sweet angel

Just got the call that we "won" a "free 4/5/7 night Caribbean cruise" on either Carnival or Royal Caribbean or a land vacation...forget the locations. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the dates for the presentation didn't work for us. We were told it was a 90-minute presentation. Since I agreed to have them keep our entry information and contact us next time they're local, I have some questions:

If it's a "free" cruise, why is there a deposit?

How fine is the fine print? Meaning, how many hoops to jump through?

How brutal is the presentation?

In my opinion, "free" means without cost. I can see having to pay taxes and port fees, but why a deposit?

To put it mildly! :(

 

Are you near the cruise ports in FL? When we disembarked Explorer today, I was listening of people's travel plans to get back to England, Scotland, Mexico....at that point I was VERY happy to have only an hour's drive home lol.

We're closest to Tampa. We actually live about midway between Tampa and my other favorite place...Disney. The east coast ports are probably 4.5-5 hours away.

We're booked on Explorer in April. Move to FL, sail from NJ? What's wrong with me? Lmao

I'd suggest sending me a friend request, but not sure how,to do that here without putting my full name there...

Angel, I thought that was you! Am I mistaken, or didn't you used to be from NJ? Or am I losing my marbles, once again?? lol :p

 

We personally made it ok through the storm, however our town is demolished. :(

 

It was nice to get on Explorer on the 4th and escape the craziness around here. It was a perfect vacation! :)

Your marbles are correct. We moved to FL last year! Glad to hear you made it through okay. Devastation was well...devastating.

Hello! :)

 

Just off Explorer today, and no, he was not the guitarist. The guitarist was Jed Rogue, I believe.

Ah, poo.

Long time no "see". Hope you made it thru the storms okay!

Does anyone know if Pedro dela Llana is still the guitarist on Explorer? If so, does anyone know how long contracts generally are? I've seen him twice -- Liberty in 2008 and Explorer 2011. Hoping to see him again in April.

Completely forgot that we COULD purchase Royal Caribbean transfers. Lol

No...the airport shuttle from the port is just a first come, first served service with no reservations.

Okey dokey...duly noted. Thank you!

Yes, the Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton Inn on Staten Island provide both a complimentary shuttle between the hotels and EWR, and between the hotels and Cape Liberty. However, at the end of your cruise they will not take you from the cruise port directly to the airport, so you will have to take a taxi or the cruise port to airport shared ride shuttle if you're going directly to the airport and not staying at the hotel(s) after your cruise.

 

I haven't seen any significant negative comments about these hotels (which are adjacent to each other) posted on this board. The Hampton Inn provides a complimentary breakfast to its guests.

They are both nice hotels in a wooded corporate park on Staten Island and they do provide a free airport shuttle and a free port shuttle. The Hilton Garden has a restaurant that folks seem to like. Hampton Inn offers free breakfast.

 

If you are going to EWR after your cruise, you may want to take an airport shuttle for $16-17/pp to avoid going back to Staten Island and then back to the airport.

Thank you! I assume the airport shuttle FROM the port needs to be PRE-booked?

We are former North Jersey folks, but had been living in South Jersey. Last year we simply drove up and parked at the port.

Now we are Floridians and will need to fly into EWR the night before our 4/7/13 cruise, book a room and transfers. Am I to understand that the Hamtpon Inn and Hilton in Staten Island provide a shuttle to and from EWR AND a shuttle to the port? And they are both okay enough for a one-night stay?

The last couple times we flew out of EWR we did stay and park at, I think, the airport Hilton and Marriott Garden Suites? That may not be right...I don't remember.

I'm just trying to make this as simple as possible. Just need a restaurant...no sightseeing necessary.

Help!!

Not necessarily. Embarkation will not begin until everyone is off the ship. How fast everyone gets off the ship will determine how soon you can get on. We were one of the last numbers called to exit the ship. There was probably only one more set of debarkation numbers called after us.

 

Arriving at 11:00 will likely mean you will receive a zone number and will have to wait your turn until the ship is ready to embark. Depending on how quickly you would like to get on the ship will determine how soon you would like to be at the port. The lower zone number you have, the sooner you will be on board. In our case, we arrived before 1:00 and we were able to board immediately--no zone number and no waiting for our number to be called!

Okay, great. Thanks for the info!

Great review!

We were looking to get to the port by 11 to board, but your debarkation was at 10:30, so I'm guessing 11 is too early to get there?

We will be sailing with Carnival for the first time in November, on Legend. So happy to see your review and looking forward to lots more pictures!

sweet angel-the coffee bar is not open 24/7 and there is a cost for the "special coffees " and the Americana and the desserts. Up on the lido deck- the coffee, pizza, ice cream, hot tea, hot cocoa, are open 24/7. Some friends of ours on our last cruise introduced us to something wonderful at the pizza place-a garlic cheese roll. Basically they take the pizza dough, roll it into bread rolls, and then smother them with garlic and cheese. They are fantastic! Add a cesear salad, and pure heaven! I am not big on the ship pizza. Being an ex Jersey girl, the cheese needs to drip and ooze and the ship pizza just doesn't do that. But the cheesy garlic rolls are GREAT!:)

Thank you!

 

We loved this ship, and will be back on her in September.

sweet angel-the multi course meals in the MDR are great, because if you dont' want to eat alot, just order what you want. If you don't want dessert, dont order it, the appetizers look better than the maind dish, just order the apps. Your other options would be, the buffet on the lido deck, room service, the steak house(alot more food and you pay extra) and one night during the cruise is the Chef's Table, that has about 10 courses. There is one midnight buffet during the cruise. We chose to eat as many meals as possible in the MDR, I paid for the service, I might as well use it, and I am always on a diet, so it's easier to me to think out my meal, instead of staring at a whole lot of food, and getting more I my plate than I need. There is a coffee shop on obard, but the closest thing to a cup of coffee there is the americana coffee. There is always coffee on the lido deck in the restaurant, great choice of Bigelow tea, and cocoa 24/7. Have a great cruise!

Thanks for your response. It's not actually the quantity of food, but sometimes we don't feel like going to the MDR being stuck there for over an hour while everyone eats, you know? Or sometimes we don't feel like changing out of our shorts and t-shirts and don't want to be dressed inappropriately for dinner. Just wanted to be sue there were other options...and late night snacks available. My DH is a snacker.

Is the coffee shop a fee-based thing?

We are used to the Royal Promenade on RCI (snacks and coffee/tea 24/7) and just want to be aware of our options.

I'm liking the sound of the martiini flight!

Couple questions:

What are our dining options if we don't want to do a multi-course meal in the MDR?

Are there late-night dining options? Pizza/sandwiches/snacks?

Is there coffee available 24/7?

We are sailing on Legend in November...first time trying Carnival. Im looking forward to hearing all the tips and seeing lots of pictures!

We're also originally from NJ -- Ocean County.

We are sailing on Legend in November. It's our first time with Carnival. What are our dining options if we don't want to "dress up" for dinner? We have anytime dining reserved.

I've gotta be honest. By the end of the second day (and staring down the barrel of the cleanse day), I decided this is NOT the program for me. I was so painfully hungry and had such a headache that I just broke down into tears. I decided I'd try to do the cleanse on Saturday, but if I couldn't, I wouldn't beat myself up. I'd just modify. I didn't do the cleanse.

What I did do, however, was vow to make this manageable. I decided to skip the cleanse altogether. I have been drinking 1-2 shakes per day, having healthy snacks, and a reasonable dinner. I've been taking the supplements and the Cleanse for Life, but dumped the Ionix Supreme down the sink. Blech.

I've had ice cream, I've had a cheese steak, I've had some M&Ms. To date, I'm down 8 lbs. My 2 week point is Thursday. I'm more than happy with that.

If I can continue to lose a pound or two per week, I will be thrilled.

Once all my product is gone, I will be switching to something like Muscle Milk -- which has a similar content and is MUCH cheaper -- and lower in calories.

My problem with this program is that is essentially a starvation diet. No one should be limited to approx 1080 calories a day. Sure, it will help you lose weight, but once you start eating normally, it will creep back. I don't view this as a lifestyle change. With my modifications, I can look at it as a lifestyle change. It's just not for everyone.

Good luck to you. I hope you continue to experience success!

It says to do the cleanse up to 4 times in the 30 days. I figured I'd do Saturdays -- or every other Saturday . I saw their tip about the almond and cracked up...ONE almond? Does that really help?

I have nothing to lose but weight, so I'll give it a shot. I think I have nuts around here somewhere, so I'll grab a few for work rather than a fruit. Thanks for the tip.

Glad to see you guys having success. I just received my 30day supply and plan to start tomorrow. I'm a little nervous that I'm going to be starving, but figure I'll supplement with a piece of fruit or something.

Any tips? What should I expect from a cleanse day? That's what's got me nervous. Will I be able to leave the house?? :eek:

We didn't have the Gala either, Angel. But did you notice they now have a "Food Festival" in the promenade during lunchtime, and it pretty much looked just like the Gala used to look, but on a smaller scale? lol They had cool food things and desserts, but just not nearly as much as was during the Gala Buffet.

I saw some sort of food, but it looked more like pairings or something. Could be that I missed that too.

We had turndown, chocolates and towel animals each night when we sailed 11/1/08. Saw and spoke with the room steward numerous times.

We didn't go to Dragonsbreath on our own thinking...I had asked our waiter for a "less busy beach". I guess that was my mistake!

One thing I did miss was the Gala Buffet, unless I just didn't see it listed.

So what did you think, Angel???? :D I couldn't remember if you were the week before or after me. We had an AWESOME time!!!! It was one of the best cruises, ever! :)

 

 

 

Was he the guitarist? I heard him a couple nights and he was great!

Yes, he was the guitarist. In the dining room (assuming it was him...we were on the 4th level, so couldn't see) he played Hotel California, and instrumental versions of other rock-type songs. It was REALLY good.

Christie, to be honest, I loved the ship. We were the week before you, so we had fairly crappy weather -- it was a torrential downpour in Grand Cayman, and pretty gray and rainy in Jamaica. My son sliced his toe in Labadee (I waited 4 cruises to FINALLY get there and he sliced his toe within 10 minutes -- note to other cruisers Dragonsbreath beach is VERY rough and the sand in the water is full of sharp shells, rocks, etc.).

I thought the food in the dining room was great, I've always loved Promenade Cafe, loved being able to get pizza at Sorrentos whenever I wanted, but I thought Windjammer fell short with their morning selections. By probably Wednesday, the only fruit they had out in the morning was honeydew. It was like they ran out. I was really tired of scrambled eggs too. I thought on my other cruises, they had scrambled eggs with ham, or bacon or something other than just plain old scrambled eggs. Yes, I could've stood in line for an omelet or fried egg, but I didn't.

I thought the addition of "table spotters" in the morning at Windjammer was a FANTASTIC change. Made it much less of a chore to find a table.

Mind you, I am NOT complaining. I'd go back on Liberty in a heartbeat!

I just got back 11/15, it was Jimmy Blakemore most nights, he was very good. My Compass says Pedro Dela Llama for one night, I didn't hear him/them?

I saw Pedro one night at Schooner Bar. He was good. I think he also played 2 nights in the dining room and was amazing!

For anyone recently back, does anybody remember who was singing in Hoof & Claw? We had a great singer last November, I cant' remember her name but she was a lot of fun. Was hoping she might still be there.

It was a man. I want to say Jimmy Blakemore, but I just pulled that name out of the air.