ryansmith18

How fast or slow is the Social package? Been a few years since I bothered with onboard internet access, and $5 per day sounds much more reasonable. But if I just want to post a pic of our vacation to Facebook real quick, am I going to be staring at an hourglass for a while?

Your husband is being a silly goose. Cozumel is my favorite port. You want a party atmosphere? It's got it. You want peace and quiet and serenity? It's got it. You want a family friendly beach day? It's got it. Snorkeling, check. Beaches, check. Tequila, check. The best Mexican food you've ever had, check.

All that aside, I think the choice is rather simple. If you haven't been to any of the ports on one itinerary, and you've been to most on the other.... go with the one that offers you something new.

1) Once you go with a Cove, you'll never want a standard balcony again. Coves are bigger, more private, have shade provided by the lifeboats above, and have better views of pier runners.

2) If you do choose to go with a standard balcony, you might want to book something on deck 8 or higher. Deck 5 is the Lanai, and most people seem irritated when they look over their balcony to see other guests looking up at them, others making a bunch of noise, or getting overwhelming BBQ smell on sea days (the C Side BBQ) (though I honestly don't see that as a problem - sounds wonderful! :P ).

On most ships the the aft pool is quieter, kinda more adultish. I don't recall any music at the aft pool, and definitely no entertainment. It's not an adults only pool, but that's the general vibe that you'll get there and there are considerably less children.

The main pool will have music from the early morning until after sunset, and several entertainment options (ice carving, hairy chest contest, etc).

wrong you can bring 12

 

A small quantity of non-alcoholic beverages (i.e., sparkling water, sodas, juice, and milk) packaged in cans or cartons may be brought onboard on embarkation day only in guests’ carry-on luggage. A small quantity is considered a maximum of 12 sealed, unopened cans/cartons of 12 ounces each or less per person

woosh. He clearly wasn't serious about bringing 5.13 cans.

I want to give a big THANK YOU shout out to all the idiots and morons whom enjoy smuggling alcohol onto the ship. Without you, we would not be dealing with this new policy #Watergate

np!

Will probably impact parents of children, or those that must have organic, or those women with bladder issues that need cranberry juice.

Forgive my ignorance, but is it not possible to get those products in 12oz cans or cartons?

Yeah, this wasn't nearly as bad as people were making it out to be. We can still bring a bottle of wine and a 12 pack of soda. And water is at an extremely reasonable price. No real impact for the majority of us, I think.

Where is this coming from? Carnival FAQ still says I can bring bottles. What is the source?

Welcome to Cruise Critic, where sources mean nothing.

I'd like to see better quality whiskeys. Most liquor I can't drink straight, but a glass of a smooth whiskey before or after dinner is great. Problem is, Carnival only offers base model liquors. Single Barrel Jack and Gentleman's Jack come to mind. I'm sure my wife would say the same regarding rum. The standard lines of the brands they offer are fine if you're mixing them and can't notice much of a flavor difference, but when drinking them straight it can be a bit rough.

Yeah, that's true. I called Carnival to book over the phone so I could see which other rooms are available. It helps to have 3 or 4 rooms in mind already so you can just ask if any of them are available.

Unfortunately for OP this ship doesn't have a steakhouse. I booked it for later this year and was disappointed to find this was the case. In my case it's not a deal breaker, I'm only going for three days anyway.

 

She got a ton of other good suggestions.

Oh. hmmm. I just kind of assumed they all had steak houses by this point. TIL.

I'd definitely reserve a night at the steak house. That'll use up just over half of that OBC. With the rest, some souvenirs, specialty coffee, candy, etc... just miscellaneous charges that you normally might pass on.

Well that was a close one for me. Booked on the Feb 7 sailing.

thanks for all the answers.

I saw a video on youtube that said you don't get any sunshine at all because of the lifeboats.

Someone mentioned seeing all the pics on facebook? What do I search for?

And one last question - how do I choose one that doesn't have noisy things above - that's something else I read was that alot of them have clubs or whatever above and people are pulling chairs and it's extremely noisy if you pick the wrong one.

The main thing people will tell you to watch out for is getting a cabin that's directly underneath the galley. You can look at deck plans for your ship on Carnival's website, just move up a deck and down a deck to see what's above the room you're looking at.

That being said, we were on the Dream in January and had a Cove that was under the galley and had zero noise issues. I hadn't thought of that until after we had booked and so I was a bit concerned, but it ended up being a non-factor. It was just as quiet as any other room we've had.

I am concerned about the value of my dollar. Honestly, after reading countless arguments on here, I wish they would do away with the loyalty program altogether.

But then how would we be able to determine who is better than who??

If you're concerned, suggest you just get the Mexican pesos you need for Chank at your ship's guest services counter. Better exchange rate and you can do it before arrival to save time. Taxis will take US $. But bring small bills ($5s and $1s).

Is that a standard practice? I never thought about exchanging currencies at Guest Services before.

Goff's Caye is probably the most popular beach option. Just a small island out in the water. You can usually book a trip there for somewhere around $40 to $50 per person depending on the vendor you go with.

If that's out of your price range, then your best bet may be to mark Belize up as a non-beach day. Get your sun and sand at Cozumel and Roatan, and find something else to do at Belize. My wife and I did absolutely nothing in Belize this past trip, didn't even leave the tourism village. Still enjoyed ourselves. Grabbed a drink at one of the local bars and just admired the view.

k2excursion hit all the major points. I'm just going to chime in to say that I agree 100%. As long as the ship I'm sailing on has a Cove Balcony, I'm taking that option every single time over any kind of other balcony. Lido balconies, spa balconies, aft balconies.... don't care, I'll take the Cove.

Could I ask about dress code for breakfast in the MDR? As we are on a 'beachy' cruise, we would only plan to wear very casual clothes at breakfast time, would this be unsuitable in there? Thanks.

Casual is just fine for breakfast & lunch. Probably not swim suits and whatnot, but shorts and t-shirts is just fine.

I dont even think its worth it

 

I mean- who drinks 15 of em? :eek:

* raises hand.

Depends largely on what you're drinking. When I'm on vacation and have no worries about driving or anything like that, it's real easy to down 15+ beers over the course of a 16 to 18 hour day.

Well since it's your money and not mine, I'll cast my vote for the Breeze :p

There were young kids there when we were there this January, and they were having plenty of fun even though it doesn't have the traditional amenities geared towards children. No water trampolines or anything like that, but there's water and sand. As someone who used to be a kid, I can confirm that water and sand is awesome.

Gonna have to toss in my recommendation as well: keep the Cove. My wife and I have done our share of regular balconies before, finally had an opportunity to get a Cove balcony on the Dream this past January. From now on we're springing for a cove absolutely any chance we get and declining any "upgrade" offers. Coves are bigger (+10 sq ft), quieter, closer to the water, more private, and shaded thanks to those lifeboats above you (which don't obscure vision or anything like that). They're hands down the best balcony we've ever had (haven't had a suite yet).

I wonder if the coffee is bad because they desalinate the ocean water for all their drinking water, which is what they use to make the coffee? Or is it just horribly cheap coffee?

I'd put my bet on it just being horribly cheap coffee.

And yeah, OP, you're better off budgeting some extra cash strictly for coffee if you can't stomach what they offer for free (who can blame you?).

On a sidenote, I really wish Carnival offered better drink packages. On my most recent Royal Caribbean cruise I bought a drink package that did not include alcohol but DID include specialty coffee (and I bought the package for that alone). There were 4 or 5 tiers of drink packages so you could get the one that is most convenient for you.