cxr133

following along for tips and tricks for our July Celebration cruise.

i am interested in

- how to get my family to tryout for family feud

- how crowded common area are

- how attentive are bartenders/bars for 6000 people

tips for the free dining venues i undersdtand you can make reservations once on the ship

Is there anything wrong with the Mariott Biscayne Bya?

i like this option for the queen beds.... 

i just dont anything about Miami. 

is it a good hotel, nice location?

Based on my number of points have it narrowed down to Marriott Biscayne Bay   or JW Mariott Bricknell. Residence Inn south beach or the Moxy.  i like the Biscayne bay because of the queen beds. 

any recommendations for any  of these?

the reviews on TripAdvisor are soo mixed for all properties some love it some truly hate it.   ugh 😞

from my expereince they ALWAYS look at the signed receipt to see if a tip was left .  that tells me they were expecting a tip each and every time. 

THANK YOU

NO recomendations?  Thanks 

lol hope the title summed it up.  we are looking at staying about 3 nights in Miami post cruise in July.

I want to use my Bonvoy points (about 150K) so looking at a Marriott property ,

My search shows dozens   😞 what would be a good place to stay for 4 people

with so many mixed reviews i just need to know which ones would be a no-go and which places would be good for our stay

our plan right now i think is

Sat-  debarkation, maybe everglades tour, beach,  walk around a little at night get dinner and people watch. we have 2 19yo so probably no clubbing

Sun.   maybe double decker bus or some tour to Key west.

Mon.     Miami Zoo

Thanks Guys 

On 11/30/2023 at 3:30 PM, Mt Lassen said:

I have been waiting for Chefs Table reservations to be available for my upcoming cruise on the Panorama. Today they finally showed up priced at $150 per person. At that price my last cruise was my last Chefs Table.

Hae you tried to buy anything lately.

yesterdays price is not todays price  :0

everything is more expensive now. 

On 3/27/2024 at 12:24 PM, pamesacruisin said:

Of course, it would have helped if the PVP would have told me.  She held the booking while I bought the cards.  She only learned when she tried to apply them.  Seems a Carnival PVP should have known and told me ahead of time.  Lesson learned for both of us.  

you can try some of the gift card sales sites.. you might have to eat 3-5%

Ours came through this morning  just an fyi 

an aunt saw this thread also and gifted us for our cruise. 3. More. 
 

nice cruise discount. 

LOL this makes me reflect on one of my favorite lines :

WE HAVE A POOL    (lol)

4 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

@cxr133 I like the ship with less kids. The food is hit and miss. The MDR is not good. The buffet is not great. Specialty dining is great. Teppanyaki is my favorite along with sushi and Seafood Shack. The ship feels full at showtimes and on the Lido on sea days. Pools are body to body except Havana. The cabins, especially interiors are small. The showers are the same size. If you were fighting the curtain, you’ll touch the glass. 

*****   I'm going middle of summer so probably lots of kids.

what about layout with all the food venues being in different spots all over the ship.  from guys on 17  to pizza shack on 8   or wherever

but i am not going to like a super crowded pool or LIDO deck at all.  crap maybe i should try to switch  to vista   😞

THANKS 

@MeganGC1983    So i dont have to go back and read 102 pages.

whats your overall impression of the celebration.

it appears you had a good time as i perused this thread 

any likes\dislikes  of ship layout,  Dining establishments, abrs Pools.

I forget is this the ship the rooms are supposed to  be a little bigger.  II am not  not overly fluffy (lol) but the small showers on the other ships are a tight fit and im just wondering now with doors is it going to be claustrophobic.

Most important to me crowds over the ship with that many guests are the common areas at times unbearable. 

just so you know i love the Breeze, magic, Horizon and Panorama in that order.  🙂

Hi all.

We have been to GT 3- times and Jack Shack each time.   we are going with a large group in July and will probably make our way to JS.

But wondering we pass so many other places along our walk down the beach to JS.. any review,  recommendation or DO NOT GO to any of these other places?

grand Turk is a great beach day port since there are great beaches right off from the ship.

Im guessing most here will recommend walking down to jack shack rent 2 chairs and an umbrealls for 25.00 and enjoy the sandy beach and beautiful water. 

meets all your requirements   beach, shade and a bar 

52 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Watching the mid-show 

we have a huge family going .  How do we sign up for this?

we are booked for the celebration in July.  From the YT videos i have been watching im really concerned that most everything is enclosed  the great views are blocked and the common areas are combined\shared  and might be totally overcrowded.  So let me know your feelings on this please

Thanks

2 minutes ago, cxr133 said:

I have done both.

 

My son got married at Paradisus cancun in 2021   very lovely very nice place.  WOULD pick over the mexican riviera cruise.

 

Panorama cruise is fun not to be missed    Mexican riviera was not my favorite.

 

NOW if it was a choice between any of the caribean/bahamas ports then i would say its a toss up  

 

added:  you may get bored just sitting around the Paradisus beach /pool al lweek so there may be excursions that would cost exttra

1. pirate ship dinner

2 day trip to isla mujeres

3. snorkel party catamaran to isla mujeres

4. xcaret eco park 

5 mercado for lunch 

6 downtown cancun  for dinner or margatriaville cancun for dinner 

7. tulum

8.  Akumul for turtle snorkeling

I have done both.

My son got married at Paradisus cancun in 2021   very lovely very nice place.  WOULD pick over the mexican riviera cruise.

Panorama cruise is fun not to be missed    Mexican riviera was not my favorite.

NOW if it was a choice between any of the caribean/bahamas ports then i would say its a toss up  

will this be the case for the Radiance also.  going a quick radiance trip dec 15th

LOL rent a nice gentleman friend i would only charge 100 a night  😆😛

we were on Horizon 4th of July crusie and it was closed on embarkation day

But did you like the ship?

Breeze is one of our favorite ships.

alot of those other quips are not breeze specific but changes carnival has made since 2017.

oh and no more noon time hairy chest/ belly flop contests 

LOL someone in Marketing makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for this monikor  🙂