KaiBlue

I tried this recently on the Venezia due to all of the people saying how good it was on this site. Unfortunately I didn't care for it at all - perhaps mine was the off one - but it didn't have much flavor at all and what it did have was kind of 'off'. Is it supposed to be a sweet/smokey kind of BBQ? That was what I was expecting.

They had several sales, particularly as the cruise went on (last day they were selling hats/coverups supposedly for around $5 but I didn't inquire as to the specifics - was a huge line up of people wanting to shop past the table they set up). They have the chocolate extravaganza on the last sea day at lunch in the lido. Line was too long for us to bother with it (discovered of the same cakes were at the Sweet Spot section of the other side of the lido buffet line). Two formal nights (was the 2nd and 2nd to last for our 11 night sailing). Deck 5 goes all the way around but the aft section is reserved for the Terrazza cabins - however even if you aren't in one of those cabins you can access that area after 7pm each night.

Ship -Venezia Deck - 7 Stateroom # - 7278 Stateroom Category – Standard Balcony Starboard or Port Side - Port Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Had some banging due to windy conditions (balcony dividers aren't tight and move in the wind) but otherwise the room location was quiet. Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No Balcony View - Overlooks the exposed deck on Deck 5 Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Normal Was wind a problem? - No If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - NA Any specific problems with this cabin? No. Refrigerator was extremely cold which is a good thing! Any other comments? Every cruise deck plan site I looked at showed this as a cabin with a pulldown however there was none.

Perhaps if I had danced as much as that one gentlemen did on the cruise (he seemed to be dancing every time there was music anywhere!!), I wouldn't have come home feeling like I had overindulged as much:) Next cruise goal I guess.......our next cruise is with our 22yo youngest daughter who does like to dance so I suspect she will get me out there more. Plus it's a shorter cruise so how much caloric damage can truly be done in 8 days? 😄

We had a great time on this cruise! Happy to have met some of you @delacruz @FineArtsMama @ETski and your significant others! The DR excursion was wonderful. Now to do the unpacking and weaning off the 'cruise diet'😉. Thankful to have a few days to recover before going back to work. Hope everyone's travels home went smooth.

Thanks for the info @Sarahg0915! I think we get there around 1 (so was thinking maybe 2 would be the earliest we could get to the beach) and leave around 10 or 11pm. Good to know that going back and forth is doable. Maybe we will just go and know that we have the flexibility to return to the ship if we want. Where did you ask for the taxi to drop you off in Palm Beach? Per the OP's question, did there seem to be anything to do near the port in the evening?

We are in Aruba late on an upcoming cruise and had read that many of the restaurants and shops by the port close down early and that Palm Beach is the place to go. Anyone experience this recently? We get to the island late to begin with so was thinking of just going directly to Palm Beach to get in a few hours of actual beach time, then grab dinner/shop there before heading back to the port (was looking at the Arubus for transportation).

@delacruz I think we are also on the 7th floor (haven't committed this to memory yet!) in a balcony but not the terrazza area (couldn't justify the extra expense so you will have to let us know if it was worth it or not!). We are Trina & Steve and we booked this cruise about 1.5 years ago and can't believe it is finally here! Not celebrating anything other than our daughter is getting married this summer so this will be a nice break from all of the wedding planning and of course getting away from our jobs for 2 weeks. I think this will be our 19th cruise overall (with Carnival now being the most, followed by RC). Carnival has been having some good deals since the restart and we really enjoy the fun vibe on their ships. But we've never had a bad cruise so we kind of just pick the cruise typically based upon ports/time of year with the exception of a few that we went on just to experience a line's mega ship. Very much looking forward to seeing this ship as it looks so different than anything we've ever been on. We also like to dance (we aren't good at it but we do it anyway!) but might be skipping the sailaway this time because I want to experience the NYC skyline/statue of liberty. This weekend I have got to finish packing!! A job that I love:)

We got the 10am slot as we could check in 2 days prior, but there is no way we will be on board anytime remotely close to that if recent embarkation stories are to be believed. I read of one person with a 10am arrival but they didn't get on board until 1pm (note to self - eat a decent breakfast!).

@tweety33We have decided to stay with the tour. From all that I have read, the DR has long had a strong border due to the troubles in Haiti and the need to control the flow of people wanting to come across. They have stepped up their border patrols since all of this recent violence has erupted. I have a friend who recently attended a wedding in the DR and she said you would have never known anything was amiss. We have traveled to parts of Mexico where we have had to pass through check points manned with people with assault rifles. While unnerving to see, I was glad they were there. We will have a local guide on this tour which also gives me comfort. It is a very personal decision - if I was too anxious to enjoy the excursion then I wouldn't be going because what would be the point? I've made that call on several occasions when my kids were little - fearful of trying to watch them in what seemed like a less-than-safe area so we just didn't leave the port area. We still had fun so I'm sure you will make the most of whatever you decide!!

We hope to be able to walk to the port as well. It's about .8 of a mile so doable as long as it doesn't downpour! We get free laundry as well and I'm going to take full advantage of it and hope to pack in just 2 carry-ons and 2 backpacks. We shall see. Shoes and toiletries are always the issue:( I started laying out clothes last weekend so need to start the squishing process to see how much I can fit in! We will see you at the Atrium bar on Tuesday!

@FineArtsMama We toyed with the idea of going to see a broadway show but decided we just wanted a few days of 'roaming' and no deadlines. We fly in early Saturday morning so will have 2 full days to just do as we please. The last few weeks have been pretty brutal with work/family stuff so this cruise can't come fast enough for me! Started to look at some videos of the ship and getting super excited! We had seen a few early on before we booked this cruise (which was like 18 months ago). Crazy that it's almost here.

My husband doesn't drink and I want to say most were $8 on our cruises last year - more if you have one done at Alchemy with the Lyre's nonalcoholic spirits (think those were $10?). Those are quite good actually in my opinion. Give you more of the liquor essence as most of the other mocktails (daiquiris etc) are so sweet. If you google it I'm sure some drink menus will come up immediately and you can take a look at some of the offerings. And if you aren't sure a drink can be made without alcohol, just ask. Most of the bartenders are willing to come up with something for you!

We had dinner in the Pride steakhouse late August '23 (before you) and it was wonderful. Wondering if you just caught them on a bad night? We both had the filet and it was just as good as other Carnival steakhouse experiences for us.

In my very limited knowledge of how Princess does things (working up to our first Princess cruise next year and starting to do some early planning), you can't use their cards for extras (no option to use them for excursions, wifi, gratuities that I wanted to pay now to lock in the rate). Seems like you can only pay the cruise portion itself with gift cards. But I do find the entire Princess online/app experience to be completely nonintuitive so perhaps I'm missing something.