BiXLL

As much as I loved the Epic, for that amount of savings, I would definitely go with Carnival...and it's the BREEZE...psshhh, have you seen everything there is to do on there? Yep, that's one of the ships I really want to sail. The sports deck looks amazing. I would have booked already knowing the savings involved. :D

Yeah, I agree. I am going to book it. I all ready got a quote from a Ta offering me a $100.00 restaurant.com gift card (pretty much useless) and $75.00 obc. Pretty much a no brainer, just waiting to see if maybe someone comes in with $100.00 obc and no gift card.

BY the way, your advice helped make my first cruise amazing, THANK YOU.

There's plenty of 7 day eastern that's a lot more reasonable. We've never done an 8 day because the price just seems so much higher proportionally.

 

Been to Grand cayman a couple of times. Snorkeled both times. It is good but not as spectacular as what I've heard about Roatan, specifically Maya Key. That's why we're going back to Roatan, Belize etc is to snorkel, and why we're reserved to go to maya key for the day. The reviews from those that have snorkeled all over say it ranks among the best they have seen, right off the pier.

 

The snorkeling at St. John off St. Thomas is very good. I thought it at least as good or better than Grand cayman.

 

Never really hear about Jamaica for snorkeling.

When are you looking to go? I know that Carnival is offering all kinds of deals and perks. I get e-mails from them daily with (according to them) prices you can't refuse.

I agree that 7 days is better than 6 but for that difference in price I would go with the cheaper.

 

Have you considered a different ship/ itinerary that would take you to eastern Carib instead of western?

Yes, looked into a 8 day eastern, but again price is $2563. That is at the highest point I could even consider and would end up being frugal on excursions.

I agree that 7 days is better than 6 but for that difference in price I would go with the cheaper.

 

Have you considered a different ship/ itinerary that would take you to eastern Carib instead of western?

I was liking the idea of seeing Jamaica and have heard the snorkeling is some of the best in the world at Grand Caymen?

I rechecked my figures and its actually a savings of $754.00! I too hate the idea of giving up a day but am thinking of maybe taking a couple hundred of that $754. and spending an extra day in Miami before the cruise?

I so wanted to be loyal to NCL, but $750. is a big deal to me. I have to save and give up a lot for a year to be able to do a cruise.

I posted pretty much the same thing on Carnival board but wanted to hear the NCL side also.

I recently returned from my first cruise. It was on NCL Dawn and we had a blast every min. of every day. It was a 7 day stopping in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel.

For Next cruise I am thinking of an itinerary of Ocho Rios, Grand Caymen, Cozumel. (Would rather have something different then Cozumel but that is all I can find with the first 2)

I searched NCL and found a 7 day aboard the Epic. I searched Carnival and found a 6 day aboard the Breeze. The only difference I see is that on the Epic the trip starts with 2 days at sea while the Breeze has 1 day at sea. The Cruise on the Breeze is $730.00 less then the epic for identical Aft rear facing balcony cabins.

I really enjoyed my NCL experience but am having a hard time justifying $730.00 difference for an extra sea day. Is there anything I am not thinking of that would warrant me not going with the better price and trying Carnival?

I recently returned from my first cruise. It was on NCL Dawn and we had a blast every min. of every day. It was a 7 day stopping in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel.

For Next cruise I am thinking of an itinerary of Ocho Rios, Grand Caymen, Cozumel. (Would rather have something different then Cozumel but that is all I can find with the first 2)

I searched NCL and found a 7 day aboard the Epic. I searched Carnival and found a 6 day aboard the Breeze. The only difference I see is that on the Epic the trip starts with 2 days at sea while the Breeze has 1 day at sea. The Cruise on the Breeze is $730.00 less then the epic for identical Aft rear facing balcony cabins.

I came here to ask why I should not try the Carnival/Breeze without hearing any bashing of Carnival at the NCL board. I would really appreciate any incites that someone that has only cruised 1 time with NCl might want to consider before trying a cruise with Carnival. We are in our mid 50s if our age means anything.

is all of Grand Cayman tendering?

I just got back from my first cruise. It was on the NCL Dawn and we had a really good time! So good we are now hooked on cruising and really do not care to vacation any other way at this point.

I have been researching our next cruise and found a 6 day Western Car with stops in Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. It is on the Breeze, and NCL offers the exact itinerary except it is a 7 day on the Epic but for a aft balcony(on both) it would cost me over $700.00 more!

To me it seems like a no brainer to give Carnival a try with the difference in price. I am hoping some experienced Carnival cruisers may be able to point out things I may not be aware of, or reasons I may not want to do the Breeze?

thanks all, advice will be taken!

We just returned from our first cruise and it was the most enjoyable week of our lives. I am starting to research our next cruise and to be honest started questioning if I should just go with an interior cabin instead of the aft balcony we had simply because of the $400.-$500(2 people) difference in price.

That thought did not last long though, we spent a lot of time on the balcony and even had friends we met on the cruise come and hang out there a couple times. It was an amazing feel/experience out there.

My question is, how do the upgrades work? The first time I booked the aft balcony from the start. Would I do better by booking a lessor cabin and wait to be contacted about upgrading? I have a cruise and ship in mind (1/18/15-Epic-Western Car.) Should I not try to get an upgrade at a better price, or is it a pretty safe bet that I will be offered the upgrade at a much better price?

Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

Just got back from the Dawn, and even though it was our first cruise I felt the debarkation/embarkation went very smooth. Was on the ship about 40 min after arriving at the port getting there at around 12:10. Debark took a little longer as we did self assist and got off with the masses at around 9:15. It only took longer as we had all our luggage and were forced to use the elevator rather then the escalator.

So glad your first cruising experience was so great. Be careful, you may not want to vacation any other way:)

Too late, that has all ready happened!

I started cruising in "2008" and most of the time solo and I just love it~~try the "Breakaway" if you get the chance, you will not regret it! I am going on a 11-day in October on the "Gem"~~another great ship! Happy sailing and so glad you enjoyed it~~I have also been on the "Dawn" to Bermuda!:)

Thanks for your positive thoughts.

 

How was the waiting to get into the MDR's since that has been the latest complaint about the Dawn. What time did you go to dinner.

 

It's funny, the majority of posts on CC say that the Venetian is noisier than Aqua. And yet on our sailing in 2009, we found it the other way around. Not that it makes a huge difference to us, just an observation.

You know what? I can't tell you what time we did dinner! It was more like "oh, I guess we better eat dinner"! There was one night we were given a buzzer and waited at least a half hour. No big deal, we just ventured over to the photo gallery and checked out what pics were taken of us the previous day. The buzzer went off and we went back and got seated immediately.

I totally agree, the Dawn was GREAT!!! With that said, I am all ready thinking about the tweaks I am going to make to explore cruising more. I live in Pittsburgh and on my next cruise I am thinking that I want to try to sail out of Baltimore to eliminate the flight to Florida. Maybe make it a longer cruise then 7 day to be able to cover a Eastern Caribbean itinerary this time?

I have only begun to research it, but it is looking like I would have to sail on RC or Carnival to do this. I want to try different lines anyway. I have experienced Freestyle, I now want to try traditional. I have read good and bad on both points of view, so I want to see what I prefer myself. I now know that even if it is not perfect for me, either way will be a very enjoyable experience.

Just back from my first cruise. We were on the Dawn for the Western Caribbean. In short, it was the most enjoyable week of my life! The ship and crew were both amazing. The food was awesome, never had a bad meal and did not eat at any specialty restaurants. We really enjoyed the shows that were put on also. Where they all GREAT????,no. Were they all entertaining and enjoyable, well almost all of them.

I read so many complaints about so many different things before we left I was really kind of nervous as to what experience we would have. I at this point simply can't believe that anyone would be so negative with such a great experience as what we had with this cruise.

We had an aft balcony cabin and found it so enjoyable I will do my best to always have one in the future. We did not spend hours at a time out there, but did use the balcony multiple times every day that made for a very enjoyable experience that I would not want to give up. Coffee in the morning, a drink while waiting for wife to get ready to go out, people watching at port, all great experiences and just samples of how we enjoyed it.

One of my biggest surprises was just how good the food at the Garden Café was. We had breakfast there every morning and had dinner there I think 2 or 3 nights. I had a lamb stew with Rosemary that was unbelievable! Different meat dishes I had never heard of but decided to try that were also amazing! The Crepe station, the omelet station, the apple crisp.......YUM!! Even the coffee and orange juice out of the machines were EXCELLANT! In the main dinning rooms I was impressed on how well they cook a sirloin steak, I have never had that cut be so tender. As I said earlier, there was not a bad meal to be had by us on the entire trip. Were there some certain food preps we were not crazy about, sure but overall, could not have been more pleased. I did have one complaint, I don't know why, but the noise level in the Venetian was bad! The Aqua has the same height ceilings but for some reason did not seem to be near as noisy?

Overall, for any new cruisers, go in with an open mind not looking for bad, and you will find that there is very little bad to deal with on a cruise. So little you will most likely hardly even notice it!

That is AMAZING news to hear!!! We are on the Dawn next week and have been really nervous about all the delays we have read about!

Our first cruise and were hooked! I will be writing a review this week . All the trouble with embarking and disembarking was non exsistant. At least this week . It took us 45 min from dropping the car off to having my first drink in my hand by the pool . We were on the ship by 12:00 . Our room was ready by 12:45 and our luggage was there by 1:00. We did pick passengers up in Cozumel but not a problem getting off the ship we had orange tangs 10:00 lined up at 9:55 and in our car at 10:15 Easy peasie :). Feel free to ask questions

Thanks for having my back and looking out for this rookie mitsugirly. I did not mean to compare LFK and Maya Chan. I at the time was info overload trying to learn all I could before deciding what I wanted to do. Maya Key is the one with the pier and that is what I booked. I am also going to Maya Chan but that is because the owners are on our cruise with us and are promising something special on our day there that will be amazing.

Have 3 beach days booked. I think we will just play this one port by ear and maybe just stay on the ship?

Have a great trip. Don't over think it. 90% of snorkeling in the Carib is safe and pleasant as long as you can swim. You don't need hundreds of dollars worth of professional equipment, until you decide to take it up as a sport.

 

Here are my favorite TIPS: 1. Don't feed the fish. It is bad for the reef. 2. If you can afford a new Camera buy a $200-300 point and shoot underwater camera. It will become you favorite all around camera. 3. Use colored electrical tape to mark the tops of your snorkels. Makes it easy to find "your people" when snorkeling popular spots. 4. Slow down, relax your breath and ENJOY!

Oh how neat that they are on the cruise with you. That would be awesome. The staff there is totally awesome!!

 

In Belize I have done the cave tubing twice and loved it and the other time I did Bannister Island. What are you interest there?

Aww, thanks so much. I enjoy it, I really do. There are plenty of people on here that have helped me out and this is just my way of trying to help others out as well. Enjoy your time at Chankanaab. :)

I am starting to get tired of telling you thanks! (lol) You are awesome for taking all the time you do to help others I as well as many others really do appreciate it!