SRQbeachgirl

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around how anyone can possibly manage to spend $12k for four people (mom, dad, two teenagers) in inside cabins on Carnival.

The only shoes I took on our Reflection cruise were toe post sandals. Wore them in the MDR, Tuscan, and Lawn Club Grill.

For 70-somethings who don't enjoy lots of kids or crowds, I'd look at one of Celebrity's newer ships.

So glad you enjoyed it! It's been our favorite cabin of all our cruises!

We love the cabanas at Mahogany Bay! We have one booked for our Mardi Gras cruise in 7 weeks and I'm so looking forward to it. I could spend all day just laying in the hammock but we enjoyed the snorkeling there last time so we will probably take our gear with us.

Agreed. I'm of the opinion that bigger is not always better. I would love something better than the Paradise sailing out of Tampa but none of the new ships will ever be able to sail out of there unless the Port Authority builds new facilities west of the Skyway.

We don't do the drinks packages on cruises since Mr. SRQ doesn't drink alcohol I don't drink enough to make it worth it. I take wine onboard and often don't drink it all by the end of the week. I do admit, though, that on our Reflection cruise in January I might have once or twice (or seven or eight times 😉) popped my card into a video poker machine for the sole purpose of obtaining a complimentary cocktail. But I have a secret weapon for getting quick service--Mr. SRQ. As soon as I sit down he goes on the prowl for a server to ask them if they could take a drink order for me. 😁 Never waited more than a few minutes and came out ahead for the week on the poker machines. Win - win!

Our experience on Mardi Gras last year mirrored the two above posts - the machines were never working. Which is one reason why we won't be buying the bubbles package on our upcoming Mardi Gras cruise. And this is the other reason we won't be getting the bubbles package - I prefer Coke Zero and find Pepsi to be, well...🤢 I will be taking my Coke Zero onboard with me.

We were on the Celebrity Reflection (our first time on Celebrity) in January and loved it so much we immediately booked anther cruise on the same ship. Different itinerary, but we loved being on that ship so much I think we could just spend the whole cruise at sea and be just as happy. The great 8-day itinerary we got for our next sailing on her is just an extra cherry on top.

Because I like to get my food and either go sit on my balcony or somewhere else outside where I can enjoy the breeze and the view of the ocean over a leisurely breakfast. I don't go on cruises to spend my daylight hours indoors looking at walls or other people. I go to enjoy the feeling of being at sea and will spend as much time as possible out on deck.

On the tour to St. John you spend most of the time getting there and back. We didn't feel it was worth the little time we got to spend on the beach. We did an excursion in St. Thomas in January that stopped at Drake's Seat (for the photo op), then took us to Magen's Bay for a couple of hours (we saw a bunch of sea turtles there), and finished with the sky ride to Paradise Point (where we drank Bushwacker's under a double rainbow and toasted the sunset). We had a really great time!

Mr. SRQ and I will be in our mid-70s so assuming we're still in good health then yes, we'll still be cruising. My parents will both turn 80 this year and are leaving on a cruise with their best friends tomorrow. They're my role models.

We walked into an inside cabin once (it was empty and the cabin steward let us so we could see what it was like) and, well....nope, nope, nope. Felt like being in a closet. I'd go completely nuts in one. And it was considerably smaller than the balcony cabins we've stayed in. We feel exactly the opposite as you about balcony cabins. We spend a LOT of time on our balcony with morning coffee, reading in the afternoons, pre-dinner wine, late night stargazing...we have no need for extra space inside the cabin as long as we have that balcony to enjoy.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Happy to report that there was zero red tide at Sharky's today. Beach was crowded with Spring Breakers, but the water was gorgeous and we had a nice breeze. Definitely agree with your wife about the bar service - love those Mango Bangos!

Hi neighbor! We're thinking of heading out to Sharky's tomorrow night for dinner.

We've been hearing the current should keep it away from the southwest Florida coast, but that Miami area could get hit hard. The red tide advisories were finally lifted today for all the beaches in our area. If this holds for the weekend we're going to have a beach day Saturday for the first time since Ian hit us. And our roof replacement was finished yesterday, so we're almost finished with all our repairs. Good thing, since hurricane season starts in just over two months. 🤦‍♀️

We were in one of the middle aft extended balcony cabins on the Mardi Gras (same design as Celebration). The end cabins could probably see into our balcony slightly more than a regular balcony, but not by much. We loved the size of the balcony and the view. However, we would not stay in one of these again. There is no shade or breeze, making it so unbearably hot and miserable that we couldn't spend any time out there except at night.

This may be the challenging part with Celebrity. We took our first Celebrity cruise in January and loved it, but there were maybe seven or eight teenagers/kids on the whole ship (which was one of the reasons we loved it). Sounds like Celebrity would be a good match for you and your husband, though.

"Yanksplaining." LOL, I'm stealing that. 🤣 As a Native Texan (Dallas area) who relocated to Florida (because it's one of the few states Texans are willing to live in), I do identity as southern, but Texan first (always first) and Southern second. If a Southerner asks for sweet tea and is handed a glass of unsweet tea with packets of sugar, the Southerner may not say it out loud but inside they are saying "bless your heart" and shaking their head in pity. A true Southerner knows that you should always add the sugar to tea when it's still hot from being brewed, before adding cold water. Otherwise it's just unsweet tea with a pile of undissolved sugar sitting in a pile in the bottom of the glass.

We only stopped once at Emeril's on our Mardi Gras sailing last year and got the Bananas Foster. I've seen several reviews lately mentioning the beignets and I think we're going to have to make another visit (or two, or three...) for some of those powdered sugar coated temptations on our upcoming cruise.

COOKIE!!! Seriously, after our first night eating at the LCG and ordering the warm chocolate chip cookie, we booked a second night just for the cookie. I mean, we had dinner too, but it was the cookie we were there for! 🍪🤤

We were in 1120 (forward slant, deck 10) on Reflection in January and loved it. The balcony was huge. We liked it so much we booked another slant balcony for our November 2023 cruise.

We were on the Carnival Mardi Gras last year when we took several men onboard who had been adrift in a tiny boat for several days. Two U.S. Coast Guard vessels rendezvoused with us the next day and they were transferred to them. We were told they were being returrned to Cuba.

Celebrity. MY DH and I are in your age range and have cruised Carnival for many years, but we were looking for something with all of the things you listed. We chose Celebrity Reflection and LOVED it, so much so that we booked the same ship for later this year. I posted live about our experience: