RobinCruiser

12 hours ago, TheJayCat said:

I was on the Imagination this past Thanksgiving. As we were getting off of the ship on 11/25/19 they were putting up the Christmas decorations.

Thanks! Yes, I forgot about your Thanksgiving.. I'm Canadian, ours is in October.

Sorry for another one of these posts, but the new CC is driving me crazy and not very user friendly for searching. 😀

I've booked two cabins on the Carnival Magic for Nov 17. Can anyone tell me when the ships get decorated for Christmas? I was hoping it would be around then. 

I've heard the ship is looking somewhat tired. Does anyone know when it's scheduled for a refurb? Just wondering if it will get some upgrades before we sail. 

Does Carnival still do a chocolate buffet? Or a midnight buffet?

Is the adult only area part of the spa area or independent. And is it still a clothing optional/or topless area?

And lastly, are there formal nights on a 6 night cruise? And are they very formal? 

Thanks! I think that's it for now, going to try to find some more Magic reviews to read through. 

Robin

Congrats!! I've just booked out first Carnival cruise in 24 years!! Really looking forward to it. Bringing our grown up kids! We've done a few RCI over the past couple years and are finding them to be too stuffy (Jewel of the Seas last January) and lacking in inclusive food options. 

Thanks everyone!! A nice couple told my daughter on her first cruise to go in the pool when she felt ill. It actually made her feel better to just go float around. She's tried the bands (didn't work), ginger tablets (made her sicker - she doesn't like Ginger) and Gravol which just made her sleep for two days. She also gets car sick so she's quite prone to motion sickness, even when it's not super rough seas. 

Previously, we had cabins higher up and to the rear so this time we will do midship and low. And I hadn't given thought to the actual route/itinerary until now. It's a Western Caribbean cruise I've been looking at for November 30th. Maybe I'll have to re-think that. The last two times we did a Southern Caribbean, January on Jewel was super rough and March on Adventure was not that bad. 

HI, I'm new to Carnival - looking to book a fun ship for a family Caribbean cruise this Nov or Dec. My Daughter gets seasick on smaller ships. She was very ill on the Coral Princess and the RCI's Jewel of the Seas but did not too bad on RCI's Adventure of the Seas. I have heard the larger the ship, the more stable. I have a cruise on Conquest on hold at the moment, looks like Conquest is a bit smaller than Adventure of the Seas. Is there a list of the mid size and more Oasis Class comparable vessels? I have tried to find out on the Carnival website but don't see anything.

Thanks!

Robin

12 hours ago, zqvol said:

Be aware that driving times can be very deceptive especially south of Key Largo. One wreck, and that 100 mile 3 hour drive coud turn into a 6 - 8 hour maddening day.

Thanks for the tip! I'm from BC Canada and I totally get that... we have a wreck on the highway here and it can closed for a good 10 hours. It's awful!

17 hours ago, capriccio said:

There is lots to see so take as many days as you can!  

 

The most direct driving route would have you visiting the Ernest Coe and Royal Palm Visitors Centers in the Everglades National Park (https://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm).  The drive from Port Miami to the Homestead Entrance is about 50 miles and around a 1 hour drive.  Make sure you also stop at Robert is Here en route or leaving the park (www.robertishere.com).  From there it is less than 40 miles and a 1 hour drive to Key Largo.  The drive from Key West to Key Largo is about 2 hours and 100 miles.  Just beware that the stretch of route 1 in the Keys (the Overseas Highway) is only one lane wide in each direction so any accident can throw a wrench into the timing. 

 

With 4 nights, you could spend one night in Key Largo and the rest in Key West. With 3 nights it would be your call on whether you want to spend a night in Key Largo or just push on to Key West.   Check out the Key West Port of Call board for more info on hotels, restaurants and attractions:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/95-key-west/

Thank you, this is very helpful! I will try to convince the others we need 4 nights!

Hello! I'm doing a cruise out of Miami and would love to do a little post cruise trip in the Keys. We will rent a car. DH wants to see the Everglades National Park, Brother-in-law says Key Largo is a must and I want to see Key West. I've never been to any of these so wondering how many days I should plan for? Has anyone done a post cruise Key's trip? What do you recommend? What's a must see/do? Any accommodation recommendations? Ideally, I'd like to spend no more than 3 or 4 days post cruise on this little trip. TIA.

same! I tried both Chrome and Explorer too. Nothing.

60and happy.... let us know how it goes at Sheraton OSJ. I don't have reservations until mid April.... so am hoping if you are in with no problem, by April I hopefully have no worries.....

We checked in from January 21-23 with no issues at all. Booked months ago with Airmiles and had the pleasant surprise that a buffet breakfast was included both mornings. Lovely staff, very nice, clean property... loved the hot tub and pool... we had a brief power outage on the Sunday night but it was the last night of the San Sebastian festival and Old San Juan was hopping with crazy crowds and over 30 000 people.

Ship - Jewel of the Seas

Deck - 10

Stateroom # - 1604

Stateroom Category – E1

Starboard or Port Side - AFT

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems

Balcony View - Aft balcony with unobstructed view

Balcony Size? - Very large with two loungers plus table and two chairs/ still plenty of room

Was wind a problem? - Not terribly

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - Yes, there was a fair amount of soot on the chairs and floor every day.

Any specific problems with this cabin? - YES! Windjammer outdoor seating area is directly above. I had read that there was some noise from chair dragging to be expected but thought it was only to be heard during Windjammer hours. I did not know that the outdoor seating area is accessible 24/7 and I would be subject to the noise and reverberations through the metal ceiling above my bed at all hours of the night. Worst of all were the two nights during the cruise when the staff decided to clean the floors in this area, at 2:30AM for at least 90 minutes or more, dragging tables and chairs across the floor and back.

Also, balcony is stepped so at all hours, we constantly had large gatherings of people hanging over the railing from the Windjammer, looking down on us. There was absolutely no privacy. And all those people were very talkative... seemed more like we were sharing our balcony with at least 10-20 people at any given time.

Any other comments? - Nice stateroom and large balcony but I would NEVER book this room again or recommend to anyone.

I have had my eye out as well, and it’s odd that such a popular pre-cruise hotel has had no updates since the hurricanes to let us know :(

 

I did read a review on Trip Advisor from January 5th that I assume is recent and from an actual tourist (not a FEMA worker), however that person didn’t say when they actually stayed there. Every now and then someone will post a review for somewhere they stayed a year or so ago, so who knows.

 

All the previous reviews were from FEMA workers (the last one being Dec 26th).

 

I noticed just after the new year, they updated their web page and removed the red notation stating they were not taking reservations until after January 8th. I tried to book on their page and can book for the upcoming week so I think they are back to normal and accepting new reservations. I have a reservation booked months ago with Air Miles, for January 21st to 23rd. I emailed the hotel reservations desk direct and received two replies, three minutes apart... First one telling me they had a three night minimum and then the second confirmed my pre-booked reservation, and advised me that they looked forward to seeing me. I printed off that email and I'm taking it with me, just in case.

Does anyone know if San Juan Embassy Suites and Casino is keeping reservations for late January? Or are they still only Housing post hurricane workers?

This is truly the best review I've ever read. Thanks for the laughs, giggles and outright coffee through the nose-snorts. I can't wait for you to cruise and confess again next year.

Is anyone else having problems accessing this site? When I type in cruisecritic.com it takes me to cruisecritic.ca and says "your connection is not private". Same with when I click on the "Find your roll call" link in the forums. Wasn't sure if it was a Canadian thing since it's trying to redirect me to .ca

Also happened to me last night. I have the forum bookmarked in my favourites so just closed that page and accessed from there.

Wow, I have to say, we went on a spring break cruise in 2016 with our then 18 and 15 year old daughters and I did not witness any of the craziness you did. We were on Adventure in the Southern Caribbean. This was our first and only spring break vacation but I say that due to the sheer volume of people, everywhere... at the airport, sold out flights, full ships...

Just curious, you are mentioning college kids so would that be reading break in Feb, rather than spring break in March? We traveled in March.

I was reading through this and then realized how old it was. Does anyone know if the information in it is still valid? I am going to be in Antigua on January 17th, first time to the island and I really liked the idea of taking the local bus and water taxi to see Nelson's Dockyard and Shirley's heights. I have a full day tour already booked for our next day in St. Lucia so would prefer not to do two guided island tours in a row.

Just did a tour with Lawrence last week and it was excellent!! He is such a gentleman and a very good tour guide. He certainly knows his island and its history. He was very responsive any time I emailed him. We did a 4 hour tour of the island...saw English Harbor, Shirley Heights and Nelson Dockyard. Amazing timing there...we arrived along with Prince Charles!! He was in the Caribbean visiting islands affected by the hurricanes and was at Nelson Dockyard to commemorate its being named a world UNESCO heritage site. We then headed to the national park and then the rainforest. After that, he dropped us at Valley Church Beach which was just gorgeous and returned for us about 1.5 hours laters. All for $50 per person!

 

I would certainly use Leston Lawrence again!

 

This sounds great! Was this a special tour? I see the 3-4 hour tour on his website listing at $70 per adult.

I think there is some confusion when the reps are giving out rates.

 

There are several exchange rates that Royal uses. The one for OBC does not change very often (yearly) and has been at 1.30 for a long time. They also use an exchange rate for cruise planner purchases as well as cruise pricing. I have the feeling that the reps have given the exchange rate 1.27 which was used for converting OBC on the cruise planner ( and changes frequently) instead of the correct amount of 1.30 to purchase OBC.

Ah, thank you, that makes sense.

I got off the phone with RCI Gifts & Gear a few minutes ago. For purchases of OBC, they quoted today's rate as being $1.27 CAD to $1.00 USD. That's not bad in the sense that it's very close to, or even slightly better than the current mid-market rate that I just looked up (per xe.com).

I just called RCI Gifts & Gear to add $200 OBC to my cruise and they quoted me a total of $260 and said the exchange rate today is 1.30. Seems like they are changing it a lot more often now than before. I thought I would still get the 1.27 rate.

Hi - we are in the same boat, so to speak. Are you on the Summit Jan 13? I am also flying to SJU on the 12th from Vancouver. I empathize! :(

No we are on the Jewel departing on Jan 14th. I am feeling better though, got in touch with the GM at Best Western and he has assured me that they are open, fully operational and taking reservations.

Hi - we are in the same boat, so to speak. Are you on the Summit Jan 13? I am also flying to SJU on the 12th from Vancouver. I empathize! :(

No we are on the Jewel departing on Jan 14th. I am feeling better though, got in touch with the GM at Best Western and he has assured me that they are open, fully operational and taking reservations.

We tried to do this. We are flying American from LAX through MIA to San Juan on 11/16. I tried to convince AA to let us have a 24 hour layover in MIA. They said this would require canceling our reservation and reticketing it. Cost: $1650.00 per person. But, they were willing to waive the $200 change fee. That’s so kind of them.

This is what I attempted to do today too for our flight January 12 from Vancouver, Canada to Miami via Dallas. Same thing, they will waive the change fee but the difference in fare is almost $800.00 per person just to stop in MIA. Crazy.

We tried to do this. We are flying American from LAX through MIA to San Juan on 11/16. I tried to convince AA to let us have a 24 hour layover in MIA. They said this would require canceling our reservation and reticketing it. Cost: $1650.00 per person. But, they were willing to waive the $200 change fee. That’s so kind of them.

This is what I attempted to do today too for our flight January 12 from Vancouver, Canada to Miami via Dallas. Same thing, they will waive the change fee but the difference in fare is almost $800.00 per person just to stop in MIA. Crazy.

Dario Dogan from AOS... excellent waiter - super friendly, accommodating, brought me wine without even having to ask.. entertaining with magic tricks and just general awesomeness. :D