moongal

This is kind of a weird question! My kids want to go to Mr. Sanchos (teens). I read that they offer horseback riding there. I am deathly allergic to horses (I know... weird allergy!). Even being down wind of them in close proximity will set off asthma attack and hives etc.

So my question is this, are the horses ever just walking around the beach where we would be swimming, or near the tables where we would be eating? Or in any other major public area of the resort? Or are they kept corralled some big away, never to be seen except if you actually reserve a ride?

I have watched countless you tube videos and read tons of reviews and never see anything mentioned about horses except on the actual Mr.Sanchos website so I figured I would ask here from anyone that has been there.

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thank you for all the responses. Personally I love sea days and have no problem just sitting around but will have 2 teens along. This shuttle that runs into town, can you just ride into town and ride back without getting off? I’d be afraid I’d miss a shuttle back. Or get lost if we got off. I would hate to be stranded in Progresso. Lol Cozumel that would be almost great!! Not so much Progresso!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We have been unable to find anything that floats our boat for our upcoming stop in Progresso. (Excursion wise)

Can anyone who has stayed onboard the ship during a port of call tell me if it is super boring? Is there anything to do? Do they have any activities planned? Are the food venues open? Can you use the water slides?

I really want to find something to do but all the reviews I read for different excursions are so mixed....there are some glowing and some saying horrid (about the same excursion) that I don’t know what to believe. I have been to Progresso before and we did a dune buggy, beach trip and I wasn’t impressed. There will be 4 of going so I don’t want to waste a lot of money on something that might not be good. I am also not comfortable going out on our own there so that isn’t an option.

Any opinions on your experience with just staying onboard would be appreciated. Like did you enjoy the peace and quiet? Did you wish you had gotten off the boat after all? Etc.

Thanks in advance.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I have only ever docked at the Puerta Maya (sorry if misspelled) Dock at Cozumel on Carnival. I know where the taxi stand is but I am worrying about if our ship doesn’t dock at this same place, are the other 2 docking locations in Cozumel as easy to get a taxi at? The first time I went I was with a group who knew where they were going. This time I will be the one who needs to know! Thanks in advance.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

When you are in a suite I know you get priority boarding but will your room be ready and can you go straight to your room same as FTTF? I haven’t seen anything that clarifies this point.

We will be in a Grand Suite for the first time ever having a suite and I want to be able to go put our luggage away as we carry on. Do I need to try to purchase FTTF? Or with suite can you also go in to your room early? Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Does everyone in the cabin have to eat at the same time? If hubby and I want to eat earlier, can we eat in the MDR and the kids (19 &17) eat later in the MDR?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Hubby is big man. 6’4” 260 lbs and I’m not exactly tiny! I put me and daughter together because she is skinny and tiny.

Thanks for advice about rollaway or trundles. I didn’t know there was such a thing on a cruise ship! [emoji4]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Upper bunks scare me! Lol. Plus I reeeeeally love having a balcony and tend to be claustrophobic, which also helped to make the decision for the grand suite. Which I am really so excited to try! I’ve always wanted to try one. So even if the sleeping arrangements are less than ideal I am still excited to have the suite. And yes the mattress will be a pain to lug but I just don’t want to lug it for no reason if it won’t even fit. So if anyone out there has ever stayed in a Grand suite and has any opinions on whether or not a twin size air bed could fit (and be allowed....I didn’t see anything in the rules) I would love to hear opinions!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We decided to book a last minute cruise for our family of 4. The only room choices left were inside or a grand suite. We chose the grand suite because with 4 of us (adult sized...husband,myself, 19 yr old son and 17 yr old daughter) we figured we would have more space with the grand suite.

The sleeping arrangements for the grand suite are king or 2 twins and 1 full size sleeper sofa. So we opted for 2 twins for the guys and daughter and myself will share the full size sleeper sofa. My daughter is not too crazy about this as I tend to sprawl my arms when I sleep. Pretty much we would all prefer our own bed.

If I brought an air mattress would that be allowed? I have a nice twin size air bed that just plugs in to inflate. But since I have never stayed in a grand suite before I don’t know if there would be room for the mattress? Especially with the sofa pulled out and turned into a bed.

Anyone who has ever stayed in a suite think there would be room for this?

Has anyone ever done this ?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The spring rolls and the roasted pumpkin soup are my 2 most favorite items!

Oh and the chocolate melting cake! Once I learned that you can order it well done it was perfection and I had it every night!! I wasn't so fond of it before I learned about ordering it well done and I always thought why do they call this "cake"?!! It should be call chocolate melting soup! But oh my how good it is when it isn't a soppy soup! I get 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream with it and it's pure heaven!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

When I took my 13 yr old there was no supervision. Everyone went the first night and groups were formed and they left the Circle C room and were running all over the ship. I was quite upset trying to keep up with where she was, and trying to follow. (Our first cruise and there was no hub app) (this was 2 yrs ago) after that it was basically just the kids meeting up at the Circle C and then leaving the Circle C to run around the ship completely unsupervised.

There was some dance going on that first night at the Club 02 (the older teen club) and the Circle C girls were being snuck into the Club 02. I was actually watching my daughter the entire time and she knew it so she didn't try to sneak in.

I never saw any Circle C employee watching the kids ever. After the 2nd night I didn't let my daughter go back as I did not want her running all over the ship completely unsupervised.

I was in the minority though as the gaggle of girls my daughter wanted to run with had no limits or curfews and could go anywhere and everywhere.

For me I did not feel comfortable at all with this. Now for my son it might have been different. But Circle C is basically just a meeting place and the the kids just do what they want.

They do have an official schedule of planned activities for the kids but they never happened and the kids wanted no part of the planned stuff. Just wanted to run around loose on the ship.

That was my experience. This was on the Magic.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I am so glad to read this news article. It explains a lot! When I was on the Valor a month ago we had a similar incident happen. We were awoken in the middle of the night with what I initially thought was thunder, but when I peeked out of my balcony window I saw another cruise ship along side ours and it appeared to be firing some kind of missiles. ( I thought it was a missile but now in hindsight I can definitely say it was cannon fire)

We were terrified to say the least!! We all knew that this was going to be the end of us!! I was crying and we were all in the halls just waiting to be blown to smithereens.

We asked several of the carnival stewards who were running up and down the hallway what was going on and one of them mumbled something about "escalation of hostilities" No one knew anything about anything that was going on. Everyone was terrified and trying to get to lido deck. (CD had announced "last meal buffet") My husband and I were in an even bigger panic than before because we wanted to have that last meal before we met at the pearly gates! Oh my lord what a scene!!! I never saw such food grabbing!!

Anyhoo, the missile/cannon fire stopped as suddenly as it began and the rogue cruise ship that had fired on us sped away. Luckily our ship came out relatively unscathed (that rogue ship needs some target practice I guess!). After we finished our special "last meal" repast we all headed back to bed to try and calm our nerves. The next day everyone was laughing and talking about the previous evenings adventures. It really added a special memory to our cruise trip and will be something we remember forever that we survived. I'm really sorry to hear that this has gotten so much more intense and sorry about the folks on the Magic.

Hopefully Carnival will be the victor in the next round. Happy sailing to everyone!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Sent from my iPhone using Forums[/

Boy, I wish I never would have read the posts from people who saw kids putting their mouths over the soft ice cream/yogurt spigot! :o Gross!!

Omg! Same here!! When I was on my cruise last month I just COULD NOT bring myself to get the ice cream. Every time I walked by it I thought of that. And I saw kids putting their fingers into the spigots and licking..... Carnival self serve soft serve ice cream ruined now FOREVER for me!! [emoji24]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Ah... a 16 year old is smitten

 

Hint: 102501

I have a 16 year old and I don't think it is a 16 yr old posting. Going on CC message board wouldn't even register in a 16 yr old's mind. Also if they were 16 and had even spent 2 seconds talking to someone they liked they would already have each other's snapchat, IG etc.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I am just curious and I keep seeing the debate pop up in various threads so I thought I would ask the specific question in its own thread to see what the consensus is at least among this group.

My personal preference at least so far since I haven't been on the Vista is that I prefer the smaller ships. I don't even have any interest in sailing on the Vista.

I like being out on the ocean and for myself I think the smaller ships give a more ocean-y, boat like feel rather than a more hotel type feel. Also at least in

my experience I do not like the larger crowds, and longer lines on the larger ships.

I would be interested in hearing everyone else's opinions especially those who have sailed on all classes. I have only sailed on Dream class and Conquest Class. And while I had fun on my Dream class cruise (Magic) I liked the conquest class ships so much more and that is what I have been booking.

I would like to try an even smaller ship if one ever home ports in Galveston.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I was on Magic summer of 2015. Bought the most expensive internet plan available. Could not even get emails reliably. The Internet seemed to be hit or miss. Sometimes I could get my email and sometimes even that wouldn't work. No internet sites would even ever load. I don't know if anything has changed since then but that was my experience.

I was also told when I purchased the premium package that I would have full access to Internet. Didn't happen.

My last 2 cruises just got the social plans and that seemed to work ok.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We were on deck 8 on the Magic and our room was directly over a deck 5 hot tub. I found it awkward when out on my balcony looking down and seeing the folks in the hot tub and they would look up at me.

It wasn't a problem at night as the deck 5 lanai hot tubs close at 9pm. We would watch the crew drain and close it down. At the time I thought they should not close the hot tubs so early, but after reading here I guess it's a good thing so people trying to sleep are not bothered.

While I still loved that cruise on the Magic, I like the conquest class ship better (Liberty and Valor are the 2 I have been on) because it is soooo much nicer looking down from a balcony and seeing only water and not the deck 5 walk way.

I would only sail now on a dream class ship with a cove balcony for this reason alone.

Does anyone know if the Vista is like the Dream class ships? I don't want to book on there if they have the deck 5 walkway.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I have 1 !!! And I have it proudly displayed in my curio cabinet! I won it at some kind of game show thing on the Liberty. It makes me happy every time I look at it because it carries such fond memories of that cruise [emoji2]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I was really concerned how I would handle being "stuck" on a ship as we approached our first cruise years ago.

 

 

 

We've done OV's and Balconies and never had an issue with claustrophobia.

 

 

 

Now, if the "abandon ship" command is ever given, I'm not too sure how I'd do in those lifeboats! :rolleyes:

lol! I already made up my mind that if the "abandon ship" command is given I'll gladly take my chances swimming with the fish!!! Just the thought of getting closed up in one of those things makes me hyperventilate!!!

I guess if I was in a situation like the poor souls on the Titanic where the water was freezing and it was certain death to go in the water, I might be persuaded to get in the life clam (that's what I call them since they are certainly not a boat that is open to the sky)

But hopefully that will never be an issue though since I only cruise in the summer months in the toasty warm Gulf of Mexico. [emoji4]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Late November/early December seem to have the lowest prices. Do you gamble? I just booked a free cruise today courtesy of the Carnival's casino Player's Club. I get free or great deals on Carnival and Holland America because I play slots in the ship casinos. This will be our 42nd cruise and 29th on Carnival. Carnival has the best prices according to our past history. We live in Florida close to the ports, so we don't have to pay for airfare. Also, check their website frequently and sign up to receive emails from them. Good luck finding those great deals - they are out there.

This phenomenon of getting a free cruise from gambling in the casino has had me intrigued from the first time I heard of it.

How much do you have to spend in the casino in order to get one of these offers?

On our last cruise which just my husband and I, we (well really just my husband) lost $200 playing the slot machines. I have no idea what amounts others gamble but to us that seemed like a lot of money to lose. I was hoping it would maybe magically qualify us to get a free offer, but I realize that realistically perhaps you would have to lose enough money to have paid for a whole cruise in order to be awarded a "free cruise". Is this true? Or is it just a lucky draw system?

I have heard that it is number of spins and not money lost? Is that true? Lol we lost our $200 in about 30 mins of play!!

Can anyone shed any light on this? I'm really curious!! I would love to get a free cruise!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I am a terrible claustrophobic. On my first cruise I felt panic just getting on the ship because I didn't know what to expect.

We had balcony room but that first time I was in a complete state of panic just walking down the hallway to our room. It was a scary long tunnel with no view to the outside. I felt myself starting to panic. It took every fiber of my being to continue walking down the hallway. I was thinking "get me out of here!!!" Then we got into our room and once I could open the balcony and see out all was good and I did not have any more panic. At least not until muster drill!

If you are on a conquest class ship you should prepare him for a claustrophobic episode at muster drill (try to arrive later so you won't be in the back) but that muster drill was THE WORST for claustrophobia! We were crammed together like sardines no air flow, it was on an outer deck in the heat of summer but the view outside was 100% blocked by the lifeboats and the way we were all crammed in row after row of people I felt like I was going to pass out from the panic I was feeling. Once that ordeal was over tho I had no more issues the rest of the trip.

I would definitely recommend a balcony room depending on your friends level of claustrophobia.

If I had been in an inside room on my first cruise, I would have ran off of that ship faster than a speeding bullet. I wouldn't have cared a wit about money I wasted on the cruise even. Claustrophobia panic is a real thing. My husband doesn't understand at all either. I guess phobias are hard to understand unless you've dealt with it yourself.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Never been to guest services and probably never will. I'm very easy going and prefer to spend my time relaxing and not worrying about reducing tips

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

You are insinuating that everyone who goes to Guest Services are whiners and complainers or cheapskates who want to remove tips. While it's very nice that you are easy going and never have been to Guest Services, you should consider yourself lucky perhaps instead of patting yourself on the back at your ease of care.

I am not a whiner or complainer and have never removed auto gratuities, but have had to go to Guest Services on every cruise I have been on.

First time daughter lost her sign and sail card, second time the door to the bathroom got stuck somehow, and this last cruise, our safe quit recognizing the card I had been using to open and lock it. It was the night before port trip and we wanted to get our money for the port excursions and our passports out and lo and behold the safe would not open. I had to go stand in line at guest services. They came right away and opened and reset our safe.

Just sayin....not everyone in Guest Service lines are complainers. You should be thankful you haven't had any need to go there!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I don't know why carnival can't have the comedy shows in the main theater. Tons of seating there.

Just adjust the scheduling so that it doesn't interfere with the theatrical productions.

They always seem to hold the Bingo in there and most times that I have attended the Bingo it was mostly just the lower level (deck 3) that was utilized so move the Bingo to the lounge where the Comedy shows are and hold the Comedy show in the larger theater. Have the comedy shows running in the afternoons and not just at night if it is too hard to schedule shows and comedy into the one theater location. There always seems to be dead space somewhere in the schedule where it seems there is nothing going on except some silly seminar on buying tanzanite stones! (That was just an example)

If they cannot schedule the comedy shows in the main theater then have an online reservation available which opens up perhaps a day or 2 before sail date - to be fair to late bookings. I would HATE to have to stand in line to get a ticket and then get in line again to enter the venue. I also hate lines where everyone is trying to cut in and you are not guaranteed whatever it is you are standing in line for. (First come first served). It lends a kind of desperation to line and makes people turn cutthroat and crazy. (Line cutting, lining up way early, sneaking friends or family into the line etc)

Just my 2 cents!

I never did understand why they held the comedy in such a relatively small room when there is always such a long line of people to get in and then people standing with no seat and people being turned away because there wasn't even a spot left to squeeze somebody in standing. I've only been on 3 ships (Magic, Liberty, Valor) but it was universal among all of them that the lines were long and the venue too small.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Maybe it would be a good idea if you are checking your luggage to take photos of it in case it does go missing.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums