Speedy55

Does anyone know the cost of the Texas Hold’em tournament on Ovation of the Seas. 

Thank You so much! I will make an appointment for us for our Sept trip.

On 3/29/2022 at 6:50 PM, Glaciers said:

We’re using Curative as they have the closest location to where we live here in Seattle and they do walk ups with appt. Our backup is Walgreens and another backup is Discovery Health.

https://book.curative.com/search#9/47.6144/-122.3447

 

 

https://discoveryhealthmd.com/covid-19-travel-testing_test-to-fly/

Can you please update how well the curative worked?We are cruising in September and there is a curative location close to the hotel in Seattle. We are flying in on Wednesday and cruising out on Friday. Thank you!

We went on the Gem last summer on the Canada/New England route. Our daughters slept on the fold out couch and there was a very small walkway between the bed and the desk area.They will fold the bed up during the day it was only after turndown service that was a balancing act. Have fun!

Little Yia Yia,

We are boarding June 2. So far the itinerary has not changed. I will keep checking the website as the change may be coming.

Thank You

I am also cruising out of San Juan and they have moved the departure time to 6 pm. I have received multiple emails about this change. The email says to send support documentation of change fees to airreimbursements@carnival.com. I hope this helps. This is why we fly in the day before. Have a great trip!

There are no fridges unless you have a suite. I asked my stewart to keep my ice bucket filled, and he did so everyday. I did not like not having a fridge though.

 

The deli was also the "old menu". Just a shot in the dark, but I don't think they changed it for the smaller ships because it wouldn't have made a beneficial change in labor.

Thank you for the reply.

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Does the Fascination have the old Deli menu?

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This was my third Carnival Cruise. I've always wanted to do this itinerary. My very first cruise was supposed to be the ol' Key West, Cozumel, St Kitts, St Maarten, St Lucia, and St Thomas, but we never went. I had been watching the latest version of the big southern carribean itinerary, and couldn't crunch the numbers to make it work. As I continued to watch it, we came across a screaming deal, I had to book it.

 

The Itinerary

 

San Juan - Stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Isla Verde. Beautiful hotel. Beach was fine, but comparing to most of other beaches on this cruise, it took a back seat. Rented a car and went to El Yunque for a little. Some of the trails were closed. The welcome center was closed. Lots of potholes. Still got some good pictures, and it was fun. That was my first ever rainforest trip. I was going to go to the one in Dominica instead, but that port got changed.

 

St Thomas/St. John - I honestly don't remember a ton about St Thomas for two reasons. First, it was the first port of 6, secondly, we went to Trunk Bay on St. John. It is quite the effort to get there, and pretty costly. There was no entrance fee, so there's that. No concessions either. It was easily my favorite beach on this vacation. The sand and water were beautiful. Even when it got "busy," it was still calm. We were the only cruise ship in the port. I did the snorkeling trail, and saw some beautiful corals, fish, and sea urchins. Also got some great pictures. That island lived up to the hype. St John is very laid-back, and very well-preserved.

 

Antigua - I have to admit I was a bit bummed when I first heard about this itinerary change. We were originally supposed to go to Dominica. I think maybe even the first ship to return. We went to valley church beach. Another gorgeous beach. Getting there was quite a long drive, and not as many great sights to see. On that beach was my first experience with Jerk Chicken. I probably had it 4 more times on the the cruise.

 

Barbados - Went to Carlisle Bay at the Harbor Lights beachfront restaurant. They had a nice facility there. They were charging $20 per person to get a lounger, umbrella, and boat ride with snorkeling. I wasn't planning on doing that this vacation, but for the price, I couldnt say no. We did not have to travel far. The shipwreck had lots of colorful fish, and the crew fed them so they came up. Another super short trip and we found turtles and sting rays. Again, the crew brought them near us, and were very friendly. Highly recommended! Walked through downtown after.

 

St. Lucia - For as frugal as I can get on my vacations, a Sandals day pass is always worth every penny to me. I couldn't decide which island I wanted to visit Sandals this time. Barbados was too much money. Antigua was a close choice, but we had less time at that port. St Lucia had 3 of them. From everything I read, the Grand was the best spot, but the furthest. We found the local bus and got taken up north for $2.50 a person, and walked the rest. It was a great time there. All you can eat and drink for $105 a person in a nice, exclusive space. Still though, the Sandals in Nassau is my favorite.

 

St. Kitts - Went to Cockleshell Beach. Wasn't my favorite beach. However, something about it and the island itself just had a different (positive)vibe to them that is tough to explain. I look forward to returning to this island again. Got to load up on $1 local beers at a gift shop before heading out, which was great. I wanted to see the monkeys in the wild, but ran out of time.

 

St. Maarten - They weren't lying when they said this one was still feeling the hurricane. Lots of damage everywhere. Went to Maho Beach. When I first got there, I was extremely unimpressed with it, it looked nothing like the pictures. Very small. Boy am I glad I gave it a chance. The waves were the biggest I have ever seen. They were quite fun. On a trip with so many beaches, this one gave you something different, the airport! It was cool seeing a giant plane fly at you. It was also fun to do the infamous stance behind the jet engines. Overall though, I didn't get that same feeling on this island as I did on some of the others.

 

Now for the boat. I must admit, when I first heard about the fantasy class, I wanted nothing to do with them. Older and smaller ships couldn't have sounded any less appealing. Overall, I really enjoyed the boat. We stayed in Deck 6 aft, and it was a great location! Everything was only about 3-4 flights staight up. Didn't have to walk crazy distances to get to anything. The Serenity area wasn't too special, but did the job. I really liked the one on the Liberty. More of the larger beds, more room, more everything. The Punchliner experience was also so much better. Percy Crews was great! Didn't have to wait outside 30 minutes before anymore. You could walk in every night at show start time, and get a decent seat. It had the Thirsty Frog self-pouring beer station which is always welcome. I finally tried Alchemy. Great cocktails! Service was great. I loved the boat more than I thought I would.

 

Now my biggest complaints of the boat

 

1.) No fridge: I really didn't like that. I'm not one to complain about the fridges they do give you sometimes. They aren't like being in the arctic, but they do the job. It was annoying trying to enjoy cold coke or wine in my room. The tiny ice buckets didn't cut it.

 

2.) The lido pool deck: it was the lone layout that I absolutely HATED on this boat. The stage is too big and awkwardly placed. I love the stadium-styled seating of the other boats. This one was a big miss.

 

3.) Lack of dive-in movies: I love these! Out of all of the places I have watched movies, nothing beats out on the open sea. I didn't realize how much I missed them until they were gone. They had a few movies in the Punchliner in the afternoon. Not even close to the same.

 

4.) The internet: Purchased the social package. I understand slow. This was unusable.

 

I had originally bought FTTF for the first time. I got it under the old price. I still cancelled it. It literally served zero purpose to me. I don't see the fuss. You can debate Cheers all you want, however I believe for this itinerary it a collosal waste unless you are not going into port. There were no sea days. I'm not trying to suck down mimosas at breakfast and wine at dinner to tell everyone I feel like I got my money's worth. I think it would have been nice if there was a sea day or 2 (no more!) Lots of people said they would make their own, but that's tough to do when you have to opportunity to walk an island you may have never seen, or may never see again. First world problems, I suppose.

 

For the food, I always enjoy the offerings. Out of everything, my favorites are Guy's and Blue Iguana. When I heard the Fascination was getting those, it made the choice easier. I had one too many of the breakfast burritos. However, it can be tough to squeeze on those two for lunch, especially Blue Iguana. The MDR was fine. Some dishes were better than others. I had the prime rib (twice), lobster, flat iron steak, braised short ribs, filet/short rib combo and a few others. The service was really good. We always enjoy the MDR. I was going to upgrade one of the last meals to a filet/lobster, but didn't really feel the need to at that point.

 

Overall, what a vacation! You can knock Carnival all you want, knock the Carribean all you want. To be able to see and do everything that we did for around $1000 total pp, you can't beat that. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change much. What I would change though is avoiding the port taxis. Those fees kill you. If you go just right outside of the port, there is always a cheaper taxi. If you can take the local bus, even better. The buses are dirt cheap.

 

Are there bigger, newer, and more cutting-edge ships? Absolutely! For me, I got everything I needed out of this vacation. Why spend double or triple on the cruise fare? Am I really getting double the experience? Because I wouldn't be doing double the vacations if I was spending extra on pointless things. See you again later this year Carnival. Next time, I head to Half Moon. Very excited!

Thank you for the review. We are taking this cruise in June 2019. In the past we ordered bottled water for the room and kept in the fridge. Do you have any ideas what people are doing to keep the bottled water cold? I also came across a post that they have changed the deli menus. Was the menu changed on this cruise? We have sailed Legend and Glory and our teens loved the old deli menu. Thank you

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So I think according to the replies I shouldn't have a problem making the 10 am tour. Thanks for all your help.

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Bar Harbor can be missed often due to winds. I don't know Oli's policy but I would check to see if they give you a refund if your ship misses the port.

They will refund the money if the Gem doesn't stop at the port. Thank you I didn't realize this stop was often missed. We are going in June.

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Is the port before Bar Harbor a US or Canadian port? If it is Canadian, you will have to clear customs before tenders are allowed to depart the cruise ship. Your time for the excursion could be OK depending how efficiently customs is handled.

 

 

 

SBtS

Thank you for the reply we will be coming from a Canadian port.

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While I don't know how NCL handles their tender process, we tendered at that port twice last fall (we were on B2B cruises), and the time into shore was much shorter than the estimates we were given on the ship. The line we were on also used large private tenders, which made the process faster.

 

 

 

And we did an Oli's Trolley tour of Acadia, and were very pleased.

Thank you.

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We plan on booking this tour online and we want the 10 am time. Our ship is the NCL Gem and it arrives at 8am and I believe this is a tender port. Would we make the time if we left the ship as soon as possible. We will not have priority tendering. Thank you

We are doing this cruise June 2018 where do I go to read this review?

We are also on the Legend with you July 25th. This is our 2nd time on the Legend to Alaska we went in 2015. Your room 5205 should be on the starboard side. We had the starboard side balcony in 2015 and will again for our cruise in July. Alaska is great for not socializing because the wildlife and scenery from your balcony is amazing. Many dinners I ate room service on the balcony. We only ate in the MDR twice. We didn't attend any shows but we did enjoy the naturist that came onboard to discuss the wildlife and glaciers. We do the your time dining and there is four of us so we haven't been put with strangers on any of our Carnival cruises. We will not be doing the small boat excursion as I felt we saw great views from our balcony.

Hi all, Wanted to share that we are booked on the Dawn for May 12th and just got our "upgrade approved" notice yesterday. We had a Mid-Ship Mini Suite and were upgraded to a 2 bedroom family suite. Its our kiddo's 18th birthday while we are on the cruise and we're celebrating our 25th anniversary a bit early so we thought the privacy for all and the big ole bathroom would be a nice treat! Here's to hoping the weather perks up a bit!

We are in the Gem but not until June 2018 and hoping for the same offer. We have a midship mini suite and would like to bid on the 2 bedroom family suite. Do you mind if I ask what the minimum bid and the winning bid?

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We are going on this cruise June 2018. What is the chance of seeing whales from our balcony? Thank You

Thank you for posting I checked and my cruise qualifies and I contacted my travel agent for my 140.00 onboard credit!!

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Me too! We sail on Sunday and haven't heard anything!

 

Between me checking for my upgrade and watching the pregnant giraffe....I'm gonna need a Valium. :halo::'):halo:

After 35 pages of reading I knew someone would mention April. Our cruise is not until June 2018 wonder if this will still be around on the Gem.

Has anyone received the call that booked through a travel agent?

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Has anyone received the call that book through an travel agent?

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Sorry don't know the answer but we are on this cruise also and can't wait!!!

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Thank you for your review. We leave for San Juan on March 12!! I have a question regarding Boatyard. What time did you leave the Jewel of the Seas? Also what time would you recommend leaving the Boatyard to make it back in time? Was the taxi cost there 5 pp and the entrance fee 20 pp? Is 1 drink per person included? What are the drink choices if you do not drink alcohol. Thank you very much!

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Thank everyone so much. We are counting down and can not wait for vacation to begin!