edrussell

@Drose716 thanks so much for the confirmation! I think we will book it.

So not a sure thing for the free bottle of wine on Night 2 then. Not a huge deal, but we figured why not if we were trying a specialty dining experience. Booking something on Night 1 is a bit of a iffy for us since we try not to have any plans on night 1 being our first night onboard.

We are taking our first cruise on Carnvial on Venezia in Sept and I have a couple of questions. From what I understand you can get a free bottle of wine if you eat in the steakhouse on night 1 of the cruise. I've also read that it is also applicable on night 2. Although there is conflicting information on that. Does anyone have any firsthand knowledge of this on Venezia? Also if we order some booze for the room (we are thinking of ordering 2 X 4 pack of beer) when are they delivered? Since the Cheers package doesn't kick in until day 2 sailing out of NY does that impact these deliveries? Thanks!

Glad to hear that. We've been on Oasis/Anthem/Adventure/Enchantment/Grandeur and our favorite ships are Enchantment/Grandeur. Didn't care for Oasis much, Anthem was great, and Adventure was OK. Casino wise again we likely Enchantment/Grandeur the most. The Casino in Adventure was awful. I have high hopes for the casino on Wonder. Note that we are slot players and like old school non-video reel machines which are exceedingly rare now sadly. We also don't play many themed machines.

4 offers currently listed for my wife, a mix of sailings up to 7 days. Not many out of Baltimore and Bayonne which we are primary looking for now. Definitely way less than last year this time, but then again we don't have enough vacation time to take any offer right now. We are sitting just shy of 1900 TC from one sailing in this gambling year with Wonder booked for Feb of 2024. A range of ships in our offers. We are tying our first Carnival sailing next month on Venezia and will give them some play to see what comes out of that.

When does delivery occur if you are sailing out of NY? I had read that delivery doesn't happen until day 2 if you are sailing out of Galveston. Just wondering out NY. Thanks all.

Thanks so much for you review!! We are going on our first ever Carnival cruise and it is on Venezia on Sept 8. We had contemplated canceling it so many times because of everything we've read and watched. Your review gives me so much hope that we will enjoy it. You didn't mention the pool(s), what was your experience.

I wonder how many on this thread also vacation via other means? For instance all inclusive. I can say firsthand that cruise companies are by far not the only ones cutting back on services and moving to more revenue generating aspects. An all inclusive that we used to frequent has made CRAZY cutbacks. Cutting off all drink service to loungers, charging for nightly shows, housekeeping is optional unless you specifically ask for it. The list goes on. Compared what is happening in other venues I still feel as though cruising is a great value. Is it what it once was? No, but that is not exclusive to cruising. Heck we just came back from a few days in Vegas. You want to see cutbacks and crazy prices?? Try that on for size. For us (this is for us only, to each their own) moving to once a day housekeeping did not make one single bit of a difference to us. We didn't even notice it. Our steward asked us on day 1 and we asked for morning service. Every morning it was like clock work. Then again we spend incredibly little time in our room. For others that won't be the case. Like everything else in life you get to vote with your wallet. If this is a bridge too far, then take your business elsewhere. Truth is corporations will always cut where they can until they notice an impact on profits. So in a way if you do go elsewhere you are helping those of that continue cruising (and free up a lounge chair!). Cheers.

Yes, but were you on the president's cruise? You must always state that to ensure you get the proper attention.

I was drawn to CC in my search to learn as much as I could about cruising in general. We took our very first cruise back in Jan of 2022 and have been on 5 since. When I read a number of posts to my wife she was really taken aback with some of them. She said 'if people are really like this on cruises it doesn't sound like much fun'. Of course this was somewhat tongue in cheek but did have a little bit of a ring of truth to it. I've since learned (and thank heavens for it) that the true whiners are in the minority. It is also easy to identify them and avoid them while onboard. I can only imagine how many times staff have to bite their tongue at guest services. A real unique bunch. Thankfully if you cut through the $%^$%^% and don't get dragged into listening to them there is still a wealth of knowledge here on CC. Although the minority seems to be gaining....

I actually got dragged in as I thought the OP was joking. I really did. I participate in many forums regarding a variety of things, from vacation destinations, camping, even woodworking. I swear that members of CC have the ability to escalate ANYTHING and blow it out of proportion. Someone mistakenly labeled a container of half and half or milk and it is a corporate conspiracy? Holy heck. I realize the irony is dripping off this post as I am now posting on it. Either way let's keep it going, as some of the posts are VERY funny. To the OP, oh my. Gobsmacked. At least you are on the presidents cruise I suppose.

Mostly 4 or 5 night offers for us. Some 8 night (out of Baltimore). Definitely far less than previous years. Sadly we are out of vacation days anyway so offers are not useful for us right now.

We sailed with an interior on Grandeur back in May. It was our first interior and my wife was concerned about the room, we enjoyed it just fine. That said we spend very little time in the room so perhaps that is why.

Our bed was super comfortable on Quantum on our Feb sailing. Then again we tend to pass out by the time we get back to the room. I also did see more than one the cabin steward carrying toppers around.

We booked a sailing through Next Cruise on our first cruise in Jan of 2022 on Oasis. It was not via a casino offer just a regular booking. It was for Sept of 2022. We became prime on that cruise. Later my wife wanted to shift the cruise out by a few weeks. She decided to call Casino Royale to see what they could do. They converted it to our annual certificate and applied the deposit we had paid via Next cruise to go towards taxes and port fees. Give them another call. Please do report back.

7 nights in the MDR on Grandeur and never left hungry once. That portion size that I had posted is more than large enough. Via any guide you follow the amount of protein on that plate is more than enough for single serving. If anything the amount of rice is far too much. I really struggle with those asking for massive portions in 1 serving. If your first serving isn't enough then order another. For most that would just end up with huge amounts of wasted food.

It was excellent as most of the 7 nights were in the MDR on Grandeur. Portion sizes were more than large enough for us. We don't like to consume massive quantities of food so that we save space to continue to exploit the drink package (tongue in cheek of course).

Carne Asada was fantastic on Grandeur.

We were in Ocho Rios 2 weeks ago and we docked at the secondary pier, which is quite the walk to the public beach (which is where we went) so we walked along the roadway and into the downtown area. It was a little sketchy but I've felt a thousand times more on edge in quite a few US cities. I wouldn't advise venturing out too far on your own, or if you are the jumpy type. Apart from that it is fine.

Having flown out of most major airports in Canada and the US as well as visiting most of the largest cities in the same I can honestly say my wife and I feel Toronto (and of course Pearson) score at the top of places we can and will avoid at pretty much all costs. We live only a 30 minute drive without traffic (and a 2 hour drive in 'normal' traffic) and I think the last time we willingly visited Toronto was over 7 years ago. Personally I won't go there on a bet. Absolutely awful traffic, rude people, etc etc and the list goes on. I 100% know that our opinion influences our desire to fly out of Buffalo.

Deck 9 on our sailing in Sept on a packed ship, we didn't find it noisy at all.

I 100% agree with this and you are absolutely right. Building ships like this is a thing of the past sadly. With that said it appears from what I have seen that they have learned a little from the Oasis class and on Icon they are trying to get more sea views. Truth be told I am not averse to the attractions on the Oasis class, far from it. If we don't want to use them then we won't. What I didn't care for is the complete lack of ocean views. Second the interaction with crew was nowhere near what it is on a Vision class. We are booked on Wonder for Feb 2024 and I am keen to see what we think of that ship.

Interesting opinions on this topic as I figured there might be. For me this boils down to the strong aversion I have to Pearson. When I was traveling for work I had much higher status with airlines and this allowed me access to lounges and other perks. This made dealing with Pearson manageable for me. The biggest issue for me is how people act at Pearson, rude, pushy, difficult. Maybe it is just me and my own personal bias. I find myself dreading going to Pearson and then after leaving being irritated. This was a chance to try something different. It made such a huge difference. With that said I 100% get how most won't go this route.

Yes we do, that said comparing both as we used each destination is tough. We went right to the pool and bar at CoCo Cay and partied our hearts out both times. Heck one of the visits we barely remember coming back to the ship. At Labadee we just took it so easy, floated in the crystal clear water and had only enough drinks to stay hydrated (that is my story and I am sticking to it). Ladabee is SO much more relaxed. Also the scenery is just outstanding. We don't have much to compare Tampa to in the past, but our experience was great. I know others we met said the same. All the best!

My last post will be about the port, the trip to and from and our overall thoughts. I am sure most are getting bored of reading this by now anyway... This is our third port to cruise from, our first being Baltimore, then Bayonne (3 cruises from there) and our first to be dropped off via Uber. All others we've driven and parked at the port. We live near Toronto and I am very much used to driving in extremely heavy traffic and in general being irritated while driving. Baltimore was a dream as far as that aspect goes since the port itself is so small. Bayonne is definitely hectic but reasonably well ran and I find it just fine to cruise from. Tampa was an absolute dream! The Uber drop off was smooth, porters approached right away and we were whisked into the terminal. People were smiling, helpful and the entire boarding process was so easy. Less than 45 minutes from drop off to our first drink. Not driving was definitely different but it allowed me to be completely relaxed. We'd not hesitate the cruise from Tampa again for a second. The port area was clean and felt very safe. For the first time we flew to a cruise and we initially were booked on Westjet flying out of Pearson. Westjet played some games were our flights and we eventually canceled them re-booked on America Airlines out of Buffalo. Good thing we did because of the almost strike that happened our original flight was canceled! Neither my wife or I can stand flying out of Pearson and the chance to fly out of Buffalo for the first time intrigued us. We really enjoyed the experience out of Buffalo. It was relaxing and a stark comparison to flying from Pearson. We had a short layover in Charlotte and that is where things got interesting. We made the connection without issue, but then were stuck sitting on the plane at the gate for over 3 hours! A missing washer on a landing gear door almost derailed us. Luckily after what seemed like forever we finally made it Tampa at 3:30am! Yikes. Our next bit of fun was the absolute DUMP of a hotel we stayed in. We booked it despite the bad reviews and that is on us. We try and read reviews with a grain but we should have listened. Needless to say Days Inn near Ybor city is a HARD PASS! I have pictures of this dump if anyone is interested. When all was said and done spending less than 4 hours there was a blessing. We slept (if you could call it that) on top of the covers and fully dressed. Closing this out is my final thoughts on this cruise. I can sum it up simply, relaxing. Next up is our first cruise on Carnival onboard Venetia in Sept. Thanks to those that hung in there and read all the way through.