craigtompkins

this pretty much sums it up: If you want to be treated like a King (or Queen) choose Royal, if you want to be treated like a CLOWN, go with Carnival.

See this is the exact kind of comments I was trying to avoid by asking for definitive differences and not opinions.

I have been sailing Carnival for 13 years now and enjoy it. I've only sailed Carnival and sail more for itinerary than the ship. We've booked our first RC cruise, Adventure of the Seas, for March of next year because of itinerary.

I'm trying to research what the real differences are between the 2 lines. I've read about 30 threads talking about this, but I keep seeing the same thing over and over - opinions. 20 people say RC has better food and another 20 say Carnival has better food...things like that. What I'm looking for are definitive differences.

I'll start with a few I've found

1. Carnival has Guys for Free, RC has JR for a cost. (free vs cost)

2. Carnival has comedy clubs and RC only has 1 or 2 comedy shows per cruise

3. Carnival does "showtime" in the dinning room where RC does not.

4. Carnival allows you to bring on one 12 pack of soda per person, RC does not allow any.

Thanks in advance for all the help filling out this list.

The following is from Carnival's website ...

 

 

 

Here is the link ...

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2261/kw/luggage%20restrictions/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ1NDU0NjYyOC9zaWQvR2EyT3ZiSW0%3D

Thanks. I was just coming here to post that I found that exact same page and share for anyone else looking.

If it has "Surge" in the name it is NOT allowed. I don't get what is so hard for people to understand about this. It is a fire hazard. Y'all might not mind being turned into human BBQ in the middle of the ocean, but I do! Get with the program or stay home - PLEASE!!!

Wow, sorry. I'm not trying to offend. I honestly didn't read the entire thread I thought they were asking for a power strip or surge protector as a general term and didn't realize that Carnival had made a policy change. I've been sailing on Carnival for 15 years with a surge protector with me and would be doing so again on my next cruise too if I didn't re-read this thread.

Has Carnival announced this change some place or just put it in small print some place?

I have a Belkin brand - it's not a strip, but rather a bar that plugs right into the outlet. Mine only has two outlets, giving only one additional, but it also has 2 USB ports.

I have one similar to this we take on every trip Belkin SurgePlus It's 3 outlet and 2 USB ports. The USB ports are 2.1 AMP / 10 Watt so they will charge your tablet as well as your phone. The power plug also rotates 360 degrees so you can adjust it based on your needs.

Last summer we had 2 cabins booked. I am Platinum so of course my wife and I were able to do priority. Our kids are not Platinum but they were able to board with us. That being said, we were told that it was because they were under a certain age. If they were above that age they could not board with us. I'm trying to remember what that cutoff was and if it was both or just one of them. in fact, that's what I'm searching for on here right now :)

After reading many reviews, we have decided to visit Melia while we are in Nassau in about a week. I've heard mixed comments on Jet Ski rentals and Parasailing there. Can anyone confirm that these are options and if so what the current costs are?

TIA

Craig

Thanks. I probably should follow John on facebook. Had him as a CD 1 time.

Can someone tell me specifics about the Dive-in Movies on the Breeze? I'm looking for any info you would like to share, but specifically:

1. Are movies played every night?

2. What times are the movies?

3. What movies are currently being shown (we sail in 15 days)?

TIA

Craig

Thank you both. I had heard negative stuff about Great Bay beach's pollution elsewhere so I was already planning to avoid that one.

On our cruise in February we visited St Martin and Barbados. We had a blast at "The Boatyard" in Barbados and did an island tour in St Martin. We will be back in St Martin next month and would like to visit a beach that reminds of "The Boatyard"...the silky sand, clear water, restaurant/bar just off the beach and wifi. Water toys such as inflatables, diving platform, rope swing, jet ski rental etc would all be a bonus. Is there one like this? What would our best option be?

We also want to visit the board walk as we didn't get to spend any time there last trip. We don't care if we do that first, or last.

TIA

Craig

Thank you everyone for the info. We will not miss the pool games, in fact I've never been to one. Carnival has been getting my money because of the price. I think I'll like a more relaxed less party cruise than we get with Carnival better anyway; So that is not an issue. It sounds like the Star might be the better option but that we'd probably like either ship.

I'm platinum on Carnival and have only sailed Carnival. My wife and I are looking at an Alaska cruise at the end of May and based on price and travel dates have it narrowed down to the Grand Princess and the Star Princess. Since they are sister ships that were refurbished in 2013 and 2012 are there any real differences in them? From a quick look online it appears they are about the same size as the Carnival Liberty which is a size I enjoy.

I'll read thru the Princess forums tonight, but if anyone wants to mention "did you know" differences between Carnival and Princess here I'll be more than happy to read them :)

We got the email too...although our flight does not get in until 3 anyway, so we were not concerned about it.

I was in Barbados about 3 years ago and used Glory Tours for an island tour and a boat ride out to swim with sea turtles. There were about 8-10 of us on the boat and the only boat there. I enjoyed the swimming with sea turtles so much I don't really remember the rest of the tour but it was a land tour otherwise.

I've noticed that there does not seem to be any new reviews of Glory Tours. Is there a particular reason for that? I'm looking for a simple tour this time as my wife will be in Barbados for the first time. We want to swim with the sea turtles and have some beach time. Not really interested in a land tour this time, just an awesome beach with great sand and calm water and swim with turtles. I've read about The Boatyard in several reviews on here and that looks nice with some activities just no guarantee of a sea turtle swim.

I'd love to hear some ideas and suggestions, we sail out on Sunday the 8th.

I've been to Barbados a couple times. Did Harrison caves once and did an island tour with a sea turtle stop the 2nd time with Glory Tours. I would definitely do the Glory Tours excursion again but wanted to see if this was possible:

Is there someplace with a pool and beach access were we would/could see sea turtles from the beach?

The wife and I have done stingray city (me twice), I don't know how I forgot to include that!

We actually plan on doing Paradise Beach in Cozumel, but we tend to hang at the pool there more than the beach due to the quality of the sand.

I've been to Grand Cayman a few times and have done an island tour including Hell and turtle farm as well as the semi-submersible boat a couple times. We just booked a cruise for 2 weeks from now and are looking for something new to do. We will have my 12 year old son who has not been here and my 10 year old nephew who has never cruised before.

Because we only stop at Cozumel and Grand Cayman I'm thinking a beach day here is in order. So my question really is: Is Seven Mile Beach the best place to go? If not, where; If so, what part? We like soft white sand without a lot of rocks.

TIA

Craig

Can anyone tell me Carnival's definition of a kid for this promo? I assume my 19 year old son would not qualify?

Welcome home, did you enjoy your new Platinum experience ?

Of course:). Disembarking first was the biggest plus and the only benefit I really saw and don't want to give up. Embarking was quicker, but not a lot...of course this could be different in a bigger port or ship like Miami. There were no priority tenders.

I'm just going to post a few points about the great cruise we just got off. This was my 10th cruise so I got platinum status. I traveled with my wife (her fourth cruise) and 2 friends on their first and 3rd cruises.

* Getting on the ship was fast and easy for all 4 of us. It took my wife and I about 10 minutes and the other 2 took about 30.

* We are not big fans of sea days but had a good time on board just hanging out, going to some shows and making a donation to the casino.

* In Grand Cayman we did sting ray city with Moby Dick tours and had a great time. We all would recommend Moby Dick to anyone looking for this tour. Richard and the gang were great. Ting ray city of course was fun even with some choppy waves.

* In Cozumel we spent the day at Paradise Beach. Well worth the $2 to use the pool and chairs. The food prices are ok. The staff were always attentive and quick. Of note they do add 20% gratuity to all bills. I thought last time we were there that was only for those paying by credit card so either I remembered wrong or this is new.

* As I said before this was my 10th cruise and I can easily say that the service on the Paradise was the BEST by far. It was the best food service in the dining room. Our wait staff remembered our names on the very first night. They could even guess our food choices after the 2nd night. Not only was the quality of service fantastic everyone was extremely friendly. We even saw them in other places around the ship and they would call us by name and make sure we had everything we needed.

* I hate to keep saying best but our room steward was the best I've had too. In 10 cruises this is only the 2nd time I've had the room steward introduce themselves. He let us know what his daily plan would be and asked if we had any special requests. We did have a cooler so we asked for ice daily. He let us know he would fill the cooler twice a day and never forgot.

* The shows were ok, but I would not have been upset should we have missed any. The male singer was ok, but everyone liked the female singer more. She has a great voice and stage presence.

* Getting off the ship was the easiest yet but of course we used my priority perks for that so that is not a fair comparison.

* The only negative I have was the noise under our room the last 2 days and nights. We were in M265 which is an once an view on the Main deck (5) in the very back in which our window looked aft and not out the side. There was an alarm going off every few minutes and then banging on pipes that we could hear. No naps on the last sea day due to the noise and we were woken up a couple times at night with the alarm.

I'll be happy to answer questions that I can but answers might be delayed as we are currently driving home - No I'm not doing the driving.

We are scheduled to be in Cozumel next week and the forecast calls for 70% chance of rain. We had planned on going to Paradise Beach. We are not sure we want to do that in the rain. Does anyone have any suggestions for a rainy day in Cozumel?

The biggest way to surprise her is to NOT give it to her on Christmas morning. Keep that 1 gift for the next day - or if you have a lot of family over at least very late in the day.

We sail on the Paradise next Monday for 5 days. I assume there will be only 1 Elegant night. Does anyone know what night it will be? Tuesday is our first sea day so that's the day I'm guessing, but I don't know so I figured I'd ask.

Yes another one of these threads, but this one has a twist :)

I've stayed at the Chase Suite Hotel in Tampa using their park and cruise rate a few times now. On my last cruise in Port Canaveral we parked at the port and loved how fast we got back on the road for our drive home to Atlanta. So we will be parking at the port in Tampa this December for our next cruise.

Finding a hotel is easy, there are a ton of them of course. What I'm trying to find is a hotel fairly close to the port that has 2 bedroom suites for 4 adults. Chase Suite does have this (and I've stayed in one) for like $180 and they are about 10 miles from the port. That's a 20 minute drive according to Google Maps. What we'd like is something similar, but closer to the port. I have no problem using Chase Suite again if that is our best option, but figured I'd ask on here to see if anyone has other suggestions.