Fresh off the Venezia: The Good, The Bad, The NYC

[jimbo5544]

5 minutes ago, happycruiser220 said:

How you figure I have a problem? To each his own right? I paid for my cruise so why should it matter to you what line I choose to spend my money on? 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

Because they do not sail out of San Juan

[SDPadreFan]

16 minutes ago, happycruiser220 said:

How you figure I have a problem? To each his own right? I paid for my cruise so why should it matter to you what line I choose to spend my money on? 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

You said San Juan is your departure port of choice. Carnival doesn't currently depart out of San Juan. Jimbo was merely pointing that out.

[happycruiser220]

9 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Because they do not sail out of San Juan

I guess I was hallucinating when I left out of San Juan.

[happycruiser220]

9 hours ago, SDPadreFan said:

You said San Juan is your departure port of choice. Carnival doesn't currently depart out of San Juan. Jimbo was merely pointing that out.

I never said San Juan is my departure port of choice. I said I like leaving out of San Juan. 

[jimbo5544]

35 minutes ago, happycruiser220 said:

I guess I was hallucinating when I left out of San Juan.

Does that happen often?

[Mira28]

I have sailed (solo) out of NYC many times. Years ago on Carnival, of late only on NCL. I loved every one of my cruises, never saw a fights or arguments or anything close. Maybe a few noisy teens (Carnival Splendor, 2014) who were immediately calmed and dispersed by security. 
 

I love sailing out of Manhattan; for me the experience is unforgettable. The port is not pretty, but I have found embarkation and disembarkation to be relatively straightforward there. I guess I’ve been fortunate.

 

It’s very sad that the OP and his family witnessed such an assault on this young girl. I don’t think that the OP’s negative experience on the Venezia has anything to do with NYC, but certainly I can understand drawing that conclusion. I’ve debated sailing on this ship, but so far just haven’t done it. (I cancelled my Feb. 2024 cruise due to my husband’s illness).

I guess I’m more comfortable with NCL, but I still might give the Venezia another try. 

 

Edited March 17 by Mira28

[Indiansbaseball]

On 3/15/2024 at 6:40 AM, happycruiser220 said:

I guess I was hallucinating when I left out of San Juan.

Carnival used to depart from there…currently they are not. We loved it so much we did it 4 cruises in a row ! 

[Crusin Karen]

18 hours ago, Indiansbaseball said:

Carnival used to depart from there…currently they are not. We loved it so much we did it 4 cruises in a row ! 

I remember cruising once from San Juan. I remember it was on the Fascination so just checked in my signature and it was 2001. 

[jimbo5544]

4 minutes ago, Crusin Karen said:

I remember cruising once from San Juan. I remember it was on the Fascination so just checked in my signature and it was 2001. 

It has been more than a few years.  

[qosmo8]

On 3/17/2024 at 5:51 PM, Indiansbaseball said:

Carnival used to depart from there…currently they are not. We loved it so much we did it 4 cruises in a row ! 

 I also remember when carnival did sail out of San Juan. I am not sure if they still do, you said they don't so i'll go with that, but my co worker who is Latino, loved sailing out of san juan because he would make it a cruise/visit with family who lived in PR vacation. 

[jsglow]

2 hours ago, qosmo8 said:

 I also remember when carnival did sail out of San Juan. I am not sure if they still do, you said they don't so i'll go with that, but my co worker who is Latino, loved sailing out of san juan because he would make it a cruise/visit with family who lived in PR vacation. 

They don't anymore. They had already announced plans to leave the port prior to the pandemic. I think the last cruises had been scheduled for Spring '21. Obviously the shutdown accelerated that. We certainly had one booked to take advantage one last time. 

[jimbo5544]

16 hours ago, jsglow said:

They don't anymore. They had already announced plans to leave the port prior to the pandemic. I think the last cruises had been scheduled for Spring '21. Obviously the shutdown accelerated that. We certainly had one booked to take advantage one last time. 

I asked several friends I have in the company for the reason ( we enjoyed cruising from there as a homeport as well).  Not sure there is one answer but several factors.  Multiple homeport (San Juan and Barbados for European travelers), capacity concerns, and more.  Their decision to use older ships (port intensive itins made the ship less important added to it as well.  would love to see them go to a staggered seasonal schedule with a varied itinerary;  With its location, it could open the doorway to new (to Carnival) and different places.  Hope springs eternal.

[shof515]

another cruise line, Norwegian has their newest and greatest ship the Norwegian Viva doing port intensive itins out of san juan . looks like it is a market that carnival does not want to compete with

[jimbo5544]

24 minutes ago, shof515 said:

another cruise line, Norwegian has their newest and greatest ship the Norwegian Viva doing port intensive itins out of san juan . looks like it is a market that carnival does not want to compete with

I would agree that NCL has a different plan than CCL. I would also agree that CCL does not want to sail from SJ (in my view it is not a competition, but whatever).  I am sure there are many variables into each lines decisions on home ports.  It is a statement on NCL’s part, how it pays off and for how long she sails from there, we have to wait and see.

[happycruiser220]

On 3/15/2024 at 7:18 AM, jimbo5544 said:

Does that happen often?

Not as much as when you smoke angel dust

[Mike45LC]

On 3/17/2024 at 2:51 PM, Indiansbaseball said:

Carnival used to depart from there…currently they are not. We loved it so much we did it 4 cruises in a row ! 

I cruised Carnival twice out of San Juan, PR.  Dec 1997, the Fascination and the Inspiration.  One was a 7 night Saturday and the other a 7 night Sunday, so I had a night in a hotel in Condado, San Juan.  I guess they were technically not a side-by-side with that extra night in between.

 

[vwwolfe]

19 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

I cruised Carnival twice out of San Juan, PR.  Dec 1997, the Fascination and the Inspiration.  One was a 7 night Saturday and the other a 7 night Sunday, so I had a night in a hotel in Condado, San Juan.  I guess they were technically not a side-by-side with that extra night in between.

 

I miss the Inspiration and the Imagination.

[jimbo5544]

2 hours ago, vwwolfe said:

I miss the Inspiration and the Imagination.

There was some sad vids…..

 

[beshears]

I don't know if I will get any feedback here, but I thought I would ask. I'm sorry to read some of the issues the poster went through, but since I am from the mid west, I know we would not be cruising out of NYC. My main question is to those that DID cruise the Carnival Venezia over the past year, would you mind giving me your feedback on this ship, as we are thinking of doing it.

[luv2kroooz]

On 4/23/2024 at 2:43 AM, beshears said:

I don't know if I will get any feedback here, but I thought I would ask. I'm sorry to read some of the issues the poster went through, but since I am from the mid west, I know we would not be cruising out of NYC. My main question is to those that DID cruise the Carnival Venezia over the past year, would you mind giving me your feedback on this ship, as we are thinking of doing it.

We just returned from the 11 day. Overall, it was a nice cruise. The ship decor is very Italian and we found it to be beautiful...think Roman columns, lots of faux Italian marble. There can definitely be pinch points at peak times, there can be line ups for comedy shows, buffets, dinners etc. it all depends how you cruise. ...eat dinner at 8 versus 630, no lines. Get to the comedy shows before 8 pm, versus the 945 show, again no problem...walk right in and get a seat. Want to lounge on deck or swim in the pools at 1pm on a sea day, good luck, you'll have plenty of company. The MDR food was decent, sometimes inconsistent in temperature. No one went hungry. We found the Lido buffet to be of poor quality from a food offering and service perspective. The understaffed Lido crew is overworked and that translates to very few smiles from them. I couldn't imagine doing that job over and again for 7 months at a time. For the price we paid, we would sail Venezia again.

[thesmiths]

29 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

We just returned from the 11 day. Overall, it was a nice cruise. The ship decor is very Italian and we found it to be beautiful...think Roman columns, lots of faux Italian marble. There can definitely be pinch points at peak times, there can be line ups for comedy shows, buffets, dinners etc. it all depends how you cruise. ...eat dinner at 8 versus 630, no lines. Get to the comedy shows before 8 pm, versus the 945 show, again no problem...walk right in and get a seat. Want to lounge on deck or swim in the pools at 1pm on a sea day, good luck, you'll have plenty of company. The MDR food was decent, sometimes inconsistent in temperature. No one went hungry. We found the Lido buffet to be of poor quality from a food offering and service perspective. The understaffed Lido crew is overworked and that translates to very few smiles from them. I couldn't imagine doing that job over and again for 7 months at a time. For the price we paid, we would sail Venezia again.

 

Glad you had a nice cruise, we are on her for an 11 day May 6th.

We also were on her last September.

 

Just as you said we are early eaters, early shows so it works out just fine for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MsTabbyKats]

1 hour ago, luv2kroooz said:

The understaffed Lido crew is overworked and that translates to very few smiles from them. I couldn't imagine doing that job over and again for 7 months at a time. For the price we paid, we would sail Venezia again.

Just want to comment on this:

We were on this ship Jan 2024.  DH uses a cane, so in the buffet I become his butler (he sits; I get the food).  More than once, while I was gone, a buffet staff member brought him stuff...coffee, soup etc.

 

[Butterbean1000]

4 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Just want to comment on this:

We were on this ship Jan 2024.  DH uses a cane, so in the buffet I become his butler (he sits; I get the food).  More than once, while I was gone, a buffet staff member brought him stuff...coffee, soup etc.

 

I had similar experiences on the Magic.  I was pre-op on a knee scooter. The staff in the buffet were very helpful carrying my plates and drinks.

[beshears]

We're thinking of doing the Carnival Venezia next year. A few questions if you or whoever might see this, would answer.

 

Do they still have the $10 or $15 sale at least one day of the cruise?

Do they have a special "chocolate" night?

Do they still have formal nights, or maybe they call them dress to impress now?

Is there a deck that goes directly from the front of the ship to the back of the ship?

[KaiBlue]

5 hours ago, beshears said:

We're thinking of doing the Carnival Venezia next year. A few questions if you or whoever might see this, would answer.

 

Do they still have the $10 or $15 sale at least one day of the cruise?

Do they have a special "chocolate" night?

Do they still have formal nights, or maybe they call them dress to impress now?

Is there a deck that goes directly from the front of the ship to the back of the ship?

They had several sales, particularly as the cruise went on (last day they were selling hats/coverups supposedly for around $5 but I didn't inquire as to the specifics - was a huge line up of people wanting to shop past the table they set up).  They have the chocolate extravaganza on the last sea day at lunch in the lido.  Line was too long for us to bother with it (discovered   of the same cakes were at the Sweet Spot section of the other side of the lido buffet line).  Two formal nights (was the 2nd and 2nd to last for our 11 night sailing). Deck 5 goes all the way around but the aft section is reserved for the Terrazza cabins - however even if you aren't in one of those cabins you can access that area after 7pm each night.