Bobbylah

On 11/13/2022 at 8:37 PM, pirate4me2 said:

Uh oh…better choose my next 4 wisely!!! 

Thank you. You cruise like we do. Good food and drink, lots of drink!  Good call on the Tums, I always forget and that acid reflux kicks in like a ***** after a few days.

On 8/23/2022 at 12:44 AM, Merion_Mom said:

 

The Dutch side recovered much more quickly than the French side.

Possibly the French just gave up. 😂 

I think we paid about $65 per day (prebooked) on a 7 day on Symphony a month or so ago. Made out like bandits. Would have been way more of we had paid as we go. 

1 minute ago, markbach said:

 

Are these covered by the deluxe beverage package?

Yes, shooters (and espressos) were.

We were on the cruise the week prior (April 16-23). 2 adults and 3 teens. Everyone enjoyed themselves. My daughter (15) loves rock climbing and proceeded to crush the opposition on the rock wall every day. We typically don't enjoy the shows and don't attend, however having heard about Hiro we booked seats immediately on boarding and it met our raised expectations. Really a good experience.

When cruising with the kids, we don't usually get the drinks package, but this time decided to. Glad we did, as I think we both easily surpassed the break even point, with myself averaging 15 drinks a day. I availed myself of the double expressos in the Cafe Promenade a couple of times a day, with the remainder being either beer or mixed drinks. After a day it turned out that the habanero grapefruit daiquiri was the go-to for the remainder of the cruise. We also enjoyed the oyster shooters in Hooked.

MDR and WJ food was, I must say, pretty average. Nothing really stood out. Just filled a hole in the stomach before moving on for the day. Servers (and all staff in general) were amazing however.

Its been our first cruise since Covid and the last couple of  cruises prior to Covid were both on Carnival and I have to say from what I recall, the Carnival MDR food was better. Now this may be the couple of years of Covid having an impact, and we have not cruised Carnival after Covid so tough to make a comparison. Just an observation. YMMV.

All in all we were satisfied with the experience, but is has made us want to try Norwegian to see what else is out there.

Great bar. We finally decided that we will not cruise on a ship that does not have Alchemy and the Red Frog Pub. They are our main focal points of the evenings and we typically cruise with friends and have a blast at trivia in the Red Frog Pub. I recall one cruise where we won every night, but one (that night it was a tie and the tie breaker was who could drink a pint the quickest. I lost because it was a domestic beer. When that happened later in the week we won because I had them switch mine to a Guinness. I believe the host was Samuel Lemmons (good guy). I think it was on the Sunshine.

Absolutely. Love it. Start of with some coffee, a Bloody Mary and a bagel with smoked salmon. Follow that up with steak and (3) eggs sunny side up, with extra sides of bacon and hash browns. Great start to the day and allows me to skip lunch. Never/ever/not if you paid me do we frequent the buffet.

7 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

Fosters, the swill brewed in the US and Canada by Miller Coors Molson  that supposedly came from Australia, stinks?  Or the fact that Carnival wised up and no longer carry it stinks?

Ha!

Now if they would carry some VB stubbies, that would be awesome.

Any ship without Alchemy and Red Frog Pub. Having experienced ships with and without, on multiple occasions, we feel that those are the two places we enjoy the most. Love the trivia in Red Frog Pug and its a nice hang out for an evening.

Rarely attend comedy shows (only if the kids are not cruising do we go), never in the main theater.

Depends what you mean by cheap. You could stay on the ship for nothing and enjoy the reduced amount of people. For me it is about the value of the experience compared to the cost. For example, paying for a taxi to get the family (2 adults, 1 teen, 2 preteens) to a crowded, average beach annoys the heck out of me, but paying $100 per person for a really great excursion is money well spent. As an example, our last trip to Cozumel we did the Rio Secreto Underground River excursion. That was better value for money than going to all of the other beaches on the cruise by itself, where we spent more on taxis back and forth and drinks/food. The kids still talk about that excursion, but not the cruise.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g150812-d1075137-Reviews-Rio_Secreto-Playa_del_Carmen_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

5 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

I quite literally take my own wine glass to the dining room and everywhere else onboard when I am drinking wine:

 

 

I bring one of my Riedel Pinot Noir glasses from home because the wine smells and tastes sooooo much better from it than from the cheap, clunky glasses used onboard.  I've gotten quite spoiled by these glasses and it is worth the trouble of packing it and cleaning it and keeping track of it for me.  I order a glass of Pinot Noir at the bar (or a bottle for the table when in the MDR) and pour it into my own glass, leaving the glass it was served in at the bar.

I hear you on this. I refuse to make a mixed drink at the house unless its in a Waterford crystal. Nothing worse (1st world problem!) than not enjoying a drink because of a crappy glass/plastic cup.

Thanks for all the hard work Sid. Loved your Magic review and was waiting for this one. Just binge read through. Sucks about the live challenges with the site/data speeds/etc, but the last think you want to be doing on vacation is getting stressed because the POS is not working.

Salutations from another 'vacation libation specialist'. Looking forward to the next one. Not really a tequila drinker (more vodka and rum), but your pictures have me sold on expanding my horizons on the next cruise.

Out of interest, of all of the hangover pills/patches you have tried out so far, which would be your 'go-to'?

Cheers.

3 hours ago, crazychuckie said:

Do you do this only on the first night? #LoveSomeIndianFood

Nope. I do it every night. I just confirm what I am doing with the Maitre d' on the first night. from then on it gets brought out. 

13 hours ago, Lottacruises said:

Bojangles beats all! 

Along the same vein.  Saw they are adding Shaq's chicken. Great! Nothing like adding something bland to get excitement going!

On 11/9/2018 at 1:23 PM, Thebosn1 said:

Why eliminate formal nights?

 

'Elegant' is not formal. 'Formal' has a specific connotation.

Ask your MD server on the first night if you can have the non-vegetarian Indian entree. They usually check with the Maitre d'. I make that request every cruise and have it brought as an additional entree (Don't judge me....I pass on all the desserts). 

Just now, coevan said:

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure Gravlax is smoked salmon with some dill.

 

The only omission I loved was the Corned Beef Hash

I think it is raw salmon (but cured - similar to ceviche). Worth a try anyway (I love ceviche).

Gravlax - interesting!

22 hours ago, mouche said:

Maybe I am mis-remembering, but I thought that costumes with masks that cover faces were not allowed (due to the potential for abuse - sexual or otherwise)?

On 9/16/2018 at 10:50 AM, ProgRockCruiser said:

Look at some of the other recent Cheers threads - someone has posted an updated version in a couple of them. I'll look, but make no promise of not getting distracted and forgetting.

Here is the one I have seen. Comprehensive.

Carnival Vista Cheers Evaluator 2018-07-28.xls

3 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

 

The admins claim that the pictures will be restored... Fingers crossed that it's true...

That would be awesome. I enjoyed reading the review with pics. Its a nice relaxing way to pass time while eating lunch at work at looking forward to the next cruise.

On 10/16/2018 at 11:53 AM, Earthworm Jim said:

I can't convince myself to try the Sunshine, and I feel the same about these other ships undergoing the process. On the surface it seems like Carnival is trying to pull a fast one one on the less knowledgeable cruising public. Taking an old ship, greatly reducing the size of the theater to add more cabins, and giving it a new name so people will be tricking into thinking it's a new ship. When in reality it's arguably worse, since more pax and less public space. Though they certainly must add considerable new amenities in the conversion.

That said, the reviews are generally pretty positive, so I'm probably wrong. But I can't make myself book it. I'd feel like a sucker falling for Carnival's sleight of hand.

Like others have said, we really like the Sunshine, and have cruised that ship more than others. The Alchemy Bar, Havana area and other 2.0 items really drove us to it. In our admittedly limited experience (6 cruises) I have probably been in the theater for less than 1 hr, and I walked out of that one because the show was pitiful. Its just not an area we enjoy. So a smaller theater does not impact us as all. 

So I'm on Freedom and first thing I tried a few beers I haven't seen on other ships..a couple from Florida and one from the Chech Republic...Anyways I noticed they don't have Guinness in the casino bar. Guinness is primarily what I drink on cruises. So I ask the bartender if it's anywhere on the ship. She said carnival did away with it. Does anyone know if this is just Freedom, Galveston ships, or is it fleet wide?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but wanted to get current feedback, especially on the Breeze. Have the brought back the 'Genius'?

I just talk to the maitre d' and then our head sever and request the non-vegetarianindian dishes each night.

Bobbylah - can you tell me what kind of meat you've gotten with your non-vegetarian Indian dishes? We ordered it one time (on the Pride I think) and never again. We couldn't for the life of us tell what the meat was - it was something chopped up and rolled into kind of a patty. We asked our server and he didn't know, we asked him to find out and he never got back to us. We've always enjoyed the vegetarian Indian offering. I'm tempted to give the non-vegetarian another try.

I don't ask (I have lived in/visited a lot of countries and eaten of lot of 'meat', and it usually tastes like meat but I don't need to know where it came from*), but my guess based on texture/color was that we had chicken, lamb/mutton, and fish on the varying nights. In most cases it has been a similar offering to the vegetarian, multiple plates of condiments, with a main plate with the meat and a curry or other style sauce.

* I know for a fact I ate horse in France as I bought it in the grocery store and made a chilli with it when I was camping with friends. I am sure I ate some questionable things during my 5 years in SE Asia.

That Cheers is totally worth it: