Lee Cruiser

Not really sure. This was the first time on this ship. We were on Sunrise out of Miami in September 2021 and didn't have any problems. Of course that was right after cruising started back, so everyone on there was probably just glad to be cruising again.

While we had a decent time, this certainly was not one of our favorite cruises. In over 20 cruises it would rank in the bottom two or three. This is definitely the most negative things we’ve written about any of our cruises. This would also be the first time we could remember coming back from a cruise and not thinking about our next cruise or booking another cruise. Dislikes: (While there were a lot of things we didn't like on this cruise, here are the main ones) 1. There seemed to be a good amount of disorganization on this cruise. Here are a few examples: On embarkation day we were in the Captain’s Lounge. On Celebration, they really don’t go by the zone number listed on your boarding pass. They give you a zone letter based on what priority group you are in (Diamond, Suite, and then Platinum) and when you arrive. For us, our boarding pass said A1, but we were given the Priority K boarding placard. This wasn’t really a big deal because it would seem to make things go smoother instead of having everyone heading to the line at the same time. The problem is that they didn’t do a good job of explaining it. Though we pretty much figured it out and understood it, some others didn’t get it. We were talking to some folks near us while waiting. They also had Priority K. However, when they called A, they went on up because their boarding pass was A1. They essentially went with the diamonds, as diamonds had Priority A and B placards. Another problem with embarkation was that they let FTTF go before the other priority groups were finished even though they stated up front that the order of boarding would be Diamond, Suite Guests, Platinum and then FTTF. When it was our time to go, we were headed up the escalator towards the gangway. As we got to the main hallway right outside the gangway, there was a long line of people coming up the hallway. We didn’t know what was going on so several of us just merged into the line and kept going. You would have thought we had just slapped people in the face or committed robbery as we were called lots of names. My wife and I just pulled aside and let the most vocal ones go on by us. As they passed we saw the FTTF on their boarding passes, so all of these folks were coming from the main waiting area. FTTF was actually going before many platinum as there were many groups still behind us. This confusion was completely cause by Carnival. The wasn’t simply a miscommunication either because as we were headed up we heard them announce on someone’s radio to go ahead and send the next three groups from each side. While we didn’t know what that meant at the time, we figured it out pretty quick after we realized what was going on. At some ports getting back on the ship took way too long. At Roatan we were going back to the ship around noon. They were sending all of us to the far gangway to go back on. There was two lines to go on at that gangway, but it was taking a long time with everyone standing out in the sun. A Carnival employee then sent people from the back of the line up to a third line, which sent them in front of many who had been waiting a while. As we got inside the ship, we noticed quickly why it was taking so long. They only had one security agent scanning everyone back on the ship. All three of these lines were merging together creating a huge bottleneck. We ate in the YTD room three nights during this cruise. If you checked in and went as soon as the dining room opened, there was a line each night. You were able to check in 20 minutes before opening time and you received a table ready notification in about 10 minutes even though the dining room was not open yet. There would be a line waiting each night, but people would still push their way to the front because they had a table ready notification. On other cruises they would announce this frequently to let folks coming up know what was going on. But they didn’t do that much on this ship. When people would get to the front of the line they would tell them, but many of these folks just stayed up front instead of getting in the line. While it didn’t really bother most people, some did not appreciate it and let them know. On one night a lady was making her way to the front and she basically pushed the guy behind us out of the way and said our table is already ready. We thought they were going to fight. As we were heading in to our table another guy was cussing out the hostess inside at the desk. He was extremely ugly to her over this issue. 2. The entertainment on this cruise was not very good. After being on Mardi Gras we were looking forward to the Center Stage shows and the PG Comedy shows. On Mardi Gras there were numerous PG comedy shows, with shows every day. On Celebration, there were two nights with no PG shows and on the days when there were shows, they were the same show repeated throughout the day. There were only four unique PG shows. On Mardi Gras there were six comedians and all had PG shows, with some doing more than one unique shows. The Center Stage shows weren’t that good. The Magnificent Circus show about put us to sleep in the first 20 minutes. They should have left that part off and it would have been a little better. We would not have stayed for the whole show if we were not down on the floor where it would have been distracting to leave, although there were some who didn’t let that stop them. The best night of entertainment was the Family Feud show in the main theater. The rock band was not that impressive either. We only listened to them once. Other than Family Feud, the best entertainment was provided by the soloists, Owen Stephen and Scott Lucille who were at the Latitudes Bar and Golden Jubilee throughout the week. We were thankful for them. 3. The amount of rudeness and rowdiness on this cruise. While this wasn’t at any stretch the majority of people, there was enough to make us feel uncomfortable and really unsafe at times. There were people who didn’t mind cursing at others, including older children and teens. There were those who would basically push others out of the way to get where they wanted to go, without any regard for others. This happened frequently. We came close to seeing people fight on a couple of occasions. While this is not really Carnival’s fault, they could do more to help prevent this. Though security was more visible on this cruise than some previous cruises, it wasn’t enough. It’s pretty obvious that Carnival needs more security staff, especially on these larger ships. 4. Elevators: (While I would prefer to take the stairs most of the time, my wife cannot physical take the stairs for more than one flight or so.) The mid-ship elevators aren’t nearly large enough. They always seemed to be packed. They had 8 in that area, but it probably would have been better to split these off into two banks as having 8 together caused other problems. As usual, lots of people had no elevator etiquette. When we approach elevators, we typically wait on those who were already waiting before us. However, many people could care less that people had been waiting for some time. They would walk right up and jump right on elevators in front of others who had been waiting. Much of the time not even giving people getting off the elevator time to get off before pushing their way in. Having 8 elevators together really doesn’t help. If you wait in the middle for elevators to arrive and the one that arrives is on the end, those that just walked up get on those regardless of who was there waiting. One night my wife and I were already on the elevator when it arrived at this floor and it was already full, I was just about knocked down by a lady who was determined to make room on the elevator. Likes: 1. Our Extended Balcony Cabin on the side of the ship. This was a great balcony with a lounger, two regular chairs and a table. We spent lots of time, especially the two sea days, out on our balcony enjoying some peace and quiet. 2. Muster Drill. Obviously still much better than pre-covid. 3. Premium Internet was very good. We were able to stream Braves games on the Bally sports app throughout the cruise. 4. Debarkation (See more below) Dining: Pig and Anchor: We ate at Pig and Anchor two nights. This was better food than our previous experience on Mardi Gras. The first night the service and food was really good. However, when we went again on Friday night, the service was horrible. We were there nearly two hours. There were several people getting up and going to get their own water refills. Cucina Del Capitano: We went there for dinner on the first elegant night and then again for lunch one day. The service and food for dinner was really good. Though the food was good at lunch, the service was not very good. We had to wait about 15 minutes before anyone ever came to our table and it was hard to get water refills. ChiBang: We did not go to ChiBang on this cruise as we are really not big fans. Main Dining Room: We ate in the main dining room three nights. Service was good each night. We were able to be in and out in around an hour, except for the second elegant night. We didn’t order dessert as we have never really been wild about the main dining room dessert options. We never had a wait for a table as we went as soon as the dining room opened each night. The only waiting we did was for the dining room to open. Just a side note: the dining room opened 30 minutes early (5:00) on the elegant nights. Food was normal Carnival food, though it was really that great. One thing we didn’t like about the dining room was that, like many other ships, tables for two were sitting right beside each other. They really weren’t tables for two at all, more like tables for four and six. Debarkation: Debarkation went pretty smooth for us, though we did not bother with elevators. We did checked luggage and had zone 3 priority tags delivered to our room with the letter. The priority letter had self-assist meeting time at 7:30 and the priority checked luggage meeting time at 8. Because of prior experience, we went on down to the waiting area shortly after 7. They dismissed priority self-assist at 7:20 and called zones 1-4 checked luggage at 7:30. After collecting our luggage and going through facial recognition, we were outside waiting on our pre-scheduled Lyft to arrive at 8, although he arrived five minutes or so early. Our flight was 11 am out of FLL. We were through security at the airport and waiting at our departure gate at 8:45. Again, we had a decent time and were able to relax. However, this made us rethink our future cruising. We’ve been on over 20 Carnival cruises, but we will probably look at trying other lines. We had already been considering cancelling our November cruise because it would be the most expensive five day cruise that we’ve ever done. This cruise made that decision for us. We cancelled that cruise earlier this week before the final payment date. We will take another trip instead of a cruise.

We typically get the premium because there is very little difference in price from value to premium ($1.70 per day on our next cruise.) We were just on Celebration and even with premium checking our security videos was slow at times. Not really sure why because we were able to stream Braves games on the Bally sports app each day without any problems. We could also Facetime with our daughters and grands without any problems. We would recommend going with premium because the price difference really isn't that much and the quality is much better.

We weren't on the chairs in the center because we really didn't want to sit there, but we were close. We were sitting on the second row on the side in the long floor bench seats, so we were close to everything on that side. We still didn't enjoy that part.

We just got off Celebration and to be honest, a lot of the shows weren't that great. We had high expectations after watching the Center Stage shows on Mardi Gras. After waiting over an hour for good seats at the Most Magnificent Circus show, we were about put to sleep for the first 20 minutes of the show. It got a little better, but not a whole lot. I guess the first 20 minutes just tainted it. They could have left the first part off and it would have been a better show.

Unfortunately it was not just the kids on this cruise. There were some adults that were acting out as well. It wasn't a lot, but enough to make things bad for others. We just about got knocked down several times by folks cramming into elevators in front of many who had been waiting. There were some that had a complete lack of respect for others. That may be where these children got it.

We were on that exact same flight as well. When we got home, we discovered that our luggage had gotten soaked in the heavy rain.

For my wife and me it was not one of our favorites either. I will probably do a review later, but there were several incidents on this cruise that just raised my stress level instead of being a relaxing vacation. You may not have experienced this, but our started with the embarkation. As we were going up from the Captains Lounge to board the ship, there was a line of people coming up the way that stretched way down the hallway. We really didn't know what was going on, so all of us just merged in and headed on the gangway. You would have thought we had just committed a robbery. We were called all sorts of names. My wife just pulled me aside and we let the ones that were the most vocal on by us. I caught a glimpse of their boarding passes and it turned out that the FTTF folks were going at the same time as many of the platinum folks, even though he had announced that it would be diamond, suites, platinum, then FTTF. So that problem was created by Carnival. We had priority letter K, so they went before a lot of the platinum folks behind us.

If this is the same one we saw, it was by ambulance. Have no idea why they brought her back to the ship. The ambulance came through while we were looking around the port. They worked with her a few minutes and as we were headed back to the ship, they were bringing her back.

My wife and I are on this cruise as well. Counting down the hours now! We had to cancel our April Mardi Gras cruise, so it has been a long time since January.

Just looked at ours again for a cruise next week. Yesterday, several Coke products (including Coke and Diet Coke) were on there along with the Pepsi products. Today it is back to just Pepsi products.

It's been on there. It is essentially the 18% that would be paid for gratuity if you purchased onboard.

I hope this just means they are going to do both and not switching back to just Coke products!

On Mardi Gras they were already out there as well and we spent most of the day out there away from the crowds on the public decks

This is the largest extended balcony on the sides, so plenty of room for loungers

I was watching a video for extended balcony cabin 10346 and it has regular chairs on it. Our extended balcony on Mardi Gras had loungers. Is it possible to request loungers? Our plan is to spend a good bit of our time there.

It happened last night as we were preparing to check in for our Celebration cruise. Tried to log in about 15 minutes before on two browsers and it wouldn't work. Finally, about 5 minutes before it started working and didn't have any issues through the check in process. Makes me think they may have been doing some maintenance before and stopped a few minutes before midnight Eastern time for those checking in.

It would probably be because it would be out of network. When I had to go to the Carnival physician years ago, it was billed to my account. They gave me the receipt and form to file with my insurance. Mine was much less at around $250 or so if I remember correctly. My insurance reimbursed me at around 70% I believe. My current insurance would be about 50% out of network.

I'm guessing the OP would understand his deductible. Having been to the medical center before, I know Carnival requires payment upon service and does not file or wait on insurance to pay. I read it as the total bill was $2,500, which they would have been required to pay in entirety before debarking. He then filed it with his insurance and the insurance ended up sending the reimbursement to Carnival instead of back to him.

The 6:30-7:30 time frame is a pretty busy time, so just be prepared to wait after you check in. Was there a particular reason you chose YTD? Since you can't check in on the app, it would be much easier to do an assigned time.

The app has made it so much easier than before. We've done it both ways and prefer the app so much more than having to go wait in line to check in.

We usually do excursions when we go there, but we are considering just doing the beach this time. Does anyone know if the chairs past the cabanas (near the scuba pier) are for staff only? We have seen a couple of videos and one has people talking about hanging out there with good shade, but another said it was a staff area. Just trying to get some clarification. Thanks

I certainly hope not. For those of us who don't drink, having drinks included would just means paying a lot more for the same. Also, not sure excursions will ever be included as these vary greatly.

Their horrible customer service is the reason I switched away from AT&T a few years ago after having them for over 20 years. Just got tired of having to spend hours on the phone and never getting my problem resolved.

Non-refundable doesn't necessarily mean you lose it all, you just can't get a cash refund. For early saver fares you can transfer them to another cruise less a $50 per person penalty. We did this last year when we received one of the 50% off anniversary deals. We decided to cancel the cruise we had booked for April 2023 under a more normal rate and re-book it under the 50th anniversary deal. Even if we would have lost all of our deposit we would have come out several hundred dollars ahead. After cancelling I called and had the remainder of the deposit after the $100 penalty to a cruise later that year (2022). Never tried to get the full deposit transferred, so not sure how much luck you will have at that.