CruizinSusan70

Easy. Deck 8. Booked one of those porthole cabins at the very front of the ship on the Breeze back in 2013 and hated it. Woke up each port day to the sound of the anchor being deployed. In general we have since preferred to be in the aft section of the ship.

This is why we don't put all of our eggs in one basket. About 50% of my cruises have been on Carnival, but have also cruised on RCI, NCL, MSC, Celebrity and Princess. They each have their plusses and minuses and after factoring in gratuities and Cheers, it is sometimes very close cost wise when compared to the package pricing on four of the other five lines. The lone exception is RCI who doesn't provide packages and their dynamic pricing policy with peripheral purchases drives me crazy.

Way back in the day there used to be men's hair dye available for the asking in the spa locker room. My DH got a box for free on two different cruises about 10 years ago.

For future cruises that you may decide to use the laundry perk, be aware that the wash is done in hot water, so be prepared with certain clothing items that hot water may be detrimental to.

Both are only open on sea days. The broth bowl options at Chibang were really good. Cucina also had mozzarella sticks and tomato soup as appetizer options.

Having first hand experience on every class of ship that Carnival as well as Celebrity has sailed over the past 30 years, I can say that the food on Celebrity is not just marginally better than Carnival, but substantially better overall. The fast grab lunch options on the two Excel Class ships is the only thing food wise where Carnival has an edge. Comparing fleet to fleet it's not even close. Comparing buffet to buffet at all 3 meals, MDR to MDR and specialty to specialty the disparity is far from marginal. So Joe, do you have first hand experience on any X cruise or are you regurgitating what you have read from disgruntled cruisers over on the X boards.

We have B2B's booked for September 2023 and January 2024 on the Celebration. It's a nice touch but an even nicer one would be a special sit down lunch similar to what is offered on RCI. We did 12 days on the Oasis for the first time last June and between the 5 & 7 day sailings, the lunch was nice.

Still get them today. We did B2B's twice in 2022 on the Mardi Gras and got fruit baskets with a note that we could get refills if needed.

Have to disagree about your assessment of the Prima. Is your opinion based on first hand experience or second hand? I cruised on her for 11 nights. The amount of passengers is only 3200, which is less than the breakaway and breakaway plus class ships of NCL. Because of all of the outside space, especially on deck 8 which goes 360°, unlike anything else in their fleet. It thus is more of a warmer climate ship and when sailing in Northern Europe, the weather made everyone stay inside which created problems. Have previously sailed on the Escape, Bliss and Encore and we liked the Prima the best of the four ships. Many cruisers that are loyal to NCL did not like the Prima because it is so different from the rest of the fleet. The same opinion is of many who are loyal to Carnival only with their opinion of the Excel Class. They are so much larger than the rest of the fleet, going from 135 to 180 K tons, it turns off a certain percentage of loyalists that are accustomed to smaller ships.

👎🤬👎

It all depends upon what you're going to compare the Celebration to as to whether you'll be disappointed or not. If you compare it to the rest of the Carnival fleet, you'll be pleasantly surprised because they have raised the bar compared to the rest of the fleet. If you compare it to the Edge Class ships there would be a closer comparison. Celebrity would have the edge food wise across the board with the lone exception of Carnival having more free lunch time options. Bar wise, I would give the Excel Class a slight advantage. Carnival gets the edge with the comedy, but Celebrity gets the edge with their other shows. Have sailed on the Excel Class for 33 nights and the Edge Class for 19 nights. With 28 more on the Celebration and 18 on Beyond booked.

Thinking around 2015 or so.

Solo diners are able to eat anywhere on the ship, so the table minimum would be one. 😁

Enjoy. Have been on both Excel Class ships for 33 nights and have another 29 nights booked. Raised the bar and brings them closer to the newer ships of their competition.

No, not really since those that are able to walk can leave the theater via deck 7. The handicapped section is at the bottom of the theater on deck 6, with space for a total of 5 scooters with a companion seat. Have cruised 33 nights between the two Excel Class ships, saw many shows in the theater and the most scooters I saw were 4 in this area. Common sense mainly comes into play when people that are waiting for an elevator don't get cut off by others. Many are courteous, but then again many are not.

Your last two sentences make sense. The first three paint with a wide brush that is inaccurate. MSC has the most financial flexibility because they have no shareholders to worry about and the cargo shipping division was not shutdown due to Covid. RCI is not the only cruise line with mega ships, what do you consider the two World Class ships from MSC? And all 26 ships from Carnival are not outdated. The Excel Class can compete with the best that MSC can offer to the average cruiser.

I am referring to first hand experience on our 11 day NCL Prima cruise. On day one we were able to drink as much as we wanted, as soon as we boarded. There was no waiting until after sail away to hit international waters. Initially there were limited choices because of the limited bottles that were marked for Texas consumption. They somehow bypass things or maybe pay taxes. Don't know and didn't care.

They need to drastically improve their customer service as well as their website on this side of the pond if they wish to increase their market share. Bringing over smaller ships that can compete with Carnival in the secondary markets (Tampa, Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston) would also be helpful. But in general they need to recruit management employees from the US based cruise lines in order to properly know how to cater to the US cruiser. There are a certain percentage that will like the differences that MSC provides but in order to make major inroads they need to make the first time MSC cruiser from the states choose MSC as their primary line of choice in order to truly increase their market share.

Your favorite drink could easily be obtained at Alchemy since they have all of the ingredients there. No Joe, there were not too many scooters, just too many people that think about themselves first and have zero empathy for others, otherwise known as card carrying members of the me generation. You're lucky that you don't need to be in a scooter.

If you're driving to Galveston, sure. If you have to fly to Bush or Hobby, no thanks. Too far of a commute and too expensive of a shuttle. Sail the Celebration and you have the option to fly into MIA or FLL. Did the MG four times, and the Celebration once and four more booked. Will only do the Jubilee if she ever embarks from a different port.

Certainly can't compare a Covid cruise and a Yacht Club cruise with a regular Fantastica cabin experience. MSC in general is a cruise line that people have black and white feelings about, with not too much shades of gray. They either love it or hate it, more than likely comparing it to what they are accustomed to and because of the stark contrasts, it leads to the polarized feelings one way or another.

On Halloween , we embarked from Galveston on the NCL Prima. On the first day, we were stuck drinking the TX marked bottles, but we could drink as much as we wanted, as long as it was from the special highly reduced number of bottles and only a few types of beers. But, it was included in their package and it was as usual, as much as you could consume with no 15 limit that Carnival has, so in fact, it truly was all you could drink. Just like on the following 10 days, which had all of their regular drink choices available since we had left TX waters.

Why not, Cowboy fans have been doing it for 25 years?

How about opinions on Cruise Critic? 😉😉

Yes, but sometimes the price difference between the FAS and the Sail away rates is small. The bottom line is that you just to compare the total price of the FAS package compared to what you'd pay on Royal and Carnival with their a la carte drink packages added. Of course you also need to factor in what the 250 free wifi minutes are worth to you as well as the specialty meal or meals.