vadersprincess12

Even when we weren't Platinum we would get our luggage at a decent time. Only this cruise and the subsequent one on the Venezia did we have such a long delay. I guess it's just that we like to have lunch, explore a little and then come back and unpack before dinner time. It did not "ruin" our experience as some posters seemed to think and we have decided that we will not even think about it on our next sailing in February. We always carry important stuff in our carry-on so we will just change our expectations and enjoy.

The nickle and diming is getting crazy. On our last trip to Amber Cove we went to an area with umbrellas and were told it's like $80 for two chairs and an umbrella. Most of the chairs on the outside perimeter do not have umbrellas.

You're welcome. I made use of the pool during port days since I've been to ports before and it wasn't crowded.

No where is my review did I say that these things "ruined" my cruise. Cruise Critic encourages readers to post their experiences so that is what I did. I don't understand why people feel the need to pick things about my personal experience apart.

LouChamp ~ thank you for reading and not picking things apart.

Why are comments and observations construed as complaints?

VentureMan_2000 ~ no one asked you to condense what I said. Rather than being cruel you should, as I said before, just pass on by.................

pc_load_letter ~ there is a pool at the back of the ship on deck 10 but it is not in the Serenity area which is on a higher deck; it is also not an adult only pool.

OP here ~ to each his own. I did not use the "cutesy" font so not sure why it converted. My concerns are "credible" to me. If you don't have anything constructive to add you should just skip on by..............

MsTabbyKats ~ the theater is a regular style theater but very small compared too other ships. The shows were good. I think Carnival is stepping up the caliber of the talent from past cruises. We only saw two of the shows but we did enjoy them.

Embark was fine through the Platinum/Diamond line. Debark wasn't bad at all. We sent out our large piece of luggage the night before and left the ship with our small piece and carry one. We waited in the theatre with other Platinum members and there weren't that many. Just had to wait for clearance and then walked the line snaking through the ship to get off. It went well. We believe that they had a lot of new crew members on this sailing so that could account for some of the issues. It will not stop us from sailing, but perhaps when people put their issues out there it might just effect some change.

I changed the font.

Thanks Klfrodo ~ sometimes things just aren't as expected, and unfortunately this was that time for us.

Not sure why the font changed; that curly Q font is not what I chose. I'm reposting here in the default font. Thanks for calling that to my attention. DH and I just returned home from our 10 day sailing on the Carnival Venezia. We had really been looking forward to this sailing on the "Fun Italian Style Ship". We have been to all of the ports on this sailing before ~ Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and San Juan so this was more about the ship than the locations. First of all, the ship itself is really beautiful. The decor is more classic rather than sleek/modern and we really liked that aspect. As noted in my previous reviews, the food is hit or miss but there are options so you could always find something. The dining room service was really pretty lacking the entire cruise. Service was slow and people who sat after we did would get their food before we did, it was very unorganized the entire cruise. We were given "steakhouse selections" from the casino one evening and it was a disaster. I ordered the filet mignon well done and my husband ordered the New York strip loin medium well. I know it will take longer since I like my meats cooked well done, but it was almost an hour before we were served our entrees and they got the wellness done backwards; mine was more medium, and my husband's was well done. I sent mine back and it came back better but by then I had pretty much lost my appetite. The Grand Canal Restaurant is lovely especially with the gondola in the middle; it could be made better by having better music ~ something romantic and "old" which would make us think more of Italy, rather than pop music. Someone dropped the ball on this one. The casino on this ship was extremely smoky even when we walked through on the first day just to check it out. They did have a smoke-free casino annex but it was so small and tight it was uncomfortable and still smoke wafted to this area. We couldn't go in after the second day because it was absolutely awful. To make things worse the smoke seemed to just float into the atrium area on levels 3, 4, and 5. We avoided the area as much as possible. It was the absolute worst casino area we have ever been in on a ship. The temperature on the ship was never consistent. We'd sit down to dinner and it would feel humid and clammy, and by the time we finished it was freezing. It was that way pretty much all over the ship the entire cruise. I had to carry a sweater the entire time. We knew going in that there was no pool in Serenity and that was a bit disappointing. I did use the Sunshine Pool a couple of times but pool towels were hit and miss. The Carnavale area for Terrazza guests was nice at the back of the ship but again no pool, just two hot tubs. The morning continental breakfast was a nice touch. We also were offered a brunch in the Farenheit 55 Steakhouse but it was really nothing special. On this ship, just as I noted on my Horizon review, the elevator lobbies by the restaurants were a zoo at dinner time. I had booked a balcony cabin and we were offered to upgrade to a Terrazza Balcony cabin for $200 so we took it. Have never had one of these types of cabins before so thought we'd see what it was like. For those who don't know, this type of cabin has a very large open balcony with two loungers and a hammock inside the gated area. There is a walkway outside the gate at the rail of the ship. It was nice for sitting outside to read and enjoy the sea air, but definitely not the same as a "private" balcony because anyone booked in this area could walk by at any time. It was a new experience but I would not book it at regular price. We had some not so nice issues upon check-in ~~~ *No pool towels were provided in the cabin (took care of that at the pool, but hit and miss; sometimes had to go to the main pool deck to get them) *Had to ask for toilet paper; there was a small amount left on the holder but no extra in the cabin *There was a sticky substance (see photo of one of the spots) all over the front of one of the closets and the side wall on the vanity ~ GROSS; had to request it be cleaned immediately and not sure how it was missed when the cabin was cleaned before we arrived *Had to go to guest services to get our keys re-done because they would not open our balcony door from the outside *Could not get cold water in our sink again this cruise *Could not access our accounts on the TV; luckily we could use the app *Once again our luggage took almost 6 hours to arrive; guess "priority" (see photo) just has no meaning for some reason. We have another sailing booked on the Venezia in February and are seriously thinking about changing it.

I just reposted this in the default font. Didn't see where I could edit, so I just reposted later in this thread.

We sailed the ABC Islands on the Horizon and enjoyed each port stop. The ship itself is a nice ship but we are finding that we prefer the smaller ships as the large ships just seem too crowded. As usual cruise food is hit or miss and it seems that the menus are the same on each ship. For the life of me I cannot understand the elevator lobbies being right in front of the restaurants; it's a zoo when people are waiting in line to get into the restaurant. Not sure what the solution is but I hope they find one for future ships. We had several negatives on this cruise regarding our cabin. When we arrived our safe was not working so we had to have someone come and repair it ~ that was done pretty quickly. We also had no vanity bench so on the first morning of the cruise I had to drag the table over to sit on it which was not really comfortable; it took three requests to get a bench. We could not get cold water in our sink to save our lives. Not sure what the problem was, but it was never fixed. The biggest gripe for this cruise was luggage delivery. We are platinum level and while embarkation was smooth, it took almost 6 hours for our luggage to get delivered. Our tags are clearly marked Priority. Luggage was being delivered left and right in our hallway without priority tags. I asked our stateroom steward who had his supervisor come into our stateroom and she said they don't do priority delivery anymore however when I went to guest services they said they do but had no explanation as to why it took so long. I'll leave this here because I want to do my review on the Venezia which we just departed.

Oh, holy heck, I just saw the font and that’s not the one I chose. That is hard to read!!!! Stay tuned…..

I already did the review. When I have time I’ll go back in and change it to default so it will be easier to read.

DH and I just returned home from our 10 day sailing on the Carnival Venezia. We had really been looking forward to this sailing on the "Fun Italian Style Ship". We have been to all of the ports on this sailing before ~ Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and San Juan so this was more about the ship than the locations. First of all, the ship itself is really beautiful. The decor is more classic rather than sleek/modern and we really liked that aspect. As noted in my previous reviews, the food is hit or miss but there are options so you could always find something. The dining room service was really pretty lacking the entire cruise. Service was slow and people who sat after we did would get their food before we did, it was very unorganized the entire cruise. We were given "steakhouse selections" from the casino one evening and it was a disaster. I ordered the filet mignon well done and my husband ordered the New York strip loin medium well. I know it will take longer since I like my meats cooked well done, but it was almost an hour before we were served our entrees and they got the wellness done backwards; mine was more medium, and my husband's was well done. I sent mine back and it came back better but by then I had pretty much lost my appetite. The Grand Canal Restaurant is lovely especially with the gondola in the middle; it could be made better by having better music ~ something romantic and "old" which would make us think more of Italy, rather than pop music. Someone dropped the ball on this one. The casino on this ship was extremely smoky even when we walked through on the first day just to check it out. They did have a smoke-free casino annex but it was so small and tight it was uncomfortable and still smoke wafted to this area. We couldn't go in after the second day because it was absolutely awful. To make things worse the smoke seemed to just float into the atrium area on levels 3, 4, and 5. We avoided the area as much as possible. It was the absolute worst casino area we have ever been in on a ship. The temperature on the ship was never consistent. We'd sit down to dinner and it would feel humid and clammy, and by the time we finished it was freezing. It was that way pretty much all over the ship the entire cruise. I had to carry a sweater the entire time. We knew going in that there was no pool in Serenity and that was a bit disappointing. I did use the Sunshine Pool a couple of times but pool towels were hit and miss. The Carnavale area for Terrazza guests was nice at the back of the ship but again no pool, just two hot tubs. The morning continental breakfast was a nice touch. We also were offered a brunch in the Farenheit 55 Steakhouse but it was really nothing special. On this ship, just as I noted on my Horizon review, the elevator lobbies by the restaurants were a zoo at dinner time. I had booked a balcony cabin and we were offered to upgrade to a Terrazza Balcony cabin for $200 so we took it. Have never had one of these types of cabins before so thought we'd see what it was like. For those who don't know, this type of cabin has a very large open balcony with two loungers and a hammock inside the gated area. There is a walkway outside the gate at the rail of the ship. It was nice for sitting outside to read and enjoy the sea air, but definitely not the same as a "private" balcony because anyone booked in this area could walk by at any time. It was a new experience but I would not book it at regular price. We had some not so nice issues upon check-in ~~~ *No pool towels were provided in the cabin (took care of that at the pool, but hit and miss; sometimes had to go to the main pool deck to get them) *Had to ask for toilet paper; there was a small amount left on the holder but no extra in the cabin *There was a sticky substance (see photo of one of the spots) all over the front of one of the closets and the side wall on the vanity ~ GROSS; had to request it be cleaned immediately and not sure how it was missed when the cabin was cleaned before we arrived *Had to go to guest services to get our keys re-done because they would not open our balcony door from the outside *Could not get cold water in our sink again this cruise *Could not access our accounts on the TV; luckily we could use the app *Once again our luggage took almost 6 hours to arrive; guess "priority" (see photo) just has no meaning for some reason. We have another sailing booked on the Venezia in February and are seriously thinking about changing it.

We sailed the ABC Islands on the Horizon and enjoyed each port stop. The ship itself is a nice ship but we are finding that we prefer the smaller ships as the large ships just seem too crowded. As usual cruise food is hit or miss and it seems that the menus are the same on each ship. For the life of me I cannot understand the elevator lobbies being right in front of the restaurants; it's a zoo when people are waiting in line to get into the restaurant. Not sure what the solution is but I hope they find one for future ships. We had several negatives on this cruise regarding our cabin. When we arrived our safe was not working so we had to have someone come and repair it ~ that was done pretty quickly. We also had no vanity bench so on the first morning of the cruise I had to drag the table over to sit on it which was not really comfortable; it took three requests to get a bench. We could not get cold water in our sink to save our lives. Not sure what the problem was, but it was never fixed. The biggest gripe for this cruise was luggage delivery. We are platinum level and while embarkation was smooth, it took almost 6 hours for our luggage to get delivered. Our tags are clearly marked Priority. Luggage was being delivered left and right in our hallway without priority tags. I asked our stateroom steward who had his supervisor come into our stateroom and she said they don't do priority delivery anymore however when I went to guest services they said they do but had no explanation as to why it took so long. I'll leave this here because I want to do my review on the Venezia which we just departed.

The Venezia doesn't have a pool in the Terrazza area; only hot tubs.

Do they have bread options at breakfast like toast and bagels? TIA.

Hello Everyone ~ considering a cruise that has an overnight in Lahaina. Anyone know of shore excursions where we could visit a volcano? Thanks.

Is this the Terraza Balcony? We are booked later this year in this type of stateroom. Never had one and not sure how it will be with the walkway between us and the ocean, but got it for a great price so thought it would be a nice experience. How are you liking it?

This may be one of those areas that are only used in emergencies.