KatieBug28

When you price match it does have to be to the same category and occupancy. If there are no more rooms that will hold 4 people, what would you compare? Think of it as comparing a 4 door car to a 2 door car. The price will not be the same. Sorry this wasn't explained to you better.

I guess I was thinking I would compare the price DH and I are paying, since DDs are both just paying the extra-passenger supplement. So right now we are paying $549 each, but if the price drops on a cabin in the same category that only holds two, we could still qualify. But it's no big deal if we can't.

Mostly I'm just bummed because this was kind of a game I was playing to pass the time before we cruise! I'm VERY happy with the price we paid, so while OBC is always welcome, it isn't really needed. Now I guess I'll just have to spend more time on here creating threads obsessing over the minor details of our trip :p

I think it has to do something with the different rate codes. Under past guest rate code, it shows only Balcony(obstructed view) available, but under the other rate codes it shows all Balcony types available along with all decks.

Ah, that could be it too. Thanks for the help! Sorry, I've cruised before but I'm new at this price matching game.

Ironically, I've mostly just been enjoying watching the price go up. My family all thought I was nuts to get us to book so far out, but now I can show them it was worth it!

Are you looking at a 4-person room? I ran mock bookings for this sailing, and Interiors were available for 2 and 3 travelers, but it did show no Interiors available when I searched for 4 people.

Aha! You are a genius PinaCarada! That is totally the issue.

OK, so that brings up a new question: can I still price match? How do I go about doing that? Would I just need to do a mock booking for 2 and see if the base fare for DH and I drops? Or do you have to match cabin category AND occupancy to price match?

It's showing all interiors as sold out on the regular Carnival website as well, and when I try to look at balconies, it only has them available on the Empress deck. No option to upgrade to other categories.

I tried to attach a screen shot, not sure if it worked:

Hey all!

Wondering if anyone else has encountered this. I went to check Fare Viewer today, and it said that there are NO interior and only limited Ocean View and Balcony cabins on our upcoming cruise. But the weird part is, the cruise isn't until October, on the Miracle out of Long Beach. Up until now there has been lots of availability in all of these categories, so it seems weird that it is suddenly full.

Has anyone run into this before? Could there be a theme cruise happening or something? Or is the website maybe just being weird?

I have not sailed on the Miracle... but I've certainly done the Mexican Riviera a whole bunch of times. If you take a look at my Carnival Spirit review, I think you'll find what you're looking for. It's a sister ship to the Miracle. We sailed on the Carnival Spirit to the Mexican Riviera quite a few times.

 

Another review with some good Mexican Riviera information is my Carnival Splendor review.

 

I'll include my Cruise Critic "signature" at the bottom of this post... which has links to all my other reviews, too. The January 2008 Carnival Elation and April 2008 Norwegian Star cruises were both to the Mexican Riviera, so they may be of some interest, too. But start with my Carnival Spirit review, as that will be most applicable to anyone considering sailing on the Carnival Miracle to the Mexican Riviera.

 

Enjoy!

Wonderful! Thank you! We did the Mexican Riviera a couple of years ago and absolutely LOVED it, so we decided to do a repeat with the whole family. We'll have ages 2 (my youngest DD) to 88 (my grandmother)! So it should be a blast. Excited to check out your other reviews. Thank you!

Great review Jim Zim! I am actually going to send this to my parents, who are prepping for their first cruise (we're going too!). You have so much great information that will be perfect for first timers, even if they aren't on the same ship.

Which brings me to a question: Have you done any reviews of Mexican Riviera itineraries or the Miracle? I did a search but didn't see anything. If you have, I'd love to send the link to my parents to get them excited!

We always do formal night, mostly because I avoid the buffet at all costs. We've never had a good meal there! So we eat in the MDR whenever possible. But we also like to use it as a chance to do something a bit different from our everyday.

That said, we have two small DDs, and so I get the need to stay tight when packing. We do what many folks here have suggested and go for kind of a Sunday best look. Or maybe Date Night would be a better way to think of it. DH wears a shirt and tie, maybe a blazer if he's feeling like it. I wear a little black dress or a cocktail dress leftover from one of DH's work parties (gotta put it to use somehow!). And the girls wear nicer sun dresses and cute sandals.

I'm sure if you "shop your closet" you'll find something that will work. Or, you could try the thrift store as many have mentioned. I've bought a ton of stuff for our upcoming cruise at Joe Fresh. Super cute and VERY affordable. And they have lots of cute stuff for kids that can be worn again at school, etc.

I think a lot of people get disappointed because they go in thinking they are going to get the quality of something like the movie Titanic, all for less than $70 per person, per day. It's important to have realistic expectations. Is Carnival super fancy with haute cuisine and other passengers who are all "old money"? No. Is the food pretty good, the service friendly and are there lots of fun activities available? Yes.

My cute MIL always likens it to shopping. If you go to Target expecting the level of service and merchandise you get at Nordstrom, then you are going to be disappointed. But if you go shop at Target because they have cute stuff at a decent price, you'll be fine. It's the same here.

A cruise is as safe or dangerous as any other vacation. If you want to find trouble you can, but you can also have a great time with no issues and meet lots of new and great friends. Some of these people make it sound like a cruise is most dangerous vacation you can take and would not do it that is just not the case. It is no different then any place else you go in life.

I think this is the key. It's just as safe as you make it. I think the issue with cruising is that it becomes a situation where some choose to split up and let their kids go their own way. Which is great! There are tons of awesome activities for teens. But that doesn't mean that you get a complete vacation from being a parent. Yeah, it's a great chance to get a little space from one another, but just like at home, you have to set boundaries and rules. If you know a kid likes to push the limits, you may need to have a stricter set of rules and make them check in more frequently. But they can still have a wonderful and completely safe trip. Mom and Dad just can't expect that the crew and fellow passengers will do their parenting for them. And I think that's the same on ANY cruise line.

For what it's worth, we've only had a "party" atmosphere on one of the cruises we've been on, and that one left from New Orleans. I think the port had a lot to do with it. There were a lot of people combining a trip to Bourbon Street with a cruise. But on the others, I haven't noticed it very much at all. In fact, our last cruise out of Long Beach was absolutely full of families! Which was great, as we were cruising in the off season and were worried our kids would be the only ones! Also, longer cruises seem to have less of a party atmosphere, so they may want to look into a week long trip.

Thanks for your review. We were supposed to be sailing her the 1st cruise out of dry dock, but b/c the itinerary changed to a not so toddler friendly one (really what am I going to do with an overnight stop in PV with a 20 month old), we are now going to be sailing in April. Can't wait!!

 

What makes you feel like this itinerary isn't toddler friendly? I'm not trying to be snarky, just genuinely curious. We are taking our just-turned-2 year old in October, but we're overnighting in Cabo. We did the same itinerary with our older DD a couple of years ago, but this will be our first cruise with a toddler. We LOVED PV with our older DD, but wondering what issues it has for littler ones.

Love it! Totally going to try it on my cruise.

I'm 34, so I don't think 35 is old at all! I think you can still be current and fashionable!

I have been doing a lot of capsule wardrobe packing for my trips, and it's been great. I've found a lot of great ideas on Pinterest, so I'd recommend checking that out. I like to shop at a wide variety of places, from Joe Fresh and Old Navy to Hudson's Bay and Nordstrom. But if I'm trying something new, I usually try to find a cheap version I can test out at Gap or Old Navy, so I haven't wasted a ton of money if I don't like it. If I do, I buy a better version that will last longer after I figure out if it works for me.

For this cruise, I'd probably take a mixture of dresses, jeggings, and maybe some capris or crops to wear in the cities. If you are hitting the beach, then you obviously want shorts and swimwear. Turkey is NOT as conservative as you would think. You'll see everything on the streets from mini-skirts to full burquas. So just wear what you are comfortable in. The only exception to this is when visiting churches and mosques. Some of those (Italy for sure, and mosques in Turkey) ask that women cover up their arms, so I always have a sweater or denim jacket on hand. And in mosques and Eastern Orthodox churches, they often ask that you cover your hair. So I usually take a couple of scarves that go with everything, and you can wear them around your neck or as a belt or whatever, and then pull them up as needed. Plus churches and mosques tend to be cold, so a sweater is always welcome!

We did visit one monastery in Greece that REQUIRED women to wear a skirt. But they apparently realized that many people travel without one, because outside was a big fence covered in skirts! You could just grab one and pull it on over your pants or whatever, and then put it back when you left! Pretty crazy!

We booked the breakfast & whale watch tour through viator. The receipt says to check in at the office by Deck 0 behind the Hacienda Resort. The web pictures show the catamaran as the Cabo Escape which appears to be docked at Dock O. Where would we get the closest water taxi from where the ship tender drops you off?

Hmm, I don't remember exactly where they were, but I know it was very close to the tender drop off. I think there were just several hanging around because they know that people want to go see the arch, go around the marina, etc. So I would assume that there would be several waiting nearby when you get off. Sorry, I know that's not very helpful!

This is such a fun idea! I totally wish I was cruising with your group, sounds like so much fun!

Here are a couple of suggestions that I think I've seen onboard:

Single Ladies - Beyonce (everyone loves to try to do the dance)

Total Eclipse of the Heart/Holding Out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler (everyone loves an '80s power ballad!)

Also, they have a ton of Disney songs! So those are fun, especially if you have kids in the group. Even if you don't, you'll get plenty of people singing along to things like "A Whole New World" or "Circle of Life".

What excursion are you doing? Depending on where it meets, the water taxi might be your best option. We did whale watching on the La Princessa catamaran last time, and the water taxi ride was seriously about 5 minutes! And it dropped us right at the pier. If you get to check in with the excursion office the day before, maybe ask if a water or land taxi would be the best option. I thought the water taxi was great because it just zipped us right over to where we needed to be. If we'd taken a land taxi, I think it would have taken much longer due to traffic.

On the way back, the walk around the marina is a nice stroll! We had a great time just exploring and taking our time to get back to the ship. We even made a side trip off to a little taco stand for lunch. Fantastic! One of our best ever cruise days.

This thread is making me feel good about my decision to book deck 7 midship! Thanks for starting it OP! We do interiors as well. We're just a few doors down from the Atrium, so hopefully it isn't too noisy. I like that there are cabins above and below!

Hey all! Was just talking to my MIL (who I absolutely adore) about our upcoming family cruise, and our conversation seemed like it would also make a fun thread topic!

We were talking about how we each want to spend our vacation dollars on our upcoming trip. My MIL, for example, will not cruise without a balcony cabin. I feel like that's just not worth it and we always book an inside. On the other hand, she would be content if she never did a shore excursion and just camped out on a beach in every port, while DH and I often spend more on excursions than we did on the cruise fare!

So, with that in mind, what things do you think are worth scrimping on, and where do you like to splurge? I'll be candid and admit that cruising in general is a scrimp for me, because it's not my favorite method of travel (that's the main reason I cruise with Carnival, it's a good deal!) But I know others like to go all out on a cruise because they love it! Here's my list:

Splurge

Shore excursions - we book at least one in each port (though we often book our own instead of going through Carnival because there is more variety)

Food in port - we love finding great restaurants in every port and enjoying a good meal of local food

FTTF - This is our first time doing it, but I think it will be worth it to have our cabin ready so the kiddos can take a nap. Also looking forward to priority for tenders in Cabo, where we are spending two days

After-hours babysitting/Camp Carnival activities - I also haven't used this yet, but my girls are very excited for the Night Owls programs, and we'll probably do some of the additional for-fee activities

Tips - I love to give extra tips, especially to the crew members we become close to over the week. They take such good care of us, and I love to show them I appreciate it!

Scrimp/Save

Cabin - We always book an inside, because we just don't spend time in the room. We're always out doing activities

Drink packages - we have an occasional drink or soda, but we're just not big drinkers, so these don't make sense for us

Specialty dining - we have always had great service and food in the MDR, so we usually just stick with that. We may change that a bit this trip and try the steakhouse one night as well as the Seuss at Sea breakfast, but for the most part, we don't spend a ton on extra dining while on board

Cruising in general - I love a fabulous hotel and great food, but when it comes to cruising, I tend to go the cheap route so that I can splurge on my land-based trips. So I haven't ventured off to other cruise lines yet. Maybe someday when there is a little more "fun money" in our budget, but for now the good value of Carnival works for us.

I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks! Clearly there isn't just one way to cruise!

 

But anytime I've encountered a stroller onboard a ship, the 'driver' was, 90% of the time, oblivious to anyone else on board.

I've totally seen them too! That's a big part of why I don't want to use one on board. Plus it's good to walk off a few of those extra calories, and hauling a toddler up the stairs should help :p

My husband informs me that we did take a stroller with my older DD, and I have apparently just forgotten it entirely (I did have a baby since then, with the associated memory loss!). I don't think renting one on the ship would work for us, just because the main place we would want to use it is the airport.

Now I just need to figure out what to do about the car seat situation! We haven't decided if we are renting a car or taking a shuttle, but I'd love to figure out some way that I don't have to drag car seats on and off the ship!

Hey! I need some help from my fellow cruising parents.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I should take a stroller for my DD, who will turn 2 two days before our cruise. We've cruised with a toddler before, but older DD was 3 at the time and we drove to the port instead of flying. This time we'll be flying, and a stroller would be super handy for the airport, since a 2 year old gets pretty heavy to carry and it can be a long walk through LAX.

So, here's my questions: If you took a stroller, where did you store it? Will it fit under the bed? Did you find yourself using it in port very much? Would a toddler hiking backpack be better, so you could carry them and have your hands free?

I'm pretty sure we won't use it on the ship, since we're sailing the Miracle and she is much smaller than the other ships we have been on. But we might find it handy in port, because we like to go find out of the way restaurants and things to do. I'm leaning toward taking it, but wanted some feedback from all of you who cruise more often than we do. We're generally more of a land-based vacation family, and we wouldn't dream of going without a stroller at Disneyland or a toddler backpack at a national park.

A tour might be a good option for you, but keep in mind that once you are into the city of Puerto Vallarta (a 7.5 Peso (50 cents) bus ride from outside the port) everything is quite walkable unless you have some kind of mobility issue. So if you simply want to see the city (both the Centro area and the Southside Romantic Zone) it can all easily be done on foot. We have no solution to a "group of 9" which is why DW and I prefer to be in a group of 2 :).

 

Hank

Yes, that's the price you pay for traveling with the whole extended family! It's fun though, and we'll break up to do our own activities during the day and then meet up again at night.

We've been to Puerto Vallarta before, and really enjoyed it. We don't have any objections to walking, we just love biking as a family, and the Malecon seems like such a fun place to ride! So we'll see what ends up happening. We LOVE the bus system! So we'll definitely be doing that. Usually we ride out to Mismaloya, but we thought it might be fun to do something different this time.

I agree! It makes me so sad when I hear everyone talking about how they are so excited to go to the Walmart in PV! Why go to a foreign country if all you want to do is eat the same thing and do the same activities you can at home?

My DH lived in Mexico City for a few years, and so he always insists that we find a place to get street tacos. It usually involves going for a bit of a walk through some streets that don't get many tourists, but I've always felt completely safe, and I love getting to see the "real" side of the ports. Plus tacos al pastor are AMAZING!!!! They have them here, but it's just not quite the same. We've eaten churros, tacos, etc. from street vendors all around Mexico, and never gotten sick, so I just shake my head and feel bad for those who go back to the ship to eat. They are missing out!

I think my all-time favorite thing I've eaten in Mexico was some shrimp and fish on skewers that a vendor was selling at Mismaloya. So delicious! But I'm sure many wouldn't even consider it. So sad!

I need to take a break from planning my vacation and actually do some work, and I need a hand!

I jokingly told our CEO that we should branch out our company's training arm to include conventions at resorts and on cruise ships. Well, he thought that sounded like a great idea and wants more info! Would something like this be qualify as a group cruise? Any tips on getting started?

And, if you've attended a group cruise, I'd love any tips on what you liked/disliked, etc. Obviously I'm a newbie at this! Is Carnival a good line for a group cruise? I was also thinking I should look into RCI, and maybe Norwegian? Disney would be awesome, but I'm guessing it would be too expensive and is limited by the number of sailings.

Anyway, any feedback you have would be much appreciated!

Hmm, maybe the tour is our best option then. Thank you both so much for your help! I have asked a ton of questions here and everyone has been so helpful. It's hard planning excursions for a group of 9, everyone wants to try something different!

Does anyone know of a place to rent some bikes for a leisurely ride around Puerto Vallarta? I've seen a few places that offer bike tours, but we'd rather just go at our own pace. We just want to ride along the Malecon, maybe get some tacos, visit Our Lady of Guadalupe, etc. We do have my two DDs coming with us, and we'd need bike seats for them.

Anyone know somewhere that does this?