john1024

I was on the June 20 cruise.  Don't worry about it.  It is all about expectations.  WE HAD A VERY GOOD TIME! 

My review and comments on the crowd flow, smoke, etc. are just relative to my other cruise experiences, which I liked better.  There was nothing that made me consider complaining to the crew or to Carnival.  They can make improvements, but all of the basics that make us enjoy cruising are there.  You will be fine.  Enjoy.

We just got off the ship yesterday.  It's not a bad ship and certainly not the worst.  It is all about expectations.  Don't expect that $200M in refurbishment puts it on par with the brand new megaships.  It doesn't.  They crammed some nice stuff into a small space, which has resulted in a lot of long lines getting food and getting off the ship.  If you don't mind that, can find a work around, or if Carnival makes some adjustments, it's perfectly adequate if not outright nice.  With our limited vacation dollars, we're looking for more than adequate, so we probably won't go on the Sunrise again.  But we had a good time nonetheless. 

I wrote up a review last night which should get posted soon.  Bon voyage.

Just was on the Jade the week of 1/16 and did LFK. LOVED IT. Probably got off the ship @ 8:30-9. Tendering was no problem. Life boats were plentiful and they anchor close to shore. Had to ask where to find the LFK guys and even then weren't sure we found the right ones, but it all worked out. About 25 minute bus ride to Frenchys and then short barge ride to the island. We were there for about 4 hours. I agree that you could spend much more time there (several people, including us, said they wish they could stay there for days), but 3-4 hours are enough to eat, see the animals, explore, and get in the water. We kind of like the fact that we could go back again, sit on another side of the little island and have a slightly different experience. Can't recommend it highly enough. My favorite excursion for sure.

Just back from 1/16-23 cruise on Jade. Tender in Belize about 5 miles (10-15 minutes) out using private tender boats. Started handing out tickets at 8:30. I got out there around 7:45 and got tender group 4. They called tender 1 shortly after 8:30 but then it took about an hour to get to tender 2 because of a problem. Started going faster after that. Got to shore around 10:30. Roatan tender tickets were given out earlier (7:00?) but the tenders went really fast. We had tender 7 and they called it even before we were ready to go. Walked right on to tender lifeboat with no problem. Trip back easy as well. All in all, I would say it wasn't a big deal. If you have something really early, I would line up. Otherwise, I wouldn't kill myself to do it. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the review shellpj. Recent reviews since being back to Houston have us a little spooked. Would love to hear some more updates as folks return.