Lemony32

We're a couple with no kids. We really enjoy holiday sailings. We've done 2 New Year's Eve cruises and have a cruise booked for Christmas 2024. I love the energy on the ship. Everyone gets into the holiday spirits and they dress up for formal nights. The ship is decorated with holiday decor. The ship is very busy and filled with families and kids but I find they are easy to avoid. We look for a ship with an adults only deck or spa and I book a cabin near those elevators and stairs. And we book the late dinner seating. We avoid the small kids in their earlier seating. The kids are usually excited and well behaved. Not complaining. It could be worse.

On the Venezia, we could only find Bubly in the MDR and it was available at the San Marco lobby bar 1 night.

We didn't get the package. We didn't want to feel obligated to order a bottle of wine each night. But we ended up ordering a few bottles that would have been on the premium list. We spent about $15 more; depends on what you order. I think it's worth it to order off the ship instead carrying it on and paying the $15 corkage fee for inexpensive bottles. The ship might have a different list. https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1358/~/cruise-the-vineyards-wine-packages

We've sailed both ships. We just got off the Venezia new years eve sailing and sailed the Oasis years ago. Like others have said, there's no comparison. These are completely different ships and experiences. The Venezia is a smaller ship. We adjusted our expectations and had a great time. My advice for a smaller ship: Plan out what you want to do between sea days and port days carefully. Be prepared for a family movie or boardgames night. They played movies on the lido deck and the lido deck balcony had boardgames for everyone to use. I packed facial masks and my manicure kit for a DIY spa day at sea. We didn't use the pools on Venezia. They are small and crowded. Half Moon Cay was our beach day. I packed inflatable pool float hammocks instead of renting a clam shell. The beach didn't feel crowded since there were fewer people getting off the ship. We stayed onboard at one of the ports since we had been before and we enjoyed the day on the ship. I forgot to use the waterslides that day. I usually try them out if there's no line up. If we were traveling with another couple/family, I would have packed a beach volley ball and frisbee and booked a small group catamaran and snorkeling for one of the port days. The buffets are smaller and the options were limited. We had Guy's burger, tacos or pizza for lunch if nothing appealed to us at the buffet. The mid-night buffet is non-existent. Everything would be closed if I was peckish after midnight. Not a bad thing for our waistlines. I wish we had brought snacks on board with us. The main dining room had filet mignon, lobster and shrimp cocktail. We checked the app for the dinner menu before deciding if we wanted to go. We had the late dinner seating which was around the same time as the shows so we had to miss one or ther other. I would recommend booking the early dinner seating so you can catch the shows after dinner. The theather has the state of the art light and sound. But theather design and seating layout is awful. Try to get front row seats so you can see the stage and hear the performance. Pack a separate set of clothes if you plan to stop by the casino. It's freezing in there and you will smell like stale cigarettes. I think the Venezia is a fun ship for tweens and teens. They'd roam the ship in large packs making up their own fun. A couple we met told us they only saw their kids at dinner. Their kids had cell phones and could text them. Their kids went to the kids camp on the first day to meet other kids. I wish I had known about the deck parties before going. Families got really dressed up for the 80s party and white party. And people lined up early for the silent disco headphones. My husband said there were a lot of kids playing basket ball and dodge ball in the sports area. Overall we had a fun trip and met great people. It seemed like a good ship for families. I would take my nieces and nephews on this cruise.

The casino gave me drinks on us when I somehow reached 900 points, playing with $200 at the tables. I played $20 at the slot machines and earned 10 points. I also got a casino offer after our trip. Both were unexpected surprises. We've never received anything for playing on the other cruise lines.

Thanks for breaking it down this way. It was really helpful. I think I can make up the $29 on non-alcoholic drinks alone. Drink from the juice bar $8 A couple of lattes $7 A mocktail $5.50 A couple bottles of Perrier or San Pellegrino That puts me around $25 plus 18% gratuity = $29

We just got back from a 9 day holiday cruise on the Venezia. Highly recommend it for a winter sailing from NYC. It was cold, windy and rough seas the first and last couple of days. They closed the retractable glass roof over the lido deck 10. It was easy to find a quite spot to read on the lido balcony (deck 11). Once we reached the islands, we spent our days at the adults only section on deck 15. We stayed onboard for most port days and enjoyed the ship. We packed inflatable pool floats for HMC instead of renting a clam shell for the day. I'm happy we did since we returned to the ship immediately after lunch. I recommend getting the drink package with so many sea days.

We checked in this morning!!

Is our sailing sold out? I don’t see it listed on the Carnival website.

Aww too bad! The Terrazza Carnevale area sounds like it’s open to the public at night. I don’t think you’re missing much. I hope you got a better location (mid deck, mid ship).

wow congrats on the assignment!

Sailing on her on NYE! What was your favourite deck?

Another couple from Ontario joining the NYE party!! We did a NYE cruise with a similar itinerary last year, sailing from NYC. The first and last sea days were too windy to sit outside. I found a quite spot by a window and read a book. It was a relaxing way to ease in and out of our vacation. We had great weather. It was mid-20s to 30s once we reached Florida and the Bahamas. We don’t remember the waters being choppy. We wore a light fleece lined waterproof jacket and a few sweaters for our day in NYC. We’ve been to Florida in the winter and it was raining and cold (mid-teens). I’m looking forward to this ship since the Libo Deck 10 has a retractable roof.

The snowstorm that started around 7AM this morning reminds me why we pay extra to fly in the day before and book the earliest non-stop flight. On a group cruise, my friends thought my husband and I were crazy to book the first flight out and they booked flights later in the day or on the day of. There was a major snowstorm the day we flew out. My husband and I got to the airport early while the roads were clear and we had breakfast and hung out in the airport lounge until we boarded our 6:30AM flight. When we landed in SJU, we discovered our friends had missed their flights because they were stuck in traffic because the roads hadn’t been plowed. Fortunately, they got onto another flight later that evening but it had an overnight stop over. The couple who flew in on the day of, didn’t make it for embarkation and they joined us on the last 3 days of the cruise. They couldn’t get flights into the ports we visited for the first half of the cruise. I hope you have good travel insurance.

I would jump on this deal ASAP even if my other friends didn’t want to split the cost. It’s a little bit more than the cost of a spa pass for 1 person (around $300 USD). My husband and I had the Thermal spa pass when we traveled on the Escape and we planned on getting it for our Dec cruise on the Getaway from NYC. It was really convenient to shower and get dressed in the change room after my morning work-out and if we used the pools in the evening. The change room is huge and has great views of the water. Also my husband and I were not bumping into each other in our cabin. I’m packing an extra tote bag to carry my hair products, hair brush and tools, and makeup. And if I have space in my carry on; a large capacity insulated water bottle, travel mug, and small Tupperware so I can have wine and cheese on the heated loungers.