirit again. I ended up stopping writing my review of our two weeks on that ship because it was so depressing reliving it all. I feel complete empathy in your regret in using four of your vacation days. My husband took TWO WEEKS off of work and it sucked. The first week was frustrating but okay, the second one had us both deciding to never sail Carnival again. It was just so bad. That said, I already had a cruise booked for two weeks from now with our son and if it’s not significantly better, I’m permanently out. And this coming cruise I turn Platinum so that is quite a bummer. im so sorry your cruise was such a disappointment. I truly understand.

Ooops! 🥴 Perhaps there is an “Area 51 Mexico” version that you will be visiting. Lol

Taxis are easy. If you just want to snorkel and you have your own gear, look into Smith Cove or Barefoot Beach where you can snorkel from the shore.

My boys were in the same situation and they did not let them switch. Which was fine because they ended up just hanging out together and not going to the clubs. My kids have never been huge fans of the kids clubs at any age level.

When we had it, it was first off much cheaper than it is now. I was also traveling with a special needs 10 year old and the early access to the cabin where he could get settled right away was priceless. At the time, you could go and stay in your cabin upon boarding not just drop off luggage. And we had a cabana at HMC so I wanted my choice of which we got. Again, away from the noise for the same little dude. For us, it has never been worth it if we were not sailing with him. Everyone has their own circumstances.

If they’re going to up prices they better get staffing issues fixed.

My drink I love is the Serenity Spritz. Maybe that’s what it’s called. Basically, it’s a Fuzzy Navel with club soda. Last cruise I figured out that if I order it that way, I can get it at any bar on board. Score!

This is exactly it. My husband and I did a B2B of an 8 day and then a 6 day. For the 8 day, we bought Cheers before the price increase last spring. I knew he would worry about the economics of it, so I gave him the approach above. It was all paid for, no thought involved and just have fun with it. However, I for one knew that after 8 days of cheers I would have no interest in drinking the next week. So the deal was that he could still get whatever h3 wanted and I would get probably 5 or 6 drinks all week. We more than got “our money’s worth” that first week but as it turned out, he got strep the second week so we were both EXTRA happy that we didn’t have it. In Feb I am taking our newly 21 yo on a cruise for his birthday. Everyone assumes we are getting Cheers. Nope. I’m not going to be encouraging my kid who has no experience with alcohol (his birthday was in the beginning of November and he has had one drink total) to drink 5+ drinks daily. Now, unlimited Pepsi? Sign him up!! Lol. I’ll be bringing on my 12 pack of Coke and a bottle of moscato.

Listen—she worked hard for that Platinum/Diamond perk. She EARNED that door and didn’t want to share it!

My boys are each over six feet and a few years ago, they did an experiment to see if they could fall over a ship railing. (Not on a ship, they aren’t stupid. 🤡 They set up a contraption outside as I recall.) They couldn’t do it without concerted effort. That’s why these falling overboard stories always make me wonder.

My first choice is Jan thru early March to the Caribbean. I live in the cold and don’t like it super hot. I have sailed a few times in Oct/Nov but the islands are often a bit too hot for me in October. We sailed over Halloween this year and that was really fun. Other holidays are too expensive. I would sail in summer to Alaska.

Can you imagine someone from England driving in the nightmare that is I-Drive in rush hour? Definitely use Uber! I think your idea of 5 days at Universal(gives you time for pool day, shopping, etc) and an 8 day cruise is a great idea.

Yes, they had the song too but since it isn’t an hour long, I’m assuming the rest of it was her. 😂

I will add pictures later today.