Chervil

7 minutes ago, vol3820 said:

My husband and I are celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary (or the 10th anniversary of our last vacation just the two of us....we have 4 grown children and 6 grandkids between the two of us.) He's a chocohoic, and this would be PERFECT!! 

If he is a chocoholic then he will definitely like this cake.
Almost a fudge cake, it is very rich and it takes the two of us to finish it, despite its size (you can use the candle for scale!)

Usually I let our waiter know the first night, and they will generally ask which night you are celebrating.
Although if you book through Carnival, you can let them know you are sailing for your anniversary and they will usually put it in your travel notes, so your waiters and room steward will already know.
 

Just now, coevan said:

 

 

The day menu is a pasta bar and has nothing to do with the dinner menu. Not sure about the service you are talking about as you fill out a little form to order. The dinner menu is delicious and miles above OG. Their Italian short ribs are to die for. The service was also excellent and we must have missed the singing.

We were seated at a table and given a slip to fill out when we were seated.
Since this was our first time, we had a few questions about the slip and our server (female) seemed frustrated that she had to answer them. (Can you get the sauce on the side, etc.)
She took our drink order and then vanished!
Simply disappeared!
We waited about 5 minutes or so (figuring she had gone to the back or something) and finally had to flag down another server to give her our slips and let her know our drink order still hand't arrived.

She brought them just as our food was coming out.
Never saw the first server again and the other server who seemed a bit surprised that we had been abandoned, but never gave an explanation for where she went.
 

Granted this was on the Breeze about 2 years ago, so maybe they have refined things a bit.

But I know it worked the same way when we went to JiJi on our January cruise.
Get seated. 
Server takes drink order and gives you a slip to fill out.
Fill out slip.
Server returns with drinks and takes slip.

Order up!

As far as food quality, it's good to know it is much better at dinner.
I do love a good lasagna and Cupcake likes Chicken Marsala, so we may need to give it a shot.

9 hours ago, xDisconnections said:

There’s a leadership conference and networking function being hosted on my Antarctica cruise with many speakers and attendes reserving specifically for this.

 

There are plenty of “business purposes” that would require someone to be on specific cruises. Whether it’s simply due to scheduling constraints, or accreditations, conferences, conventions, networking events, work incentives or company outings, there are plenty of reasons one can call a cruise a business trip. This can even be related to visiting a specific port to pick up items for a business or to establish contracts. Just take a look at the hotel industry... same concept but at sea. When you escape Carnival, the likelihood of people traveling on business does have the chance of increasing due to a more sophisticated environment.

 

When the OP stated “business purposes” as such, it’s really vague enough to even include the dates of the cruise, honestly.

Thank you!
I know there are themed cruises (like the Star Trek cruise) and that someone might even work reviewing cruise ships or destinations.
The thought of having a conference or seminar hadn't really crossed my mind though.

52 minutes ago, comiso13 said:

Lots to agree with here, absolutely love starting my sea day with the brunch.  I have read the bbq is free for lunch, but didn't know Cucina was, is that true?  Not into Asian or going to the Steakhouse alone, but many other opportunities I am looking forward to.

Cucina and JiJi are both free for lunch, however they are very streamlined menus.
You fill out a checklist telling them what you want and then hand it to your server.
Cucina is more a build your own pasta lunch - choose the pasta, the sauce and any meat or vegetables in it.
JiJi you build your own bowl with rice or noodles, meat, vegetables, sauce, etc.

We weren't thrilled with the Cucina lunch so haven't had dinner there. 
The food itself was okay, no better than Olive Garden, though.
However the service was terrible. It took forever to get our order taken and the server was a bit cranky and disappeared after awhile never to be seen again.
Not sure what was going on, but it soured us for actually paying for a meal there on that cruise.
I would take into account that it was a one-off service wise, so you will probably have a different experience.
We might give it another try this next cruise.

However we loved JiJi and will eat there for dinner one night this next cruise.

As a Texan, I found the BBQ was just okay. Nothing special but not bad either.
Especially for free. That always helps.
 

We usually take a cruise for our anniversary.
They give us a very small, but very rich, cake with a candle.
They sing Happy Anniversary and had us kiss each time they said Happy Anniversary.
It was silly but fun.
 

2 hours ago, Shaded Lady said:

Are all 3 bookings linked? If so it should make it easier to switch the 3rd one to Early dining. If they aren't linked yet, I'd call Carnival and get them linked, then ask again... it may even happen automatically.

That was my first thought.
All 3 cabin bookings should be linked so that you can get the same table.

We always link with our cruising buddies, even though we aren't related by blood and end up in different parts of the ship.
This ensures we eat together at the same table.
Like Shaded Lady said, give Carnival a call.

If not, then after you embark have someone call the MDR and see about arranging it.

We could not get early dining last cruise so we called the MDR as soon as we got onboard and they were able to get us Your Time dining.
The change didn't take place until the next day, but since we were going to the Steakhouse the first night (free bottle of wine!) it was no biggie.
So if you do have to wait until you board, it may be a day or two to get it straightened out.
But they are in the business of making people happy and I'm sure they do what they can to accommodate you within reason!

As far as Anytime/Your Time goes, this is our usual choice now and as long as you get down to the MDR right away, you shouldn't have any issues getting a table for 9.
Especially since you can "check in" with the app.

1 hour ago, kskelley40 said:

I don 't like it either but needed to be on this cruise for business purposes.  Even when I went to the website to look for another cabin, without the casino offer, it would not give me the chance to select a cabin.  But, as long as we are in a balcony cabin, it really doesn't matter where it is.  Will just wait and see...still have 4 months to go.

Thanks for the input.

Okay, is no one else wondering what business purpose requires someone to be on a cruise?

I don't mean to get into your personal business, kskelly40, but I am intrigued, if you don't mind sharing?

While we have only had the Steakhouse for dinner (recommend the art dessert if for nothing else than the experience!), I recommend JiJi for lunch!
It is a different menu than dinner (no hibachi) but was still very tasty.
We liked being able to "build your own bowl" by choosing the type of ingredients you wanted in it.
Also, you can order it "to go" so you just fill out the slip and take it to one of the decks or back to your room!

Best part is that during lunch it is FREE (so is Cucina) so you can get a sample of what they are like before deciding to splurge on them for dinner.

We ate at JiJi a couple of times and will definitely make it a lunch stop again on our next cruise!

Congrats!

I know the feeling well!
We just paid ours off on the 12th for a cruise in October!

Cupcake has me log in to the Carnival site every day just so she can see the countdown (or I pull it up in the app!)

Can't wait to embark!

We haven't done any scuba yet, but we always walk a couple of blocks from the Tender Port to Diver's Down and snorkel off their pier.

They have an introductory course and quite a few options for dives as well.
https://www.diversdown.net/

Very friendly and seem to be pretty knowledgeable.

Plus they are pretty close.

On 7/9/2019 at 1:25 PM, TurtleTagger said:

Most gas stations will have patties for sale, just ask a taxi driver.

Best one we have found is about a 5 minute walk from the pier.

Take a right from the tender port, go a few blocks up and turn left on Boilers street.
Follow it along until you see the station on the left hand side.
Mike's Esso On the Run.
Corner of Boilers and Walkers.
They have a little deli station to one side that sells subs, chicken tenders and also Beef and Chicken Meat Pies.
So far, these are the best we have had on the island!

Not sure where to get jerk chicken though...

Also, say hi to the majestic rooster that patrols that area!

I wouldn't book anything earlier than about 1pm, to allow for any delays in either arrival or traffic.
Remember you have to account for getting through security and they usually recommend arriving at least 1-2 hours before your flight boards (which starts about 30 mins before the flight)
I flew out of LAX to DFW about a month ago on a Tuesday afternoon and it took about 45 minutes to get through TSA.
This was flying American.

If you do decide to get something earlier, then I recommend not buying the cheap tickets that don't allow you to change flights in case you miss it.
There are lots of posts from people who missed their connection due to poor weather delays, mechanical trouble, traffic, etc. and ended up in a pickle.

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

I love how people embrace change.  In regards to the cereal boxes, I imagine going to the dispenser will save them money despite the economical issues.  I cannot count the number of times ew have seen people on the last morning stuffing their carry on with boxes of cereal.  

 

While we try to limit ourselves to a just what we will use, I will agree that I have seen a few people "abusing" the fact that they are sitting out there for "grabs".

There is one that is kind of a granola mix that I like to eat dry, and makes a nice snack.
But it is definitely more economical to have it in a dispenser.
Plus I am sure it is less waste since it likely comes in a huge bag instead of a box.
 

All this kerfuffle over butter and straws and not one mention of them doing away with the little individual boxes of cereal?
We love taking the boxes for a dry snack with us either to the room or while walking around in port!

We have been two GC three times and each was exceptionally easy and fast.
As Paul Bogle mentioned, the tenders are double decker and usually have one or two idling as one fills up, so it goes quick.
Same with the return trip to the boat.

I attached a photo, if you zoom in a bit you can see it.

This is the last one before the ship leaves, but usually there are 2-3 idling nearby.

However as Crewsweeper said, our first trip that included GC as a port, the winds were too strong to tender, so they cancelled GC and took us to Belize instead (in hindsight, we were robbed, but discretion is the better part of valor...)
So find out what the refund policy is if the boat can't dock at all.

12 minutes ago, coevan said:

 

 

you are correct, no water with Bubbles, "must purchase their own sticker" is pretty clear

Although the upside to Bubbles is that it is not mandatory for everyone in the cabin to buy it.
My wife is not really a soda drinker, so I get it and she doesn't.
 

If this is your first cruise, I would say to keep in mind that Cheers includes specialty coffees as well.
Their coffee bar is pretty good (better than Starbucks imho) so if you like those in addition to the alcohol, it might be worth it.

2 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

Elegant nights are almost always the second, and second-to-last day. So, in your case, Thursday would be the 2nd one. 

That's what I figured.

Usually when we sail it is on a Sunday and elegant evenings are Monday and Friday, so I figured it should just fall back a day.
But the website said either the first would be the 2nd or 3rd night and the second would fall on the 2nd or 3rd to last night, which left it a bit vague.

We know we will go to the first one but we have plans in our third port, but not really the 2nd port, so we were trying to decide to if we were going to go to the 2nd night or not.

This mostly affects what the ladies pack, since us guys just bring a second shirt and tie...

On 7/12/2019 at 3:50 PM, Cushing985 said:

If you want total privacy I would go "Anytime Dining" and ask for a small booth (they're actually for four people).  Tell the people who are checking you in that this is your 50th Anniversary cruise.

We cruise each year for our anniversary and we let them know what night it was.
They always give us a small heartshaped cake to share (very small, but still very rich) with happy anniversary and a candle.
Then sing to us and make us kiss.
We have always enjoyed it.
Of course, we have only had 11 years, so it might be extra special for 50!

Happy Anniversary and Congratulations!

We have a 7 day cruise that leaves on a Saturday this October.
Does anyone know what nights would be elegant evenings?
I figure Sunday night (since it is the first Sea Day) but not sure if Wednesday or Thursday for the 2nd one.

Also, I noticed in John Heald's blog that he mentioned you can order a sugar free Chocolate Melting Cake if you let the waiter know the night before so they can prepare it.
I usually try the sugar free option in the MDR (because type II), but didn't realize this was even a thing!
My question is if any of you have had this and what your opinion on it was.

We always take 7 day cruises, so 24 cans of soda don't really last for us.
I always get the Bottomless Bubbles, wife doesn't

What I like about the package is that it gives you a variety of sodas, instead of just one.
It also includes club soda, tonic water and ginger ale (in case you get the rumbly tummy)

I like to grab a glass about half filled with Root Beer, fill it with soft serve and make my own root beer floats.
Great for sipping on while watching the Dive In movie and eating popcorn!

And it includes a variety of juices as well:
Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, Tomato Juice, Pineapple Juice, Grapefruit Juice 
Normally the juices are only available for free at breakfast or brunch, so it is nice to be able to grab a refreshing grapefruit juice or healthy tomato juice whenever I want.

If those are things that might be appealing, then it would be worth it to have.

19 minutes ago, Doggielover68 said:

I would say tape it to the underside of a low closet shelf. It's unlikely for it to be disturbed there. I almost did this but forgot to! 

 

I remember when I was a kid, I would slip a little note somewhere in a library book and got a kick out of it when I would find it later on. 

I have found several notes in old books that other people left.
It is interesting what people stick in there.
 

Something else I just thought of is buy one of the photos from your cruise of you and your family.
Leave the note on the back of that and hide it.

That way you have a nice little memento of your last cruise on this one!

 

29 minutes ago, riffatsea said:

I don't understand this question??  What is the purpose of this note?? We are also in the same cabin on 2 cruises that are months apart but I still don't understand the point of leaving a note from the first cruise???

No real purpose other than having a bit of fun!
Will the note still be there?
Will someone else find it?
Will I remember what I wrote to myself?

It's like my family's tradition of adding "and that's to go" when giving our order at a drive-thru.
No reason for doing it, just entertaining ourselves!

50 minutes ago, RandomUser123 said:

Not turning this into a parenting form but do not give advice to other people's kids. Their parents may take offense to that. Their parents should be the one to control their kids and offer any advice. 

I'm sure that since they are friends, this would have been worked out ahead of time.

The friends we traveled with when our kids were little, were close enough that they had no problem with us saying something reasonable to their kids and we had no problem with them doing the same with ours.
But that was a discussion we had all had as adults long before we the trip started.

It also sounds like the others may not be experienced cruisers.
I know anytime we are going on a vacation with friends and it's a first time for some, we will always get together to plan things out and so that the ones who have experience can give tips and pointers to the rest of us.
Great time to find out things you may not have thought of and only learn by doing.
None of our group has thin enough skin that we mind being given advice.
And we love it when someone thinks enough of our kids to include them in giving that advice, since most people just ignore kids anyway.

However ymmv, as it would really depend on how close you are.