Cruise life

It's in the middle between El Capitano and Ji Jis. We were there in the mornings for Cuban coffees quite often last January.

If you are brand new to cruising, you may enjoy an energetic cruise director that tells you every little thing you need to know. Some seasoned cruisers like certain ones because they have met them or enjoyed their directing previously. I once answered this same question - it was more focused, asking what exactly the director does- by saying the CD is most important when delivering need to know information. I saw a program on tv the other day where the CD was actually the main entertainer (the Azamara luxury ship). Back when ships were smaller, I suspect the CD had a more involved role with each and every passenger. For me personally, it does not matter. One person would not make or break a cruise for us- except maybe the captain/master of the ship.

Our children have grown up cruising, but I still worry about them, especially as they will be the youngest to sign themselves in and out on their next cruise. ITA I need to give them the chance to prove they are responsible, but at the same time I am more than ready to revoke the privilege of self sign-out. Our cruise is days away, but we have been discussing the rules for weeks now.

We love the Fascination; we had YTD but asked to have the same wait staff and they took great care of our party of 8. Love the Promenade on this ship, feels like I am walking in the stars at night.

The Breeze has an 8 days Jan 2 itinerary to St Thomas, StMaarten, Antigua and Amber Cove that sounds ideal.

 

 

 

Sails out of Miami.

This sounds ideal. Our son had to be back in college by Jan. 12th, or around there, so we had to go the first week of January this year to celebrate his 21st back in November- his work schedule would not allow a Christmas leave.

St. Thomas is one of my favorite ports. We ended up doing the classic Western cruise, with somewhat rainy weather, but we did have some warm afternoons. We did four beach days, one with zip-lining right at the port- in Cozumel, Roatan, Honduras, and Costa Maya. Very good price for this one, as well.

We always cruise in January, mostly out of Miami because weather is always nice there too so it gets you into cruise mode early. Our last cruise was on the Breeze. Loved it. Beautiful ship, a lot to do, large, but you don't feel crowded. Great places to sit around pool all comfy with padded chair & ottomans. I can't say enough about this ship. You won't be disappointed and I think your daughter would really enjoy what is offered on this ship. Check it out you won't be disappointed!

One thing to note about sailing out of Miami if you don't normally sail out of this southern port is the high number of Spanish speaking cruisers and the entertainment geared toward the Latino community. We had a large group of young girls celebrating their 15th birthdays (think 50 American girls celebrating sweet 16 in a big way, with elaborate dresses and events all over the ship throughout the cruise). It was fun, but I hadn't cruised out of Miami in a long time and didn't consider these factors.

It seems that overwhelmingly, the Bahamas stops are the least favorite. Time and time again I see people talk about how the ports are just nothing compared to the other itineraries, whether western or southern caribbean. I will be going to the Bahamas on the Dream in 9 days so I will come back and let you know what we thought of the ports. Of course, I think a cruise even to the worst ports would be awesome, I would haven problem staying on the boat if I wanted!

I love the Bahamas, hubby not so much. In January, it's downright chilly sometimes in Nassau.

Hello,

We are about to take our 15th cruise on Carnival; have sailed Disney and Celebrity and a couple others long ago.

Number one is value- excellent service and total package for your money.

We have children, so Camp has been extremely important for us to have an evening or two alone. We have also done a couple excursions without the children, but most of the time we try to show them the new cultures and get them out to meet the people.

Spa amenities are important to us because we use them every day. It's not a deal breaker- our next two cruises have only basic spas- but if you can book a ship with the Cloud 9 spa package, you will have access to a therapy pool and other relaxing private areas limited to a small number of total passengers. Note: the Sunshine has Cloud 9, but is the only Cloud 9 enhanced ship without the therapy pool. It does have steam rooms and a relaxation room with heated tile loungers.

We don't gamble so can't speak to the casinos.

Many food options. Plan to pay extra for the higher end choices, but they are worth it and we have just started to enjoy them. Reserve in advance to get your preferred seating time; some ships sell out the first day. You can also get preferred items from the Steakhouses in the dining room for an up-charge. Even if you go on a ship with no upgrades at all, the value is significant compared to other CL.

If you like a mattress that is as hard and unforgiving as sleeping on the ground, then you will love the new Carnival mattresses.

I hope this is not true! Does anyone know if CCL is aware of the issue? I wonder how many of these mattresses they agreed to buy. They were changing out mattresses on the Sunshine in January- a huge dumpster full of mattresses were seen on the pier. That ship was just renovated a few years ago so surprised mattresses were needing to be changed out already, assuming the ship got all new bedding after dry dock. We slept fine, did not notice any difference from previous beds; I do use 2 or 3 pillows, however, while the kids just need 1. I suppose if someone becomes very ill, the mattress may need to be trashed and that may be what I was seeing on the Sunshine.

Even if they have dryers, for some reason they are very weak in all the ships I have been on. Some ships have dryers in the spa locker rooms that are stronger if you don't want to bring one. I had to get a high powered smaller travel dryer so I could reduce my drying time with thick hair.

The only smoking issue we had was having to walk through the casino to get from one end of Promenade deck to the other. No problems with outdoor smoking areas.

That's interesting because a lot of people complain about the open smoking area on deck 10 above Lido looking like a giant haze over the pool area.

Also, if anyone has children, they have to walk thru this area to get to the Camp Carnival entrance. We noticed both of these issues after reading about them here.

There are both free and pay areas. Check it out on embarkation day, they will have offers for you to consider and a tour of the spa in case you want to pay for the weekly Cloud 9 access. All services will be on top of the Cloud 9 access and, yes, they have daily specials, especially on port days.

We're cruising on the Valor soon, our first Conquest class (15th CCL cruise). Just got off the Sunshine and our only real complaint was also the smoking issues. I understand Valor, like Liberty, has the same smoking issues. I don't consider it a deal breaker, but it is annoying smelling yourself when you don't normally deal with smoke in your clothing and hair, not to mention developing a cough by the end of the week. Hopefully, we can work around the smoke as we learned to do on the Sunshine.

Glad you had a mostly good time. Carnival offers a great value and a variety of cruising experiences.

We have cruised the Fascination a couple times- loved it each time. Have also sailed the Breeze, Sunshine, Miracle, Freedom, Pride and others. The ship is simply a portion of the total package. I would fly to San Juan for southern ports on the Fascination if the dates worked out for us, no question. For us, it's generally a combination of ship and ports that draws us to book. After 14 (CCL) cruises, we still haven't tired of certain repeatedly visited ports, especially when coupled with Carnival's excellent service record and value.

I have a toddler myself and love kids..have no problem with them onboard. As the spouse of a teacher, I think it's not a good idea to take kids out of school to go on vacation. They get plenty of time off every year and to foresake their education for a cheaper cruise rate seems wrong to me.

 

 

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There may be other reasons than cheaper rates for taking children out of school for a cruise; please don't assume this is the case. A mother's or father's work schedule may take them away for long periods during the year or during the entire summer. This has been the case for us in the past; we don't book the cheapest cruises, either. Last year we took our children to Hawaii. It's really no one's business why we take our children out of school. As long as we work with our teachers and administration, our children are actually receiving an enhanced educational experience learning about new cultures. This year they will experience Alaska and miss a week of school. I understand you have your opinion, but please consider you could be so wrong in assuming the children are missing something by not being in school rather than gaining knowledge visiting new port cities and countries.

Hey everyone, we are looking at doing the cruise on the value in October. We have only been on the liberty and my hubby loved the 2.0 features. What did everyone d think of the valor? Will he miss those features?

Thank you in advance

Our upcoming cruise is not port-intensive, only 3 stops on an 8 day, so we will have lots of time to explore the ship. We were worried about the 2.0 upgrades not being added as of now, but we are happy they have a burrito bar and a grill (that stays open late!). Also, the only negative I have read recently is that due to the impending dry dock, it MAY appear that the ship is beginning to be allowed to slip into greater disrepair in certain areas. Other reports deny this. ITA with the poster that said to enjoy your vacation. Don't be too critical of the lack of anything, but rather focus on all you have (tablecloths!). I do understand your inquiry; we had the same discussion.

What is the waterslide and outdoor entertainment for the kids situation on Valor? Is it still just the big green slide?

 

We are looking at Valor for Fall break because it is a longer cruise for not much more than the 5 day ones on other ships.

 

Trying to decide!!

We'll be going in April with 9yr old boys who will no doubt be in the sport area and also on the slide in good weather. We also use the arcade with them in the evenings. To be honest, our boys prefer the sport area to the slide/s after they have gone down the slide/s once or twice. The basketball court and putting greens are extremely popular. The water splash bucket is fun on ships with enhanced Waterworks but, again, after getting drenched once they want to be in the pool or playing sports. I can let you know how it goes in a couple weeks. Is there anything specific you are interested in besides the slide? I read on a recent CC review that a family's child loved the slide even more than camp, and that they couldn't get their child out of camp! Valor also has Dr. Seuss activities.

The only extra charge is on ships with Cloud 9 Spas, but they also have free basic sauna and steam rooms. These free rooms are not co-ed, whereas in ships with Cloud 9 areas the special steam and relaxation rooms are all co-ed. The Legend will have the basic free sauna and stream rooms near the locker rooms, but it will also have an enclosed coed hot tub within the gym/spa area.

Is there a lot of foot traffic on the lido deck?

There actually are not A LOT of cabins on Lido, and there are hallways that separate the cabin doors from the hallways that lead to the elevators. Great locations, either way. Aft balconies may have the more desirable views in port.

I love the "garish glitz" of the older Carnival Ships. For me, that is part of the entire experience. I have recently booked a cruise on the Breeze. Will I be disapointed?

Before I sailed the Breeze, I thought the Fascination was my favorite ship. For our family, the Breeze has so much to offer that it easily became our new favorite (so bummed it is leaving the east coast!). At least we have the Sunshine, still, although many people aren't impressed- we loved it! You will not be disappointed if you can expand your tastes to include the new contemporary feel of the Breeze. It's not that difficult. We are sailing on two older ships next, and already missing the upgrades on the newer ships, but know we will still have a great time with the old familiar style.

We're booked and a bunch of people on one of my roll calls is booked for two already (B2B) or otherwise. We aren't interested in flying to Europe right now so we booked one over hubby's birthday in January 2017- almost 2 years to pay it off! The pickings are getting slimmer for the first few weeks VISTA is in Miami, esp cove balconies, etc.

If they were to charge a fee for everytime I have changed cabins, boy would I be in trouble.:oLOL

 

 

 

There is no charge to change cabins if it is in the same category. If you go to a higher category then you would pay the difference in the costs of the cabins.

LOL my hubby always says he wonders what cabin type we'll eventually end up in because I call and change (upgrade) as often as I can!

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Agree with pp and also sign up for classes early on the bigger ships- they can book up faster than the smaller ones. There's no way to tell if you are a spa cabin passenger or one that bought a pass.

My younger two boys have been in camp since they turned 2 (they turn platinum on our next cruise). We left them on board for the first time for an excursion a couple years ago, they were 7. Last summer, one of our two boys wanted to stay on board at two of our three ports; the only one he got off with us was for snorkeling (he didn't want to climb the waterfall in Jamaica or go to the beach in Cozumel). So we ended up taking one child and leaving one child.

It's important to connect with at least one counselor with younger children. Our first went to the beach with camp on another CL when he was around age 5-6 (kindy age). We have never had any issues, but you know your child best. I would hesitate to leave a child at 2 if that child was still going thru any separation anxiety issues. IMO, there aren't that many younger ones left on board, so the staff has more time to spend with your child if you do decide to take a morning off when in port. GL, hope you get some free time!