Carnival's Holiday, Yea or Nay?

[Cotton]

Mike/Martha...the Holiday's first cruise from Mobile will be October 23.

 

Festivale 1987

Carnivale 1988

Mardi Gras 1989

Pacific Princess 1990

Norway 1994

Holiday 2001

Holiday 2002

Holiday 2003

 

[pc2425]

We were on the Holiday last month. I saw women wearing long gowns, short cocktail dresses and dressy pants suits on formal night. Have fun!

 

Peggy

 

Pride 03/03

Holiday 04/04

[surfsup]

Great! We have four ladies in our group. Two will wear long and two short.

 

Any don't miss activities or special tips for this particular ship?

 

Cozumel - has anybody "Snubaed" and is it fun?

 

Any recommendations on shore excursions that aren't worth it?

 

Does the holiday drop anchor where you can walk right into town (some ships do) or is it too far and you have to take a taxi?

 

Thanks for any and all info.

 

Also, anybody on these boards attending the Radio and TV Managers Convention on board?

 

3/8/03 Carnival Pride SPRING BREAK!

[surfsup]

Need to change my signature - sorry

[surfsup]

One more thing - is there a STEAM room on board? Not a DRY sauna but a steam room.

Whirlpools? Hot tubs?

[sahenning]

We cruised the Holiday on May 3 for five days. It is an older ship, so it doesn't have all the extra amenities of the newer larger ships. The crew is first rate, apparently ranked to 2nd best in the Carnival fleet. Dining service is first rate, but the food is probably only slightly above average. The Lido deck buffet is adequate, and the soft serve ice cream machine runs 24 hours a day!! Entertainment is also first rate. They work very hard to keep you amused.

 

It sounded like you have kids. My only reservation here is that I've read earlier posts that indicate the Kids Camp quality is uneven from cruise to cruise. The pools on this ship are on the small size. If you are not concerned about baby-sitting, then I would get off at each port and head to the beach. Both Playa del Carmen and Cozumel have great beaches. The Puerto Maya cruise dock at Cozemal has virtually the same shops you will find on the main drag downtown.

[Cotton]

Originally posted by surfsup:

Great! We have four ladies in our group. Two will wear long and two short.

_______________________________________________

 

Hi surfsup! I've been on the holiday 3 times, and have seen everything on formal night - from gorgeous solid-sequined long gowns to 'chuch' dresses. I wear a mid-length cocktail dress, sometimes take a semi-sequined jacket, sometimes not. You'll see everything.

 

 

Does the holiday drop anchor where you can walk right into town (some ships do) or is it too far and you have to take a taxi?

_____________________________

 

On all three Holiday cruises I've been on, we have docked at the International Pier. There is quite a lot of shopping (good shopping) to be had there, in the a/c mall as well as the many other shops they have built in the past two years. There are also a couple of restaurants there.

 

You have to take a taxi to San Miguel (the town), or to one of the parks. I've been to Chankanaab National Park twice, and am seriously considering Paradise Beach next cruise, altho will probably go back to Chankanaab for snorkeling, it was SO beautiful.\

 

Festivale 1987

Carnivale 1988

Mardi Gras 1989

Pacific Princess 1990

Norway 1994

Holiday 2001

Holiday 2002

Holiday 2003

 

[airmanship]

DH and I cruised on the Holiday in 1987 on our belated Honeymoon. We are now looking at the Holiday again for our 11yo,8yo,and MIL along w/ us in AUG.Any ideas on the best cabins for us , I hope to have connecting or side by side cabins.

What to do?What to See?

[lakelodge]

airmanship: we are booked in August, we tried to get two adjoining cabins, guess what? They don't have them! As we are travelling with a 5 and 8 year old, we wouldn't put them in their own cabin, even if it was next door! So, we booked a suite (there are 10) and it's about the same money as booking two cabins anyway. You may want to check that out as an option. Martha

 

Mike & Martha 1992 RCI Nordic Empress 1997 Dawn Princess 1998 RCI Vision of the Seas 1999 Carnival Celebration 2000 Grand Princess 2001 HAL Veendam 2001 RCI Radiance of the Seas 2002 RCI Grandeur of the Seas 2003 Celebrity Mercury 2004 Oceania Regatta

[dtredy2go]

Northerner

I am a cruise addict, however Hubby is not. I took him on a Big Red Boat Cruise when our daughter was almost ll. He was determined to have a bad time and guess what he succeded.

Daughter & I have cruised 5 times more.

I have booked us on the Holiday Dec 2nd. I hope to change his mind about cruising. I plan to devote myself to his entertainment, no one will be with us and I won't make him dress for formal night this time. The other nights he will wear Dockers and Polo shirts. I want to do the Hideaway Power-Boat & Beach Escape while we are in Cozumel. I think he will like this better than shopping.

We will celebrate our 27th Wedding Anniversary on this trip. I hope I can make it so much fun that he is like me and can't wait to cruise again.

 

The point I wanted to make is: It's his vacation too. So don't make him dress up if he really doesn't like it.

 

 

Have fun!!

 

12/2 Holiday

 

[This message was edited by DonnaT on 06-01-04 at 05:55 PM.]

[northerner]

Thank you for your post Donna, I will be packing his bags so I guess he'll have to stick to dockers and pollos too. I am renting him a Tux for formal night and already have suit and tie for my son and dresses for my daughters. My girls are really excited to dress up, expecially my 12 yr. old with her "cocktail" long dress. I know it is his vacation too, but this one is totally for me. As I mentioned earlier our last vacation was to a "resort" in northern Minnesota, the black flies were terrible. And I spent the entire vacation cooking for everyone, not to mention that when meals were done, no one helped even cleaning the table. Not my idea of a vacation. At least if they had all come to our home I would have been able to use my dish washer, and they would have caught some fish(only 6 or so caught last summer on vacation). He has already booked a fishing trip for next spring with an outfit up in Canada, and he promises that they do all the cooking and cleaning. We'll see. Maybe I'll let him take the kids and go on a cruise or I could go and have a good time but compare everything to our cruise and guilt him into paying for another one. I hope you have a great time on your cruise, come back and post a review for us! Thanks again, Theresa

 

12/11 Carnival Holiday Mobile, AL to Mexico

 

[dtredy2go]

I love the dressing up part also. My daughter (who is now 19 and a junior in college) and I have a special section in the closet for cruise clothes. We have had some great pictures made. We usually coordinate the formal night(2 on longer cruises) to wear the same color. We both enjoy wearing long dresses. You can get by wearing short cocktail dresses anytime, but long ones are special. I am sad that I won't get to do it this time, but I really want to hook him on cruising. I don't mind going without him though and he doesn't have a problem with us going. So I guess I am still lucky. I just think cruises are so romantic and want to share it with him.

We are getting ready to book the Sensation in May 2005 for a group, but I will have to give the names of people in the cabins before our cruise. I guess he will miss out on that one.

I should be able to get back and write a review before you leave.

Have fun planning!!

 

12/2 Holiday