Possibly unpopular opinion - Havanna area is meh

[five.]

3 hours ago, Jdfireman said:

I will disagree with your Carnival price..  We like to drink so if we add the cost of cheers to the CCL room we will say a bit over 1000.00 with the gratuity. Coming close to 3300 

I mean the base prices I posted are fact. But sure, if you're going to add cheers anyways, then yea it'll bump it up another grand. In which case I see your point. No reason not to jump ship at that point. But we don't get cheers and only have one drink a day, so that's a non-factor. One day when cost isn't the biggest motivator for us, we'll definitely try out YC. Sounds awesome. But for now the difference in price can be used for everything else that goes into the vacation, flights, excursions, insurance.

[PhillyFan33579]

4 hours ago, Jdfireman said:

I will disagree with your Carnival price..  We like to drink so if we add the cost of cheers to the CCL room we will say a bit over 1000.00 with the gratuity. Coming close to 3300  

YC gives you unlimited drinks with no 15 limit. You also get a butler,  dedicated pool deck, inside and outside bar, restaurant that does not open after 7 pm to all guests. and concierge , priority on and off the ship in all ports

I feel MSC YC is the best for the price. I love the fact they also took my CCL DIamond and gave me their top level black card 

 

I understand your point, but a lot of people, especially new or inexperienced cruisers are going to mainly focus on the cruise fare, which Carnival is going to be very competitive the majority of the time. Carnival has implemented a lot of cutbacks over the last several years, which is frequently discussed on this site. However, Carnival has done an excellent job at keeping their fares on the low side.  I know we have paid less for cruises over the last year than we did for similar cruises five years ago.

[ArmchairQB]

On 5/15/2019 at 10:18 AM, Mr. Nazzy said:

Nothing above ruined our experience.  We had an amazing vacation.  But if we sail a Vista class ship again, we'll skip the extra expense of the Havanna area.  Just not worth it to us.

We are just off the Magic and sailed on the Horizon last August.  We did not book a Havana cabin last summer but did use the hot tub after 7PM.  The pool was way too cold to use after 7PM.  We liked the area as the view of the wake is better than at Tides.  But we found (on both trips) that we had no trouble getting chairs in the Tides area and there were not many kids.  Could be because school was still in.  The Magic has the added advantage of 4 hot tubs on deck 5 with your choice of any chair you want.  Want sun/shade just go to the other side of the ship.  I would vote to not pay extra.

[Remus2010]

On 5/17/2019 at 12:30 PM, xDisconnections said:

Based on this, I think you will find there may be cruise lines available to better suit your needs. Have you looked into Princess or Celebrity yet?

 

I enjoy Carnival, and have fun watching the craziness by the pool, when I want to and for a short time.  lol  But I also need quiet time sitting in a chair reading my book and relaxing.  I have not tried other lines, mostly due to price.  But I don't think I would like the stuffy attitude some of the other quite line would have.  I do wish Carnival would do a better job of enforcing the chair holding issue.  One person is sitting in a chair and has the entire row saved for the 10 min her kids and friends come by?  Rude.  But I will give the Havana area a try.  Sure hope it is all I am dreaming of.  

    

[jbethel11]

29 minutes ago, Remus2010 said:

 

I enjoy Carnival, and have fun watching the craziness by the pool, when I want to and for a short time.  lol  But I also need quiet time sitting in a chair reading my book and relaxing.  I have not tried other lines, mostly due to price.  But I don't think I would like the stuffy attitude some of the other quite line would have.  I do wish Carnival would do a better job of enforcing the chair holding issue.  One person is sitting in a chair and has the entire row saved for the 10 min her kids and friends come by?  Rude.  But I will give the Havana area a try.  Sure hope it is all I am dreaming of.  

    

The Lanai Promenade is perfect for that on the Dream, Vista, and Excellence (Mardi Gras) class of ships coming soon. They are located on Deck 5 and are scarcely populated even on the fully-booked cruise I took in 2018 on the Horizon. Also, they have excellent views with minimal noise, and ocean sounds are wondrous! They are a good subsite for Havana without spending the money. But for those who really want a bar nearby and a "read" pool, then the Havana area would be great for them!

[PhillyFan33579]

11 hours ago, Remus2010 said:

One person is sitting in a chair and has the entire row saved for the 10 min her kids and friends come by?  Rude.  But I will give the Havana area a try.  Sure hope it is all I am dreaming of.  

    

 

When we were on Horizon a few months ago, one night at the Limelight Lounge this kid who was 12 years old (I asked him his age) was trying to hold 8 spots for the rest of his family for a comedy show in the row in front of us.  Several people tried to sit there, but moved on when the kid told them they were saved (he had put drink menus on all the seats). Finally about ten minutes before the show two sets of couples sat in some of the seats, despite the kid telling them they were saved. About 5 minutes later the rest of the kid’s family showed up and were upset that someone sat in their “saved seats”. One of them walked over and complained to the comedy manager (basically a Fun Squad member). I don’t know what was said in the conversation, but he came over and nicely explained to the family that you weren’t allowed to save seats in the lounge. They were not happy and after complaining about how they would never cruise on Carnival again, they all left the lounge. Unfortunately, this was more entertaining than the comedian we saw a few minutes later. 

[Joebucks]

On 5/18/2019 at 3:45 AM, Jdfireman said:

I will disagree with your Carnival price..  We like to drink so if we add the cost of cheers to the CCL room we will say a bit over 1000.00 with the gratuity. Coming close to 3300  

YC gives you unlimited drinks with no 15 limit. You also get a butler,  dedicated pool deck, inside and outside bar, restaurant that does not open after 7 pm to all guests. and concierge , priority on and off the ship in all ports

I feel MSC YC is the best for the price. I love the fact they also took my CCL DIamond and gave me their top level black card 

 

While I think the YC is a compelling offer, don't kid yourself about the alcohol. It is a minuscule amount of people that want 15+ drinks for 8 days. 

[PhillyFan33579]

10 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

Five years ago a $699 balcony cabin was the norm, those same balconies often going for less than that.  Now I'm finding the prices up around $849 and higher. The lower prices for a balcony are on other lines.

 

I will use the last cruise I booked several months ago as an example. I always book using ES fares. In June 2015 we did a 4 day cruise on Sensation in an interior cabin for $1,065.40. I booked a cruise on Sensation over Thanksgiving in November 2020 in an interior cabin for $869.04. Fares tend to be higher in the Summer and over holidays, so this a pretty fair comparison. Although one could argue Sensation will be another 5 years older in 2020, the cruise is roughly $200 less. 

 

I have a spreadsheet where I track every cruise we have been on and every cruise we have booked. We currently have 17 cruises booked on Carnival thru February 2021. The prices are very comparable to prices we have paid over the last 5 years. Our booked cruises include 12 balconies, 1 ocean view, and 4 interiors. The prices are comparable for every cabin type, although only having 1 ocean view cabin to compare isn’t too relevant. 

[devinc]

We just got off Vista yesterday with a HC.  While we didn't use the "cabana" much at all, we loved the pool and bar area.  Agree somewhat with the OP's impression of the bartenders but felt the servers were good.  The only pool area downside was the 24/7 latin music.  Carnival has such a good and fun playlist around the ship we were disappointed to hear latin music the whole time.  I get the live latin music in the club at night (which is great) but its just too much all day by the pool.  We didn't even go to serenity once and were outside a LOT.  I think next time on Vista we will try the balcony or even an inside. 

PS. Cucina and JiJi's were awesome.  

[nissach]

On 5/17/2019 at 10:38 PM, five. said:

This got me to thinking, so I looked it up. If cost is the deciding factor for you, like it is for us. This is what I found, doing mock bookings as far out as the ship would allow, with the cheapest cabin I could find in those areas, for a couple

1. MSC Seaside YC Interior (8 day): $3722

2. NCL Joy Haven (The Haven Family Villa Suite with Balcony) (7 day): $5986

3. CCL Horizon Havana Interior (8 day): $2223

 

If Horizon is "a lot of money," the others are way more. NCL Haven doesn't seem to do interior cabins, so it's way more. At least MSC does have a few interiors with YC access. Of course this is just preliminary research and 10 minutes looking into it. CCL still appears to be significantly (40%) cheaper, on first glance at least.

I agree that in most cases Carnival is cheaper.  And for us, price is a major factor when booking.  We have sailed NCL once in Europe and HA once.  Those were cruises that Carnival did not offer(NCL) or the at the time of booking the price was comparable(HA).  

[jbethel11]

On 5/19/2019 at 9:16 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

When we were on Horizon a few months ago, one night at the Limelight Lounge this kid who was 12 years old (I asked him his age) was trying to hold 8 spots for the rest of his family for a comedy show in the row in front of us.  Several people tried to sit there, but moved on when the kid told them they were saved (he had put drink menus on all the seats). Finally about ten minutes before the show two sets of couples sat in some of the seats, despite the kid telling them they were saved. About 5 minutes later the rest of the kid’s family showed up and were upset that someone sat in their “saved seats”. One of them walked over and complained to the comedy manager (basically a Fun Squad member). I don’t know what was said in the conversation, but he came over and nicely explained to the family that you weren’t allowed to save seats in the lounge. They were not happy and after complaining about how they would never cruise on Carnival again, they all left the lounge. Unfortunately, this was more entertaining than the comedian we saw a few minutes later. 

See, this is how us minors are treated! We are disregarded. JUST KIDDING, though I am putting my flame retardant hat on anyway. But, all in all, rules are rules, I guess. Even if it were any other person from a different age group, the couple would have sat there nonetheless. But back to the subject matter, as others have commented, Havana should have just been an updated comedy club/smaller venue. 

Edited May 21, 2019 by jbethel11
retardant* not retardent

[nissach]

On 5/19/2019 at 8:16 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

When we were on Horizon a few months ago, one night at the Limelight Lounge this kid who was 12 years old (I asked him his age) was trying to hold 8 spots for the rest of his family for a comedy show in the row in front of us.  Several people tried to sit there, but moved on when the kid told them they were saved (he had put drink menus on all the seats). Finally about ten minutes before the show two sets of couples sat in some of the seats, despite the kid telling them they were saved. About 5 minutes later the rest of the kid’s family showed up and were upset that someone sat in their “saved seats”. One of them walked over and complained to the comedy manager (basically a Fun Squad member). I don’t know what was said in the conversation, but he came over and nicely explained to the family that you weren’t allowed to save seats in the lounge. They were not happy and after complaining about how they would never cruise on Carnival again, they all left the lounge. Unfortunately, this was more entertaining than the comedian we saw a few minutes later. 

This type of arrogant behavior annoys the hell out of me.  Why send your child to save 8 seats?  Why do some feel they have the right to take their time and have someone save their seat for them?  I would have sat down just like those couples did.  No different than saving lounge chairs on the Lido deck.  

[jst]

My daughter and I booked on deck 5, my only complaint was that having little kids running around on the dance floor after 7pm

should be stopped. The area should be adults only as advertised for the daytime, if you are going to pay the extra money then

it should be 24hours, not as it is now. Yes it was relaxing in the hot tubs and pool in the daytime, but to have kids walking thru a

nightclub area in the evening to go to a swimming pool was wrong. Just our opinion, would we pay the extra money again, I am

not sure.

[purplephenom]

37 minutes ago, jst said:

My daughter and I booked on deck 5, my only complaint was that having little kids running around on the dance floor after 7pm

should be stopped. The area should be adults only as advertised for the daytime, if you are going to pay the extra money then

it should be 24hours, not as it is now. Yes it was relaxing in the hot tubs and pool in the daytime, but to have kids walking thru a

nightclub area in the evening to go to a swimming pool was wrong. Just our opinion, would we pay the extra money again, I am

not sure.

 

Are you talking about the dance floor near the Havana bar?  Is the Havana bar ever exclusive to Havana guests, or is the bar always open to all?  I'm just trying to understand what to expect.  

[Mr. Nazzy]

19 minutes ago, purplephenom said:

 

Are you talking about the dance floor near the Havana bar?  Is the Havana bar ever exclusive to Havana guests, or is the bar always open to all?  I'm just trying to understand what to expect.   

The interior havana bar is open to all guests all the time.  The outside bar and pool area is for Havana guests only until 7 pm.

[purplephenom]

11 minutes ago, Mr. Nazzy said:

The interior havana bar is open to all guests all the time.  The outside bar and pool area is for Havana guests only until 7 pm.

 

thanks. 

[TG6]

1 hour ago, nissach said:

This type of arrogant behavior annoys the hell out of me.  Why send your child to save 8 seats?  Why do some feel they have the right to take their time and have someone save their seat for them?  I would have sat down just like those couples did.  No different than saving lounge chairs on the Lido deck.  

Agreed.  During the sail off party everyone was trying to get a spot by the railing. (my first cruise) Some young 20's something girl was trying to push two loungers as close to the railing as possible to save room for her and her friend!  So rude.  If you want a spot be there. And you are trying to save loungers???  I told her everyone wants a spot and you are trying to save loungers? My husband was embarrassed. 

[mrlddst]

I am sailing on the Horizon this summer in a Havana Balcony and looking forward to it. We can not sail during the school year so we wanted to avoid the crowds at the other pools and just relax. I tried the serenity area before on another ship and didn't care for it. The hot tub was blazing and there was no breeze. I don't mind paying for the Havana area. To each his own.

[nissach]

11 minutes ago, TG6 said:

Agreed.  During the sail off party everyone was trying to get a spot by the railing. (my first cruise) Some young 20's something girl was trying to push two loungers as close to the railing as possible to save room for her and her friend!  So rude.  If you want a spot be there. And you are trying to save loungers???  I told her everyone wants a spot and you are trying to save loungers? My husband was embarrassed. 

He was embarrassed by you calling them out?  I would have too!  Some people just don't get it.

[TG6]

4 minutes ago, nissach said:

He was embarrassed by you calling them out?  I would have too!  Some people just don't get it.

Yeah he thought I was being unnecessarily rude on our first day on our first cruise.  It's just some people don't look around and see there are literally thousands of others on this ship and a lot of us want to do the same things you do.  First come first serve! The world does not revolve around you.