mikenbon

I don't know the different classifications of ships, but my favourite so far is the Sunshine, followed by the Miracle. I'm really excited about our next cruise on the Magic, because  I've read lots of great reviews about it.

A friend we have cruised with is a vegetarian, and she always found tasty entrees in the MDR as well as several choices in the Lido buffet. She was disappointed though at not being able to get a veggie burger at Guy's. 

3 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

I’m sorry, but I disagree concerning educating these first time cruisers what documentation is needed. It plainly states right in your account online and in your contract documentation what is needed. The problem here is two fold. One: a crappy TA. Two: crappy family dynamics that prevented the knowledgeable relative from notifying the rest of the party. This is not the obligation of Carnival to give people a check list. We all need to take responsibility. I have advised new cruisers on here numerous times, the importance of cruising with a passport over just a license and BC, but I get flamed for it, so why bother trying to help if they don’t want help. You cannot fly home (in case of an emergency) with just a license and BC. Yes, you can cruise a closed loop cruise with just them, but not wise. But to the problem this family experienced was due to the two reasons I stated. Not the cruise line. Personally, I book my own cruises and would never rely on a TA, but if you are so unsure of what to do, find one that specializes in cruises, or your just asking for trouble.

Well said. The documents a cruise guest needs is printed on the cruise contract that everyone has to agree to before the booking is completed, it's mentioned in the online check in and also in the FAQ's. Carnival has clearly shown what's needed, but the guest may have chosen not to read the information. That's not Carnival's problem. 

I miss the sound when our sign & sail cards were scanned to board the ship. Now your boarding pass is scanned on an iPad, and there's no sound. Your photo and information pops up on the screen for the crew member to verify. 

We prefer checking our bags, except for a carry on bag, with the porters. Luggage can be awkward to have with you at lunch, and out on the decks or wandering the ship before rooms are ready at 1:30. My suggestion is to have anything you may need for a few hours, in the carry on, such as bathing suits, sunglasses, sunscreen, medications and toiletries. You can wear very casual clothes into the dining room (no bathing suits) the first night because your luggage might not arrive until after dinner. 

Hope you all have a great time.

We got off a Royal Caribbean ship and went onto a Carnival ship last spring, so we just took a taxi waiting at the RCCL terminal. It was a flat rate of $15, and took maybe 5 minutes to get us to the Carnival terminal. Well worth the rate plus tip for the driver. 

We used Joe's Airport Taxi to take us from the airport to our hotel for about $35.00, then had 888Taxi to take s from our hotel to the cruise port. Neither were shared, so there was no stopping at other hotels to slow down the ride. I recommend both.

I am such a wuss when it comes to motion sickness - I can't do any rides at a carnival, and I hate going out on our local lake in a boat, but I love cruising. Only one morning in 7 cruises have I felt any nausea, so I took a Bonine and was fine immediately. Gravol makes me very sleepy, but the natural ginger gravol is supposed to work too. We can't buy Bonine in Canada, so I picked it up in Walmart in the states before we boarded the ship.

I wouldn't be upgrading to a balcony. We love a porthole room or oceanview because we spend very little time in the room. We enjoy being out where there's always stuff going on, listening to entertainment, enjoying the outside decks or wandering the various indoor venues. Next cruises will both be an indoor room to save even more money for other activities/excursions. 

We prefer paying the gratuities ahead of time, just as we do for excursions, so that we never have anything owing on our cruise statement. For us, it's great having a zero balance when we leave the ship. 

When we cruise alone, my husband and I always chose a table for 2, Your Time Dining. The tables are close enough that you can easily chat with people next to you, if you choose to, or just enjoy the company of your spouse.

Congratulations on your milestone anniversary!

We book our cruises directly on the cruiseline website and have always received OBC. Yesterday, I was able to book an excursion using it, which was great. 

We've had both the porthole rooms on the lowest 2 decks or the front forward room with the "secret" balcony and liked both. The forward room was a smaller more cramped room, but we spend so little time in the room that it was fine. One benefit of the lower forward porthole rooms is that you are closer to the gangway for excursions. 

Thanks Maui Girl, that's what I thought, but when I emailed The shore excursions department to check on that, the reply came back  " you will need to arrange transportation to get you back to the ship on time". Crazy, right?! 😳

Thank you all for so much great information. I'm wondering about the return tender after our excursion in March. According to the cruiseline excursion page, we will return to the port at 3pm, and our ship departs at 3:30. My concern is that this may not be enough time since I've also read that we must be on the ship no later than 30 min before sailing. Even if the tender ride is short, we will be late getting back onboard. Has anyone experienced this? We are interested in the 7 Mile beach break with Royal Caribbean. 

Thanks in advance for any replies.

We didn't find the Adventure of the Seas to be overcrowded in March, and never had trouble finding seats in the a Windjammer at breakfast or lunch, but there were only 2-4 of us. 

As for the unfriendly crew - we did experience this. Our previous 7 cruises were with Carnival, snd we were used to all of the crew and officers smiling and saying at least "hello" whenever we passed one. On the Adventure, we found they did not make eye contact, and barely spoke when we tried to be friendly. The most disappointing was the CD, a fellow Canadian, from the same part of Canada as us, and he was only seen when he was on stage introducing entertainment or when he was filming his segments with his assistant cd. When he was in the limelight his ego and persona seemed very staged and not genuine at all. 

All in all, we loved the ship and look forward to cruising on her again next spring. 

We had the passes on our phone which they scanned..... but we also had printed copies in case of a problem. 😉

We used Joe's Airport Taxi a couple of years ago, and I highly recommend him. Joe was at the airport waiting when we landed, helped us with luggage, and had bottled water in the van for us. We were staying in Cocoa Beach, and his rate was only $35 for the two of us. 

We reserved our dining time for each night as soon as we could, and we didn't once have to wait in line. The maître d said we would have the same table each evening, if we wanted it, so we were to just walk in at our reserved time. It worked out great. 

We are looking forward to going to Paradise Beach again in Cozumel, but haven't decided what to do in Costa Maya. If we stay in the port area, is there a good beach with loungers there? 

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I find pickleball extremely boring, but I have been playing tennis since I was a kid. However, I can see pickleball possibly being more appealing to me when I get older., since it is far less demanding physically than tennis.  

I can understand seasoned tennis or other racquet sports enthusiasts may find Pickleball boring, but for those of us with some joint ailments or lack of previous sports experiences, its a good way for us to get out and moving. It's also a social game and great way to meet people if we switch players in and out after every game since a game can be very quick.  

3 hours ago, keywest1 said:

Yes, we will be racing to Starbucks, but I might accidentally trip you......

 

Well then, whoever gets there first, pays. 😉

We always have room service coffee first thing in the morning and it's pretty good. Sometimes the different machines on the Lido can have different tasting coffee, but only tolerable at best. MDR is generally good. On our upcoming cruise, we'll be racing our cruise friends to Starbucks in San Juan for a good cup of Pike Place coffee. 😉

Pickleball is a fun sport started in 1965 in Washington State. It's similar to tennis or badminton, but played with a paddle larger than a table tennis paddle, and a wiffle ball, and a lower net. You Tube has several videos to show the sport being played. My husband and I are just beginners, but we really enjoy this fast, fun growing activity. We had never enjoyed other similar racquet sports. 

Can anyone tell me if Carnival offers Pickleball on any of the ships? I know that RCL has it on some and hope Carnival is following their lead.