Holiday Past/Present Cruisers Post Here

[hunnibee]

Awesome I will be traveling with my hubby and my little sis and her hubby.

This is first time cruise for us but second for sis and her hubby.

Can't wait counting down the days.....\

 

 

Shannon

[Jus10mom]

I travelled alone on the Ecstacy in 93 right after college graduation. It was one of the best weeks ever. I made tons of friends that I have kept over the years. You'll find tons to do and everyone there is a "friend" by the time the cruise is over. Be sure and post your review and tell us that have to wait for a while what it was like! :) Have fun!!!!!!

[cajunbabydoll]

We are goin on our first cruise. It will be leaving out of Mobile on July 18 can't wait we are goin out on the Holiday. Just counting down the days can't wait to go. :) :) :)

Hunnibee, My sister, niece and I will be on that one too! Our 1st ever also. Hope to see you there :)

[gigivic]

Sorry but I didn't like the Holiday at all. It seemed so dark and smokey. Not to mention closed in. I like Royal Caribbean due to all of the glass they use. I got verrrrrrrrry sick on the Holiday. Had to go to the ship doc for a shot and he told me I had overdosed on dramamine trying to get well. I do wish RCCL or a newer ship would come to Mobile though.

[Gusty68]

Me, my daughter and sister are on the Holiday for July 18, 2005. We are so anxious. It is the first cruise for all of us. :) :) :)

[TheChuckD]

I just returned from the Holiday (sailed June 2-June 6). Not sure if it were just bad weather or what, but there was a lot of rocking and rolling. I travelled with a party of 6 and one member in that party was sick from the first day to we arrived at port (kind of dampered the trip for everyone because we all felt bad staying out late and excluding that couple, so we all ended up turning in pretty early until the day at port). I definitely say take your motion sickness meds, it never bothered me at all, but others in the party say they felt a little unease. I was the only person in the party that had cruised before, so the virgins were a little put off by all the movement.

 

I will say that the service was excellent, everyone on board goes out of there way to make your vacation enjoyable.....and a bonus...the casino is great.... I saw some really big winners in craps and poker.... one guy won about $6,000 that first night (and did his best the rest of the cruise trying to give it back). I saw two folks with atleast $1,000 in winnings on the crap table.... Just about every time I left the blackjack tables, I was up (a few dollars)...that's never happened to me before.... even the poker machines were kind of loose. Both my wife and I hit a royal flush (unfortunately, max coins weren't played either time...max coins on the poker machines was 10...) I played 5 and won 1500 quarters, my wife still drives me crazy and refuses to play more than 1 quarter (I think she won 250 quarters).

 

Like others said, a cruise is what you make of it...if you set out to have fun, you will enjoy yourself. Despite the rocking, everyone in our party (even sicky) enjoyed themselves (although my wife was the only one that said she would cruise again).

[memickee]

Anyone sailing the Holiday on August 20? It would be neat to meet some folks before she sails.:cool:

 

Michelle

[JPAJ]

The Holiday was my first cruise. DH and I went for our Anniversary. Since it was my first cruise I didnt have anything to compare the ship to, until last year. For its age the ship is in good shape. I was seasick the entire cruise, except for the days we were on land. I tried to still have fun although I was sick. We had a towel animal every night, on the Conquest we didnt, doesnt affect how good of time I have. Our crew was very nice and friendly. We sailed out of N.O. which was my first time there also. I have to say aside from being sick from all the rocking, the cruise itself was nice. Especially for a first.

[memickee]

JPAG - I sailed on the Conquest the week before you did - had a wonderful time - did you get a chance to meet Ming??? He was the best!

[shecat]

BamaEagle- The waiter brought us our ticket and handed the photo album to the hubby. It was pictures of women that had bared their breast at Coconuts. I happened to be carrying the money that day and told him "no tip for you"! Was the pregnant cat still around? I feel sorry for the folks on the Holiday now. They are going to either have the cruise cut short or extended. They are due back Saturday morning. Arleen is supposed to come straight up the Gulf of Mexico :eek:.

[JPAJ]

JPAG - I sailed on the Conquest the week before you did - had a wonderful time - did you get a chance to meet Ming??? He was the best!

I'm not sure, what did he do? I wish I could go again. I miss the Conquest.

[BamaEagle]

BamaEagle- The waiter brought us our ticket and handed the photo album to the hubby. It was pictures of women that had bared their breast at Coconuts. I happened to be carrying the money that day and told him "no tip for you"! Was the pregnant cat still around? I feel sorry for the folks on the Holiday now. They are going to either have the cruise cut short or extended. They are due back Saturday morning. Arleen is supposed to come straight up the Gulf of Mexico :eek:.

 

Too bad I missed the photo album:(. Now I know why they call it Coconuts;). We LOVED it there. Food and drinks were great and the way they have tables amongst the palmettos is beautiful. We had a table right on the edge of the cliff. See pics below.

[Jus10mom]

So was this place in Cozumel or Calica?

[BamaEagle]

Coconuts is on Cozumel. We rented a jeep and toured the island. It is on the far side of the island just before you turn left on the crossover road that goes back to downtown San Miguel.

[shecat]

Bamaeagle-Yeah, you missed out;). There is always next time. We have a picture from that same spot. The vegatation gives the place a nice tropical ambiance. I am like Mary in Kenny Chesney's song "I like to feel the sand beneath my feet" and you can do that at Coconuts. The atmosphere on that side of the island is so much more laid back and not hurried.

[shecat]

Glad yall made it back ok. Tell us about your experience running from Arlene.

[Jus10mom]

Anyone sail on that June 6th? (this one needed a bump!)

[richcrow]

Sailed on Holiday back in Jan. 2005. This was the cruise after the "cruise to nowhere" caused by engine problems. The crew could not have been more accommodating and they fixed the engine problem the next day. Because we were only able to make one stop on our 5 day cruise, Carnival gave each of $100.00 shipboard credit ($200.00 for me and DW).

 

Holiday and Fantasy are my two Carnival cruises and I think that I liked Holiday better. Of course living in Mobile helps. If they do move Holiday out of Mobile, I would be satisfied with a Fantasy Class ship.

 

Richard

[koolcruisen]

My hubby and I are leaving on the Holiday out of Mobile on July 18. Hope to see you. It is our first cruise in almost 20 years. Can't wait!!

[Jus10mom]

What was your favorite thing about the Holiday?

[shecat]

Here's my top 10

 

 

1. staff

2. friends made onboard

3. pizza

4. filet mignon

5. large picture window in cabin that you can sit in

6. chocolate decadence

7. pool side games

8. karoake

9. Playa Del Carmen

10. past guest party

[Jus10mom]

I've heard so many things about the staff. As for the room, in the old Titanic song..."they put the down below....and they were the first to go"....we are windowless this time. Go from a balcony last year to a blank wall with a curtain! :) Figured with the kids and the price we got at the time, we'd deal with it!

 

I love the pool side games too. Was a judge in the Hairy Chest contest....dang those pool side drinks that made me volunteer! :eek:

 

What was it in Playa that you liked so much? I am leaning towards xCaret--read below where you did Xel-ha. What made you decide that one???

 

Thanks for the top 10---fun! :)

[shecat]

I picked Xel-ha over Xcaret partly because of price, heard it was better snorkeling and I had read about the raccoon looking animals (coati mundi sp?) that roamed freely there. The snorkeling was less than average, but to a novice snorkeler it would be great and never did see a Coati. We had planned on making it to the beach community of Akumal, but run out of time. The atmoshere in Playa Del Carmen is more relaxed than Cozumel. The main street you walk down is cobblestone and blocked off to traffic. There are Mariachi Bands playing, lots of cheap excellent restaurants and not near as crowded as Cozumel. We caught a cab that evening and our cab driver offered to pick us up later at a designated time and spot. He was there waiting on us. We gave him a generous tip and you would have thought we gave him a million dollars.

[GrammyJill]

I love reading all your Holiday tips!

 

I'm so excited I absolutely can't wait!

 

I'm thinking about trying to let them know its our anniversary weekend & see what we can do special. Besides just the little sets they sell pre-cruise.

 

Any ideas from past cruisers?

[CRUIZIN_COOL]

Our cruise was reduced from a 5 day cruise with 2 stops in Mexico to just a 4 day cruise with a stop in Cozumel for only one day because of the Hurricane. That sucked bigtime. We didn't have enough time on the island and we only got to do half the stuff we wanted. I wouldn't waste my time in downtown cozumel with shopping, it was a nightmare the way we were hassled. The ship was nice, most everthing was excellent. The food is a little over-rated in my opinion, but it was still good, just not spicy enough for my taste. Our room was pretty nice, but we did meet a family on the ship who were down graded from a suite to a room on the 3rd floor that was way too small for their family of 5. I would have hated for that to happen to me, I know they didn't like it either. We were compensated 20% of the cruise purchase plust 50$ per person credit on the ship, which was nice. I just was still bummed that we couldn't go to Costa Maya. Its not necessarily Carnival's fault, they were fair in their compensation and they can't control Hurricanes; but it really wasn't a hurricane. Mobile only got about 2 inches of rain and New Orleans didn't get any from it. The Holiday was very nice, but I wouldn't recommend it for a cruise longer than 5 days, by the last day we were feeling cramped. I was disappointed the last night of our cruise, there were no parties by the pool or no activities. its like they were trying to get people to bed so they could get them off the ship early the next morning. Other than that, it was an overall good experience. Great prices on cigarrettes, alcohol purchased from the gift shop, and a few other things in the shopping area of the boat. I'd suggest that in Cozumel, to do all your shopping as your leaving the port, they have the most shops and not too far to carry things; However, you might find better prices in more remote locations.