lasvegascruising

Wonderful pictures of the Firenze! The three of you are beautiful ladies and look like you all are so happy & having a great cruise. I thought I really didn't care for the Firenze and would not sail on her again BUT your pictures are changing my mind. I am from Vegas and it is a nice drive down to Long Beach for a cruise. I think I may reconsider and look for another five day cruise. So happy you are sharing with us. My husband found a bartender at this bar that mixed up a manhatten that he loved. We stopped by a few times to visit her!

We had a few drinks at the Frizzante bar throughout the five-night cruise. Very interesting drinks. The service and bartenders were really terrific. Friendly and let us sample two of the tap beers they served. Very nice atmosphere.

Not my favorite ship. Cruised the Firenze May 2024 on the 5 day, Cabo & Ensenada ports. In my opinion this ship is great for the cooler, cold months cruising from Long Beach. The Lido deck is covered by the dome. The only day the dome was open was Cabo. Remember this was in May. I am from Vegas, and it is still on the cool side in Southern California in May for me. I thought to myself, I can see why Carnival brought this ship to Long Beach. I would never cruise from Oct/Nov through June to Catalina/Ensenada from Long Beach. Too cold! My cabin was on the Lido deck and is just not the same when walking from my Lido cabin to the Lido deck and having it covered. Just did not feel like a WOW moment, walking out to sunshine. The Lido deck felt cramped to me. I think it is because the deck above Lido juts out too much, covering a lot of Lido deck real estate. Other than that, I liked the rest of the ship. I loved the balcony cabin decor and the sink in the bathroom was like a vanity type piece of furniture, very nice. My cruise day starts with a hot tub trip and the aft Lido deck was awesome. Firenze has Big Chicken for breakfast and lunch in this area. I suggest you try all the things that are unique to Firenze. La Strada Grill, meatballs at the sandwich place on the deck above Lido and the "pistachio dream" frozen drink. There was a Lido deck party Italian style that we stopped by for. The Lido deck was decorated with streamers and lots of games were going on. My suggestion is to give it a try. Hubby and I had a wonderful vacation on the Firenze. It's hard for me not to compare ships and pick one over another. I can honestly say that I have had a wonderful time on every Carnival ship I have sailed on.

I am taking this same cruise beginning of December (turning platinum). I'm looking forward to everything you post. Question of the day, what will priority boarding look like? I plan to get the boarding time of 10am-10:30am and will get to the port earlier than that. Will there be a place for platinum to line up? Any information you can provide will help with my planning.

After much thought and experience, I now wonder why they do not have the little link pork sausage every single day in the buffet. Bacon, not my favorite. I only eat the little links on vacation, and it seems they are there the first morning but following days, they serve something that looks like breakfast sausage but I'm never sure what it is. Some huge pieces of some sort of sausage. I vote for pork link sausage every day on the buffet.

My experience, it's faster service with only 3 choices.

I have a cruised book for December of this year that I booked last summer. Cruising out of Galveston. As soon as Hilton & Marriott released bookings for the Friday night I needed, I booked. One year in advance. I highly suggest this approach if one is inclined to booked at least a year in advance. I booked a room at the Home2suites Hilton for $108. At this time, it is hovering around $180. Every now and then, I check the rates for the night I will be spending in Galveston and have not found a lower price for a room at a Hilton or Marriott property.

Did I see a lazy river on the picture a few pages back? I would be there every morning the minute it opens and not leave until...probably lunch! That would be fantastic.

Thank you kelkel2, this is the info I was looking for.

I am booked on the Jubliee deck 16 forward. Where will the muster station be located? I cruised on the Firenze in September and found the muster station info here on cruise critic. As soon as we boarded, I told the hubby that we could do muster right then and since I knew exactly where to go (via intel from reading on cruise critic), we did. It was so easy. Thanks to those here on CC that helped us out!

TerReuv, this is the danger I have also warned about! I do not think that a more accurate statement could be made.

Carnival Spirit, January 2011. Had to look at the picture of hubby & myself that we have on a bookshelf. Picture of us in Cabo San Lucas at a beach bar on Medano Beach. Very first cruise December 2009, our 25th wedding anniversary. After that cruise on RCL Mariner of the Seas out of San Pedro, we were hooked!

I once got an offer to move to the Lido deck, accepted it and have booked Lido deck balcony cabins ever since. I love the location and will be hard pressed to ever book any other deck. I am looking at booking Celebration December 2025 now so that I can get the Lido cabin I want. I say give it a try.

I received an offer to move from my deck 16 forward balcony to a spa balcony on deck 17, Jubilee, December 2024. I just ignored it and at some point, the offer was gone. I would check it every so often to see if Carnival sweetened the deal, but no. I normally pick the cabin I really want, and Carnival has never sent me an offer that blows my mind and I jump on it. This was all before final payment which is due beginning of September. I am waiting to see if I get another offer after final payment.

Hi Larry Berg. There is just something different about the Firenze Lido deck. If feels...shrunk. Deck 11 over hangs the Lido deck in a way I do not care for. I like the wide, open space of most Lido decks. Mind you, we cruised on the May 16 sailing, and it was still on the cool side in Long Beach all the way to Cabo. I posted on another thread that this arrangement will be perfect for the "cold months" out of Long Beach (with the dome that covers the Lido deck). We have cruised on 12 different Carnival Cruise ships and Firenze is not in my top choices. We love the Vista & Panorama, maybe the Horizon someday and the Dream class (all three) the most. We did have a very nice time on the Radiance out of Long Beach. That is one I would do again. We will say that the balcony cabin bathroom was very nice on the Firenze. When I opened the door, I was pleasantly surprised. Very pretty. Nice shower with the door and the vanity is very different from every other. Not as much storage but really beautiful. I truly believe that one has to experience for themselves. I have my favorites and my hubby loves all of them. Have a wonderful cruise and be sure to report back your thoughts.

My vote goes to the Panorama. I did not care for the Firenze over all. I did not like the Lido deck. I like the more open type of Lido deck. Our Firenze cruise was a really nice time but when comparing ships, I prefer the Panorama.

I was on the Firenze boarding May 16. It was on the chilly side for me at that time. I completely understood why Carnival brought the Firenze to Long Beach. The retractable roof will work great during the cooler months in California. My experience is that the weather is not warm until the ship hits Cabo. The only day that it was warm/hot was the one day we were in Cabo. I am guessing the roof will be open the entire trip in the summer months. I did not watch any dive in movies on my trip, but I did notice that all the folks who did were not covered from head to toe in carnival blankets or beach towels. It was very comfortable on the Lido deck with the roof closed on those evenings. Deck 11 will be interesting. In the hot summer months, look out. I think it will so hot in that enclosed area.

I will be returning from a cruise on the Jubilee on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024 and trying to decide what time I should book flight home on Southwest Airlines. Direct flight leaving at 12:55 pm OR 4:30 pm. I am really tempted to book the 12:55 pm flight but not sure if it is too early. The thought of hanging around the HOU airport until boarding time of 4 pm is dreadful. Hubby & I will take a shuttle from port to airport. Please advise!!

Thanks a whole bunch for the information on Shawarma. Yes, for sure hubby & I will be trying it. We love tzatziki sauce with chicken.

Cruiser OR funship for first drink? Are they the same? I always order a funship but now I am thinking they are the same!

I will be on Jubilee December 7 this year. Can't wait to see more of your drinks, food and ship stuff. I am very interested in the food at Shawarma. Tell me more!

I was on the May 16 Firenze cruise. Hubby & myself, boarded the ship, went straight to muster and then headed to La Strada Grill on deck 5. This was about 11:45-noon. Very few guests besides us. To tell you the truth, for me, it was just okay. I really, really like Guys bbq much better. We wanted to try La Strada and knew it was only open on embark day and sea days which we only had two sea days. Later that afternoon, we were down at what I call Havana but on Firenze it is something else. We were at the bar trying a drink and talked to three guests that had lunch at Michelangelo. They said it was buffet style and good. If the weather is bad outside, I would suggest trying it. The day we boarded the weather was wonderful, so we decided to have lunch outside on deck 5. Il Mercato is on deck 11 and is basically the deli plus meatballs. One thing a bit different is that they offer regular ole Lay's potato chips instead of frenchfries. We did try the meatballs and liked them.

I agree with VentureMan_200. I just returned from a five day on the Firenze and the Rocco Bar on the Lido deck was almost always busy when I was there. The bartenders worked very hard and fast to serve everyone. It was enjoyable to talk to others waiting their turn to order and ask them what they were trying. I believe the bartenders take a mental note of who was before who and take orders accordingly. The pistachio dream frozen drink was like a dessert in a glass!! If on the Firenze, it is a must try!

Host CMLA, it is NEVER sad to plan your day around food venues!! I use cruise critic to learn about options for drinks, food and fun. This is what I love about cruising with Carnival. The lunch options are amazing and require planning. The "fun" part is planning how we are going to get from comedy to the Love & Marriage show in less than five minutes. We are booked on the Jubilee in December and because of the pictures on cruise critic, I can't wait to be served the drink with the giant bubble. Cheers! will be a must for us.

The chicken fingers...YUM. I liked them better than the sandwich. The thin fries are also outstanding. I have had the chicken at Shaq's Big Chicken on the Radiance and chicken at the Chicken Shack on the Firenze, both were GREAT! If your son loves chicken fingers, be prepared for him to eat them morning, noon and night. It's almost like the swirls machine, a stop for a chicken finger every time one walks by the counter.